For those of you that rag on the Minnesota Twins for their recent first-round draft pick flops, I guess you just have to give some of these guys more time. Like eight years.

Trevor Plouffe was the team’s first-round pick in 2004. And in the span of one month, he has transformed from Quad-A player with no position to a potential building block in the team’s rebuilding process.

Plouffe has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, and today is the one-month anniversary of when this all started.

Who are you and what have you done to Trevor Plouffe? Associated Press photo

Entering a May 16 game at Detroit, Plouffe was hitting .133 with one homer. He was seemingly on the brink of losing his roster spot. Remember, a few weeks prior to this game, Luke Hughes was designated for assignment despite being the team’s best hitter in spring training. I heard some wonder whether he deserved a longer look than Plouffe.

On May 16, Plouffe homered. Since the start of that game, he has hit 27-for-86, good for a .314 average with a major league-leading 13 homers to go along with 21 RBIs.

Did anyone see this coming? I made the argument last night in the office that Plouffe may be the only reason to watch the Twins play right now considering how poorly the team has performed (despite a recent hot streak that ended earlier in the week).

So what is Plouffe’s future? Some may disagree, but I still feel he’s a player without a position. He has recently found a home at third base, and as long as he’s red-hot at the plate, you just leave him there. You never mess with a guy that’s hitting the way Plouffe is.

He has three errors in 21 starts at third base, which would put him well over 20 errors if he played a full season there. Small sample size so far this year, but considering his history in the field, it’s probably a pretty accurate one.

If you prefer advanced metrics, FanGraphs has 39 third basemen in the big leagues this year who have logged at least 170 innings at the hot corner. Plouffe’s UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games) is -6.7, which would put him tied with Kevin Youkilis for 29th on that list.

The Twins have spent an awful lot of time trying to find a position for Plouffe, and I just don’t think he’ll get much better in the field. The team will ultimately have to decide whether or not it can accept his sub-standard defense at third if he hits, say, 25 or 30 homers per year. Or is the team better off putting him in right field? My guess is that’s where he ends up next season.

But regardless of where he plays, Plouffe’s offense has been a huge breath of fresh air for a Twins team in dire need of players to build its team around. Patience may have really paid off in this case.

Jim Thome spent less than two seasons with the Minnesota Twins. But in that short time, he became a beloved figure in the Twin Cities. Even this season when going to Target Field, you often will see people wearing Thome jerseys and T-shirts.

Now playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, Thome burned his former team last night. He homered and drove in four runs in a Philly victory.

I wasn’t watching the game that closely last night since I was in the office working. But according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a fan in the stands at Target Field threw Thome’s home run ball back onto the field.

Throwing home run balls hit by the opposing team is a common practice. So rather than focus on the act as it pertains to Thome, I’d rather speak to the issue in its entirety.

It’s stupid. I don’t understand it. What purpose does it serve to throw that ball back on the field? Do fans really think that throwing the ball back shows up the opposing team in any way?

The last Twins game I went to was last month. They were playing the Blue Jays, and Jose Bautista, predictably, hit two home runs (BTW, he’s now hit five in the last two games I’ve seen him play at Target Field!).

After hitting his second home run that night, a fan threw Bautista’s ball back onto the field toward the Twins left fielder. I had incredible seats, sitting in the third row in foul territory down the third-base line.

One of the ball guys stationed down the third-base line ran onto the field, retrieved Bautista’s home run ball, then turned in my direction and threw a one-hopper into the first row, right to a kid who was probably 10 years old. Made his day! He was beaming ear to ear the rest of the game.

And therein lies the answer as to what fans should really do. If you catch a home run ball, rather than throw it away, show some real courage. Give the baseball to a kid.

I’m making my return to work from vacation today after nearly two weeks off. I spent much of that time on the road with family and away from TV/internet, but still did the best I could to keep up with the sports world.

For example, I am notorious for being the most active owner in the fantasy baseball league I run. But I made few moves over the last two weeks.

But there is one move that I made that’s paid huge dividends: On the first day of my vacation, I signed R.A. Dickey.

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey pitched for the Minnesota Twins in 2009. Associated Press photo

You know the name. Hard to forget a name like R.A. Dickey.

On a few different occasions from 2007-09, he was property of the Minnesota Twins. I’ll explain in a moment.

Today, he is 9-1 with a 2.44 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched for the New York Mets and could be in line to START the All-Star Game in July.

Forget about Phil Humber – he of perfect game fame – being the one that got away for the Twins. Fans should really bemoan the loss of Dickey.

Dickey’s path in the big leagues has always been an unusual one. He initially signed with the Texas Rangers, where team physicians noticed during negotiations that he was missing an ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow of his throwing arm. Dickey has said, “Doctors look at me and say I shouldn’t be able to turn a doorknob without feeling pain.”

He pitched in the majors for Texas from 2001-06 while sporting a conventional repertoire of pitches. But in 2006, he decided to add a knuckleball, spending much of the season in the minors.

Dickey pitched in the Brewers organization in 2007, then signed with the Twins the following offseason. However, the Seattle Mariners selected Dickey in the Rule V draft after the Twins left him unprotected. The M’s retained his rights in 2008 before the Twins signed him again in 2009.

Dickey pitched in 35 games for the Twins in 2009, almost entirely in relief. His numbers weren’t exciting: 1-1, 4.62 ERA, 42 K, 64.1 IPs. He became a free agent again after that season, signed with the New York Mets, and has been quite good. In three seasons with the Mets, he has pitched in 70 games, compiling a 2.97 ERA with a 28-23 record.

It seemed during Dickey’s time with the Twins that he was viewed as a novelty by many outside the team. I don’t think anyone will blame a competitive Twins organization back then for not keeping him around. I certainly won’t.

But I was always intrigued, simply because you were looking at a guy that didn’t depend on the knuckleball to get to the majors. That’s what makes him different than almost every other knuckleballer that’s ever pitched. He had major league stuff – though not very successful stuff – before he added the knuckleball.

And Dickey sure has figured it out in New York. Here’s a stat: 23 of his last 24 starts have been quality starts. Twins sure could use that. It’ll be fun to see what he does on the big stage at the All-Star Game.

The Minnesota Twins may be coming off a sweep of the Oakland Athletics. But at 18-32, the Twins are still the worst team in the American League, 3.5 games behind the A’s and Kansas City Royals.

Minnesota definitely has the look of a seller when the trade deadline arrives in two months. And with the expanded postseason format, there probably won’t be too many teams selling, which should help the Twins get ample return for players in such a scarce market.

Denard Span‘s name is often thrown around the rumor mill. And even though he’s on the first year of a three-year deal, some believe Josh Willingham could be traded as well. Relievers like Matt Capps and Jared Burton could also fetch a return for Twins GM Terry Ryan.

But what about Justin Morneau? The former AL MVP hasn’t been the Morneau of old, but he’s still be pretty good, with nine homers in 34 games. He’s hitting just .244, but he’s still on a 30-homer pace if he can stay relatively healthy for the rest of the season.

And therein lies the big “if” when talking about Morneau’s trade value: health. He’s already been on the disabled list once this year with a sore left wrist. And there remains the concussion concerns stemming from the head injury he suffered in a second-base collision two years ago.

I don’t think the salary – whatever would be left of his $15 million for this season and another $15 million next season – would scare teams away. That’s a pretty short-term obligation, and there won’t exactly be a lot of power-hitting former MVPs available to teams chasing playoff spots.

But I think the injuries – even the worries over future injuries – could really hamper his value to the Twins. Would a team like the Toronto Blue Jays – who just shipped DH/1B Adam Lind away from the big league club – be interested in the slugging Canadian?

Two healthy months of hitting from Morneau going forward would benefit the Twins in more ways than one.