Minnesota Twins Daily Clips. Wednesday, March 1, 2017

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1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Wednesday, March 1, 2017 Where will Joe Mauer bat in Twins order? Star Tribune (Miller) p. 1 Rays run up football score on Twins. Star Tribune (Neal lll) p. 2 Twins' day at camp: Injured Mike Quade can't throw batting practice. Star Tribune (Neal lll) p. 3 Twins starting outfield gets another early-spring look. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 4 Twins connections tempted veteran slugger Mike Napoli. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5 Where to bat Mauer? Molitor has options. MLB (Bollinger) p. 6 Santiago working on offspeed pitches. MLB (Bollinger) p. 7 Tough day for Molitor to find positives. MLB (Bollinger) p. 7 Santiago shows rust in spring debut. MLB (Bollinger) p. 8 MLB Rumor Central: Byron Buxton could bat leadoff for Twins. ESPN (Mittler) p. 9 Alex Kirilloff To Undergo Tommy John Surgery. MLB Trade Rumors (Todd) p. 9 Red Wings' Mike Quade involved in frightening car wreck at spring training. Democrat & Chronicle (Roth) p. 9 Where will Joe Mauer bat in Twins order? Phil Miller Star Tribune March 1, 2017 FORT MYERS, Fla. For the first time this spring, Paul Molitor will write the name Mauer on his lineup card Wednesday. He ll put some thought into it, but this is only practice. The real test comes in five weeks, when Molitor sorts out the Twins lineup for regular-season games. For that, he s calling meetings. I m having discussions with people, getting input from the staff, the Twins manager said. I talked to Joe a little bit, too, about kind of waiting to see how it unfolds here. There s a reason for that. The question of where to slot the three-time batting champion is becoming a ticklish matter as Mauer reaches the later stages of his career. He once was a dominating offensive weapon who peppered hits all over the diamond or over the fence, the focal point of Minnesota s offense in the No. 3 slot. That placement required no thought on the part of his managers, Ron Gardenhire and Molitor, no angling for an advantage. Mauer s potency was obvious, as was his rightful realm: It s been nearly 11 years since Mauer batted lower than third in a starting lineup. But the streak might be near an end. Mauer s contributions are more subtle now, his dominance over AL pitchers fading, a fact magnified by his former brilliance. As he nears his 34th birthday seven weeks from today that same week, he should become only the sixth man ever to appear in 1,600 Twins games his ability to make contact with a baseball has become ordinary, his ability to drive it even less. Mauer batted.261 last season, the lowest of his career and 47 points below his career.308 mark. He collected only 22 doubles, or fewer than he had before the Fourth of July in Whereas he could once punch ground balls through the infield for hits he batted nearly.300 on grounders alone during his MVP season in 2009 now they ve become nearly automatic outs (.171 in 2016). A declining Mauer, however, is a long way from a worthless one. The veteran first baseman still works counts better than most of his teammates, and is dangerous when he gets an advantage. He batted.362 when he was ahead in the count in 2016, far better than the.302 MLB average. He drew 79 walks in 134 games, which ranked ninth in the AL, and his.363 on-base percentage tied him for 10th in the league.

2 Where he bats is up to the manager, Mauer repeated several times. But yeah, he has a preference. I ve always wanted to bat near the top of the order, because you get more chances there, Mauer said. There s a good chance of having guys on base, too, which is what every hitter wants. It s not clear yet what Molitor wants. He used 148 different starting lineups in 2016, and never settled for longer than three weeks on a spot for Mauer. The first baseman batted third 66 times, second 51 times and, for the first time in his career, even led off for eight consecutive games in mid-may, a tactic that didn t go well, albeit in what Molitor points out was kind of a small sample size. Mauer, who was leading the AL in on-base percentage with a.420 mark when Molitor promoted him to the top of the lineup, collected only five hits and four walks in those eight games, a.156 average and a.250 on-base percentage. The Twins went 2-6, and Molitor ended the attempt. It s possible that experiment could be revived this year, Molitor said. Or perhaps Mauer could remain in that No. 3 spot, particularly against righthanded pitchers. I still like Joe up there somewhere, against righthanded pitching in particular, Molitor said. We ll see how it fits together. The manager also has confronted the possibility that the time has come to shift the former batting champion to the lower half of the lineup. Yet that decision might not hinge entirely on Mauer s results. A lineup, how it s going to end up, it can change, Molitor said. I m not going to tell you exactly [what he will do], because how [Byron] Buxton comes along, how that s going to affect [Brian] Dozier it s sort of a trickle-down there as to how people can go. In other words, if Buxton s conspicuous improvement last September, which so far has carried over to his early work in spring training, remains constant, he s a possibility for the leadoff spot, rather than ninth, where he has spent most of his career. Dozier was the leadoff hitter 73 times last season, more than any other Twin, and hit 27 of his 42 home runs from that position, including six leading off the first inning. That s part of the problem, though: Of those 27 home runs Dozier hit while a leadoff hitter, 21 came with the bases empty. Which is why Molitor is giving so much consideration to where he ll bat his oldest regular this year. And if it s atop the lineup, Mauer will feel a certain responsibility that goes along with it. Molitor also raised the potential for a lineup makeover when left-handed pitchers are on the mound. Mauer batted only.224 against lefties, lowest since his rookie season, though he regards that number as a blip, a normal fluctuation that he intends to correct this year. I wouldn t say struggled against lefties. I didn t have many chances against them, and a lot of the lefties I see, it s a reliever who I don t see much of, he said. The numbers were what they were, but I wouldn t read into it too much. But what would he read into seeing his name near the bottom of the lineup card? I m not going to complain, you know that, Mauer said. I ve told him numerous times, whatever you feel gives us the best chance to score runs, I m for it. I want what s best for the team. Rays run up football score on Twins La Velle E. Neal lll Star Tribune March 1, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. The onslaught began against Hector Santiago, continued through Tyler Duffey then included Felix Jorge and the rest of the Twins bullpen. As inept as their pitching was Tuesday, the Twins offense was just as futile. The result was a lopsided 19-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in a Grapefruit League mismatch. The Rays scored all their runs before the Twins had a baserunner, which came in the eighth when Benji Gonzalez's grounder got by second baseman Ryan Brett and his effort left something to be desired. The Twins added two singles in the ninth. The beatdown necessitated mound visits by both pitching coach Neil Allen and manager Paul Molitor. Molitor appeared twice to remove pitchers in the middle of innings. 2

3 The Twins were shut out on three hits while Tampa Bay scored 19 runs on 23 hits. Molitor wanted to get his starters two at-bats he just didn't envision that it would take six innings to do so. "They were throwing strikes and we had trouble squaring anything up early," he said. "[We had] a couple long innings defensively." Santiago said he had a good feel for all his pitches Tuesday, but a couple of fly balls carried farther than he expected. After getting out of the first inning with only one hit allowed, Santiago failed to retire all five batters he faced in the second before being removed for pitch count reasons. Curt Casali hit a two-run homer off the foul pole in left. Nick Franklin hit a first pitch screwball over the wall for a two-run homer. "We knew he was a big cheater first pitch," Santiago said of Franklin. "We tried to get him off the fastball. He was out in front, too, but got it on the barrel. My mistake for trying to throw a strike instead of getting aggressive and try to bounce it." Tampa Bay scored five runs off Duffey in the third, including a three-run homer by Jake Bauers and a two-run shot by Rickie Weeks off Jorge to make it Twins' day at camp: Injured Mike Quade can't throw batting practice La Velle E. Neal lll Star Tribune March 1, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, FLA. The car crash that totaled Mike Quade s SUV on Saturday might have ended his ability to throw batting practice, too. A magnetic resonance imaging test Tuesday revealed that Quade suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder during the accident, and surgery will be necessary to repair it. The longtime manager, who still is considering when to undergo the procedure, will be in a sling for six weeks, and already has been told he cannot pitch batting practice this year. That s a problem, since BP is a standard duty of minor-league coaching staffs, and it s more than that to me, Quade said. I love it. It s something I look forward to. But Rochester hitting coach Chad Allen also needs shoulder surgery he has four tears in his right shoulder and while he plans to wait until after the 2017 season to have it repaired, his batting practice availability will be limited this year. We ll have to figure out something, Quade said. All donations accepted. Quade originally believed he had suffered only bruising in the collision, in which a car rear-ended his SUV at nearly 50 miles per hour while Quade sat at stoplight, setting off a five-car chain reaction. But the soreness persisted, and the Twins had him examined Tuesday. I ve got to make a decision in the next day or so. The good thing is, if I have [surgery] done now, I ll be out of the sling by the second week of the season, said Quade, who also coaches third base. The other good thing? I use my left arm to wave runners home. Quade turns 60 in two weeks. Silver linings, or not Nothing good happened at the plate Tuesday in the 19-0 loss to Tampa except the Twins avoided getting no-hit. But manager Paul Molitor saw a few things he liked. He said that lefthander Adalberto Mejia looked pretty sharp in his inning of work. Righthander Ryan Pressly stranded a runner while pitching a scoreless fifth. Matt Belisle threw one bad pitch, Molitor said, referring to one Tampa Bay s Cade Gotta launched for a three-run homer in the seventh. Molitor also pointed out that a couple of defensive plays didn t help their cause. One was Jorge Polanco s throwing error in the third, his second error of the spring. 3

4 First tour over Michael Cuddyer left camp over the weekend and Torii Hunter s last day as a special instructor was Tuesday. But both will return for a second coaching stint in camp. Cuddyer and Hunter spent a lot of time working with the outfielders, including the promising outfield of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler. Hunter sees a lot of potential in trio and the rest of the club. It s going to be better, Hunter said. Those 103 losses [last year] was not that team. They will be a better team, for sure, than last year. On deck The Twins will play host to the Pirates on Wednesday. Righthander Kyle Gibson will square off against righthander Josh Lindholm. Twins starting outfield gets another early-spring look Mike Berardino Pioneer Press February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. For the second time in five spring games, the Twins ran out their projected Opening Day outfield. Left fielder Eddie Rosario s planned March 6 departure for the World Baseball Classic, where he will play for Puerto Rico, seems to have frontloaded manager Paul Molitor s plans to use his outfield regulars. I think it would be fun to see those three guys together, Molitor said. It would be prudent to try to mix it up some, because we re going to have different combinations, depending on what you end up going with. People get hurt, and you have to move people around. Entering their first big-league season as a planned trio, the athletic grouping of Rosario, center fielder Byron Buxton and left fielder Max Kepler all 25 or younger has a chance to open some eyes. Asked how good it could be as a unit, Molitor referenced the 80s-era Montreal Expos outfield of strong-armed Ellis Valentine and hall of famers Andre Dawson and Tim Raines. Before Raines, there was future Japanese League star Warren Cromartie in left. And don t forget the Twins late- 90s Soul Patrol outfield of Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones and Matt Lawton. We ve got young athletes that have multiple ways to influence a game on the defensive side, between instinct and range and fearlessness and strong throwing arms, Molitor said. Potentially, that s three dangerous guys. He paused and smiled. Hopefully, dangerous in a good way, he added. CONTRACT TIME In advance of Wednesday s contract renewal date, a number of the Twins pre-arbitration players have agreed to terms for 2017, according to people with direct knowledge. Among them are right-handers Trevor May ($555,000) and Eddie Rosario ($552,500), who each received raises of $10,000. Right-handers Tyler Duffey and Michael Tonkin have agreed at $542,500, while Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas and John Ryan Murphy will each make $540,000. Buxton, who made $512,500 last season, will have his contract renewed after failing to agree to terms. Third baseman Miguel Sano said his representatives still were talking with the Twins front office. I m just thinking about baseball, Buxton said. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, the major league minimum salary has increased to $535,000 after staying at $507,500 the past two years. Lefty Adalberto Mejia, who made one appearance in the majors last year, has agreed to the big-league minimum this year. 4

5 Other returning players yet to reach arbitration status include infielder Ehire Adrianza, who made $600,000 last year with the San Francisco Giants; outfielders Max Kepler, Robbie Grossman and Danny Santana ($537,500 last year); and pitchers Jose Berrios, Taylor Rogers, Ryan O Rourke, J.T. Chargois and Buddy Boshers. SYSTEM DECLINE The Twins farm system experienced the third-biggest drop from last season in Baseball America s annual organization ratings. Dropping 11 spots to No. 21 overall, the Twins graduated the likes of Buxton, Kepler and Jorge Polanco off their list in The two biggest organizational declines belong to the Texas Rangers, who fell from seventh to 22nd, and the Washington Nationals, who dropped from fifth to 19th after shipping three top young arms to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Adam Eaton. The White Sox, who picked up 18 spots, now rank fifth overall behind the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers. Among remaining American League Central rivals, the Cleveland Indians (18th), Detroit Tigers (25th) and Kansas City Royals (26th) all are considered to have lower-end farm systems. Going back to the spring of 2011, the Twins have checked in at Nos. 13, 19, 10, 3, 2 and 10 on the BA list before this year s decline. BRIEFLY Twins closer Glen Perkins is scheduled to throw his fifth bullpen session of the spring on Thursday. Lefty Mason Melotakis (oblique) was scheduled to throw from 120 feet on Tuesday. The Twins lost 19-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and didn t produce their first baserunner until Bengie Gonzalez s seeing-eye single to start the eighth inning. Twins connections tempted veteran slugger Mike Napoli Mike Berardino Pioneer Press February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. As the calendar flipped to February and Mike Napoli remained a free agent, one of the slugging first baseman s former teammates in both Cleveland and Texas tried to recruit him to the Twins. I definitely sent him some text messages, said catcher Chris Gimenez, who signed a minor-league deal with the Twins in mid-january. That was definitely a possibility. I just told him, I ll be the first one at the party at Napoli s in Minnesota if that happens. Before agreeing Feb. 7 to return to the Rangers on a one-year, $8.5 million deal with a club option, Napoli also gave strong consideration to a stealth offer from the Twins. According to a person with direct knowledge, those discussions were pretty serious as the Twins remained engaged right to the end of Napoli s deliberation. The guaranteed money from the Twins one-year offer would have been in the same ballpark, but the option year was appealing to the 35-yearold Napoli, who has bounced around quite a bit in a career that began with the Los Angeles Angels in Coming off a career-high 34 home runs last season with the Indians, where Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey got a first-hand look at Napoli s clubhouse presence, the veteran s first choice was to remain with the Indians. After falling in extra innings of Game 7 in the World Series, the Indians instead opted to lure Edwin Encarnacion (14 months younger than Napoli) for $60 million over three years. Twins general manager Thad Levine also pushed for Napoli, who helped Levine s former club, the Rangers, reach the postseason in each of the slugger s three previous seasons with the franchise ( , 2015). The Twins, having slipped Byung Ho Park through waivers, have opted to stand pat at first base/designated hitter after falling short on Napoli. Park appears resurgent at the plate this spring, and switch-hitting holdover Kennys Vargas remains an intriguing power source. Their clubhouse personas, however, can t possibly compare to that of Napoli, who has reached the postseason in eight of his past 10 seasons, including three American League pennants. He s the best teammate I ve ever had, Gimenez said. I love the guy to death. I would love to have had him here. I think he would have been really good in this clubhouse. Twins reliever Craig Breslow played three seasons with Napoli in Boston, winning it all in He didn t try to recruit Napoli after signing late 5

6 with the Twins, but he was definitely hoping for a reunion. I didn t talk to him about it, but in the conversations I had with Derek about what they re trying to do here, it was apparent why he would be a great fit, Breslow said. Sometimes moves that seem a little peculiar at first glance, when you kind of peel back a little bit you realize what the underlying logic is, and it makes a lot of sense. It s not surprising why he would be a target for a team that s looking to take the next step forward with a young core. While scouts worry about Napoli s sustained downturn late last season, people who were around him said he probably was put in the lineup too frequently so he could max out a $3 million incentive package that pushed his total take to $10 million. Lighter usage in 2017 should give Napoli a chance to prop up his power numbers while still bringing his own special brand of bearded, boisterous leadership. You get this perception that he s kind of a burly, tattooed guy, Breslow said. Then you get the chance to play with him and see just how caring he is about his teammates, how generous he is. He just wins. The Yale-educated Breslow is sabermetrically savvy, but even he recognizes the immeasurable impact Napoli s personality and example can bring. Some guys just have a way about them that maybe brings out the best in other guys, brings a team together, keeps things light, Breslow said. (Napoli) doesn t speak a ton in terms of Yay! Rah-rah type stuff, so when he does talk, you listen. He s got a host of experiences to share, works really well with young guys. Wherever he s gone, he s left a trail of wins behind him. Napoli is reminiscent of basketball legend Billy The Whopper Paultz, who spent 15 years in the ABA and NBA from and reached the playoffs every time. Don Groove Baylor had a similar vibe during his career, as the 1987 Twins famously found out. I try to do some of the things that (Napoli) would do, Gimenez said. You learn from guys like that and you try to bring the clubhouse closer and have fun, but when it s time to go, it s time to go, and guys need to know that. Where to bat Mauer? Molitor has options Rhett Bollinger MLB February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Twins first baseman Joe Mauer remains set to make his Grapefruit League debut on Wednesday against the Pirates, but manager Paul Molitor is debating where Mauer will bat in the lineup this year. Mauer, who turns 34 on April 19, started off strong last year, but faded late with a lingering quad injury that plagued him the last two months of the season. The six-time All-Star and former American League Most Valuable Player hit.261/.363/.389 with 11 homers, 22 doubles and 49 RBIs in 134 games. He did that while starting 66 games batting third, 54 games batting second and eight games batting first. "I'm having discussions with people to get input from staff," Molitor said. "There's just kind of a trickle-down there of where people could go. I still like Joe up there somewhere, against right-handed pitching in particular, so we'll see how it fits together." As Molitor alluded to, much of it could depend on where Byron Buxton bats in the lineup, as he's a prototypical leadoff hitter, but could be eased into the ninth spot like last year until he's ready to take over atop the lineup. Otherwise, Brian Dozier figures to be the leadoff hitter with Jorge Polanco also expected to get a look as possibly the No. 2 hitter. Molitor said he receives lineup suggestions from director of baseball research Jack Goin, but he's always had the freedom to draft his own lineups. "I've talked to Joe a little bit about kind of waiting to see how things unfold here," Molitor said. "I've never been asked to do something. But their information is available as I request, as I do from time to time. You're just kind of curious when you're assembling lineups day to day. You kind of know what you feel and you kind of do your homework on it, but sometimes maybe the people who run numbers would see it a little bit differently." One issue with Mauer last year was his struggles against lefties, batting.224/.291/.319 against southpaws, compared to.272/.383/.410 against right-handers. Molitor plans to sit Mauer against tough lefties as a result, and his spot in the order could fluctuate by who is on the mound. Mauer would bat early in the lineup against righties, but further down against the lefties that he plays against. 6

7 "I'm aware of that," Molitor said of Mauer's numbers versus lefties. "But if we're trying to keep him a little fresher, those are probably the days I would look at, but not all of them. So we'll see how it unfolds." Even with his late-season slide, Mauer's.363 on-base percentage was the second-best mark on the team behind Robbie Grossman's.386 clip. There has been push in the past about him leading off and he did do it 10 times last year, so Molitor said it's an option, but it didn't sound like one he was seriously considering. Mauer hit.156 with a homer and four walks in eight games as leadoff hitter last year. "We did it last year," Molitor said. "I can't tell you if it was good, bad or indifferent, it was kind of a small sample size. It's crossed my mind at different times." Santiago working on offspeed pitches Rhett Bollinger MLB February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- With only two starts before departing to join Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic on March 6, Twins lefthander Hector Santiago decided to use more offspeed pitches in his Grapefruit League debut, a 19-0 loss to the Rays on Tuesday, than he otherwise would have. Santiago, who is tentatively scheduled to pitch against Team Mexico on March 11, gave up five runs on five hits, including two homers, in oneplus innings of work. Both homers came on screwballs, and Santiago said he had Curt Casali and Nick Franklin fooled on the pitches, but they got out in front and pulled them down the left-field line. Despite giving up the homers, Santiago was mostly pleased with his outing, as he was working on locating his offspeed pitches in advance of the Classic. "You want to go out there and try to get everything done," Santiago said. "You want your fastball command and your breaking stuff. You wish you had some more time to get ready and get going. But I think turning it up a little earlier will help our season. It'll get that Opening Day feeling out of the way." Santiago, though, said he didn't alter his offseason routine because the progression to get ready for the season remains unchanged. There's more intensity in the Classic, but he'll still be limited to four innings or 60 pitches in his first outing. "We're not going to let the Classic push me any further. I'm not going to try to go out there for another inning. It's going to four innings, and then five innings the next one and then go from there." Santiago is slated to make another start with the Twins on Sunday against the Nationals before he departs, and is looking forward to pitching against Team Mexico in Jalisco, Mexico. "It's exciting," Santiago said. "It's going to be a crazy crowd. I can definitely say that, for sure." Tough day for Molitor to find positives Rhett Bollinger MLB February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- It was the kind of game where the Twins were happy it was Spring Training and not the regular season. Strange things can happen in spring, and it was certainly the case on Tuesday, as the Twins were routed by the Rays, 19-0, and outhit, The Twins had a combined perfect game thrown against them until Benji Gonzalez broke it up to lead off the eighth with a single just under the glove of second baseman Ryan Brett. Twins manager Paul Molitor wasn't happy with his team's performance, particularly the sloppiness on defense, and pointed out that Twins pitchers consistently fell behind hitters. "In the eighth inning, we had four zeros [on the scoreboard] and they had 19 [runs]," Molitor said. "We probably faced 50 hitters in eight innings, and threw 160 pitches. First-pitch strikes were probably 50 percent or less. We missed some plays that added to our problems." The Twins couldn't get anything going offensively despite playing regulars such as Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas. Buxton was robbed of a hit by third baseman Evan Longoria to open the game, but they didn't even threaten again until the eighth on Gonzalez's single. 7

8 "The first few innings, I thought our at-bats were good," Molitor said. "Buxton had a good at-bat to open the game, but they were throwing strikes and we weren't squaring anything up. We had some long innings on the defensive side. I just wanted the guys not to give at-bats away as best as they could given the circumstances. We didn't do much." Molitor, though, said he also wanted to focus on the good and pointed to solid outings from Adalberto Mejia, Ryan Pressly and Ryan O'Rourke. Worth noting Left-hander Mason Melotakis, out with an oblique strain, threw from 120 feet on Tuesday after throwing at 90 feet on Sunday. He's yet to throw off a mound since suffering the injury, but is making progress. Closer Glen Perkins, coming off labrum surgery, is scheduled to throw his next bullpen session on Thursday. He's thrown three bullpens so far without any issues. The Twins announced that 150 games will be televised by FOX Sports North this season. Special assistants Torii Hunter and LaTroy Hawkins will both serve as guest commentators with Hunter's first game on April 21 and Hawkins' on May 16. Santiago shows rust in spring debut Rhett Bollinger MLB February 28, 2017 PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Tampa Bay's offense scored a week's worth of runs, and the pitching was almost perfect in a 19-0 win over the Twins at Charlotte Sports Park on Tuesday. The 19 runs set a new club record for the most in a Spring Training game. The previous mark was 16, set on March 11, 2010, in a game against the Pirates. Five Rays pitchers had held the Twins without a baserunner through seven innings. Benji Gonzalez finally broke the spell when he connected against Neil Wagner and threaded a single through first and second to lead off the eighth. The Rays' offense -- which featured 23 hits on the afternoon -- got into gear in the second inning when Nick Franklin and Curt Casali each had two-run homers off Twins starter Hector Santiago. Franklin and Casali are involved in competitive battles this spring for the utility and catching duties, respectively. Jake Bauers' double down the right-field line chased Santiago. Evan Longoria added an RBI single off Randy Rosario to complete the scoring in the five-run frame. All of the runs were charged to Santiago, who did not record an out in the second. Santiago, who is slated to join Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, will have one more start before departing Twins camp. "I wish I could've got through two and got the six outs, but I think all around, some good stuff," Santiago said. "Some good screwballs, some good curveballs. The fastball command was OK. I was 3-0 to the first guy, but I battled back and got out of that inning after the leadoff double." The Rays celebrated their five-run second with an eight-run third. Bauers hit a grand slam off Tyler Duffey, and Rickie Weeks added a three-run homer off Felix Jorge to push the lead to Cade Gotta delivered a three-run homer in the sixth to give the Rays a 16-0 lead. "It's good for us as a team, and we're doing a pretty good job, we're scoring a lot of runs this spring," Franklin said. "It's great. It's early. But we want to keep pouring it on. Keep it going." Alex Cobb made his first start of the spring for the Rays and retired the six batters he faced during his two-inning stint that included two strikeouts. Twins Up Next: Twins first baseman Joe Mauer is set to make his Grapefruit League debut against the Pirates on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. CT at Hammond Stadium. Mauer isn't injured, but is being eased into action this spring. Right-hander Kyle Gibson makes his second start of the spring and is expected to go three innings or 45 pitches. Other pitchers scheduled to throw include Ryan Vogelsong, Craig Breslow, Stephen Gonsalves, Aaron Slegers, Jorge and Fernando Romero. 8

9 Rays Up Next: Jake Odorizzi will make his first start of the spring when the Rays host the Phillies Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park in a 1:05 p.m. ET game streaming exclusively via a Raysbaseball.com audio webcast. Also expected to pitcher are Matt Andriese, Justin Marks, Jacob Faria, Jaime Schultz, and Taylor Guerrieri. MLB Rumor Central: Byron Buxton could bat leadoff for Twins Doug Mittler ESPN March 1, 2017 A strong performance in Grapefruit League play could move Byron Buxton to the top of the Minnesota Twins' batting order. Manager Paul Molitor dropped a hint Monday that Buxton, who spent most of 2016 at or near the bottom of the order, is an option to lead off. That would allow the Twins to drop down Brian Dozier, who slugged 42 homers as their primary leadoff hitter last season. How Buxton comes along, how that s going to affect Dozier in some regard, there s just a trickle-down there in where people could go, Molitor told Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press. I still like Joe (Mauer) up there somewhere, against right-handed pitching in particular. As Berardino points out, Dozier hit 30 home runs last season with the bases empty. Buxton hit just.225 with a.284 OBP last season, numbers that would have to improve for him to be a viable leadoff candidate. The 23-year-old outfielder did bat first in the final game of the 2016 season and homered and doubled against the White Sox. In two spring games, Buxton is 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a walk. Alex Kirilloff To Undergo Tommy John Surgery Jeff Todd MLB Trade Rumors March 1, 2017 Recent Twins first-round draft pick Alex Kirilloff will undergo Tommy John surgery in about a week, per a team announcement (h/t Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, via Twitter). That will cost the outfielder all of the 2017 campaign. That s an unfortunate development for the 19-year-old, who ll lose a year of development opportunities. Of course, given that he s not a pitcher, it s somewhat less concerning in regards to his long-term outlook. Kirilloff, who was taken 15th overall in last summer s draft, seemingly suffered the injury late last summer. He was shut down and rested all winter, but obviously was still dealing with issues as camp opened. Minnesota will still look forward to a future contribution from Kirilloff, who was a long way from the majors before today s news. He had shown quite well at the Rookie level last year, posting a solid.306/.341/.454 batting line with seven home runs over 232 plate appearances. Both MLB.com and Baseball America rated Kirilloff the Twins third-best prospect entering the 2017 season. Red Wings' Mike Quade involved in frightening car wreck at spring training Leo Roth Democrat & Chronicle February 28, 2017 Pitching batting practice was going to require some effort, and probably a lot of ice and aspirin, for Mike Quade at Minnesota Twins spring training this week. The Rochester Red Wings manager was involved in a frightening car accident involving four vehicles last Saturday in Fort Myers, Florida. Quade s SUV was slammed from behind by a car traveling between 40 and 50 mph, setting off a chain reaction, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported. Quade s shoulder was sore from the crash and his girlfriend, Rebecca Kraus, suffered a bloody mouth and nose, but they were otherwise OK. I remember it was the most godawful sound I ever heard, Quade told the Star-Tribune. The (air) bags exploded, all that. We can t believe we re not dead. Quade s Toyota Highlander was sitting at a stoplight about three miles from where the Twins train at Hammond Stadium when he looked into the rearview mirror and saw a car bearing down on him at high speed. I don t think he came within a mile of his brake pedal, because he never slowed down, said Quade, 59, who returns for his third season in 9

10 Rochester. The impact sent Quade s vehicle into the car in front of his that held a woman and her two children. Her car in turn was sent crashing into another. Meanwhile, the speeding car that struck Quade s SUV was turned sideways where it slammed into a car occupied by four young men. Red Wings general manager Dan Mason communicated with Quade by text message after the incident to check up on him. He got back to me and said he was banged up but nothing serious, Mason said. He seemed more scared than anything. It was a scary situation not only for him but Rebecca. We re as lucky as you can be, Quade told the Star-Tribune. In a twist of fate, the four men in the one vehicle involved in the pile-up were Twins rookie-level players, including catcher Ben Rortvedt, a second-round pick in 2016 and a top prospect. The players jumped from their car and assisted Quade and his girlfriend, then helped the woman and her children until emergency personnel arrived. That speaks volumes for the kind of kids the Twins draft, Mason said. Character is a very important thing when evaluating a player and obviously those four young guys (and possible future Red Wings) reacted how you re supposed to as a good person. Quade has managed the Red Wings to consecutive winning seasons at and The team arrives in Rochester on Monday, April 3. 10