Looking up

The Twins won Wednesday night. That lifted their record to 49-71, which is the worst in the American League and second worst in the majors -- behind Atlanta, the team they beat (44-76).

So right now, the Twins are in line for the second pick in next June's draft. However:

• Three teams -- Anaheim, Arizona and San Diego -- are 50-70, just one game better than the Twins.
• Two teams -- Cincinnati and Tampa Bay -- are 50-69, 1.5 games better than the Twins.
• Oakland is 52-69, three games ahead of the Twins.
• Milwaukee is 52-67, four games ahead of the Twins.

It wouldn't take much, in other words, for the Twins to fall as far as ninth in the draft. They had a winning July; they have a winning record so far in August, with more wins this month than in either April or May.

We can't eradicate the first three months. The Twins were awful in April and May, and not a lot better in June; they're last in the league on merit. But they have 42 games to play, and I expect they will finish with a record that -- well, it won't be good, but  they can avoid 90 losses. That would be pretty impressive considering that at one point they were rivaling the infamous 1962 Mets for ineptitude.