Craziness

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG, Fla. -- There is a little extra buzz in the air as the Twins and Red Sox get set to open Grapefruit League play tonight at Boston's City of Palms Park.

That extra buzz is created by the hundreds of Japanese reporters and photographers -- all here for pitching phenom Dice-K, who isn't pitching tonight. As I was grabbing a beer with my good friend and Boston Herald Red Sox beat guy Jeff Horrigan last night, he told me to prepare for the craziness. Then, he turned around from the bar and said, "Look!" It was about 15 Japanese reporters throwing one of their colleagues up in the air. (You've no doubt seen video highlights of this sort of thing from Japanese baseball games.) Pretty cool.

This is crazier than the Hideki Matsui media entourage, although I imagine Godzilla's following was similar when he first came to America. Japanese media also has an interest in Joe Mauer, according to one reporter. Says he's a big deal over there because he played in the annual Major League Baseball all-stars vs. Japanese all-stars game in November. I don't doubt that Joe treated those baseball-crazed fans with great respect, just like he does in his homeland.

Sitting Sidney

Emptying the notebook from Sunday here in Fort Trafficjamburg, Fla.:

• Starting rotation is set through the first five Grapefruit League games. No Sidney. He still hasn’t obtained the proper visa from his native Aruba. GM Terry Ryan says he’s been in contact with Ponson’s agent, and the issue should be taken care of this week. A player can’t participate in a game in which admission is charged without the proper work visa. The staff says it’s not a big deal. But this is something Ponson could have taken care of before camp. And for a guy who has a lot to prove, don’t you think he’d take care of distractions like this beforehand?

• Oh, yeah. Here are the starters for the first five games: Matt Garza on Wednesday at Boston, Carlos Silva on Thursday at New York Yankees, Ramon Ortiz on Friday vs. Cincinnati, Boof Bonser on Saturday at Cincinnati and Johan Santana on Sunday vs. Boston.

• Early favorite for most improved player: Jason Kubel. Pencil him in as the DH. Both knees finally seem healthy. Watched him take bp today. He’s back to smacking the ball all over the field. He crushed a homer over the fence in right field off Kevin Slowey, drawing some praise from the coaches standing around the cage. Gardy: “He looks great. He’s in great shape. He doesn’t look like he’s running on stilts. You can tell he’s not running in pain. It’s a different jog, but I haven’t seen him run all-out yet.”

• While shooting the breeze with pitching coach Rick Anderson this afternoon, I asked him if he was alarmed by all the home runs Ortiz gives up. Andy said he wondered about that after the Twins signed Ortiz, especially after seeing that he still managed to pitch 190-plus innings in the double-switch world of the NL. So Andy did some research. He asked old/new Twin Matthew LeCroy about Ortiz. They were teammates in Washington last year. LeCroy told Andy that it’s all about the big inning with Ortiz. Andy, one of the best in the biz, figures he and Joe Mauer could help curb the problem by making extra visits to the mound to help keep Ortiz calm.

• Yoga has become a big thing with professional athletes. Seriously, Nick Punto might look back on his career one day and cite yoga as the key to his transformation from being an oft-injured utility player to a reliable starting third baseman. Jason Bartlett and Mauer started doing it a few years ago in Mauer’s living room. “We would sit in front of his TV and his brother, Jake, would watch us as he ate Wendy’s or Arby’s,” Bartlett said.

• GARDY-ISM OF THE DAY: In talking about the reason why Luis Castillo seemed unfocused during the morning infield drill after having a physical: “I think when the doctor checked for a hernia, it totally flabbergasted him.” Money.

• Rule 5er Alejandro Machado can do a lot of things. But bunting isn't one of them, as the field staff found out during drills Sunday. It's an essential task for the bench role the speedy switch-hitting SS/2B/3B/RF/LF is projected to fill. (Machado tells me he also can play CF.) Gardy says Hall of Famer and special spring training instructor Rod Carew will work on getting Machado's bunting skills up to snuff during camp.

• Reliever Dennys Reyes is scheduled to leave camp this afternoon to travel to Phoenix to be with his wife, Claudia, who is due to give birth to the couple’s third child on Tuesday. Reyes said he plans to rejoin the team on Friday. “Big Sweat” is one of the good guys, and here’s hoping everything goes smoothly and for a healthy baby girl.

• Rondell White reports he is down eight pounds from the end of last season. He weighs 224 and wants to drop four more pounds before the season starts. The guy is absolutely ripped. Says it was the hardest he’d ever worked during the offseason. Entering his 15th season, he’s bent on proving that his career’s not over.

• Twins have released their promotional TV commercials on the team's official Web site, twinsbaseball.com. Good stuff.

Notes and quotes

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG, Fla. -- Emptying the notebook from Saturday:

• Wrote a feature on Cuddyer for tomorrow's print editions. One of the nicest guys I've covered in almost 10 years of sportswriting. He's a geniune guy. Truly cares about his teammates and the fans. Coupla interesting Cuddy quotes I couldn't fit in the story:

-- On why he doesn't take his job for granted: “The struggles you go through in the minor leagues, baseball players tend to understand what it’s like not to have much. That’s why you find real genuine people in this sport more so than any other sport."

-- On the lineup: “The way this lineup is set up, it’s not like the Red Sox where Manny and David is all they have. We revolve around one through nine. And I feel like being in the cleanup role is just another spot where somebody needs to pull their weight.”

• Gardy continues to be a quote machine. He loves to entertain you guys. Here are two beauties from today:

-- On Mike Redmond, who has hit one homer in two seasons with the Twins: “Red Dog’s going to get one this year, no doubt in my mind. And then he’s going to wake up.”

-- On what Joe Mauer can do to build off a batting-title season: “Miss World.”

• There was a fun buzz around the complex today, with the first full-squad workout going. Fun watching Torii, Rondell, Castillo, Mauer, MVP, Cuddy, Bartlett, et. al. take batting practice. Also, it was fun just wondering what was going through Molitor's mind as he watched guys hit from behind the batting cage. Later in the day, they held national-anthem auditions inside Hammond Stadium. I heard great, good, average, bad and horrible singing. But you know what? There was passion in everyone's voices.

• Some people used to call Ramon Ortiz "Little Pedro," when Ortiz was coming up with the Angels seven, eight years ago. Francisco Liriano is the young Dominican phenom now, and Ortiz said he still was hearing a buzz about the all-star lefty in the D.R. this winter despite the fact Liriano is sidelined until 2008. “A lot of people are still talking about this kid,” Ortiz said. “It’s unbelievable. I’m very happy for him, being from my country.”

• Sad news out of camp today: minor league pitcher Jose Mijares' brother, Jackson, was fatally shot in Venezuela. Jose left camp to return to Venezuela and will be absent indefinitely. Most of you have never heard of Jose Mijares, who is 22 years old. I've never talked to him. So it's easy to emotionally detach. But ask yourself: What if it were my brother? Puts things into perspective, doesn't it? I have two younger brothers, Nick and A.J., both proud Marines. A.J.'s in Iraq; Nick already did his time in that war. They are the best, great men, and I couldn't be more proud of them. So, I implore you to pause a moment and give thanks for your brothers and sisters.

Gopherball central

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG/MISERY, Fla. -- Ramon Ortiz says he wants to pitch 200 innings this season and missing the first five days of camp because of visa issues in the D.R. hasn't set him back in that quest.

“I told the pitching coach and manager: ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m ready,’ ” Ortiz said.

No one doubts that the lean right-hander is in shape or that he can log around 200 innings. The doubts are whether he can effectively pitch anymore. He hasn't been any good since 2002 with the Angels.

Twins fans should be alarmed about this: Last season, Ortiz ranked second in the NL in homers allowed (31), and Carlos Silva led the majors in that category with 38. Things could be really ugly this year, especially since it appears Ortiz doesn't seem bothered by all the gopherballs.

“Somebody told me last year, ‘You throw a lot of strikes, so why don’t you try throwing more balls.’ I said, ‘So, you want me to walk a guy and the next guy hit a home run? That’s two runs,’ ” Ortiz said. “I don’t worry about home runs. I worry about throwing seven innings every time.”

Warning: Don't make post-game plans on days he pitches.

Roll call

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG, Fla. -- Everyone who matters is in camp now.

Ramon Ortiz arrived here this afternoon. GM Terry Ryan was heading down the stairs mid-afternoon to the clubhouse to welcome the Twins' new pitcher. Luis Castillo reported today, too. First full-squad workout is tomorrow morning. Gardy delivers his annual this-is-what-it-means-to-be-a-Twin speech at around 8:45 a.m. EST, with the workout starting soon thereafter.

Let the grind begin!

Emptying the notepad:

• Joe Mauer received two CDs in the mail today: Justin Timberlake and Nick Lachey. The former was autographed by I'm Bringing Sexy Back boy himself. Mauer said Timberlake promised he’d send the Twins catcher an autograph when they met at JT’s Xcel Energy Center concert last month. “Joe, you’re better than that,” I joked with him. He replied: “I was skeptical at first, too, but he’s talented.” Sure.

• Major League Baseball is asking players and base coaches not to toss balls into the stands this year. Instead, MLB is requesting players and coaches hand balls to fans.

• Gardy and Terry think highly of Rule 5 pick Alejandro Machado. He’s only got 10 big-league games under his belt, all with Boston in ’05. But he’s only 24. If this kid works out, Gardy might not have to pull out what’s left of his hair after being frustrated with his bench limitations last year. Machado can play shortstop, third, second, left and right. Plus, he’s a switch-hitter with speed. The Twins seem bent on adding depth at shortstop. Bartlett started 99 straight games after his mid-June call up, and the Twins want to keep him from wearing down over what they hope will be his first full season in the majors.

• The Twins’ spring training home, Hammond Stadium, is seemingly an even nicer place after some offseason upgrades. But some of the improvements might actually be hazards. Gone are the tall, chain-link fences down the lines near the bullpens. Now there are padded, waist-high fences, and there could be some legitimate injury concerns when a player pursues a foul ball. “Padded or not padded, I think we’re going to see some guys go over those fences,” Gardy said. “It’s scary.”

• Backup catcher Mike Redmond said he can tell many of his teammates still are stung by last year’s playoff flop and feel they have unfinished business: “I think that hurt a lot of guys. You can’t take the playoffs for granted, and last year we let it slip away. I think guys will use that as motivation. There are a lot of guys in this room who know now that there’s another level to get to.”

• Morneau has been wearing a sleeveless, gold Everlast T-shirt underneath his batting-practice uniform this week. An avid weightlifter, MVP said Everlast mailed him some apparel. Morneau said the Bertuzzi T-shirt will return once games start.

• Check out some roster projecting on one of the top Twins fan blogs: http://twinsfanatnicks.blogspot.com/

Wee hours roster projecting

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG, Fla. -- It's early, but we're sitting here at Pressbox Central wondering whether the Twins will keep 12 pitchers or the extra bench player.

Projection: extra bench player. Reading between the lines of what Gardy said the other day, he'd prefer to have 11 pitchers after carrying the extra arm for most of last season. He was often frustrated with his bench limitations. Then again, the Twins had to carry the extra pitcher because of the eroding situation with the rotation, and those uncertainties could be prevalent again.

Nonetheless, how's this for an Opening Day roster?

LINEUP: 2b Castillo, 3b Punto, C Mauer, RF Cuddyer, 1B Morneau, CF Hunter, LF White, DH Kubel, SS Bartlett

STARTING ROTATON: Santana, Silva, Ponson, Ortiz, Bonser

BULLPEN: Nathan, Rincon, Crain, Reyes, Neshek, Guerrier

BENCH: C Redmond, IF Cirillo, OF Ford, IF Machado or Rodriguez, OF Tyner

If the Twins have to go with the extra pitcher, I'd say Durbin if he's healthy. That probably would make Tyner the odd man out. But I would not be surprised by a preseason trade. Maybe Lew Ford for a backup middle infielder?

Something to prove

FORT TRAFFICJAMBURG, Fla. -- Justin Morneau isn't satisfied after the MVP season.

“If anything, I’d say I probably worked a little harder this offseason," Morneau said. "I’ve got something to prove this year. Some people (fans) didn’t believe it was right. People are sitting there waiting to say last year was a fluke. I’m going to go out and prove them wrong again.”

Morneau seems hungry. He was one of the earliest non-Fort Misery resident position players to show up at camp. A big weightlifting guy, Morneau said he worked harder on core training. Like last spring, he's been out working one-on-one with hitting coach Joe Vavra in the cages at 7:30 every morning.