I was going to make a post for April Fools Day, about Bo Jackson taking a job in the front offices of the Vikings and Twins. It was going to be very funny, but I just sort of ran out of time. Anyways, there are other things to talk about.
As you may have heard, the Twins have made their final cuts for the year, and the roster appears to be set. There are a bunch of names that we expected to see on the team, from the old standbys like Joe Mauer or Denard Span, to the high flying free agents, like Josh Willingham and Ryan Doumit, but there are a few guys that made the team that are breaking camp with a big league team for the first time, or came to Minnesota under the radar. I am going to give you a quick thought on all the guys that made the team, that you might now know about.
Chris Parmelee – You probably know Parmelee because of his break out towards the end of the season last year. He’s been playing extremely well down in Fort Myers. Not only is he going to make the team, but he is likely to be the opening day first baseman. Definitely making the team because of his bat.
Sean Burroughs – Burroughs was the fat kid who mashed taters in the Little League World Series about 18 years ago. He turned into a light hitting third baseman, as it turned out. He also took a few years off to battle a drug problem, but came back to Arizona last year with a .273 average. He can handle the glove part of third, and his battle back from the depths will help push Danny Valencia.
Liam Hendriks – Hendriks is the second Australian on the team (after Luke Hughes) and will take a spot in the rotation, at least until Scott Baker and Jason Marquis come back from injury and a family emergency, respectively. He dominated AA, but struggled in AAA, and may be best suited for long relief at this point. If he stays on the roster.
Jared Burton – Burton was one of my favorite signings of the offseason. I think he is going to be great in the Twins’ pen this year after having a pair of good years in Cincinnati, before being derailed by injury. If he can put together a full season, I bet he closes a couple games (because the Twins can’t figure out how to effectively use a bullpen, see).
Anthony Swarzak – We are all familiar with Swarzak at this point. Good for him making the team. He will surely make some spot starts at some point this season, like if Pavano sprains his mustache or something.
Jeff Gray – He is getting older, has never done anything noteworthy in his career. Yeah, he’s going to be terrible, and on the roster all season.
Matt Maloney – Maloney was a waiver claim from the Reds, so he and Jared Burton can talk about the good old days in Cincinnati. Maloney is just like every starter the team has. Low velocity, good control. He may claim a starting spot out before anyone else, if someone goes down. But with Swarzak and Brian Duensing also on the roster, with Marquis and Baker coming back soon there are a lot of starting pitching options. If nothing else, Maloney is a cool cat to follow on Twitter.
Not only that but there is Kyle Waldrop, who was projected to make the team, is on the DL with a tweaked elbow, and will likely be best used out of the bullpen as well.
It’s a revamped team, to be sure, but there is a lot of promise. I think anything short of .500 this year is definitely a disappointment.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
