The Twins traded 2B Luis Castillo to the Mets for minor leaguers Dustin Martin and Drew Butera.  Castillo played in 85 games this season for the Twins and he was 106 for 349 (.304 avg, .708 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 0 homers, 18 RBIs and 9 stolen bases.  The Twins have recalled Alexi Casilla to take over as the starting 2B.  He has played in 14 games for them this season and he was 10 for 43 (.233 avg, .506 OPS) with 4 runs, 2 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.  Casilla has a similar skill set to Castillo so don’t look for too big of a dropoff in production.  Dustin Martin is a 23 year old lefty swinging outfielder that was ranked as the Mets #19 prospect before the season started according to Baseball America.  Martin has played in 95 games in rookie and A-ball so far this season and he was 106 for 367 (.289 avg, .781 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 5 homers, 52 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.  Drew Butera is a 24 year old righty swinging catcher but he has had problems hitting the baseball.  Butera has played in 82 games in the minors this season and he is 69 for 299 (.231 avg, .641 OPS0 with 29 runs scored, 6 homers and 26 RBIs.

The Twins will likely give Brian Buscher his big shot in the majors as they need more offensive production at third base.  Buscher looked good in his major league debut last night in Cleveland as he went 2 for 4.  He has played in 98 games this season in AA+AAA ball and he is 112 for 362 (.309 avg., .883 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 13 homers and 57 RBIs.  Buscher will likely cut into Nick Punto’s playing time big-time.  Punto has played in 95 games this season for the Twins and he is 70 for 325 (.215 avg, .586 OPS) with 37 runs scored, 1 homer, 20 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. 

Rondell White has missed most of the season with an assortment of injuries.  He has only played in 4 games this season for the Twins and he is only 1 for 13 (.077 avg) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs.  Still, White has been a solid hitter throughout his major league career as he has a .286 average with an OPS of .803 in 1,439 games.  The Twins have sent Garrett Jones back to the minors.  Jones played in 10 games for the Twins so far this season and he was 4 for 25 (.160 avg, .530 OPS) with 2 runs scored.

Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser, Ramon Ortiz and Scott Baker have all stunk it up for the Twins this season and they need to step up if the Twins are to have any chance of making the playoffs this season.  Silva began the season as the #2 starter for the Twins and he is 6-10 with a 4.58 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  He has allowed a whopping 131 hits in 110 innings this season and he will need to miss more bats if he is to have any success in the 2nd half of the season.  Boof Bonser is 5-6 with a 4.70 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP this season.  Bonser has problems with the longball as he has allowed 15 homers this season in 103.1 innings.  He will need to do a better job of keeping the baseball in the park in the 2nd half.  Ramon Ortiz lost his starting job and now he is a mop up man in the bullpen.  He is 3-4 with a 5.35 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP so far this season.  It’s doubtful that he will get another shot in the rotation this season.  Scott Baker is the pitcher who replaced Ortiz in the rotation and he is 3-3 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP so far this season.  Baker is also having a rough time with the longball as he has allowed 8 homers in only 52 innings this season.

The Twins basically only had 4 pitchers that really threw the ball well in the first half of the season.  Johan Santana, Pat Neshek, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan are all off to blazing starts to the 2007 season.  Santana is 10-6 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP so far this season and what’s scary for the rest of the league is that he always is better in the 2nd half of the season.  Joe Nathan has been really good again so far this season as he is 3-1 with 16 saves, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP so far this season.  When he comes into the game it’s essentially over for the opposition.  Pat Neshek is also a nasty reliever that comes from a sidearm angle which throws hitters off.  He is 3-1 with a 1.70 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP so far this season!  In 42.1 innings this season Neshek has only allowed 18 hits while whiffing 52 batters.  Matt Guerrier is the big surprise of this bunch as he generally used to pitch early in games but not this season with the way he has thrown the baseball.  Guerrier is 1-3 with a 1.70 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP so far this season.  He has only allowed 34 hits in 53 innings this season and the Twins hope he can keep up the good work in the 2nd half of the 2007 season.