Twins see potential in former Canadian Junior National Team standout Edouard Julien and his bâton

Greg Hamilton returned to Baseball Canada in 1999 as coach and director with a commitment to build a stronger Junior National Team. The idea was to assemble a roster of players 15 to 18 years old from across Canada and give them opportunities to face higher levels of competition.

"We had Justin Morneau as an 18-year-old on that team,'' Hamilton said. "He was a catcher, and also a goaltender. He loved to catch and he loved to be in the net. No matter the sport, he wanted to be in the middle of the action.''

The main travel for the Junior National Team then was a spring trip to the Disney World baseball complex, where they would play young minor leaguers from various organizations.

"Greg's right … I did love to catch,'' Morneau said this week. "I'm not sure how they decided to bring me in from British Columbia, but it was a chance to play with and compete against some very good players.''

Morneau gained enough attention to be drafted in the third round by the Twins in June 1999. Seven years later, he was an American League MVP, although he had long since moved to first base — since hitting was far superior to Morneau's catching skill.

Plus, that Joe Mauer fellow joined the or-gun-i-ZAY-shun (that's Canadian) in 2001.

Morneau now serves as the busiest of several analysts on Twins telecasts. He was on the seven-game (5-2) trip to Oakland and Seattle that preceded Friday night's 9-4 victory over the White Sox at Target Field.

Vying for airtime, though he was with guest Trevor Plouffe, Morneau was able to direct well-earned praise toward Edouard Julien, a Twins rookie and also a Canadian (from way east in Quebec City).

Julien played six of those road games. He was 12-for-19 and added three walks. That put his on-base percentage for the week at .682. He also hit two home runs, the second a rocket off Seattle standout Luis Castillo that would've made Morneau proud.

"He can hit, and he has surprising power,'' Morneau said Thursday. "They definitely have to find a way to keep him in the lineup.''

The complication being discussed by all dedicated Twins followers was this: What happens when Jorge Polanco returns from the injured list?

Polanco is a second baseman with a leg ailment. Julien is a second baseman with a glove ailment.

Manager Rocco Baldelli hinted at the solution in Seattle. And then he made it concrete before Friday's game: Polanco would play considerable third base on his rehab assignment with St. Paul, starting this weekend in Omaha.

Which means: The Twins figured it was more important to allow Julien, 24, to continue to try to get better at second base, than to reinsert Polanco at the position where he had been excellent before the injuries started in 2022.

Hamilton was at Baseball Canada's headquarters in Ottawa this week. He first had Julien on the 18-under Junior National Team as a 15-year-old.

"Eddie can swing it, that's for sure,'' Hamilton said. "He has that quick twitch at the plate. And I believe there are enough defensive attributes that when he gets comfortable with being a major league second baseman, that he will be able to do it in the field for them.''

By the time Julien became one of the youngest members of the national junior team, Hamilton was scheduling close to 90 pro games a year. The team would go to the Dominican Republic for summer league, to Florida in the spring and the fall — playing against athletes who already had signed professional contracts.

"When you have faced that type of pitching since you were high school age, and then you go to college, or get signed, you don't get backed up at the plate when you start seeing those pitches in pro ball,'' Hamilton said.

"You're used to it. For Eddie, he always knew the strike zone, and at the same time took aggressive swings. He has a bring-it-on attitude. He always had that toothpick in the corner of his mouth.

"Somehow, that always told us, 'I'm good at this.' "

Was the French connection unusual for the junior team roster?

"Not really, except most of our players from over there come from the Montreal area, not Quebec City," Hamilton said.

How about that legend Julien hardly spoke English before he went to Auburn? Has to be preposterous.

"That might be close to true,'' Hamilton said. "His mom and dad, Nathalie and Remy, big fans, came on most of our trips, and they spoke French in the home all the while Eddie was growing up.''

So take your choice, bat or bâton, Edouard Julien was playing his 50th big-league game on Friday, and the Twins had seen him do that well enough to say to the esteemed Polanco:

"We'd like you to try third base.''