Notes, quotes and comment

When I composed Wednesday's off-the-cuff assessment of the Cleveland Indians, I hadn't seen this item on how Terry Francona intends to deploy his defense.

In a nutshell: Michael Bourn in center, Drew Stubbs in right, Nick Swisher at first, Mark Reynolds as the primary DH and Carlos Santana at catcher.

Francona hasn't seen all that much of Santana behind the plate, and it's possible that once he has, he'll rethink that plan. Or perhaps he's not as concerned about defense from his catcher as predecessor Manny Acta was. Acta found plenty of reasons/opportunity to have Lou Marson catch, with Santana at first base or designated hitter. Francona apparently intends to handle Santana differently.

---

Elliot Johnson, one of the two shortstops DFA'd by Tampa Bay, went to the Kansas City Royals as the player-to-be-named in the James Shields deal.

That's an unusual PTN. Usually they're minor leaguers. Seldom are they players with appreciable major league service time. Anyway, one of the two out of the way, one to go.

---

Rich Harden, the talented but oft-injured pitcher the Twins signed to a minor league deal this winter, was one of the first to take a bullpen session when camp officially opened Wednesday in Fort Meyers, Fla. He later told the writers that he was at about 80 to 85 percent of his arm strength -- which isn't particularly worrisome, as no pitchers should be ramping it up yet -- and that he hasn't felt this good in six years.

Harden didn't pitch at all in 2012 after extensive shoulder surgery. One wishes to be optimistic about him, but his track record is riddled with injury and disappointment, and shoulder damage is notoriously difficult to come back from. On the plus side, the Twins aren't really counting on him, so anything they get is to the good.

It's too soon to tell if he's going to pay off or add to the medical bills, and too soon to know what role he would play if healthy. I've assumed all along that he's a starting candidate, but there is considerable chatter about a bullpen role for him.

---

Crowded camp indeed: The Twins have three extra players in camp -- non roster guys who aren't official invitees, but who are there to get ready for their participation in the World Baseball Classic: Left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers (Canada), right-handed pitcher J.O. Berrios (Puerto Rico) and second baseman/outfielder Eddie Rosario (Puerto Rico).

Rosario's time in camp may be interesting. The Twins, of course, are trying to turn him into a second baseman. He played mainly outfield in winter ball, however, and will be an outfielder for Puerto Rico in the WBC. I wonder if the Twins will try to work him at second while he's with the major league staff, or if they'll let him focus on the outfield he'll be playing in the tournament.

Notes, quotes and comment

Tampa Bay this week designated shortstops Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson for assignment, removing them from the 40-man roster and starting the clock ticking for some sort of disposal of their contracts.

Last year I would have been in favor of picking up either; now I'm ambivalent. Both are good-field, no-hit types; so are Pedro Florimon and Eduardo Escobar, or at least they figure to be. I don't know that the Rays refugees would be a true upgrade over the unproven guys, and their periods of team control would be significantly less.

---


MLB.com on Thursday released its Top 20 list of Twins prospects, and certainly in the Top 10 there's no significant break from the consensus.

The same 10 show in the top 10 of every list I've seen, and in these groups: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are the top two; No.3-6 are some order of Oswaldo Arcia, Kyle Gibson, Aaron Hicks and Alex Meyer; No. 7-9 are some order of J.O. Barrios, Trevor May and Eddie Rosario; and Max Kepler takes up the rear.

The divergence begins after Kepler. The MLB list has three pitchers in the Top 20 -- Corey Williams (16), Ryan Pressly (18) and Hudson Boyd (19) -- not in Baseball America's top 30. BA listed middle infielders Jorge Polanco (14) and Levi Michael (16) in its Top 20; MLB.com com didn't, but did squeeze Niko Goodrum into its list at No. 20 (while expressing doubt that he'll stay in the middle infield).

Consensus of the type seen in the Top 10 tells us something; divergence of the type seen in the Second 10 tells use something else. MLB.com ranks guys whose big league futures, if any, are clearly in the bullpen over almost all the middle infield propects in the system; Baseball America didn't. I think BA has the more correct idea there.

---

Francisco Liriano was reported in December to have reached a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates; then it hit a snag over an injury to his non-pitching arm. A couple of weeks ago it was reported that the two parties had rewoked the deal. Well, it still hasn't become official.

And meanwhile, the Pirates have signed Jonathan Sanchez, another left-hander with outstanding stuff and sub-optimal "pitchability." I begin to wonder if Liriano's deal is going to happen, or if the Pirates are moving on.

--

Recent ex-Twins free-agent signings: Jon Rauch with Miami; Kyle Waldrop on a minor-league deal with  Pittsburgh. I continue to believe Waldrop can be an effective reliever, but I also understand that there are a lot of marginal guys like that, and I can't be all that critical of the Twins for looking elsewhere.

One way of looking at the Waldrop departure is that the Twins essentially swapped Triple A relief arms with Pittsburgh: The Pirates got Waldrop, the Twins got Tim Wood (much earlier this offseason). Wood had a big year in Triple A in 2012, but the Pirates never saw fit to call him up. We'll see how they fare in new environments.

If not Nishi, who? Here's an idea

My Monday print column was on what I called "the Nishioka dilemma" -- that Tsuyoshi Nishioka appears overwhelmed even by the utility infielder job, yet the Twins not only have a significant investment in him but few palatable alternatives.

Then, in listening to the radio broadcast of the Twins exhibition game with Tampa Bay, it dawned on me that the Twins favorable waiver wire position can be a factor.

Tampa Bay has a number of players for its middle infield, and Joe Maddon mixes and matches to take advantage of their strengths and cover their failings. The bulk of the playing time in 2011 went to four men: Ben Zobrist, Sean Rodriguez, Reid Brignac and Elliot Johnson. All four remain with the Rays, but they also imported Jeff Keppinger.

It's an intriguing mix. Zobrist is a switch-hitter with power and a multitude of positions; a shortstop in the minors, he has played just about everywhere other than short for Maddon. Rodriguez, who also plays second and third, is stretched at short, but is a better hitter than either Brignac or Johnson, who are both, at least by the defensive metrics I've seen, superb shortstops. Keppinger is somewhat in the Rodriguez mode -- plays all infield spots, hits lefties OK.

Johnson is the guy I'm suddenly looking at. He's 28, a switch-hitter, and out of options. While he didn't hit much last year in the majors, he had an absurdly good season with the bat in Triple A in 2010 -- I say absurd because there's little in his nine-year professional record to suggest he could have that good a season.

I can see the Rays putting him on waivers late in spring training. And if they do, I hope the Twins claim him. Nobody can beat the Twins to him on a waiver offer. They have American League priority.

Johnson's not a great player -- but he's better than the Twins current set of alternatives.

Addendum: A point I should have made when I first posted this: Johnson is merely a specific name. That the Twins have the first waiver claim in the American League during spring training gives them dibs on anybody an AL team tries to outright to the minors.