A waiver wire Friday

Alexi Casilla never took command of a regular job
with the Twins despite plenty of opportunities.

The Minnesota Twins had a busy Friday on the waiver wire.

Going: INF Alexi Casilla
Coming: RHP Josh Roenicke, INF Thomas Field
Uncertain: RHP Sam Deduno

Waiver transactions are almost always fringe-of-the-roster moves, but there are a couple of familiar names involved in these moves.

Most prominent, of course, is Casilla, who was claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. It was widely assumed last summer that the Twins would nontender Casilla, who never took control of a regular job despite a multitude of opportunities. It wouldn't surprise me if the O's wind up nontendering him themselves; he figures to get more through arbitration than a reserve infielder ought to get.

The Twins also outrighted Deduno, who spent most of the second half in the starting rotation. He can opt for free agency, but the early word was that he and his agent were leaning toward accepting a minor-league contract with Minnesota, as P.J. Walters did a few days after he was outrighted. I can't see that he can expect a major-league contract from anybody else.

Sam Deduno has a
decision to make: Stay
with the Twins on a
minor-league deal,
or try to land a job
elsewhere?

The additions both come from Colorado, one of the few teams with a worse 2012 record than the Twins.

Roenicke is a 30-year-old middle reliever who had a 3.25 ERA in 88.2 innings for the Rockies. That's good in any environment, but particularly in Coors Field. He also had 54 strikeouts and 43 walks, which is not good. The Rox apparently waived him for much the same reason the Twins waived Casilla: They didn't want to pay him at the arbitration rate.

Roenicke is said to have a good fastball. Off his numbers, I'm inclined to lump him into the same category as Jeff Gray and Alex Burnett — not enough missed bats to make up for his lack of command.

Roenicke does have interesting bloodlines: He is the son of former major league outfielder Gary Roenicke, the nephew of current Brewers manager Ron Roenicke, and the brother-in-law of Ian Desmond, the shortstop of the Washington Nationals.

Thomas Field — he'd better field, because there's little reason to believe that he can hit.  Oh, some of his minor league numbers at lower levels look pretty good, but the Rockies' farm system is pretty much all in hitters parks. He's a shortstop who'll turn 26 before the season starts.

I expect the Twins to try to get him through waivers to get him off the 40-man roster so they can assign him to Rochester and have him for the Triple A lineup — much as they did last winter with Pedro Florimon.

The Twins, as of Friday evening, had 35 players on their 40-man roster; that will shrink some more after midnight, when Carl Pavano and, I believe, Scott Baker and Matt Capps officially become free agents. (Saturday morning addendum: As of this morning, the Twins website had removed Pavano and Capps from the roster but Baker was still listed.)

Here comes Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier is to
take over as the
regular shortstop
today.

Today Brian Dozier (and Scott Diamond) report to the Twins.

Diamond replaces fellow rookie Liam Hendriks as the fifth starter. I touched briefly on that in the Monday print column, and I'm sure I'll have more to say about it in the next day or so.

Today, let's talk Dozier, who Ron Gardenhire said Sunday on his radio show will be his everyday shortstop now. Dozier turns 25 next week, he's a right-handed hitter, he was an eighth-round pick as a college senior (most collegians sign as juniors), and he shot up the ladder pretty quickly, never spending a full season at any minor league level.

Unlike Diamond (or Hendriks), Dozier wasn't a September call-up last year; the Twins didn't have to put him on the 40-man roster last winter, so they saved the roster spot. So tonight figures to be Dozier's major-league debut.

The word out of spring training was that Dozier was the best defensive shortstop in camp, and Ron Gardenhire appeared to favor making him the shortstop then. The Twins stuck with the offseason plan of Jamey Carroll at short (and Alexi Casilla at second) because:

• Dozier had about a half-season of Double A ball on his resume and no time in Triple A;
• The two veterans were expected to be better hitters than Dozier;
• By delaying Dozier's debut, the Twins depressed his service time and perhaps put off his arbitration eligibility.

Jamey Carroll turns a double play Saturday
against the Mariners.

In fairness to Terry Ryan, that last was probably a minor point. This call-up is early enough that, assuming Dozier sticks, he'll probably be a "Super Two" and arbitration eligible after 2014. (And if all goes well, last year's first-round pick, Levi Michael, might be knocking at the major-league door by then.)

Carroll has been a competent defensive shortstop for the first month or so of the season. And durable, too; he's played all but one inning in the field, which would be fairly impressive for a shortstop a decade younger (Carroll is 38).

But Carroll hasn't hit -- slash line .206/.306/.237. He has drawn 13 walks, second on the team to Joe Mauer, but .306 isn't a good on-base percentage for anybody, much less a top-of-the-order guy, and he's not a power threat.

Dozier isn't going to fix the offense. But one can reasonably expect him to do better than a .543 OPS (Carroll) or .597 (Casilla), whichever comes out of the lineup to make room for the rookie. Dozier may be only a marginal upgrade in the field and at the plate, but even a marginal improvement helps.

Adding Dozier gives the Twins a legitimate middle infielder on the bench, which may have the indirect effect of helping Trevor Plouffe. Remember, part of the idea of moving Plouffe to the outfield was to replicate what happened to Michael Cuddyer when he made the move from infield to outfield. With the defensive burden lifted, Cuddyer became a better hitter. Plouffe hasn't had that improvement happen yet; he hasn't really had that opportunity. He's been pressed into service as the backup infielder as well as a part-time outfielder; instead of decreasing his defensive responsibilities, the Twins increased them.

Grousing after a win

Alexi Casilla has had repeated opportunities to claim a regular middle infield job. He's always handed the job back -- sometimes through injury, more often with slipshod play.

So his mental error on Friday -- failing to cover first base on a sac bunt in the sixth inning -- is worthy of notice.

The inning begin with a play Casilla didn't make that was originally scored an error and later changed to a hit. Hit or error, he should have, but didn't, make the play. The next man bunted, and Casilla didn't get to the bag. Liam Hendriks walked the thrid batter, then induced a double play, which scored the first runner to tie the game at 2. Then Evan Longoria untied with with a two-run homer.

Rerun the inning with Casilla still not making the original play but getting the out on the sac bunt. The walk puts runners on first and second, one out (rather than loading the bases with no outs); the double play ends the inning, and the Twins still lead 2-1.

On the other hand ... the sixth inning damage makes Hendriks' line score a more accurate representation of how he pitched. Coming into the sixth, the rookie from Australia had allowed one run on two hits and a walk, which looks pretty good. But he had barely more strikes than balls, and that isn't good.

He wound up with four earned runs allowed in 5.6 innings, 56 strikes and 45 balls.  He can do better than that, and he will.

Twins Fest weekend

Justin Morneau is at Twins Fest this year. Last winter
it was decided to have him skip the event while he tried
to recover from his concussion.

The rhythm of the offseason ticks on. The Twins Caravan wrapped up this week (the Mankato stop this year featured Bert Blyleven, Danny Valencia and Drew Butera), and this weekend the Metrodome will be packed with fans, vendors, exhibits and about 60 past, current and future Twins signing autographs.

About three weeks to spring training, folks.

With so much of the team around, and with the season fast approaching, there are plenty of stories popping up. 

Alexi Casilla had a good winter ball season in the Dominican -- hit better than .330 in their regular season and almost .400 in 17 playoff games -- and told the Strib's Joe Christensen: "Oh my god. I was on base too much." I hope he has that problem all season.

Justin Morneau has spent the winter rehabbing from various surgeries -- neck, knee, foot, wrist -- and letting his concussion heal itself. Joe C.'s story took an optimistic tone, but reading between the lines, one wonders. Morneau hasn't had concussion symptoms since December -- which means he was having them into last month -- and he hasn't yet been cleared to hit (that related to his wrist surgery). He still lacks feeling in his left forefinger; that's from the pinched nerve in his neck. It all adds up to: This was one hurting puppy last season, and this season is no certainty.

To whatever extent Morneau was inclined to feel sorry for himself, that notion was doubtless dissipated when he and a handful of other players visited Jack Jablonski, the high school hockey player paralyzed by a check in the back. Also visiting Jabs: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Butera and newcomer Jason Marquis.

In probably better health news: Nick Blackburn reports he'e feeling fine and ready to go after his latest surgery. Denard Span says this is the best he's felt in two years, and Ron Gardenhire says Span (not Ben Revere) is his center fielder. Joe Mauer is raring to go.

A Kent Hrbek statue is coming to Target Field. At this rate the plaza will be so filled with bronze there'll soon be no room for the kettle corn stand.

And the Twins moved the stoic Tom Kelly to tears with the announcement that his No. 10 will be retired this year. Deservedly so.

The shortstop mess

Tsuyoshi Nishioka has generally appeared
overmatched at the plate this season,  and his
slash line of .208/.259/.233 agrees.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka now leads the Twins in playing time at shortstop— 42 games, 41 starts, 355.1 innings.

Alexi Casilla has 306.2 innings, Matt Tolbert 174 and Trevor Plouffe 133. Adds to to 969 innings, with Nishioka getting about 37 percent of the playing time, Casilla 32 percent, Tolbert 18 percent and Plouffe 14. (Rounding error means those figures add up to 101 percent.)

Offensively, Casilla is the only one who approaches acceptable. (His OPS — on base plus slugging — is .691, which ranks 62nd among the 83 American League players who qualify for the batting title and is roughly the same as Derek Jeter's and Torii Hunter's. Seven of the players behind him are are also middle infielders.) Plouffe has five homers, yes, but his batting average is below .200, his slugging percentage below .400.

Defensively, they all rate below average. The most recent set of the Baseball Info Systems metrics I have  shows Nishi as -2 in plus-minus, -4 in runs saved; Casilla at -4 and -2; Tolbert at -1 and 0; and Plouffe at -5 and -4. (Those numbers are shortstop specific.)

Tolbert may not be the best defensive shortstop on the roster — clearly Ron Gardenhire doesn't believe so — but, for what it's worth, he also comes off best of six men who've played second base in those metrics. Nobody's been quite the blooming disaster at second that Plouffe was at short, but if Michael Cuddyer (-3, -3 in 115 innings) gets enough playing time there, that can change.

The Twins spent last offseason trying to find multi-year solutions to their middle infield. At this point, Nishioka has hardly established himself as part of the solution. The ever-inconsistent Casilla, maybe.

I am growing ever more curious about Brian Dozier, who opened the season at High A Fort Myers and hit .322/.423/.472 there, then moved up to Double A New Britain, where he is hitting .307/.374/.458.  He turned 24 in May, so he's not particularly young for those levels (Plouffe is 25 and has tons of time in Triple A, a level Dozier hasn't touched yet).

Dozier may not be an answer. But I'm seeing increasing evidence that the players ahead of him aren't either.

Degrees of embarrassment

Losing is bad.  Losing six straight is worse. Maybe losing 15-0 is worse yet.

This play was the difference between
trailing by 10 runs and trailing by nine. 

It's impossible to lose 15-0 and yield 25 hits and look good. The Twins on Monday night didn't look professional. Or even attentive.

It was back to the days of April and May, when ground balls rolled through the infield, the baserunners were prone to blunders and more rundowns were botched than productive.

Getting thrown out at home when down 10-0? What's the point, Alexi Casilla?

Then there was the first-inning rundown that took forever. The infielders were so wary of getting close to Matt Kemp that I figured he had some communicable disease. The rundown problem had disappeared during the hot streak — remember when the Twins won 15 of 17? — but it sure looked bad again Monday.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka was charged with one error. He was, for a while, charged with a second, but the ruling was changed after the game. Having watched the replay, I don't really understand changing the ruling. Yes, the ball was hit hard, but (a) he didn't field it cleanly and (b) made a bad throw.

Whether it's a hit or an error, that play underscores the issue for a shortstop with a less than optimal arm. Shortstops have the infield's longest throws, so there is a premium on fielding the ball cleanly. When Nishioka played that hard hop off his chest, he had little chance of getting the out because his arm isn't good enough to make up the difference.

Tuesday is another day. May the home team not fleece the paying customers again.

Now that it's fixed, fix it again

Alexi Casilla was handed the shortstop job this spring,
lost it, won it back, and now is to be stripped of it yet again.

When Tsuyoshi Nishioka reported to Fort Myers to rehab his fractured leg more than a month ago, the Twins chose to work him at shortstop, not second base.

That made eminent sense. Shortstop at the time was a gaping wound. Alexi Casilla had fumbled the job away; the organization has never taken Matt Tolbert very seriously as a shortstop candidate; Trevor Plouffe, who hadn't impressed anyone in years of Triple A ball, was about to get a look in the majors and demonstrate why he hadn't impressed anyone in years of Triple A ball.

Today Nishioka is with the Triple A team himself, apparently just days away from rejoining the major league team.

And shortstop is no longer a gaping wound. Casilla has been one of the keys to the team's 10-game surge. He's playing a cleaner game at short now than he did in April, and he's raised his batting average more than 90 points since his last game in April (.167 then, .263 this morning). Had he hit .260 and played this well in the field in April, I doubt the Twins would have worked Nishioka at short for six weeks.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The Twins are about to violate that bit of wisdom by pulling Casilla out of the shortstop job, and there are good reasons to do so.

Making Nishioka the second baseman was a snap decision made early in spring training on little direct evidence. He got hurt making a double play pivot, which was something the Twins had grown concerned about as the exhibition schedule progressed and they saw signs that he was leaving himself vulnerable to aggressive slides.

If he can handle shortstop, the Twins are in better shape moving forward into 2012 and beyond.  Even if Casilla's surge proves to be just another tease, second base is easier to fill than shortstop.

The risk is if Nishioka can't handle short, if the Twins find themselves back in their April-May nightmare of unmade plays in the middle infield. Then the current sense that this team is about to make a summertime run back up the standings will prove illusionary.

Problem spot: Infield defense

This dropped fly ball in left field by Ben Revere
was one of three errors charged against the Twins
Sunday. There were other unmade plays, not
scored as errors, that hurt their chances.

A basic rule of thumb: Shuffling middle infielders in and out of the lineup is bad for the defense. Double play combos thrive on familiarity.

So it shouldn't be overly surprising that that the Twins have had poor middle infield defense this season. They've played five different men at second base (Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Luke Hughes, Michael Cuddyer, Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla) and three different men at shortstop (Tolbert, Casilla and Trevor Plouffe).

Plouffe is supposed to be the regular at short for now -- at least until Nishioka is ready to play, and maybe beyond. But his play afield Sunday was somewhat less than airtight.

Not that he was alone. Consider the third inning, in which the Red Sox scored four runs and took a 5-3 lead. All four runs were earned, but the Twins had numerous opportunities to get out of the inning. (I should note here that  I saw none of the disaster; I was, at that point, following the game on the radio and hence a hostage to the observations of Gladden and Gordon; this is less than optimal.)

Carl Crawford triples. The radio boys suggested that Denard Span might have been able to catch the ball but instead settled for trying to play the carom instead. Said carom got away from him, allowing Crawford to reach third. So Span passed on the risky play of trying for the out, then failed in the fallback position of holding Crawford to a double.

Jason Varitek grounds to first, scoring Crawford. In an alternative universe in which Span catches Crawford's ball, there are now two outs; in the one in which Span holds Crawford to two bases, Crawford advances to third.

Jacoby Ellsbury singles past Plouffe.The radio boys and Joe Christensen of the Strib agree: This could have been ruled an error on Plouffe. (The ruling of single extended Ellbury's hitting streak.) Hsad this play bene made ... it could be the third out in one scenario, or it could have scored Crawford in another, or it could have left him at third. I'll assume it would have scored Crawford. But at least there'd be two outs and nobody on.

Ellsbury steals second. Of course he did; Pavano is notoriously poor at holding runners. In a cleanly played inning, of course, there's no steal because he's not on base.

Dustin Pedroia walks. No defense for the base on balls. Adrian Gonzalez singles. Ellsbury scores, Pedroia to third.

Kevin Youkilis grounds into a force out. Gordon's initial call anticipated an inning-ending double play, but Plouffe and Casilla couldn't turn it. Pedroia scores.

At this point there have been multiple ways out of the inning. Maybe Span catches Crawford's triple. Maybe Plouffe snares Ellsbury's grounder. Maybe the double play is turned. Maybe the Twins yield one run, maybe two. Instead, they've yielded three, and the inning is still alive.

And it goes on to include two more singles and a throwing error by Drew Butera trying to pick Youkilis off. The wonder isn't that they gave up four runs in the inning, but that it was only four runs.

Three in a row

Happy happy joy joy happy happy joy

Three games isn't much, especially given the travails of the opponents involved. The White Sox were playing, if anything, worse than the Twins, and the Red Sox had their pitching staff blown apart in their previous series.

But ... as I said in commenting on Liriano's no-hitter, results matter, and so does process. And the process that I'm  noticing here is:

• Alexi Casilla is playing second base
• Ron Gardenhire says he's keeping Michael Cuddyer in the outfield
• The Twins turned seven double plays in the three games

I've long chafed at the broadcaster boilerplate about teams "lacking an identity" or "finding their identity." This Twins team is making me reconsider. Gardenhire appeared to enter the season with the idea that the Twins were going to be an offensive machine: Speed at the top and bottom of the lineup, power in the middle.

It didn't happen in April. Injuries, illness, just plain ineffectiveness got in the way. And in trying to make the offensive juggernaut happen, the defense got stretched too far, especially with a low-strikeout staff.

Maybe the Twins have found their way back to what they've been. Or maybe this is a small-sample size mirage.

Alexi Casilla, scapegoat

Five plays comprised the Kansas City Royals' game-winning rally on Friday, five plays that resulted in two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Alexi Casilla had a
difficult eighth inning
on Friday.

Alexi Casilla was involved in three of the five, and when the game was over FSN studio analyst Ron Coomer heaped the blame on the Twins' beleaguered shortstop.

Let's break the rally down:

Alex Burnett struck out the leadoff man, then (PLAY 1) allowed a double to Wilson Betemit. Then came Casilla's troubles.

PLAY 2: Kila Ka'aihue hit a sharp grounder at base-runner Betemit, who broke for third. Casilla let the grounder kick off his glove. It was ruled a hit, which is sloppy official scoring by any standard; it should have been an error. Hit or error, the Royals now had the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first.

Comment: This is the easiest play to criticize Casilla on, and as a physical error the one Coomer was least willing to rap him for. I assume that, because Casilla was headed toward second, his play would have been to first base, conceding third to Betemit. That would have left the Royals with two outs and a man on third.

PLAY 3: Kansas City pinch-ran the speedy Jerry Dyson for the plodding Ka'aihue. On the first pitch to Brayan Pena, Dyson stole second. Drew Butera's throw was well to the first base side of second base (behind the sliding runner) and went into center field. Betemit scored and Dyson advanced to third on the Butera error.

Comment: Casilla was the man covering second on the steal attempt, and he held at second as the ball sailed though. Coomer's criticism was that Casilla should have left the bag to try to keep the ball in the infield. Watching the play unfold, I expected Butera's throw to hit Dyson, and if that happened, there was no telling where it would go. (And, obviously, in an alternative universe in which Casilla makes the Ka'aihue play, there is no steal and no error,) The throw was errant enough that I'm not sure Casilla could have kept it in the infield anyway.

PLAY 4: With Dyson on third, Burnett walked Pena (Burnett was up 0-2 in the count and lost him).

PLAY 5: Alcides Escobar hit a looper between third and short. Casilla dashed over and back to catch the ball, but his momentum was carrying him away from home plate, and Dyson tagged up and dashed home. Casilla threw, third baseman Danny Valencia tried to cut it off, the ball went well up the first base line, and there was no play on Dyson.

Comment: There was nothing wrong with the catch, and while I can't prove it, I doubt that the slower J.J. Hardy would have gotten to the ball (assuming that Hardy were healthy enough to play, which he isn't). Coomer's complaint is that Casilla didn't immediately plant, pivot and throw home. (The catch was good; a throw, against Casilla's body, strong and accurate enough to catch Dyson would have been even more impressive.) Coomer sees this play, and the stolen base play, as further examples of Casilla's pattern of mental errors, that he wasn't adequately aware of the game situation.

And that's certainly possible. Casilla's problems over the years have generally been from the neck up. In this inning, however, the mental errors, if any, arose directly from the physical mistake on Ka'aihue's grounder.

Duh. Winning.

A bonehead play from a player with a record for
making bonehead plays.

Assorted notes and comments from a modest three-game winning streak (may it grow longer):

* Alexi Casilla should have been wearing a dunce cap rather than a batting helmet when he got thrown out at home in the third inning Sunday. There's a base coach out there for a reason, kid. Use him. (On the other hand, Steve Liddle's indecisive and late stop sign for Justin Morneau later in the inning wasn't great either.)

*Joe Nathan had a solid 1-2-3 inning to wrap up Saturday's blowout win, complete with two strikeouts and what at least one observer called his best slider of the season for the final pitch.

Somebody asked Ron Gardenhire if sending Nathan to the minors is a possibility, and Gardy said no, Nathan will have to get his innings in the majors.

I'm not sure if the roster rules would allow a demotion. It will be interesting to see how Nathan gets work, though. There's an obvious (and merited) reluctance to use him in game situations, but if he's going to be of use this year he's got to get a regular diet of work.

* Michael Cuddyer is apparently to get fairly regular work at second base for a while. Such an arrangement does make it easier to get Jim Thome in the lineup, and Cuddyer probably isn't a lot worse at the keystone than Luke Hughes, but it's difficult to imagine Gardenhire being happy with what it does to the defense. Of course, since Jim Thome won't play more than three games in a row, Hughes and Matt Tolbert are going to get some action.

* Jason Kubel's game-winning double Sunday came off a left-hander. Let the record show that at this point he has had 28 plate appearances against southpaws, 26 official at-bars, with slash stats of .269/.321/346, which isn't Jacque Jones helpless but still isn't good. Those numbers aren't far off from his career slash stats against lefties (.237/.313/.352).

* A Twins blog griped that Glen Perkins "almost blew" Sunday's game. That's an overly harsh assessment, and I think it stems from a continued fan base mistrust of Perkins. True, the four-pitch walk to Carlos Santana wasn't ideal,  but the following single was a mere popup that Jason Repko lost in the sun. That should have been the second out. It really wasn't a bad outing for Perkins.

Counting on Casilla

Perhaps the most significant unknown greeting the Twins tonight when they open the 2011 season is shortstop.

Yes, there is uncertainty about the middle relief, and nobody can be sure how durable Justin Morneau's noggin will be. But bullpens are easily remade on the fly, and No. 33 is at least in the lineup.

Alexi Casilla:  His
third, and probably last,
chance to establish
himself as a regular.

But this is the third time Alexi Casilla has been handed a regular's job. The first two times he gave it back.

Now he's being counted on to handle not second base but shortstop, the more difficult defensive spot.

From the neck down, he's fully capable of handling the job. He has the feet, the hands and the arm to play short. He won't hit with the departed J.J. Hardy's power, but he's quite capable of sporting a higher on-base percentage than last year's regular.

The problem is from the neck up. Casilla has a history of mental lapses — losing track of the outs, failing to cover a base.

The idea appears to be that he can be cured of such miscues by adding responsibilities to his assignment. Ron Gardenhire is big on the notion that the shortstop runs the infield; Jason Bartlett wasn't assertive enough for Gardy. Theoretically, if it falls to Casilla to tell Tsuyoshi Nishioka which of them is covering second on a steal, Casilla is bound to know when it's his chore.

We shall see in the coming weeks if this works. If Casilla can keep his head in the game, I don't think the Twins will have any falloff at the position. His talents are differently shaped than Hardy's but not necessarily less useful.

If he doesn't, the Twins have a problem. The most likely in-house candidate, Trevor Plouffe, had a brutal spring training; more important, he's about to begin his fourth season in Triple A and has yet to do anything there there to make the Twins want to give him a shot.

If Casilla fails, the Twins will be looking for outside help yet again to patch the position.

Nick Punto and the quest for infield stablity

Monday's post traced the instability of the Twins infield over the past five seasons. Of the 20 spots -- four per season -- exactly eight regulars made it from opening day to seasons end still the regular at that position.

That's a lot of in-season turnover. And that kind of turmoil is behind the move to younger, unproven players. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Alexi Casilla and Danny Valencia all offer the possibility of being four- and five year solutions to their positions.

Being unproven -- Casilla has the most MLB experience, and the fewest credentials -- they also offer the possibility that they will turn their position into a problem.

Alexi Casilla: Can he
establish himself
as a major league regular?

Which, as I noted Monday, is why manager Ron Gardenhire doubtless wants Nick Punto back. Punto has plugged infield holes in the past for him.

Here is the argument for the front office to deny Gardy that security blanket: Juan Castro.

Flash back to 2005. Cristian Guzman has left as a free agent. The Twins have a minor leaguer, Jason Bartlett, apparently ready to step in; they also have Punto. And then they signed Castro, a veteran good glove, no-hit infielder.

With Castro at his disposal, Gardenhire refused to commit to Bartlett, even demoting Bartlett at the end of spring training 2006 even though he had clearly outperformed Castro. (Gardy's stated reason -- that the young Bartlett was deferring to the veteran infielders, Luis Castillo and Tony Bautista -- seemed ludicrous then and now.)

It wasn't until then-general manager Terry Ryan dumped Castro on the Cincinnati Reds (and cut Bautista loose) that Gardenhire played Bartlett. He had to; there was no other option.

Similarly, it may well be that if Punto is re-signed with the intent of having him serve as a backup, that Gardenhire will edge away from the plan of putting the load on Casilla.

If Casilla fails, there's Matt Tolbert and Trevor Plouffe and the possibility of a midseason deal. But if Casilla plays part time and Punto plays part time, the goal of stabilizing the infield is missed.

Notes on a Saturday

I may be in the minority, but I liked the old-time replica uniforms the Twins wore Saturday. But then, the history of segregated baseball fascinates me, and while the St. Paul Gophers are a small footnote in the history of Black ball, remembering that they existed is worth our while.

---

At this writing, it's unclear how badly Alexi Casilla is injured. The Twins intend to activate Orlando Hudson; if it were my call, I'd put Casilla on the disabled list and keep Trevor Plouffe (above) around until the next infielder (be it Nick Punto or Casilla) is ready to return. This constant dragging around a bench player who isn't able to play is ridiculous.

---

Poll results: The question of whether the Twins will regret trading Wilson Ramos drew 49 responses.

Twenty eight — 57 percent — said it's worth it if Matt Capps helps in October. Thirteen — 27 percent — said Ramos is overhyped. Eight — 16 percent — said Ramos is going to be a star.

Casilla out, Tolbert in

After last night's game, the Twins put Alexi Casilla (pictured) on the disabled list and recalled Matt Tolbert.

Tolbert figures to play the same role as Casilla, which is to say not much of one at all. Pinch-running, occasional defensive work when one of the regular infielders is out — which is the case today, with Orlando Hudson's immediate status uncertain.

At this point, I'd rather not see Brendan Harris playing at all, although I expect he'll get a start today, as Seattle's got a left-hander scheduled to start. Harris is in the major leagues largely because his career batting average vs. LHP is .289. But he's just 2 for 22 over the past two weeks, and he's hit lefties worse than righties so far this season.

That shouldn't continue forever, but he looks like a mess at the plate right now. Still, if he doesn't play against Jason Vargas, I don't know how the Twins justify his roster spot.

Harris' slump makes this a particularly bad time for Casilla to go on the shelf. He's actually looked fairly competent at the plate so far in his limited opportunities — his OPB is .370 — and I was struck by his three-walk performance May 22 against Milwaukee. Three walks in a game isn't something that just happens.

A healthy Casilla might have gotten more opportunities.

The roster takes shape

The "battle" for the 25th spot on the roster has been decided, barring a last-week injury or trade.

Alexi Casilla (left) stays. Matt Tolbert has been optioned to Triple A, and Jacque Jones has been told that he's going to be assigned to Triple A as well, but gets to make the trip north for the exhibition games next weekend at Target Field.

The decisive aspect, as suggested here last week, appears to be roster status. Casilla is out of options and would have to clear waivers to be sent down, and the organization didn't dare risk losing his .259 slugging percentage. (Note: that last clause was sarcasm.) Tolbert has options left, and Jones— who had the best spring of the three, for as little as that's worth — isn't even on the 40 man roster.

This is in keeping with recent tradition of carrying a player who has no real purpose.

Assuming — risky business — that Dan Gladden's broadcasting accurately reflects the thinking of Ron Gardenhire and Co., the Casilla-in-the-outfield trials this spring were found wanting.

Which means the alternative center fielder is Michael Cuddyer, and playing him in CF means moving him from right and putting the regular DH, Jason Kubel, in right.

This presents problems as an in-game move — if Denard Span sprains an ankle in the third inning, do you really want to go without the DH the rest of the way? — and problems defensively, as an outfield of Delmon Young, Cuddyer and Kubel might be as slow as any you've ever seen.

The only real decision pending on position players now is the backup catcher. Drew Butera is deemed the favorite for the job, although I'm rooting for Wilson Ramos to get it.

The 25th man

The Twins opened Saturday's exhibition game against the Tampa Bay Rays with a bizarro outfield alignment: Ben Revere, a speedy center field prospect, in left; Michael Cuddyer, a rather plodding right fielder, in center; and veteran Jacque Jones in right.

I guarantee this: Were it a game that counted, the outfield would have been Jones in left, Revere in center, Cuddyer in right. But if Cuddyer's going to open the season as the primary alternative in center field to Denard Span, he's got to get some innings there this spring.

For what it's worth — which isn't much — Jones had a couple of hits Saturday, including a double, at least one off a lefty with good stuff (David Price). He also got thrown out twice at home plate; the catcher had to be carted off the field after one of them. (Listening between the lines of Dan Gladden's radio commentary, Jones did not get a good break off third base on a fly ball on the other.)

Jones, according to the stats posted this morning on ESPN.com, is hitting .318 this spring. That's all of 22 at-bats, so it establishes nothing. If he were hitting .526 in those 19 at-bats, it wouldn't mean much either. Still, .318 is better than his primary competition for the final bench job, Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert, added together. (All three had doubles Saturday.) (This paragraph updated late Sunday morning.)

What's more meaningful is roster flexibility. Jones signed a minor league deal and agreed to report to Triple A Rochester if thus assigned; he'll be available later this season if needed. Tolbert has an option left, so the Twins can ship him to Rochester and recall him if needed. Casilla is out of options. He's use or (perhaps) lose.

Of course, the demand for Casilla and his .259 2009 slugging percentage may not be very high.

As matters stand, expect Casilla to open the season on the 25-man roster.

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Last week's poll — Who will lead the 2010 Twins in saves — drew no consensus.

There were 36 votes. Twelve (33 percent) picked Jon Rauch. Nine (35 percent) picked Pat Neshek. Matt Guerrier got six votes (16 percent), as did "none of the above." Two (5 percent) said it would be Francisco Liriano, and one (2 percent) holds out hope for Joe Nathan.

New poll up.

Orlando Cabrera and other roster issues

Orlando Cabrera has reportedly reached an agreement with the Cincinnati Reds, pending physical and other formalities.

Ron Gardenhire, even after the Twins traded for J.J. Hardy, talked about wanting to keep Cabrera to play second base. From this distance, it's unclear if Cabrera didn't like that idea or if other people in the Twins organization didn't like that idea. At any rate, Cabrera and his diminishing range will be deployed at short again this year, just not in Minnesota.

All this further drives down the possibility of adding another veteran infielder. Reports out of TwinsFest this weekend downplayed the Joe Crede notion, and I had already written off the notion of a third base acquisition anyway because of the pinch-hitting implications.

Orlando Hudson might still be a possibility, but one must remember — he lost his job in L.A. to Ronnie Belliard last summer.

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When the Jim Thome signing is finalized — he was supposed to have a physical while in town for TwinsFest — somebody will have to come off the 40-man roster. That should happen in the next day or so.

While I still expect Glen Perkins to be traded, it now appears that won't happen until he's demonstrated in exhibition games that his shoulder is sound. And for that matter, one never knows that injuries will pop up among the Twins pitchers. They may still need Perkins.

Alexi Casilla had a good playoff series in the Dominican this winter, and unless the Twins do bring in a veteran infielder, he's in the mix for a lineup spot. He and Matt Tolbert are both out of options, and it's difficult to see both of them making the 25-man roster.

LaVelle Neal suggested that the Twins could carry them both over Jason Pridie, but I believe the only way that's happening if if Gardenhire is comfortable with the notion of playing one of the infielders in center for three or four days if and when Denard Span gets one of those day-to-day nagging injuries that don't merit putting him on the disabled list.

Yeah, Michael Cuddyer played some center last season, but that was in Wrigley Field, the smallest center field area in the majors. In normal parks, Cuddyer in center is an invitation to triples.

Division champs

I'm still absorbing one of the strangest, and best, games I've ever attended.

So much to say about Tuesday's 6-5 12-inning tiebreaker.

I'll start with this: I was seated in the upper deck right field, which means that the right fielder was just a rumor to me and that home plate was about 400 feet away.

To my eyes, the home plate ump (Randy Marsh) was brutal. I understand, having perused a few stories and columns since I got home, that people with a better angle than I agree.

Further comments:

*Nick Punto was a marvel. His last three plate appearances were superb — a single on a 3-2 pitch (and a run scored), a walk on another 3-2 pitch, and what should have been the game-winning sac fly. I believe he fell behind in all three at-bats and battled back. Plus he had that marvelous force play at the plate to save Bobby Keppel's bacon in the 12th inning.

* That forceout followed what I thought was a questionable decision by Ron Gardenhire to walk Ryan Raburn intentionally to load the bases. Yeah, Raburn is a better hitter than Brandon Inge or Gerald Laird; that's not saying much. My issue with it is that Keppel's command is always dicey.

Inge bounced into the force play, but only after apparently getting grazed by a Keppel pitch. I thought it caught his jersey, at least, but — again — I was 400 feet away, and if that's the best place to call pitches they'd put the ump out there. Laird followed the force out by getting ahead 3-1; I said to the guy next to me that Jim Leyland should give him the take sign. Instead, Laird fouled a pitch off — I suspect it was high — to go to 3-2, then chased a low pitch for the strike out.

Questionable decision by Gardy, worse one by Leyland.

* I wanted Brian Buscher to pinch hit for Alexi Casilla in the 12th. Gardenhire had other ideas. His worked. Still, Casilla had had just two at-bats since Sept. 11, as Gardenhire follows his pattern of running with a set lineup in the final month — and Casilla was the worst hitter with 200 plate appearances in the AL this year. And he was in the DH slot, so defense wasn't a consideration. But then, Buscher has had one game appearance — no trips to the plate — since Sept. 19.

*Rick Porcello struck out eight Twins. That matched his season high. Considering his low K rate — 4.4 K/ entering the game — and the tight leash on innings he's been kept on — I'm surprised he'd had an eight strikeout game. If he stays healthy, he's going to be great.

* Leyland apparently boiled his bullpen down the four guys he was willing to take a chance with: Fu-Te Ni, Zach Miner, Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney, which is how he wound up having his closer throw 48 pitches. Gardenhire went a lot deeper than that — I think he would have used Jeff Manship in the 13th if the game had gone that far — and was, if anything, over aggressive in pulling Ron Mahay after one batter.

* Jose Mijares may have hit the wall. Or be scared by the Delmon Young incident last week. Or something. Whatever it is, he's been brutal his last few outings, and they'll need him effective against New York.

* Other than Jason Kubel's home run — and wasn't that a bomb? — the Twins' RBIs came from Matt Tolbert, Casilla and Orlando Cabrera. Joe Mauer reached base four times, but when he came up with men on base, he was walked.

*Miguel (Drunk Tank) Cabrera doubled, walked and had a two-run homer (plus three ground outs). Had he rung up another 0-fer as he did through the White Sox series last weekend, he would have been a prime scrapegoat for the Tigers' failure to win the divisional title.

He still may be, but he's still Detroit's best player. Which, in a way, only deepens their dilemma about what to do with his behavior.

Middle infield numbers

Here's something you didn't know:

Nick Punto (left) has outhit Orlando Cabrera since the O-Cab arrived in Minnesota. Yes he has.

Cabrera's slash stats with the Twins (numbers entering Tuesday): .242/.271/.357. OPS: .628
Punto's slash stats, same period: .271/.344/.346. OPS: .690

Cabrera's .271 on-base percentage is particularly repulsive. It is the lowest of any Minnesota position player. Yet he's been anchored in the No. 2 slot in the lineup since he joined the lineup Aug. 1.

Of the 73 AL players who qualify for the batting title, Cabrera is last in OPS, last in slugging percentage, and third from the bottom in on-base percentage. He hit better for Oakland than with Minnesota, but it's been stinky regardless.

Then there's Alexi Casilla: .196/.275./.249 (.524). Of the 150 American League players with at least 225 plate appearances, Casilla is dead last in OPS — by 58 points. He's last in slugging percentage — by 32 points. He does manage to crawl out of the cellar in OBP — he's 146th in that category. Just a dismal season.

A few weeks ago, Casilla has a five-game binge in which he got 11 hits. Dick Bremer was ecstatic. Casilla followed that with five straight hitless games and is three for 14 this month, and Punto has taken the bulk of the second base time.

Not that Punto is having a great season either. He's 147th in that 225-PA group in OPS, and he's the guy Casilla trails in slugging percentage. It's been a lousy season for Punto, but he's got a pretty good September going — and it might keep him prominent in the Twins' 2010 plans.