The Twins announced their non-roster invites to big league camp:

 

Pitchers - Sean Gilmartin, Lester Oliveros, Matt Hoffman, Deolis Guerra, Yohan Pino, Aaron Thompson and Alex Meyer.

 

Catchers - Stuart Turner, Dan Rohlfing, Matt Koch and Kyle Knudson

 

Infielders - Jason Bartlett, James Beresford, Doug Bernier, Deibinson Romero, Miguel Sano, Brandon Waring.

 

Outfielders - Byron Buxton, Darin Mastroianni, Jason Kubel, Wilkin Ramirez, Chris Rahl and Jermaine Mitchell.

Edited January 9, 201412 yr by Seth Stohs
Added Matt Koch

That's pretty quick for Turner. The Twins must value his defense enough that they think he can already help the pitchers.

 

Buxton shouldn't be a surprise but now that it's confirmed, following the already highly anticipated ST games is going to be about 10x more exciting.

That's pretty quick for Turner. The Twins must value his defense enough that they think he can already help the pitchers..

 

Just a body I think. They have so many pitchers that they need extra catchers for the workouts. Usually they have more that that, but with 4 on the 40 man, that makes 7.

It'll be an extra full locker room to start SP. I'm guessing they erred on the side of inviting guys considering that the minor league locker room won't be ready.

They always invite a bunch of catchers. They have the four on the 40 man and three more. But if Turner were just another body, then they might as well bring in Jairo Rodriguez or Matt Koch, etc.

Apologies... and I'll correct it, but Matt Koch was invited as well.

Seeing Buxton will be nice.

 

I'm guessing Sano's workload will be light if he plays at all, so I'm not sure there. This implies his injury is healing well, at least.

 

Does Oliveros still have a chance?

Too much is being made of the Sano thing, for sure. I think we need to wait until we know more. Team doesn't seem concerned after his first return for a checkup, so no need for us to be. And, if he's given a clean bill of health, he'll get some time.

 

Oliveros, if healthy, should have a legit shot to surface sometime!

Dan Rohlfing, I love that name. Signing Jason Kubel to a minor league deal was a great idea, low risk with some upside, especially if Gardy platoons him a bit to take advantage of his splits. I can't say I'm excited about Kubel, but if he makes the team I'll be there with the rest of the crowd chanting "Kooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs!" He would also be a significant improvement in the "bench bat" category over anyone the Twins have had for the past couple seasons.

Apologies... and I'll correct it, but Matt Koch was invited as well.

 

Assuming that Turner will start in Fort Myers, now they have invited all catchers from Fort Myers (minus Grimes & Rodriguez) up. Apparently Turner is ahead of these two in the depth chart...

What are the chances that Yohan Pino emerges as a dark horse for a spot? He was the PTBNL in the Pavano trade several years ago and has come full circle. I know he's 30 and has yet to crack the bigs, but his career MiLB numbers look somewhat appealing - especially BB/9 and K/BB.