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The Twins made a number of roster moves today, a day later than expected. After making most of their cuts on consecutive Mondays, some players had one final day with the team. None of these options or reassignments are surprises, so we'll continue to watch some of the other dark horse candidates.
Optioned to Triple-A
RHP Jeff Manship
OF Joe Benson
Re-assigned to Minor League Camp
C Rene Rivera
IF Pedro Florimon
Notes for some of today's minor league cuts after the jump.
On top of those four moves, the Twins also made a number of minor league cuts today. Unlike the spring training roster decisions, some of them are mild surprises. Let's take a browse through the list.
That these two have been cut is more disappointing than surprising. Bashore came back to log 16.2 innings with the Appalacian League rookie team after missing all of 2010. He was a first-round (supplemental) selection of the 2009 draft. Tootle is a third round selection from the very same year, and seriously struggles with command.
The top four picks for the Twins in the '09 draft: Kyle Gibson, Bashore, Billy Bullock and Tootle. Oh dear.
When the Twins traded Luis Castillo to the Mets at the '07 trade deadline, Martin was part of the return along with Drew Butera. Martin hasn't ever really looked over his head, he just hasn't been strong enough to warrant a promotion. He his .265/.341/.431 in Rochester last season with 15 homers in 554 plate appearances. He'll be 28 in a couple of weeks.
Jason Bulger
I actually thought Bulger would have a chance to make the trip north with the Twins, way back when spring training began. It's only been a few weeks, but that perception feels like a lifetime ago.
Chris Cates and Steve Pearce
Cates is a late-round pick from '07 who made it to double-A, but has had offensive number so terrible I'm not sure where some of those promotions came from. Pearce, meanwhile, was a minor league slugger once upon a time who just never was able to make the bigger transitions.