Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Tuesday, February 23, 2016 Souhan: Promising Twins lineup lacks hitters for traditional roles. Star Tribune (Souhan) p. 1 Twins camp opens with one big pitching question mark. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 2 Twins day at camp: Hughes sheds 15 pounds after back troubles of 2015. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 4 Twins search for lefthanded relievers. Star Tribune p. 5 No injuries, drama, or decisions mark Minnesota Twins first training camp workout. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 5 In Byung-Ho Park’s Korean league, American leftovers dominate. Pioneer Press (Eccher) p. 6 Twins: Ervin Santana reflects on lifetime PED ban for Jenrry Mejia. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 7 Twins’ Nick Burdi experimenting with a new weapon. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 8 Inside the Twins’ locker room shuffle; interpreter hired for Byung Ho Park. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 9 Head start helps Murphy spring into action. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 10 Molitor champions pitching before 1st workout. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 10 Twins pitching staff healthy, hopeful at spring training. Associated Press p. 11 A look around MLB at players who are changing positions in 2016. CBS Sports (Axisa) p. 12 Minnesota Twins To Use Kinduct Technologies To Try And Prevent Injuries This Coming Season. Sport Techie p. 12 Twins' Mauer finally healthy, working to return to form. Pioneer Press (Murphy) p. 13 Twins' Molitor balks at naming Opening Day starting pitcher. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 14 Twins' Molitor looking forward to second season as the boss. Associated Press (Mullen) p. 16 BATTER UP: SPRING TRAINING IN FORT MYERS. Naples illustrated (Brown) p. 17 Fans dole out economy boost during spring training. WINK News p. 18 TIL: Twins lineup card is a clean sheet in Paul Molitor’s eyes. 1500 ESPN (Wetmore) p. 18 Former Yankee John Ryan Murphy takes to Minnesota Twins. News Press (Dorsey) p. 20 Souhan: Promising Twins lineup lacks hitters for traditional roles Jim Souhan | Star Tribune | February 23, 2016 FORT MYERS, FLA. – When he played for Toronto, Paul Molitor put the M in WAMCO. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston liked his set lineup of Devon White, Robbie Alomar, Molitor, Joe Carter and John Olerud, the heart of the team that won the 1993 World Series. During that season, the Jays traded for Rickey Henderson, the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history. HWAMCO does not have a ring to it, and Gaston wanted to include his star players in whatever lineup changes would be necessary, so he called his top five hitters into his office, handed them sheets of paper and asked them to write out their ideal lineups. Henderson wound up leading off. Last year, when the Twins called up top prospect and exceptionally fast runner Byron Buxton during the season, Molitor, the Twins rookie manager, remembered Gaston’s inclusiveness, and called his veteran hitters into his office. He asked them to write down their ideal lineups, wondering how many of them would bat Buxton leadoff. “Brian Dozier listed himself as the leadoff hitter, and Joe Mauer had himself hitting third, whether against lefties or righties,” Molitor said Monday. “That’s just how they see themselves.” What’s interesting is that Molitor doesn’t necessarily agree, and might be willing to take Mauer out of the third spot in the lineup, where he has batted nearly his entire life. Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers walked onto the practice fields before the beginning of practice. Monday was the first organized practice of spring training for pitchers and catchers. “No, I’m not locked into Joe at 3,” Molitor said. Last year, the Twins finished eighth of 15 American League teams in runs scored, even though they ranked 13th in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS). Once again, they have an intriguing collection of hitters but few lineup prototypes. Dozier likes to lead off but has led the team in home runs for three consecutive seasons. His on-base percentage of .307 is not conducive to leading off, and his low batting average is not conducive to hitting second or third. Mauer likes to bat third but his slugging percentage of .380 was the eighth best among Twins regulars. On a quality offensive team he might be best suited to hitting eighth or ninth. Miguel Sano is the team’s best and most dangerous batter, but strikes out more than prototypical No. 3 hitters. “Can we hit Miguel third? Yes,” Molitor said. “Can he hit fourth? Yes. Can Joe hit second? Yes. I still haven’t really thought about Joe leading off. I know a lot of people like to ask me about that because on-base percentage is still an area where he’s one of the best guys on the team, even though his batting average hasn’t been what we saw as a younger player. “He’s still a top-of-the-lineup guy. I’m just not sure where yet.” The Twins don’t have prototypes for the first, third and fifth spots in their lineup, at least not until Buxton becomes polished enough to bat leadoff. I think Molitor will keep Dozier in the leadoff spot and bat Mauer second. While their offensive profiles might suggest batting Mauer first and Dozier second, that would leave the Twins with a stretch of righthanded hitters that could be victimized by strong righthanded pitching. Here’s my ideal lineup, at least until Buxton matures: Dozier, Mauer, Sano, Trevor Plouffe, Byung Ho Park/Oswaldo Arcia, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar, Kurt Suzuki/John Ryan Murphy, Buxton. This possible lineup highlights the importance of Buxton. If he can produce as a leadoff hitter, the lineup would become much deeper, with much more speed at the top. At the moment, the Twins have only one everyday player who should be clearly better offensively than the league average: Sano. Dozier’s power obscures his low on-base percentage and batting average. He finished last season with an OPS of .751. Robinson Cano, considered a disappointment for Seattle, had an OPS of .779. To perpetuate a theme, the Twins will be a good offensive team when Sano and Buxton make them a good offensive team. Molitor’s lineup decisions will become much simpler when Buxton proves he can hit big-league pitching. Twins camp opens with one big pitching question mark La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | February 23, 2016 FORT MYERS, FLA. – Antonio Bastardo was available. Tony Sipp also was on the market. Maybe the Brewers would have parted with Will Smith in the right deal. The Twins could have filled their opening for a lefthanded setup man with someone with a proven track record. They passed on Sipp and Bastardo, who 2 each will make at least $6 million this season. And they didn’t land one in a trade — perhaps Smith will be available during the season if there still is a need. And so there was one significant question mark as the Twins spring training opened Monday with 31 pitchers and eight catchers beginning formal workouts at the CenturyLink Sports Complex. Most of the everyday position lineup is known. The Twins know who their top eight starters are — and might have an idea who the best five are. But the composition of the bullpen — particularly which lefthander can set up for closer Glen Perkins — is yet to be determined. “From the left side, you’ve got Glen,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said, “and a lot of guys.” There are 12 of them, to be exact. All with different levels of experience and whose chances of winning a job span from good to fat. “It’s going to be an open book this spring,” Twins pitching coach Neil Allen said. “There are jobs to be won. There are jobs to be had. And nothing is going to be set in stone until we sit down the last 10 days and really focus on some ideas and some directions on what we need.” There are no preferred candidates but several Twins officials have indicated that, as of now, minor league free agent Fernando Abad and prospect Taylor Rogers have the best chances to win the available lefty bullpen job. Abad, 30, has six years of big-league experience and spent the past two seasons with Oakland. His 2014 season was excellent, as he posted a 1.57 ERA in 69 games while holding opponents to a .175 batting average. Things didn’t go so well last season, as his ERA shot up to 4.15 and lefthanded hitters batted .277 against him. Twins scouts believe Abad tipped some of his pitches, something they can address during camp. Abad thinks his struggles are from not pitching in winter ball following the 2014 season. He remained in the United States while waiting for his green card and worked out on his own. He said his arm didn’t feel the same, and it led to getting pitches up in the zone and his performance suffered. This offseason, he was back with Toros del Este of the Dominican Winter League. “It’s different when I train by myself than with someone else,” Abad said of being on a winter-ball team. “This year, I prepared pretty good. I played winter ball and everything changed. So I am ready to go.” Abad likes to throw a changeup, which is a good match with the pitching philosophy of Allen, who promotes throwing the offspeed pitch. Rogers, 25, has started for most of his pro career, going 11-12 with a 3.98 ERA last season for Class AAA Rochester in 28 games (27 starts) over 174 innings.