Twins position players
By Tom Grout
March 27, 2008
The Minnesota Twins will start their season on Monday and the roster seems to be set. The great thing about opening day is that everybody is in first place before the last pitch is thrown. Hope springs eternal as all the teams’ dream of World Series rings and pay checks.
Let’s take a look and the position players on the opening day roster of our Minnesota Twins. This is just the opening day roster and will change many times before the season is over but here it is as it stands now.
Catchers-Joe Mauer and Mike Redmond. Mauer says he feels great this spring and his play has shown that. He is hitting the ball like he did a couple years ago when he won the batting title. Joe’s health is always suspect but we all know what a healthy Mauer can do and I am predicting a big year for him in 2008. Redmond is just the best backup catcher in baseball and a great leader on the field, in the dugout, and in the clubhouse. Enough said.
First base-Justin Morneau. Justin is now a very wealthy young man after signing his big contract this winter. He has had two very good seasons and although he has struggled a little this spring I’m sure he will put up similar numbers. This year he will be surrounded by better hitters so he could be in for a very good year.
Secondbase-Brendan Harris. Harris came to the Twins from the Rays in a trade. He had some pretty good offensive numbers with the Rays last year and the Twins are hoping for a repeat. Harris hit 35 doubles last year which is intriguing to me as he plays in the Metrodome and should be more pop from a Twins second baseman in awhile. Supposedly his defense is suspect but I would like to see him play before I give any takes on that.
Shortstop-Adam Everett-Don’t expect a lot of offense from Everett but that’s not why he is here. He is here because he is one of the best fielding shortstops in baseball which will be invaluable for our young pitching staff. He will also help out the rest of the infield. The Twins should score more runs with the rest of the order so they should be able to afford the luxury of a good fielding shortstop.
Third base-Mike Lamb. I already like this guy because he has a great dry sense of humor which will make him a fan favorite this year. If he chunks a few at third base that favoritism may fade quickly, but I think he will be ok defensively. One thing he can do is hit and that will be a vast improvement at that position especially over last year.
Left Field-Delmon Young-Young was acquired in the trade with the Rays for Garza and Bartlet. I am real excited about this guy. He is only 22 yrs. old and has a tremendous upside. Locking in Morneau, Cuddyer, and Mauer along with having this guy in the lineup, the Twins future looks bright. Young will make the Torii Hunter exodus easier to handle for fans as he will eventually out hit Hunter.
Right Field-Michael Cuddyer-Cuddyer has one of the best throwing arms in the league and so does Young so teams will not be running on the Twins. As a hitter Cuddyer does strike out a lot but he does drive in runs and when he is hot he can carry a team. He is also a great team leader and after his new contract I expect a 20 home run 100 RBI season from Cuddyer.
Center Field-Carlos Gomez-Now talk about exciting. This guy is going to drive you nuts one minute by rookie mistakes, then totally awesomeize (is that a word?) you the next minute. This guy can fly and if he can get on base enough he well create havoc on the base paths and will make everyone else in the lineup better. He also is a young guy which again bodes well for the future of the team
DH-Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe-I’m not sure why a lot of people are down on Kubel but there are a lot of them. I am not one of them. Kubel may not have a lot of speed and may not be the best outfielder but he can hit. He actually had better minor league numbers than Morneau and Mauer until a major knee injury stopped his progress. The knee issue should be over now so if Kubel is ever going to make it, this will have to be the year. The best part of Monroe being a Twin is that we don’t have to face him. He has been a huge Twin killer in the past when he played for Detroit. He will complement Kubel at the DH spot and will be able to fill in at any outfield position and should be a good pinch hitter from the bench.
Utility players-Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert. If Punto stays a utility player that will be fine, but if he breaks into the starting lineup that would be bad. First of all he can’t hit and second of all if he becomes a starter it means that one of the starters is hurt or has failed to play. Gardy loves this guy for some reason, probably because he was a no hit utility player himself. Punto can be valuable as a utility player though much in the same way Al Newman was back in the day. Tolbert has made the team, in my opinion, because Gardy isn’t sold on Harris’ defense and Everett’s bat. I would rather see a power guy off the bench like the Twins have had in the past like Randy Bush and Matt LeCroy. How many times did these guys come up with a big pinch hit home run in a game. But as utility players these guys are fine. Randy Ruiz and John Knott would have been a more interesting choice for me to be on the bench.
This years Twins team will score more runs than last year. There are some pretty good Major League hitters in this lineup so it should be very entertaining. They have some speed at the front with Gomez and Mauer looks like he will bat second so with his on base percentage it should set up our big boppers in the middle of the lineup. If the Twins get the injury bug with the position players they could be in trouble because I don’t see a lot of backup help but Brian Buscher, Randy Ruiz, John Knott, Alexi Casilla, and Denard Span aren’t too bad.
Again, the Twins will score more runs than last year but that really isn’t saying much. Many times the Twins had Punto, Redmond, and Jason Tyner in the same lineup with Redmond and Tyner doing a lot of the DHing. This year the lineup should be stronger all the way through but will it be enough to beat Detroit and Cleveland? We will see. Right now we are tied for first.
Later I will look at the pitching staff.
I am still very impressed with Detroit's lineup so I still don't think we can keep up but this can be a very fun year. There seems to be a lot of characters who could make it fun. Gomez is quite a speciman. People are down on the pitching but the relief corp is top-notch. The starters will miss Santana but in no way will they miss Silva if you ask me. Garza had not stood out so there are other pitchers to take his place. We're so much better at DH and third base. I think we'll be fine and if a few things turn right, we'll be excellent. If Harris and Lamb can hit, Young plays to what it looks like he can, and if Boof and Baker are good, we will have a good time. There are some "ifs" there but not unattainable.
One question,... the Fargo/Moorhead RedHawks had a player named Johnny Knott play for them a couple years ago, is this the same guy? I listen to Redhawk games but never saw him play in person.
I'm starting to get into my busy season Tommy Boy so I probably won't be able to write in as much but I will keep checking your blog so please keep up the great work!
Randy, good luck with your busy season and I will miss your commentary. By the way this is NOT the same John Knott as was with the Redhawks.
I pretend that it is the same Johnny KNOTT!
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