Twins lose in 9th

• Livan Hernandez put together his best performance of the spring yesterday, but it was still far from great. He did manage to strike out 6 batters, but allowed 2 runs in the 5 innings that he worked. It's not bad, by any means, but I sure would like to see him put together a stellar outing his next time out to make me feel more comfortable with him on the mound this season. Brian Bass, Dennys Reyes and were great between the 6th and 8th innings, but things fell apart a bit in the 9th as Casey Daigle gave up 2 hits and a walk while allowing the game-winning run to score. The Twins lost the game 3-2, it was Daigle's first loss of the Spring.

Michael Cuddyer carried the team offensively with his 8th and 9th RBI's of the Spring. He also hit his 6th double of the Spring off of former Twins southpaw, J.C. Romero. The Twins carried two minor league position players yesterday, with Trevor Plouffe and Dustin Martin getting the opportunity to play with the "big boys." Plouffe went 1-1 at the plate and helped turn the only double play ball of the afternoon.

• Next, the Twins will travel to Jupiter to play against the Cardinals. Ex-Twin Kyle Lohse is set to make his Spring Training debut against Boof Bonser.

• Center field competition: Denard Span lead off the game yesterday with a hard single to right field, but he was thrown out trying to steal second base later in the inning. It was his first time he's been caught stealing all spring. He only had one hit, but raised his average to .293 on the spring. And to put it into more perspective, if the game against the Rays wasn't called because of rain a few weeks ago, he would be hitting well over .300 as he was 2-2 in that game. Unfortunately those stats don't count, as official stats, but I'm sure that Ron Gardenhire has made a mental note of it. I assume Carlos Gomez will start in center field today.

• Something that I have not previously mentioned before, but I probably should have since it's lingered into my though process on several occasions, but Brian Bass has really impressed this season. He has a 1.59 ERA this spring, and has gained praise from management.

"That bodes well for a guy out of options,'' Gardenhire said. "That's always a good thing.''

That's Gardenhire's response to the aggression that Bass has shown on the mound this spring. The Twins likely won't be able to retain him if they try to send him through waivers, so there's a very good chance that he could make the club as the infamous "12th pitcher" that I've seem to talk about to no end.

• Nathan Update: According to La Velle E. Neal III, Joe Nathan's agent left Ft. Myers on Friday to visit his other clients in Florida, but he's scheduled to arrive back in Ft. Myers sometime today. I think that we should know by Monday morning (when I'm sure he'll be gone), what the decision is. I think it's very unlikely that if a deal doesn't happen within the next 48 hours, that it won't happen at all. Nathan and his agent seem to have set a season opener "deadline" on a new deal, as they don't have any desire to work on a deal during the season.

Twins Cut 5 More

• The Twins announced that they have cut Tommy Watkins, Garrett Jones, Randy Ruiz, Ricky Barrett and Randy Keisler.

No big surprises, except for Jones. He cleared waivers, which means that he will now report to Rochester this season. He's probably disappointed, but if Brian Buscher makes the roster, I think that unless Jones struggles a lot in Triple-A, that he'll be the first call-up this season.

Tommy Watkins continued to show his desire to make the roster by learning to play catcher, however as Seth Stohs points out, the Twins weren't thrilled about his physical shape when he arrived at camp.

Randy Ruiz has had a great spring, offensively, but he seriously lacks a position. If this were the National League, he'd probably be carried as a pinch hitter. But the Twins need versatility in their bench players. Mike Redmond will be the only bench player who can play just one position.

Randy Ruiz's lack of versatility made him an unlikely candidate for the bench

With Randy Keisler and Ricky Barrett now cut, if the Twins want to have two left-handers in the bullpen, it looks like it will be Glen Perkins. That's not a surprise at all. I didn't really look at either Barrett or Keisler as possibilities anyways. Now it will be interesting to see what the Twins plan on doing with Francisco Liriano. Will they start him in the bullpen like they did in 2006? Will they keep him in the rotation? Or will they start him in Rochester? Those questions likely won't be answered until we get closer to the end of camp.

The Twins now have 35 men remaining in camp. They have 9 more games (10 days) until the roster must be down to 25. But I'm sure all but maybe 2 or 3 of the remaining 10 will be cut before next weekends games.

• The Twins are using another possible lineup for the season opener, today against the Phillies:

CF Denard Span
C Joe Mauer
RF Michael Cuddyer
1B Justin Morneau
LF Delmon Young
DH Jason Kubel
3B Mike Lamb
2B Nick Punto
SS Adam Everett

P Livan Hernandez

Twins shutout Reds, 4-0

• The Twins released a lineup last night against the Cincinnati Reds, which many believe will be very close to the lineup the Twins use on opening night. With exception to center field, all the positions seem to be set for the start of the season. Last night, Carlos Gomez got his chance in center field and made the most of it. He went 2-4 with his 5th double of Spring Training. He also showed off his base running skills with another stolen base, making it 9 on the Spring. Drew Butera has been working on his offense this spring, and it looks like he's might be onto something with a strong 2-2 performance in which he drove in his first two RBI of the Spring. Here's a good article on Butera by Kelly Theiser.

Kevin Slowey looks to be closing in on the rotation with another strong performance. He went 5 innings and only allowed 3 hits while striking out 5. He lowered his ERA from 5.91 to 4.02 after holding the Reds scoreless. Juan Rincon, Jesse Crain, and Joe Nathan combined for 4 shutout innings while only giving up 2 hits and a walk. Nathan struck out 3 batters in his two innings of work, and Crain struck out 2 in his inning.

• Next, the Twins will play host to the Phillies this afternoon. Livan Hernandez will start for the Twins while Adam Eaton will start for the Phillies. This will probably be Hernandez's second to last appearance this Spring.

• Center Field Competition: Denard Span will need to continue his strong play the rest of Spring, with Carlos Gomez starting to improve. Span still seems like the most logical choice as he fits the lead-off spot better than Gomez does and he seems to play more fundamentally sound baseball. Gomez had a strong game yesterday going 2-4 to raise his average to .267.

• Scott Baker is scheduled to make his return to the mound on Saturday in a minor league game. He's been out of action since March 8th as he's battled the flu. The Twins plan on using him every 4th day the rest of camp and they plan on skipping his first start of the season. He instead will pitch in another start after the end of camp before joining the Twins' rotation. At least, that's the plan. As for what the Twins will do with Baker's hole in the rotation, I don't think they've made a decision yet. I'd assume that they will bring either Nick Blackburn or Philip Humber to Minnesota after camp, and allow one of them to start in his place before demoting them to Rochester. It would allow them to get an extended look at either of the pitchers.

A more logical thing to do would be to prepare Glen Perkins to start in his place, as he'll likely be the 12th pitcher on the roster anyways. Either way, I think that whoever the 12 pitcher on the roster is, I think they should be the one to start in his place. Whether that be Blackburn, Perkins or Humber. I figure Perkins will be their choice, which is why I mention him.

Nathan, Twins closing in on a deal?

Twins' GM Bill Smith has spent the majority of the day in negotiation with closer Joe Nathan's agent, Dave Pepe. According to La Velle E. Neal III, Nathan feels optimistic about agreeing on a long-term deal soon. Neal said that Nathan feels that the "ice has been broken" on inching closer to a contract agreement.

(Nathan is the leader of the Twins' bullpen)

Nathan, 33, has spent the last 4 seasons as the Twins' closer and is known as one of the best in the league. He has 161 career saves, 160 of which have come in a Twins uniform. The Twins acquired Nathan before the 2004 season in the A.J. Pierzynski trade that also brought the Twins Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano from the Giants. If Nathan hits the free agency market, he'll likely be the second most attractive closer, since the 26-year-old dominator named "K-Rod" is also set to hit free agency if he can't receive an extension.

Nathan will likely get between $10-15 million annually in this deal. He's expressed that he wants market value, but understands that if he wants more years then he'll likely have to lower his dollar demand.

Stay tuned, many feel that we should get a good feeling of Nathan's future as a Minnesota Twin by the end of the week.

A Look At The AL Central

The American League Central really is one of Baseball's most talented divisions. There are 4 legitimate playoff contending teams, two of which are arguably the best teams in the majors, and another team that looks like they are preparing to join the competition in another year or two. There's no doubt that the division is one of the best in the majors, and the Twins definitely have their work cut out for them if they plan on making any noise not only this year, but next few years as well.

Here's a look at the division, in order to my predictions of best to worst records.

Detroit Tigers

Projected Lineup:

CF - Curtis Granderson
2B - Placido Polanco
RF - Magglio Ordonez
3B - Miguel Cabrera
DH - Garry Sheffield
1B - Carlos Guillen
C - Ivan Rodriguez
SS - Edgar Renteria
LF - Jacque Jones/Marcus Thames

Projected Rotation:

1. Justin Verlander
2. Kenny Rogers
3. Jeremy Bonderman
4. Dontrelle Willis
5. Nate Robertson

Lineup: The Tigers made one of the biggest splashes of the off-season by acquiring Miguel Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in return for a number of highly regarded prospects. The Tigers already very strong offense got a whole lot stronger with the addition of Cabrera who's one of the best young hitters in the Major Leagues. They also acquired Edgar Renteria from the Atlanta Braves. The move allows the Tigers to move regular shortstop Carlos Guillen to first base to replace Sean Casey. The one downfall against the Tigers is their extremely right-handed favored lineup, but that didn't matter in 2007 when they hit .285/.342/.452 as a team with Casey being the only left-hander who played regularly. This season, Jacque Jones is the lone left-hander with Carlos Guillen being a switch hitter, which gives them 2 (out of 9) batters who can bat from the left side. It should be interesting to see how they produce.

Rotation: The Tigers pitching staff really disappointed last season. Jeremy Bonderman had a great start going 9-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his first 16 starts, but he took a U-turn after the All-Star break and went 2-8 with a 7.39 ERA in his final 12 starts. Kenny Rogers was also dreadful after the All-Star Break as an injury delayed his start to the season, but went 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA in his first 3 starts, but went 0-4 with a 5.72 in his final (and next) 4 starts. Rogers seems to be fully healthy which should improve their rotation this season. The team also acquired Dontrelle Willis in their trade with the Marlins which also brought them Miguel Cabrera. Willis also had a rough 2007 season as he went 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA. But there's plenty of optimism surrounding him to rebound this season as the 26-year-old has a career 3.78 ERA and is 68-54 in his 162 career starts. The rotation is likely what will hold them back this season, but I think that their offense is strong enough to easily take them far into the playoffs, and if their pitching shows up at least a little bit, I think we'll be seeing the Tigers in the World Series.

Cleveland Indians

Projected Lineup:

CF - Grady Sizemore
2B - Asdrubal Cabrera
DH - Travis Hafner
C - Victor Martinez
1B - Ryan Garko
SS - Jhonny Peralta
3B - Casey Blake
LF - David Delucci/Jason Michaels
RF - Franklin Guitierrez

Projected Rotation:

1. C.C. Sabathia
2. Fausto Carmona
3. Jake Westbrook
4. Paul Byrd
5. Cliff Lee

Lineup: Grady Sizemore is a real treat for the Indians at the top of the lineup. In case you haven't noticed, both the top two teams have great lead-off hitters who also play great defense in center field. Sizemore should continue to blossom into one of the games best young hitters and better defenders in center field. The Indians lineup is very young and although they don't look as "beefy" as the Tigers lineup, however in 2007 the Indians hit one more home run that the Tigers. I doubt it's the same story this season, but the Indians still have one of the better all-around lineups in the game. They will definitely benefit from a more productive year by Travis Hafner in 2008 after a disappointing 2007 where he hit 18 less home runs and saw his average dip .42 points from 2006, despite playing in 23 more games in 2007.

Rotation: The Indians had the best one-two punch in the American League last season, and they also had the American League Cy Young Winner. Both C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona should come close to repeating their production in 2007. Paul Pyrd, Jake Westbrook and Cliff Lee all need to have better years if they want to win more games than the Tigers this season.

Minnesota Twins

Projected Lineup:

CF - Denard Span
C - Joe Mauer
RF - Michael Cuddyer
1B - Justin Morneau
LF - Delmon Young
DH - Jason Kubel/Craig Monroe
3B - Mike Lamb
2B - Brendan Harris
SS - Adam Everett

Projected Rotation:

1. Livan Hernandez
2. Scott Baker
3. Boof Bonser
4. Kevin Slowey
5. Francisco Liriano

Lineup: If you take a position by position analysis from a year ago, I think the Twins are going to be much better offensively. Obviously replacing both Torii Hunter and Jason Bartlett's production is going to be hard, but I think the Twins did a fine job by acquiring Delmon Young and Brendan Harris who could make people forget about the beloved center fielder and shortstop by years end. I know that many "experts" predict Young to hit close to 20 home runs this season, however I believe that he could easily hit 30 home runs this season. He's really improved his plate discipline this Spring and should get on base at a much higher clip than last year. Besides the additions of Harris and Young, the Twins also added Mike Lamb to replace Nick Punto as the starting third baseman and Craig Monroe will replace Jason Tyner as the platoon DH and 4th outfielder. I think the Twins will also benefit by having a healthy Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau should rebound after a dreadful second half.

Rotation: This is where things start to look dark for the Twins. What's been their strongest point for so long, now is their weakest. With the losses of Johan Santana, Carlos Silva and Matt Garza, the Twins don't seem to have a legitimate #1 starter, and even don't seem to have a true #2. Livan Hernandez was brought in to eat up innings, and looks to be Ron Gardenhire's choice as the opening day starter. Scott Baker had a successful season in 2007, but he's got to prove that it was not just a "hot streak" and he needs to continue to progress as a pitcher this season. Boof Bonser had a very disappointing 2007 season, but after losing nearly 30 lbs. this off-season, Bonser is determined to have a successful 2008. Kevin Slowey was one of the Minor League's best starting pitchers last season, but had a difficult time adjusting to Major League hitters. He has had a rocky time this spring, but he will likely earn his spot with a strong finish to Spring Training. Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, and Philip Humber seem to be in a strong competition for the #5 spot in the rotation. I think it's Liriano's job, but it will depend on how the Twins want to handle him this season. They could let him work his troubles out in the rotation, they could start him in the bullpen like they did in his very successful rookie season, or they could have him start the season in the minor leagues where it will be easier for him to gain his confidence back. If the Twins choose either of the latter two options, I think Blackburn will get the spot, but Humber is also deserving as well.

Chicago White Sox

Projected Lineup:

CF - Nick Swisher
SS - Orlando Cabrera
1B - Paul Konerko
DH - Jim Thome
RF - Jermaine Dye
C - A.J. Pierzynski
3B - Joe Crede/Josh Fields
LF - Carlos Quentin
2B - Danny Richar

Projected Rotation:

1. Mark Buehrle
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Jose Contreras
4. John Danks
5. Gavin Floyd

Lineup: The White Sox's lineup looked drastically different from 2006 to 2007. Once thought of as one of the most potent lineups in Baseball, the White Sox looked very poor offensively last season. What played a large part to this was the drastically down years of '06 MVP candidate Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome. They should be good bets to rebound this season, and if they do, the rest of the league will have to watch out. The additions of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera will be immediate impact bats for their lineup, and Carlos Quentin still has the potential to be a very solid hitter someday. They need to get Josh Fields into the lineup, and that'd likely mean trading Joe Crede. They have holes at second base and in the rotation, I think they should be able to find someone who could fit.

Rotation: But like the Twins, the White Sox's Achilles Heal will be it's rotation. The White Sox have a good 1-2 punch in Mark Buehrle and Javier Vazquez, but Contreras had a dreadful '07 season. John Danks looked promising at some points, and disappointing in others. Gavin Floyd doesn't look like anything special, but the Sox don't want to lose him by passing him through waivers.

Kansas City Royals

Projected Lineup:

CF - David DeJesus
2B - Mark Grudzielanek
RF - Mark Teahen
LF - Jose Guillen
3B - Alex Gordon
DH - Billly Butler
1B - Ross Gload
C - John Buck
SS - Tony Pena

Projected Rotation:

1. Gil Meche
2. Brian Bannister
3. Zack Greinke
4. Kyle Davies
5. Luke Hochevar

Lineup: The lineup continues to improve, and soon enough they will be able to be considered as one of the better lineups in the league. How you might ask? Well they have 2 batters who could be top 20 hitters in the next decade. Alex Gordon, 24, has the potential to be one of the best hitting third baseman in the league. I think of him as being a left-handed David Wright. Billy Butler, 22, could be one of the best DH's in the American League by this time next year. He has the potential to hit 35+ home runs with well over 100 RBI, all while keeping a good average and on-base percentage. The team needs for Mark Teahen to progress this season, otherwise it might be his last in a Royal blue uniform.

Rotation: Gil Meche was a pleasant surprise for an improving rotation. Meche, along with Zack Greinke, Brian Bannister, and Luke Hochevar have the potential to be one of the best 1-4 groups in the Major Leagues. If Greinke can progress from a solid '07 campaign and if Hochevar can live up to his potential, I think this rotation will be a very feared group, even for teams with lineups like the Tigers and Indians.

Mauer, Tolbert Lead Twins To Victory

• Philip Humber's first start was a successful one as he picked up his first win of the season in a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. He went 3 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits while striking out 2 batters without walking anyone. Obviously, it wasn't great as he gave up a 2-run single with the bases loaded to Nick Markakis in the third inning. The relief pitchers pitched 6 scoreless innings while giving up just 3 hits and a walk the rest of the way.

Joe Mauer continued to have a great spring with a 2-2 performance which included his 2nd home run and his 5th, 6th and 7th RBI's of the Spring. He raised his average to .458 and looks to be ready to have a rebound year after a disappointing 2007. Matt Tolbert started the game at shortstop and played all 9 innings. He went 3-4 at the plate and came around to score once. He improved his average from .248 to .308 with the performance and he continues to impress the coaches with his fundamentally sound play at second base, shortstop and third base. He would look to be a possible utility player for the Twins out of Spring Training, but Ron Gardenhire has already expressed his desire to see Tolbert play everyday. If Tolbert isn't with the Twins on opening night, he should make his debut with the Twins sometime soon after.


Brian Buscher got some action at second base, however he continues to struggle at the plate with an 0-4 performance which lowered his average to .148 on the spring. However, he continues to work hard and is trying to increase his versatility by learning both first and second base to try and improve his chances of earning a roster spot.

• Next, the Twins get a much-needed off-day today before a late game against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday in Ft. Myers. Kevin Slowey will start for the Twins against Homer Bailey of the Reds. It should be a good game with two young, very talented pitchers facing off.

• Center field competition: Denard Span started in center field, and continued to stay impressive at the plate with a 1-2 performance which included his 4th double of the Spring. He also walked in the game, as he continues to work on his plate discipline. Span is now batting .290 while playing solid defense and has been fairly mistake free on the base paths.

Carlos Gomez started in left field and went 0-3, but did reach on a fielders choice and proceeded to steal both second and third base. There's no doubt that he's incredibly dangerous on the basepaths, he can potentially be the most dangerous base stealer in the majors, however without speed and defense, he doesn't really have a lot of value to the Twins right now. I think Span offers more offensively right now, but there's no doubt that Gomez's potential is much greater than Span's.

If I had to make a decision right now, I'd have to choose Span over Gomez. Gomez would probably benefit more (than Span) with another half-season in Triple-A. I do see Gomez starting at some point in the season, but I think Span is the right decision in the beginning. But I do want to stress that there's still 10 games in the next 11 days and I doubt that the Twins have made a decision. There's still a lot that can happen between now and opening day that could influence the managements decision.

• Glen Perkins looks to be the favorite as the 12th man of the bullpen after the team cut Carmen Cali this weekend. Ron Gardenhire has expressed his desire to carry two left-handed relievers, one being Dennys Reyes. The Twins seem to already have 6 members they view as "locks" for the bullpen which include Reyes, Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, Pat Neshek, Juan Rincon, and Jesse Crain. Since neither Ricky Barrett or Randy Keisler look to be likely options for the spot, Perkins looks to be the favorite.


Perkins has spent both of his first two seasons with the Twins in the bullpen, although has been limited to action. In 2006, after a late-season call-up, Perkins threw 5.2 innings in relief and gave up just one run while striking out 6. In 2007, Perkins threw 28.2 innings out of the bullpen and sported a 3.14 ERA. He had some control problems, but for the most part was very effective as the opposition hit just .232 against him. The Twins know he has been successful in the bullpen, which gives them some much needed comfort as the bullpen has its fair share of question marks.

Who might the PTBNL be?

If Craig Monroe ends up making the Twins roster, which looks very likely at this point, the Twins will have to send a player to the Cubs to finalize the trade. There's been a bit of speculation on who that might be, but the general consensus is that it will be a low-level prospect, without much of a future in the pro's.

Bleed Cubbie Blue believes that the PTBNL in that trade could be Tim Lahey, in which it would allow the Cubs to demote Lahey to Triple-A at the end of Spring, instead of giving him back to the Twins. Lahey, 26, is a right-handed relief pitcher who was taken with the first pick of the Rule V Draft. The only thing is that Lahey has really held his own this spring. Here are his results:

1. 3/1 - vs. Angels - 1 IP
2. 3/3 - vs. Mariners - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
3. 3/5 - vs. Diamondbacks - 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB
4. 3/7 - vs. Mariners - 1 IP, 2 BB
5. 3/10 - vs. Brewers - 1.1 IP, 1 K
   
6. 3/13 - vs. Padres - 1 IP
7. 3/15 - vs. White Sox - 1.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K

Obviously, nothing spectacular. His K/BB ratio is not great, but I doubt he'd carry that over to the season (at least letting it stay that low). He would definitely benefit from some seasoning in Triple-A, but if not, I think he'd post decent numbers for the Cubs this season.

He has a low-90's fastball, a hard sinker and a solid slider. He's a former catcher who's still new to pitching, but he could be a solid reliever when all is said and done.

The Twins don't have a lot of room in Rochester, which may make it an easy decision to make that kind of trade, but I'm sure the Twins would love to have him back in the organization.

Nonetheless, I think it was an interesting scenario.

Here's a good article on Lahey from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (Lahey is from Worcester, Massachusetts).

Liriano Struggles

• Francisco Liriano struggled in his start yesterday. He breezed through the first two innings before allowing a run in the third. He went into the fourth, but allowed two more runners on base before being taken out. He was later tagged with the runs as Brian Bass let them in. Both Dennys Reyes and Pat Neshek continued their stellar springs with a shutout inning for each of them.

Offensively, Jason Pridie doubled to lead off the game, but it was his only hit of the game. Delmon Young later drove him in with an RBI single to center field. Adam Everett had a good day, going 2-3 with an RBI double.

Unfortunately, the Twins loss to the Marlins, 5-3, despite both teams recording 10 hits each. Despite Liriano's poor results, it's a great thing to see that he's able to at least go into the fourth inning. He threw nearly 60 pitches, in just his third start since arriving to Ft. Myers. He's making progress, and although he seems confident that he'll be ready to start the season in the bullpen with the Twins, I just hope that he stays healthy and can work on all the rest of the glitches later. His health is (to me) the biggest concern, as it generally takes (at least) a year to start regaining form. As long as Liriano can stay healthy, I don't think I can be upset.

On a side note: Steven Tolleson got to suit up with the big league club yesterday and went 1-1 at the plate while replacing Adam Everett at shortstop.

• Today, the Twins will face the Baltimore Orioles and Philip Humber is set to make his first start of the Spring. He's been pitching great all Spring and can hopefully improve his chances of landing a possible rotation spot. Unfortunately, he'll probably need to be lights out for the rest of Spring in order to claim a spot as both Francisco Liriano and Kevin Slowey continue to improve.

Toby Gardenhire is scheduled to suit up as a backup infielder, and it's likely he'll get at least one at bat and will probably play the field just a little bit. When asked about it, father (and manager) Ron Gardenhire said:

"He gets meal money. That's good. That's less I have to spend."

• Center Field Watch: Craig Monroe got his first start in center field yesterday, and went 0-3 at the plate. He was replaced by Denard Span later in the game, but did not do anything to suggest that the Twins would be better off with him in center, over either Span or Carlos Gomez. It didn't help when his biggest task was to catch a routine fly ball. He's likely not in the running anyway for a starting spot, but he will probably spend time there when either Span or Gomez need a day off. Either way, here's a funny article on Gardenhire's "irrational love" for Monroe.

• Scott Baker skipped his bullpen session yesterday as he's still recovering from a strained lat muscle, but instead of his back causing him to skip the session, it is a flu bug that's gotten to Randy Ruiz, Carmen Cali, Rick Anderson and others as well. He has not pitched in a game in 10 days. With this setback in his return, he may be forced to start the season on the disabled list if he can't get back to action soon.

• Here's a good video of Michael Cuddyer doing a card trick with Denard Span.

Spring Training Rumblings

• It was not exactly what the Twins had in mind when they signed Livan Hernandez earlier in the off-season. He attacked the hitters nicely throughout the first 2 innings, but after that, he left the ball up in the zone and gave up what seemed to be hit, after hit, after hit while giving up 6 runs in his 4 innings of work. He gave up 2 runs in the fifth round before leaving, and Randy Keisler let in another of Hernandez's runs before getting out of the fifth inning. Joe Nathan later came in and struck out 2 while lowering his ERA to 1.50 on the spring in another scoreless inning.

Offensively, the Twins got 8 hits off of the Blue Jays, and four of them came off the bats of Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer. The two combined to go 4-6 with 2 runs and 2 RBI's. Carlos Gomez got a bunt single and, to no surprise, ran the bases very well and he's living up to the nickname "Go-Go" as he stole his 6th base of the spring. Craig Monroe hit a nice RBI double into the gap between the baseline and the outfielder in left field. And Denard Span also collected a hit to raise his average to .287 on the Spring.

A Scary moment happened in the fifth inning. Matt Watson of the Blue Jays hit a ball to the wall in center field. Going all out, Gomez caught the ball over his shoulder and went into the wall face first. It knocked the wind out of him, and as he laid on the ground, I'm sure many Twins fans' hearts stopped for just a moment before he walked off the field under hi own power.

And despite getting off to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Twins lost to the Blue Jays, 8-3.

• The Twins will play host to the Marlins tomorrow, when Francisco Liriano makes his third start of the Spring. Hopefully this outing will be better than his last start against the Red Sox, in which he gave up 3 runs in just 2 innings of work. But really, as long as he continues to be pain free and continues to work on his arm strength, results are not really a big deal to me right now.

• After Alexi Casilla was sent down in the second round of cuts, Ron Gardenhire mentioned that he may be moved back to shortstop as he's been "sloppy" at second. Gardenhire also went as far as to say that Casilla may very well be our future shortstop.

This comes as a little of a surprise as Gardenhire has been pretty adamant on leaving him at second base, despite the fact that he has one of the best arms of any of our infielders and has more range than any of them as well. The move would be a logical thing to do, as the other infielder viewed as the "future shorstop", Trevor Plouffe's defense has been sporadic throughout his career. Casilla will start the season in Rochester, where he'll be joined with Alejandro Machado, Tommy Watkins (probably), Matt Tolbert (probably) and Matt Macri who could all be looking for spots in the middle of the infield. As of right now, Casilla is viewed as the likely starter at shortstop with Macri at third and Tolbert at second in Rochester.

• Players of the Week (3/10-3/16)

At the Plate
Joe Mauer - Catcher

Note: Joe Mauer had an exceptional week and has really impressed so far this spring. There seems to be no lingering effects from his quad injury that put him on the disabled list last season, which definitely means that with all injuries aside, we should expect numbers to be back up this season, like they were in 2006 when he won the American League Batting Title. Mauer improved his Spring average to .409 while going 5-10 with 7 runs, 3 RBI, a double and a home run last week.

Runner-Up: Carlos Gomez, Right/Center Field: 6-17, 5 Runs, 3 RBI's, 2B, 3B, HR and 2 SB's.

On the Mound
Kevin Slowey - Right Handed Starter

Note: After having a rough first couple of starts, Kevin Slowey seems to have found his groove. He had an impressive week winning both of his decisions to go 2-1 on the spring. He allowed 6 hits in this first start, but proceeded to shutout the Marlins through 3 innings of work. He finished the week going 2-0 in two starts. He pitched 7 innings, allowed 1 run on 8 hits, walked just one batter while striking out 8.

Runner-Up: Phil Humber, Right Handed Starter: 1 Hold, 1 Save, 5 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 1 strikeout.

• The Twins announced on Sunday that two more players were cut, to lower the number to 40 players who remain in Major League Camp. Pitchers Carmen Cali and Kevin Mulvey were sent to Minor League camp, despite both having impressed while in camp. Cali cleared waivers, which he needed to do as he is out of options, so he'll start the season in Rochester, where Mulvey will be joining him.

Cali was viewed as one of the likely options for the Twins' 12th pitching spot. Ron Gardenhire has expressed his desire to carry two left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, and Cali would've given him that. This could open the door to Glen Perkins, who has spent both of his trips to the majors in the bullpen, and has had success in limited action. The team views him as a starter, but with Cali cut, he is definitely a guy to keep an eye on.

Parmelee, Benson starting in Beloit

The Twins are currently playing the Blue Jays, and Hernandez is pitching well. He's throwing strikes and is working the inner-half of the plate nicely. Adam Everett is leading off while Gomez is hitting last. Probably just to get Everett more at bats, but there is a possibility that the Twins go with this kind of lineup a few times this season.

Anyways, onto the real news.

The Twins have informed both Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee that they will start the season back in Beloit, after spending all of 2007 there. It doesn't come as a real shock, however with the amount of outfielders in the lower-levels of the organization, I thought they'd for sure start in Ft. Myers. Besides Benson and Parmelee, Ozzie Lewis, Rene Tosoni, Andrew Schmeising, and first round pick Ben Revere were all likely to start the season in Beloit.

Here's my prediction of what happens.

• Ben Revere starts the season in extended Spring Training and then moves up to Elizabethton at some point.
• For Beloit, Joe Benson starts in center field, Chris Parmelee starts in right field, Rene Tosoni starts in left field, while Ozzie Lewis starts at DH.

If any player skips a level, I believe it will be Rene Tosoni as many believe he has the best chances of advancing quickly through the organization. He makes good contact on the ball which allows him to hit to the gaps and he plays solid defense.

Benson, just 20 years old did not really impress last season in Beloit hitting just .255/.347/.368. He only had one really "good" month, which was in July when he hit .275/.367/.431 with 3 of his 5 home runs and 6 of his 18 stolen bases. He plays above average defense, and is one of the best athletes in the Twins system. He's a legitimate 5-tool player, but still needs to polish all of his skills.

(Benson).............(Parmelee)

Parmelee, also 20, also did not have a great season in Beloit, despite hitting 15 home runs and 70 RBI's. He hit .239 with a dreadful .313 on-base percentage and an unspectacular .414 slugging percentage. He was drafted for his power, which he definitely has. However, he has horrible plate discipline and struck out 137 times last season. He likely will never hit highly for average, but he needs to cut down on the number of strikeouts opposed to walks. If he can do that, he should move back up many of the top prospect lists.

The lower-levels of the Twins farm system is stacked with offensive potential, hopefully this season many of them will work on what they need to do to progress and there can be a strong waive of both pitching and hitting prospects in a couple years.