Twins manager Ron Gardenhire could not attend the winter meetings this year because of a family emergency. But he did speak to Twin Cities beat writers during a conference call.
Update: Look, Gardenhire's wife has two family members who aren't doing very well right now and he's trying to be supportive during a tough time. Can the bowling and Nick Punto jokes.
Like everyone else, he's curious to see what type of player he has in Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the Japanese infielder the club hopes to sign.
``He's a good player," Gardenhire said. ``He's a speed guy. He can run a little bit. He's won some gold gloves over there but I haven't had the opportunity to see him play.
``I really don't know a lot about him and won't know until we get him to spring training."
Gardenhire wants to watch Nishioka in the field before deciding if he will play second or short - but he does know that Alexi Casilla can play short if needed.
`` I have always said, for me, I think he moved really well at shortstop," Gardenhire said, ``I think he's very acrobatic. I think he's very athletic, he can go get the ball and throw from all kinds of angles. I think he's comfortable coming in and getting the ball rather than waiting for it."
The key, Gardenhire said, is getting Casilla to play like he did in 2008 when he batted .281 and held down the No. 2 spot in the order.
