Smurfs on Gardy's bench

As we pondered the choices Ron Gardenhire was going to make in putting together his first-round playoff roster, one of the discussions was about which of the back-up infielders would get left behind. You could pretty much make a case for or against any of them based on preference or animus.

Well, Gardy decided not to disappoint any of the guys by finding room for Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert, giving the Twins seven infielders among the 25 players.

So, with Drew Butera as the backup catcher and Jason Repko as the fourth outfielder, Gardy basically has a bench filled with smurfs.

SMURFS IN THE DUGOUT

Add the five of 'em together and you have 8 home runs, 80 RBI and a .236 average in 739 at-bats.

The option was to take someone who would provide more offensive punch. Trouble was, that guy didn't exist.

In some circles, Jose Morales was the popular choice. But he didn't really show much in the few tries that he got this season -- batting .194 with two doubles in 36 at-bats. Some would cite his flashier stats from last season (his .311 average in 119 at-bats), but the counterpoint would be that he was totally overmatched at the end of '09 when Gardy yanked him after two strikeouts in Game 163, which was followed by two strikeouts in three times up during the postseason.

Besides, guys like that are pretty much from the as-is section of the used car lot. Remember Phil Nevin, the guy who batted .190 and struck out 15 times in 42 at-bats for the Twins in 2006? Not really worth the effort.

The Gardy line is the Twins have a starting lineup that doesn't call for pinch hitters. Even if you totally believe that -- and I'll buy except for Jason Kubel against the kind of lefties who tend to come out of the bullpen -- the tradeoff is going to be that Gardy may have to think twice when making pinch-running or defensive-upgrade decisions. Does he yank Thome after a seventh-inning hit in a close game, knowing that his spot in the order will likely come up in the ninth?

"Matt Tolbert, designated hitter," doesn't have an inspiring ring to it.

Same thing with Repko batting in the ninth after replacing Kubel or Delmon Young.

This is part of the fallout from the Justin Morneau injury. Until then, the Twins had a solid bat in reserve on the bench.