Posts tagged JasonBartlett at FanHouse

Wow, I did not see this coming. According to La Velle Neal of the Star-Tribune, the Twins and Rays are close to making a pretty big trade that may not technically be a blockbuster but is damn close:

The main pieces changning teams would be outfielder Delmon Young and righthander Matt Garza. But indications were strong on Wednesday that as many as six players could be involved.

In addition to Garza, the Twins would send Tampa Bay shortstop Jason Bartlett and reliever Juan Rincon for Young, shortstop Brendan Harris and outfielder Jason Pridie. Pridie was with the Twins during spring training of 2006 as a Rule 5 pick.

Young finished in a distant second place to Dustin Pedroia for AL Rookie of the Year honors this year after hitting .288/.316/.408 with 13 home runs and 93 RBI. Scouts believe that he's only tapped the surface of his potential, though -- he hit .316 over parts of three minor league seasons and should eventually hit 30 homers a year in the majors. He's had a few run-ins with authority in his short career, but he's still only 22 years old and there's no doubting his talent.

As for Garza, he's been touted as a potential ace but has put up good-not-great numbers in the majors compared to excellent numbers in the minors -- basically making him the pitching equivalent of Young, I guess. The change of scenery should do him good, though -- not because I think there's something inherently good about pitching for the Rays, but simply because the Rays are more likely to stick him in the rotation and leave him there, whereas he was always working on a relatively short leash in Minnesota.

The Twins are easily becoming my favorite team when it comes to their commercials. Whether it's Joe Nathan and Johan Santana car-pooling together, a couple of pirañas swimming in an aquarium, or now Michael Cuddyer permanently scarring Johan Santana, the Twins know how to sell their product.

(Special thanks to I Dislike Your Favorite Team)

Previously at The Fanhouse:
Johan Santana's Driving May Induce Vomiting
Johan Santana Can't Drive
Joe Mauer Is Willing To Trade You His Sideburns

No matter where we turn our attention in baseball, it seems as though we always come back to that one topic. Steroids. Whether it's Barry Bonds and his magic growing head, or Gary Matthews and how he spends his time surfing the internet, it's always about the damn steroids.

The Minnesota Twins have heard about steroids so much, that they figure they might as well go public with their own performance enhancing juice, the same juice responsible for their late season surge to an AL Central title.

"We started drinking carrot juice around the time we started winning last year," said Twins catcher Joe Mauer. "Some of our guys think that's the reason we won. We'd have about 20 guys drinking carrot juice after batting practice. Except for [Justin] Morneau and [Nick] Punto -- they drank slurpees."

"I think the carrot juice might have done it for us," said shortstop Jason Bartlett. "I started drinking it in the offseason, but then I had to clean it myself, so I stopped after about a week. We need someone to make it this year. You can't mess with success."

It doesn't look as if anyone on the roster is willing to make the carrot juice, but luckily for the team, Joe Mauer has found a replacement.

"Someone gave me this stuff," Mauer said, pulling what looked like a wine bottle from his locker. "It's not wine. It's called MonaVie. It's supposed to be good for you."

Mauer then went out and hit a 3-run homer in the 5th inning, so I'm willing to bet you'll find more MonaVie in the Twins clubhouse in the future.

Well, until George Mitchell finds out about it anyway.

We're all well aware that when it comes to promotional campaigns, the Minnesota Twins have created some fantastic commercials. Well, the Twins have released their two newest commercials for the upcoming season, and they do not disappoint.

The first commercial features Johan Santana and Joe Nathan carpooling to the Metrodome, and Nathan takes exception to Johan's driving style. Nathan gives such a dazzling performance pretending to be ill, that teammate Jason Bartlett believes he might be able to find a job outside of baseball.

"I think acting is in his future," Bartlett said

Nathan however, isn't so sure.

"I think a lot of people could have done it, but I was the lucky one to pull that part of just having to look sick on TV," Nathan said with a laugh. "The only thing I was disappointed in is that they didn't put all of my sound effects in there. I guess they were worried people might have thrown up."

Bartlett himself is in the second commercial with Nick Punto. In it a father and daughter are visiting an aquarium where the daughter keeps asking her father about the fish. They then come upon a part of the tank where the father informs his daughter that those fish are piranhas. Punto and Bartlett are then shown swimming in the tank and waving at the kid as an aquarium employee feeds them baseballs.

Of course, if my words aren't enough to describe the cinematic brilliance of these commercials, you can always watch them yourselves at Twins.com.