Denard to the DL

The Twins put Denard Span on the disabled list Thursday. Really, the only issue I have with the move is that, in retrospect, it should have been done more than two weeks ago, when he injured his shoulder/collarbone in a tumbling attempt at a catch.

The DL move is an odd one for Aug. 30, because the rosters expand Sept. 1. But putting Span on the DL makes it possible to bring back Matt Carson, who would not be eligible to return this soon without a corresponding disabled-list move. (He would have had to remain on the Rochester roster for 10 days from his demotion.)

Carson or no, I would still expect the Twins to find considerable playing time for Chris Parmelee while Span is out. Parmelee has started the last two games in right field, with Ben Revere playing center.

Another possibility, come September and the arrivals of the call-ups, would be someone such as Oswaldo Arcia or Aaron Hicks. (The Twins haven't named their call-ups, but those outfielders, currently playing for New Britain in Double A, would seen likely candidates.)

Meanwhile, I (and others on the outside of the organization) marvel at what appears to be yet another mishandled injury. Span was hurt on Aug. 12. He remained sidelined but on the active roster for 11 days. Then he played three of four games, then sat for three more before finally being shelved.

I'm no doctor or athletic trainer, but this kind of thing keeps happening to this team, and it's baffling.

The disabled list stall

Danny Valencia:
He's baaack.

It happens with almost comic predictability:

A Twins player suffers an apparently minor injury. He is deemed "day-to-day," and one day bleeds into another without him playing until, after a week or so, he finally goes on the disabled list.

It happened again over the past week with Trevor Plouffe and his bruised thumb. All through the road trip Plouffe was said to be a day or two away. Not today, maybe tomorrow -- and tomorrow never came.

On Friday, Plouffe was deemed ready. He was in the lineup. Then he took batting practice, and suddenly he was out of the lineup and (finally) onto the disabled list.

So predictable. One of my tweeps asked the day Plouffe was hurt how long it would take the Twins to put him on the DL. My guess was 10 days. It turned out to be six.

This is one of the many questions surrounding the Twins medical staff, at least for those of us on the outside. Are the diagnoses and recovery times being bungled by the trainers and doctors? Are the players simply lying about their condition? Is management deliberately holding back on putting players on the disabled list to save a few bucks? (Players on the DL are paid; the players called up to fill their roster spot have to get at least the major league minimum, which is more than they're paid to play in Triple A.)

It might be any, all or none of those things. I don't know. What I do know is that this kind of fiasco happens far too often. It's one aspect of the organization that really needs to be tightened up. The Twins are carrying 13 pitchers, and having one of the "active" position players unable to contribute really limits the manager's bench options.

In the Plouffe case, I suspect some wishful thinking was involved. The obvious player to take his roster spot was Danny Valencia, and there's no reason visible in the stats to believe he's earned a return to the majors. I don't think the Twins really want Valencia back on the big club. As it turned out, they couldn't avoid it.

The DL shuffle

The Twins news from a rainy Tuesday:

Justin Morneau's left hand/wrist is being immobilized (amid chatter that it was injured in a display of ill temper after a strikeout; he told the Pioneer Press he doesn't know how it happened), and the first baseman is going on the disabled list. Tsuyoshi Nishioka (and Glen Perkins) are scheduled to return to the Twin Cities today. Both are to be re-evaluated today and are expected to be activated no later than Thursday.

Justin Morneau's
batting average is 120
points lower than
last year.

Nishioka for Morneau isn't a straight-forward swap, however, because Nishioka is coming off the 60-day disabled list, which means he isn't currently on the 40-man roster. Somebody has to be removed.

Brian Dinkleman is a possible target; he may be more useful than Rene Tosoni, but he's probably more likely to pass through waivers unclaimed. But designating Dinkleman for assignment would open another spot on the 25-man roster, and there aren't many position players left on the 40 to fill that spot.

More likely is waiving Dusty Hughes, which would open a spot on the 40 for Nishioka, while disabling Morneau will open a spot on the 25 for Nishioka.

Reactivating Perkins is considerably more straight forward. Seth Stohs reported Tuesday night that Jose Mijares and Phil Dumatrait are both out of options, but Chuck James isn't. While I have more confidence in James right now than in the other two, it is also true that Ron Gardenhire is using Mijares and Dumatrait in game situations, but not James. So James returns to Rochester.

Brian Dinkleman's
time in The Show is
probably running out.

Stohs also says that Rene Rivera and Jason Repko have options left, which has roster implications as more A team guys come off the disabled list in coming days. Either can be sent to Rochester without going through waivers.

Rivera (or Drew Butera, who also has options) isn't going anywhere until Joe Mauer returns, which may come this weekend. And like Nishioka, Mauer isn't on the 40-man roster. This may be where Dinkleman gets waived -- especially if somebody else is ready to come off the DL at the same time. Mauer replaces Dinkleman on the 40, replaces Rivera or Butera on the 25, and whoever is ready by Friday replaces Dinkleman on the 25.

Confused yet?

On the disabled list

Denard Span was cleared by a physician in Kansas City
after this collision, but now has been diagnosed with
a concussion and whiplash.

Denard Span was put on the seven-day concussion disabled list Thursday night. This makes 12 members of the Twins' Opening Day roster — 12 of 25 — to go on a DL this season, and it's just June 10.

I'll assume this is some sort of record, partly because it is far more common now for players to go on the disabled list than it was 50 or even 20 years ago — more common not because the players today are wimpier or more injury prone, but because it's a lot easier for teams to use the DL and because it improves the quality of play for injured players to heal.

I'm not sure when a formal mechanism to replace an injured player temporarily was established. I know there was a disabled list in 1961, because in his diary book of the Cincinnati Reds' pennant winning season (Pennant Race), pitcher Jim Brosnan makes reference to his roommate, Howie Nunn, going on the disabled list. By the time I started paying attention to such things, sometime in the 1970s, there were two disabled lists — a 10-day and a 21-day, and teams could have no more than two players on the 10-day DL. There may well have been a limit on the 21-day DL.

Caps on the disabled list inevitably meant that players played, often poorly, with injuries. (Atlanta's Chipper Jones this week complained that teammate Jason Hayward should be playing hurt; 80 percent of Hayward is better than most players, Jones claimed. I doubt that; I suspect that Justin Morneau is playing at a bit more than 80 percent of his ability, but the missing 20-15 percent is the difference between being a star and his current, readily replaced, level of production.)

About 20 years ago the 10- and 21-day DLs were abolished and replaced with the current standard 15-day DL. There's also a 60-day DL for long-term injuries, which removes the player from the 40-man major league roster (Joe Mauer and Tsuytoshi Nishioka are on the 60-day DL); the seven-day concussion DL (new this year); and two forms of "family leave," a five-day bereavement leave for a death in the family and a three-day paternity leave for births.

The shorter the period of absence, the easier it is for a club to put a player on the DL. That's the reason for the new concussion list, to make it less risky for the team to sideline a player with a concussion. If Span's symptoms clear in another two days, the Twins will still have him back three days later; if they had put him on the 15-day DL, they'd be stuck without him.

---

Twins from the Opening Day roster to hit the disabled list this season:

Jason Kubel*
Francisco Liriano
Joe Mauer **
Jose Mijares
Joe Nathan*
Tsuyoshi Nishioka**
Glen Perkins*
Kevin Slowey*
Denard Span***
Jim Thome*
Jason Repko
Delmon Young



*= currently on the 15-day DL
**= currently on the 60-day DL
***= currently on the concussion DL

DL stuff (UPDATED)

Just a quick note about the Twins moves today: Jason Kubel and Jim Thome were put on the 15-day disabled list, with Ben Revere and Luke Hughes recalled. Revere is in the starting lineup today -- in right field, which is a lousy fit for his popgun throwing arm, but whatever.

Perhaps more interesting, on a day in which Joe Mauer caught three innings in extended spring training (his first such action since April), the Twins shifted Mauer to the 60-day disabled list. This (a) means he definitely won't be back with the big club until at least June 12; and (b) opens a spot on the 40-man roster.

Perhaps that slot is going to sit open until Tsuyoshi Nishioka's ready to come off the 60-day DL, and was opened now to squash any speculation that Mauer's nearly ready to return. Or maybe there's another move looming involving somebody not now on the 40-man roster, such as Kyle Waldrop, Carlos Guterriez or even Kyle Gibson.

Brian Dinkleman is
hitting .297/.373/.400
in his second year at
Triple-A.

Update: The 40-man slot was filled by Brian Dinkleman, a left-handed contract hitter with some second base experience who has been mainly playing outfield in recent seasons. Trevor Plouffe has been sent back to Rochester to make room on the 25-man roster.

Dinkleman has had a pattern of hitting better in his second season at a level. But even then, his numbers look good for a second baseman, not so good for a corner outfielder. I assume that his defense at second is deemed substandard, because a good defensive middle infielder is seldom moved to left field. 

It would have been easier to recall Rene Tosoni, who was already on the 40-man roster. The Twins now will have to clear two spots on the 40 when Nishioka and Mauer are ready to play. I assume they have targets in mind.