R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Mark Sheldon at mlb.com writes that Kyle Lohse hurt a finger on his pitching hand while hitting some doors in the clubhouse after Ron Gardenhire pulled him after 2 innings, trailing 5-2, in Tuesday's loss to Texas. In "You Should See the Other Guy" news: the damage included a dent in the manager's office door.

Uh-oh.

As if that weren't enough to test the business relationship between manager and employee, Lohse escalated the tension by complaining to reporters after the game, "I would have liked to have somebody stand behind me and say, 'We've got your back, go out there and shut them down from here on. That didn't happen today, so whatever."

Oh, now it's ON!

"It's too bad you have to read stuff like that in the newspaper," Gardenhire said. "Don't have your back? I think I've had his back for three years.

"It's about winning. If you don't understand that, take a hike out of the clubhouse."

Gardenhire said he still hadn't spoken to Lohse about Tuesday night's incident.

"I have nothing to say," the manager said. "I don't have his back, so what do you want me to say?"

It's OK, Gardy. "I think I've had his back for three years" will suffice for now.

Kyle, did you not notice what happened to Luis Rivas when he took it for granted that he was a Made Man just because the club let him wear the uniform for 4+ years? Granted, you have not been such a consistent embarrassment to the uniform as Rivas has been, but since when does a career mark of 48-51, 4.77 ERA, and 1.43 WHIP entitle a pitcher not to get yanked after giving up 5 easy in the first couple frames of the game? Man, batters are hitting .300/.341/.470 off you this year. And you want to throw tantrums and rip the manager in the press because he doesn't give you the deference due to an Ace?

Kyle, have you met Francisco Liriano? Behold the face of the future. He'll be having your job soon enough.

I've said before that Lohse should be on the trading block because of his due salary increase next year, and the fact that he often has trouble getting through a batting order more than once or twice, but now it really has to happen, don't you think? His walking papers have been all but signed by Kyle himself, marked with that dent in Gardy's door. Imagine what must go through the manager's mind every morning when he comes to work and sees that dent before he's even had his first cup of coffee. I wonder if Gardy would like to have it fixed or if he'd prefer to keep the reminder awhile.

Lohse didn't clear waivers in August, so we know at least one team must have an interest in him. Ship him out by Thanksgiving, and apply that $4 million salary to some better use, like upgrading the offense.