Ron Gardenhire talks September roster

On Monday night, Fox Sport North broadcasted the New Britain Rock Cats game, giving Twins fans in the Midwest another glimpse of one of the game’s top-ranked prospects in Miguel Sano. Sano, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts lowering his average to .238, made a nifty play on a slow chopper to nail the runner at first to end a threat early in the game.

Much has been made about bringing the 20-year-old Sano up to Minnesota this September but the Twins have been steadfast in their development process and not wanting to rush anyone before their time. On Tuesday, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was on MLB Network Radio radio recently and discussed what his roster could look like come September – and it likely does not include Sano.

“I’m guessing that probably not,” Gardenhire said when asked if Sano would see action in September. “I would think that [Terry Ryan] has not totally said no to Sano but I think he’s leaning really heavily not doing that move and letting him go home. He’s played a lot of baseball this summer and having him fresh in spring training and see where that takes us.”

Gardenhire continued to say that nothing was out of the question but Ryan will be spending the next four or five days in Rochester trying to make the final decision on which players will be on the roster come September.

The manager also addressed another question regarding the status of veteran first baseman Justin Morneau, who had cleared waivers last week and is free to be traded to any team.

“I’m sure Terry and them have had phone calls and listen,” Gardenhire said, “but everything I’ve heard is that there is money involved and all that and other teams are not wanting to touch money and stuff like that.”

Morneau, 32, is owed approximately $3.5 million for the remainder of the season and other teams are not necessarily interested in obtaining that contract in exchange for a player hitting .261/.316/.418 in 503 plate appearances this year.

“We would do it for Mornie if the opportunity came,” said Gardenhire. “I’m sure Terry would look at it and think about it really seriously, but we’re also trying to help our ballclub. We’re looking for some kind of prospect or something like that that can help our ballclub next year.”

The Twins have not given their fans much reason to watch the club at the season’s conclusion. Dating back to 2011 the Twins have won just 44 of 132 games after July 31 - so any form of excitement to the late season roster would be welcomed.