Coming back from a mini-vacation in Arizona. Here's an airport SORT (series of random thoughts):
-As a parent, I've actually come to fear these winter storms. I'm afraid my daughter is going to go for a walk and wind up with a frostbitten face. Gawd.
-Although the Delmon Young and Johan Santana deals are the most important ones they've made, the Twins' front office seems to me to be on a hot streak. I liked the Gomez-Hardy deal, which could wind up making the Santana deal a little more palatable. The in-season moves the Twins made last year, landing Rauch, Mahay, Cabrera and Pavano, worked out brilliantly _ and much better than I anticipated.
Bringing back Pavano on a one-year deal makes a lot of sense to me. And if the Twins can add a competent third baseman, they're going to be loaded and, I believe, favored to win the division again.
-I could see the Arizona Cardinals getting hot and becoming a team you don't want to face in the playoffs. They are very athletic, and they have the confidence of a winning season behind them, and they may be peaking at the right time (as Brett Favre noted Sunday night.)
If Warner stays healthy, watch out.
-Even though it didn't work out, I was happy to see Jonny Flynn with the ball in his hands at the end of the game against Toronto, and trying to hit Kevin Love with a pass. It makes sense to give key young players experience in those situations, even if the attempt fails.
-Upcoming: I'll be on am-1500 at 7 p.m. Thursday. I'm on semi-vacation from the newspaper this week, but am working on a Sunday project that I hope baseball fans will enjoy.
