It's been a bad month for the Twins' end of the four-pitcher trade made last summer with the Angels. While most Twins fans were reasonably enthusiastic about the deal that sent underachieving Ricky Nolasco and aging prospect Alex Meyer to the Angels for lefty starter Hector Santiago and hard-throwing reliever Alan Busenitz, it hasn't looked so great lately.
Nolasco has been inconsistent as usual, but a three-hit shutout on Saturday brought his ERA down to 4.42. Meyer has the potential for greater regret. He had a 2.25 ERA in six June starts leading into his first July outing Monday at Target Field against his old team.
Santiago, meanwhile, has a 9.96 ERA since mid-May and seemed to frustrate manager Paul Molitor with both his actions and words in Sunday's loss to Kansas City. Busenitz at least has had some good relief outings and throws hard, both of which have been in short supply in the Twins bullpen.
Read Michael Rand's blog at startribune.com/randball. mrand@startribune.com
