Like So Many Do, Justin Morneau Returning to Minnesota… But Not to Play

The 2006 A.L. MVP, Justin Morneau, will be returning to the Minnesota Twins franchise.

No, no, no, he won’t be throwing on a uniform and Molitor won’t be writing “DH” behind his name, in the book. Nope, per the Canadian Baseball Network, the 36 year-old will be retiring from the game and joining the Twins organization as a special assistant. But, like so many who leave Minnesota (including “regular” people), Justin Morneau is coming back.

Like Nemanja Bjelica’s points, events come in threes. Earlier this week, it was announced that Brad Childress intends to retire from coaching. Hours later, Twitter was humming over Tracy Claeys becoming Washington State’s defensive coordinator. It was only natural that this Morneau hiring happened. It’s also satisfying that this one will actually be coming back to Minnesota.

We needed the third well-known player/coach with Minnesota ties to make a career change. For the purpose of preserving the Vikings’ staff, let’s hope it’s the third and final…

Justin Morneau’s last big league action came in 2016 with the White Sox. After only playing 58 games that season, he was forced to sit out all of 2017. The official announcement regarding his hiring and retirement as a player is expected to be made later this week. As for the status of his acting career, that remains unclear.

You would imagine it’s a bitter-sweet day for Morneau. On one hand, he gets to return to the organization that drafted him and the one he won an MVP Award for. On the other, it’s likely concussion issues played a big role in his retirement. It definitely effected his career.

However, It wasn’t that long ago (2014), when the Canuck was the N.L. Batting Champion. As for the previously mentioned 2006 MVP season, he finished that campaign with a career high 34 HRs and 130 RBIs. Morneau’s .321 BA was the second best of his 14 year MLB career.

The 2008 Home Run Derby winner finishes his playing days with 247 HRs, a .281 BA, and ended up only 15 RBIs shy of 1,000.

Justin Morneau’s Twins Statistics:

His first Minnesota tenure ended in the fall of 2001, when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With the hiring of our new special assistant; Morneau, Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins, and Michael Cuddyer are all now members of the Twins front office.

That’s a pitcher, a left-handed bat, and two right-handed hitters. We need another sweet swinging southpaw in there soon to balance things out. It doesn’t have to happen immediately, but I like to think it’d be within the next five years. As for who that could potentially be?

Oh, I have no idea………………….

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com