Minnesota Twins

2009 has the potential to be a big season, the last season at the Metrodome with a chance to give it a proper send out by being able to celebrate on the field.

It was a long and slow off season for the Twins. There were many rumors of trades and free agent signings then came and went. I believe their patience payed off as they eventually signed their man in Joe Crede.

After more than a month of competitions and some unfortunate injuries, the Minnesota Twins have a final answer, to all of their roster questions.

By optioning infielder Matt Tolbert to triple-A Rochester on Friday night, the Twins have set their roster, one day shy of the conclusion of spring training.

When the Twins take the field on Monday, here is who'll be in attendance wearing the white pinstripes (hoping Morneau will be fine):

R.A. Dickey, knuckleballer extraordinaire, has been announced to take over the fifth spot in the rotation for the Minnesota Twins, replacing the injured Scott Baker.

I'm all for giving guys a chance, but it seems like the Seattle Mariners tried the same thing with this guy last year, with rather bleak results—a 5.21 ERA—but was found to be rather serviceable from the bullpen.

The Minnesota Twins haven't been a quick study in recent years.

Under Manager Ron Gardenhire, the Twins are just three games over .500 in the first 25 games of each season since he took over in 2002.

Ironically, the Twins were under the .500 mark at that point of the season in three of the four years that they garnered division titles.

It goes to show you that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.

And that the Minnesota Twins know how to make adjustments as the baseball season wears on.

The 2009 season is a little different.

Who strikes terror in the hearts of the Minnesota Twins?

Is it David Ortiz? Travis Hafner? Jermaine Dye? Alex Rodriguez? Or maybe Gary Sheffield?

Surprisingly enough, these feared sluggers don't qualify for the current list of "Twin Killers," those who cause Minnesota boosters to mutter under their collective breath and force Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire to count to 10.

10. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox

Youkilis enjoyed a breakout season in 2008, batting .312 with 29 home runs and 115 RBI.

When the Twins faced the Tampa Bay Rays yesterday, they took on their Opening Day starter, James Shields.

To say the least, Shields wasn't very good; he allowed the Twins to score 11 runs on 12 hits in just over four innings of work. Nonetheless, he got his work in and moved one start closer to the regular season and the innings that matter.

Once the hits started, they never stopped as the Twins pounced on one of Tampa Bay's top pitchers, James Shields, for 12 hits and 11 runs in just over four innings of work. Scott Baker meanwhile allowed another homerun, but it was the only damage done.

Some keys to the victory...

** Scott Baker's line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 K.

Finally, a pretty nice outing for the team's Opening Day starter who recently has struggled a bit. The stats are irrelevant however; Baker moved closer to being ready for April 6th and probably has one more start to finish up the spring.

You've all had 20 minutes to look at this diagram. Does ANYONE think its correct? No? Good. Welcome to the University of Chicago, lesson one: hate everything—U of C Masters Student and Teaching Assistant.

Josh Ellis is far from the only person to believe this maxim, though he is the author. There seems to be a belief that to be a true fan of a team, you've got to hate it. Every coach is an idiot, no player is worth his contract, the owner is as cheap as it comes—no one is safe from the fury.

I predict the Minnesota Twins will win the AL Central. The Twins have a very good mash of players that could produce good enough chemistry. Players like Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, Justin Morneau, and Joe Mauer all can do well in this lineup.

Keep an Eye on: Alexi Casilla, 2B

Writing today from the comfort of his own electric chair, Josh Illes is the creator of the new blog The Pickup Artist. I call it The Pickup Artist because I plan on analyzing interesting in-season transactions throughout the baseball year.

But I also have a somewhat snarkier side to me, and many times I rant for no reason at all about not being able to understand a word that Eric Young is saying. Ok, so I may just rant about that once. I’m only kidding of course. I love E.Y.!