Twins to activate Joe Mauer today (and other notes)

Since Joe Mauer last started at first base for the Twins on July 1 the club has gone 14-20, dropping from a disappointing but moderately competitive 38-44 to an obviously out-of-it 52-64. In his absence, Ron Gardenhire did his best to put a live body on the field to play the position. Clearly, this has mixed results.

If those performances don't bring you to tears, nothing will. Vargas has been fine in his short time with the team, and at least Morales (who is "hitting" .161/.222/.196 with Seattle) was flipped for something, but Parmelee and Colabello have been predictably bad. Say whatever you want about Mauer's performance so far this year, but in spite of it all you'd still be wise to bank on his performance over anyone else on this list.

The Twins will activate Mauer in time for today's game versus the Astros. Hopefully he can finish the season strong and change what a few fans might think of his outlook for next season. He'll need to take someone's roster spot, and while the smart money may be on the Twins optioning a relief pitcher (there are currently eight on the roster), after Trevor May's short start on Saturday it's worth wondering if the team will option a position player for a couple of games. As I note below, Oswaldo Arcia's back is acting up. Could the Twins shift Arcia to the disabled list?

Here's what else is happening in Twins Territory today.

• Tommy Milone will make his Twins debut versus the Astros tonight. First pitch is 7:10.
• Trevor Plouffe and Oswaldo Arcia were out of yesterday's lineup with minor tweaks. Plouffe is day-to-day and sounds like he could be back today or tomorrow. Arcia's back may put him onto the 15-day disabled list for safe keeping, but even if that's not the case he may not appear in a game for the next couple of days.
• The Twins have had offers from "overseas" for Kris Johnson, but they haven't pulled any triggers yet. I can't imagine they're gun shy just because of Chris Colabello's hot five weeks or so at the start of the year, however.
• A no-trade clause was never a part of contract discussions with Kurt Suzuki.