Spring Training '07

Several teams already have their batteries in camp. The Twins, interestingly, are one of the last teams to report. Their pitchers and catchers report on Sunday the 18th. Their first full workout isn't until Feb. 24. I don't think it really matters, though.

Spring training and the dearth of other sports stuff happening at this time of year is always tough.
Like yesterday I paid $8 for some baseball preview magazine off the rack at Lewis.
Of course this magazine didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know, I just desperately wanted something to read that was about baseball.

Not surprisingly, this particular rag picked the Twins to finish 3rd in the AL Central behind Detroit and Chicago.
And when you look hard, the Twins probably are behind the 8-ball in their division thanks mostly to the losses of Francisco Liriano and Brad Radke.

But we'll worry about that stuff later. The Twins, like every team, have plenty of in-house issues to take care of during the spring before worrying about the AL Central race.

As far as I can tell, these are the most pressing questions facing the Twins as they prepare for spring:
1. The rotation.
This one's obvious, although it would seem four of the five spots have already been handed out.
After Johan Santana, Boof Bonser, Carlos Silva and Ramon Ortiz would all seem to be guaranteed a spot.
Which leaves one spot for Sidney Ponson, Matt Garza, Scott Baker, JD Durbin, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins.
What I don't particularly like about this is the possibility that Garza, Baker, Durbin, Slowey and Perkins could all be better than Silva and Ortiz, and it won't matter, at least not right away.
My gut feeling is that Ponson gets the last spot because of the Twins wrong-headed preference for veterans.
While Durbin will probably make the team as a reliever because he's out of options, the rest of those guys will help ensure that Rochester has the best rotation in all of Triple-A.
2. Rondell White and Jason Kubel
Both are pretty good hitters when they're healthy, and the Twins will need them to compete this year.
White was the worst hitter in baseball in the first half, and it seemed like excuse-making when he blamed his tight shoulder. But in the second half, presumably healthy, he hit like the Rondell White we've always known, which is damn good by the way.

Kubel had a brief period in June where he was as hot as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and it looked like he had arrived. But the knees started bothering him again, which caused him to fall badly out of shape. By the end of the season he was a chubby afterthought.
Luckily, Ron Gardenhire took the initiative to challenge Kubel's work habits, which will hopefully motivate him to get back into shape.
Kubel should get pretty much all the ABs at DH vs. RHP, while some combination of Jeff Cirillo, Ken Harvey or Matt LeCroy will handle DH duties vs. LHP.

White will be the LF, which could obviously be problematic. First, the whole idea of making him a DH was to keep him healthy, because he never stayed healthy in the OF before.
So why should this year be any different?
He's also not a terribly gifted LF, but in his defense, he's much better than Shannon Stewart was. Runners will take the extra-base on him, but he'll at least be able to turn outs into outs.

3. Will the real Nick Punto please stand up?
Which is it gonna be? The injury-prone utility IF who swings for the fences and creates almost zero offense?
Or the scrappy, top-of-the-order sparkplug who takes good ABs and makes pitchers pay for mistakes?
My guess is it'll be somewhere in between (.270 perhaps), which is why having Cirillo around is a major bonus.

4. Silva
The Twins brought him back because anyone better would've cost them $8 million.
I don't think it's possible for the Chief to be as bad as he was last year, but the likelihood of him ever getting back to the 3.44 ERA he posted in '05 probably isn't good, either.
200 innings and a 4.50 ERA would be fine with me.
But there's too much young talent waiting in the wings to put up with him if he's in the 6's again.

5. Juan Rincon, Jesse Crain, Pat Neshek
You'd be hardpressed to find too many clubs with three potentially dominant righties in front of a dominant closer.
The only problem is Rincon, Crain and (too a much lesser extent) Neshek - were fairly inconsistent last year.
Rincon was not 100% healthy, and trying to pitch through it (the Twins had no choice) resulted in a noticeable lack of command. He still posted a 2.91 ERA, but his strikeout rate declined significantly.
But I'm not too worried about him. He'll be healthy, and likely dominant once again.

Crain on the other hand, it's tough to say. Last year he was awful then great then bad then good then bad. His strikeout rate finally came around (a good sign after the previous year) but he got hammered pretty good, too, leaving pitches up in the zone and lacking the confidence to throw anything but his fastball.
I kind of expected the Twins to trade him, as a lot of teams would love to have him, but if they can get him to better develop some secondary pitches, I still think he can be great.

Neshek was untouchable for awhile after his call-up, but it was only a matter of time before hitters adjusted to his funky delivery. Lefties hit him pretty well, and he also faded a bit down the stretch.
But his history of missing bats bodes well for another strong year.

6. Torii Hunter
The fact that he won another Gold Glove last year was a joke. He was an average defensive centerfielder. Both Lew Ford and Jason Tyner were better in the field than he was.
Of course he had his best offensive season, so it's hard to complain.
Hopefully his ankle will be better this year, but even if it is, he's 31. Kirby Puckett was moving to RF at this point in his career.

7. Who gets the last roster spots?
They can only keep 25. Guys like LeCroy, Tyner, Harvey, Durbin, Josh Raabe, Luis Rodriguez, and Alejandro Machado will be fighting for at most two spots.

8. Will Rick Anderson get a raise?
They're leaning on Andy more than ever this year. With a bunch of kids and journeyman in the rotation, he's got to work his magic.

9. If some of the veterans suck again, how long will it take them to own up and go with the kids?
Last year they didn't start winning until they finally listened to me and got rid of Juan Castro (and also Tony Batista).
If it's happening again, hopefully this year they won't wait as long to go with the talented youngsters.

10. Will Jason Bartlett become the game's next great shortstop?
He's got a shot. The guy proved a lot of people wrong, even his own manager, to become the kind of guy that makes a difference at the bottom of the order.


Spring TV
Five spring training games will be televised on FSN.
Mar 4 vs. Bos, noon
Mar 7 vs. Pit, noon
Mar 14 vs. NYY, 6 p.m
Mar 18 vs. Phi, noon
Mar 20 vs. Bos, 6 p.m.