Twins look toward new season

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- With spring training less than two months away for the Minnesota Twins, two current players, along with WCCO's Dan Gladden and John Gordon and mascot T.C. Bear made a stop at St. Anthony elementary school Monday for the 44th annual Twins Caravan.

Matthew LeCroy and Johan Santana spoke to a group of elementary and middle school students about subjects such as the weather, the offseason, and how they expect the 2004 team will fare.

"Well, its a good feeling to deal with kids -- I was a kid once and I grew up as a baseball player," Santana said. "It's good to show people that we support them and that we like to do things for them."

"I think it's fun," LeCroy agreed. "It's a busy time, but it's a fun time to get together with some of the teammates and people in the front office and just for the fans that'll cheer for us. It's just the least we can do."

Santana just got back from his native Valenzuela, where he enjoyed temperatures in the 80s. He said the below zero temps were something he probably won't get used to.

"It's something else," he said. "My refrigerator's not that cold like it is right now, but, you know, it's something you have to deal with."

Santana has bounced back-and-forth from the bullpen to the starting rotation the past two years, and he went from one of the best relievers in the American League to one of the game's best young left-handed starters. Santana went 12-3 last season, setting a club record for winning percentage in a season (.800).

"It's tough, but I always had it in my mind that I wanted to help the team, that's what I was thinking," he said. "Of course I want to be a starter and I was just patient and waiting for the chance and opportunity to get my spot in the starting rotation and it finally happens.

"From then I just never give up and I'll keep going, and I'll work my way all the way to establish myself in the rotation, and that's what happened," Santana said.

Both players know the nature of the business of professional baseball, and for the first time in their career, the reality of playing on a small market team set in.

"You hate to see guys leave, especially guys I know that have helped me out a lot in the game, but that's part of it," LeCroy said. "A lot of the game's about business. We'll see each other -- you see guys -- but you gotta have guys step in and concentrate on winning. Hopefully we'll have guys step in and do the job."

"That's the thing here," Santana said. "We've been together through this and through the ups and downs, but now we get to see the real deal now. We'll see how it goes from now, but hopefully everything will be fine and we can [get] ready for next season."

Santana is facing salary arbitration for the first time and says the process can be long and hectic.

"My agent's been talking to them, we haven't get to to any point yet," he said. "I think [today] will be the day where both sides will know what's the financial figures and the negotiations to go to arbitration. But, you know it's up to them. We're pretty open. We like to hear what they say. We haven't heard anything. We just keep waiting."

Soon both players will be reporting to spring training and will be reunited with most of the players that won the Central Division title in 2003 before being eliminated by the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series.

"The good thing about the offseason is that you get a couple of months to be with your family, and once Christmas goes by, you start getting that feeling again that you wanna get back and get back in the groove of things and get back into spring training," LeCroy said. "I'm sure everybody's excited."