Justin Morneau Update: Morneau Ready For Minnesota Twins Opening Day?

Update, 2/21/11: According to Phil Mackey via Twitter, Morneau has reported to camp and is feeling great. He hasn’t felt any post-workout fogginess in weeks.

We’ll see if Morneau suffers any concussion-like symptoms after he plays his first spring training game, but this is a great sign, and all signs point to Morneau being ready by Opening Day.

Original Post, 2/2/11: As spring training approaches, there is one question on the mind of Minnesota Twin fans. Will 1B Justin Morneau be ready for Opening Day?

GM Bill Smith believes so.

“I have April 1 circled,” general manager Smith said Tuesday in an interview with CBSSports.com’s Danny Knobler. “That’s the day we’re targeting.”

While that’s seems very optimistic, Smith did add that Morneau’s rehab was a “Work in progress” and “We have pledged patience, and we only want him to go when he’s ready,” Smith said. “If that’s March 1, April 1 or July 1, that’s what it will be. We only want him to go through this one time. We don’t want this to become a roller coaster.”

Here is my take on this: Morneau won’t be ready for Opening Day.

Concussions are the most unpredictable injuries in sports. They come and go, and in some cases, like with former New York Jets WR Al Toon, they never go away.

Morneau has been out since last July with his concussion. That was seven months ago. Why should I believe anything is going to change in the next two or three months?

I hope Morneau is ready for Opening Day because the Twins and baseball will be better off with him in the lineup. Nobody wants to see the game's best players not in the lineup.

What I find somewhat funny about this whole situation is that the Twins have played so well in Morneau’s absence the last two years that I almost feel like Morneau has become undervalued as a player.

The guy won an MVP award and he missed the ALDS against the New York Yankees the last two years, and it was like, "Ho-hum." However, when Mark Teixeira went down in the ALCS against the Texas Rangers, Yankee fans acted like Chicken Little.

The Twins will be AL Central contenders even without Morneau. But they would be World Series contenders with him in the lineup. Let’s hope the later is the case.

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