• Home
• About

• Minor League
• News
• Opinion
• Rumors
• Summaries
• Transactions
• Trivia

Subscribe

Twins Digest visits Twins Caravan

The Northwest leg of the Twins caravan made it into Fargo this evening. The annual caravan brought with it two pitchers in Nick Blackburn and Matt Guerrier, Twins Legend Tony Oliva, Twins Announcer Kris Atteberry, Mascot T.C. and special guest Twins GM Bill Smith.

The evening started with a hot dog, soda and chips at The Venue in Fargo about 5:00 PM as people filed in. The standing room only audience was greeted by area sports director Dan Hammer. Dan Hammer thanked all of the many sponsors for their support and after promoting the sponsors, turned the microphone over to announcer Kris Atteberry.

Kris Atteberry announced the evenings program and surprise special guest Twins GM Bill Smith. The crowd was then treated to a brief video about the new stadium and the current line-up for 2010.

The video was created by Fox Sports North and included highlights from 2009, a small tribute to the MetroDome, a sneak peak at the new Target Field and a preview of the 2010 lineup as it stands today.

After the video, Atteberry brought out TC Bear who circulated through the crowd and threw out some t-shirts. After that the Twins caravan was introduced and out came Matt Guerrier, Nick Blackburn, Tony Oliva, and Bill Smith.

Atteberry started the question and answer portion of the evening by asking Bill Smith about the 2010 outlook and the current lineup as of today. Smith said he was very happy with the current lineup and his only wish would be the Twins stay healthy in 2010. He pointed out that the Twins were hit with the injury bug last year with injuries to Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey, Justin Morneau and Pat Neshek.

Tony Oliva was asked to give his expert opinion about the hitting of up and comers Denard Span and Delmon Young. The modest legend pointed out that as good as Span is, he still expects better next year as he is hitting with more power and continues improve with every appearance at the plate. Oliva added that Young should be much improved as well this year with more playing time.

Nick Blackburn was asked what type of presence that veteran pitcher Carl Pavano brings to the club. Blackburn told the crowd that Pavano is a great mentor who is happy to share his knowledge of the game and batters to all the pitchers. He also pointed out that Pavano is very good at executing his game plan and is a tough competitor when he is on.

Matt Guerrier was asked about the bullpen this upcoming year and Guerrier was very optimistic with not only his role with the club, but also with the return of Pat Neshek, Jesse Crain, Jose Mijares and Joe Nathan.

Atteberry went into the audience and took questions from the crowd. The first question was in regard to the well publicized search for a third baseman. Smith answered the question that he was happy with the six players the Twins currently have for the 4 infield positions. Smith mentioned Nick Punto and Alexi Casilla as possible second basemen. If Alexi Casilla can return in 2010 looking like he did in 2008, he could get a chance to start at second base and Nick Punto could return to his utility role for the left half of the infield.

Smith also mentioned that both Matt Tolbert and Brendan Harris and fill in at third and that the Twins feel that Harris offense is good enough to go into the season and compete. Smith also said if necessary, the Twins had the much talked about minor league player Danny Valencia and another prospect in the Australian Luke Hughes.

Another question was in regard to the latest news that the Indians signed Mike Redmond and that Jose Morales would have to undergo surgery on his right wrist. Smith said that the doctors have put his recovery to be anywhere from 4-8 weeks. Smith said they were willing to evaluate the position again if they thought it was necessary. He pointed out that the Twins have Wilson Ramos (the Twins #3 prospect in 2009) and Drew Butera (son of Major league catcher Sal Butera) they could call up if needed.

Finally the question that everyone was waiting for… where were the Twins on signing Joe Mauer. Bill Smith reiterated that the Twins were committed to keeping Joe Mauer in Minnesota as long as possible. This drew cheers from the crowd and Smith continued to say that even better then that was Joe Mauer appears to want to stay in Minnesota as well.

The crowd was large, but there were not a lot of questions from the crowd, so Kris Atteberry announced that the group of Twins there would be available for autographs and the crowd dismissed.

Upon the way out, Nick Blackburn, Matt Guerrier and Tony Oliva were all signing autographs on the way out. The sight of the legend Tony Oliva, the six year veteran Matt Guerrier and the young but experienced Nick Blackburn all signing autographs for the hundreds of fans reminds you why the Minnesota Twins are the best team in baseball! And of course we all felt like kids getting the autographs from a Major League ball player.

Comments

Copyright © 2008-2012 Minnesota Twins Digest · albawebstudio.com · Log in