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NL East Preview/Projection

*The NL East is the only division that can attempt to match the AL East with a lineup of…

Jose Reyes (ss-NYM)-With the epitome of range at SS and speed & OBP now at the top of the lineup

(120-17-68-60-295)

Chase Utley (2b-PHL)-The patience to be the perfect #2 hitter but the greatness to bat anywhere

(115-30-110-13-296)

Hanley Ramirez (lf-FLA)-Talent to bat leadoff or third & now he has Bonaficio and Maybin to drive in

(116-33-106-29-303)

Ryan Howard (1b-PHL)-HR & RBI leader of the MLB last year and again this year with a better AVG

(96-45-135-1-275)

David Wright (3b-NYM)-Has Reyes & Murphy in front and Beltran & Delgado behind; Got to love his line

(112-31-122-20-305)

Carlos Beltran (cf-NYM)-Batting 5^th will hurt his runs but gold glove CF with power & speed combo

(92-26-115-22-279)

Brian McCann (c-ATL)-Great line at Catcher; Another year under his belt and less weight above his belt

(68-24-94-3-298)

Jimmy Rollins (dh-PHL)-Rather Reyes at SS & Hanley in LF, but I’ll take Rollins at DH against the AL East

(119-19-75-39-278)

Jeff Francoeur (rf-ATL)-Gun for an arm and a rebound year for our last OF spot

(77-22-90-3-269)

….and a rotation of:

Johan Santana (NYM)-18 straight starts without a loss and A NEW BULLPEN – 20+ wins?

(20-2.85-1.15-209)

Cole Hamels (PHL)-Same fastball/changeup repertoire that BAFFLES hitters; Health issues?

(16-3.19-1.09-194)

Derek Lowe (ATL)-Durable. That’s all I have to say, but with all his groundouts, he would probably be effective even with Colorado, or Texas.

(14-3.75-1.25-140)

Ricky Nolasco (FLA)-Still underrated? Doubt it, but he’ll be almost as good this year.

(14-3.84-1.21-171)

Josh Johnson (FLA)-Better k-rate than Nolasco with Worse WHIP, but stud if healthy.

(14-3.65-1.33-175)

…and a solid bullpen of Brad Lidge(38sv), Francisco Rodriguez(42sv), JJ Putz(6sv), Mike Gonzalez(30sv), Matt Lindstrom(23sv), Joel Hanrahan(25sv) and let us not forget about ambidextrous Billy Wagner pitching with determination and for another contract later in the year.

*Breaking down the NL East by position and using a sample rank system, I came up with the following (as objectively as possible):

c: McCann(atl-5) – Really no other C in the NL East can compare

1b: Ryan Howard(phl-5pts); Carlos Delgado(nym-4pts); Jorge Cantu(fla-3pts); Adam Dunn(was-3pts); Casey Kotchman(atl-2pts) - Howard is the clear favorite; A somewhat offensive bounce-back from Kotchman is in place; Delgado, Cantu, and Dunn should all be solid again; Cantu is definitely still underrated with Bonifacio, Maybin sometimes, and Hanley Ramirez in front of him.

2b: Chase Utley(phl-5pts);Dan Uggla(fla-3pts);Kelly Johnson(atl-2pts); Luis Castillo(nym-1pt) – Castillo can be an effective 2b still at the 8-spot in the Mets lineup; Kelly Johnson can go 85-17-75-9-287 with maturity and confidence. Obviously, the Nationals have a 2^nd baseman in Anderson Hernandez/Ronnie Belliard – I just don’t think they’re worth writing about.

3b: David Wright(nym-5pts); Chipper Jones(atl-4pts); Ryan Zimmerman(was-3pts) Emilio Bonifacio (fla-3pts) – Chipper does deserve 5 points along with Wright if he could just stay healthy enough; If Bonifacio sticks to leadoff he can be a runs and sb stud; and Zimmerman should have a 85-20-85-5-285 line. His defense is fantastic and he has potential for 85-25-95-5-290. Pedro Feliz isn’t worth ranking albeit solid defense.

ss: Hanley Ramirez(fla-5pts); Jose Reyes(nym-4pts); Jimmy Rollins (phl-4pts); Yunel Escobar(atl-2pts) – I wanted to give 5 points to both Rollins and Reyes as well, but It’s true that Hanley is in an offensive class all by himself since he’ll have lots of rbi opportunities this year; I personally think Reyes can belt 19 home runs this year, but 16hr + 60sb is beautiful with a stellar .293-.297 avg.

lf: Raul Ibanez(tilde over the n)(phl-5pts); Daniel Murphy(nym-4pts); Matt Diaz(atl-3pts); Josh Willingham (was-2pts) – I love Daniel Murphy batting 2^nd in the Mets lineup. I think a very healthy 90-17-75-7-286 is very possible; Ibanez will be stellar there in the Phillies Lineup; Matt Diaz with playing time can be very good. Along with Brian McCann, he slimmed down a bit.

cf: Carlos Beltran(nym-5pts); Shane Victorino(phl-4pts); Cameron Maybin(fla-3pts); Lastings Milledge(was-2 pts); Jordan Schaeffer (atl-2pts) – Jordan Schaeffer is young and good. He’s already got 2 hr this year. He could switch with Kelly Johnson/Yunel Escobar for the top of the lineup if slow starts occur for either of the 2 or when Chipper sits (which will be enough) and Omar Infante is in the lineup. I think he can be good for 17hr-15sb. Maybin should bat 2^nd but may find himself at the bottom of the lineup enough to hurt. His lineup spot should have the following breakdown: 50% batting 8^th, 35% batting 2^nd; and 15% batting lead-off. A line of 85-15-65-25-269 seems great for where he went in drafts; Like I said prior, Beltran will lose out on runs and protection batting 5^th, but he should bat 4^th enough against lefties when Delgado bats 5^th.

rf: Jeff Francoeur(atl-5pts); Jayson Werth(phl-4pts); Jeremy Hermida(fla-2pts); Elijah Dukes-Austin Kearns(was-2pts); Church-Sheffield(nym-2pts) – Hermida was regarded very highly just a few years ago, and the rbi opportunities are there. He could get time batting 2^nd as well. I actually like him for a line of 75-18-75-6-260; Werth should be very good when healthy since right field is his. I see 24hr-15sb due to injury concern; Platoons and split-time between the Mets and Nationals right field situations should yield above average numbers. The difference between them and Francoeur however is obviously not nearly as great between say Chase Utley at 2b and Ronnie Belliard at 2b so I think they deserve 2 pts to Francoeur’s 5 pts.

sp1: Johan Santana(nym-5pts); Cole Hamels(phl-5pts); Derek Lowe(atl-4pts); Ricky Nolasco(fla-4pts)

sp2: Josh Johnson(fla-5pts); Javier Vazquez(atl-3pts); Brett Myers(phl-3pts); Maine/Pelfrey/Perez (nym-3pts) – To me, Josh Johnson is clearly the best #2 starter here with the other 3 teams having fairly similar numbers at the #2 rotation spot. The thing with the Mets is I’m not sure who the #2 will be by year’s end – same for their number 3 and 4 starters, and I’m a Mets Fan; Brett Myers Could be good at times and a mess at others. I think he’s better than Moyer this year (even though Moyer may be ageless the way he pitches) so I’ll put him here and Moyer in the 3-whole.

sp3: Jair Jurjjens(atl-4pts); Jamie Moyer(phl-3pts); Maine/Pelfrey/Perez(nym-3pts); Volstad(fla-3pts)

sp4: Joe Blanton(phl-4pts); Kenshin Kawakami(atl-3pts); Maine/Pelfrey/Perez(nym-3pts) – I think Kawakami can be as effective as the teams’ other #4’s since no one has seen him.

sp5/Minor League P call-ups: Tommy Hanson(atl-4pts); Jordan Zimmerman(was-3pts); Carlos Carrasco(phl-3pts); Jon Niese(nym-1pts) – the Phillies, Nat’s, and especially the Braves have a future Ace or #2 in the whole, while the Mets, to me have a future #4. I think the Phillies will need Carrasco quicker than the Mets need Niese or Braves need Hanson, but Hanson is the best among the new wave of NL East Starters. Jordan Zimmerman could and should put up better than league average numbers in his first season.

P.S. Livan Hernandez will be horrendous for the Mets. Hopefully they sign Pedro Martinez or Jon Niese and Tim Redding can be effective enough. However, I do see a deadline SP deal for the Mets, which comes later in the post.

closer: Brad Lidge(phl-5pts); Krod(nym-5pts); Mike Gonzalez(atl-3pts); Matt Lindstrom(fla-2pts); Joel Hanrahan(was-2pts)-Krod and Lidge will be great again. Gonzalez is underrated and can save 35 games without Rafael Soriano getting a chance. Tommy Hanson could get some opportunities if both Gonzalez and Soriano are unhealthy, but I think they’ll keep him as a SP as he sores to the Majors. Lindstrom can be very good with his 100mph fast ball and slider so long as he stays healthy. Per pitch, he was the hardest thrower in the majors last year, and let’s not forget about Jon Broxton/LAD or Joel Zumaya/DET.

setup: JJ Putz(nym-5pts); Rafael Soriano(atl-2pts) – If Krod goes down, the Mets should still be OK because of JJ Putz - just OK. JC Romero of PHL could have been here if he didn’t get suspended for substance abuse, but hey thanks for helping the Phillies win the World Series and thanks for playing in the World Baseball Classic. Horrendousness.

Figure 1.0: Results

	nym	phl	atl	fla	was
c	1	1	5	1	3
1b	4	5	2	3	1
2b	1	5	2	3	1
3b	5	1	4	3	3
ss	4	4	2	5	1
lf	4	5	3	1	2
cf	5	4	2	3	2
rf	2	4	5	2	2
sp	5	5	4	4	1
sp	3	3	3	5	1
sp	3	3	4	3	1
sp	3	4	3	1	1
sp	1	3	4	1	3
rp	5	5	3	2	2
rp	5	1	2	1	1
	51	53	48	38	25

Point-Breakdown:

*Obviously, this is a very basic statistical way (almost a weight system) of ranking the NL East, but still feasible. Those not ranked, still received 1 pt for the contingent positions. The above system ranks each team as follows: Phillies (53pts) Mets (51pts) Braves (48pts) Marlins (38pts) and of course lastly, the Nationals (25pts). So here, the Phillies rank 1^st. However, there are definitely contingencies this year, such as how the Braves play against the Phillies. They were 4-14 against the Phillies last year. The Braves rotation with Lowe, Vazquez, Kawakami, and Hanson later on in the season, will be much much better, and their offense should pick up quite a bit as well. Most Importantly – The Mets. They had the 3^rd most blown saves last season with 29 (Both the Cardinals and Mariners had 31). The additions by subtractions and additions by great additions/call-ups (Krod, Putz, Sean Green, Brian Stokes, Bobby Parnell) should subtract at least 15 of those 29 blown saves – and probably many more!!! All three referenced NL East teams need to watch out for the Marlins, but I don’t think they have the bullpen and rotation depth to compete for 162 games in the 2^nd best division in the Major Leagues for 2009.

Mets Trade Rumors:

*Lastly, there will always be trade rumors throughout the season, and at the deadline. It may be more intense this year than last due to the economy, and some non-competing teams may be very willing to rid of their expensive talent. I think the Mets will be big players in a sundry of discussions – mainly with the Blue Jays, Mariners, and potentially the Padres. I think Erik Bedard (sp) along with Jose Lopez (2b), Roy Halladay (sp), as well as Jake Peavy(sp) would be fantastic additions after Johan Santana in the Mets Rotation. Another interesting difference this year, can be the Mets POTENTIAL willingness to trade Fernando Martinez, the Mets top OF prospect since they found a stud in Daniel Murphy. I think an offer like Fernando Martinez(of), Jon Niese(sp), and either a Reese Haven(ss) or Brad Holt(p) + Nick Evans (of) could potentially help us land a Roy Halladay or Erik Bedard. If we can land Jose Lopez for 2b along with Erik Bedard, I don’t see how the Mets wouldn’t easily win the NL East.

Mets Roster Additions:

*I think Sheffield was actually a good right-handed bat of the bench for the New York Mets, and

can be a great platoon with Ryan Church (left-handed). Livan Hernandez/sp just won’t be effective anymore, and the Mets should attempt to woo Pedro Martinez for 1 year at 2.5 million.

*2009 NL East Projections: (Honestly I think the Phillies and Braves are Interchangeable)

1- New York Mets (91-71)

2- Philadelphia Phillies (88-74) – WC

3- Atlanta Braves (87-75)

4- Florida Marlins (85-77)

5- Washington Nationals (63-99)

*Very Early 2009 MLB Playoffs Projections:

Mets vs. Dodgers

Phillies vs. Cubs

NL Championship: Mets vs. Cubs

WS Championship: Mets vs. Red Sox

WS Champions: Red Sox

AL Championship: Boston vs. Yankees

Red Sox vs. Angels

Yankees (WC) vs. Twins

Did You Know:

Did you know in college, Mike Lieberthal had a Homerun Cycle – He hit a grand slam, a 3-run homerun, a 2-run homerun, and a solo shot.  I read this on the back on his 1991 Topps Rookie Card! Amazing!!!

Did you know – The founder of this Site, Jeff Gross’, Favorite player was [LAD/TEX/ANA/TOT/CHC/SEA/SAN/FLA Pitcher] Ismael Valdez. Fantastic.

Also Fantasy-eers – Don’t forget Brandon Inge/c-3b on the Tigers is eligible at CATCHER! But make sure you have Pujol’s avg on the team, b/c Inge will hurt that badly!

RIP Nick Adenhart. Best wishes to the Angels (no corny joke), his friends, and most importantly, his family.

You're a MLB Pro..Thanks For Coming Back!

Here are the official game notes, the first pitch comes in about 25 minutes. There’s an error. It says Miguel Batista is the oldest player on the M’s roster. Ken Griffey Jr. is the oldest, not Batista. I’m excited to see Griffey.

Pitching matchup: Felix Hernandez v. Francisco Liriano. Liriano is coming back after losing 2007 and most of 2008 to elbow surgery. He was good and improved through the 76 innings (6-4) he posted late last year. Felix has had excellent Opening Days the last two years; Liriano is a fine opponent for the still-young Mariners ace. It’s cold in the Twin Cities, so the advantage goes to Felix, who has pitched well in the cold. (Doh! Minnesota’s current stadium is a dome — next year, the temperature will make a difference.)

The starting lineup for Seattle:

Seattle               Chavez, LF                 Gutierrez, F, CF                 Sweeney, M, DH                 Beltre, 3B                 Griffey Jr., RF                 Lopez, J, 2B                 Branyan, 1B                 Johjima, C                 Betancourt, SS

The starting lineup for Minnesota: Minnesota     Span, LF                 Casilla, 2B                 Cuddyer, RF     Morneau, 1B                 Kubel, DH                 Crede, 3B                 Gomez, CF                 Redmond, C                 Punto, SS

 

Gawd, that was an awful FSN music video, “go,” that bodes ill for the new era.

And the first pitch is an inside ball from Liriano. Season underway!

Chavez, Gutierez ground out. Liriano’s fast ball is snapping, and the ground balls suggest he’s going to be effective tonight. Sweeney’s free-swinging at-bat ends with a called strike on a checked swing. M’s go down 1-2-3.

Ouch. Felix walks the lead-off batter, Denard Span. He’s looking a little out of control. The fly ball by Casilla suggests Felix isn’t keeping the ball down. Morneau’s hit shows Felix is getting a little more control — nice fielding by Jose Lopez.

Holy crap. Felix took a bad step and seems to have injured his ankle or calf. He’s limping off his delivery. He’s staying in the game. He’s not sitting in the dugout, so it’s still sore.

Jr. at bat, moving Beltre to third. Sacrifice fly by Jose Lopez scores Beltre — first run of the year. Branyan ends the inning.

Felix back and pitches a strong 1-2-3 inning. This is starting to feel like a solid outing. If the M’s can keep the defense up…. 

Liriano pitching a very good game. Nice movement on his pitches. Felix, however, looks incredibly calm and in control now.

In the bottom of the third, the Twins got close, but Felix pulled it back with a K. Nice.

At mid-fourth inning, Twins have left eight men on base compared to one for the M’s. This is a good trend. Seattle’s defense is definitely upgraded. Keeping runs down will increase the win ratio substantially.

Jr. at bat: Another Opening Day home run. Believe that ties him for the record now. Yes, Mr. Griffey, we are very happy you are back. Seattle is up 2-0 after the top of the fifth.

But in the bottom of the fifth, Felix hits his crisis moment. Three men on, no outs, with Cuddyer and Morneau coming to the plate. Felix gets Cuddyer but gives up a fly ball to short center to Morneau, scoring one. Then Felix gets out of the inning. Felix has eight ground-outs to two flyouts, which means his pitches are working on Opening Day.

Gutierrez sends a ball just over the wall, beyond Carlos Gomez’s glove–this kind of power would be welcome all season long. He’s got an under-rated bat, I think. Mariners lead 4-1 after six-and-a-half. Now the Twins have left 16 men on base to the M’s one. Excellent defense, M’s. Felix seems to have aggravated his ankle covering first. I’d be surprised if he comes back in the 7th. And, yet, Felix comes back in the 7th, starting with breaking balls. The kid is maturing, mixing pitches to go further in the game. Another 1-2-3 inning for the young King.

Kenji Johjima leads off the 8th. We’re seeing the 2008 Kenji, so far, not the WBC Kenji. He’s put the ball in play in both at-bats before this, but was thrown out and flied out; and now gets on base with a hard liner up the middle. Now, he’s .333 on the day. Maybe we’re seeing the WBC Kenji. Yuniesky Betancourt, though he has shown better plate discipline during the Spring, is 0-3 today, grounding into a double-play this at-bat. Dave Simms is talking about Yuni batting all over the lineup, but he still looks like a bottom-of-the-order guy to me.

Felix returns for the 8th! This long effective start is great news for fans. He’s still putting the ball into the glove with a pop. Good movement on his fastball this late. Morneau’s fly-out, though a good stroke, shows how well the ball is dropping out of Felix’s hand. Miguel Batista, who is not the oldest Mariner today, is warming up for the 9th. Brandon Morrow is also up and will likely close the game.

In the Ninth, Gutierrez shows patience at the plate, drawing a walk. This kid is very good. I think he’ll be the big addition we look back on, despite Jr.’s return this year. With a veteran like Ken Griffey Jr. to lead them, these youngsters are going to lay a solid foundation for the future in 2009. But, first, Jr. gets one more at-bat. Fitting. He walks and Wladimir Balentien will run for him. Now, Jose Lopez, who has two RBIs, gets his shot at making an Opening Day mark.

A passed ball lets Gutierrez and Balentien advance to third and second, respectively. Lopez hits a foul to left that Denard Span makes a great attempt to catch. Lopez gets the ball past the left side of the infield to score Gutierrez. Three RBIs on the day.

A Twins fan just avoided becoming a shish-kabob with a bizarre under-the-arm catch of a broken bat. Non-fielding play of the day.

With a five-run lead, Batista will close. Branyan goes 0-4 on the day, flying out weakly to end the M’s half of the ninth. 

Batista is solid. A rare misread by Adrian Beltre gives Joe Crede a base hit. But Batista throws filthy heat to strike out Carlos Gomez. And with  Branyan stop, Don Wakamatsu earns his first win.

First thoughts on the M’s in ‘09: A solid defensive upgrade will pay dividends, but the pitching remains a concern after the #1 and #2 starters. If the offense can continue to score five or more runs a game, the team will be better by 12 to 15 games this year with this pitching. Jr. is back and it is good. Felix was efficient with his pitches, making the prospect of several complete games very likely this year. I won’t be blogging games later this week, but this was a good first game of the New Era, despite the crappy FSN music video. I guess they can keep playing it, maybe once more.

Thursday March 12th

Twins VS Pirates

Score: Twins 4 Pirates 6

Starters:

Twins: Scott Baker

Pirates: Virgil Vasquez

Summary: The Spotlight Really has to go to Outfielder Craig Monroe, Who blasted 3 Homeruns in his first 3 AB’s Giving him 4 RBI’s for the day. The Twins started Rallying late, But unfortunately could not catch up. The twins are 8-4 in the grapefruit league so far this year. On the twins side of the ball Carlos Gomez flashed some power and shot a leadoff home in the 4th inning. The only twin with more than one hit in the game was DH Brock Peterson. On the Mound Baker allowed four homeruns in

four innings, Making four of his five hits allowed homeruns. He only walked one and struck out 3.

Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, and Jonathan Papelbon all were excellent on the mound. Beckett did not allow a hit over two innings, Wakefield allowed just one hit and one walk, and Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

The two representatives of the Red Sox on the United State’s WBC roster provided the offense. Dustin Pedroia put the Sox on the board in the sixth with a sacrifice fly and Kevin Youkilis belted a solo home run in the seventh to put the Red Sox in front.

The Red Sox head to Fort Lauderdale on Monday to face the Orioles at 1:05. Justin Masterson is expected to pitch. With the win against Minnesota, the Red Sox evened up the Mayor’s Cup series 1-1.

I submit that it can NOT. I was able to get myself to a Bruins hockey game this afternoon then a Blazers lacrosse game at night. The Bruins lost to Washington in overtime on a goal that should never be given up, but they are still in first place, so things are still alright. The Blazers crushed San Jose 16-10 and they are barely behind Buffalo for first place. Everybody in Boston just seems to do well these days.

To baseball now, the Red Sox played two split squad games, and beat Northeastern University 14-0 and the Cincinnati Reds 16-5. Julio Lugo went 2 for 3 against the Reds and Jason Varitek drove in four runs, including a two-run double. Clay Buchholz tossed two scoreless innings allowing just one hit to the Reds.

The Sox travel back to Hammond Stadium on Sunday to play the Twins. First pitch is set for 1:05 and the game can be seen on NESN and MLB.TV. Josh Beckett will take the mound, followed by Tim Wakefield. Later in the game, Jonathan Papelbon will make his first appearance of the spring.

The Twins took down the Red Sox 5-2 in the first game of the Mayor’s Cup. Not much offense to speak of on the Sox’ part, managing only two runs, though they did get the tying run to the plate in the 9th but couldn’t get the one big hit.

The Mayor’s Cup is a friendly Spring competition between the two teams in Fort Myers, the Red Sox and Twins. The winner of the Spring series takes home the Cup, and in the event of a tie the winner from the previous year would win. The Red Sox won last year.

The rest of the Mayor’s Cup games are on Sunday March 1, Tuesday March 17, and Saturday March 28. All three games will be on MLB.TV

The twins RP Boof Bonser is out for the season with a torn rotor cuff and Right Labrum. He is likely to be out for the whole 2009 season, after doctors found the tears this Wednesday. Bonser began experiencing pain late last season. When Bonser attempted to throw again in January he still felt discomfort. The MRI’s continued to be negative. The latest MRI showed he did have structural damaged, and went into surgery immediately.

Twins Bullpen: With Bonser out of the Pen The young phillip humber is the favorite to win the final spot in the pen. The twins deal with the Diamondbacks for Juan Cruz is seeming more likely as the Twins continue to take blows to the bullpen.
Thanks

Hello, I am the new Twins author here at Major League Baseball Blog. In my posts i hope to inform you about Game Reports and other twins news such as Trades, Free Agent signings ETC.I hope you enjoy my posts as much as I enjoy writing them. This will be a learning process for me so bear through my first couple of posts as i try to get better, thanks.

Sincerely

Aaron Bickler

News:

After a Rather quiet off-season, the Twins look as good as ever with the Signing of 3B Joe Crede. The new deal which is worth 2.5 Mil Base Salary but has the potential to get the slugging Crede 7Mil in Incentives, these start once he reaches 250 or more at bats. The Twins are hoping that this will motivate Crede to stay healthy, after being plagued with back problems.

My Analysis: This move gets the twins what they needed most this off-season, a power bat. Better yet he bats right and will not have to face the Baggie in the Dome. This also makes the twins more like the standard AL team, with power at both corners of the Infield. The irony in all of this is we are hoping the man who ended our 2008 season with a HR off of Blackburn, will help take us to the world series in 2009.

Twin Catcher Joe Mauer hasn’t picked up a baseball.

That was until two days ago.

For the first time since his surgery last December 22, Mauer played a little bit of catch on Friday.
“It was good just to get on the field,” Mauer said.

Mauer knows that his playing time, as well as his performance will be limited when Spring Training starts, mainly because of the surgery which had hampered his offseason training, Twins pitchers and catchers reported at the Hammond Stadium clubhouse Sunday and Mauer had said that he was just too undecided of what he will do when the group’s first official workout starts on Monday.

“I should find that out in a little bit,” Mauer said Sunday afternoon, as he planned to talk to the club’s medical staff.
Doctors found some kidney obstruction after Mauer complained that he was experiencing back pains during the offseason. Even in this predicament, he still played the final six weeks of the 2008 season.

Mauer said he gained about 5 or 10 pounds during the offseason because of his limited conditioning.
Exercise wise, Mauer said that he was able to do some cardio work on the bike and the elliptical machine, but with no running. He also added that he has been doing a lot of core exercises to “wake that area back up”.

Bill Smith, the club’s general manager said that Mauer has been cleared by his doctors and can resume his baseball duties although the Twins are expected to take it easy with Mauer.

“Our focus is still on getting him ready for Opening Day,” Smith said. “So we’ll proceed with caution as we would with any player that has had any kind of surgery or any kind of injury. We’ll just move a little more slowly with him. We’ll give him all he can handle and go from there.”

Spring Training had been extended to a week this year, due to the World Baseball Classics. In this regard, the Twins will only hope that Mauer will be ready when they face off against the Mariners this coming April 6.
“We have plenty of time for him to get ready,” Smith said.