It's a marathon, not a sprint

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• Next year, if you're tempted to draw any sweeping conclusions after the season's first few weeks, remember that in 2006 the following teams were given up for dead in April: Twins (11-18 start), Phillies (9-14), and Padres (8-15). Now the Padres are in first place, the Phillies are on the Mets' heels, and the Twins ... well, the Twins are still in trouble. But they're showing signs of life, and should show more now that they've figured out which of their struggling starters should be replaced by Francisco Liriano.

I admire the Twins for their patience. Really. Most teams would have started the season with Liriano in the rotation, and all the rest would have removed Carlos Silva (8.23 ERA) or Kyle Lohse (8.33) earlier. But not the Twins. They took their time to get Johan Santana into the rotation -- and that worked -- and now they've taken their time with Liriano.

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