Checking in from TwinsFest

Greetings from TwinsFest, where there were lonnng lines of fans waiting to get into Target Field yesterday as I approached the ballpark. Despite the struggles of the last four years, the fans still come in from all over the region. Impressive.

Everyone has the same question, a question that was posed last night during a sportswriter roundtable. When will the Twins compete for the division title?

I thought they would avoid losing 90 games last season, which didn't happen. This year, I think they can approach .500, break .500 next year then be a threat in 2017. I think their pitching is headed in the right direction, with Jose Berrios and Alex Meyer becoming factors in the near future, My one concern is how durable they will be, but they both represent the top end talent the major league staff needs.

I wrote about Lord Byron and Senior Sano for today's paper. I'm kicking myself for burying Terry Ryan's quote, because he normally plays things close to the vest but didn't hold back when asked if Buxton and Sano could reach the majors this season.

“That would be a realistic point of view, from my vantage point,” Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. “They’re both very talented, and if they have the type of years you would hope with their type of skill sets, there’s no reason not to say, well, they have a chance this year.’’

Ryan apparently said something similar during the annual winter caravan, so he's not back off the possibility.

M and M: Twins manager Paul Molitor, earlier this week, met with first baseman Joe Mauer to see where No. 7's head is at coming into the season. Molitor came away optimistic. Mauer has had a good offseason, conditioning-wise, and will report to camp feeling better than he has in recent years.

That's a big development for the Twins, who were fifth in the AL in runs scored despite Mauer having a poor season,

There will be more on this in the dead-tree edition on Monday.

That's all for now. Headed over to Target Field now, but might skip away to catch some of the Gophers-Illini game. Illinois has been crushed with injuries to the point where they are suiting up one of the managers. So I'm going to check in with John Groce and see if he needs me for a half.