Owwie-oh, Maggilo

Magglio Ordonez was a shell of the hitter
he once was, but even that shell figured
to be useful against Texas' lefty starters.

Magglio Ordonez is out for the rest of the ALCS — and the World Series, should the Detroit Tigers go so far — with a fractured ankle.

He's 37, turns 38 in January. He's coming off easily the worst season of a brilliant career. He's a defensive liability. And now he's broken the same ankle two years running. I will be surprised if anybody, including the Tigers, offers him a contract this winter.

Of more immediate import — the Tigers are now without both Delmon Young and Ordonez, a pair of right-handed hitting corner outfielders who figured to be of importance against Texas' three left-handed starters.

The Tigers could readily replace either with Ryan Raburn without losing anything. But Raburn can't fill in for both.

Ordonez ain't what he used to be. But what he was still had some value in this matchup. That value is unlikely to be replaced by whoever the Tigers activate to fill his roster spot today.

Ow-ie-oh, Magglio (and other injuries)

Magglio Ordonez fractured his right ankle on the pictured slide Saturday and was almost immediately reported to be out six to eight weeks.

This had ramifications immediate and long term. For the here and now, the Detroit Tigers have lost their usual No. 3 hitter, and they've had enough trouble scoring runs with him in the lineup. It also means he's highly unlikely to meet the at-bat requirements to get his contract extension to kick in, potentially allowing the Tigers to get out from under his heavy salary this winter.

The Tigers have already lost Brandon Inge to a fractured hand; the third baseman is also out six to eight weeks. And Carlos Guillen, their current second baseman, left Saturday's game with a pulled leg muscle. In Guillen's case, an injury is hardly a surprise, but that doesn't make it any less a problem.

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The Twins have injury/roster issues of their own. Orlando Hudson probably would be on the disabled list already if they had an easy move to make. But they don't:

• Justin Morneau has reportedly begun some workouts, but still has hurdles to clear before returning from his concussion. LaVelle Neal speculates Aug. 2 for Morneau, but even that might be optimistic.
• Matt Tolbert isn't able to throw yet.
• Brendan Harris — who has reportedly started to hit down at Triple A — is no longer on the 40-man roster, and the easy ways to open a slot on the 40 are gone.
• Luke Hughes, who is on the 40, is out with his own injury.
• Trevor Plouffe has limited experience at any position other than shortstop.
• Even Alexi Casilla, who has gotten the playing time at second since Hudson's injury, is hampered. A note in the Pioneer Press when he was activated off the DL said he still has "minor discomfort" when swinging the bat right-handed (which may have played into his eighth-inning bunt on Friday against a lefty reliever).

Upshot: If Hudson goes on the DL today, it may be for a 13th pitcher.

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Poll results: 30 responses to the "who'll win the AL Central" poll. Twenty-one (70 percent) picked the Twins, seven (23 percent) picked the White Sox) and two (7 percent) the Tigers.

New poll up.

Disposing of a trade rumor

Buster Olney writes on ESPN.com of potential trade partners with the Atlanta Braves, the core concept here being that the Braves are willing to deal shortstop Yunel Escobar for an outfield bat.

One of the teams mentioned is Minnesota:

Escobar would be perfect for the Twins in many respects, and Minnesota has an array of outfielders to choose from, whether it be Michael Cuddyer or Denard Span; Delmon Young is hitting .264 with three homers, and it's hard to imagine that the Braves would seriously consider him in any trade. But the Twins' focus is on relief pitching, and an aggressive midseason deal really doesn't fit their style — and if Escobar's conduct in Atlanta has turned off the Braves' coaching staff, then this is certainly not the type of thing that the Twins would go for. Span is an interesting name, though, because his service time (and salary) is close to that of Escobar, and he is widely seen as a player on the rise.

The possibility that the Twins would deal Span for a shortstop exhibiting attitude problems is slim to none. Not only because they value Span, and not only because they don't put up with such behavior, but because they'd likely rather acquire a second baseman than a shortstop.

Brendan Harris' (photo above) stats have plummeted in the past few days — he's 1-for 15 in July — but Ron Gardenhire finds him acceptable at short and unacceptable at second. Get a second baseman, and the Twins would probably find some way of time-sharing short between Harris and Nick Punto. Get a shortstop, and Harris becomes almost useless.

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Some comments on Saturday's game:

*It was an odd sentence about Francisco Liriano in the AP's game story: "He intentionally threw a lot of first-pitch strikes, which ultimately hurt him in the seventh."

He should intentionally throw a lot of first-pitch strikes. The best pitch in baseball is the first-pitch strike. It's called getting ahead of the hitters.

Liriano faced 27 men and threw 18 first-pitch strikes. He threw, in total, 103 pitches, 65 strikes, 38 balls — not quite the preferred 2-1 ratio, but closer than he often is.

A good game for Liriano.

* Magglio Ordonez has just 14 extra base hits this year. Three of them have come against the Twins.

* Jose Morales failed twice to get down the bunt in the bottom of the eighth inning (bad). Then he hit a slow roller that moved Matt Tolbert to second (good) and was applauding himself as he crossed first base. Moral equivalent of a sac bunt.

Nothing against Mike Redmond, but I'm increasingly ready for the Jose Morales era at backup catcher.

* The game stories (AP and elsewhere) make mention of it, but let me join in: That was some good baserunning by Tolbert to score the winning run.

Notes, quotes and comments

A war of words over the "indefinite" benching of Magglio Ordonez by the Detroit Tigers:

From Scott Boras, Ordonez' agent: "Give me the compelling reasons for benching Magglio. You bench Magglio, and you're gonna have a problem — a real problem justifying that to me."

From Jim Leyland, the Tigers' manager: "It is total bull-(beep) for Scott Boras to say I blind-sided Magglio. This is just another grand-stand move in the newspapers by Boras." And: "Scott Boras would be better off if he left this between me and Magglio."

Part of what's at stake here: Ordonez is some 215 plate appearances (or 67 starts) shy of triggering an automatic extension of his contract at $18 million for next season.

Considering the dull market for old corner outfielders last winter, Mags and Boras don't want to hit the free agency market this offseason. Considering that their attendance is down about 10,000 fans per game, the Tigers don't want to see that extension kick in.

Also at stake: The Tigers (leading the Twins by 3 games at this writing) want and need more than a .343 slugging percentage from their right fielder.

* New Ulm native Jamie Hoffmann was sent back to Triple A last week by the Dodgers. He had a few good moments, but his major league stay figured to end once their injured or suspended outfielders started to return, and his .182 batting average didn't compel Joe Torre and Co. to find a spot for him.

He'll get another shot someday.

* The results from last week's poll: 20 respondents, of whom one (5 percent) said Joe Mauer would finish the season hitting between .300 and .330; four (20 percent) said .331-.350; nine (45 percent) said .351 to .375; two (10 percent) said .376-.399; and four (20 percent) and .400 or better.

The new poll might make more sense after Monday's print column comes out.

* The Twins' decision to waive Craig Breslow and go with Sean Henn as the LOOGY looked OK for a while, but it has taken a sudden turn for the worse.

In his last two outings (Wednesday and Saturday) Henn has faced seven hitters, five of who reached base and two of whom homered. Five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, and Henn's ERA is now an unsightly 7.36, up from 3.48 coming into the home stand.

Breslow, meanwhile, has had an ERA of 2.31 since joining Oakland.

Coming in Monday's print column: Some possible bullpen trade targets for the Twins.