Danny Valencia Slumping, 0-for-17

Ron Gardenhire only has a handful of infield configurations available to him. Limitations in player swaps leave the slumping Danny Valencia without a day off.

Valencia is 0-for-17 in May. He struck out for the fourth time this month on Monday. He is hitting .207 for the season, and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage is just .536.

Alexi Casilla (recovering from a bruised throwing shoulder) and Jamey Carroll can play second base, third base and shortstop. Brian Dozier played all three positions in the minor leagues.

Baker Performs Well in Win

I wasn't super happy to see the Twins lose to the Red Sox on Monday. I know, its spring training and these games are indicative of the season, but I'm a sore loser.

Yesterday, however, the Twins beat the Rays 3-2. That game is indicative of the season. I play by my own rules.

Scott Baker pitched two hitless innings in his spring debut. Baker went 8-6 with a 3.14 ERA for the Twins before a season-ending injury to his elbow. That being said, Baker had a great outing.

I'm sure Twins fans everywhere appreciate his good health. At least we have one player not contemplating retirement should his injuries persist. Ahem.

Casilla also performed well. He had two hits for the Twinkies, bringing his spring batting average up to .556.

The Rays are winless in their four exhibition games, three of the losses are against Minnesota. Boom, baby.

Alexi Casilla brings the Latino Heat

In the month of May, it seems as if Alexi Casilla has found his inner confidence because as a hitter Casillia has been en fuego (That’s not copy righted by Dan Patrick, is it?).

Check out his stats for the month of May: .310 Batting Average, .375 On Base Percentage and .466 Slugging Percentage.

That being said, this isn’t the first time we have seen Casilla channel his inner Latino Heat. Casilla is notoriously known as a streaky player, both in the field and at the plate. And while I love what I am seeing from Casilla, especially in the last five games, it is very unlikely he keeps this hot streak up. Nonetheless let’s hope he can go back to his 2008 form where he batted .281.

Minnesota Twins Payroll for 2011

The new payroll is expected to be at about $115 million in the 2011-2012 season.
After topping out around $101 million last season, a franchise high, general manager Bill Smith is shattering that mark with the most expensive team in Twins history with a payroll likely to tip $115 million. They cleared up $10.1 million in letting Hardy and Hudson go, where Alexi Casilla and Tsuyoshi Nishioka will make $3.85 million. The bulk of the payroll comes from the fact that he has 15 players under contract worth a guaranteed $89.89 million. I approve of Mr. Smith's moves this offseason.

JJ Hardy Traded to the Baltimore Orioles

Shortstop JJ Hardy was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night. The official trade was J.J. Hardy, Brendan Harris and cash to the Orioles for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. Hoey and Jacobson are two minor league relief pitchers. The theory behind the trade most likely indicates that the Twins did not value Hardy. That means Tsuyoshi Nishioka will be playing either shortstop or second base and Alexi Casilla at the other position. Hardy did not have a lot of speed, was hurt often, and really did not make that much of an impact to me. Good luck in Baltimore JJ.