Bucking convention, Twins head north with 25 pitchers

Much of the chatter surrounding the Minnesota Twins in spring training revolved around things like who would be the primary DH or who would back up Joe Mauer at first or Jason Castro behind the plate. As it turns out, this chatter missed the forest for the trees, as Minnesota indicated Thursday that their entire 25-man roster would be pitchers.

“You saw how the last few seasons have gone here,” said Twins GM Thad Levine. “This team has been hamstrung by a lack of quality pitching more than any other factor. We think, through sheer mass of arms, this addresses that area.”

Twins manager Paul Molitor endorsed the move.

“You can never have enough pitching,” said the third-year skipper. “This new way of thinking about baseball, shifts and on-base percentage and all that, it doesn’t mean a whole lot when you can’t get anyone out. I like the guys we have in this clubhouse, and we’ll go to war with them and see what happens.”

Reaction, both locally and nationally, was swift and harsh.

“They don’t have anybody to hit or catch the ball,” said ESPN’s Buster Olney. “That is bad.”

“Yes, it’s outside the box,” admitted Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey. “But we honestly think in the short and medium-term, this solves an ongoing problem. Does it cause a ripple effect? Of course it does. We are crossing those bridges as we get to them.

“Speaking of which, if anyone knows where we can get 25 bullpen catchers by Monday, that would get us out of a real pickle.”

OPENING DAY ROSTER

• Ervin Santana
• Kyle Gibson
• Hector Santiago
• Phil Hughes
• Adalberto Mejia
• Brandon Kintzler
• Ryan Pressly
• Taylor Rogers
• Matt Belisle
• Craig Breslow
• Tyler Duffey
• Justin Haley
• Michael Tonkin
• Alex Wimmers
• Nick Tepesch
• Glen Perkins
• Kohl Stewart
• Ryan O’Rourke
• Mike Pelfrey
• A JUGGS Machine
• Catfish Hunter’s ornery ghost
• The kid from Little Big League
• A good and loyal dog
• Jason Bartlett but he pitches now
• MYSTERY PITCHER—a new pitcher every game. Could it be you? Buy a ticket to that day’s game and find out!