Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Spring Training Preview

Spring Training will arrive in full force today as exhibition games begin. Every team can put the 2008 season behind them once and for all. However, that could be tough to do for the Minnesota Twins. They came within one game of making the playoffs last year, but fell short in the tie-breaking game with Chicago. But we can’t dwell in the past, as today marks the start of what I think will be a very exciting year for the Twins.

There weren’t any off-season moves made until last week when the Twins signed Joe Crede to become their full-time third baseman. A lot of people are afraid his back problems will flair up during the season, but I have a feeling he will remain healthy all year and provide that right handed power that they desperately need. He will play his first game as Twin on Friday. The Twins just want to give him time to test out his back and get adjusted to the team before throwing him out there.

Despite the fact that the Twins only signed one bullpen arm this off-season, in Luis Ayala. I believe this was a good signing. Although he struggled last season, he has shown that he can be a decent 8th inning guy, if needed. The Twins and their fans also learned this week that Boof Bonser will be out for a while as he will have exploratory surgery on his shoulder. He had reported soreness towards the end of last season and he wanted to rest it during the winter and see how it was in Spring Training. So this makes the Ayala signing that much better.

With the World Baseball Classic back for its second go around, the Twins will be without a few key players this spring. This will give some prospects to show the fans and the front office a glimpse of the future. Some of the names that will be participating in the World Baseball Classic and thus not playing Spring Training games are: Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, Luis Ayala, Justin Morneau, and Nick Punto.

With Nathan, Crain and Ayala participating, this will set up a competition to see who might be capable of being part of the Twins bullpen. Another interesting note is that Twins Manager, Ron Gardenhire has speculated that he may go with just an 11-man pitching staff. So with the five starters set (Liriano, Baker, Blackburn, Perkins, and Slowey), this leaves 6 relief spots. But with Nathan, Crain, Ayala, Guerrier, Breslow set. This leaves that one spot with many candidates. So in my opinion, this will be the competition to watch this Spring.

Who starts in the outfield on Opening Day? That is a question many Twins fans have been wondering all winter. With the emergence of Denard Span last Spring, it will be very interesting to see if he can repeat that performance this year. The only difference is, he likely won’t be fighting Carlos Gomez for the center field job. I fully expect Carlos to be the Opening Day center fielder. This leaves left field and right field to be decided this Spring. There are three candidates for these two spots; Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, and Denard Span. With Cuddyer’s strong arm in right field, I would keep him there, assuming he gets the start on Opening Day.

Now the real decision comes in left field. Do you give it to Delmon Young, a right handed batter that has power potential? Or do you give it to Denard Span, who was a good lead-off hitter last year? I think Gardenhire will think this one over up until Opening Day. I think Span will win the job in the long run, but nothing is set in stone yet. We could very well see a platoon in left field with Delmon and Denard, but that is just an idea. So my guess is the outfield will be Span-Gomez-Cuddyer.

So there is a lot of interesting items to keep an eye on this Spring, but there is one piece that is very important. That would be the health of Joe Mauer. On Tuesday, he swung the bat for the first time since his procedure in December. He reported pain-free, which is a great sign, but expect the Twins to continue to take this at a day-by-day situation. Twins fans likely won’t see much of Joe this Spring, so this will open the door for fans to see Wilson Ramos. He is regarded as one of the Twins best hitting prospects. So it will be fun to watch what he will bring to the Twins when he eventually reaches the Majors.

These are the major storylines to follow during the Spring Training games. The Twins open against the Boston Red Sox tonight at 7:05 PM EST. Glen Perkins will get the start tonight.

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