Jon Laging, Sports Columnist

Spring training and Florida sunshine is about to happen to our 2006 Minnesota Twins (I’ve got to get there some year). You know, one doesn’t have to watch the Twins your entire vacation in Fort Myers. There’s the Boston Red Sox.

And if you grow tired of baseball, (hard to believe), there is the ocean. Fish both deep sea or close to shore. You can also collect shells on Sanibel Island, the second best shell gathering spot in the world. This gives you a good excuse to wade in a calm sea, watch the birds and soak up the sun. When you decide to sit down, the seafood is abundant and good.

Our Twins head into the new season hoping to vie for the Central Division crown. Terry Ryan has made some moves during the off-season, acquiring Luis Castillo, Rondell White, Tony Batista and Ruben Sierra. He didn’t give up much in return. Therefore the team that did not subtract much, but added some, should be better. Right?

The Twins did lose starter Jacque Jones to free agency. Jones was the team leader in home runs and won a few games with last minute heroics, but I have never been a fan of his. Part of this I blame on Ron Gardenhire. I felt Gardenhire should have platooned Jones. Jacque was successful against right-handed pitching, but a good lefty made him look foolish. Maybe the Twins were paying him too much to use him as a part-time player?

Jones&8217; place will be taken by the trio of Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and Lew Ford. Maybe they won’t supply the same power, but will hit for a higher average and walk more. If things work the way the Twins hope, Kubel will be hitting .300 and playing regularly by midseason.

Our punchless Twins finished second to last in team batting average and dead last in runs batted in. About a hundred runs down from the previous year and 2004 was nothing to write home about. Where are they going to get those hundred runs? Well, Luis Castillo is a run scorer.

Granted you say, Castillo can get on base, but who is going to drive him in? Rondell White will help. He has proven by his statistics to be a better hitter than any 2005 Twin with the possible exception of Joe Mauer.

The Twins&8217; new third baseman Tony Batista has been ripped by baseball analysts, sportswriters, bloggers and fans. They don’t like him because he doesn’t have a good on base percentage. He either drives in a run or makes an out. That’s true, he’s not a singles hitter and draws few walks. Let’s back up one sentence, &8220;drives in runs.&8221; What was the Twins&8217; primary problem last year? They didn’t score runs. Now they have a guy that averages about 90 RBI a season. That is way above anybody on the team and almost double that of the guy he is replacing, Michael Cuddyer. He’s got to be as good a fielder as Cuddyer, who at times looked mismatched at third base. Batista should be a welcome addition to the team. Just wait until you get a load of his batting stance!

However, all the Castillo, White and Batistas are not the complete answer. They help, but the Twins fate will rise and fall on the shoulders of Justin Morneau. Even with all the new acquisitions the Twins still lack a cleanup hitter. What about Morneau? He can be a slugger who hits for a high average. A cleanup hitter.

Look around the league, one of the best cleanup hitters is Paul Konerko of the White Sox. If Morneau gets his head on straight and the team, including Gardenhire, supports him, he can be Konerko’s equal.

When he is, the Twins will be among the elite teams in the American or any other league.