Woke up cold one Tuesday
I'm looking tired and feeling quite sick
I felt like there was something missing in my day-to-day life
So I quickly opened the wardrobe
Pulled out some jeans and a t-shirt that seemed clean
Topped it off with a pair of old shoes that were ripped around the seams

And I thought these shoes just don't suit me
Hey, I put some new shoes on and suddenly everything's right
I said hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling

- Paolo Nutini, New Shoes

I'm still too short on time to write a whole lot today and I'm now too frustrated with the Twins' losing streak (along with Johan Santana's back-to-back losses at the Metrodome) to do a typical, notes-style game recap, so let's try something a little different in the form of reader participation. Sidney Ponson will make his fourth start of the season tonight against the Royals after going 1-2 with a 9.39 ERA in his first three starts.

I've used this space to argue that Ponson hasn't pitched as poorly as his hideous ERA suggests, but at the end of the day he's allowed 16 runs in 15.1 innings and opponents have hit .389/.450/.667 in 80 plate appearances. Asked earlier this week about Ponson, Terry Ryan said, "We're getting close to the point where we need to see more progress." When combined with Ponson's horrible numbers, that statement makes me think that a poor fourth outing could signal the end of his time in the rotation.

Obviously, the first question is "should Ponson be yanked from the rotation if he fails to turn in a solid start against the Royals tonight?" If you answered "no" to that, then the next question is "exactly how long of a leash should he get?" If you instead answered "yes" to that, then the next question is "who should replace him?" Assuming that moving Matt Guerrier out the bullpen is off limits, there are seemingly four possible answers. Here's what they've each done thus far at Triple-A:

                    W     L      ERA        IP     SO      BB     OAVG
Kevin Slowey        3     0     0.96      18.2     20       1     .134
Glen Perkins        0     0     1.50       6.0      2       1     .105
Scott Baker         1     0     1.69      16.0     16       3     .196
Matt Garza          0     1     2.77      13.0     12       9     .278

I've been very wrong about Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva thus far, but Rochester's rotation has been every bit as great as I expected it to be. Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Scott Baker have combined to go 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA and 50-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 53.2 innings (Perkins has just one start because he was called up to pitch out of the Twins' bullpen). For those of you who think that Ponson should be leaving the rotation, who should replace him?

A few weeks ago I would have said Garza without thinking twice, but given his troubling neck problems and less-than-dominant numbers at Triple-A that's no longer such a no-brainer. Perkins is already in Minnesota, but hasn't pitched particularly well as a reliever. Slowey has been the most impressive of the bunch at Rochester, but he's the only member of the foursome without any big-league experience. Baker has the most major-league experience and has been nearly as impressive as Slowey.

I'd lean toward yanking Ponson from the rotation if he struggles against the Royals tonight and I'd go with Baker as his immediate replacement, but I'm sure there are arguments to be made for just about every possible scenario. What say you?

Note: I'm still recovering from a busy weekend that included riding in a 15-person stretch limousine and eating a $125 "silver butter knife steak" at Murray's in downtown Minneapolis--trust me, the whole thing sounds more intriguing if I leave out some details--and last night's game was particularly tough to watch. All of which is why yesterday's entry was non-existent, while today's entry is short on words and long on frustration. Sorry.

Joe Nathan has been arguably the single best reliever in all of baseball since coming to Minnesota in 2004, going 16-7 with a 2.01 ERA, 129 saves, a 285-to-63 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and .180 opponent's batting average in 219 innings. Coming into last night's game, he had thrown a grand total of 16 pitches over the previous 90 hours, with all of them coming Saturday when he struck out the side against the Royals.

Last night's game against the Indians took place at the Metrodome and went 12 innings, with no save chance to be had at any point after the eighth inning. Given all of that information--a well rested, elite reliever with no save opportunity to be held back for in a home game--when would you expect Nathan to have entered? I'm not sure how you answered that question, but Ron Gardenhire's answer was to keep Nathan in the bullpen until the Twins were trailing by multiple runs in the 12th inning.

Five relievers took the mound before the team's closer, with Nathan finally coming in only after the Twins' chances of winning were at the lowest point of the game. Call me crazy, but that seems like the exact opposite of how a closer should be used. Now, that's not necessarily why the Twins lost, because prior to Jesse Crain the bullpen pitched very well while Nathan looked on and the offense certainly blew plenty of chances to end things with one measly run.

With that said, it's moves like Nathan's usage last night--involving making decisions based on meaningless labels and misguided stubbornness rather than intelligent strategy and smart tactics--that gnaw at me when the Twins lose winnable games. Win or lose, to play a 12-inning game at home without using your fully rested closer in a high-leverage situation is simply bad managing. Nathan should have been given a chance to win or lose the game before Crain lost it. That's his job.