Kurt Suzuki and other catchers

Kurt Suzuki strokes a two-run double Monday.

Kurt Suzuki hit second in the Twins lineup on Opening Day, and for one day, at least, it worked. The veteran catcher singled and doubled and had all three of the Twins's RBIs.

Good for him. The fact remains that he has complied more than 3,200 major league plate appearances and has a career OPS-plus that is 14 percent below league average. He doesn't belong in the upper half of a major league lineup.

My fear is that Ron Gardenhire will remember this one game of production and base the lineups for the next month on it.

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The Twins had a chance late in the game to get back in it. They were down three going into the eighth, and Aaron Hicks led off with a double. With Pedro Florimon due up against the lefty Chris Sale, Gardenhire sent up a pinch-hitter — not hard-hitting catcher Josmil Pinto, but light-hitting Eduardo Escobar.

Really.

Escobar struck out (I'm tempted to say of course), and while Suzuki later drove in Hicks, the potential rally went no further. Pinto never got into the game.

Keeping Jason Bartlett over Chris Herrmann is a curious decision on the face of it. If this kind of player use is the result, the roster decision looks even worse.

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Remember 2011, when Joe Mauer missed about half the season and the catching load in his absence was carried by the duo of Drew Butera and Rene Rivera? Yeah, you were trying to forget that; those two make Suzuki's numbers look good.

Well, Butera made the Dodgers roster; he's the backup to A.J. Ellis. And Rivera not only made the Padres roster, he started their opener Sunday night.

Never underestimate how much teams value defensive skills at catcher.

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The Washington Nationals were (are) not only counting on Wilson Ramos (once the Twins' top prospect) as their regular catcher, but as their cleanup hitter as well.

The oft-injured backstop didn't make it through Monday's opener, however. He left in the seventh inning with a hand injury, and the Washington Post reported he fractured a bone. The Nats announced, however, that a preliminary X-ray showed no fracture. More exams are expected.

Eye on 2013: Drew Butera vs. Chris Herrmann

Chris Herrmann hit
.276/.350/.392 in
New Britain.

With both Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit sidelined by injuries that may well prove persistent for what remains of the season, the Twins decided to add a fourth catcher.

The arrival Friday of Chris Herrmann is seen in some corners of Twinsdom as the next step in supplanting Drew Butera as the No. 3 catcher. I'm not so sure.

Herrmann is a left-handed hitter who has displayed strong on-base skills but limited power in the minors. He was an outfielder in college, so he's spent a couple of years being converted to catcher, but has gotten considerable playing time in the outfield as well as behind the dish.

This makes Herrmann something of a mirror image of Butera — a bit rough defensively, a left-handed hitter who can reach base. Sort of like Jose Morales, who lost out to Butera for the backup job a few years ago, except with position flexibility. Or like Doumit, only with less power (and a bit more speed).

Which is why I doubt that Herrmann is likely to supplant Butera next season. I think it more likely that Herrmann, who spent this season at Double A, will play in Rochester next year. The Twins demonstrated a couple years ago that they preferred Butera's defensive chops to Morales's batting average; there's not a lot of sense in having two bat-first backup catchers. Doumit and Herrmann are rather redundant; Doumit and Butera are complementary.

Rene Rivera hit
.226/.307.385 in
Rochester.

Meanwhile, Rene Rivera — who spent a good part of 2011 on the active roster and all of 2012 in Triple A Rochester hoping for a call — is apparently steamed at being passed over for Herrmann.  Rivera on Twitter Friday:

I guess I should not expect promises to be kept. Best of luck to everyone #Disappointed #Lies

Well ... Redundancy again. Rivera is the same kind of player as Butera:  Catch-and-throw guy, not a good hitter, right-handed all the way. Were it, say, Mauer and Butera who were hurt, calling up Rivera to back up Doumit would provide a mix of skills. Herrmann gives the Twins a mix.

That kind of logic, obviously, isn't going to salve Rivera's wounded feelings. I would anticipate that he won't be re-signing with the Twins this winter, that he'll find another team to serve as organizational depth.

Camp battle: Extra catcher

Drew Butera had
the most time behind
the plate for the
2011 Twins.

The Twins have nine catchers in camp: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, Drew Butera, Rene Rivera, J.R. Towles, Danny Lehmann, Chris Herrmann, Dan Rohlfing and Danny Rams.

The first two are assured spots on the 25-man roster. The second three are duking it out for a likely roster spot, with the two losers going to Rochester to await a call. The other four are around to catch bullpens, fill in at the end of exhibitions and try to leave a positive impression on Ron Gardenhire and Co.

Of those four, Herrmann is the one with the brightest future, but he remains a bit raw behind the plate. For this spring, he's not in the running; by next year, he might be the frontrunner to the backup catcher job.

For now, it's Butera, Rivera and Towles. A quick summary:

The Twins outrighted
Rene Rivera after the
2011 season, but
he opted to return on
a minor-league deal.

Butera has the advantage of being on the 40-man roster. He still has an option. A good defensive catcher (which Doumit emphatically is not) but no hitter.

Rivera is somewhat like Butera, except slower and not on the 40-man roster. Rivera put up even worse numbers in 2011 than Butera.

Butera's OPS+ -- a figure that adjusts On-base Plus Slugging for park effects and league -- was 24, which means he was 24 percent of league average at the plate. Rivera's OPS+ was 13. It is astoundingly difficult to hit that poorly and remain in the majors.

Which brings us to Towles, a thus-far failed prospect signed as a minor-league free agent after years in the Houston organization. He burst through the Astros system in a rush, but was unable to hang on to the job there in three opportunities.

While his minor league numbers generally look good, it should be remembered that the Texas League (Double-A) and Pacific Coast League (Triple A) are generally better for hitters than the Eastern and International Leagues, where the Twins have their affiliates.

J.R. Towles signed
in mid-December as
a minor-league free
agent.

I will take it for granted that Towles is a better hitter than Butera or Rivera; he can hardly be worse. And I will also take it for granted that Towles is a better receiver than Doumit; again, he can hardly be worse.

This may come down to how much the Twins really want Doumit to catch. He's supposed to do the bulk of the DHing, but the Twins under even the most optimistic scenario need someone other than Mauer to catch 30 to 40 games. If they are willing to live with Doumit's defense in most of those games, a defensive specialist might make sense; Butera or Rivera would be around to serve as a defensive sub for Doumit or a caddy for Mauer (taking the final few innings in blowouts).

But if Doumit is to be more tightly limited than that, the No. 3 guy might wind up with 200 or so plate appearances, and the Twins may well prefer Towles for that job.

While we were waiting ...

The Twins continue at this writing to grind with painful slowness to a conclusion to their right field free agent drama.

For public consumption, as in the Associated Press story we're running in this morning's paper, Terry Ryan is not closing any doors on Michael Cuddyer. But if Josh Willingham's in town for his pre-signing physical (as reported by the Strib's Joe Christensen) the train has left the station and Cuddy's not on it. If Cuddyer calls Ryan today and says OK, I'll take last week's offer, is Ryan really going to pull the Willingham deal? I can't see it.

Which leaves the question of why Ryan's putting up the pretense that nothing's settled. Joe C. blogged last night that his sources have been particularly "cautious" about this signing, and he doesn't know why. My guess is that it's a sign of genuine respect for Cuddyer and a reluctance to cut the ties.

Meanwhile, the Twins on Wednesday did announce three minor league signings of guys who played some in the majors in 2011 and who figure to be minor-league depth.

P.J. Walters, right handed pitcher, has 51 major league innings without much success. His strikeout rates in the minors (and even in the majors) have been better than those of most starters in the Twins system, but his walk rates are a bit higher than the Twins prefer, and he really hasn't translated his ability to miss bats into low ERAs.

Rene Rivera: Back
for more.

Rene Rivera is a familiar figure; he spent much of 2010 with the Twins as one of the not-Mauer catchers. He will again be a non-roster invite to spring training and organizational depth at Rochester. There are three catchers on the 40 who rank ahead of him (Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit and Drew Butera), and a couple coming up from behind (Chris Herrmann and Danny Lehmann), so Rivera's chances of picking up more service time aren't as good as last season.

Sean Burroughs is an odd signing, but then he's had an odd career/life. Son of an MVP, Little League World Series hero, Olympic gold medal winner, flameout prospect, derelict, reborn major leaguer ...

He's 31 now, and why he'd pick the Twins as his next stop is baffling. He hasn't the power to be a major league regular, at least not at third base, and he's no middle infielder defensively. If he's going to carve out a career in his 30s, it's going to be as a pinch-hit specialist. Those jobs are rare in this era of 12-man pitching staffs, and where they do exist, they're with National League teams.

Tinkering with the edges of the 40-man roster

The Twins on Friday announced that four players — outfielder Jason Repko, catcher Rene Rivera, pitcher Anthony Slama and infielder Matt Tolbert — had been outrighted to Triple-A Rochester and thus removed from the 40-man major league roster.

The four are all low-ceiling players and out of options. The move also indicates that the Twins don't see them as likely to make the 25-man roster coming out of spring training, which is interesting since two of them (Repko and Tolbert) did in 2011.

Let's read between the lines on each player and try to decipher what their demotion tells us about the Twins' plans for 2012:

Jason Repko hit
.226/.270/.286.

Repko: Had he remained on the 40, he'd have been arbitration eligible, and thus in line for a substantial raise. That wasn't going to happen.

Beyond the finances, Repko's value is diminished by the rise of Ben Revere and Rene Tosoni. Repko isn't needed as a backup center fielder. Tosoni is a better hitter — and a left-handed hitter, something managers tend to value in a fourth (or fifth) outfielder.

We don't know how the Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel free agencies will play out, but right now we can assume that the Twins will break camp with Revere and Denard Span as outfield regulars, Tosoni as a reserve, and a veteran holding down right field while Joe Benson gets a year in Triple A.

Rene Rivera hit
.144/.211/.202.

Rivera: Drew Butera stays, Rivera goes. Both are catch-and-throw guys; neither can hit. On a team whose regular catcher starts 130-plus games, either is an acceptable backup; you don't want them catching 100-plus games.

So how do you pick between the two? I believe Butera still has options. I rather expect the Twins to look this winter for a No. 2 catcher who offers something at the plate, in which case Butera goes to Rochester and waits for an injury.

Slama: His minor league numbers have always been better than his scouting reports. The Twins clearly don't think his stuff and command will work in the majors. Plus he had some arm issues in 2010.

He may not have gotten a clean shake from the Twins — seven major league innings is hardly enough to prove that what worked for him in the minors won't work in the bigs — but life isn't always fair.

Matt Tolbert hit
.198/.252./.266.

Tolbert: A victim of the numbers game. The Twins know they have to revamp their middle infield. They have an investment in Tsuyoshi Nishioka; Alexi Casilla was the best of a bad lot; Trevor Plouffe still intrigues somebody with his bat. Plus there's Brian Dozier, their minor league player of the year, who ought to get a good look during spring training.

That's four holdovers, plus the likelihood that the Twins will import somebody from the outside.

Like Repko, Tolbert is arbitration eligible; again, there's no way the Twins were going to give him a big raise.

Preparing for the return of Joe Mauer

Joe Mauer has spent most of the past two months in
Fort. Myers, Fla., on a rehab assignment.

This jab at the AL All-Star voting has a more subtle implication as well: It illustrates how much better Joe Mauer is than the rest of the league's catchers. Mauer has played in nine games this season, and he still leads all backstops in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) year-to-year.

Speculation has Mauer's return to the lineup near -- perhaps as soon as Tuesday -- and that, in turn, has me wondering how the Twins will make room on their roster.

Obviously, one of the two current catchers will be removed from the 25-man roster. I don't know what Rene Rivera's option status is, but I'm sure Drew Butera has options left. It would be easy to clear space off the active roster by demoting Butera.

But there's more to it than that. Mauer is on the 60-day disabled list, which means he's not on the 40 man roster. To put him on the 25 he has to be on the 40, and right now there's no room for him.

If the Twins (a) prefer Butera to Riviera and (b) doubt anyone would claim Rivera, they could designate Rivera for assignment. I think it more likely that they'll waive a pitcher (Dusty Hughes would be a prime candidate) and option out Butera. That will let the Twins keep control of both.

I wish, however, to point out that Butera now has a seven-game hitting streak (yes he does),  including three doubles, a home run, six runs scored and six RBIs. This burst of heavy hitting leaves him with a slash line of .174/.207/.261, which is still pretty pathetic.

Rivera isn't a great hitter either -- if he were. he wouldn't have washed out with Seattle, wouldn't have gone five years between major league appearances -- but he's better than Butera. Butera probably has better defensive skills than Rivera, but Rivera is a good receiver too.

If Mauer's sound, either is an acceptable reserve.

The catcher shuffle

With Joe Mauer on the shelf, the spring training question of "who is the Twins No. 3 catcher" has taken an importance that wasn't fully appreciated in March.

Rene Rivera was the
Mariners' 2nd-round
draft pick in 2001,
the same year the Twins
signed Joe Mauer.

It also, it would appear, wasn't correctly answered.

The answer the Twins came up with in Fort Myers was Steve Holm. The 31-year-old career minor leaguer got the call, went 2-for-17 and failed to throw out a basestealer. He started five games; the Twins lost four of them and gave up double-digit runs in the last two.

To say that Holm wasn't the correct answer to the question implies that there was a correct one. Rene Rivera is getting his chance now; there's little reason to believe that he's any better than Holm.

Of the three upper level catchers who got serious looks in spring training, the one who has the best chance of carving out a career in the majors is Danny Lehmann, who is younger and less experienced than Rivera and Holm. And Lehmann profiles as a Drew Butera type — a catch-and-throw guy without much to offer at the plate.

The Twins this spring made a pair of moves — Pat Neshek to the Padres and trading for Scott Diamond's Rule V rights — designed to open a pair of spots on the 40-man roster. The catcher moves have filled both those slots — Holm remains on the 40-man roster— and that seems a high price to pay for misjudging the quality of Holm as a hitter. Ron Gardenhire said Holm "can swing it," as assessment that had to have been based on 15 spring training at-bats rather than totality of his record.