A little review...

So lets review our beloved Twins....

Ron Gardenhire finally won AL Manager of 2010! As you may or may not recall my brother has had a love hate relationship with Gardy and like some others probably doesn't think he deserved this award. Perhaps this wasn't his most deserving year as a manager as I believe a couple years in the past he was! If you review all he dealt with in 2010 you have to give him his props:losing Joe Nathan, Losing Morneau, Juggling infielders because of injury, heck juggling the whole roster because of injury, having no Ace starting pitcher, Joe Mauer battling thru injury. Add all this to those past years when he has consistently won the division and continues to develop excellent young players...yes yes I know we haven't won in the post season blah blah blah...At least we are getting into the postseason and have an opportunity!! Personally I think Gardy is a great Manager and really gets the most out of his roster. Seriously look at the teams he has fielded in the last five years: No true ace pitcher, basically two guys who can hit .300 plus, having to start utility players like Nick Punto(I love Nick and will miss him but lets face facts he's a great back up but not who you want as a starter)and losing high quality players like Torii and Johan Santana. Gardy creates a positive atmosphere in the clubhouse and gets players to play up to their potential. He keeps things in house and doesn't trash players in the press.

Kudos to Rick Anderson the pitching coach as well for making average pitchers better and always bringing up pitchers ready to perform. I love that we have had such a great competition for the starting group. Brian Duensing is a great addition his past performances have shown he is ready to be a big time player! I also believe both Nick Blackburn and Scott Baker will be better this year. They had moments of brilliance last year and both fought thru injury, both having surgery in the off season. The quick infield defense will help both pitchers out too.

The 2011 Roster

The infield has been revamped a bit. The addition of Tsuyoshi Nishioka a Japanese golden glover speed demon and moving Alexi Casilla over to shortstop gives the Twins one of the fastest middle defenses in the MLB. The corners are anchored by a hopefully finally healthy Justin Morneau and fresh faced Danny Valencia. Lets hope the sophomore slump doesn't hit Valencia and that Mor"yes" has healed up. These guys are a perfect combo of speed and power. Matt Tolbert a Gardy favorite will be the back up for the infield and a great pinch runner. This kid has lots of grit and speed. Drew Butera will back up for Joe Mauer at catcher, he caught most of Carl Pavano games last year but Mauer will definitely catch the season opener.

The outfield will be much like last year. Delmon Young in left, Denard Span in center and Michael Cuddyer in right. Jason Repko will spell Span in center more often this year to avoid wearing Span down like last year. Jason Kubel will DH and fill in for Young and Cuddyer. It is likely Cuddyer will play first a few times this year to rest Morneau. Jim Thome will DH and pinch hit going for his 600th homerun this year he is currently at 589! My hope is he reaches it at a home game early in the season.

More next time on starting pitchers, bullpen and batting order...

GO TWINS! (TWO DAYS!!!)