Twins start Spring Training Games

The Twins take the field in their first Twins Spring Training game today. The Twins will take on the Cincinnati Reds at 1pm in Sarasota, Florida (about 90 minutes from Ft Myers). I hope our local news stations will cover the game and give us some live highlights tonight on the news. I am excited to see the Twins on the field actually playing a game and not just doing the electric slide shuffle on the field as a workout!

Any bets if I could make it to the game if I left right now? If I had a private jet, it would be close. You can still get Twins Tickets to the game online. If it were me, I would like to see the Twins Red Sox game this Saturday. Too bad I will be at Bloomington Jefferson judging high schoolers on their public speaking abilities. I think I will award extra speaker points to any speaker who mentions the Minnesota Twins or uses the word twin or baseball or even spring…because Twins Spring Training is where my body will wish to be!

Francisco Liriano in Ft Myers 2/27

Twins Pitcher Francisco Liriano finally made it to Twins Spring Training in Ft Myers, Florida…9 days late. Liriano cleared up his visa issues and strolled into camp. He is excited to get going and many Twins players, fans and the Twins coaches are eager to see what can do after being off for 16 months. This Minnesota Twins fan still has hope that Francisco Liriano can be the silver bullet this year for the Minnesota Twins, because like catcher Mike Redmond said, “…we need him. I mean, we NEED him. Bad”

Twins Spring Training

The Pioneer Press has the best Minnesota Twins Spring Training blog ever, I love this blog – check it out! If I can’t be there myself, then I guess I have to read about it (-:

http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/

Francisco Liriano Status

Ok, this Minnesota Twins fan must be living in a fantasy world. I had visions of Francisco Liriano swooping in to save the day and that at the end of this season, every Twins fan would be saying, “Johan who?”

But I read over at the PP that Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire sees it differently. In fact after reading Gardenhires comments regarding Francisco Liriano, I am not sure I want to buy too many Twins Tickets if I can’t count on a solid pitching rotation. Perhaps I am just being too emotional and I should wait until the completion of Spring Training to make my verdict on this year’s Twins pitchers. Let’s also hope Francisco can stay sober enough to make it through the season – remember that DUI charge that's holding him up.

Twins centerfield position debate should be second to Twins Pitching

It seems every one is anxious to determine who is going to be the Minnesota Twins centerfielder, but this Minnesota Twins fan still thinks that decision should take a back seat to who is on the Minnesota Twins pitching rotation.

I have heard several reports that youngster Carlos Gomez really wants the position, but he will have to battle Denard Span and Jason Pridie at the least to get the center spot. Looking over the 40 man roster…there isn’t a single player on there who has ever played the centerfield position full time in the MLB…it could be an interesting year.

Carlos Gomez Fact: Gomez signed withe the Mets when he was 16...do you suppose they had any child labor law issues??? hmmmm....

Boof Bonser on my radar

When looking through my Minnesota Twins blog, I can see I wrote a number of posts about Twins pitcher Boof Bonser, either I loved him or I loathed him. He was on my fantasy team last year and it helped me a few times because he was a bit of a dark horse and he had a few solid showings, but overall the season was not stellar for Bonser. This year will probably be no different…in regards to my articles, I mean, and my fantasy team, but I would expect Boof Bonser to be a better and more consistent pitcher.

Bonser has lost 20 pounds, and better to look at is always just better in this Minnesota Twins fan book, and he seems more mature and dedicated to his career. He is setting goals of pitching 7 or 8 innings instead of just 4 or 5. I guess time will tell, but I am glad to have Boof Bonser on my team!

Minnesota Twins Spring Training

Minnesota Twins Spring training is finally here! Minnesota Twins Spring Training is finally here! Minnesota Twins Spring Training is finally here! Yes, I am excited. The countdown is officially over.

Twins Tickets for Sale

One of my buddies decided to buy a Twins season ticket package just to get his name on the priority list for the new Twins ballpark. He bought a pair of tickets in section 132 row 15. He bought the Gold Glove package which is a group of pretty good games including the Saturday June 28th match-up vs the Milwaukee Brewers which happens to be mini-Michael Cuddyer Wind-Up Walker night! I have sat in section 132 before and they are great seats. In fact, 132 and 133 are some of my favorite seats because you are right by the Twins dugout and you get great views of the Twins players warming up.

My buddy decided he wanted to get rid of some of the Twins tickets to help with the expense so he tried calling local ticket broker Ticket King. The Ticket King rep said they would pay face value for the Red Sox, Yankees or Brewers game, but that they weren’t interested in anything else at this time. I guess Twins ticket demand is down…do you suppose it is because the Twins lost two of their stars and Twins fans don’t remember that we still have the super stars of Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan? I am guessing that if the Twins come out of the gate and win a few in a row, Twins tickets will become a lot more valuable. Anyone care to comment?

Spring Training post-Santana era

The Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers will be reporting for their first workout less than a week away (report: Feb 17th, practice: Monday Feb 18th) in Ft Myers, Florida. It’s hard to believe that Minnesota Twins Spring Training is so close. In this Twins post-Santana era, all eyes will be on left-hander Francisco Liriano and his health and performance. He says he is 100% ready to go, but coming back from such a tough injury it is often difficult to maintain that 100%. The biggest question will be, can Francisco Liriano make it through the entire Twins season healthy and ready to take down batters on a whim?!?! Time will tell...

We will miss you Johan

There is no doubt in my mind that Minnesota Twins fans will miss their ace. I can’t help but remember another big Mets trade the Twins made with Frank Viola. That trade paid off big and ultimately led us to be the 1991 World Champions – remember Rick Aguilera? We couldn’t have done it without him

Here is a quote from Gardy about missing Johan:
"Absolutely, we're going to miss him," Ron Gardenhire said. "I wish him nothing but success. He's been a very, very good player for us, and a very good person and friend. Honestly, I can just say that I'm proud to have had an opportunity to manage him."

I wonder if this Minnesota Twins Tickets site will take Johan off the roster list any time soon? Do you suppose they will move him to a Twins Great? Nah!

The centerfield competition continues to heat up

The list of potential Minnesota Twins Centerfielders just keeps getting longer. With the Johan Santana trade complete, the Twins picked up 22 year old Carlos Gomez from the Mets. Gomez is expected to compete for the opening in center field left by Torii Hunter's departure, and could provide the team with an option for the leadoff spot. Hmmm…..

The centerfield competition continues to heat up

The list of potential Minnesota Twins Centerfielders just keeps getting longer. With the Johan Santana trade complete, the Twins picked up 22 year old Carlos Gomez from the Mets. Gomez is expected to compete for the opening in center field left by Torii Hunter's departure, and could provide the team with an option for the leadoff spot. Hmmm…..

Twins trade Santana

Well it is official; Johan Santana is no longer a Minnesota Twin. After passing his physical, Santana became an official member of the New York Mets. In exchange for Santana, the Twins acquired four prospects: outfielder Carlos Gomez and right-handers Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. The Mets and Santana agreed on a six-year contract that includes a guaranteed $137.5 million and features a seventh-year, $25 million vesting option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout.

We have been talking about a potential Johan Santana trade for months and this Minnesota Twins fan is not sure the Twins made the best deal. I guess time will tell if the prospects will pan out. Santana's contract is the largest contract for a pitcher in baseball history and his average annual salary of $22.5 million ranks second in baseball, trailing only Alex Rodriguez $27.5 million salary. Can you believe it? Santana and ARod in the same tax bracket!

The Twins offered up to as much as five years and $100 million to Santana, but he held out and it paid it off…big...I guess.

Twins Super Bowl Ad

Like millions of Americans, I was tuned into the Super Bowl on Sunday. It was one of the best Super Bowls I have ever personally watched and I enjoyed the tight competition and the fact that the New York Giants came out victoriously. Way to go Eli! Every time the Giants looked spectacular and Eli Manning completed a laser sharp pass, I kept thinking to myself, my Minnesota Vikings beat them! I was waiting for Troy or someone to mention the fact that the Giants were embarrassed by a few teams this year, not just the Vikings in their trek to the Super Bowl, but in the end I guess the Giants got the last laugh.

Speaking of laughs, I got a little chuckle out of the Minnesota Twins Super Bowl ad. It was the first 2008 "This is Twins Territory" ad and was only shown locally. It was fun to see Justin and Joe and good ‘ol TK make an appearance in a Super Bowl ad! Way to hit the big time Twins!