Nishioka soon to sign; Hardy deal to follow

Twins 2011 Lineup Taking Shape
By Bullpen Catcher

The Twins need to get Tsuyoshi Nishioka signed and my guess is it will happen very soon. Nishioka is a great gamble and could really become an integral part of the lineup and infield. Even if he hits .270 and bats in the No. 1 or 2 spot, he'll be a huge part of the team simply because I suspect he'll be in the lineup every day and remain consistent as many of the Nippon League players have been.

I personally think the Twins will sign Nishioka in the next few days. They have until Dec. 26 to get him under contract and I'll guess it'll happen at the winter meetings or soon thereafter. The agents are at the meetings and that's a good time for P.R. to get that done. It also is a good time to start shopping JJ Hardy for a trade if they suddenly have a new SS. I think if he's half as good as Ichiro it makes the Twins very good. He's a middle infielder who can run and hits for a bit of power. I heard Bill Smith compare him to former Twin Greg Gagne in terms of fielding ability, baserunning prowess and occasional power. I'd take that any day.


I will bet that the Twins trade Hardy to Baltimore for minor league pitchers.

The Twins will make zero changes in the outfield for next season. It will be Span, Cuddyer, Young, Kubel and Repko (who recently signed). Bank on no changes in the outfield.

Here's my opening day lineup:
1. Denard Span (L), CF
2. Nishioka (S), SS
3. Mauer (L), C
4. Morneau (L), 1B
5. Cuddyer (R), RF
6. Kubel (L), DH
7. Young (R), LF
8. Valencia (R), 3B
9. Casilla (S) 2B

I can envision a situation where Casilla and Nishioka trade their spots in the lineup, especially at the beginning of the season.

For further fun, here's the bench:
10. Repko (R), OF
11. Plouffe (R), MIF
12. Tolbert (S), MIF
13. Butera (R), C
14. Morales (S), C/1B/DH

Here's the pitching (subject to change very soon depending on Hardy returns and Pavano situation):

Starters
1. Liriano (L)
2. Baker (R)
3. Slowey (R)
4. Duensing (L)
5. Blackburn (R)

Middle Relief
6. Manship (R)
7. Slama (R), Neshek (R) or Burnett (R)
8. Perkins (L) or trade return
9. Mijares (L)
10. Capps (R)
11. Nathan (R)

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At least we're not in Detroit

Though the Angels are supposed to be one of the elite teams of the American League, it's no "moral" victory to come out of the opening home stand losing three of four games.

Overwhelmingly, the heart of the Twins lineup failed with runners in scoring position. Cuddyer did it twice today, Morneau has been anemic at the plate, Mauer hasn't been doing much more than moving runners over with outs, and the only power has come from Jason Cue-ball.

It's early. I get that. But it may be time to fiddle with the order. Cuddyer had a couple chances to win the game today but didn't come through. Morneau looks like a broomball player sliding around in an NHL game.

How many times are you going to get great outings from Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey-relief crew and Boofie?

So here's my thinking:

1. Gomez CF
2. Harris/Tolbert 2B
3. Mauer C
4. Young LF
5. Cuddyer RF
6. Morneau 1B
7. Kubel/Monroe DH
8. Lamb/Punto 3B
9. Everett SS

Stats of the day:

• The Twins have hit into one less double-play (6) than they have extra-base hits (7).
• Young and Gomez have thus far combined to hit .387 (12-for-31). Mauer, Cuddyer and Morneau are .175 (7-for-40).
• Four games, one home run (Kubel).
• Detroit Tigers 0-3. Minnesota Twins 1-3. Kansas City 3-0. Yep, Kansas City.

New-look Twins

Here's my projected 2008 batting order, lineup and pitching rotation for the Twins right now as it stands. I still believe all the rumblings I'm hearing that the Twins will deal Johan Santana soon. For now, let's play with him in the Twins uniform:

Lineup
1. Brendan Harris, 2B
2. Craig Monroe, CF
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Delmon Young, LF
5. Justin Morneau, 1B
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Jason Kubel, DH
8. Mike Lamb, 3B
9. Adam Everett, SS

Bench
Alexi Casilla, INF
Mike Redmond, C
Nick Punto, INF
Brian Buscher, 3B

Pitching rotation
1. Johan Santana, LH
2. Scott Baker, RH
3. Kevin Slowey, RH
4. Boof Bonser, RH
5. Matt Guerrier, RH

Bullpen
Joe Nathan, RH
Jesse Crain, RH
Dennys Reyes, LH
Juan Rincon, RH
Pat Neshek, RH
Francisco Liriano, LH
Carmen Cali, LH

That's my guess on the 25-man rotation as it stands today. A few things need to be pointed out, however: Liriano may begin in Class AAA to check out his arm. I figure the Twins will want him in the bullpen to work his way up to starting. Because of that, Guerrier is a simple stop-gap in the rotation for now. Guerrier has always wanted to start and, frankly, there's no one else available. Glen Perkins, LH, would be a good bet to push these guys, but he's coming off a major arm injury.

I'm figuring the Twins will put Monroe in center. It makes no sense that they even have him if they aren't going to do that with him. I see him as Rondell White Jr. out there. The Twins must think if they get former Tigers after they've sucked, they can get them back to their original playing form.

The heart of that lineup looks pretty formidable with the left, right, left, right kind of mixture. If I were managing, I think I'd try batting Mauer No. 2 and move the rest of the lineup accordingly, but Gardenhire seems fixed on him at 3, so we'll assume that continues.

Bottom line: the rotation doesn't look great with or without Santana. It's nice for 2009, but if this is what we get, we'd better hope for a strong bullpen to carry the defense.