Bye Bye L-Rod

I'm almost speachless. In case you haven't heard the news, Luis Rodriguez has been optioned to AAA Rochester by the Twins, with RHP Julio DePaula taking his place on the roster. I've been a very vocal critic of L-Rod for pretty much the entire season, but had called a truce after looking at his numbers over the past 6 weeks or so (my conclusion: he's actually been playing reasonably well in very limited action). However, this move delights me -- Rodriguez was an unnecessary spare part for the Twins, and with Nick Punto now back in the uber-utility role, there was really no reason to keep Rodriguez on the roster.

The biggest beneficiary of this move is probably Tommy Watkins, who with his consistent play has likely earned a place on the team for the rest of the season, even after Brian Buscher returns. Had the Twins decided to keep Rodriguez up, I'm guessing Watkins would have been sent down for a week until rosters expanded in September. Rodriguez will probably return in September (there'd be no reason not to call him up again), but this way the option was used on Rodriguez -- a player who isn't that useful for the Twins long-term -- rather than on Watkins, who at least might be useful.

This move comes about four months too late, but I'll take it nonetheless.