Goodbye, Craig Breslow!

When I'm following a sports team, I usually pick a favorite. It's usually someone who's less well-known and someone I think I would like as a person even if they weren't on my sports team.

Since mid-last summer, my favorite Twin has been Craig Breslow. He's a lefty middle-reliever, comes in for an inning or two every few games. Some outings are better than others, and he's bounced all over the league and in and out of the minors. He seemed like a good underdog, and when I discovered that he'd graduated from Yale and his backup plan if baseball didn't work out was med school, he was a shoo-in to be my favorite.

Of course, the problem with underdogs is that there's risk. If Justin Morneau is your favorite, you know he'll be playing first base nearly every game and that he'll be on the team til 2014. If Craig Breslow is your favorite, you spend the middle innings of every game scanning the bullpen to see if #49 is warming up.

And, of course, you worry about him getting . The A's apparently don't have a lefty reliever so perhaps he will see more playing time. On the one hand, the A's have the philosophy and history of recognizing potential and I think his chance of success is greater with an organization like that. On the other hand, I now have to pick a new favorite Twin.