Section 219: Well, this has gotten interesting

There are people who think the Twins should "sell" as the trading deadlines approach at the end of this month and next. That implies shedding of veteran talent will result in the acquisition of players who will strengthen the team in the years to come. That proposition, however, is as dicey as expecting that top draft picks will make your team better just because they were high-round picks.

Right now, 6 1/2 games back with more than 2 1/2 months to play, the Twins have put themselves in position where it's not unreasonable to expect them to defend their American League Central title. The bullpen needs to be upgraded, as it has at this time for the last two years, and it would be nice to have healthy versions of Jason Kubel, Justin Morneau and Denard Span for the final pull.

Before we get too far into things, let's not forget that the reason the Twins are back in contention is through the largesse of the other teams in the division. Division-topping Detroit is only six games over .500. Move the Twins to the East and they are 13 1/2 games behind Boston based on actual performance, which doesn't take into account what their record could be with a fuller menu of games against the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays. In the East, the Twins would be sellers -- and maybe even in the cellar.

Really, it's OK not to think about that too much just because I brought it up.

To me, the frustrating part if the Twins make a successful comeback is that the team will be in the same position it has been in previous years -- built to prevail in the regular season, but not constructed for October baseball. We've gone over this again and again in the past, but the advantage of being probable division winners instead of possible winners (the Twins' current status) is that we could have reasonably expected the Twins to swing moves designed for the postseason -- acquiring an ace, for example, or juicing the offense with another right-handed bat.

Instead, any upgrades will likely be in the more modest fashion of years past.

But a massive comeback will give the appearance of triumph rather than running in place. The Minnesota comeback of 2011, if it happens, would even trump the Minnesota comeback of 2009, when the Twins rallied from seven games back during the final three weeks of the season.

Still, this has been a fascinating half-season. The Twins were 20 games under .500 on June 1 and have since won 24 of 35, even though they had a six-game losing streak in the middle of that run. That week of defeat was more frustrating than the early-season struggles because there were days in that opening stretch when the Twins took the field with little chance to win, and any kind of substandard performance would pretty much guarantee defeat. You didn't have to be a raging pessimist to talk about the 100-loss pace at which the Twins were performing until early last month.

The recent spell has been notable because some young players who were liabilities in their initial stints with the Twins have made contributions -- some modest, some significant -- during their more recent call-ups. Ben Revere 3.0, currently playing center field and batting leadoff, is a significant upgrade from the versions that were with the team at the end of 2010 and for a spell earlier this season. The same can be said of Luke Hughes and Rene Tosoni, and I suspect the same will be true of Trevor Plouffe, who will return after the All-Star break.

In Rochester's last 15 games, Plouffe has started five as a corner outfielder and the last seven at first base. In addition to another right-handed bat, it gives the Twins another option in the first base/right field mash-up that Gardy has been forced to orchestrate. (Hughes last played first base in the minors in 2007.) Plouffe has a 1.050 OPS (on base-plus-slugging percentage) in 50 games at Rochester. (A bit of context: Plouffe is 27 plate appearances short of qualifying to be among the International League leaders in OPS. The league leader among qualifying players is at .911.)

Another thought on Gardy: After last season, I argued that he was a fine second choice for manager of the year behind Ron Washington of Texas. The baseball writers who voted disagreed and gave the honor to Gardy. I think that 2011 has been his best managing job ever so far -- showing patience when necessary, throwing bombs at other times, nursing a flawed bullpen and seeming to solve what had appeared to be a hopeless middle infield situation by flipping Nishioka and Casilla.

And he's managed for extended stretches without Span in center... Mauer catching... Morneau at first... Young in left... Thome at DH... Kubel in right... and Nishioka at shortstop. That's two-thirds of the Opening Day lineup, plus Thome. I'm going to trust Gardy to keep making the right moves if-and-when the veterans return to health. He's on a roll -- and the Twins are on enough of a roll to make things very interesting when the season resumes on Thursday.

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