Minnesota Twins relishing Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Alexi Casilla partnership
The Minnesota Twins are looking to add power and speed to their batting line up. 2010 saw the ball club crash out of the playoffs and while many appeared flabbergasted by the outcome, it was clear the side lacked a lot of things in the line up. Where many
can’t see, the 2010 American League Central champions have identified their problems and they are making changes in their line up to prepare themselves for the challenge ahead.
The Twins have moved on to believing they can get someone to do a better job in the infield and their pursuit of Japanese player, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, suggests they will go one step forward in preparing for the coming season. The Japanese star has been the
talk of the season and he will be sought out by the Twins. The club has till the 26th of December to sign the player and it seems he will sign a deal by next week.
"We hope to sign Nishioka, but this was not done in advance of the Nishioka deal," General Manager of the Twins, Bill Smith said. "He would be a good fit for us, but we have some other depth (in the middle infield)."
Minnesota has been restructuring the roster according to the coming player and a recent change in the squad has seen J. J. Hardy move to the Baltimore Orioles for two prospect minor league relief pitchers. The Twins are hoping to see a tie up between Alexi
Casilla and Nishioka.
Casilla was a big performer during the 2008 season. He batted with an average of .281. He smashed 7 homers, drove in 50 assist runs and led 15 doubles. His performance during 2009, dipped however due to a starting role in the batting line up.
"In 2008 when he came up, he was a good player for us," Bill Smith said. "He was a spark plug for us, a little bit of a catalyst. We were hoping we would see that in 2009, but we didn't. He continues to mature. He did a good job this year in a reserve role,
and I think our manager and coaches are excited to see him get a little better opportunity."
The Twins will be hoping to change the coming season to favour them. Manager Ron Gardenhire is looking to start the coming year in a good way and only time will tell how the ball club fares in the regular season.
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