Hello from Florida, where the Twins are a couple days away from pitchers and catchers workouts.

A small group of players have worked out this week on the back fields of the Lee County Sports Complex. Some of the recognizable faces include Scott Baker, Michael Cuddyer, Joe Mauer, Tommy Watkins, Glen Perkins, Alejandro Machado, Garrett Jones, Ricky Barrett (at least I think it was him), Carmen Cali and Jose Morales.

Former Twin Brian Buchanan, back from a stint in Japan, worked out with the lads on Thursday but had just signed with Kansas City and was about to leave town.

Buchanan and Cuddyer threw batting practice on Thursday so others could get their hacks in. There’s nothing like the sound of a bat on a ball to help you forget what the weather is like in the Twin Cities.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is in town but, based on our phone conversation on Thursday, he’s still recovering from a 400-mile charity snowmobile run followed a drive from the Twin Cities to Fort Myers in his son’s Jeep. 

I watched Morales, who badly sprained his left ankle during a September callup, run the bases with a brace still on the ankle. He might have been wearing it as a precaution because he was moving well and without a noticeable limp.

Some fans have e-mailed me for restaurant suggestions for when they come down to check out camp, and I will provide those soon. There’s a new popular area that I need to gather info on before finalizing my list.

For now, I’ll offer a warning for fans who are looking for tickets in late March. The Red Sox leave for Japan on Mar. 20, making the Twins the only baseball option in town, so plan accordingly.

That’s it for now, but check back here for updates as the Twins prepare to begin spring training.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.