Twins Notes: Morneau, Ponson

Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press has a few Twins tidbits for us this morning:

• He says the Twins want a fifth option year on Justin Morneau's multiyear pact in the range of $14MM.  Three days ago, Morneau said the two sides were "pretty close."  At that time, Morneau confirmed that he was never offered the 4/33 deal that Joe Mauer received.
• Walters also writes: "It will be a shock if pitcher Sidney Ponson isn't released by the Twins."  Back in late February, Ron Gardenhire said he viewed Ponson as being one of the team's starters.  If his neck is OK, it would be nice to see Matt Garza win the job instead. 

Comments

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I certainly hope the contract talks with Morneau prove fruitful. Adding that power and average to the Twins lineup will go a long way to bolstering our playoff chances for the next half-decade.

As for Ponson... management seems happy with his first spring training performance... but that's all that is. The first spring training performance. Matt Garza should absolutely win a starting job out of spring training - if he's healthy. He's having shooting neck pains and waking up with headaches every morning. A CT scan didn't reveal anything so they're scheduling an appointment for him with a neurologist. That's one way Ponson could actually make the opening day roster if he has a strong spring.

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Also, I have to add: Don't put stock in anything that Charley Walters says unless other people are saying it already. He really likes to run his mouth and often uses his opinions to fill space in his column. A lot of what he says has no merit.

[Paul AKA twinsfan]

Allright get morneau's done a start talking with Cytana already!!!