On TV, it’s “Hockey Day in Minnesota.” There’s a winter weather advisory. Flurries have coated our sidewalk in white, again.

Baseball season? It seems half-a-world away. But the Twins’ equipment truck left the Metrodome for Fort Myers on Friday, and the Star Tribune baseball department has had five planning meetings about our spring training coverage.

One week from tomorrow, the Twins’ pitchers and catchers report, and La Velle and I will be there, giving you all the news and analysis, with Souhan and Reusse swooping into camp for long stretches.

Torii, Johan and Silva are gone, but this is an interesting time to be a local baseball writer, as we have several new faces to introduce, profile and analyze.

We’ll start with Delmon Young. He lives in Camarillo, Calif., and I spent a few days out there, getting to know him for this Sunday profile. Young feels like a changed person from the one who tossed his bat at an umpire in 2006, and the folks around him agree.

He turned 22 in September, and the trade from Tampa Bay to Minnesota seemed to come at the perfect time. I was out there when the Santana trade went down, and Young didn’t miss a beat, as he continued to talk excitedly about his new team’s chances.

“You know, this team’s capable of getting into the playoffs,” he said. “People may doubt us this year because we don’t have a big star, but there’s always somebody on these teams that becomes the next ace, the next No. 2, the next closer, the next center fielder.

“That’s why I’m excited about this season because we don’t have the expectations. We don’t have Santana, but I’d like to hit the fast forward and see where we are on Sept. 1.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.