Seth Stohs

If you’re like me, one of the fun things to do during spring training is to read through all of the box scores. They’re long, and full of names as starters are just getting a couple of at bats and managers are wanting to see their role players and non-roster invitees. It’s a good reminder of the offseason transactions and who signed where. That’s important for the big free agents, but it’s also fun to see where the lesser-known names and the minor league free agents signed. As someone who is coming up on ten years of blogging on the Twins, it’s also fun for me to see where former Twins players wind up. Some of the names are easily recognizable, and some of the players may not have even made it to the majors but ‘grew up’ in the Twins farm system. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Now, this may not be a complete list of who is in big league camp. You may have seen on SportsCenter the other day that JD Durbin (aka The Real Deal) gave up a long home run to Edwin Encarnacion. Durbin signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox this winter after spending the past few summers in independent ball. So, check out the below list of 40 man roster guys and non-roster invites that are in big league camp right now, and be sure to point out who else you know is playing. Baltimore Orioles – Luis Ayala, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia and JJ Hardy are on their 40 man roster. Allan de San Miguel, Steve Pearce (drafted out of high school and spent 2012 spring training with Twins), Lew Ford and Jason Pridie are non-roster invites. De San Miguel is also on the Australian WBC team. Boston Red Sox – Craig Breslow and David Ortiz are on the 40 man roster. Last year’s Rule 5 selection Terry Doyle is a non-roster invitee. New York Yankees – Utility infielder Gil Velezquez in a non-roster invite. Toronto Blue Jays – RA Dickey and Henry Blanco are on the 40 man roster. Ramon Ortiz was a spring training invite. Chicago White Sox – Jesse Crain is on the 40 man roster. Jeff Gray and Steve Tolleson are non-roster invites. Cleveland Indians – Matt Capps and Matt Carson signed minor league deals with spring invites. Detroit Tigers – Torii Hunter got a very nice contract to be on the Tigers’ 40 man roster. Houston Astros – They found some reason to put Phil Humber on their 40 man roster. Los Angeles Angels – Brendan Harrison, Luis(!) Rodriguez and Trent Oeltjen are non-roster invites. Oakland A’s – Last year’s surprise team has Grant Balfour and Pat Neshek in their bullpen and on their 40 man roster. Texas Rangers – A couple of former Twins All Stars, Joe Nathan and AJ Pierzynski, are on their 40 man roster. Evan Meek, Eli Whiteside and Yangervis Solarte are in their camp on minor league deals. Atlanta Braves – Dusty Hughes got a minor league deal. Miami Marlins – Jon Rauch is on the 40 man roster while Kevin Slowey inked a minor league deal with a spring invite. New York Mets – A couple of oldies but goodies are with the Mets. Johan Santana’s deal is finally in its final season. LaTroy Hawkins, a non-roster invite, has to be getting close to his final season. Philadelphia Phillies – Ben Revere and Delmon Young are on the Phillies 40 man roster. Young is likely to begin the season on the DL. Washington Nationals – Denard Span and Wilson Ramos are on their 40 man roster. Ramos is hoping to be ready for Opening Day, but it may not be very likely. Chicago Cubs – Matt Garza and Scott Baker are on their 40 man roster, and both could miss Opening Day. Darnell McDonald is a non-roster invite. Cincinnati Reds – Corky Miller is a non-roster invite. Milwaukee Brewers – Carlos Gomez turned out alright, finally, and got a nice contract via arbitration. Pittsburgh Pirates – They finally reached their agreement with Francisco Liriano. Garrett Jones will again make a lot of money in his second arbitration season. Also, Kyle Waldrop is there on a minor league deal with the spring invite. St. Louis Cardinals - JR Towles is in Cards' camp on a minor league deal. Arizona Diamondbacks – How about this… Michael Tonkin’s brother-in-law is on the D-Backs 40 man roster. Colorado Rockies – Michael Cuddyer is on their 40 man roster. Jeff Manship got a spring training invitation and in his first spring outing threw seven pitches and got a pop up and two strikeouts. Los Angeles Dodgers – Nick Punto and Matt Guerrier are on the 40 man roster. Punto is on Team Italy in the WBC. Peter Moylan got a minor league deal. San Diego Padres – Jason Marquis is on the 40 man roster, and Rene Rivera got a spring training invite. San Francisco Giants – Jose Mijares is on their 40 man roster. Boof Bonser is back with his original team on a minor league deal. So there you have it, a quick look around the other rosters to see which former Twins players are in big league camp. If I missed anyone, please let me know. The only teams not to have even one former Twins-related player in big league camp are the Tampa Bay Rays, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners, and the St. Louis Cardinals.