On Saturday, the Twins absorbed a shellacking from the Marlins, losing by a score of 9-5 after holding a 5-0 lead through six innings.  Twins’ left-handed set-up hopeful, Jose Mijares, continued his spring struggles on Sunday.  According to Kelly Thesier, Mijares “[a]fter striking out the first batter he faced in the seventh inning, Mijares allowed the next six batters to reach base. He walked two batters and hit one with a pitch.”  He went on to give up four of the Marlins’ nine runs in one-third of an inning.  So far this spring, Mijares has been disappointing, working 4 2/3 innings and allowed six runs while strikeout four and walking seven.  With an option left, Mijares might find himself in Rochester to open the season. 

 

Sunday brought a trip to Tampa and Legends Field — along with it, a Yankees 5-1 win over the visiting Twins.  Glen Perkins allowed three runs on five hits in three innings of work, including a double a piece to Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon.  Perkins also had the honor of being a target for Hideki Matsui’s splintered bat.  For the Twins, Jason Kubel drove in the team’s lone run. 

 

SI.com’s Jon Heyman fuels the rumor mill that the Twins are kicking the tires on former MVP catcher Ivan Rodriguez.  Twins General Manager Bill Smith was quick to refute this claim writes Star Tribune columnist Patrick Ruesse.  Baseball Digest’s Twins editor, Seth Stohs, adequately addresses that issue as well, stating the Twins have more than enough capable backstops to compensate in Joe Mauer’s absence and therefore do not need Rodriguez’s services.  So what’s left?  KFAN’s Phil Mackey estimates what it cost the team if backup Mike Redmond handles all of Mauer’s plate appearances in the month of April (Hint: Not as bad as you would think). 

 

When the Twins added Class AA catcher Drew Butera to the 40-man roster this past winter, the move was met with furrowed brows.  After all, Butera is a strong defensive catcher but lacks offensive oomph and has never playing above AA.  The PiPress’s Kelsie Smith answers the logic behind the maneuver: the Twins recognized that other organizations lacked catching depth and appropriately horded their own internally. 

 

Joe Christensen says the Twins are giving Philip Humber a thorough inspection considering he is out of options.  In limited duty so far this spring, Humber has worked four innings and allowed four runs on six hits.  The 26-year-old has not recorded an official strikeout or walk to date.  He will be making his first start of the spring against Baltimore today. 

 

Aaron Gleeman has his completed Twins Prospect 40 available for review. 

 

Twins fans that were use to being sold GameDay magazines outside of the Metrodome are going to be somewhat disappointed this year.  TwinsGeek tells use that he is no longer producing GameDay, however, he will be providing the Dugout Splinters to the Twins directly to have them sell within the Dome itself.