Watching the Twins this season, we all got the feeling that, even in the midst of an awful, awful display of baseball, one individual performance stood out. This one player did things with the bat that we couldn’t believe. He posted numbers that were so out of the ordinary that they couldn’t be ignored. Obviously, I’m talking about Drew Butera.

As the season is officially over, I figured it was time to put his amazing season in historical perspective. Since Drew was given around 250 plate appearances, I decided to check out how he stacked up against the worst the last ten seasons had to offer. I came away shocked.  Drew Butera did not post the lowest OPS in baseball this year among players with 250 plate appearances. Let me repeat: Drew Butera did not post the lowest OPS in baseball this year among players with 250 plate appearances.

Drew Butera had posted an OPS 80 points lower than anyone in the last ten years with that many opportunities. Yet somehow, Reid Brignac, on a playoff team, undercut him. 

For your entertainment, I also listed a few notably terrible seasons of other Twins I ran across. Note that in 2007, the season where most of the collective disdain for Punto was developed, his OPS was 113 points higher than Butera’s 2011 number.

What did this research offer in terms of real solutions for the 2012 Minnesota Twins? It’s pretty simple. Acquire Reid Brignac at all costs. He’s the only one that can stop Drew Butera.