This off-season the Twins had to part ways with two of their three best players in Johan Santana and Torii Hunter. Both men wanted bigger lumps of money than small market Minnesota could provide for them and Hunter signed for $90 million over 5 years in Los Angeles and Johan forced a trade to New York and signed an extension $137.5 million over 6 years. As good as those players were, the $41 million they'll make this season is equal to two thirds of the Twins actual payroll. So as it was time for the Twins to find new players, it was time for me to find new heroes to follow.
One of the oddities of living away from home is your interests are often very different from those immediately around you. I have a Minnesota Twins jacket that I wear all winter long and every few weeks I field a "Minnesota Twins?" objection. My defense is a simple "I'm from Minnesota," and "If you lived there, would you suddenly become a Twins fan?" and everyone can see the wisdom of that.
However there are times when you can't help but get swept up by what is happening around you. Like Chicago's new found obsession with Kosuke Fukudome. I'll lay claim to knowing about him before most Cubs fans knew about him simply because I followed his free agent courtship. But I don't think anyone could've anticipated how popular Fukudome would become so quickly. It's like loving an indie rock band from Europe, liking their US debut and then watching that album blow up in the mainstream. Kosuke's appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week was like seeing your favorite band staring back from the front of SPIN.
Okay, there is something to his name looking like an obscenity in English. I attended a Cubs game in May with a friend and I could make her giggle each time he came to bat by saying, "Hey, look. Fuck-you-do-me is up again." There's more to the Fukudome love. He's not a typical breakout star. He isn't up there muscling pitches out onto Waveland Avenue or blowing batters away with his fastball or knee-buckling slider. All the dude does is be involved in the Cubs offense getting going and then winning games. The best part is he does it with talent, not with scrappiness. He's the bona fide real deal.
So I took a rare step. I have a collection of t-shirt jerseys of players I admire on other teams. I don't have a lot though because I really have to like that player. When I was in Arizona in the spring of 2002, I bought a Curt Schilling D'backs jersey. I like that he (and Randy Johnson) had lifted Arizona to the World Championship. Barry Zito was added to my collection in 2004 by a friend who is an A's fan. She and I caught every Zito-pitched game in Minnesota we could because Barry pitches like he has a bus to catch. Then, the day after we went to the Cubs game, my friend and I went to the Cubs Pro Shop and bought matching Fukudome t-shirts. It's official. I'm a Fukudome fan.
Carlos Gomez was part of the cache of young players the Twins received in the Johan Santana trade. One of the top prospects in the Mets organization, Gomez was tabbed by the managerial staff to be Minnesota's Opening Day centerfielder. So Gomez, more than any player, represents moving on after Santana and replacing Torii Hunter. As the Twins sit in first place as of today, they seem to be doing well in both counts. Center to all of that is Gomez.
First let's address the thing most Twins fans back home are relaying back to me and something I got to enjoy first hand when the Twins visited the Southside last month. Gomez is really fast. You don't need to have an eye for baseball or dive into stats to see it. If Gomez is standing at point A and is going to point B, there isn't much of a chance the ball will get there first. He's even leading the majors in stolen bases (13) while only being caught once.
Also the kid has handled the pressure of being the centerpiece of the Johan trade and the replacement for one of the most popular players in Twins history. Though Morneau and local boy made good Joe Mauer get most of the adoration from Twins fans, Gomez will quickly move into the third place by flying around centerfield and the basepaths in the new ballpark. Which is how he's really going to make an impact. The Twins took a lot of criticism this past off-season for not ponying up the money for Hunter and Santana. As I pointed out before, that wasn't going to happen.
The Twins will continue to be a small market team and need to trade away players as they become too expensive for the budget. But the Twins have proven they are able to turn those players into other less-expensive players like Gomez. By concentrating on developing players and then trusting their talent, the Twins have developed a plan which works. Anyone who doubts the continued success of the plan will have to double check the standings as of this morning. It looks like things are working out for the Twins and look even better for the the future.
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