The New York Times-20080124-Twins- Caravan Rolls On With No News For Fans

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Twins' Caravan Rolls On With No News For Fans

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On a bitterly cold night in southwestern Minnesota, about 150 people packed into V.F.W. Post 380 for an appearance by the Minnesota Twins Winter Caravan. For $6, attendees got roast beef sandwiches with macaroni and potato salads, a look at a Twins promotional video, autographs, and a question-and-answer session led by the wisecracking Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire.

The video is a story in itself, and a source of amusement in the organization.

Because the Twins are trying to trade Johan Santana, their two-time Cy Young award winner, the club ordered an alternate video in case a deal was made while the caravan was out on tour. According to the Twins' broadcasting director, Andy Price, the second video contains a generic mention of Santana being traded.

Fox Sports Net, a broadcast partner, produced both videos at no cost to the club. Price said Twins management felt that if Santana were traded, the video had to acknowledge it or be scrapped.

It's kind of a standard program, and the video is a big part of it, Price said in a telephone interview. We didn't want to sacrifice that part of the show.

So Price and the Twins' public affairs director, Kevin Smith, who traveled on different legs of the caravan last week, minded copies of the second video. Price joked that he kept it packed right next to my underwear, and it's not leaving the bus unless I hear from Bill Smith, the Twins' general manager. Kevin Smith said, The B video is under lock and key, and I don't think a marine could break the combination.

Gardenhire smiled when asked about the second video. I haven't seen it, he said. I thought I might on this trip.

Actually, according to someone with knowledge of the negotiations, a deal was never that close. But the Mets, the Boston Red Sox and the Yankees remain interested to varying degrees in Santana, who has rejected the Twins' offer of a four-year, $80 million contract extension and can become a free agent after the 2008 season.

Understandably, Gardenhire said Santana's future was the No. 1 topic everywhere he went.

The caravan, an annual event with stops in more than 50 Upper Midwest communities, began Jan. 14 and continues through Jan. 31. Relief pitcher Pat Neshek and the Twins' batting coach, Joe Vavra, accompanied Gardenhire last week on a leg through northwest Iowa, eastern South Dakota and southern Minnesota. Bill Smith, the general manager, was not on the caravan, leaving Gardenhire to explain to fans why Santana was being shopped. I know it's going to be asked, so I just go ahead and answer it before they ask, Gardenhire said. It's out there.

Last Thursday's events began with a luncheon at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn., where Gardenhire jokingly told the crowd, I'm really tired of Santana questions, so please, no Santana questions. The fans laughed, and he addressed the issue at such length that no one asked anything else about Santana.

In the V.F.W. Hall, where red, green and white Christmas lights dangled from inverted V-shaped ceiling beams, Gardenhire loudly directed Kevin Smith from the stage into the audience to ask about Santana. The obvious gag loosened up the crowd, which included three people wearing shirts with Santana's No. 57 -- two children, and 51-year-old Donald Gilbertson, a fireplace builder from Montevideo who later won a Twins gift bag in a raffle.

Gilbertson said his father took him to his first Twins game at the old Metropolitan Stadium in 1961, the club's first season after moving from Washington.

I don't like to see it, but what can you do? Gilbertson said of a probable Santana trade. I'm still going to be a fan. I'd like to have him here, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Another popular topic on the caravan, Gardenhire said, is how the Twins plan to replace Torii Hunter, their center fielder and seven-time Gold Glove winner, who signed with the Angels as a free agent. Gardenhire said Smith was adamant about acquiring a center fielder and a starting pitcher in any Santana deal. Gardenhire, then, hopes the trade happens before spring training.

But if not, Gardenhire said he might move Michael Cuddyer from right field to center, an idea he kept to himself for two months because he had not discussed it with Cuddyer. The strong-armed Cuddyer had 19 assists last season, tied for the major league lead among outfielders. At the luncheon in Marshall, Gardenhire had suggested using the minor leaguers Denard Span or Jason Pridie, which seemed dubious.

I'm not afraid to play Cuddyer in center field at all, said Gardenhire, who later sprung the news on the V.F.W. crowd. Moving Cuddyer opens right field for Delmon Young, who was acquired in the off-season with Pridie from Tampa Bay as part of a deal for shortstop Jason Bartlett and the young pitcher Matt Garza. Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe would play left, Gardenhire said.

Two more legs of the caravan are weaving through Minnesota now. If Santana is traded this week, Price said a quick interview with Bill Smith about the deal would be filmed and edited into the video before the caravan's final leg departs next Monday. If not, the dual versions will make one more trip.

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