Twins, Pirates Gotta Get Away
Posted on March 29th, 2008 – 10:13 AMBy La Velle
The Twins didn’t leave Fort Myers until 10 a.m. Eastern to head to Bradenton. They will arrive, dress, get their hacks in then dash off to the airport for a flight back to the Twin Cities.
Twins: Gomez, Mauer, Cuddy, Morneau, Young, Monroe (DH), Lamb, Harris, Everett. Pitching: Slowey, followed by Guerrier, Rincon and Nathan.
Pirates: McLouth, Wilson, Bay, LaRoche, Doumit, Nady, Bautista, Morgan, Rivas. Pitching: Matt Morris.
So long, Fort Myers! Hope my truck starts when I get home…..
44 Responses to "Twins, Pirates Gotta Get Away"
Opening Day lineup, anybody?
C’mon boys, bust out the wood today!
Thanks LEN! Safe travels, friend.
great job with the st blog this year, i enjoyed getting updates nearly every day and look forward to a (hopefully) great season 
I concur, the spring training coverage has brought me back to you and Joe’s blogs each day.
The Spring Training coverage rocked. One of my favorite times of the year.
Hey LEN, any rumblings on a possible Ryan Freel deal?
Yes, we need another speedy fourth outfielder, let’s get him!
I can’t believe you fell for the banana in the tailpipe.
There is no Ryan Freel deal, never has.
The Reds are tying to shop him. They called the Twins. The Twins said there’s no match.
A reader finds the story on the net, which specifically said calls went out to teams like the Twins. The Twins never inquired.
But when that reader reported the story on this blog, it was made out to be like the Twins had interest in someone making $7 million over the next two seasons.
But this blog blew up with speculation. I couldn’t believe it.
Next time, post links to stories. That makes it easier.
I think having Free as our utility player would be much better than having Punto, especially since he can back up both the infield and outfield. IF we could trade Rincon and Punto for Freel, we could also call up another pitcher…perhaps even keep blackburn as a long reliever once Liriano makes the team.
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/redsinsider/
The individual posts don’t have links, so its about 1/4 of the way down, titled “Freel Deal”.
I’d have been absolutely shocked to see it happen, glad to see the Twins decided one Nick Punto was enough.
Seems weird to me that Slowey is pitching today. Seems like he just pitched a few days ago.
LaVelle,
It just proves you can’t believe everything you read.
For example, when some writer told us Tolbert had no chance to make the Twins roster.
I wonder how long it will be into the season before Gardy starts to talk about another lefty in the bullpen? If it isn’t Perkins perhaps these southpaws are available. Len Whitehouse, Tom Klawitter, Ed Hodge, Brad Havens, Jack O’Connor, Bryan Oelkers, Darrell Jackson, Mike Kinnunen,
Kevin Stanfield, Jeff Little, Pete Filson. Oh those Twins teams of the early 80’s.
Slowey is going today on 3 days rest.
He pitched on Tuesday, but he has to throw today to get the normal amount of rest before his Thursday start against the Swinging Halos.
Kudos to you LenIII & JC on awesome coverage of spring training. Any chance the truck forgot #8’s stuff???
La Velle, I had a copy of Baseball America yesterday and I noticed you did a story in there on the Twins.
You did a nice job in there. You’re becoming famous with that, SportsCenter, etc.
does anyone else think our lack of left-handed pitching will be an issue.
yes, i believe the lack of left-handed pitching will be an issue. and the issue is whether the team’s record ends up 77-85 or 72-90.
La Velle,
Thank for your reports.
Do you have any knowledge as to why Kubel is not DHing?
Why would the Twins want another outfielder anyway? The competition for CF was much closer than anyone anticipated and shows the team has outfielder talent at multiple levels in the system.
does somebody have the gamedys link i cant find it thanks
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_03_29_minmlb_pitmlb_1
and kubel is DHing
Looks to me like Monroe has won the early season nod as the DH. Gardy said he doesn’t like a platoon, so I’d think he would have Kubel swinging a bit more if he planed one opening the season with him.
Lavelle thanks for the daily blogs you do a great job dont get a lot of twins news down here in fla. have a safe trip back to mn. keep up the good work.
Captain America,
Freel is also a 2B and the Twins need a backup CF with Span and Pridie in Rochester.
and kubel is DHing
I was gonna say, I haven’t seen him in a lineup for a while. Is Monroe really that much better?
the Twins need a backup CF with Span and Pridie in Rochester.
If Gomez has to come out and Monroe is DHing, Young can slide over and let Kubel take left.
Or if Kubel’s DHing, Monroe can cover center for the rest of the game (emergency backup status)
It’ll be fine.
Why is Gomez out already? Just for rest or did something happen?
Was Gomez removed for no reason…or did his left hamstring begin acting up again?
I’m wondering the same thing. I hope it was for rest. Cuddyer was taken out for Knott as well…
Just posted a little bit of breaking news…
Anybody know about Gomez?
I assume they just took him out so they aren’t risking anything. Morneau and Cuddyer were removed as well.
on the radio they only mentioned Roberts came in for Gomez. Nothing about Gomez getting injured
Yeah, I’m assuming they just wanted to get everyvbody a few at-bats then pull them…
All of the starters are coming out…
I think it’s to give them time to get everything ready for the trip home…
home run for Delmon, thats good to see. and oh ya and a fly out to right for Nicky. .128 average for the spring thats pretty solid!!!
All the guys coming in now must be A/AA guys. They’ll finish up and the rest go home to pack.
Monday’s almost here.
“If Gomez has to come out and Monroe is DHing, Young can slide over and let Kubel take left.Or if Kubel’s DHing, Monroe can cover center for the rest of the game (emergency backup status)It’ll be fine.”
I can see how Monroe/Young in CF with Punto at 2B would be “fine” compared to Ryan Freel at 2B and available for backup CF. My bad!
We don’t need Freel. As La Velle mentioned he has a $7 million contract. I’d rather have a cheap Punto than an expensive Freel.
Twins Territory,
Freel can hit, steal bases and won’t faint while bunting.
But if the fans are paying the salaries, I’d rather have a cheap Punto, also.
Spring Training was great! Thanks for all the news and comments. I don’t wanna go back!
But since the Twins are paying the salaries, I’d rather have Freel and its not even close.
LEN3 - I completed that long drive back last night. It gets longer the older one gets.
TR told me last week Liriano was ready to go, and Baker would stay back. Well, he was right on both accounts. Liriano is ready to go. He could just as easily throw with the big boys as down there. The injury risk is the same. The situation with his wife probably was taken into account, and gives them a good chance to take a look at Blackburn. He looked good to me this spring also. And, there’ll be a need for starting pitching from AAA as this season progresses.
So, now the games count! I don’t expect too much, but hopefully an increase on wins from last year. It all comes down to pitching.
It was good to see you around this spring.
Sid,
U RA Dickey
I don’t really mean that, but a name like that should not be wasted.
