Molitor, Ramirez and minor surgeries

Paul Molitor at his Hall of Fame
induction in 2004.

Paul Molitor, the Twins announced Tuesday, will be their seventh coach, with a set of responsibilities described as bunting, baserunning, defensive positioning and in-game advice.

Not exactly earth-shaking news, but there's certainly room for reaction:

• Nothing against Molitor, who clearly knows those areas of the game as thoroughly as anybody, but this does still leave the Minnesota coaching staff very white and Anglo. The wave of position player talent coming is heavily Latin and dark-skinned. I still think it would be better if the coaching staff were more diverse.
• Both Molitor and Terry Ryan said bringing Molitor on board was initiated by Ron Gardenhire. When Ryan reshuffled the coaching staff a year ago, the general manager said there was "no fit" for Molitor, who was — and remains — popularly seen as the likely successor to Gardenhire's job should Ryan opt to change managers. Presumably the difference in "fit" some 12 months later is connected to the two-year extension the manager received after the season ended. Molitor's presence is not an immediate threat to Gardenhire's employment.
• I don't know what kind of label we'll attach to Molitor's duties. For four of the other coaches, the label refers to where they are during games (first-base coach, third-base coach, bench coach, bullpen coach); for the other two, the label encompasses a broad responsibility (pitching coach, hitting coach). Molitor is to be in the dugout, with Scott Ullger and Joe Vavra still on the bases. I'll go with baserunning coach for now.

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Outfielder Wilkin Ramirez was activated from the 60-day disabled list and then outrighted to Triple-A Rochester. He'll presumably exercise his right to declare free agency and see if anybody else wants him.

The Twins 40-man roster remains officially at 36, with Sam Deduno remaining on the 60-day DL as an unofficial 37th. Plenty of pruning awaits.

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Closer Glen Perkins and outfielder Darin Mastroianni each had surgeries since season's end.

Perkins' knee issue was not public knowledge last season, and he certainly had a fine season despite it. Mastroianni's season, on the other hand, was essentially ruined by his ankle problem.

Both men are supposed to be good to go for spring training. Inasmuch as Perkins was quite effective with a troublesome meniscus, I've no concerns about him. Mastroianni, on the other hand, needs his speed. He was not the baserunner last September that he was in 2012.

Beating the Tigers with their rejected outfielders

Clete Thomas makes a diving catch in Wednesday's game.

This is one of those things that happen in baseball: The Twins — not a good team — won this week's series against the Detroit Tigers, who merely have the best record in the American League.

And they won the series while playing regularly two outfielders — Clete Thomas and Wilkin Ramirez — who were developed, tested and discarded by the Tigers.

In this series, Thomas was just 2-for-12 at the plate, but he did make several diving catches and cut down Prince Fielder, whose baserunning on that play Thursday probably cost the Tigers a run they could have used.

Thomas, 29, is getting his first sustained major league action since 2009, and his .224/.295/.332 slash line does not suggest that the Tigers erred in deciding they could do better without him. Nor has Thomas really established that he's better than the demoted (and currently hobbled) Aaron Hicks (.192/259/.338).

Ramirez, 27, made the opening roster as a bench bat but missed the majority of the season after sustaining a concussion on a play that signified the silliness of considering him a usable center fielder. He's hit better than Thomas (.279/.317/.382), but not in enough playing time to be significant (less than 100 plate appearances). He went 4-for-12 in the Detroit series with a double.

The Twins clearly have outfield questions to deal with during the offseason. I don't see either Thomas or Ramirez being serious answers to any of those questions.

Doumit back, Colabello demoted, Herrmann and Ramirez stick

That Ryan Doumit would return to the active roster as soon as cleared to come off the concussion list was never in doubt.

That it was Chris Colabello who lost his spot was a bit of a surprise.

Colabello's overall numbers in his 96 plate appearances with the Twins aren't that impressive: a slash line of .221/.302/.372. But he'd gotten rolling of late; since Aug. 6, in a span of eight games and 25 official at-bats, he had hit .360/.500.640. And, probably not coincidentally, he had drawn seven walks while fanning just six times, a drastic improvement (in his whole 96 PAs, he has nine walks and 27 strikeouts, an ugly ratio).

So why did he get bounced back to Triple A? Let's examine the options.

Doug Bernier is the only infielder on the bench. He wasn't seriously at risk.

Chris Herrmann -- like Doumit a catcher-outfielder -- seemed a likely candidate. But the Twins obviously like him as a defensive catcher, and particularly as the battery mate to Andrew Albers, who has yet to allow a run or to throw a pitch to anybody other than Herrmann.

Wilkin Ramirez -- like Colabello a right-handed hitter -- is out of options. Sending him down would require exposing him to waivers and clearing him off the 40-man roster, and with only a couple of weeks to go before the active roster is expanded, that's something the front office didn't want to do.

I think the Twins overrate Ramirez as a defensive outfielder, but there's no real doubt that he's a better defensive outfielder than Colabello or Doumit (but probably not better than Herrmann.) Colabello is almost certainly the better hitter.

Colabello will be back in September when the roster limit is raised. He would probably have stuck now except for the roster flexibility factor.

Still, this decision, minor as it is, defies my rule of the priorities: 2013 matters less than 2014 and beyond. I can envision Colabello playing a significant role (as a first baseman or designated hitter) in future years, and the Twins would do well to find out more about him. Taking two weeks out of that opportunity may not materially affect the evaluation, but it doesn't help.

Pic of the Week

Pedro Florimon and Wilkin Ramirez after a
Twins win in Boston.

"If you keep doing that, it will freeze on your face."

Judging the defense

When Ryan Doumit
is in the outfield,
it's not for his
defensive skills.

In the final innings of Monday night's overly-long extra inning game in Boston, the Twins outfield had Ryan Doumit in left, Wilkin Ramirez in center and Chris Parmelee in right. This is not the Jamaican relay team when it comes to speed, and there were observers who wondered if Stephen Drew's game-winning double could have been caught by a genuine left fielder.

Ron Gardenhire, hewing to the philosophy that one doesn't blame the player when the manager puts him in a position outside his skill set, avoided criticizing Doumit: I had my backup catcher out there.

It occurred to me that Parmelee -- whose best position is probably first base -- might be the most accomplished outfielder of that trio. So this morning I dug into the plus/minus and runs saved defensive metrics devised and compiled by Baseball Info Systems.

Please note: BIS itself says the metrics are best applied over years, not weeks. This is early May. So the numbers don't necessarily define individual skills.

A few highlights:

Parmelee is a bit below average in right, but not so much that he can be said to be hurting the team defensively. As of Wednesday morning he was listed at -4 in plus/minus but zero in runs saved. He's been better than I expected, but I wasn't expecting Dwight Evans from him either.

The best defensive player on the team has been Brian Dozier, +6 in plus/minus and 4 in runs saved at second base. Next best: shortstop Pedro Florimon, +4 and 2. The worst: Ramirez is a combined -6, -4 in just 48 innings around the outfield.

Doumit has just three innings in left field, all on Monday; he grades out at -2, -1 in left. So, yeah, it appears that the BIS grading system figures Drew's ball was catchable.

Making roster room

Wilkin Ramirez accepts dugout high-fives after scoring a run
last week in an exhibition game.

Two more non-roster pitchers, Sam Deduno and P.J. Walters, were reassigned to the minor-league complex Tuesday. This boiled the major-league side to 26 healthy players and, at least as reported by the various beat guys, left the roster competition down to three arms for two bullpen jobs (Alex Burnett, Tyler Robertson and Josh Roenicke).

If so, the Twins are opening with 12 pitchers and will carry outfielder Wilkin Ramirez as a bench bat. I'm not sold on Ramirez for that job, but that's a minor issue. The Opening Day roster will not last long, and I fully expect that by the time Anthony Swarzak and/or Scott Diamond are ready to come off the disabled list the Twins will have decided they need a 13th pitcher.

And when they get to that point, whose roster spot will he take? Probably Ramirez's.

Keeping Ramirez will make this an aspirational roster. The Twins want to have a 12-man staff, not a 13-man staff, so they'll open with 12 and hope that the rotation doesn't immediately become a train wreck. If — when — it does, they'll deal with the fallout then.

There's a price to pay for that aspiration. The Twins will have to open a spot on their 40-man roster  for Ramirez, a non-roster invitee. The 40 has been full all spring, and the injuries that sidelined Swarzak and Tim Wood — plus the fact that Rule 5 pick Ryan Pressly earned a roster spot — have allowed the Twins to avoid having to cut any of the bullpen use-or-lose guys (the other being Roenicke) for now.

Somebody will have to outrighted, released, traded, sold — removed from the roster — to make room for Ramirez. It probably won't be a significant loss of talent, but the gain — a week or two of Ramirez — seems marginal at best.