Twins general manager Terry Ryan met with the media as he always does before Friday’s game. Topics of discussion ranged from Miguel Sano’s progress, to some chatter on recently-DFA’d outfielder Oswaldo Arcia, to draft-pick signees and more.

• Ryan said that while he was pleased Miguel Sano took batting practice on the field, it’s not hitting he’s worried about. It’s for good reason, as not only is Sano coming back from a hamstring injury, but he also put on a show in batting practice with multiple mammoth home runs. “It’s the running and baserunning and cutting,” Ryan said was his primary worry with Sano. “He’s making steady progress. As soon as you see him start doing some of that, we’re getting closer.”
• Ryan said he didn’t even want to hazard a guess as to when exactly the club would send Sano out on a rehab stint. Ryan added that even if they had him DH on the rehab stint at first, he’d still have to run the bases — which plays into the primary worry with the hamstring. So Ryan declined to say when exactly he thought Sano would head out.
• Ryan declined to address whether he’d had any interest in Arcia on the trade market, but that the “message was out” to the other 29 teams that he’s available. “Everybody’s informed,” Ryan said, though that likely just amounts to the fact that Arcia has been DFA’d and is in virtual limbo for the next 10 days.
• Ryan on Arcia and the decision to DFA him: “There’s no denying he has power. But you had pick and choose. You don’t have an unlimited roster, that’s the problem. You’d like to have more time, but unfortunately we’ve run out of time. Any time you designate a player it’s a difficult decision; I don’t like to give up on anybody, ever. Sometimes maybe a change of scenery is in store. It’s not anything other than we’ve run out of roster space. Danny Santana is coming back and he fits us well. We need him and we have to activate him. It’s as simple as that. I’d like to tell you that if we had a little more space or an option, you’d send him back. We just don’t have that flexibility anymore.”
• Ryan on keeping Byron Buxton and Max Kepler up over Arcia: “There’s a lot of options if you want to take that path. We’re going to keep Buxton and Kepler up here, we want to keep Santana up here. I understand the power you’re talking about (Arcia’s), and that’s a nice trait to have, but there’s other parts of the game that come with the decision-making of course. Kepler’s doing OK.
• Ryan said despite the fact that the team hasn’t made official announcements yet, the team has made good progress signing draft picks. First-round pick Alex Kirilloff remains unsigned, but he just completed his senior high school season with a loss in the State Championship Game to finish the season 24-1. The Twins have signed second rounder Ben Rortvedt, a prep catcher from Verona, Wis.

Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne covers the Minnesota Twins for Zone Coverage and is also the site's senior editor. He hosts the Midwest Swing podcast for the site as well. He and his wife Amanda live in the outer Twin Cities suburbs with their daughter, Harper.

All Articles