Because I’ve been Twittering, writing, gathering audio and running around tirelessly all day at Vikings training camp, I’ll avoid taking up much space in this spot tonight.

After all, why should I put forth my full effort to blog on trade deadline day when the Twins can’t put forth their full effort to improve the team?

Yes, the Twins traded for SS Orlando Cabrera this afternoon –  a man they seemingly had their eye on for a couple weeks. As I’ve mentioned before on this site, and on Twins Weekly, Cabrera does not provide much of an upgrade over Brendan Harris, although Fangraphs makes the case that he could be worth an extra half-win or so (in terms of win shares… not literal “wins”).

That’s fine. I like the trade, because the Twins gave up a mid-level prospect (SS Tyler Ladendorf) and received $500,000 back as well. This is a minimal price to pay for a guy who is likely to walk without compensation after the year. Not to mention, the big boys in the clubhouse will view the move as an attempt at “winning now”, justifiably so, sort of.

If nothing else, Cabrera should hopefully light a spark for the Twins. Whether that spark leads to improved team performance remains to be seen. Hopefully he plays better defense than he has in Oakland this year, and hopefully he can find his way on base at a respectable rate. Let’s play.

Sounds like a happy ending to the trade deadline, right?

Wrong.

Unfortunately, middle infield and “lighting a spark” weren’t and aren’t the only Twins needs. In fact, you could argue the most glaring hole to fill has not been addressed for the better part of two years.

The bullpen.

Adding Cabrera is fine. But once again, he’s not a meaningful upgrade over Brendan Harris. Adding Cabrera without adding bullpen help is like throwing away two cards in 5-card poker and drawing only one in return.

And now that the starting rotation is depleted, the bullpen’s performance is magnified even more.

The team has not improved enough. The bullpen has been a problem for two years, and the Twins have failed to address it. Instead of acquiring meaningful upgrades at reasonable prices (see: Jeremy Affeldt, Cla Meredith, George Sherrill), they choose to roll the dice with R.A. Dickey, Sean Henn, Eddie Guardado, Kevin Mulvey, Phil Humber, Bobby Keppel, a returning Jesse Crain, etc.

And they continue to get burned (see: Friday night vs. Anaheim).

(And don’t give me the “other teams asked for too much in return” argument. I have a strong feeling the Twins have an over-inflated opinion of their current farm system, which leads them to believe teams are asking for too much. This is just my opinion. Trading for an impact bullpen pitcher requires giving up something in return. But because these impact relievers are pitching in high leverage, game-altering situations, the price is worth it for a guy like Wuertz, Sherrill, etc.)

I’m not a huge fan of Orlando Cabrera, but I can praise the Twins for identifying something they wanted and trading for it. What I cannot do, however, is pat the Twins on the back at this trade deadline. They failed to upgrade the area that needed help the most — and I say this based on foresight.

I hope I’m wrong on all of this. I hope OC sparks the Twins. I hope Keppel, Dickey and Crain are lights out down the stretch. And I hope the Twins win the division and head to the playoffs. They still might, because of the weak division and weak remaining schedule.

But inexplicably refusing to trade for a pitcher may be the ultimate downfall in this 2009 season.