Javier Ponce? Pedro Jaramillo? Francisco Velasco?
Who are these guys, and how did they end up on the roster of the Minnesota Twins?
Major League Baseball kicks off its 2017 season on Sunday. The Minnesota Twins open Monday at Target Field.
And it doesn’t look good.
For instance, Ponce, Jaramillo and Velasco? Those are actually members of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa’s executive cabinet but you probably didn’t notice. Or you had to check the roster to be sure because there’s a fat stack of dudes no one’s ever heard of playing for us this year.
Somewhere a baseball team is sitting in a jury box and a jury ended up as the 2017 roster for the Minnesota Twins. Perhaps there is some important legal reason for all of this. We can hope.
It’s been like this for the Minnesota Twins in recent years. Historically, the Twins have been cheapskates when it comes to signing big name players in free agency. They built two World Championship teams in 1987 and 1991, and a competitive era in the early 2000s, on their minor league farm system. But prospects have been slower to develop in recent years.
Last year’s team had one of the worst starts in team history, and though they managed to avoid being the worst team in baseball history, that’s about as good as it got.
This year presents a fresh start. That’s the eternal promise that baseball gives us. The grass grows and gets cut. The distance between bases is always the same. And on any given day, your team could win.
Winning consistently? We must not ask for this.
For us in Minnesota, 2017 gives us a different kind of gift. Low expectations. We get 162 games, same as all the other teams. And there’s just no way we could lose all of them.
Right?
Careful with that irrational exuberance!