Youneverknow

That, of course, was purportedly legendary whack-job Joaquin Andujar’s favorite word, and it should be the mantra of every fan at this time of the year, when it’s easy to get carried away with the first optimistic rush of spring training.
It’s hard, though, not to get carried away. The day pitchers and catchers report is the true Groundhog Day on any real baseball fan’s calendar. I’m not even sure what it means if the groundhog does or doesn’t see its shadow, and I don’t much care. I also don’t have any idea if a groundhog is the same thing as a woodchuck, or what God’s purpose is for either of them (if, in fact, they are different creatures –maybe somebody can enlighten me).

At any rate, an animal coming up out of its hole must be some kind of sturdy, all-purpose metaphor for the triumph of the human spirit, or at least that’s the way I’m going to choose to spin it given the winter I’ve had.
They’re playing catch and swinging bats in Arizona and Florida, and that’s all the assurance I need that spring in the Midwest is right around the corner.
Every year about this time I start getting a hankering to head down to Florida myself, and if my track record is any indication I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance I’ll pull the trigger at some point in the next couple weeks and jump on a plane.
In the meantime, I don’t expect any real surprises in the Twins’ camp, even though a number of pitchers have already come up with mostly gimpy injuries. Otherwise, though, this is about as locked in as the team’s roster has looked in years, but it really is true that youneverknow.
I’ll go into full analysis and prognostication mode any day now, maybe even tomorrow. God knows, you won’t want to miss that, so check back.
Also, I’ve been thinking about this all winter, and I’m curious what you might think: What’s the worst trade the Twins ever made? And how about the best?
I have my own suspicions, but I’ll wait and see if anybody else has anything to say, or if there’s anybody else, period.