Some reporter was in Gardy’s office today, poking and prodding, trying to get some answers as to what this team’s batting order is going to look like. OK, that was me.

Anyway, he was kind enough to humor us, even though there are so many questions about who’s going to win starting jobs (at CF, 2B, etc.) it’s hard to predict the lineup.

Gardenhire did say he hopes to make Justin Morneau the cleanup hitter.

“I would like to have him in that 4-spot,” Gardy said. “I think that’s where he belongs.”

So from that, would it be safe to assume he wants Joe Mauer batting second?

“No, I wouldn’t assume that,” Gardy said. “I think that sounds really good, but don’t assume that. I like that. I think [Mauer’s] an on-base percentage guy, and I’d like to have a righthanded bat in between them. … So it makes sense, if we can find a leadoff guy, and if we can find a third hitter, all those things.”

Asked about the possibility of Delmon Young hitting between the M&M Boys, Gardenhire seemed to be leaning more toward having Young hit behind Morneau.

“Anything’s possible,” Gardenhire said. “You better have somebody behind [Morneau] who can hit a little bit. Or they’ll pitch around him all day long, and then he expands, and that’s no good. So there’s all kinds of things we can think about with this lineup.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 2:48 pm 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.