Short Notes - Feb. 8

So, hey...there's something to actually talk about. Good stuff too.

The Missing Piece
For the entire off-season, everyone's been talking about how the Twins needed one last piece in order to make an awesome roster. Would it be a pitcher? Well, not really, since Francisco Liriano has been showing some real stuff in the Dominican Winter Leagues. Would it be a third-baseman? Well, since the Twins gave Brendan Harris a two-year deal, it's easy to guess that he's the answer to that. Would it be a second-baseman? Someone who can hit number two in the order between Span and Mauer? Yes! That's the missing piece.

But, lo and behold, the Twins went out and got that missing piece. And a good one too.

It looks like a nice fit, doesn't it?

Welcome to the Twins O-Dog. We're thrilled you're here.

Speaking of Orlandos
The guy who wound up being the missing piece for the end of the '09 season, Orlando Cabrera, signed with the Reds. I'm happy for him. Gardy mentioned that he wanted to bring Cabrera back as the second-baseman, but it just seemed like Cabrera wanted to remain a shortstop.

Good luck, O-Cab.

New Twins Commercial
It's become a tradition for the Twins to introduce their first new commercial of the year during the Super Bowl. This year's is clever, but not as funny as ones in the past. It did have the distinction of being one of the few that didn't offend me in one way or another (a note to future Super Bowl advertisers: women watch the game too, so you might want to dial back on complaining about or exploiting them -- but that's a conversation for another time, and probably another blog).

Look at it here: http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/fan_forum/commercials_2010.jsp 

My Kids are Mad
As I sit here and write this, mini-bro just ran down the stairs to tell me that the White Sox acquired Omar Vizquel (I knew), and that they are un-retiring Luis Aparicio's number to give it to him. This news made my kids mad. "How can they un-retire a Hall of Famer's number to give it to a short-timer?" Good point, guys. And I can't disagree with the argument.

According to the story, Aparicio is cool with it, but he could just be acting classy.

I'm just proud that my boys know who Luis Aparicio is. And that they feel strongly about baseball traditions and stuff.

Seth Writes
I just pre-ordered my copy of Seth Stohs's Minnesota Twins 2010 Prospect Handbook. It sounds like it's going to be great; I'd like to learn more about the minor leaguers and prospects the Twins have in the organization. And I expect it'll help me with my annual "who is this guy?" moment I get whenever someone gets called up.

Go to Seth's site to order yours.

Nicky Punto Day - Save the Date
The Twins blogging community has chosen Feb 12th to be "Nick Punto Day," and many blogs are participating. We're going to write pieces about our own super-utility #8, whatever our opinions of him are. No other player on the team elicits such wild variations of opinions; it should be interesting to see all the points-of-view. 

Be sure to check back here on the 12th, and then be sure to check out the blogs listed on the sidebar. Many of those blogs are participating too. And then, to keep the fun going, be sure to check out the blogs on their sidebars. Oh, don't forget the comments sections on all those blogs -- I bet there'll be even more opinions there. It's a Puntolution.

This great event is the brainchild of Andrew Kneeland of Twins Target. What a great idea.