The mainstream press, and the Twins themselves, will tell you that Torii Hunter's injury will be a terrible blow to the Twins. I'm not buying it.

Yes, Hunter is a gold glove outfielder. Losing his defense will hurt a little. In his place will be Lew Ford. Lew's not a terrible outfielder, in fact he's a pretty good defensive outfielder. He's certainly better than Shannon Stewart, who's been stinking it up in left field for the Twins for years now. I'll grant that there will be a little bit of a drop off in the field.

But, SBG, Hunter's the clean up hitter. His bat will be sorely missed! In a word: bullshit.

For the season, Hunter has hit .268/.337/.452/.788. Among regular players, Hunter's OPS is third, behind THE MAN, Joe Mauer (.822) and Jacque Jones (.814). Justin "Let's Send Him to Rochester" Morneau's OPS is .785, almost identical to Hunter's. Overall, then, Hunter's bat is one of the better on the team.

But, let's take a little closer look. At the close of play on May 31, Hunter was hitting .238/.305/.398/.703. What do we call numbers like that here at The Mag? Rivasland. (Rivas' career numbers are .261/.306/.382/.688.) Then, on June 1, Hunter was 5-5 with two doubles a home run and six RBI. From June 1 through June 8, a total of seven games, Hunter hit .552/.567/1.035/1.601. A hot streak to be sure. If you take this seven game stretch from Hunter's season numbers, and he is hitting .245/.311/.402/.713. I've been waiting for him to break out and get hot. Guess what, he hasn't.

The following players have an OPS higher than .713 for the year: LeCroy, Mauer, Jones, Morneau, L. Rodriguez, Stewart, and Cuddyer. That's almost the whole lineup. Yes, Lew Ford will be "hitting" everyday and his numbers (.268/.311/.390/.704) have been disappointing, to be sure. But hey, he's been playing pretty much every day, anyway. The DH spot can now be manned on a full time basis (except when THE MAN does it) by Matthew LeCroy. LeCroy is hitting .277/.376/.473/.849. Substituting LeCroy into the lineup for Hunter is a substantial improvement, probably more of a benefit than the detriment of losing Hunter's excellent play in the field.

Ah, but SBG, what about Hunter's leadership? Surely, that will be missed. I love questions like this. I swat them away like flies. This team is where it is and not 15 games below .500 because of the pitching staff. Santana, Radke, Silva, Rincon, Nathan et al. are primarily responsible for this season's winning record to this point. I'm pretty sure that Hunter has absolutely no impact on the pitching staff whatsoever.

What about the offense? Check the stats. This team is pretty much the worst offensive team in the league. The Twins (454) are 12th in runs scored, ahead of only KC (450) and Seattle (450). Seattle plays in a severe pitcher's park. KC plays, well KC plays with a roster filled with minor leaguers. In short, this team has been a disaster offensively.

Where exactly is Hunter leading this team? How has his "leadership" improved the play on the field? Is he leading by example? Except for a seven game stretch, he's been one of the worst bats in the lineup (J.C.Twin notwithstanding). Perhaps if he had developed a consistant approach at the plate (or rather, had developed a better eye) he could have shown other players the right way to hit. Instead, he goes up there and flails his way to Rivasland. I find this frustrating, because Hunter has a lot of talent.

How about in the clubhouse? He's criticized both Mauer and Morneau in the paper. He's complained about the loss of Koskie in the paper. Torii, you go to war with the army you have, to borrow an unfortunate phrase. Anyone can complain about what isn't there. A leader helps those who are actually on the team succeed. These comments seem likely to have had a negative effect on morale more than anything else.

If I were Torii, I'd be watching THE MAN, who shows every day on the field exactly the approach everyone should take at the plate. Hell, even Jones has been more patient (and consistent) than Hunter. Imagine that.

Frankly, I don't believe (and you shouldn't be surprised by this) that leadership on a baseball team is all that important. Teams that win generally get along. Teams that lose generally don't get along. Teams playing in the Bronx are playing in a fishbowl and constantly have tension, regardless of whether they are winning. I don't think that Torii's "leadership" has helped or hurt the team much at all. The fact is, the Twins have a deficient lineup. And Torii himself hasn't been very good most of the time. The result? 454 runs through 102 games.

LeCroy should have been taking Jacque Jones' spot in the lineup against lefties, but the manager doesn't see it that way. Had the manager been platooning Jones, this injury would have hurt a lot more. Then again, maybe the team would have had more wins at this point.

I don't wish an injury on anyone, least of all a guy like Torii Hunter. I feel bad for Torii and I hope he heals quickly. But, if the Twins don't make the playoffs, don't accept Torii's injury as a good excuse. They weren't going to make it anyway.