Roster Set - Surprisingly Surprise Free

On Sunday morning, the Twins front office made their last moves of spring, sending down Brian Dozier, JR Towles, Brain Dinkleman and Casey Fien. Just like we looked at last week, the 25 man roster has one surprise (Burroughs) and a few interesting moves that we didn't see at the start of the off season (Revere on the bench, Morneau at DH full time).

The opening day roster will look like this:

C: Mauer, Doumit
Infield: Parmelee, Casilla, Carroll, Valencia, Hughes, Burroughs
Outfield: Willingham, Span, Plouffe, Revere

Starters: Pavano, Liriano, Hendricks (!) Blackburn, Baker (DL), Marquis

Bullpen: Capps, Perkins, Duensing, Swarzak, Maloney, Burton, Gray, Burnett

All in all, nothing here is too surprising. Hendricks making the starting rotation was unforeseen, but that's more to do with Baker starting the season on the DL rather than him showing #3 starter stuff during the spring.

Some fans are hesitant about the bullpen, but I'm feeling optimistic. This 'pen is constructed with just the right amount of talent (Perkins, Duensing, Swarzak) and a few 'unknowns' (Maloney, Burton) that seem like they're ready to break onto the scene. If Capps can pitch again (please...) and Burnett is simply reliable, this could be a very solid 'pen in 2012.

The only thing that is giving me pause with this roster is the notion that Plouffe is the team's emergency SS. Twins fans don't have to be reminded at the absolute failure that Plouffe was at short last season. He frequently miss played balls and looked lost at the position. Even the recently demoted Nishioka seemed better posed to play SS than Plouffe, who seemed to be gelling well as an outfielder.

I'm assuming that Plouffe is slated as an emergency SS for that situation only - a complete emergency. (Carroll breaks a leg and Casilla is abducted by aliens- that kind of emergency). I'd assume that if Carroll were to go down - Gardenhire's logical shift would be to move Casilla to SS while plugging in Hughes or Plouffe at 2B (where they are much more capable defenders).

Alternatively, if Casilla were to get hurt during a game, Hughes or even Burroughs would make a much morel logical fill in over Plouffe.

All things considered, this Twins roster looks like it will at the very least be more competitive this year than in 2011 (better depth and more offensive power will do that for you). We're counting down to opening day Twins fans! Friday can't come fast enough!