Wednesday, April 1st

The Twins are closing in on their 25 man roster as they made 3 cuts yesterday 2 of them were expected and one that took me off guard.

• Jose Morales beat out Drew Butera for the backup catchers job for a few weeks until Joe Mauer gets healthy. I have to admit I had that wrong I was pretty sure that they would go with Butera because of his strong defense and ability calling a game. However, Morales got it because he is a superior hitter and has improved behind the plate. Being that he has spent the last couple years in AAA he is probably better able to hit major league pitching. It is a short term thing because the Twins are adament that Mauer will be playing sometime in April so im happy for Morales to get the chance with the Twins.
• In an expected move Jose Mijares was sent to AAA. As much as it was expected I am sure it was a blow for the Twins because there was a lot expected out of Mijares this year after letting Dennys Reyes go after last season. He did not allow them to keep him this spring because first he showed up at camp out of shape and then had a 9.90era this spring. This move does not guarantee that Brian Duensing is going to make the team all it means is Jose Mijares won't. With RA Dickey and Philip Humber still in camp there is a chance they could go with Dickey and Humber with Craig Breslow as the only left handed pitcher in the bullpen.
• As expected Alejandro Machado was reassigned to minor league camp and is expected to come off the bench for Rochester. Jeff Christy was told he will be cut but stay in camp until Saturday to help with catching the pitchers.
• According to Lavelle E. Neal the Twins are looking at trades to settle their roster problems. He said it is possible that either Brenden Harris or Philip Humber could be traded or both. I really hope that doesn't happen because as much as I like Matt Tolbert I would really be disappointed if they got rid of Brenden Harris because you really don't know if Joe Credes back is going to hold up on the turf. I know everyone says bring up Luke Hughes or Danny Valencia. I would not bring up Valencia because why rush him let him spend the year in between New Britain and Rochester and be ready for next year. As for Hughes has anyone seen his defense it is horrible almost as bad as Brian Buscher's so I would not be too happy with that platoon. Humber on the other hand if they believe that RA Dickey gives them a better arm in the bullpen then I would try to get something for him before I would release him.
• Yesterday, the Twins got 19 hits and a good outing by Nick Blackburn to get a nice 12-8 win.
• Nick Blackburn made his final start of the spring going 5 innings and only gave up 2 runs. He appears ready to pitch next Friday night in Chicago.
• Joe Testa had the line of the spring and not in a good way. Testa was brought up for the day because of the cuts the Twins have been making. Testa faced 7 batters and gave up 3 hits and walked 3 while only retired 1 batter. At the end he gave up 5 runs for an era of 135. That is not a line he won't soon forget and im sure his teammates with the Miracle won't let him forget it. Im sure when he makes it with the Twins he will remember his first outing with Twins.
• The Twins are a little nickedup so they had quite an outfield yesterday. Delmon Young has a sore shoulder and didn't play. Carlos Gomez had to take his pregnent wife to the doctor so he wasn't there. Michael Cuddyer had to go to the Twin Cities for a follow up appointment on his surgically repaired finger. So the outfield consisted of Jason Kubel in left, Denard Span in Center, and former first round pick Chris Parmalee in right.
• Matt Moses was very impressive in his start yesterday going 3-5 with an rbi. That was huge because hopefully that will be the start of a big season for Matt because he is in danger of being released if he doesn't have a good year. Im really pulling for him because he has alot of talent and a former 1st round pick in 2003.
• The Twins are getting close to the end with only 4 spring games left. Today, the Twins take on the Pirates in Fort Myers at 12:05. RA Dickey gets the start today as he tries to solidify a roster spot with the Twins. It should be interesting if he comes out and has a good outing. The good news is only 5 more days until the opener.