Some notable cuts

The Twins trimmed their major league camp roster a bit more Friday, and they narrowed their opening bullpen options significantly.

First they optioned out youngster Fernando Romero, once a prized starting prospect and now a prized relief prospect. I had put him in the "Is there room" category a while back. The answer, even as some injury issues arise among the bullpen candidates, is apparently "no." He'll be up at some point. But he hasn't been kicking the door down, and it makes sense to give him some minor league time as a reliever.

Then they released a pair of veteran non-roster invitees, infielder Adam Rosales and lefty reliever Tim Collins, both of whom presumably had opt-out clauses.

Rosales hit well in camp, with four homers. But the 35-year-old's chances of making the roster were more about other people than about himself. There weren't enough injuries to make him useful.

Collins is the more surprising release. His stuff has drawn positive reviews, even though his Grapefruit League ERA (4.91) isn't impressive, and in-house lefty Gabriel Moya hasn't pitched in more than a week with reported shoulder issues. I thought Collins had a chance.

But even if Moya can't go on March 28, the bullpen still figures to have Taylor Rogers and Aldaberto Mejia as lefties. Plus there is chatter that, with a bevy of offdays in the first few week, the Twins will open with 11 pitchers rather than their usual 12 or 13, with No. 5 starter Martin Perez shifting temporarily to the pen. He would be a third southpaw. Presumably the Twins hope/expect Moya to be ready by the time Perez returns to starting duties.

Collins had less opportunity than it appeared a few days ago.

Contemplating Tim Collins

When I composed Monday's post on the Twins bullpen, I left out the non-roster invitees, mainly because I didn't view any of them as genuine candidates for the roster.

Then I saw Tim Collins's outing on the FSN rebroadcast. He looked good.

Collins is a little lefty, smaller than Dick Bremer and Dan Gladden apparently realize. Dick said Collins is 5-10. Baseball Reference lists him at 5-7, and considering the liklihood of height inflation, he may be shorter than that. But he has a good fast ball and a better curve than I had realized.

Collins had 38 games in the majors last year with Washington, and a sour final outing (three runs without retiring a hitter) really wrecked his ERA (it went from 3.18 to 4.37). It was still a successful year for him, because he made it back to the majors after missing two full seasons with Tommy John surgery.

I'd put him in the "Is there room?" category. He certainly isn't making the roster ahead of Taylor Rogers, and I doubt the Twins are eager to expose Aldaberto Mejia to waivers. But I can see them deciding to take Collins north ahead of Gabriel Moya, especially if Collins has an early opt-out clause.

More minor stuff

Less than a week before pitchers and catchers report, dozens of free agents remain on the market, and the Twins are still filling out their spring training list.

Over the weekend they announced two veteran names as minor league free agents and released a list of 20 invitees:

The #MNTwins have released their full list of 20 NRIs to Spring Training.

Lucas Duda and Adam Rosales are among the more notable names on the list. pic.twitter.com/WPTyxonQXY

— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) February 9, 2019

Let's start with Lucas Duda and Adam Rosales, two players with resumes if not much else.

Rosales is a odd duck: He's never been a regular but he's been able to hang around the majors 11 seasons. To be sure, some of those 11 seasons are only partial, but still -- it is rare for a utility guy such as Rosales to last into his mid 30s. He typically doesn't stick around long (five seasons with Oakland, in two stints with two midseason trades invoved) and isn't much of a hitter. He has played more than a thousand innings each at second, third and short, and even had more than 500 at first.

I prefer Ehrie Adrianaza or Ronald Torreyes as  the backup middle infielder. Rosales apparently has a March 19 opt-out, so he may suspect that the odds of him making the opening day roster are slim.

Duda is a left-handed first baseman. His strong suit, other than a name that lends itself to parodies of "Camptown Races," is power.  He occasionally homers but doesn't do much else for you. Other than hitting lefty, he's pretty much the opposite of the retired Joe Mauer, who didn't homer frequently but did everything else well. I don't much care for first basemen in the Duda mold. I assume he too has an opt-out, and I hope he uses it.

A few other not-so-random observations about the NRI list:

* Tim Collins is a little lefty reliever who had four seasons of promise in the Kansas City bullpen when the Royals were building up to their two World Series appearances. Then he got hurt and disappeared for three seasons. He LOOGY'd for Washington last year -- 35 appearances, 22.2 innings -- and had the kind of strikeout rate he had in the K.C. days but also gave up too many homers. The Twins have plenty of lefty relief candidates, and I'm not sure that Collins is truly in the mix, but he's still only 29.

* Wilin Rosario, whose signing gave me momentary panic a week ago, is NOT an invitee. There are catchers I'm completely unfamiliar with on the list in Wynston Sawyer and Tomas Telis, and presumably Rosario is well down the depth chart. (The Twins may be more interested in him as a first baseman/DH than as a catcher.)

* Brent Rooker, who I regard as the first baseman in waiting, is an NRI -- and listed as an outfielder.

* Chase De Jong, designated for assignment to make room for Martin Perez on the 40, cleared waivers and is an invitee. I'm not high on De Jong, but I'd rather see the Twins pitch him than Perez.

* Ryan Eades, a second-round draft pick in 2013 whose minor league record does not make me eager to see him in Target Field, is an invitee as well. 

The Hoffmann watch and other notes

Jamie Hoffmann was
with the Yankees during
spring training in 2010
as a rule V pick but
was returned to the
Dodgers.

The NUN – New Ulm  native Jamie Hoffmann – is back in the majors, having been brought up on Monday by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The outfielder was last in the majors in 2009. He didn't play Tuesday. The LA roster is crammed with outfielders (six on the 25-man roster), so there's hardly a guarantee of playing time, or even that he'll stick.

He had 20 at-bats during spring training with the Dodgers, hitting .350/.409/450.

---

A sour development for the Twins in their minor league system: Alex Wimmers, last year's first round pick, a pitcher who was expected to rise quickly through the system in part because of his outstanding command, had a disastrous first outing for High A Fort Myers.

Six batters, six walks, three wild pitches. He threw just four strikes in 28 pitches and hit the backstop on the fly with that many.

He's been put on the disabled list with "flu-like symptoms," but even if he really does have a virus, he appears to have a more serious malady, known in some circles as "Steve Blass disease." Few pitchers recover.

---

I ridiculed the Royals front office a few weeks ago for discarding Dusty Hughes, and nothing that happened Tuesday night suggests I was wrong.

Hughes threw a shutout inning Tuesday against his old team and collected his first "W" in a TC cap.  The Royals, who are carrying just one lefty reliever, could have used another against the heavily left-handed Twins.

But just as Hughes is no better than the No. 2 southpaw in the Minnesota pen (and might be the No. 3 lefty), he'd be below Tim Collins in the K.C. depth chart.

Collins is an interesting pitcher — listed at 5-foot-7 but probably considerably shorter than that, he has a mid-90s fastball and an impressive curve. He's racked up silly strikeout rates in the minors — more than 13 K/9 over four minor league seasons, and doing the same so far in the majors — but been traded twice.

Evaluators have a hard time getting past the diminutive stature and judging him strictly on the talent. But he's a good one.