I wrote a story for our baseball preview section about the Twins farm system. I was hard on them for not doing a better job of drafting from 1998-2000.

Those players would be established major leaguers by now.  But out of 151 players drafted during that time, the only player the Twins were able to sign, get to the majors and become established was Justin Morneau. Jason Kubel was drafted during that time and Travis Bowyer was part of the Luis Castillo trade. but those still are three bad years.

I generally think the Twins have good farm system, especially after the Johan Santana trade has added more prospects to an already good crop.

Yet I believe that if you’re not going to spend money for free agents you have to have a steady pipeline of talent flowing from the farm system. The Twins can’t afford to have a bad run like they did from 1998-2000 and they have admitted such. And, while I agree that the scouting business is filled with poor picks and wasted money, the Twins must be a notch above everyone else.

The Twins had a great chance in 2004 to bolster their farm system when, because of compensation picks, they had five of the top 39 selections.

Baseball America that year rated the Twins’ draft as the best of all 30 teams, but the club is still waiting for the talent to show up in the majors.

Shortstop Trevor Plouffe was selected with the 20th overall selection. After a slow start with the bat at the lower levels, Plouffe hit .274 at Class AA New Britain last season with 9 homers and 50 RBI. His 37 doubles led the organization. He fields well but has had to smooth out throwing errors and trying to make plays he can’t. He turns 22 in June, so he’s not worth giving up on.

Lefthander Glen Perkins was taken two picks later and debuted in the majors in 2006. Unfortunately, Perkins missed most of last season dealing with a strained muscle near his shoulder. There seems to be a group of Twins officials who want Perkins to start and another that thinks he should be a reliever. Either way, Perkins needs to pitch innings after the lost season of 2007. He still has a great chance to be good - either as a starter or a reliever.

(the Yankees drafted Philip Hughes, by the way, after Perkins)

Righthander Kyle Waldrop was the Twins’ third pick of the first round, 25th overall. This pick surprised come clubs because Waldrop was thought to be headed to college. He joined the Twins as a pitcher with an advanced knowledge of working hitters and the ability to change speeds. Waldrop was 7-5 with a 3.45 ERA at Class A Fort Myers and 3-6, 5.34 at Class AA New Britain last season. The Twins want him to step it up this year, but the 22-year old already has had some arm trouble this year.

Righthander Matt Fox was selected in the supplemental round, 35th overall. Unfortunately, Fox isn’t the pitcher the Twins drafted him to be because of shoulder surgery that knocked him out for all of 2005. Fox returned after that with his velocity down and has worked to regain his old form ever since. He currently is in the bullpen at Class A Fort Myers.

The Twins selected rigthhander Jay Rainville 39th overall. Rainville came out of high school with a plus fastball and some thought he could develop into nice power pitcher. But Rainville also has broken down, missing all of 2006 with a nerve problem in his throwing shoulder. The Twins were thrilled just to see Rainville on the mound again last season, when he went 9-11 with a 3.29 ERA last year at Class A Fort Myers. Rainville, who turns 23 in October, is in the rotation at Class AA New Britain.

So the results are mixed from this draft. The Twins have suffered setbacks with injuries. They are waiting for Plouffe to take his final steps of development and Waldrop may be at a crossroads.

The Twins did draft Juan Portes and Eduardo Morlan (spun off in the Delmon Young deal) in 2004.

And maybe drafting this guy in the 16th round turn out to be a steal.

I almost caused a catastrophe in the clubhouse this morning.

I was talking with Justin Morneau about hitting (he did most of the talking) when, out of the corner of my eye, I see a hand extending out towards me.

I thought someone wanted to shake my hand, so I reached out to grab it. It was Michael Cuddyer, who was trying to show me the stitches on dislocated finger. “Whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Cuddyer yelped as he pulled his hand away. “Good thing I have good reflexes.”

I felt terrible.

Anyway, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has an interesting lineup in play today. One thing he likes to do use his bench early in the season. After six weeks of spring training he’s not going to stick a player on the bench and not use him. “You’ll lose a player that way,” he said. “This way, everyone feels he’s a part of this thing.”

So Tolbert gets another start, this time at short. Brendan Harris has kicked the flu bug and is back at second. And Denard Span, who was at the park at 8:15 a.m. to shag fly balls in right field, makes his major league debut.

The Twins can move into first place with a win and a Chicago loss. You can feel the drama in the air today.

Royals (3-2)

1. Joey Gathright, CF.

2. Alberto Callaspo, 2B.

3. Mark Teahen, LF

4. Jose Guillen, RF

5. Billy Butler, DH

6. Alex Gordon, 3B.

7. Ross Gload, 1B.

8. John Buck, C

9. Tony Pena, SS

Pitching: Brett Tomko

Twins (3-3)

1. Go-Go, CF.

2. Matt Tolbert, SS

3. Joe Mauer, C.

4. Justin Morneau, 1B.

5. Delmon Young, LF.

6. Jason Kubel, DH

7. Brendan Harris, 2B.

8. Mike Lamb, 3B.

9. Denard Span, RF.

Pitching: Boof Bonser

Denard Span was expected to arrive before the first pitch and be in uniform for today’s game, but his arrival was easily trumped by the news that the Royals purchased Hideo Nomo’s contract from the minors.

Nomo, the trailblazer for Japanese players, will work out of the bullpen.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Carlos Gomez will remain in center field and Span will move around the outfield. The Twins want Gomez to get settled in center. It sounds like Jason Kubel will slide back to the DH platoon with Craig Monroe on the days Gardy wants Gomez and Span in the lineup.

No word on if Francisco Liriano’s wife gave birth to the couple’s first child yet.

Michael Cuddyer, who was placed on the 15-day DL because of a dislocated and lacerated right index finger,  said before the game that he could be cleared to swing a bat within ten days. We’ll see. He said the knuckle near the tip of his index finger slipped backwards and the finger tip bent straight up when he hit Alex Gordon and third base during Friday’s game.

Marlin Levinson, who’s one of our great photographers at the Strib, e-mailed me the photo of Cuddy’s hand as he came off the field late last night. Yuck.

The Phillies have designated righthander Tim Lahey for assignment. Lahey was a Twins prospect who was selected by the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft but was claimed by the Phillies when Chicago tried to move him off their roster before Opening Day.

If Lahey clears waivers this time, the Phillies can offer him back to the Twins. The Twins, I’m hearing, will take him back. But I thought they were going to take R.A. Dickey back too. When the Mariners told the Twins they wanted to keep Dickey, the Twins gave them a list of five prospects they liked, and Seattle signed off on catcher Jair Fernandez.

Wow. A lot of stuff before a day game. These are the days the internet comes in handy because I’m not sure how much of this will make the Sunday paper.

Lineups

Royals

1. Joey Gathright, CF

2. Mark Grudzielanek,  2B

3. Mark Teahen, LF.

4. Jose Guillen, RF.

5. Billy Butler, DH.

6. Alex Gordon, 3B.

7. Miguel Olivo, C.

8. Ross Gload, 1B.

9. Alberto Callaspo, SS.

Pitching: Gil Meche

Twins

1. Go-Go, CF

2. Matt Tolbert, 2B

3. Joe Mauer, C.

4. Justin Morneau, 1B.

5. Delmon Young, LF,

6. Jason Kubel, RF.

7. Craig Monroe, DH

8. Mike Lamb, 3B.

9. Adam Everett, SS.

Pitching: LivoÂ

The Twins placed outfielder Michael Cuddyer on the 15-day disabled list Friday because of a dislocated and lacerated right index finger. After examining Cuddyer at HCMC, doctors told the Twins that he would need two weeks to recover.

The Twins have called up outfielder Denard Span from Class AAA Rochester to replace Cuddyer on the roster. Span, one of the final cuts in camp, is 3 for 9 after two games with a stolen base. Knowing how the Twins think, they normally call up the last players cut if there’s an early injury.

Cuddyer was unavailable for comment after the game. Word was that he was still at the hospital getting treatment.

Cuddyer’s injury overshadowed a couple good things that happened on Friday.

One, how many times do we get to see a squeeze play?

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire used the former Astros to set up what turned out to be the winning run. Lamb led off the inning with a hard hit double into the right field corner (against a lefty, too).  Lamb moved to third on Matt Tolbert bunt and then took off for home as Adam Everett dropped a useful bunt in front of home plate.

“I decided that he was a National League guy and knows how to bunt, let’s try something different and squeeze,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Lamb did a super job at third base. He waited, waited and didn’t leave too early and Everett got it down.”

I thought it was a fitting play in a game that was a bunt-best. Kansas City’s Joey Gathright opened the game with a bunt single to the right of the mound, stole second easily and eventually scored on a fielder’s choice. The Twins’ Carlos Gomez, seemingly offended by someone trying to play like him, bunted for a hit to open the bottom of the inning, stole second easily then scored on Joe Mauer’s single.

The other thing was Scott Baker and his in-game adjustments. Baker wasn’t sharp the first two innings. Royals hitters were fouling pitches off and really extending at-bats. But Baker got locked in during the third inning and was able to last 62/3 innings before Pat Neshek entered the game.

“I just wasn’t executing pitches very well,” Baker said. Basically it came down to if I was going to survive the outing it was a point in the game where I needed to make some pitches.”

Check out Baker’s pitches by inning (according to my math):

1st inning: 21 pitches

2nd: 20

3rd: 11

4th: 6

5th:12

6th: 10

That’s making adjustments.

One more thing. Did you see Cuddyer clean Mark Gruzielanek’s clock as he tried to break up the double play in the first inning?

Michael  Cuddyer has been diagnosed with a dislocation and laceration of his right index finger and is headed for HCMC for further X-Rays.

He left tonight’s game in the third inning following a headfirst dive into third base.

Cuddyer was hustling from first to third on Justin Morneau’s RBI single and dove for the bag as Royals third baseman Alex Gordon caught a relay throw. Cuddyer held up his hand as he began to come off the field.

The Twins did not say if Cuddyer would land on the disabled list or not but he could need a few days to recover. Knowing him, he’ll try to play through it.

Matt Tolbert started at second base today for Brendan Harris, who apparently is the latest Twins player to catch the flu (I was trying to figure out why he had a jacket on inside the clubhouse). Going back to spring training, Rick Anderson, Randy Ruiz. Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey and now Harris have fell ill. What a bug.

Kevin Slowey is expected to be examined by a team doctor tonight. So we should find out after the game how the Twins will proceed with his biceps injury.

Update: Gardy said that Slowey definitely will miss his next start. His turn came up on an off-day so it’s not that big of a blow. However, Gardy added that Slowey may need seven to 10 days off. If it’s closer to 10, the Twins may need an arm from the minors. It still doesn’t mean that Franchise will replace Slowey. Franchise could need more than one Rochester outing anyway.

Heard from someone in Fort Myers that Liriano pitched around 91-92 mph during his outing on Thursday. He actually left the game with the lead but Cole Devries couldn’t keep a couple inherited baserunners from scoring. [Update: Gardy said in his pre-game presser that Liriano was 91-93].

The lineups:

Kansas City (3-0)

1. Joey Gathright, CF.

2. Mark Grudzielanek, 2B.

3. Alex Gordon, 3B.

4. Jose Guillen, RF.

5. Billy Butler, DH.

6. Mark Teahen, LF

7. Ross Gload, 1B.

8. John Buck, C.

9. Tony Pena, Jr.  SS.

Twins (1-3)

1. Carlos Gomez, CF.

2. Joe Mauer, C.

3. Michael Cuddyer, RF.

4. Justin Morneau, 1B.

5. Delmon Young, LF.

6. Craig Monroe, DH.

7. Mike Lamb, 3B.

8. Matt Tolbert, 2B.

9. Adam Everett, SS.