Butera beats out Ramos — not really

Drew Butera (left) will (unless injury intervenes) open the season as the Twins' backup catcher. Wilson Ramos will marinate in Triple A.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Ramos hasn't played Triple A ball; what with injuries, he's had just abut a half season at Double A. He can become a top-flight catcher, but that's less likely to happen sitting five or six days a week in the majors than playing regularly in Rochester.

Ah, but the Twins already have a top-flight catcher, and that's putting it mildly. If Ramos hits .330 with 30 homers in Triple A, he's still not taking the catching job from Joe Mauer.

I think Ron Gardenhire had it right in his comments after Tuesday's game, in which Ramos hit a ball over the 30-foot-high green batter's eye in center field:

Those are all discussions that I'm going to have with the general manager, but we just signed a catcher to eight years. You know what I'm saying? (Ramos is) going to get his games, not a lot of them, but he would give me more of an ability to play him than most other backup catchers. I wouldn't be afraid to give Joe more days off, let's put it that way, because of this kid.

Him and Butera, they're both really good catch-and-throw guys. One can hit a ball over the center-field wall.