November 14

Twins and Yankee Updates

The Minnesota Twins made their first move of the off season trading for Cubs outfielder Craig Monroe, in exchange for a player to be named later. You could call this a somewhat surprising move as the Cubs had intended to non-tender Monroe next month, meaning that he would have become a free agent next month. Twins GM Bill Smith said "(Monroe) may be may be a good fit for us, and there was no sense in waiting a month. It gives us an opportunity to meet with his agent and talk about it by ourselves. I think that's a plus for us". The Twins find themselves in a good bargaining position as they can negotiate and get a lower priced deal as they are able to non-tender him if a contract is not finalized by December. After helping lead Detroit to the World Series in 2006 by hitting .255 with 28 homers, Monroe saw his production level off last season and was designated for assignment by the Tigers in August after hitting .222 with 11 homers. The Cubs acquired him in a trade in August, but he only hit .204 with one home run in 23 games and was left off Chicago's playoff roster. Monroe does bring some power to the Twins averaging 23 home runs over the past five seasons, is a career .273 against leftys, and in 35 career games at the Dome is a .322 hitter with 13 homers in 283 at-bats. With Torii Hunters future still uncertain, Monroe can play all three outfield positions and is a strong candidate for the open DH spot. If Hunter returns, look for Monroe to split time at left with Jason Kubel and DH.

Mariano Rivera is reportedly sitting on a three year, $45 million offer from the Yankees. Should he accept this deal, it would make the lifelong Yankee baseball's highest paid closer. Currently New York's other closer, the Mets Billy Wagner, is the highest paid closer averaging $10.75 million annually over a four year contract. Earlier in the week is was reported that Rivera had been offered three years and $40 million. The Yanks are also waiting on Andy Pettitte who's mulling retirement. The 35 year-old lefty has a standing $16 million deal for 2008 on the table should he return.


Dice-K, Okajima to Play in Japan

Following several months of negotiations, the commissioner's office announced the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics in Japan on March 25-26 at the Tokyo Dome. Oakland will be the home team for those games. The Red Sox and A's will also play some exhibition games on March 23-24 against Japanese teams. After the trip, the teams return to the US and open the rest of their regular season schedules with a two-game series at Oakland on April 1-2.

The Japan visit is one of two Asian trips Major League Baseball hopes to make next year. Talks have been underway for months to have the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres play exhibition games in Beijing, most likely on March 14-15 at the ballpark to be used for the 2008 Olympics. That would be MLB's first trip to China. If the Beijing games take place, the Dodgers likely would travel to Arizona for most of their remaining spring training games. Next spring is their last at Vero Beach, Flordia, where they first trained in 1949. They switch their training base in 2009 to Glendale, Arizona.


DQ and Goldy

Look for Dairy Queen to be front and center in TCF Bank Stadium when it opens in 2009. The Minnesota based company donated $2.5 million to the new Gopher football stadium, as the club room will be called the Dairy Queen Stadium Club, plus look for DQ signage around the stadium as well. Last month, a $12.5 million gift was given to the university by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community that included $10 million for the $288 million on-campus facility.

I for one can't wait for TCF Bank Stadium to open up. While my dad took me to a few games at the old brickhouse when I was a little squirt, the one that sticks out in my mind was when the Gophers were taking on Stanford, led by all-american quarterback John Elway. While I don't remember the score, I do remember this guy scrambling around the backfield and using the bench as a desk for part of the game.