Nick Punto is finally gone. No longer will a prolonged Twins rally be snuffed out by Punto walking into the batters box. Yes, there will be moments when he's missed, usually when the Twins are in the field, but for everything that's been said about Nick Punto this is never mentioned: he's the best utility player the Twins have ever had. So who was he up against to gain such a lofty title? When the dust settles there are only two that can be considered in Punto's league: Cesar Tovar and Al Newman. Tovar played everywhere, stole bases and even struck out Reggie Jackson once, Al Newman was the utility infielder for two World Championship Twins teams. A few old time fans may say Tovar is better, but Pat Reusse told me via Twitter Punto beats out Tovar by a tick and since I never saw Tovar play I'll take his word for it. Now some may equate being the Twins best utility player to finishing 4th in the Olympic Trials, but there's more value in it than that. The value is he'll be remembered.
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