NEW BRITAIN, CONN. - Justin Morneau is everywhere.
Walk through the front gates at New Britain Stadium, and there he is, looming from the ceiling, twice life-size, swinging a bat. Take the elevator to the second level, and Morneau, 21 years old with long blonde curls, rides with you, crouching forward with his first baseman's glove. Meander down the concourse, and he's on the wall, looking hopeful about the future while posing in his Rock Cats uniform. Sit in the stands, and you're liable to share a row with someone wearing a decade-old No. 33 jersey.
In case you were wondering what the point of Class AA baseball is, the ubiquitous image of Twins first baseman Justin Morneau -- Rock Cats MVP in '02, American League MVP four years later -- is there to remind you. "They've had some great players come through here, and the experience you get at Double-A should get you ready to do some great things," said Rock Cats manager Jeff Smith. "Our job is to help develop your talent, so you can play for Gardy [Twins manager Ron Gardenhire], so you can be a winner up there."
He can't be certain whether there are any future Morneaus on his roster this year -- but there might be, Smith said. Just last week, for instance, in his first game at New Britain Stadium after being promoted from Fort Myers, 21-year-old Oswaldo Arcia clubbed a 400-foot home run into the trees beyond the right field wall, one of the longest home runs in the stadium's recent history. And Arcia is hardly the only intriguing hitter here.
The 2012 Rock Cats, only two seasons beyond a 98-loss disaster that foreshadowed the parent club's own crash, are an unusual mix, an intersection of young prospects headed up and a few wrong-way casualties trying to halt their descent. Three of the Twins' top five hitting prospects, as judged by Baseball America at the beginning of the season, are on the Rock Cats roster, led by Aaron Hicks, who was drafted with the 14th overall pick in 2008. New Britain also has above-average pitching, despite being thinned by the needs of the Twins and Class AAA Rochester Red Wings above them, and a couple of injured outfielders, Rene Tosoni and Joe Benson, who are trying to recapture the success that earned them short-lived tryouts in Minnesota last season.
All are spending the summer in this shady suburb of Hartford, Conn., hoping to develop their batting eye, their breaking pitch, their double-play pivot, their -- and this may be the most important quality -- maturity.
"I really think it's what separates guys at this level. Everybody has experience by the time they get here, everybody has talent," said Smith, a former minor league catcher who is in his seventh season as a manager in the Twins system. "But now you have to develop the mentality of a big-leaguer if you want to keep moving up. The mental toughness, that's what we're here to help you develop."
One thing all the Rock Cats have in common: They're eager to go somewhere else.