Orlando Hudson is the Nick Swisher of the Minnesota Twins

After reading even more vitriolic comments from Twins fans in regards to new White Sox 3B/INF Orlando Hudson, I came to that exact realization. This must be what other fan bases see when they look at our continued displeasure and disdain for Nick Swisher. And I now totally understand it.

It seemed weird to me to suddenly stumble onto so many fans proclaiming that Hudson was a clubhouse cancer and an all-around unlikeable guy after years of hearing the opposite, but when I look back on how Swisher and Orlando Cabrera were handled by the clubhouse and Chicago media it all makes more sense.

Do I actually believe that Hudson is a bad guy and an unsavory person to have as a teammate? No. I don't believe it because I don't have any proof of it. It's a narrative I can't get on board with because all I've actually read of it comes from one discredited journalist from the Great White North.

But I can (and pretty much do) believe that he could have the type of personality that wouldn't fit in with the Minnesota clubhouse ruled by Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer, much in the same way that Cabrera and Swisher were deemed off-putting and disruptive by the Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye fiefdom. Hudson went from being one of the established veterans in Toronto and Arizona to being an unknown mercenary for the Twins. There's a significant chance he didn't try adapting to a new locker room role and this bristled his less talkative colleagues. We won't know for certain, but that seems more likely to me than that he's some sort of intentional asshole.

And while our clubhouse is still lorded over by Paul Konerko, the goofy handshakes and smiles from the younger players this season may be a sign that the atmosphere at U.S. Cellular Field has changed. I don't think Hudson will be shunned in the least.