Bad Things Happen to Twins, Sox

As Tigers’ fans we’ve had our share of bad news so far this spring, what with Cabrera’s fall from the wagon and Zumaya’s popping scar tissue. Now, that’s really nothing like the misfortune Cardinals fans have felt, but still it’s nice sometimes to see that our rivals have had some bad breaks too.

News from the Twins camp, covered with detail and insight over at Puckett’s pond, is that reliever Pat Neshek has been waived and claimed by the San Diego Padres. We know that after their free agent losses bullpen depth is expected to be a significant issue for the Twins in their attempt to hold on to the AL Central crown this year. Neshek, it was to be hoped (assuming you want the Twins to win, which I doubt you do any more than I) would be a known quantity and a rock. It seems that he never regained the effectiveness he had before his 2009 injury and the organization had simply given up on him. They probably regard this somewhat like we would if Fu-Te Ni pitched his way out of camp, but was claimed by another organization. There is a difference, though. They needed him to be there and pitch well, and he was but he couldn’t. The bullpen picture for the Twins is a little grimmer now than last time we looked.

In White Sox camp Jake Peavy has been shut down for the remainder of spring training with rotator cuff tendonitis. If he was still a Padre, I’d feel bad for the guy. But he wears the pale hose and consequently that is mitigated by that schadenfreude. That’s what the Sox get for trading for a guy on the DL, am I wrong? No one really expected Jake Peavy to make 33 starts this year, but to be honest Chicago might well be the favorite if he would.

Stay tuned, if anything else awful befalls the Twins or White Sox, we’ll have it covered here.