Veteran Sweeney talked to Twins before signing with A's

Former Royals DH Mike Sweeney talked to the Twins this past offseason before ending up in Oakland. The Craig Monroe signing ended those talks.

By LA VELLE E. NEAL III, Star Tribune

Last update: April 23, 2008 - 12:24 PM

OAKLAND, CALIF. - Longtime Royals hitter Mike Sweeney is now with the Athletics, playing when needed and helping the young players develop.

He could be doing that with the Twins.

The Twins have long admired Sweeney, and he acknowledged Tuesday that the Twins contacted his agents during the offseason about signing with them as a free agent.

"I did [hear from them]," Sweeney said. "It was early in the offseason. My agents had some talks with the Twins and I was pretty excited about the possibility. Then talks calmed down and I ended up here in Oakland."

Indications are the Twins never made a formal contract offer to Sweeney, who signed with the A's for $500,000. The Twins traded for Craig Monroe instead and are paying him $3.82 million this year. Sweeney could have split time at DH with Jason Kubel and been an emergency first baseman.

"I was bummed, but I was happy for Craig," Sweeney said. "... He's a good ballplayer."

Sweeney, 34, has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons but is a career .333 hitter vs. the Twins with 22 homers and 102 RBI. Twins fans will remember Sweeney for breaking up Scott Baker's no-hit bid with one out in the ninth on Aug. 31.

In Tuesday night's 5-4 Twins victory, Sweeney had a pinch-hit single against Joe Nathan in the ninth inning. Sweeney is hitting .288 with three RBI in 52 at-bats.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire actually is happy Sweeney is with Oakland.

"I guess it's better to see him in this uniform," Gardenhire said. "That means we won't have to see him as much as we did when he was in our division."

Slow starter

Many around baseball predict that the run production will just pour out of the 22-year-old Delmon Young, but the Twins still are waiting to see it. Still, it would be wrong to believe the alarm has gone off, and Young, who entered Tuesday in an 0-for-12 slump, scoffs at the small sample size that comes with April baseball.

"It's early," Young said. "You get away with some stuff before the scouting reports get out."

Sure enough, he doubled off the wall on the first pitch he saw Tuesday from Joe Blanton. He finished 2-for-4.

"That's why there's 162 games," Young said. "Not everyone comes out batting .300 at the start or at the finish."

Another shot for Everett

Shortstop Adam Everett, on the disabled list because of a strained right shoulder, on Monday had another magnetic resonance imaging exam -- and, this time, he had dye injected into the area to make sure there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him.

There wasn't, and Everett was given another cortisone shot. This one, Gardenhire said, might have done the trick.

"He already feels really good so they know they got the right spot this time," Gardenhire said.

The earliest Everett can come off the disabled list is April 30.

Cuddyer expected to play

Outfielder Michael Cuddyer is in Fort Myers, Fla., working out at extended spring training with the Twins' rookie league team and is expected to play in a game there today. If all goes well, Cuddyer will join the Twins for their weekend series at Texas.

Gardenhire sounded as if it were a foregone conclusion.

"Just talking to him before he left, he had no qualms about being able to come back and join us in Texas," Gardenhire said. "I think he believes, the way he was going, that he should be here."

That would mean Denard Span likely would go back to Class AAA Rochester. Span didn't start Tuesday, but he pinch ran for Jason Kubel in the eighth inning and took over in right field.