Roster Moves

The Star Tribune has answered the questions about today's roster moves, and they make a lot of sense to me, even if I didn't see one of them coming.

First, the starting pitching situation. With Liriano expected to start on Sunday or Monday, the Twins decided to send down Scott Baker and basically replace him in the rotation with Boof Bonser. Bonser is starting where Liriano would be today, but that's obviously not going to be the case for long, and he'll get moved around where the Twins want him at the first opportunity. Undoubtedly, some fans would have liked to see Matt Garza brought up, but Terry Ryan has been very clear that, while Garza has had success, his ratio of fastballs to off-speed stuff isn't where it needs to be to survive at the major league level. Until Garza starts throwing more changeups and curveballs for strikes, he'll stay in AAA. That made Bonser the best available option, and hopefully he'll be able to step up. Baker looked pretty darned good through three innings yesterday, and I strongly suspect that his problem was more mental than physical; he should have been out of the 4th inning having allowed only 1 run, and instead, things ballooned.

The Twins also activated Matt Guerrier from the disabled list, as expected, but with short starts having been a little too common, and concern about the health of Radke and Liriano, the Twins decided to keep 12 pitchers and sent down Terry Tiffee to make room for Guerrier. I hadn't thought about this as an option, but it makes a lot of sense. Why send down Josh Rabe when he's contributing to the effectiveness of the team? Tiffee hasn't started a ballgame in forever, and seems to only be inserted into the game when the Twins have 10-run leads. He was a spare part that wasn't being used, and this move makes a lot of sense for the Twins.

Finally, there is also news that Lew Ford will begin a rehab assignment with Rochester starting on Thursday. When his injury occurred, I thought he'd be ready in 10 days and be reactivated as soon as his 15-Day minimum time on the DL was up. Instead, he just kind of disappeared, and there wasn't a lot being said about his condition. I have no idea how long the rehab stint will last, but I'm guessing a week. The Twins will then have to decide whether they think Ford or Rabe will be more useful for the team down the stretch. It's possible, though probably unlikely (due to the overcrowding in the outfield it would lead to) that the Twins would send Willie Eyre down to make room for Ford, and have basically a direct combination between Ford, Rabe, and Tyner. If it were up to me, as much as I like Lew Ford, the Twins would place him on waivers and try to make a deal. He'll be arbitration eligible after the season, and there are better, cheaper options available to the team.