Outfield prospect Oswaldo Arcia was optioned to High-A Fort Myers rather than Triple-A Rochester, as the other 40-man roster demotees were. |
The song says the first cut is the deepest, but that's not the case here. The deeper cuts are still to come.
Most of the Thursday cuts were pretty routine. Three were non-roster guys, one of whom (Steve Pearce) is out for the coming week anyway, another of whom (Danny Rams) is a catcher not needed with fewer pitchers in camp, and a third (Aaron Thompson) who is probably going to start in the minors and needs to be stretched out.
LaVelle Neal called the quick demotion of Scott Diamond a surprise. I don't see it that way. Diamond, like Thompson, figures to be a starter at Triple A. He had little chance to make the major league club -- the five projected starters, plus Anthony Swarzak, Matt Maloney, Terry Doyle and Liam Hendriks, are all ahead of him in the starter/long man pecking order as I see it.
That Darin Mastroanni was among the first cuts suggests that the Twins are confident that Denard Span is sound. |
What did come as a surprise were the demotions of Lester Oliveros and Deolis Guerra. Those two, as I saw it, entered camp as bona fide bullpen candidates. Instead, they're the first ones out.
Which hardly dooms their chances for Minnesota. Last spring Alex Burnett was among the first cuts. He was the first guy recalled once the season began stuck the rest of the way.
So the bullpen field thins a bit. We still can't declare anybody a clear favorite for one of the openings, however.
Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that "multiple talent evaluators" have said Tsuyoshi Nishioka "just looks really lost this spring, in his hitting and in his defense."
ReplyDeleteGuerra was not a surprise to me as he was not pitching very well and there are too many other options. Oliveros was a bit of a surprise, but he may get an opportunity later in the year. I'm wondering if Liam Hendriks is still there until more is known about Scott Baker. If Baker is injured and starts the season on the DL, Hendriks may get the nod for a few starts.
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