Fear The Beer?

Minnesotans don't have much to brag about when it comes to their rivalry with Wisconsinites. In football, the Green Bay Packers are set up for multiple successful seasons, while the Vikings don't even have a stadium. The Milwaukee Bucks have an explosive, young team, while the Timberwolves are just young. College football is a route, and hopefully college basketball can slightly favor the Gophers.

But there is one thing that Minnesotans can hold high and proud over Wisconsinites: The Minnesota Twins have been better than the Milwaukee Brewers. That's something the Brewers are clearly looking to change.

Throughout their history, the Brewers have been happy to be that scrappy team, very similar to the Minnesota Twins without the playoff appearances. Last year, they weren't even close.

Their offense was very good, as three players recorded over 100 runs batted in for the first team in team history, and that was with Prince Fielder having an off year. However, the pitching left something to be desired outside of Yovanni Gallardo. That's been a bit of a problem for the Brewers since their recent resurgence.

So the Brewers actually turned around and did something about it. The Brewers made a solid move acquiring Shawn Marcum for prospect 2B Brent Lawrie. Then came the big news today.

The Brewers acquired Zack Greinke for Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, and two minor league pitchers.

I can not applaud the ownership of the Brewers enough for making this move. The Brewers are sick of losing games by a score of 9-8 and they turned around and did something about it. Which makes me think of my baseball team.

The Minnesota Twins always claim that they want to get past the first round of the playoffs, however they never act like it during the offseason. Yes, they wanted and needed to get faster. To an extent, they did that with the addition of Tsyoshi Nishioka and the assumed move of Michael Cuddyer from first base to right field. But still, they lack a legitimate ace, and with the Royals looking for adequate major league ready middle infielders, why didn't the Twins package Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes to get the ace they need. (All of this could have been squelched with the refusal by the Royals to deal Grienke in the division.)

The Pohlads need to man up and improve this team. The Twins didn't lose to the Yankees because of injuries or a freak occurence of the Yankees coming back in three straight games. They lost because of the unwillingness to improve their team, and the thought by their manager that Nick Punto needs to be on this team to go anywhere.

For once, the Brewers could be on the right path while the Twins may be headed for a long summer.