Opening Day line up finalized — Season start nears

From the Seats, April 02, 2005

Fort Myers —  On Thursday the Twins sat down and put their heads together to pick and chose who would end up on the plane to Seattle and who would be sending them off from the airport.

 

For starters Jason Bartlett in surprising fashion deservingly won the starting short stop job. According to all people affiliated with the Twins, including the broadcast team think that Bartlett is the right choice and has shown he should be starting at short. Batting around .400 for the spring. Nick Putno picked up a spot on the bench which means that Augie Ojeda ends up in Rochester. It an be argued that Ojeda should be on the bench.

 

Matt Guerrier will be in long relief as C.J. Nitkowski was released, mainly due to his reactions to umpires calls and how he conducted himself on the mound in his previous outing.

 

Corky Miller makes the team as insurance for Joe Mauer and his knee. This means that Terry Tiffee winds up in Rochester to start the year. I personally think this is a mistake. The Twins don’t need four catchers on the team to start the season, even if Mauer is having problems. In a worse case scenario Mike Redmond does the catching and Mathew LeCroy can back him up. With Tiffee on the bench the Twins have a left handed bat off the bench and Cuddyer can be moved around to second if needed.

 

Possibly the worst news to come from the roster finalization was that Michael Restovich was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Twins were out of options for Restovich and the Twins have outfield depth and need the infield back ups.

 

On the bright side regarding Terry Tiffee and Joe Mauer. Most likely once Joe Mauer and his knee get a green light and he can catch multiple games in a row the Twins can opt for Terry Tiffee over Corky Miller.

 

The opening day line up in Seattle should look like this on Monday

 

1. Stewart, LF

2. Bartlett, SS

3. Mauer, C

4. Morneau, 1B

5. Hunter, CF

6. Jones, RF

7. Ford, DH

8. Cuddyer, 3B

9. Rivas, 2B

 

Pitching: Brad Radke