The Twins roster is basically set

The Twins signed Joe Nathan to a 4 year $47 million contract with a club option for a 5th year. I'm in favor of this even though I know its kind of controversial considering the Santana trade and letting Torii Hunter walk. We got Nathan at a major discount and his no-trade clause only allows for him to select 3 teams that he does not want to play for. That means we can keep him for all four years if our starting pitching surprises us and the line-up lives up to it's potential in the batters box or we can turn Neshek or someone else into our closer and get something very good in return for an all-star caliber closer with a discounted contract.

It looks like Carlos Gomez will be our center fielder on opening day. If nothing else we'll get some interesting quotes on a daily basis from the young Dominican. If he can figure out how to put the bat on the ball on a regular basis and not get overly excited on defense this move will be worth it. Hopefully he'll figure out the names of "the catcher and that other guy."

There were no other surprises in the starting lineup. Mauer will bat second and play catcher, Cuddyer will take right and hit third, Morneau will bat 4th and play first, Delmon Young will take Torii Hunters spot in the order and play left field, Kubel will DH in 6th, Mike Lamb will play third and bat 7th, Brendan Harris will play second and bat 8th and Adam Everett will play short and bat last.

Matt Tolbert staying with the team didn't make sense to me until I read in the Pioneer Press that Gardy feel comfortable plugging him into 7 of the nine positions on the field. Craig Monroe, Mike Redmond and Little Nicky Punto will ride the pine with Tolbert until their numbers get called.

Livan Hernandez, Boof Bonser and Kevin Slowey are locks for starting pitching and the other two spots seem destined for Scott Baker and Fransisco Liriano. The only thing that makes Baker questionable is his injury earlier this spring and a flu that just won't go away. The rumor was that Liriano would start the season in AAA, but after throwing a no hitter through 4 innings against Baltimore he may go north with the team. Baker's absence means that Nick Blackburn will most likely take the final starting role and Brian Bass will play long reliever. Hometown kid Glen Perkins didn't make the team, but he'll surely make his way to Minneapolis when the injuries begin.

"Sir Sid Still Sucks" - So Says Ryan

Senor Ponson Dice, "Adios, Minnesota". Beware Aruban Judges The Twins have let loose a 250+ pound man with a new found reason to drink. He will likely attempt to take his 6.93 ERA elsewhere, but if Rick Anderson can't fix it nobody can. At least we didn't have to wait until June like we did with Batista and Juan Castro.

For the moment the fat man will be replaced by first baseman/ outfielder Garrett Jones. So Far this year Jones has posted a .305 batting average with 5 home runs and 25 strike outs. The Twins claim he has a big bat and we could use one of those right now with Mauer out of the line-up and a lack of production. The offense was in fine working order yesterday when the Twinkies scored 16 runs against the central leading Tigers. Torii Hunter had two home runs and drove in 7. Cuddy and Redmond each had a home run in the game to help Boof Ball win his first game. All 11 batters to enter the game had a hit.

I bet Ponson wished that he had been given a game or two like that to keep him around a little longer. There is no telling how long Garrett will be up in the bigs. Gardenhire had been saying that he wanted to have an extra hitter for the up-coming inter-league play, and also said that he wanted to keep Glenn Perkins in the long relief role. When the time comes Rochester is full of prospects waiting for their chance.

Scott Baker seems to be the best choice considering his time in the majors and an ERA of 3.16. Kevin Slowey has the the bast ERA in Rochester at 1.51, but he has no big league experience. The younger and taller version of Brad Radke seems destined to stay put until a run of injuries or a September call-up. Matt Garza has a respectable 3.75 ERA and has some (painful) big league experience... he is the reason that the Twins most likely won't call up Slowey. If Gardy has been lying and they do opt to pencil Perkins in as a starter his 3.26 ERA will make a world of difference against the opposition.

Now we must wonder if Boof Ball can take yesterday's big win and turn his game around or if he'll need to visit Rochester in the not too distant future.

Twins Pitching Odds

The Twins have a killer starting rotation… unfortunately most of those pitchers will start the season in the minors. The Pioneer Press in reporting today that the Twins starting rotation will look like we thought it would at the beginning of spring training. “El Presidente” Santana will be at the helm of this starting rotation followed by Ramon Ortiz (whom I am gaining faith in), Boof!, Carlos Silva and Sidney Ponson. The Twins sent down baseball’s version of Agent Zero, Kevin Slowey, on Sunday and Matt Garza and Glen Perkins are sure to follow soon.

I put complete trust in Rick Anderson’s ability to get the best out of his pitchers, but I think that Silva and Ponson just don’t have it anymore. Last year the Twins made a run (and captured) the division after dumping a few geezers off the side of the boat and infusing their infield with some youth. This year I see that happening to the starting rotation… its only a matter of time before something bad happens. At the moment I’m channeling the future in order to bring you the odds on what leads this pitching staff in a younger directions. Here it is from least likely to most likely… enjoy.

50:1 – No change is made to the starting rotation

25:1 – Silva hits someone in the head with his sinker ball (if it’s A-Rod, he may be promoted and given an award for shutting the guy up)

15:1- Ponson’s visa expires before the season ends

12:1- Ponson falls off the wagon and punches a cop while joyriding with Koren Robinson and Eddie “Hardwood” Griffin

10:1- Ortiz and Silva go 1-2 in home runs given up in the AL

5:1- Kevin Slowey has an ERA lower than 1.50 when he gets called up to the majors

3:1- Santana repeats as Cy young winner (its got to be a fluke if he loses)

2:1- Silva and Ortiz are gone by the ALL-STAR break (hello backup shortstop)

1:1- Bonser, Silva and Ponson get into an all out brawl over the last doughnut in the clubhouse (Dennys Reyes sits back chomping on said doughnut and laughing his ass of while Bonser puts the old guys in a double headlock)