--RHP Jeff Manship allowed eight hits but only two runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Arizona Fall League's best-hitting team, and teammate (and fellow Twins prospect) RHP Rob Delaney earned the victory in relief as the Phoenix Desert Dogs won their fifth consecutive AFL championship with a 10-4 victory over Mesa on Nov. 22. Manship, a 14th-round pick in 2006, went 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA in eight Arizona games, while Delaney, an undrafted free agent, was 1-1 with a 4.86 ERA.
--1B Justin Morneau endorsed the Twins' efforts to beef up their lineup with another power hitter this winter. "I don't want to take anything away from the guys that are there, but it would be nice to have another bat," Morneau said. "We need a shortstop and third baseman. Who knows? I love (Brian Buscher, the incumbent at third base), so it's hard for me to say anything about third base, but if we could add offense, it would be great." --Tony Oliva, a three-time batting champion who twice finished second in MVP voting, is a finalist for consideration by the Veterans Committee for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Oliva, who spent all 15 seasons of his career with the Twins and owns a .304 lifetime batting average, will learn Dec. 8 whether the committee, made up of 64 Hall of Famers, has selected him. There are 10 candidates from the post-1943 era on this year's ballot.
--OF Matt Moses, considered the Twins' third baseman of the future when he was drafted in the first round in 2003, was left exposed to the Dec. 11 Rule 5 draft when the Twins declined to add him to their 40-man roster. Moses, moved to the outfield when his fielding was judged deficient at third base, has spent most of the past four seasons at Class AA New Britain, and he batted only .230 with three home runs in 105 games this year.
--LHP Glen Perkins modeled the Twins' new/old uniforms at a public event and said the throwback look was "awesome." The jerseys, modeled on the uniforms the team wore when it moved into the Metrodome in 1982, have a script "Twins" across the front, with no pinstripes, and a red "TC" cap. They are to be worn during Saturday home games in 2009, to commemorate the team's final Metrodome season, but "we'll probably try to wear these more because they did a really good job," Perkins said.
BY THE NUMBERS: 8 -- Times Tony Oliva was selected to the All-Star Game in his first eight seasons, one of the strongest points to Oliva's case for Hall of Fame status. Oliva is being considered by the hall's Veterans Committee.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Pedroia deserved to win. He was there for his team when it needed him. If I had to vote, I would have voted the same way." -- 1B Justin Morneau, correctly predicting that he would not win the AL MVP award.
