TWIN022107.NOTES

Steroids probe visit is routine

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: February 20, 2007 - 9:35 PM

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell's steroid investigation pushed forward on Tuesday, when more information was sought from the Twins.

Twins President Dave St. Peter confirmed the Tuesday meeting, which included officials and lawyers from Major League Baseball, the Twins and the Twins' medical staff.

"These are additional people they are talking to," St. Peter said. "People they didn't interview last summer when we went through this in Minnesota."

Even though the league has toughened its policies on the use of steroids and amphetamines in recent years, Mitchell has been appointed to conduct a thorough investigation of drug use in the sport.

St. Peter stressed that similar meetings will take place with all 30 major league teams, and this is nothing out of the ordinary.

"When you have medical personnel in this, because of rules and regulations on the state and federal levels, there's no shortage of legal counsel, let's put it at that," St. Peter said. "This is standard stuff. Every club is going through this."

There is no timetable Mitchell must meet to provide findings from the investigation.

Hunter feels strong

Torii Hunter arrived in camp Tuesday, noting how much better he feels physically than last spring, when he was still recovering from breaking his ankle in July 2005.

Hunter hit 10 home runs last September, finishing with a career-high 31. But he stole only 12 bases after he averaged 22 the previous two seasons.

"I'm 100 percent," Hunter said. "You better watch out; it's going to be scary. I'm actually ready to go. I gained like 4 or 5 pounds, but I'm still agile, just to get a little more power. I've been working on my sprints, too. My goal is to steal a lot more bags and hit some home runs."

Etc.

• Still no change in the status of righthander Ramon Ortiz. He's expected to arrive in camp Thursday after running into trouble obtaining a visa in his native Dominican Republic.

• In addition to Hunter, Denard Span also reported to camp. The outfielder has a chance to start the season at Class AAA Rochester, making a 2007 major league debut possible.

• So far, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire likes what he sees from pitcher Sidney Ponson. "Right up to this point we like the way he is working," he said. "He fits in very nicely here. He's doing all the work. He's got a good smile on his face. That's fun to see."

• St. Peter said about 39,000 seats have been sold for the April 2 opener against Baltimore. New season ticket sales are over 2,500. The club won't know if it has passed 10,000 season tickets until all the renewals are counted.

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com

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