Red Squadron was the legendary flight of X-Wing pilots who fought in the Battle of Yavin. Red Squadron featured the likes of Wedge Antilles, Luke Skywalker, and Jek Porkins. While two of those three went on to have exceptional careers with the Rebellion, mostly because the rest of them were blown up, one memorable member crashed and burned on the surface of the Death Star.

"I've got a problem here." - Jek

"Eject." – Biggs Darklighter (#RIP)

"I can hold it." - Jek

"Pull up!" - Biggs

"No, I'm all—Aargh!" – Jek (#RIP)

I can only visualize the Twins’ season as Jek Porkins’ futility in trying to get his X-Wing from becoming a pock mark on the Death Star. While Red Squadron eventually *SPOILER ALERT* blew up the Death Star, it doesn’t seem like the Twins will be on the winning side in a while. Overconfidence in the offseason has led to another season of abominable Twins baseball.

As someone who doesn’t have TV service or easy access to Target Field, I’ve been living vicariously through radio broadcasts, highlights, and recaps this season. I don’t live far enough away to use MLB TV properly, and I’m not going through the nightmare of changing my IP address again. Not that I would do such a thing, because that’s illegal…

I also don’t have much of a desire to go to the games this year either. Even my father, another Twins baseball diehard, wants to go to CHS Field and see the Saints for his belated Father’s Day gift. I guess that happens when your team is in #TotalSystemFailure.

Things are bleak across Twins Territory. Outside of a decent series against another awful team (the Phillies), the Twins have looked just as bad. That adds to the four previous seasons of failure. Relying on the younger players hasn’t played out nearly as well as anyone would’ve hoped. Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, Duffey, May, Meyer, Berrios, and Sano have all struggled at the major league level this year. Granted, a few of them are still “young,” but the others are not. That’s a troubling sign.

John Ryan Murphy has not figured it out, even at Triple-A Rochester. Oswaldo Arcia has been designated for assignment. The Twins have called almost everyone up that is even remotely ready for a shot at the majors. Not good news considering the putrid seasons the veterans have been putting in. The starting rotation is a complete clusterf*ck, the bullpen might have better chances using a pitching machine, and the guys who hit the ball, aren’t.

When you have to look at Eduardo Nunez and Kurt Suzuki as two of the better players this year, you know things are not looking up. That’s not a knock on what either of these two players has done this year. Nunez was supposed to have this potential when he was with the Yankees, and it never materialized. The question remains if Eduardo will be able to keep this trend up for the season. Suzuki’s use of the “axe bat” has shown promise to turn around the offensively deficient catcher, which is good news for everyone. While Kurt isn’t getting any younger, the question raised is: Will the Twins extend, trade, or let Suzuki walk during/after the season? As of now, it doesn’t look like there are better options to challenge the Flyin’ Hawaiian.

Hot starts from Joe Mauer and Byung-Ho Park have since cooled off. Joe will find playing time because he’s a threat to get on base, even if he isn’t hitting well. My brother however, is seeing a little less playing time as the struggles of being a major league hitter have caught up to him. Park still leads the Twins with 12 home runs, and his only competition has been the streaky, and injured, Miguel Sano. Hell, even Mauer has seven home runs on the season, putting him fifth on the team this season in out of the park power.

The injuries to Plouffe, Gibson, and Perkins right out of the gate didn’t help this team. The returns of Gibson and Plouffe haven’t helped much either. Sano has been a liability defensively, and hasn’t shown the hitting prowess that makes up for his defensive inadequacies. There are more relievers with two wins, than starters (and I don’t like wins as a stat), but I think it illustrates the ineffectiveness of the starting pitchers. The Twins have used twenty-three pitchers this season. Twenty. Three. That definitely says something about their lack of urgency to upgrade pitching.

The Twins are not making the playoffs this year unless A) All of the other teams in the AL Central literally die or 2) They can play the Phillies the remainder of the season. Never forget the lesson we learned from Jek Porkins’ overconfidence. It would be wise to start looking towards 2017 and beyond, before overconfidence in this team turns into a full blown rebuild.