The Star Tribune's long-serving baseball reporter La Velle E. Neal III is making a move, becoming the newspaper's newest sports columnist.

The newspaper announced Wednesday that Neal, who has covered the Twins and MLB for the past 23 years, will join the ranks of its 

Per the newspaper, the 55-year-old will "blend in his own personal views and observations to write daily and weekly columns for the paper and its website; he'll also contribute to podcasts and other Star Tribune platforms."

He joins a team of sports columnists that includes Jim Souhan, Patrick Reusse, Dennis Anderson, and Chip Scoggins.

The announcement sparked praise from the Twin Cities media and sports community.

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"Our readers connect [La Velle] instantly with the Twins, baseball," tweeted sports editor Chris Carr. "Soon they’ll get to see how well he knows the full sports landscape here, and the issues and topics all around it. A fresh set of eyes. A new voice. Truly exciting."

"Holy cow. So happy for my friend @LaVelleNeal! You’re the best! Congratulations!" tweeted The Athletic's Timberwolves Jon Krawczynski.

This comes in the same week that the Star Tribune announced the launch of a new 30-minute sports podcast, with a new episode every day, Monday-to-Friday, hosted by senior sports reporter Michael Rand.

The podcast will mostly feature discussions with a Star Tribune sports writer "on a particular relevant topic."

The newspaper will also be looking to hire a new reporter for the Twins beat to replace Neal. Phil Miller is the paper's other Twins reporter.