*** Diamonds In the Rough - Justin Morneau - June 21st ***

The My Sportsbook

by Nick Colangelo, Minor League Baseball Staff Writer

Philadelphia, PA - With the promotion of Joe Mauer to the big leagues, Justin Morneau has been unofficially crowned the top prospect in the Minnesota Twins organization. One would think the pressure to produce would take a toll on the 23-year-old slugger, but Morneau has shown otherwise. A third-round pick in the June 1999 draft, Morneau has risen quickly through the minor league ranks, only to find a logjam in the Twins lineup, thus reducing the availability for at-bats with the big league club.

Last season, Morneau opened a lot of eyes with his big bat. He began the season with New Britain, where he tore-up Eastern League pitching. In just 20 games, he hit .329 with six home runs and earned a quick promotion to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. His performance with the Red Wings earned him a call-up to the Twins on June 10th, where he struggled a bit with Major League pitching. In 106 at-bats, Morneau hit just .226 with four homers. He would return to Rochester at the end of July, and finish with 16 homers and 42 RBI for the Red Wings with a combined 26 home runs on the year. The big lefty also impressed at the Olympic qualifying tournament, hitting .400 with five homers and nine RBI, leading Canada to a second place finish.

This season, Morneau returned to Rochester following spring training and got off to a scorching start. In the first month of the season, Morneau hit .386 with nine home runs and 26 RBI, highlighted by his performance on April 12th. Against the Pawtucket Red Sox, Morneau went 4-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBI to lead Rochester to a 12-3 victory. Morneau's hot hitting continued, and he again received a promotion to Minnesota on May 21st. The second time around, Morneau had much better success, although he ultimately would get caught in a numbers game and return to Rochester when Mauer returned from the disabled list. In seven games (24 at-bats) with the Twins, Morneau hit .292 with a pair of home runs and a slugging percentage of .542. Although it was a short stint, Morneau showed more patience and a more mature approach at the plate than he did in 2003.

Since returning to the Red Wings on June 2nd, Morneau has produced, although his average has dropped. In 19 games, he is hitting just .221. However, he does have seven long balls and 20 RBI with a slugging percentage of .558. Morneau has two multiple home run games during this span against the Columbus Clippers. The first came on June 7th when Morneau smashed two home runs and plated six runs in a 13-3 blowout win. On June 16th, the resident of Fort Myers, FL knocked two more home runs and drove in four runs in a narrow 6-5 win over Columbus in which Morneau scored the winning run.

All in all, Morneau has put up some powerful numbers this season. In 56 games for Rochester, he is hitting .310 with 18 doubles, 17 home runs, 49 RBI and 39 runs scored. His efforts have been rewarded with a spot on the World Team for this year's All-Star Futures Game, along with fellow Canadian Jeff Francis of Tulsa (Colorado Rockies Double-A affiliate). The game will take place in Houston on July 11th, featuring the best International players against the top American minor-league prospects.

Morneau is a native of New Westminster, British Columbia. The former hockey goaltender is quite proud of his roots, as displayed by a red maple leaf tattoo on his left arm. According to Rochester's director of media relations, Chuck Hinkel, Morneau will join Team Canada in Greece for the Olympics if he is not recalled to Minnesota by July 31st. Originally a catcher coming out of high school, the 6-4, 228 lb slugger was converted to a first baseman by the Twins. With average defensive skills, Morneau is the ideal designated hitter. He will likely draw interest from teams looking to rebuild at the trade deadline, but it will take an irresistible offer for Minnesota to part ways with this young stud. Wherever his future lays, look for Morneau to be smashing bombs to right field upper decks for years to come.