It was only a week ago in this space that I found myself praising the WBC <\/b>performances of Chris Colabello <\/b>and Curt Smith. <\/b>I hope that cruel irony does not step in for this pair.<\/p>\n
Minnesota<\/b> <\/b>gave Colabello<\/b>, the longtime Can-Am League <\/b>standout (<\/b>Worcester<\/b>, <\/b>MA<\/b> <\/b>and Nashua<\/b>, <\/b>NH<\/b>)<\/b> only two at-bats after Team Italy <\/b>was eliminated before sending him to their minor league camp, presumably to prepare for a season at Triple-A Rochester<\/b>, <\/b>NY<\/b>. <\/b>But guess what: The Twins <\/b>have now signed Netherlands<\/b> <\/b>standout Smith<\/b>, who played in the American Association (<\/b>Lincoln<\/b>, <\/b>NE<\/b>) <\/b>two years ago and had been signed to join Atlantic League <\/b>powerhouse Lancaster<\/b>, <\/b>PA<\/b> (Atlantic League) <\/b>this season. One cannot help but wonder if the two first basemen may end up competing for the same job as they try to advance to the parent Twins.<\/p>\n
Colabello, who hit .294 with three RBI in nine spring games for Minnesota, reportedly got encouragement from Twins stars Joe Mauer <\/b>and incumbent first baseman Justin Morneau<\/b> when he was farmed out along with kind words from Manager Ron Gardenhire.<\/b> “He did fine,” Gardenhire, told MLB.com. <\/i>“He played great for Team Italy and really well for us. First base is a place where we don’t have a ton of depth. We have Morneau and then ad-libbing from there. So if he’s down there (minors) swing the bat good, he could go right into the big leagues after all that time (seven years) in Independent ball. So it’s a good story.”<\/p>\n
Smith was upbeat after the WBC when he told USA Today<\/i> “for all of us who haven’t played in the major leagues, playing against the Dominican Republic<\/b> and the great team that they have is like playing in the major leagues.” What’s more, he added, “scouts are watching. The whole world is watching.”<\/p>\n
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