I had to check out the Twins first official workout on Friday. Naturally the number of fans watching Twins drills has increased substanially over what has been there previously. But you know what? The main question you hear as you walk from field to field is “have you been over to the new Red Sox complex yet”? Ft. Myers is Red Sox territory for sure and the Minnesota Twins are playing second fiddle here. I have only seen the complex as I have driven by it but everyone that has seen it has said it is pretty nice and makes the Twins complex look bush league. The biggest complaint I have heard so far about the complex is that the ballpark tours that the Red Sox put on are sold out every day. If you listen to the “locals” here, it is a done deal that the Washington Nationals will be moving to Ft. Myers in the next year or two and will be using the old Boston Red Sox complex as their new spring training site after the city/county make some improvements.
Gardy gave his first day speech to several player groups and I think Gardy has to feel a bit of pressure this spring to get the team back on the right track. I don’t think that means he has to win a division title, it just means he needs to regain control of the team that seemed to not put forth a major league effort last year. Outside of seeing Justin Morneau take the field for the first time I do not have much to report. I saw Justin take part in several infield drills but I did not get to see him take BP. He looked OK but we will just have to wait and see if Justin can particiapte in all the drills over the next week or two. I still do not think Morneau is his same old self.
One player that kind of stood out in my eyes today was free agent signee catcher/outfielder Ryan Doumit. Doumit was wearing his catchers gear today and was hustling all morning from field to field. Some players seem to drag themselves from drill to drill while others jog, Doumit is one of those that lets no grass grow under his feet. With this many players in camp it is hard to see everyone since there are so many groups of players particiapting in various drills but one player I missed seeing today was Danny Valencia. Joe Mauer was working hard again today, good to see. I also checked out the minor league fields and the small core of players that has been there for several weeks is growing by the day. I took a number of pictures that you can see by going to my 2012 Spring Training pictures in the right hand column of this page.
So far, so good John. Good to see the beatiful, blue skies over Fr. Meyers. Was wondering if you were down in the southern climes by now! Looking forward to your updates, you probably read the Twin Cities dailies by now re: Justin and the not-so upbeat update on his migraines and career.
Apparently, Mr. Zumaya had difficulty this morning. Drat!
Thanks Michael. I worry for Morneau’s career as I wrote in an earlier story this week. Sorry to hear about Zumaya, I had a chance to talk with him for a couple minutes a week or so ago and he was really excited about pitching for the Twins and he seemed very personable. Hopefully it is nothing serious but with his history, you role the dice and hope for the best but you have to be prepared for the worst. Seems like the Twins streak of bad injury luck continues, Hughes, and now Zumaya and of course Morneau.