Making the Team: Week Four

Sometime tomorrow, the Twins will make another pretty decent sized round of cuts. They're supposed to solve all of the bullpen mysteries and give everybody the final word on who exactly will head north with the club; in the bullpen at least.

While the bullpen battles may come to an end, the position ones will not; the team is expected to wait all the way up until Saturday to decide on their backup catcher and presumably one of two (maybe three) bench players.

Name	Chance	Note
Pitchers
Philip Humber		Humber has been a pretty good pitcher, and he has the upper hand in the race mainly because he's out of options. If he isn't in Minnesota, he'll be in another organization.
Jose Mijares		Mijares coming into camp was a favorite to make the bullpen. After it was realized that he was out-of-shape, and even more so, after some bad outings, he's all but assured of being cut.
Brian Duensing		With the Twins seemingly going with 12 pitchers, Duensing's chances have immensely improved. He has an actual shot of being a second lefty.
R.A. Dickey		It looks to be between Dickey and Humber for the long relief role, and Humber has the upper hand since Dickey can be sent down and Humber is out of options.
Hitters
Brian Buscher		While it seemed as though Buscher was a lock, it isn't totally guaranteed at this point. Now that the team will go with 12 pitchers, Buscher might be going against Tolbert for his spot.
Matt Tolbert		Tolbert's chances went from decent to a likely start at triple-A when (well, it's expected) the Twins decided to go with a 12-man pitching staff. His spot on the bench has been lost and he's going against Buscher.
Alejandro Machado		Machado won't make the team, it's that simple. If he'll even be in triple-A is questionable.
Drew Butera		Many say that Butera holds the lead over Morales at this point because the Twins are looking for defense out of their backup catcher. It'll come down to the wire.
Jose Morales		Morales is a decent hitter, but is an average defender at best. Butera provides much more behind the plate, and that could eventually cost Morales a spot.

Removed this week were Luis Ayala (he's basically a lock), Justin Jones (cut) and Jason Pridie (cut). Tomorrow should put an end to all pitching questions, and the final bench spot and backup catcher role could come down to a decision on Saturday before the team heads north.