Right back where they started

The Tigers pulled into the race with their lovely record vs. the National League. But today, they are 46-46 and still seven full games behind the Central-leading White Sox.
Last night's loss to the Twins was particularly disturbing to me, because once again the failure of supposedly key players -- Pudge and Shit-field, to be precise -- reared its ugly head.
Let's be frank, the Tigers' re-signing of Pudge and their acquisition of Shit-field were terrible moves. First, why didn't the Tigers get a platoon going with a player like Brian Schneider, whom was available from the Nationals, and Johnny Estrada? It would have saved money, made them younger and given them a proven defensive catcher who can handle a staff (Schneider)? Surely, Dombrowski should hav e seen that Pudge has NOTHING left offensively and was NEVER a handler of pitchers, despite the catcher's reputation as a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer.
Granted, Schneider is hitting .250 with 2 HRs and 19 RBI, and Estrada has been out virtually all season with a bad elbow. Buy their combined salaries are a little over $2 million. Pudge, who gets $13 million, is hitting .288 with 4 HRs and 29 RBI. His on-base percentage is .333; Schneider's is .324. Pudge is a waste, a huge waste.
And Shit-field, well, anyone who watched his last season-and-half with the Yankees had to know he was done or close to it. But the Tigers jumped at the chance to acquire him and add a couple of years to his contract.
Good move. Two has-beens who consistently make outs and really drag down the offense.
This offense was supposed to carry the team; not the pitching, remember. And in the last two losses, both to the Twins, the Tigers needed someone (other than Cabrera or Guillen) to produce offensively. With Ordonez out, it would have been a good time for Pudge and Shit-field to step up.
Not a chance. These two has-beens, boneheads and free-swingers are AUTOMATIC outs.
And, so the Twins win another from the Tigers (that's 9 of 11 since the Tigers won two in a row from them in the first month of the season).
The best the Tigers can do know vs. the Twins is split this four-game series, and that won't be good enough.