Leading off

Max Kepler was the leadoff man in Sunday's lineup. That may be an indication of things to come, or it may be meaningless. It was, after, the first weekend of exhibition play.

But new manager Rocco Baldelli reportedly approached Kepler about Kep's experience as a leadoff hitter. Which is, apparently, minimal; Kepler said he thinks he hit leadoff some in rookie ball. But Baldelli has it in mind to try Kepler at the top slot.

Identifying a leadoff hitter on this team is a bit of a project. The hitters Paul Molitor preferred atop the lineup the past four seasons -- Brian Dozier primarily, with doses of  Robbie Grossman and Joe Mauer -- are gone. None of those were the slap-and-dash leadoff men of my youth, but they were all selective hitters who would take a walk.

The 10-regulars-for-nine-lineup-slots on the 2019 Twins -- I count here Marwin Gonzalez, who has yet to be officially added to the roster -- includes one guy who would have been reckoned a prototype leadoff man in days gone by. That is Byron Buxton, who certainly has hit leadoff a lot more as a pro than Kepler has. But I doubt anybody in the organization is advocating for installing Buck in the leadoff slot immediately. He'll have to earn it, or any other high-leverage lineup slot.

Kepler has a career OBP of .313 and a career high of .319 and a career total of 16 steals. The leadoff prototype has shifted over time, but Kepler has never fit any of them. That Baldelli (and presumably the analytical folk in the front office feeding him information) is considering him for that slot surprises me. But it is, again, the first days of exhibition play, and there is no obviously right answer to the question.

Extending Polanco and Kepler

The Twins today are expected to announce multi-year deals with Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler:

Jose Ramirez and Kolten Wong each received somewhere in the $25M range. Jorge Polanco's deal should exceed that. It will buy out one pre-arbitration year, three arbitration season and cover up to three free agent seasons for the 25-year-old. @JesseSanchezMLB was on the news.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 14, 2019

Outfielder Max Kepler and the Minnesota Twins are in agreement on a five-year, $35 million deal with a sixth-year option, a league source tells ESPN. The option is for $10 million and includes a $1 million buyout.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 14, 2019

What strikes me about these reported lengths of contract is that the Twins are not just getting their arbitration seasons but eating free-agency seasons as well. That's unusual. The Twins have, with some frequency, bought out arbitration seasons. It has been rare that those deals have delayed free agency.

The union, or at least veteran players, has tended to discourage young players from doing that. "Bet on yourself" has been a common saying. Buying out arbitration years is one thing -- arbitration contracts aren't guaranteed -- but giving up years of free agency is another.

But both Polanco and Kepler are doing so. With the options, both could be surrendering their first two free agent seasons. And both could be well into their 30s by the time they get to test the market.

This is, I think, evidence of the profound change in free agency the past two winters. Kepler (who was a Super Two arbitration-eligible player this winter) and Polanco (still pre-arbitration) are high-floor players in their mid-20s. There's still time for some growth for both, but neither is likely to turn into a perennial All-Star or an MVP candidate. 

These deals may limit the high-end of their future earnings, but they emphatically raise the floor of what they would get in their 20s. And the direction of the free agent market hasn't been kind to free agents turning 30. Kepler and Polanco are getting what they can now.

Where they stand: Right field

Presumptive regular: Max Kepler

Others on 40 man: Jake Cave, LaMonte Wade, Zach Granite, Michael Hall

Nonroster notables: Alex Kiriloff

Why isn't he Christian Yelich?

That's the question the impatient part of me, the part that has been anticipating Kepler's stardom since the Twins signed him a decade ago out of Germany at the age of 16, keeps asking.

Kepler turns 26 next month. He's been an everyday player for the Twins since midseason 2016. And you really have to squint to see signs of growth in his stat line.

Glass half-full: His walk rate really picked up last season, and after a 2017 in which he was almost helpless against left-handed pitching, Kepler actually put up better numbers against southpaws in 2018.

Glass-half empty: His base numbers are consistently mediocre for a corner outfielder. Cobble together his best slash lines, and you get .243/.319/.425, which would be good for a catcher and passable for a good defensive center fielder but not for a right fielder.

Glass half-full: Kepler is a good defensive outfielder. Granted, he's not Mookie Betts in right, but the publicly available metrics really like him, not just in right but in center as well.

Glass half-empty: Paul Molitor was rather reluctant to play Kepler in center during Byron Buxton's prolonged absence, even though everything indicated that Kepler is better out there than Jake Cave.

Kepler is in roughly the same boat as Buxton and Miguel Sano. He's a high-level talent who has yet to consistently use that talent. Unlike Buxton and Sano, Kepler has managed to stay in the lineup. He just hasn't done much with the playing time.

It's time.

So much for that winning streak

Sometimes a baseball season feels like a whack-a-mole: Fix one problem and another shows up.

Fernando Romero steps into the rotation to replace the struggling Phil Hughes, and suddenly the fifth starter's spot appears more than functional -- and somebody else is pitching poorly.

Thursday's game made three straight poor starts for Jose Berrios since his spectacular outing in Puerto Rico. I'm sure Berrios isn't about to be dislodged from the rotation. I'm also sure the Twins need to figure out how to get him on the right track again.

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I commented Thursday morning on how well Max Kepler was hitting lefties. He homered Thursday night, the second of back-to-back homers (the other from Brian Dozier) that briefly tied the game.

Kepler last year had five extra-base hits all season against lefties (137 plate appearances). He's passed that total already in 2018 in 31 plate appearances.

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And my prediction that Ryan LaMarre would be demoted to make roster room for Byron Buxton's return was, for once, accurate. The blind pig found an acorn.

Contemplating Max Kepler

Max Kepler's big day Wednesday -- two homers, including the walk-off in the ninth inning -- gave him a slash line on the young season of .281/.395/.625.

Even before Wednesday's long ball exploits, when his slash numbers looked more like 2017's, Kepler simply looked like a better, more advanced hitter this spring than in seasons past. This is certainly plausible; he turned 25 just before spring training opened, and he didn't face advanced competition before turning pro and coming to the States at age 16.

But it's worth noting that two weeks into the season Paul Molitor has allowed him to step to the plate just five times against left-handed pitching. When the Twins face a southpaw -- as, for example, Dallas Keuchel of Houston on Tuesday -- Molitor just happens to decide to get Robbie Grossman and Ryan LeMarre some playing time.

I can't argue with that. The Twins set up their bench to give them platoon options for the array of left-handed bats among their regulars, and Kepler in 2017 was emphatically troubled by left-handed pitching.

I'm sure Molitor would insist if asked that he's not platooning Kepler. And to the extent that Molitor is managing not only for 2018 but beyond, Kepler shouldn't be platooned. There is star potential in him, and he needs at-bats against lefties to develop that potential.

Therein lies the conundrum for the manager, balancing the urgency of winning every possible game with the postseason as the goal with the need to develop the talent. Right now, it appears Molitor is giving the win-now more weight on that scale.

One win, one loss, lots to talk about

Glen Perkins, in the first of Thursday's games, became the 32nd player to pitch for the Twins this year. Simply getting back onto a major league mound after essentially having his shoulder reconstructed is quite an accomplishment.

That said, his outing wasn't good. He hit two batters, walked another, threw more balls than strikes, got just one out.

He hit 93 at least once, but he didn't have command. He says he'll be better in future outings. We'll see. I'm pleased he's back; now I want to see him be effective enough to justify a role.

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Aaron Slegers, in the second game, became pitcher 33. He was pretty impressive in his big league debut: 6.1 innings, two hits, two walks, three strikeouts. Paul Molitor pulled him after just 82 pitches, which struck me as a prematurely quick hook.

Slegers is being sent back to Rochester, as he was the 26th man for the doubleheader, the Twins are in the midst of a staff-straining seven-games-in-five-days stretch and he can't help further with that, and, well, numbers, man.  (Despite what Dick Bremer kept saying during the telecast, my understanding of the rules is that he could remain and somebody else removed from the 25-man roster, but all the somebodies who could be sent down in his stead might help in the next five days.)

But it's really difficult to concoct a baseball rationale for keeping Kyle Gibson in the rotation and Slegers in the minors. Plus there's an opening in the rotation with putative fifth starter Dietrich Enns going on the disabled list.

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Enns went on the disabled list to make room on the 25 man roster for Perkins. Enns missed considerable time earlier in the year with a shoulder issue, but he was quoted as saying that this is in a different area of the shoulder.

Buddy Boshers gave up another homer in the first game and was demoted to Rochester between games, with Nik Turley activated. Bet you forgot Turley was still on the 40-man roster. (I knew only because I've been trying to figure out how to open enough space on the 40 to add all the Rule 5 eligible players I want the Twins to protect this winter.) Turley at least gives them another long man in the bullpen (and a potential starter). If he's still around a week from now, something went very wrong.

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Robbie Grossman broke his left thumb bumping into Byron Buxton in the outfield. He's out probably three weeks or so; Molitor suggested he will be able to hit before he can throw again.

Mitch Garver, primary position catcher, was called up during the night to take his place on the 25-man roster. Garver has played a few innings in left field for Rochester, but I wouldn't advocate having him platoon in right field with Max Kepler, which was a significant portion of Grossman's playing time.

The move means the Twins don't have an true fourth outfielder. Presumably Zack Granite (left-handed hitter) will be back when rosters expand, if not sooner. Either way, with Grossman out, I'd just as soon see Kepler play even against lefties. He's too young and talented to condemn to a strict platoon role. He's not going to get better against southpaws facing them this infrequently.

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My commentary on the major league team will be muted at best the next few days; I'm headed to Cedar Rapids for my annual look-see at the Kernels.

Thoughts from the Twins opener

* Kramarczuk's is still so good.

* The first-level concourse was almost impassible, a chronic condition on opening day when Target Field is sold out and a goodly number of fans flock to the standing room areas and the heat lamps. It may have appeared on TV that there were a lot of empty seats. I can assure you, the people were there.

* The Kansas City bullpen ain't what it was in their World Series years.

* The lineup against lefty Danny Duffy was ... restricted. The Twins had, by necessity and choice, four lefties in the lineup, none of whom at this point in their careers should be expected to be productive against a southpaw of Duffy's quality. Joe Mauer slashed .224/.291/.319 against lefties lat year; he hit cleanup. Jason Castro slashed .149/.237/.241; he hit sixth. Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario slashed .203/.273/.322 and .263/.305/.289 respectively; they hit eighth and ninth.

The problem: With Robbie Grossman as the DH, there is no viable right-handed hitting alternative on the roster to Mauer, Kepler and Rosario. Chris Gimenez would be a reasonable platoon mate to Castro, but Paul Molitor has indicated that he's not going with a strict platoon behind the plate. And, to be sure, even Earl Weaver wouldn't be platooning Kepler or Rosario at their ages. So we're likely to see more of this.

* The game itself turned on a pair of bunts, which merits a deep dive.

Bottom of the seventh, 1-1 tie, the Royals pull  Duffy. In 2014 and April of 2015, that probably means the gas-throwing Kelvim Herrera, with Wade Davis for the eighth and Greg Holland in the ninth, and the Twins' best shot at winning is getting to extra innings. But Holland blew his arm out late in 2015, and Davis is a Cub now, and Herrera is the closer. As said above, the Royals bullpen isn't what it was.

So with a switch-hitter (Jorge Polanco) followed by a pair of left-handed hitters (Kepler and Rosario) due up, K.C. manager Ned Yost goes to Matt Strahm, a lefty making his major league debut.

Polanco singles. Kepler is asked to bunt. He fouls his first attempt, and the 2016 Twins pattern of horrendous bunting seems very much in continuation. But his next one is ideal, and Strahm, despite help from the first base ump, can't throw him out. Thanks to replay, two on, no out, and Rosario is asked to bunt. He gets it down for a sac. The Royals put Brian Dozier on, and then Strahm walks Robbie Grossman to force in a run ...

But it's the bunting I want to comment on, not four walks in five hitters. Let's say that Kepler merely got a sac bunt, not a hit. In that case, Rosario has to hit, not bunt, against the lefty and the whole inning changes. A mere sacrifice from Kepler puts the inning squarely on Rosario and Grossman (there's no way Yost was going to pitch to Dozier with first base open). 

For that matter, I question Yost's decision to stick with Strahm after Rosario's bunt with Dozier-Grossman-Byron Buxton coming up -- two righties with switch-hitter who is better against lefties. Peter Moylan (who did come in to strike out Buxton) might have fared better; He couldn't have done worse than Strahm.

Seeing the two young left-handed hitters get the bunt down against a lefty was encouraging, and the inning certainly broke in the Twins favor. But they needed some help to make it work.

Notes,quotes and comment

Tommy Milone took a one-hitter into the ninth inning Tuesday, He didn't get the shutout; he didn't even get through the ninth. But it was still undoubtedly the best start of his Twins tenure.

He's now had three decent starts in a row, although the previous two were six innings and five innings -- not exactly working deep into games. The radio guys were, of course, talking all through the middle innings about Milone's difficulties earlier in the season getting through the fourth and fifth innings. In his first six starts, he got through the fifth exactly once.

But in his most recent three starts he's pitched 19.1 innings with five earned runs -- a 2.32 ERA. His ERA has dropped from 6.23 to 4.71. That's not a good ERA, to be sure. But the Twins have given starts to nine different pitchers, and only Ervin Santana and Milone have ERAs under 5.

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In Minnesota, this was overshadowed by the firing of Terry Ryan, but a federal judge on Monday sentenced Christopher Correa, former scouting director of the St. Louis Cardinals, to 46 months in prison for repeatedly hacking into the Houston Astros' player evaluation data base.

Now we'll see how hard Commissioner Rob Manfred hits the Cardinals for this violation. Earlier this year Manfred stripped the Boston Red Sox of five prospects and banned them from signing any international free agents in the current signing period for violating the signing bonus rules. It was a pretty harsh penalty. I think that the Correa case is ethically worse than the Red Sox case, but that's just me.

However ... by hitting the Red Sox, Manfred was punishing an team whose owners were opposed to his elevation to the job. The Cardinals' principal owner was, in contrast, very much in favor of Manfred for commissioner.

It's easy enough to be hard on one's political opponents. Let's see how Manfrec handles his allies.

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Fun with small sample sizes: Cory Provus talked quite a bit during Tuesday's game about the Tigers' problems with outfield defense. Meanwhile, Max Kepler was charged with his third error in right field.

My sense of things is that the current Minnesota collection of outfielders is pretty good defensively, I wouldn't play Danny Santana in center as often as Paul Molitor does, but basically, the five outfielders (Byron Buxton, Robbie Grossman, Kepler, Eddie Rosario and Santana) all have at least marginal center field speed, with Grossman probably the slowest of the five.

Anyway ... I took a look early this morning at Kepler's defensive metrics as listed on Baseball Reference. He rates better in Total Zone than in Runs Saved in right field (366.2 innings), but above average in both.

But I had to smile at his centerfield ratings. He's had one start in center with three other appearances, a total of 21 innings. By Total Zone, he was slightly below average in those innings; by Runs Saved, he was awesome, on pace for 51 runs saved over the course of a season.

Twenty-one innings means nothing in an evaluative sense, of course, but that's a wide range of variation.

Contemplating Max Kepler

Kennys Vargas awaits Max Kepler (26) as Kepler
brings his grand slam home Sunday.

Max Kepler hit his eighth homer of his major league season Sunday. Considering that his minor league high is nine, and he's clubbed these eight four-baggers in less than 170 plate appearances, it's a logical question: What's going on here?

Some players arrive with an obvious shape to their futures. Kennys Vargas, for example -- you can look at him and know he is not destined to be a leadoff hitter or a shortstop. Some show up with a lot of possible templates and directions, and Kepler is one of them.

He's tall (listed at 6-feet-4). Right now he's slender (listed at 205), but you can imagine him bulking up. He is graceful and athletic, as one might expect from the son of two high-level ballet dancers (his mother is from Texas, his father from Poland, and they met and married while dancing in Berlin). And, because Kepler was raised in Germany, he wasn't exposed to a high level of baseball until the Twins signed him -- in the same summer as Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco -- and he came to the United States.

I'm not sure Kepler really has a right fielder's throwing arm, and I'm quite sure he's not going to dislodge Byron Buxton from center field. He's had some elbow issues in the past, and if they flare up again he might wind up at first base. But there's a wide range of defensive positions that could be in his future: Center if Buxton fails, right field (his current spot), left field, first base if his arm fails.

As a hitter, who knows? This power outburst may be sustainable even though he's never hit like this before. He's just 23 and he was starting from a low baseline of experience. His breakout minor league season last year in Chattanooga (Double A) featured a high average with gap power; this year that gap power is translating into over-the-fence power, but he hasn't hit for the impressive average.

It isn't easy to discern his template, but it also isn't necessary. He'll develop that, and we'll just get to enjoy it.

Notes, quotes and comment

Scratch the notion of a September return for Phil Hughes. The veteran right-hander will have thoracic outlet syndrome surgery next week.

From the Pioneer Press' Mike Berardino:

Former Twins pitchers Deolis Guerra and Hector Carrasco also underwent the procedure, which involves the partial removal of a rib to relieve nerve and circulation issues in the throwing shoulder area.

The hope -- expectation? -- is that this will solve Hughes' shoulder fatigue issues. He was already out with a leg fracture, but now he won't be back until spring training 2017.

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Also from Berardino: Max Kepler got a fairly high-level rebuke last weekend from Reggie Jackson, who watched the rookie take aim at the right field seats during batting practice in Yankee Stadium and told him: "I'm 70 years old and I can do that. Let me see you go the other way."

I'll bet Kepler hears that from Tom Brunansky and Rudy Hernandez a lot. Hearing it from a 500-homer Hall of Famer apparently had some influence on the German.

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Only one Twins prospect named to the Futures Game rosters Tuesday, J.T. Chargois. I'm mildly surprised at one; there are a handful of others I would have thought worthy, such as Tyler Jay or Stephen Gonsalves.

Nobody gets more than two on the initial rosters, and there are a few teams that only get one. It's possible that the Twins declined to send one of the lower level prospects across the country to San Diego.

Notes from the weekend

Max Kepler is greeted at home plate Sunday afternoon as
he brings home his game-winning home run.

Pretty sweet moment Sunday for Max Kepler, the Berlin Basher, who hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th for a rare Twins win in which they never trailed. It was the first career homer for Kepler,.

Kepler has been playing right field on a regular basis this month with Miguel Sano sidelined, and one would be hard pressed to claim that he's taken the job and run with it. His 1-for-5 Sunday leaves him 8-for-36 in June, a .222 average, and he's struck out 12 times. He's also had four hits in his three most recent starts.

It may be some time before Sano is deemed ready to return from his hamstring injury, and presumably Kepler will remain a lineup fixture until then. What will happen when Sano is back, I haven't the slightest. I think the highest-ceiling outfield the Twins can assemble would be Kepler in left, Byron Buxton in center and Sano in right, but that leaves no place for Robbie Grossman, and he is playing, overall, better than any of that trio.

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J.T. Chargois came up, made one awful appearance, and got shipped back to Rochester. The Twins claimed Neil Ramirez off waivers from Milwaukee to take his place on the 25-man roster.

In theory, I dislike this move. Chargois is more talented, and he's not that much younger. Milwaukee is the second club to dump Ramirez this season, and that should be a red flag.

But theory has to give way to reality, and reality is that

• the Twins are reluctant to use Chargois two days in a row and
• they have trouble getting five or six innings from their starters.

If the bullpen has to pick up four or five innings every game, they can't afford to carry an arm that's only available for one inning every two or three games.

To make room for Ramirez on the 40, the Twins moved Phil Hughes to the 60-day disabled list. Hughes suffered a "compression fracture" when he was hit by a line drive in the leg the other day. Michael Tonkin also got drilled by a comebacker; it's been a bad week in that regard.

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Wrapping up the draft: The Twins made 42 picks over the three days. On Day One they selected four high-school hitters; after that they went heavy on collegians. Thirty-one of their 42 picks are college guys, including 24 of the 30 Saturday selections.

By the numbers: 17 pitchers, 10 outfielders, eight infielders. seven catchers. We knew the Twins regarded their catching depth as suspect, and they certainly went for backstops early (second round), often and late (40th round).

One of the Twins' first day selections was compensation for failing to sign 2015 second-rounder Kyle Cody of the University of Kentucky. Cody fell to the sixth round this year (Texas Rangers), and the big righty will have a substantially smaller signing bonus as a result.

The Twins may well have wound up with the better prospect in Akil Baddoo, a high school outfielder. Still, punting a high pick like that isn't a good strategy.

Oh no, Sano

Miguel Sano comes off the field after
injuring his hamstring in the third inning
on Tuesday night in Oakland.

Miguel Sano went on the disabled list with a hamstring injury after Tuesday's game, which

• deprives the run-starved Twins of their best power hitter
• potentially improves the outfield defense and
• probably refuels the continuing fan debate over putting him in the outfield to begin with.

Sano had homered in four straight games coming into Monday. He leads the club in homers, runs, RBIs and doubles. Despite all that, he's barely above zero in WAR, Wins Above Replacement, because of his struggles afield. If WAR has the defensive component right (and that is a significant if), Sano's injury really doesn't hurt the team very much.

We saw some of those defensive issues Tuesday night. Billy Burns of Oakland hit a flare down the right field line, and Sano had an awkward approach in which he came to a stop and waved his glove futilely at the ball as it bounced past. Triple, ruled the official scorer.

Sano may have done something to the hamstring on that play, but it was beating out a possible double play ball that caused him to pull up lame.

So he's out for at least two weeks, and Max Kepler has been called back up. I would expect the right field opportunity to go to either Kepler or Oswaldo Arcia. I much prefer Kepler. Watching Arcia chase another neck-high fastball in the ninth inning Tuesday night underlines that preference. And if Kepler is in right, an outfield of Robbie Grossman-Byron Buxton-Kepler will be quite rangy.

As for Sano: The big guy spent much of his Twins tenure last season nursing a hamstring issue, which was part of why he was almost exclusively a designated hitter. One of the concerns, at least outside the organization, with moving Sano to the outfield was the risk of injury. Connecting the dots here may merely result in an illusionary image, but humans are conditioned to see cause-and-effect even when there isn't. Some of us expected an outfielder weighing as much as 280 pounds to get hurt out there. Now he is hurt, and maybe playing outfield is a reason and maybe it wasn't.

But the Twins need his bat, and now his bat is absent for at least two weeks. Next man up.

The roster shuffle

As expected, the Twins made several moves Monday, but not all the moves they intended.

Pitcher Alex Meyer was recalled to add some depth to the bullpen, which was hard-used in Sunday's 16-inning affair. (And on Monday night, even though Tommy Milone didn't get through the fifth inning, Paul Molitor was unwilling to use Meyer. He instead ran through Trevor May, Fernando Abad, Ryan Pressly and Kevin Jepsen.)

Utility man Danny Santana was brought off the disabled list; he started in center field, hit ninth, went 1-for-3 and had no misadventures in the field.

Demoted were the two best center fielders on the roster, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler. The outfielding chores will presumably be split up among Miguel Sano, Santana, Oswaldo Arcia and Eddie Rosario, with Santana and Rosario being the center field options.

This is probably the best offensive group of four outfielders the Twins can concoct out of their 40-man roster, and pretty close to the weakest defensively (Adam Brett Walker is on the 40). Any outfield with Sano and Arcia in the corners does the pitching staff no favors. Buxton has been overmatched in a majority of his at-bats, and Kepler has barely played since spring training, so there is a good argument for their demotions; I still prefer having one of them in center on a regular basis.

But at least David Murphy partially spared the Twins from themselves. The day after the Twins lost catcher John Hicks on waivers -- a move Terry Ryan said Monday was made to clear a roster spot for Murphy -- the veteran decided he would rather go home to his family, and the Twins released him Monday.

I wouldn't trade a 26-year-old optionable catcher for Murphy, but the Twins handed Hicks over to the Tigers in order to activate him. Now they have neither Hicks nor Murphy.

At least the roster isn't cluttered with a 34-year-old fading corner outfielder. If the Twins aren't going to give at-bats to Buxton and Kepler, they should at least give them to Arcia and Rosario; they might amount to something.

More moves should be expected soon. The Twins have 14 pitchers active and just 11 position players. Monday's bench was Rosario and John Ryan Murphy. That's not a sustainable situation.

But ... they can't send down Tyler Duffey (bruised right shoulder) until he's cleared to pitch, and they don't want to put him on the DL. They don't want to put Ervin Santana on the DL either. And apparently they don't want to waive Michael Tonkin (out of options), even though he has a much better chance to clear waivers than Hicks did, and they are loathe to punish Ryan O'Rourke for his impressive outing Sunday by kicking him to Rochester. They have individual reasons not to make a move with any of those four, and an overall reason why they must with at least one of them.

Going to the Max

Max Kepler gets
a brief call-up for
Danny Santana's injury.

Danny Santana did something to his hamstring Saturday night, something significant enough that he was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game ended. Max Kepler was recalled.

In many ways, the selection of Kepler to take Santana's role is inappropriate. Santana is supposed to be the Swiss Army knife -- three infield positions, three outfield positions. Kepler can handle the outfield spots at least as well as Santana, but he's no infielder (other than first base, which is pretty well stocked). Kepler is talented but raw; he's a future regular, if not a future star, and nurturing that future requires regular playing time, not sitting on the bench in the majors.

But ... he's on the 40-man roster. Darin Mastroianni and James Beresford, who are better suited to a bench role, are not. And the Twins are wise not to make a 40-man move to accommodate a temporary 25-man move. Santana is expected to be back when the two-week period is over;

No, the debateable part of the call-up is this: Do you want an outfielder or an infielder to fill in for Santana? If an infielder, the obvious choice (again, because he's on the 40) is Jorge Polanco.

The Twins went with the outfielder, from which we can surmise that the most important role Santana plays on this roster is that of speedy outfielder. Santana is (was) the defensive sub for Miguel Sano in right and the alternative to Byron Buxton in center. These are things Oswaldo Arcia, also on the active roster, cannot do adequately. Kepler can, even if using him for those roles isn't the ideal way to use him.

Whittling the outfielders

Ryan Sweeney was
a second-round pick out
of Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
by the White Sox in
2003.

The Twins trimmed their camp roster to 35 Friday by optioning out Max Kepler and releasing Ryan Sweeney, both left-handed hitting outfielders.

These are two players at opposites in their careers. The much-anticipated Kepler is a future regular, if not a future star; he was never going to make this team as a bench piece. The graceful German did well to last this deeply into camp. Next year, he sticks. (He'll be out of options.)

Sweeney is about eight years older than Kepler, and his days as a regular are in the past. His goal is to be a bench piece, and he appears to have a grasp of reality; he sounded grateful to be cut loose at this point because he has 10 days to find another team before the start of the season. The Twins simply have too many outfielders who are younger, stronger and faster than Sweeney.

Sweeney would have had a better chance 30 years ago, when teams carried just 10 pitchers. The Twins are likely to have just one full-time outfielder on their bench. I figure the four extra position players will be John Ryan Murphy (catcher), Eduardo Nunez (infielder), Oswaldo Arcia (outfielder) and Danny Santana (infielder-outfielder).

That would also leave Darin Mastroianni and Carlos Quentin off the roster. While I could make a case for Mastroianni as a defensive specialist, I have a difficult time seeing how Quentin fits on the current roster. He can hit, but that's all he can do to help, and the DH slot is well-occupied.

BA's Top 10 Twins prospects

The dead tree edition of Baseball America arrived in my mailbox Friday with Byron Buxton on the cover and the Top 10 prospects writeups for the AL Central teams inside. No link here because BA will roll the Twins stuff out online sometime next week.

The list:

1. Buxton (CF)
2. Jose Berrios (RHP)
3. Max Kepler (OF-1B)
4. Nick Gordon (SS)
5. Tyler Jay (LHP)
6. Jorge Polanco (SS-2B)
7. Byung Ho Park (1B)
8. Kohl Stewart (RHP)
9. Stephen Gonsalves (LHP)
10. Nick Burdi (RHP)

Buxton, who retained his rookie status for 2016 by two at-bats, was the obvious top choice; he's very likely to be BA's No. 1 overall prospect for the third straight winter when that list comes out in a few weeks. Nor are No. 2 or 3 -- Jose Berrios and Max Kepler -- startling selections. There are plenty of organizations for which either would be the headliner.

The list was compiled for BA by the Pioneer Press beat writer, Mike Berardino, A few comments on his rankings:

Gordon, who spent last year in low A, is above Polanco, who split 2015 between Double A and Triple A, this on the basis that Gordon is expected to stick at shortstop. I like both players, and I agree that Polanco is stretched as a shortstop. His problem right now, as for Berrios and Kepler, is the lack of obvious opportunity on the major league club.

Stewart, the No. 4 overall pick in 2013, the year the Cubs took Kris Bryant with the No. 3 pick, "slid" to No. 7 after seeing his strikeout rate decline in the Florida State League. Key sentence: "The Twins hope he'll start to miss more bats as he learns more about pitch sequencing."

Gonsalves, the Twins fourth-round pick in that draft, has essentially caught Stewart in the rankings. But Berardino figures Stewart will open 2016 in Double A while Gonsalves, who finished 2015 in high A Fort Myers, remains there for a few months.

Jay, college reliever, is likely to start in 2016, probably at Fort Myers. The Miracle figure to have some really interesting left-handed arms in the rotation this spring, with Gonsalves, Jay and Randy Rosario, who was added to the 40-man roster after a strong TJ-recovery season in Cedar Rapids. Of that trio, I assume Jay is both closest to the majors and has the highest ceiling but that Gonsalves is the most likely to be a major league starter.

Outfield options: Max Kepler

Max Kepler had more
walks than strikeouts
in 2015.

Max Kepler had a breakout season in 2015. The German was named player of the year in the Southern League with a slash line of .322/.416/.531 and ended the season with a seven at-bat cup of coffee in the majors.

And there is no obvious place for him in the Twins plans.

The Twins have Eddie Rosario in one outfield corner and appear intent on putting Miguel Sano in the other. Byron Buxton, a brighter prospect than Kepler (which is saying something) ought to be ahead of Kepler for center field. Joe Mauer and Byung Ho Park have first base and designated hitter occupied.

There is no immediate urgency to finding a place for Kepler. He turns 23 in February and hasn't played in Triple A yet; a month or three in Rochester might be a good thing for him.

But I fully expect that he'll be ready for the Show somewhere around the All-Star break. I am less certain that the Twins will be ready for him.

A title-winning core

Two Twins minor-league affiliates played Monday night for championships. The Cedar Rapids Kernels lost by one run to the West Michigan Whitecaps for the low A Midwest League title; the Chattanooga Lookouts beat Biloxi for the Double A Southern League crown.

Cedar Rapids' proximity and the presence of Nick Gordon not withstanding, the Chattanooga team is the more interesting and important to fans of the major league team, and not only because it's two rungs higher on the ladder. Chattanooga was loaded this year, stuffed in large part with the players who won the Florida State League title in 2014 and the Appy League title in 2012. (That same group lost in the Midwest League playoff in 2013 to an equally-loaded Quad Cities squad.)

Even with the midseason promotions of the likes of Miguel Sano, Jose Berrios and Byron Buxton, the Lookouts were still loaded. Max Kepler was the Southern League player of the year. Adam Brett Walker hammered 31 homers (and struck out 195 times). Jorge Polanco spent much of the season at shortstop next to former first round pick Levi Michael. For much of the first half of the season, manager Doug Mientkiewicz could run out lineups with nine likely future major leaguers.

The seven players who were on the roster for all three titles, as listed by Mike Berardino: outfielders Kepler, Walker and Travis Harrison; first baseman D.J. Hicks; infielder Niko Goodrum; and pitchers Brett Lee and B.J. Baxendale.

The immensely talented Kepler, who has been on the 40-man roster for two seasons, was immediately called up to the big-league club after Monday's game. I don't expect the German to get much playing time unless and until the Twins are ousted from the playoff picture, but he'll get a taste of it these next two weeks.

He's 22, a left-handed hitter and thrower. the offspring of two world-class ballet dancers (mom from Texas, dad from Poland, both were performing in Berlin) who was signed in the same summer as Sano and Polanco. He has the speed to play center -- once Buxton was moved up, Kepler got the bulk of the center field time -- but has had some elbow problems in the past. He played all three outfield spots for Chattnooga and has considerable first base time as well.

Growing up in Germany didn't afford Kepler much exposure to quality competition as a kid, and it took him a while to catch up to his peers. But he certainly had a breakout year this season.

On a team with Buxton and Aaron Hicks, Kepler's not going to play center field. With the elbow issues on his resume, I suspect he's best suited for left field or first base, and the Twins have Joe Mauer at first base with three more years on his contract. I also suspect that of the four young outfielders -- Buxton, Hicks, Eddie Rosario and Kepler -- that Kepler may emerge as best hitter.

The Twins have time to sort out that alignment.

More on Hunter and the outfield choices

The Monday print column examined Paul Molitor's September reliance on Torii Hunter and the possibility that the veteran's resurgence would result in his return in 2016.

On Sunday, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo's notes column contained this paragraph:

7. Torii Hunter, RF, Twins — He has said he’s going year to year, but the Twins want him back for at least one more season, according to a team official. The impact Hunter has made in the clubhouse and leading a team featuring some younger players has been off the charts. Hunter, 40, is hitting .242 with 20 homers and 74 RBIs. He also has played a good right field.

I would dispute the last sentence, but the rest is plausible -- especially if Molitor, Terry Ryan and the other evaluators doubt that Bryon Buxton is ready to hit major league pitching. Plausible but essentially self-defeating, unless (as I said in the column) there is an explicit understanding that Hunter is not expected to be a regular.

It's a numbers game. Leaving Hunter out of the 2016 equation for now, the Twins have Buxton, Aaron Hicks and Eddie Rosario as presumptive regulars, plus Southern League MVP Max Kepler pounding on the door. The four young guys have their flaws, but so does Hunter -- and the foursome have futures. I want them to play. Hunter, if he expects to be in the lineup six days a week, is in the way.

It may well be that Hunter's two-month slump in July and August was connected to a shoulder injury, and some may argue that his season stats should be discounted as a result. I would say otherwise. Injuries happen, and they happen more often to, and persist longer for, 40-year-olds than for 25-year olds. (I would also suggest that if Hunter hit .130 in August because of an injury, playing with the ailment hurt the club.)

Notes, quotes and comment

The Twins went from a difficult-to-swallow extra-inning loss on Wednesday to an embarrassing, can't-anybody-pitch one on Thursday.

Score eight runs, you ought to win. All the Twins accomplished with eight runs was force the Angels into a save situation.

A game and a half out of the second wild-card, 16 games to go.

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Ron Gardenhire has been strongly linked with the Detroit Tigers managerial job since last month, when Dave Dombrowski was fired as club president. This week the Star Tribune's LaVelle Neal wrote that Gardy's agent has been "in contact with more than one club about a possible return, according to someone close to Gardenhire,"

Which sounds like the former Twins manager is trying to drum up some competition for his services, or at least the illusion of competition.

The overwhelming trend in dugout bosses in recent years has been for inexperienced managers who are likely to be more receptive to front office "suggestions" than the old hands. Gardenhire does not fit that trend. I find it difficult to imagine that he's going to have multiple teams to choose from.

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I don't believe I've made mention of this before, but both Max Kepler, the outfielder-first baseman who tore up the Southern League for Chattanooga, and Jose Berrios, the right-handed pitcher whose absence from the September call-up list stirred some fan displeasure, were named to the mythical all-prospect teams by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline.

On Thursday, Kepler hit a pair of homers, one a grand slam, as the Lookouts evened the Southern League championship series with Biloxi.