Baseball is here

And we're starting to see how things are shaping up. As a cheesehead living in Minnesota, I am able to follow both the Twins and the Brewers without conflict, especially since the Brew Crew moved to the NL back in 1997. At first glance, it appears that both teams are moving in opposite directions - the Brew Crew made significant progress in 2005, while the Twins slid back to the pack as the Mighty Whities finally removed the 85 year stench of the Black Sox scandal. But it's deceptive. A few things to consider:

• The Twins picked up a few potentially useful spare parts in the offseason. Rondell White and Ruben Sierra are not necessarily great players at this point, but either will be an improvement over Matt (Beer League) LeCroy as the DH.
• As my drunk but wise college friend John Ed used to say, you need pitching and management. And the Twins still have an edge over most teams in this department. Johan Santana is one of the best pitchers in baseball and Joe Nathan is a reliable closer. I would take either over the Brew Crew's number one options (Ben Sheets and Derrick Turnbow) at the same positions. If you had to have a pitcher, would you rather have Brad Radke or Chris Capuano? Would you rather have Carlos Silva or Doug Davis? Right now I would take Toma Ohka over Kyle Lohse, but neither are any great shakes. Advantage, TC Men.

Much more to talk about - this space will devote more time to baseball and less time to politics in the coming days. It's going to be fun. I have a hunch that another team on a long-time losing streak is going to get off the schneid this year. Any guesses?