After listening to the conference call introducing Jamey Carroll to the Twin Cities, I looked at Carroll's career stats and something caught my eye.
Carroll didn't make his major league debut until Sept. 11, 2002, when he was 28 years old.
Talk about a late bloomer. He spent about seven seasons in the minors learning the game before reaching the bigs. Since then he's built a reputation as a solid player who can play three infield positions and is a good for a team's chemistry. He also can handle the bat a little. He's a career .278/.356/,348 hitter and has grounded into just 11 double plays over the last two seasons, three last season. Not bad for an older righthanded hitter.
``You're going to love him," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said during the conference call. ``You're going to love the way he plays. You're going to like the way he goes about his business."
The Twins also hope they like the way they set the stage for the arrival of Brian Dozier.
A Twins official told me late last week that they view Carroll as the bridge to Dozier, who began opening eyes last season as he jumped from Class A Fort Myers to Class AA New Britain and who continues to open eyes during the Arizona Fall League, where he's batting .286 with 3 home runs and is tied for the team lead with 22 RBI.
Dozier is 24 and could make his major league debut sometime during the 2012 season. He's headed for his fourth minor league season, so he probably won't toil as long as Carroll did before he reached the majors. Dozier also has accomplished more offensively than Carroll did in the minors.
But there have been concerns that Dozier would be a better fit at second than short because of his range and arm. Carroll has played more second than short in his career but said today that he prefers short and is very comfortable there. Still, there have been similar concerns directed at Carroll about his ability to play short.
