Let Alexi Casilla Be Himself

So Alexi Casilla is going to start at either second base or shortstop when the Twins open the 2011 season. I guess I can live with that, even though I feel JJ Hardy was a better option with a better bat, better glove, better arm... OK, Alexi Casilla can be successful, but he has to be allowed to play everyday. Ron Gardenhire has a tendency with Casilla to push the abort button far too quickly. He can't do that this year. Nick Punto is gone and Matt Tolbert can't be justified as being better than Casilla in anyway. Gardenhire needs to let Casilla become piranha-like: annoying and quick. He has to bunt, chop at the ball and become an aggressive base stealer. Casilla's been successful in 35 of 39 stolen base attempts in the majors (90% success rate). In the minors he stole 164 bases in 220 attempts (75% success rate, hey, he was still learning). Let him run, let him steal 40+ bases, let him irritate teams this year. I seem to remember Twins executives and the manager explaining how they wanted more speed on the team. Casilla can be that speed guy as long as he's allowed to play and even make some mistakes. Alexi Casilla deserves this full time opportunity, let's hope the plug doesn't get pulled on him too soon.