The Twins and White Sox have been greeted by a near gale-force wind, a precursor to a nasty weather system that’s expected to move through the area. The forecast is for severe thunderstorms, but long-time Sox groundskeeping maven Roger Bossard has told the teams that there is a window for the game to be played.

But the wind is howling so much that it feels like we’re next to the ocean.

The wind is blowing so hard that part of a banner commemorating some of Chicago’s past division championships is slowing tearing away from one of the light standards.

The wind is blowing so hard that the roller on which the tarp is wrapped around started moving on its on from just beyond the infield to almost the warning track. Groundscrew members had to run out, stop it and roll it back to the infield.

The wind is blowing so hard that if Joe Mauer hit one to left center in these conditions, the ball would land in Skokie.

I can’t wait to see how infield pop ups are affected - if this wind keeps up.

Lineups

Twins (31-29): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6 .Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Mike Lamb, 3B. 9. Brendan Harris, SS. Pitching: Nick Blackburn. Yes, Matt Macri is here.

White Sox (33-26): 1. Orlando Cabrera, SS. 2. A.J., C. 3. Carlos Quentin, LF. 4. Paul Konerko, 1B. 5. Jim Thome, DH. 6. Jermaine Dye, RF. 7. Nick Swisher, CF. 8. Joe Crede, 3B. 9. Alexei Ramirez, 2B. Pitching: Javier Vazquez.

3:15 update: The Twins have selected Holy Angels star Joe Loftus in the 29th round of the first-year player draft. Loftus, a third baseman, is supposed to attend Vanderbilt. Maybe that’s why he dropped so far because he’s better than a 29th round pick.

Of course, what do I know about a kid I’ve never seen play. If someone from the Loftus family wants to straighten me out on the situation, please feel free to contact me.

Back to regular programming.

The Twins selected lefthander Daniel Osterbrock from Cincinnati, catcher Jeff Lanning from New Orleans and first baseman Michael Gonzales from Diablo Valley JC as the second day of the draft kicks off.

Follow the picks here.

I’m not a draft expert. A lot of us aren’t. We haven’t seen most of these kids play so who are we to nitpick on who was selected? Talked to someone with the Twins this morning who told me:

1. Aaron Hicks was indeed in their top ten.
2. They had Lawrie ranked behind Hicks.
3. Yes, they had Gutierrez ranked that high. “Baseball America does a good job,” he told me. “but they aren’t always right. 

Baseball America is one of a few sites I go to for background, which I try to relay to you. But what do we really know about these guys?

Looked up the history of No. 14 picks, and it’s not good:

2000: Beau Hale

2001: Jake Gautreau

2002: Russ Adams

2003: Ryan Wagner

2004: Billy Butler

2005: Trevor Crowe

2006: Travis Synder

2007: Jason Heyward

For whatever it’s worth….

Sorry for the double blog before noon, but what else do you have to do today?

I woke up this morning and walked over to one of my favorite breakfast spots, The West Egg Cafe, on Fairbanks. If you’re ever downtown, check this place out for a truly unique menu.

Anyway, I was trying to come up with a way to preview this big series with the White Sox. Two old rivals. One-two in the division. Separated by 21/2 games. The White Sox rotation, except for Mark Buehrle, is pitching out of its mind right now. The Twins really need to at least tie if not win three of these games.

Am I making too much out of an early June series? I pulled out the Chicago Tribune sports section and found out that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is thinking along with me.

“I don’t want to put my foot in my mouth,” Guillen said after Thursday’s game. “I always respect every team. But for some reason, the Minnesota Twins always find a way to beat you. And like I said earlier, this is a big series. Not the big series of the year, but it’s going to be a big series for us.

“They’re behind us and we have to keep them there or get a bigger lead. Hopefully, we can do that. Nothing depends on this series but, obviously, it’s important for both teams to get a bigger lead or shorter lead.”

The man who called the Twins, `The Little Piranhas,” a couple years ago is trying to get his team ready for a big weekend. I’ve always thought there was a method to Ozzie’s madness. I now wonder if his tirade last weekend occurred partially because he knew the Twins were coming to town this weekend and he wanted to build a little momentum before they arrived.

Here’s the complete story. 

For a rundown of Ozzie’s greatest hits, read this. 

The Twins are 4-3 against the White Sox so far this season but really need to take three of four here because the Twins and the Cubs are the only teams the White Sox face this month with winning records.

This is going to be a great weekend. Old rivals at The Cell. Bluesfest near the lakefront. Big Brown goes for the Triple Crown. Euro 2008 begins. And I’m in a town that actually cares about the NBA.

Update: My latest podcast is up, previewing the White Sox series.

I have to give props to Dustin Morse and the crack (not on crack) Twins baseball communications department for helping this day go by efficiently.

Here’s a link to the conference calls we had with Twins scouting director Deron Johnson, Aaron Hicks, Carlos Gutierrez and Shooter Hunt.

Here are the picks since Hunt’s selection, with quick thoughts based on what I’ve read about them. Feel free to add links to anything else you find about them, because I’m supposed to be writing another story right now and don’t have a lot of time to dig through the world wide web. (more…)

University of Miami righthander Carlos Gutierrez, a closer for one of the top teams in the country, has been selected by the Twins with the No. 27 pick of the draft.

Gutierrez missed last season because of Tommy John elbow replacement surgery but has come back to hold things down for the title-contending Hurricanes. Based on the little I have read, it sounds like he’s a very good sinker but needs to come up with a capable second pitch.

Here’s Baseball America’s assessment: (more…)