How Does Trading Doumit Affect the Twins Roster?

With a full 40-man roster and the acquisition of Mike Pelfrey simply requiring the formalities, the Minnesota Twins were up against one of many personnel decisions that will continue to face them until Opening Day. The front office, partially because of their own choices on players but also because of individual player circumstances, was stuck with a glut of slow players who could play corner outfield spots and, sometimes, first base.

Somebody had to go, and Ryan Doumit was a perfectly acceptable option. While things are still very likely to change, looking at the roster as it stands right now this move clears up playing time for one (or both) of Chris Parmelee and Chris Colabello. But the reality is that both of those players, as well as Doumit, seem out of place in the outfield. Both Chrises are first basemen; Doumit is a natural catcher.

There are still things to work out with this roster, from catcher to the outfield to the starting rotation. But this was a nice move by the Twins. Shipping off Doumit saves the team $3.5 million dollars, which is nice, but more importantly it starts to relieve some of that logjam while also clearing the necessary space for Mike Pelfrey.