One Joe in another Joe out.

Today has been a very busy day for the Twins and Joes alike.

Early this morning, Joe Nathan played catch in an undisclosed location. He felt soreness in his arm. The decision was made that Nathan will have season ending Tommy-John Surgery. Twins remain in talks with the Padres for closer Heath Bell.

Around 5 PM Central time, Joe Christensen reported that Joe Mauer had signed an 8/184 deal that includes a full no-trade clause. The press conference will be tomorrow at 6PM on Fox Sports North.

Two questions remain with the signing of this deal:

A) Should the Twins trade Wilson Ramos?

Of course not! Ramos adds depth to the backstop. He will both help the team and prolong Joe Mauer's career.

B) What grade do the Twins get this off season?

A!!! In my opinion this may be the best Twins off season ever. Mauer, Span, Blackburn , Thome , Hudson , Hardy and Condrey the team added to an already powerful team. Look for the Twins to win the division and contend in the playoffs.

Want to hear some Twins talk on a Saturday morning?
Tune in to my podcast at 10AM. Feel free to call in with a question or get into the chat room and discuss.

I will have on Patrick Matteson of www.mobydictionary.webs.com , Shawn Berg of ontheroadwithshawn.blogspot.com, John Meyer of twinsmvb.com and Andrew Kneeland from twinstarget.com

Joe Bronk will co host with me again. Check out his new site at http://joeslittlebigleague.blogspot.com/

Call-in Number: 1(646) 727-1345
Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dwthegreat/2010/03/20/question-marks

I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

Yippee! The Twins finally spent money this off-season! Super! We got some players most baseball lovers have actually heard of! J.J. Hardy! Jim Thome! Orlando Hudson! It's great to be a Twins fan. There is one thing we forgot though... the outfield. The Twins have 3 outfielders on their active roster. These three are Denard Span,Delmon Young, and Micheal Cuddyer. We also have Jason Kubel, however he is listed as a DH.


That makes me scared, very scared. Micheal Cuddyer has missed many games over the last few seasons with a bevy of injuries. This places Jason Kubel in right field. That is a massive liability. What if Denard Span gets injured? That is as, if not more, scary, as we do not have another player who can play center field. This places Nick Punto or whoever else we can round up in center, which leaves Brendan Harris or Matt Tolbert at the starting third baseman, full time. I'm not saying Punto should be the starting third baseman, but I really don't have the greatest faith in any of the three on their own.


This leads us to finding another outfielder. We are currently projected to have 13 or 12 pitchers, pending Joe Nathan (which looks bleak.) Either way, that's borderline for too many early in the season. We need another outfielder on the roster. But our options are limited. We picked up Jacque Jones, who will be thirty-five this year, and plays right field and can probably play left when called upon. We also have the biggest thing in the farm system waiting to come up in centerfielder Ben Revere who will be 21. As a wild card we also have Rene Tosoni, a right fielder, who will be 23, who just might have a shot.


Any of the three could be brought up if Cuddyer or Young go down. But what if Denard gets injured? Jacque Jones will not be able to play, as Young, Cuddyer, and Kubel will not play center, and neither can Jones. Tosoni can play center, but I don't know if anyone wants to put it in his hands. This leaves Ben Revere, who has the skills to do it, but at 21, I'm not positive he is ready.


Any way you look at it, it's not a great situation. If worse comes to worse, we could go into the free agent pool, as 28 year old RF/LF Wili Mo Pena and 36 year old all around OF Darin Erstad are left without a team, but neither would fill the void left by Denard Span. But who knows? I sure don't.

The Twins get Denarded

As reported on Twin-Keys, the Twins have signed Denard Span to a five year deal worth 16.5 million dollars. This is great but let's get the Mauer deal done.

Hear is being broken on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dwthegreat/2010/03/13/countdown-to-opening-day

Podcast 3/13/10

Want to hear some Twins talk before the first televised game of the year? Listen to my radio show from 10AM-11AM this morning. Guests will include Jeffery Schwenn of http://twinszealot.blogspot.com/, TJ DeSantis, who produces The Show with Seth Stohs , Fanatic Jack of http://fanaticjacktalkstwins.blogspot.com/ and Andrew Kneeland of http://www.twinstarget.com/ . My co-host, Joe Bronk, has a new site that can be found at http://joeslittlebigleague.blogspot.com. Feel free to chime in on the chat or call in.Can't listen today at 10? You can always download the podcast.


Call-in Number: 1(646) 727-1345
Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dwthegreat/2010/03/13/countdown-to-opening-day


I was also on Fanatic Jack's podcast last night. If you are interested you can check it out here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jack-steal/2010/03/13/24-days

The first Twins game that is televised is today. Tune at 12 Noon on FSNorth.

Third Base: The Lost Art

Well, third base, what can I say? There is a lot to say about this "position." I hope we can all remember days when there were these mythical beings still existed. Troy Glaus, Adrian Beltre, Chipper Jones, even Corey Koskie could be included in that mix. But unfortunately, the days of the strong armed, power-hitting, slow, and questionable in the field third basemen are over. I mean just look at the Twins. No third basemen on their projected active roster. Not one. You might say "But we have plenty of third basemen!" What I say to that is, who are you talking about?

Nick Punto? He has no position, and if you want to put him somewhere, you'd say he was a second baseman at his true position. Matt Tolbert? Nope, sorry, shortstop. Micheal Cuddyer? Uh, no, far from it. Yes, he may have started at it for us, but he has also been our starting right fielder,as well as playing left fielde, second baseman, and first baseman. Brendan Harris is probably the closest thing we have to a third baseman; however he is also a second baseman and shortstop.

Now of those four players, none of them is a true third baseman, nor does any play like one. In that group, we have three middle infielders/ utility men and an outfielder/first baseman. Which will play third for us? All of them. Which will play a different position between times they play third? All of them.

But you can't blame them; it's just the way the game has become. Even the top third baseman in the game right now is a shortstop convert. The Twins tried to get a hold of one of the last real third basemen last year with Joe Crede, but that didn't fizzle out. The fact is the third basemen of old are dead and gone. If the Twins wanted to go after a new third baseman, their options would include an aging Adrian Beltre,an aged Aaron Boone, who is past his prime, which was never that great in the first place. They could attempt to snag Troy Glaus, who is very questionable, recovering from an injury.

And with the talk of Joe Mauer possibly leaving the catcher position, people have been speculating either him or Justin Morneau playing third, I'd have to say that it may work, but I have serious doubts about it. It may solve the problems, or it may make it much, much worse. The best bet is to just live with what we've got, because wash-ups almost always never cut it and switching too many positions around is never good. The best thing we have is to ride the trend until we find something in the Twins’ vast farm system that can resolve this.

Q&A with Anderson Hidalgo

Here is a Q&A I had with Twins infield prospect Anderson Hidalgo.


Dw
When was the first time you played baseball?

Anderson Hidalgo
I first played baseball when I was 4 years old.

Dw
Growing up, did you play any other sport?

Anderson
I played basketball and soccer.

Dw
What do you do when you're not playing baseball?

Anderson
I run to gym.

Dw
When do you start preparing for the season?

Anderson
Thursday ( March 11)
I'm still here in Venezuela

Dw
What are your goals for the season? Where would you like to play, and is there an area you would like to make improvement in?

Anderson
I like to play in double A. That's my goal and to reach the big leagues

Dw
What is the best part of your career in baseball?

Anderson
Since I have signed

Dw
Who was your favorite player to watch when you were growing up? What team did you grow up watching and cheering for?

Anderson
Derek Jeter
Minnesota Twins


Dw
What is the hardest of your career in baseball?

Anderson
When the team is losing and when we go through slumps

Dw
What is your greatest achievement so far?

Anderson
Climbing through the minor leagues

Dw
What is the hardest part of being a thirdbaseman?

Anderson
We must be agile

Dw
If you weren't a third basemen, where would you play?

Anderson
Shortstop

Dw

Is there a pitch you like to hit?

Anderson
Fastball and sliders

Dw
Is there a player, past or present, which you would compare yourself to?

Anderson
Ronny Beliar
Nick Punto
Manny Ramirez

Dw
Why do compare with them?

Anderson
They play with class and style