It looks like Twins new starting CF Carlos Gomez isn’t have any more problems with his hamstring.  It was reported that manager Ron Gardenhire was miffed with Gomez for his reluctance to take it easy after experiencing tightness in his hamstring.  Gomez told fellow outfielder Michael Cuddyer that his leg was getting stiff.  Cuddyer promptly told Gomez to take himself out of the game.  Gomez refused and in the next inning was unable to run down a ball hit to deep center.  Gardenhire quickly pulled Gomez as a precaution against further injury.  Apparently Gomez attributes his leg stiffness to having too little body fat, and really doesn’t see it as a big deal.

After his performance in Minnesota’s home opener, Gomez proved he was right.  Gomez impressed everyone by going 2-3 with a walk, 2 stolen-bases and 2 runs scored.  In what was supposed to be a night about Torii Hunter returning to Minnesota, most fans walked away talking about the new Twins CF.

The Twins announced this morning that they have optioned four more players to Triple-A Rochester.  The demoted players were RHP Philip Humber, IF Brian Buscher and two of the three candidates for the starting CF role in Denard Span and Jason Pridie.  By process of elimination, this leaves Carlos Gomez, the top prospect sent over in the Johan Santana trade, as the starting CF in Minnesota.  While Gomez has certainly gone through periods of struggle, he has always been fast.  Gomez should certainly have value in shallower leagues for his ability to rack up the stolen bases.

Manager Ron Gardenhire dropped some info on Tuesday. He is looking at Carlos Gomez or Denard Span for the starting job in center field, but is far away from making a final decision. Gardenhire said:

“I could send them both down [to Triple-A Rochester], but I don’t know what good that’s going to do me. They need to play center field, and they both need to play… We’re going to heat up the competition and see what happens.”

Span is the more consistent of the two batting .278 with a .435 OBP. Gomez has proven that he has the tools and is incredibly fast, but has yet to produce in the box. He has been hitless in his last 8 plate appearances and is batting .167 on the spring.

Jason Pridie has been left out of the fun and it doesn’t appear that Gardenhire is viewing him as a starter. Pridie has been moved all around the outfield this spring and may be a competent backup to the starter.

• Jacoby Ellsbury ran down a deer. In related news, The Boston Globe reports that the Cubs are interested in Coco Crisp, although the Red Sox are not enamored by Cubs’ offer of pitcher Jason Marquis or minor league outfielder Sam Fuld. If Crisp does get traded it could obviously have huge implications for Ellsbury’s upcoming fantasy season.
• Bill Chastain of MLB.com writes that Evan Longoria has done enough to earn the starting job at third base, and batting him further down in the order would allow him to settle in at the beginning of the season with less pressure.
• Lisa Winston of MiLB.com reports that 2007 #1 overall draft pick out of Vanderbilt, David Price, hit the first batter he faced, then struck out the side in the left-hander’s first appearance with the Rays. Tampa manager Joe Maddon and pitching coach Jim Hickey are all about this kid:

“He’s handled himself so well that regardless of what he does on the mound, we just want him to get out there and enjoy himself in his first ‘big league’ game,” Maddon said Friday. “He’s got a lot of self-confidence, he’s very motivated and directed and has a tremendous amount of poise about him. We just want him to pitch and be a Ray.”

“He’s extremely well-armed with a plus-plus fastball and an extremely sharp slider,” Hickey said. “[He has] a very good feel for a good changeup and a nice delivery, but to me, the thing that is most impressive about him is the type of person he is. He’s a first-class citizen, he’s an extremely hard worker, he’s very coachable. He comes early, he stays late.”

• Rays rookie Jeff Neimann, their first pick in the 2004 draft, went 3 no-hit innings with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts; he has a 0.00 ERA so far this spring. Neimann was 12-6 with a 3.98 ERA with Triple-A Durham last year and could be considered for a spot in Tampa’s rotation.
• Updating an earlier post: the Twins’ Carlos Gomez, acquired in the Johan Santana trade, went 2 for 5 with an RBI triple, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored. He’s got plenty of speed, and confidence to go with it.

Just read these rave reviews about a certain Twins prospect:

“He looks like he’s faster than anybody.” - Twins manager Ron Gardenhire

“He’s got an explosiveness of a track runner. Bam, he’s gone. He’s at full speed after two steps, and that’s something you’re just born with. That first-step acceleration, you just don’t see that very often.” - Twins first-base coach Jerry White

The mystery prospect is of course center field hopeful Carlos Gomez. Phil Miller of Twin Cities.com says that Jerry White thinks Gomez could easily beat out current Major League speed demons like Jose Reyes in a foot race. There is no doubt he would get a lot of steals for fantasy owners if he gets on base, but according to Kelly Thieser of MLB.com that is just the problem - he lacks plate discipline. He’ll need to work on his free-swinging style if he hopes to win the starting center field job over Denard Span and Jason Pridie. However, Gardenhire seems to hint that Gomez will eventually get the job, saying that he’s not afraid to take risks in the leadoff spot. Even if he doesn’t start outright, it will be hard to keep speed like that out of the line-up for long.

So, you’re diligently preparing for your fantasy draft and searching desperately for this year’s Ryan Braun - the rookie fantasy sleeper stud that takes everyone by surprise and catapults your squad to a championship. Unfortunately, all you can find are experts’ “Top 100 Prospect” lists, which include prospects that are still a year or two away, or so-called “Sleeper” lists consisting of 2nd and 3rd year players that everyone in your league has already heard of (and are already planning to draft before you). What if - hypothetically - someone had organized a constantly updated list of rookie fantasy sleepers, tiered by starting status, ranked by predicted fantasy impact, and linked to recent news on each rookie, that you could have running in the background of your draft as a quick reference?

• Look no further than the MLBProspectNews.com 2008 Rookie Fantasy Sleepers page, located under the MLBPN Features section of our navigation bar.

• The Star Tribune reports that Twins top pitching prospect Nick Blackburn is looking to make the starting rotation this year. The 26-year-old is battling back from cartilage problems dating back to 2002 which forced him to get 90 percent of the cartilage removed from his knee in ‘03. After his weight blew up to 260lbs, he used cycling to get back into shape and dropped 30 lbs. Now his knee is healthy, if his numbers from last season are any indication. Blackburn went 10-4 with a 2.36 ERA at Class AA New Britain and Class AAA Rochester, including a 44-inning scoreless streak at Rochester. Manager Ron Gardenhire likes the way he throws the ball, and if Blackburn breaks into the rotation he could be a deep-sleeper candidate for 2008.
• Carlos Gomez is competing with Jason Pridie and Denard Span for the job of Twins starting center fielder, but its definitely his job to lose. Kelly Thesier of MLB.com says that Ron Gardenhire plans to use all of spring to let the race play out before selecting a winner, however it would appear that Gomez has the upper hand. Through the 4 games he has appeared in he is batting 2-for-8 with 2 runs, 2 RBI, 1 walk, and 2 stolen bases. He also would have had a stand-up triple on Monday if he hadn’t slipped and fell face-first in the dirt rounding second. Gardenhire didn’t seem too worried, saying:
  

  “Sometimes, when you go that fast, you lose your step, I guess. I never went that fast, so I wouldn’t know.”

  Gomez should be a shoe-in for CF this year, and could be very productive in the stolen bases category with his blazing speed.

According to Kelly Thesier of MLB.com the battle to succeed Torii Hunter has just begun for prospects Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, and Jason Pridie. All three lack Hunter’s power but make up for it with speed and small-ball skills.

• Denardo Span is 23 years old, has had the benefit of Hunter as a mentor. The Twins know him well as he has been in the system for 6 years.
• Jason Pridie is 24 and since being picked up as a Rule 5 draft pick in ‘06, feels that he’s more mentally prepared for the majors this year.
• Carlos Gomez is only 22 years old, has the most raw power, and the most experience with 58 starts for the Mets last year. He also has the endorsement of one of baseballs best sluggers: Carlos Beltran. Anthony McCarron of the Daily News reports that after the Santana trade, Beltran called Gomez and said to him “You’ve got more tools than me. I know you can do it. Go play in Minnesota and show me what you’ve got.” Gomez is also reportedly working with a special hitting instructor every morning two hours before practice begins. He’s got to be the favorite to start at this point.