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With Brian Dozier, Brian Dinkelman, J.R. Towles and Casey Fien all reassigned to minor league camp this morning, the Twins are essentially down to their 25-man roster. Both Scott Baker and Jason Marquis will not break camp with the team for different reasons. Here's how the roster breaks down.
| Pos | Starting Nine | Pos | Rotation |
| C | Joe Mauer | SP | Carl Pavano |
| 1B | Chris Parmelee | SP | Francisco Liriano |
| 2B | Alexi Casilla | SP | Liam Hendriks |
| 3B | Danny Valencia | SP | Nick Blackburn |
| SS | Jamey Carroll | ||
| LF | Josh Willingham | ||
| CF | Denard Span | Pos | Bullpen |
| RF | Trevor Plouffe | RHP | Matt Capps |
| DH | Justin Morneau | LHP | Glen Perkins |
| LHP | Brian Duensing | ||
| Pos | Bench | RHP | Jared Burton |
| C | Ryan Doumit | LHP | Matt Maloney |
| OF | Ben Revere | RHP | Alex Burnett |
| IF | Sean Burroughs | RHP | Jeff Gray |
| IF | Luke Hughes | RHP | Anthony Swarzak |
Just a few notes on this year's roster, after the jump.
40-Man Roster Implications
Nobody is going to lose their place on the 40-man, since the removal of Joel Zumaya and the returning of Terry Doyle to the White Sox left Minnesota with two open spots. Burroughs and Burton will be assigned those slots. This does mean that Burroughs will join Plouffe and Hughes as position players who are out of options, which could make things interesting down the road. It may not affect the Twins as much as it could have a ripple effect on the infield depth charts in the minor leagues. Because if one of them gets claimed on waivers, it means somebody like Brian Dinkelman or Tsuyoshi Nishioka is on his way up. Or, optimistically, Brian Dozier.
Four-Man Rotation
The Twins have a bizarre off day on Tuesday, April 10. With just four games before the off-day, the team can run with a four-man rotation before finally needing a fifth starter on Sunday, April 15. It's hoped that Baker will be ready to go by that point, but in the meantime Hendriks is being forced into service before the organization wanted him to be. Marquis was brought in so that the Australian could get some time in triple-A, but it seems like fate has another plan for Hendriks.
Eight-Man Bullpen
Matt Maloney pitched his way onto the roster, even though he was already on the 40-man. He still had something to prove, and he did that. So did Jared Burton, who along with Sean Burroughs is one of the two non-roster invitees to be making the trip north. Jeff Gray induces a lot of ground balls, which is one of his biggest selling points, but the fact that he made the roster is still a mild surprise. The fact that Alex Burnett made the roster, in spite of his performance and in spite of Casey Fien's strong spring, might be the biggest surprise. But his minor league track record certainly isn't a bad one. It'd be good to see him put it all together.
MLB Dept Chart
Catcher -Mauer, Doumit
First Base -Parmelee, Mauer, Burroughs, Doumit, Morneau, Hughes, Plouffe
Second Base -Casilla, Hughes, Carroll
Third Base -Valencia, Burroughs, Hughes, Plouffe
Shortstop -Carroll, Casilla, Plouffe
Left Field -Willingham, Revere, Plouffe
Center Field - Span, Revere
Right Field -Plouffe, Revere, Doumit