Who will be Center Field for the Minnesota Twins

I think every major league baseball team needs an off season cover story and the Minnesota Twins have several. First of all, will Johan Santana stay or go and second who will fill the spot at center field now that Torii Hunter moved to the west coast.

The Twins have a couple of options at center field . . .Michael Cuddyer just signed a pricey contract and Gardy may slide him over to center field and try to get as much out of him as we can or Craig Monroe would like to point out that he has 77 big-league games at the position as well or perhaps the Twins will fill the hole with youngster Delmon Young – heck, let’s just put Joe Mauer out there for fun. It will be an interesting Twins Spring Training year with so many round players and square holes that need to be filled.

Put me in coach, I’m ready to play!

Twins Fest 2008

There has been so much in the news about the Minnesota Twins that I haven’t even written about Twins Fest yet! Did anyone think that the attendance numbers seemed a little low this year? I guess there was an official Twins Fest attendance number of 30,483 fans. It was the third-highest total in event history. Maybe it seemed like a smaller crowd because last year was so crowded and it was the first year that I ever went so I expected every year to be like that.

There were plenty of players, many of which I could never pick out of a line up…perhaps I am not a true fan or perhaps they need better cheat sheets when you enter. My favorite part about TwinsFest is seeing all the youngsters in their Twins garb with big teethy smiles. My least favorite part about TwinsFest was viewing the new Twins ballpark display and thinking how over budget we are and how I will refuse to go to a game when the weather is nothing less than ideal – I still say it’s not too late to add a retractable roof (-;

Francisco Liriano is ready

With all the talk about Johan Santana staying or going, we must not forget Francisco Liriano is ready to stay and ready to pitch. He says his arm is strong. The Pioneer Press did a story on Liriano on Sunday and I think it was a reminder to Twins fans that we still have this “ace in the hole.” The PP answered questions surrounding Liriano’s return:

His velocity? "It's back. The past two weeks, I was (at) 95, 94 (mph)"
His endurance? "I'm throwing bullpens the same length as before surgery. I'm in shape."
His pitch selection? "I'm throwing all my pitches now. Sliders, changeups, everything - no problem."

Let’s go Twins…Is it Spring yet?

Twins sign Morneau and Cuddyer for big bucks

Well, Minnesota Twins signing news is still on the front burner of Minnesota Twins news. Last Thursday, I wrote about how happy I was that my Justin Morneau jersey wouldn’t be going to waste and now I can rest assured it will last me at least six years (that’s a pretty solid investment, Twins fans)

Justin Morneau signed a Twins record deal last weekend agreeing to $80 million over six years –that is the longest and richest in club history. It appears the Twins dollar squeezing days may be over…do you suppose the Twins read this blog? I was just talking about the need to secure key players in order to win a pennant race and you can’t do that unless you are willing to open the checkbook.

The Twins also signed Michael Cuddyer for $24 million over the next three years. I personally think that is a bit much, but time will tell. The Twins originally offered him $4.7 for next year (do the math $14.1 over three years) I am not sure what inspired the Twins to ante up the $8 million a year especially since my sources told me Michael Cuddyer was only looking for 6.2 million next year (do the math $18.6 over three years), but apparently the Twins wanted him to sign.

Let’s hope these hot hitters can propel the Twins into a pennant race and gain some excitement for a team that will soon have a new home field and let's hope they can help sell some Twins Tickets!

Twins payroll on the rise

As with any baseball team that tries to keep its core members together, the Minnesota Twins payroll keeps escalating to a higher price. The Twins signed Justin Morneau, Juan Rincon and Jason Kubel, all arbitration eligible players, and all of them got raises.

>>>> Justin Morneau will play in 2008 for $7.4 million

>>>> Jason Kubel will play for $1.3 million (1 million dollar raise)

>>>> Juan Rincon will make $2.475 million (about a half million more than his previous $2 million contract)

I was happy to see Justin Morneau signed on the dotted line…I didn’t want my Justin Morneau jersey to go to waste!

Other Twins still negotiating:

> Relief pitcher Matt Guerrier asking for $1.15 million (Twins offer $750,000)
> Michael Cuddyer is seeking $6.2 million in 2008 (Twins offered $4.7 million)

Twins need Budget Balance for success

Finding quality young players that you don’t have to pay as much is a difficult business, but it has been a business that the Minnesota Twins have been good at over the last decade or so. Now that the Twins have seen success in recent years, the team is trying to keep its players together.

Spending on proven players is not always the best route to take in major league baseball, but a team can’t be good with a bunch of no-names. I think if the Twins can balance out re-signing their best players with scouting hot new talent they can be very competitive over the next couple of years.

Will Twins get Phil Hughes?

If Twins pitcher Johan Santana goes, the Minnesota Twins will most likely receive Phil Hughes in a trade from the New York Yankees. Hughes is a 21-year-old right-hander who would make a fantastic addition to any pitching staff in the majors. He was 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA last season with the Yankees. The "ace" of the Twins pitching staff come opening day is still very much in the air! Hughes even has his own web site - this youngster reminds me a bit of our own Pat Neshek...

Santana in Florida joins Liriano

Johan Santana has arrived in Fort Myers, Florida to start his spring training workouts, but he still isn’t sure whose uniform he will be wearing come April. The Minnesota Twins are getting back Francisco Liriano this season from Tommy John surgery, but will he be enough to replace a Santana-sized void in the pitching rotation?

For Now, Santana is still a Twin, but he rejected the Twins four year, $80 million contract extension offer, meaning he wants to go elsewhere. If the Twins start the season with a one-two punch of Santana and Liriano like they had in 2006, they might have a hot start out of the gate, something that hasn’t happened for the Twins in recent years. This years Twins Spring Training should be interesting.

Twins Spring Training

It’s hard to think that it was already a month ago that I brought up this years Twins Spring Training. The Twins Spring Training Schedule has been released and Twins fans everywhere are gearing up to buy tickets to the best games like the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Tickets go on sale through the Twins office this Saturday, but I know local ticket brokers like Ticket King already have tickets for sale. Once again, I won’t be going this year, but a girl can dream…palm trees swaying in the gentle breeze, warm sun highlighting my hair, the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees in my sites…oh, what a dream…

Read about another Twin Cities blogger talking about Twins Spring Training! Every one has the fever!

Twins Fest is this month

The Minnesota Twins annual festival, TwinsFest, is scheduled for Friday, January 25 through Sunday, January 27, 2008, at the Metrodome. TwinsFest is always a great time for Twins fans to see their favorite players up close. The Festival boasts that more than 50 current, former and future Twins players are expected to appear throughout the course of the weekend. I looked at the list and I have to admit there is at least a dozen names on there that I would not be able to pick out of a lineup (Nick Blackburn? Carmen Cali?)

Of course the Minnesota Twins will use the annual festival to pump us up about the new ballpark and try to sell us single game Twins tickets to home games.

Bert Blyleven's not going to the Hall

The Bert Blyleven quest to join the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown will last at least another year. The National Baseball Hall of Fame election results were announced this afternoon, and for the 11th straight year, Blyleven did not receive enough votes for induction. He did, however, receive his highest percentage of Hall of Fame votes since making the list. He was picked on 61.9 percent of the ballots (336 votes), but he needs 75% to make the Hall.

In fact, only one player was chosen from the ballot by the 543 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. After nine years on the ballot, reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage received 85.8 percent (466 votes) to finally earn selection.

Other vote getters that I found interesting:
Jack Morris 233 42.9%
Mark McGwire 128 23.6%
David Justice 1 0.2%
Chuck Knoblauch 1 0.2%

All is not quiet in Twins office

The Minnesota Twins office has been buzzing as visions of spring training are near and the annual Twins festival TwinsFest is even nearer. The Twins are still taking offers for Johan Santana with the hope that a deal can be done before they report to Fort Myers. The Twins are looking to get a superstar center fielder and top pitching prospect back in return for Santana. If Santana is indeed moved, then the focus of trade rumors likely will shift to Joe Nathan who is also in the final year of his contract. I hope the Twins don’t get too trade happy and leave the pitching staff with nothing.

Knoblauch on Fame Ballot

I guess George Mitchell's report on performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball is not all that big of a deal. The news of the report has vanished out of the media and I see that one of the offenders even made it on to the Hall of Fame ballot…Chuck Knoblauch. This is Knobbers first time on the ballot and it will be interesting to see if the voters take into consideration the steroid use report or even the fact that Chuck Knoblauch has been a no-threat player for the past 10 years. Sure in the mid 90’s Chuck Knoblauch was hall of fame material, but the Chuck Knoblauch of late may not be.