Gardy's Detroit opener

Ron Gardenhire's regular season debut as Detroit's manager went extra innings, but he wasn't around to see the end. He got ejected in the 10th inning, or maybe the 11th, after the replay umps in New York overturned what sure looked to me like a run for the Tigers and ruled it an inning-ending out.

Ron Gardenhire kicks dirt; umpire Tony Randazzo
kicks him out.

Gardy's reaction was familiar to Twins fans, even if the warmup jacket wasn't.

Mad Gardenhire is my kind of Gardenhire.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) March 30, 2018

Dingell, for those unaware, is a retired congressman from Detroit who spend 60 years in the U.S. House.

The Tigers lost 13-10 in 13 innings, which is probably indicative of how this season is going to go for Gardenhire. Dingell may get to see a lot of "mad Gardenhire."

I was following the game on MLB Network, which was carrying the Tigers broadcast. The announcers were praising the slide of Nick Castellanos, which was just silly. Had he gone to the inside of the plate, there's no way catcher Francisco Cervelli could have reached him. (I'm not sure Cervelli did as it was, but the replay crew thought so.) Instead, he slid slightly toward foul territory. It was not an ideal slide, and the announcers were silly to claim otherwise.

Random thoughts on the Twins opener

I understand and even agreed with Paul Molitor's decision to pinch-hit for Byron Buxton in the ninth inning, and the move obviously worked. But if the Twins are to get where they want to go, Buxton has to be the kind of hitter you don't even consider pinch-hitting for with the game on the line.

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Welcome to the Fernando Rodney Experience. The veteran did a nice job getting out of an inherited jam in the 10th, only to serve up a first-pitch gopher ball to open the next inning.

The rebuilt back of the bullpen was a mixed bag. Addison Reed dominated in two innings of work; Zach Duke struck out four men in his one inning but also allowed two runs; and Trevor Hildenberger had trouble throwing strikes.

Duke, a lefty specialist throughout his bullpen career, faced a string of right-handed hitters, culminating with the two-run triple by the light-hitting Caleb Joseph. I suspect that by the time the season is over, Molitor will be more wary of that kind of useage of Duke.

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The Baltimore Orioles had Chris Davis leading off. This is a far cry from tradition; Davis is a slow slugger. The closest thing in Buck Showalter's starting nine to an old-school flyboy, Craig Gentry, hit eighth. Which is pretty much where Gentry should hit.

The Birds just stack one power hitter after another. The Twins kept them in the park for 10 innings. They just didn't score enough themselves in that time frame.

A bench of role guys

There are, broadly speaking, two kinds of bench players. There are players -- typically veterans -- who have specific in-game roles.  And there are players -- typically younger -- who are waiting for a regular to get hurt or slump his way to the bench.

Leo Durocher, Hall of Fame manager, was notorious for dividing his teams into the guys who play and the guys who sit. Casey Stengel and Earl Weaver, also Hall of Fame managers, platooned everybody but their superstars; it was hard to tell who was their bench guys some years.

Rosters are shaped differently these days; benches are thinner when about half the roster is pitching. But the Twins bench under Ron Gardenhire tended strongly toward the Durocher model. Gardy didn't platoon much, and he liked a set lineup.

Paul Molitor has edged away from that, and it really shows in the bench the Twins expect to open with today. There are four players, and it's not difficult to identify their in-game roles:

• Mitch Garver is the backup catcher. He's a right handed hitter, which gives Molitor a platoon option with starter Jason Castro. 
• Ehire Adrianza, utility infielder, is a superior gloveman who started games last season at five different positions. He's a switch hitter.
• Robbie Grossman, switch-hitter, is an on-base percentage specialist. The more he plays in the outfield, the less his bat helps. 
• Ryan LaMarre, right handed hitter, is something of a mirror image to Grossman. Despite his gaudy spring training numbers, he's never been much of a hitter, but he's fast and a good defensive outfielder.

The Twins' nine regulars tend heavily to the left side. The bench is all right-handed or switch hitters. Molitor has some bat-first options and some glove-first options. There is nobody on this roster like Luis Rodriguez a few years ago, where one wondered what function he had. There is an obvious purpose to each of these four, and I applaud that.

Ryan LaMarre and the opening roster

The Twins played their final exhibition of 2018 on Tuesday, beating the Washington Nationals in D.C. Of more importance, they set -- presumably -- their roster for opening day on Thursday.

Phil Hughes went on the disabled list with his strained oblique. This allowed both Gabriel Moya and Rule 5 pick Tyler Kinley to make the roster. There seems to be some skepticism on Twins twitter about the validity of Hughes' injury, in no small part because he's sidelined for a period in which the Twins don't need a fifth starter. I'll deploy my skepticism for people who assume that an athlete is faking an injury.

Anyway, that was one of the final decisions. Another, as noted here Monday, wasn't much of a decision. Kennys Vargas was indeed put back of waivers as soon as the Twins reclaimed him. This time he cleared, and the Twins outrighted him to Triple A. This isn't good for Vargas, who would probably benefit from a new organization, but there are 30 big-league teams and none of them want to use a 25-man roster spot on him.

The final decision may not be fully decided. The Twins optioned out Zack Granite, which presumably means Ryan LaMarre will be on the 25-man roster as a reserve outfielder.

"Presumably" because

• the Twins haven't officially put him on the 40-man and 25-man rosters and
• they are presumably aware that the Los Angeles Dodgers designated Trayce Thompson for assignment on Tuesday, and there may well be other right-handed hitting outfielders available this week.

LaMarre, 29, had a great spring training; he hit .475/.500/.775 and looked good at all three outfield positions. There is nothing more he could have done in Florida to win a roster spot.

The problem for LaMarre is his track record. Not so much his .054 career major league batting average; that's only 40 plate appearances and is meaningless. Nobody's as good as his spring training stats, and nobody's as bad as his major league numbers.

It's what he's shown in the upper minors in a variety of organizations. LaMarre has more than 950 PA in Triple A and has compiled an OPS at that level of .723, which isn't that impressive.

LaMarre hits right-handed, and as I've been noting all spring, that fits the Twins' specific roster needs better than the lefty bat of Granite. But Granite is the better player; if the Twins should need somebody to play everyday for a couple weeks or more, Granite is a better choice. LaMarre makes the team for a specific role -- if he indeed makes the team. That has yet to fully play out.

Chasing saves with Fernando Rodney

Fernando Rodney's Grapefruit League stats were unimpressive. His two-homer outing Sunday left him with six runs allowed in seven innings in Florida, and left Dick Bremer on the telecast expounding on how Rodney still has his fastball velocity and his changeup.

Yes, and Rodney still has the command issues that have plagued him throughout his long career.

It's spring training. Soon that line on Rodney's Baseball Reference page will go away. Nail down a couple saves in Baltimore and Pittsburgh in the coming week, and few will remember his spring training stats.

Still, he's 41 and his contract is relatively disposable (one year, $4.5 million guaranteed with a team option for 2019). The Twins have Addison Reed, who has closed in the past (125 career saves) if they decide to replace Rodney with a veteran; they also have a selection of young relief prospects if they chose to go that route.

Going young at the end of games doesn't appear to be the decision makers' preference, however. Paul Molitor inherited Glen Perkins as his closer, and when Perkins' shoulder gave out has consistently chosen an established but low-ceiling arm for the ninth inning (Kevin Jepsen, Brandon Kintzler, Matt Belisle).

You can't get much more veteran than Rodney, and with a career ERA of 3.73 over 15 seasons, the ceiling is already constucted. Expectations for the team are high; I don't think they should be as high for Rodney. Which suggests to me that his leash may be rather short. The season starts in ernest on Thursday, and it's time for him to get some outs.

Kennys Vargas and real decisions

The Twins waived Kennys Vargas when they picked up outfield Jake Cave and needed a spot on the 40-man roster. The Cincinnati Reds claimed Vargas and promptly waived him themselves in hopes that he would clear and they could outright him to Triple A as first-base insurance.

But in the middle of all that Jorge Polanco was suspended and went on the restricted list, which opened another spot on the Twins 40-man roster. So the Twins claimed Vargas. Who is almost certainly on waivers again, because the Twins aren't going to carry three first basemen on the active roster.

This defines, for better or worse, Vargas as a player: A Four-A guy, not quite good enough to secure a place in the majors but good enough to want him hanging around. The Twins arent't eager to put him in the lineup, but if something happens to take Joe Mauer or Logan Morrison out of action, Vargas can be useful.

He's not really a 35-man decision. The Twins do have a couple of them: Zack Granite or Ryan LaMarre for a bench spot, Phil Hughes, Gabriel Moya or Tyler Kinley for two pitching berths.

My guesses: Hughes, who reported an oblique issue after his most recent spring training outing, goes on the DL until the Twins need a fifth starter.  And Granite stays. He's the better player, even if LaMarre is probably a better fit for the roster role.

Pic of the week

Kaz Makita of the Padres throws a pitch in Saturday's
exhibition against the Reds in Arizona.

Kaz Makita is 33 and has pitched for seven years in Japan's Pacific League. He's been strictly a reliever the past two years there, and he's had a pretty strong Cactus League with San Diego.

All that aside, I love me some submarine pitchers.