Twins Option Seven Players To Minor League Camp

Those seven players optioned from the 40-man roster on Monday are part of the first round of cuts which included SS Engelb Vielma, C Alex Swim, RHP Jake Reed, IF/OF Reynaldo Rodriguez, and IF Heiker Meneses.

Combined, that is a lot of players, and yet there really weren’t any surprises. This is the point, three weeks from Opening Day, when it is important to have a more manageable roster. Simply, hitters that will (or could) make the team need more plate appearances, starters work longer, and relief pitchers need more consistent work.These players were all long shots to make the Opening Day roster, and now they will head to the minor league complex and start preparing with their team for the 2016 season.

It is normal that players on the 40-man roster with little shot of making the big league roster are sent down fairly early in camp. Along with prepping with their teammates and getting at-bats, if a 40-man roster player has a major injury at big league camp, he gets a big league salary for time on the disabled list. The experience working with the big league coaching staff and veteran players is still very valuable for them.

Randy Rosario has the world of potential in his left arm, but he finished last year in Cedar Rapids. 2016 will be his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

Yorman Landa is in a similar boat. After missing time in the 2014 season, Landa returned to Cedar Rapids midseason and was terrific. He, like Rosario, will likely begin the season in Ft. Myers with the Miracle

JT Chargois showed his upper-90s fastball and three pitch mix. He could head to Chattanooga or Rochester. If he can harness his control, he has a chance to be special.

Mason Melotakis has electric stuff, but just coming back from Tommy John surgery and not pitching at all in 2015, he will need to get some innings under his belt to continue shaking off rust as well as continue to develop.

Pat Dean will return to Rochester where he will start. He had a bit of a breakout season in Rochester last year and hopes to build off of it. He credited his numbers to improving his curve ball and slider.

Minnesota native Mike Strong will work in the bullpen, either at Rochester or Chattanooga. He was added to the 40-man roster in late January.

The final player from the 40 man roster to be sent down is outfielder Adam Brett Walker who has had limited at-bats. There are still a lot of outfielders in Twins camp and some big decisions to make. Walker needs to start accumulating some plate appearances to work on the things he has learned in his time in camp.

As you can see from that group there is a lot of potential but none of them have played very much this spring so they need to get some playing time at minor league camp before the season.

The Twins now have 52 players remaining in camp (19 non-roster). There are 24 pitchers (8 non-roster), 7 catchers (4 non-roster), 11 infielders (3 non-roster) and 10 outfielders (4 non-roster).