ESPN MLB

Some questions don't have answers.

For instance, where would the Minnesota Twins be now if they had held onto David Ortiz after winning the first of their three consecutive American League Central championships? Where would they be if Torii Hunter was producing at the plate?

As big a lift as Shannon Stewart gave the Twins in 2003, when they won the second of their division titles, did they make a mistake by signing him to a long-term contract?

Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesJustin Morneau is batting just .194 in 103 at-bats since the All-Star break.

Who got the worst end of the Twins' decision to allow Cristian Guzman to walk after last season, when they won the third of their consecutive titles, the Washington Nationals, who signed Guzman, or the Twins, who failed to replace him with an impact player?

And finally, if you are 20th in the majors in payroll, as are the Twins, and you've gone to the playoffs three years in a row, can you complain about any decisions your management has made?

This much we do know: Because of poor production at shortstop (the Twins are 14th in the AL with a .627 OPS at the position), second base (13th, .646), left field (12th, .713), designated hitter (11th, .709), right field (10th, .766) and both of the infield corners (first base, ninth, .770; third base, ninth, .728), the 2005 Twins waste more pitching on a nightly basis than any other team in the majors. That's why their great run is at an end.

While the staff, led by Johan Santana, Brad Radke and Joe Nathan, has allowed the third-fewest runs in the league, Minnesota sits 14 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central and six behind Oakland in the wild-card race.

This is the season when Twins general manager Terry Ryan rejoins the ranks of the mortal.

He's made so many good decisions in the last few years that nobody held the decision to release Ortiz against him. After all, when Ryan tried to trade Ortiz after his 20-homer, 75-RBI season in 2002, there were no takers.

"We couldn't get a bag of baseballs for him,'' a Twins executive said at the time.

The Twins cut Ortiz because he was due for salary arbitration and wasn't deemed essential. The guy who was essential was the multi-talented center fielder, Hunter, who received a contract extension worth $32 million over four years. While Hunter has earned his salary, he hasn't returned to the All-Star Game since 2002. Ortiz has been there the last two years.

A serious MVP candidate this season, Ortiz has given Boston 110 home runs and 339 RBI over the last three seasons. Hunter, currently on the disabled list with a nondisplaced fracture in his left ankle, leads Minnesota over that same stretch with 63 homers and 239 RBI.

No wonder Ryan was so exasperated when he couldn't pull off a deal at the July 31 trade deadline. He spent that weekend sequestered in his office at the Metrodome, but had nothing to show for his time.

"I'm disappointed that I didn't help the club," Ryan said. "There's no salvation in how hard you worked. I did not add to the club."

Ryan knew he needed a dynamic hitter such as Alfonso Soriano. He tried and tried to pry him away from Texas, but the Rangers insisted on the two pitchers Ryan wouldn't give up: left-hander Francisco Liriano, who looks like a younger version of Santana, and right-hander Scott Baker.

Ryan had hoped to deal left-handed reliever J.C. Romero for a productive hitter, such as Boston third baseman Bill Mueller, but couldn't even get young third baseman Kevin Youkilis from the Red Sox for him.

Ryan wasn't the only one disappointed at the deadline. Radke spoke for his fellow pitchers in criticizing Ryan's standing pat.

"I'm not the GM," Radke told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I don't run this team. I go out there and pitch. I tell you what, we need some help. It didn't happen. It's frustrating, too."

The one hitter Ryan did pick up lasted only 14 games. Bret Boone, signed on July 12 after he was released by Seattle, batted .170 without an extra-base hit in 53 at-bats.

How bad was Boone? He was so bad that he looked like Guzman.

A key piece of the Twins' first-place teams, Guzman is batting .188 with three homers and 16 RBI over 103 games for the Nationals. But the Twins aren't bragging about having seen this coming. That's because the five shortstops they've used this season haven't been much better. Nor have the third basemen who followed Corey Koskie, another free agent, done much.

Juan Castro, signed as a free agent, and rookie Jason Bartlett are batting a combined .251 with six home runs and 38 RBI. Manager Ron Gardenhire has used seven different third basemen because his regular, Michael Cuddyer, is hitting .260-8-29 over 292 at-bats.

Stewart, the Twins' left fielder, and right fielder Jacque Jones, both of whom were probably kept around because the ongoing DH void allows Gardenhire to use Lew Ford as a fourth outfielder/DH, are putting up second-tier numbers at their positions.

None of this would be so devastating if 24-year-old first baseman Justin Morneau was delivering as projected. He hit so well after the Twins traded Doug Mientkiewicz a year ago that it didn't seem a stretch to count on him for 30-plus homers. But he's batting just .246 and is on pace for only 22 homers and 77 RBI.

Along with 22-year-old catcher Joe Mauer, Morneau is viewed as a cornerstone for years to come. That might be a reasonable expectation, but those spring-training comparisons to another set of M&M boys, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, look a little bit silly now.

"There were a lot of people convinced that Morneau was an established big-league hitter," Gardenhire said a few weeks ago. "He wasn't. He had a half-season up here. He's a young hitter, and that's what we're seeing right now."

Hitting coach Scott Ullger believes people expected too much too soon from Morneau. He rolled his eyes in spring training at anyone who said Morneau would give the Twins the power hitting they had been missing.

"I said, 'This is the big leagues, and this is his first full year, so let's wait and see,'" Ullger said. "Becoming a productive big-league hitter generally is a long process, and Justin's going through a tough period."

It would have been a lot easier to slide a guy such as Morneau into the lineup if it already had a bomber like Ortiz. But when you have to win on a tight budget, you're going to make some mistakes.

The Twins beat the odds sustaining their success for three years. As well run as they are, their time appears to be up.

Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com.