On Meyer, Tonkin, and Opening Day

I started covering the Twins as a beat writer in 1993. As a reporter covering spring training, you crave news.

When someone pressed Paul Molitor this spring over what his Week 1 rotation would be, he looked up, blinked and said, ``That's news?"

Well, it's spring training news. People are interested, and there isn't much else going on.

One thing I learned over the years was that most spring training ``news" is aimed at what will happen on Opening Day. Who will be in the lineup? Who will be on the big-league roster? Who will be sent down? Who will take the mound?

It's all interesting stuff. A lot of it has little to do with what the roster will look like by April 15, or May 1, or June 1.

This week, the Twins sent Alex Meyer and Michael Tonkin to the minors. I think Meyer and Tonkin will be important players for the big-league team this season. They just won't be with the team on Opening Day (barring other injuries between now and then.)

Meyer. Tonkin. Miguel Sano. Eddie Rosario. Josmil Pinto. Maybe even Byron Buxton.

The Opening Day roster is a function of the front office's hope. It hopes Aaron Hicks will prove he deserves to be an every day player. It hopes that Mike Pelfrey, or Tommy Millone, or Trevor May can hold down the fifth spot in the rotation. It hopes the team will stay relatively healthy.

By May 1, or June 1, you will have a much better idea of the best big-league roster the Twins can muster than you will on Opening Day.

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Latest podcast (think radio on demand) at SouhanUnfiltered.com: Gophers senior associate athletic director Dan O'Brien, on Jerry Kill, what Kill thinks of me, his son's battle with cancer, and the future of Gophers athletics. Great stuff from a really good guy.

Other recent podcasts: Quincy Lewis and Michael Russo.