Wrong, wrong, wrong, right

By Jim Souhan, Star Tribune

Last update: July 8, 2007 - 12:05 AM

Editor's note: Jim Souhan will check in with an observation from the road each day during his baseball road trip this week.

CHICAGO The great debate of spring training was whether Twins General Manager Terry Ryan had erred in signing Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson and re-signing Carlos Silva.

Ryan's position: The veterans could end up being bargains, or at least form a bridge to the team's young pitching.

The position of others (including myself): The kids had a better chance of winning immediately, and a much better chance of winning over the course of the season.

Turns out we were both mostly wrong. The Twins were right to re-sign Silva, and were wrong to invest faith in Ponson and Ortiz. Those of us who liked the youngsters have to admit that, although they remain promising, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins were not the immediate answer and Scott Baker probably needed his time in the minors.

I'll stick with my initial view of Matt Garza: I think he is the kind of personality who's going to pitch better in the big leagues than in the minors, and will benefit from daily contact with Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson.

Garza was fabulous Friday night, and he might be the best reason to think the Twins can improve in the second half.

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