They run the gamut from young prospects who haven’t seen AA to grizzled MLB veterans. Among them are some hard-throwing pitchers, free swinging hitters, and stout defenders. And their personal stories are just as interesting. Almost all of them are struggling with some sort of adversity, whether it is a lack of opportunity, lack of respect, or, in one case, problems with drug addiction. Quite a few of them are former Tigers, some were once drafted by the Twins, and one of them is the nephew of a reality TV star.

But the thing we really want to know about them is which ones will play for the Twins this year. Unfortunately, all of these players have one built-in disadvantage in trying to make the Majors: they are not on the 40 man roster. In order to call any of these guys up, the Twins would need to place a player on waivers or the 60 day Disabled List. Those types of transactions do happen over the course of a season, but it can be a big impediment for a non-roster player. (more…)

One Steve Pearce represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District. The other is a 28 year old, right-handed hitting first baseman and outfielder who will don jersey number 39 when Spring Training starts. No disrespect to New Mexico republicans (if any are reading), but I’m going to focus the rest of this article on the latter.

Steven Wayne Pearce played college ball for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. He displayed some incredible power for South Carolina, mashing 42 homers in just 128 college games. Apparently, he also displayed an appreciation for the work of Ed Norton and Demi Moore (I know you were just itching to know who Pearce’s favorite actors were). That college resume was enough to earn quite a bit of draft interest for Pearce. The Red Sox selected him in the 10th round in 2004 (he did not sign), and the Pirates took him in the 8th round in 2005 (he did sign). But the Twins were actually the first team to draft Pearce – they selected him in the 45th round back in 2003. So, in a sense, this spring is nothing more than an extended homecoming for Pearce. (more…)