Is Jim Thome Brett Favre?

Well no, of course not. He isn’t an arrogant, egotistical attention whore like Favre, but there is a chance, in my opinion, of his presence detracting from the team in his own way this season, just like Favre did in his second year back with a Minnesota team after a very successful first campaign in the Twin Cities.
Think back to last season, before the dreadful Morneau injury.  Delmon Young struggled. Jim Thome wasn’t much. Then Morneau got hurt and they both took off for the rest of the year. I assert that it was because of the regular playing time each player suddenly started to get. With Morneau in the lineup again, that means someone is going to be left on the bench. Who will it be?
I say it should be Michael Cuddyer. Cuddy is the logical choice, because he has so much versatility, but at the same time lacks so many components that his teammates excel at. If Thome is to be platooned, that would take out Young or Cuddyer, logically, when Thome is played. After Young’s season last year, it will be hard to sit him (for most people, but this is the Twins we are talking about). The other option is the same handed Jason Kubel who on the surface looks like the weakest of the three players.
Strange though it may sound, he isn’t. Cuddyer’s defense has been going downhill steadily, to the point that he and Kubel are approximately the same value in right field (that’s not a good thing) and both are less valuable than the faster Young (that’s definitely not a good thing). Kubel is also younger and has a better power bat than Cuddyer, who again is retrograding in that category. Despite Kubel’s low batting average, he is a better hitter overall with more potential.
Additionally, Cuddyer has a history of playing the three infield positions. If Gardenhire wanted to get creative and keep Cuddyer in the lineup, he could theoretically replace Danny Valencia or Tsuyoshi Nishioka as well and bring Cuddyer into the infield. This way, despite the detriment to the infield defense, nobody truly gets rusty.
Still, the best idea would be to have Thome platoon with Cuddyer and wait for someone to get hurt so everyone could get their regular playing time. I worry, though, that Thome’s return may be a problem, since it forces the team to get creative with the daily lineup. Thome’s return this year might just Favre up things for the Twins.