I Like the Roster, Even If I Wouldn't Have Predicted It

The Twins 25-man roster has been set, and I'm pretty excited about it. However, there are some surprises (at least for me) on it. Namely:

• There are only two catchers on the roster and neither of them are named Drew Butera. We all know that Gardy loves having three catchers on hand in the miniscule chance that one of them gets hurt while the other one is the DH, or something like that. But no more of that. Joe Mauer needs to stay healthy and Ryan Doumit will get his at bats as a bench catcher, first baseman, and outfielder. The Rochester Red Wings will enjoy the talents of Drew Butera.
• Justin Morneau is not the Opening Day first baseman. After what I'm sure was much thought, reflection, and deliberation, Justin decided that it would be in his and the team's best interests for him to be a full-time designated hitter, at least for awhile. And it looks like Chris Parmelee will be up to the task to be a decent first baseman, jumping up from AA last season and sticking.
• It looks like Jason Marquis will start the season on the Bereavement List (3 to 7 days). He's been away from the team for a couple of weeks to see to his daughter who was seriously hurt in a bicycle accident. Fortunately, her condition is improving and he will be able to rejoin the team in time to break camp. However, since he's been away a pretty long time, he's probably not stretched out enough to start a game for awhile. A combo of adding Liam Hendriks and using a four-man rotation for awhile should allow Marquis enough time to catch up.
• A couple of non-roster invitees actually made the roster: infielder Sean Burroughs and RHP Jared Burton. That had to be cool for them.
• And the Twins have already invoked the Disabled List. Maybe this is a good thing -- last year, the Twins proudly didn't use the DL coming out Spring Training, only to use it eleventy-billion times during the season. Maybe using it a little before the season will be a good sacrifice for the actual season. Or something.

And since I brought up the DL, you know what that means...

RHP Scott Baker has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 26th, with tendonitis of his right elbow.

Baker's elbow has been troublesome for awhile now. He missed 58 days last season with a forearm flexor strain. I don't know if this tendonitis is related, but I wouldn't doubt it.

It sounds like he may back as soon as he is eligible and that the Twins are being cautious. They have the luxury early in the season, with a lot of off days, to do without him for a little while.

RHP Kyle Waldrop has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 30th, with a right elbow strain.

This must have been crushing news to Waldrop, who was having an excellent Spring Training and was set to break camp in the majors.

His injury doesn't sound serious, and again, it seems as if the Twins are being extra cautious with him.

It's unclear whether he'll be added to the 25-man roster once he's healthy, but there's no reason to believe he won't be.

Roster Shuffle

As I've mentioned before, organizations may now activate their entire 40-man roster to the big league club if they want to. Of course, because we're talking about the 2011 Twins, 40 men simply isn't enough. With so many guys (both with the Twins and with the Red Wings) still hurting, an over-taxed bullpen, and an unfortunately-timed double header scheduled for Monday, the Twins are forced to do some creative roster shuffling just to get through with full line up cards for the next few days.

After Jim Thome was traded, there was one open roster spot. However, the Twins figure they need to add three guys in order to manage for awhile. Nick Blackburn has been moved to the 60-day roster to clear another spot, thereby ending his season. It's unfortunate that things came to this; Blackie was hoping he could return yet this season. RHP Kyle Waldrop and OF Brian Dinkleman have been called up to provide relief pitching and bench help.

The Twins have announced that RHP Liam Hendriks, who started 15 games in AA New Britain and 9 games in AAA Rochester this season, will start Tuesday against the White Sox. A corresponding roster move hasn't been announced yet, but many people speculate that Denard Span will be moved to the 60-day DL as well. This seems to me to be the likely scenario because they can't announce it until they speak to Denard. This is also unfortunate; he just returned to Minnesota to begin working out after spending several days at his home in Florida resting.

However, I do want to congratulate Hendriks and Waldrop for their first big-league call ups and Dinkelman for his return.

~~~

Remember how I promised to make paper dolls for the few guys who haven't landed on the DL or been sent down to the minors this season? Well, I didn't mean that they had to get hurt and come out of a game early to get it...

Brian Duensing came out of Saturday's game after only 1 1/3 innings with a right oblique strain. He said he felt it during warm ups, but he tried to pitch through it. However, he started favoring it which affected his pitching, and catcher Rene Rivera thought he shouldn't stay in.

After the game, he said he hoped it wasn't serious and that he was day-to-day. If it does turn out to be more than that, the Twins won't have to put him on the DL to make room on the active roster. The only reason they'd put him on the DL is to put him on the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster. Things would have to spiral totally out of control for that to happen. So don't be surprised.