First of all, let’s NOT continue with another day of discussion about how the Twins and Boof Bonser handled his sore shoulder. Playing doctor-from-a-distance is a silly exercise.

From what was reported, there was no structural damage that would have warranted surgery when Boof was checked out after last season, and rest is the typical first step on a road that, if all doesn’t go well, eventually leads to the surgeon’s table. It’s similar to what played out in Colorado with Jeff Francis for the better part of a year before he decided last week to undergo shoulder surgery. An initial MRI showed nothing, and the rest-and-rehab route was seen as the proper course to take until it became obvious that the pain wasn’t going away.

That being said, Bonser’s loss is one of those things that was bound to happen to someone. And, to put things in perspective, Bonser’s best-case scenario was to compete to be the right-handed reliever who would get first call to work the seventh or eighth inning. He was a longshot for that role, though, and was probably destined for long relief. In other words — and this isn’t intended to sound crass — it’s not like Bonser was being seen as a vital and irreplaceable piece of the bullpen mosaic. That was a 5.93 ERA last season.

Here’s what interests me about the guys who would appear to be the bullpen crew on an 11-man pitching staff (that doesn’t include Juan Cruz): The six front-runners are Joe Nathan, Craig Breslow, Jose Mijares, Luis Ayala, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. All of them have essentially been one-inning-or-less guys in their most recent roles.

So if those are the chosen, one will have to be reinvented as a long reliever.

Guerrier, who was seen as the main set-up guy in 2008 until he lost his mojo, was a middle reliever in 2005 and 2006 (140 1/3 innings in 86 appearances) and may be the choice to be moved to the nights when the Twins starter takes an unnaturally early exit. Under more typical conditions, that role would normally be filled by a failed starter (Bonser or R.A. Dickey) or a minor-league starter who isn’t in position to fill that role in the majors (Philip Humber or Jason Jones) and isn’t thought to have more than a modest upside.

On a 12-man pitching staff, Bonser’s injury creates an open competition for that long relief spot. Humber… Jones… Dickey… or another young pitcher who has a surprising spring and would be seen as a potential sixth starter in the event that such is needed.

If your team’s biggest roster uncertainty is trying to fill out the last couple spots in the bullpen, things aren’t so bad, right? I’ll spend my concern on Joe Mauer’s rehab.

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A couple of multimedia notes.

Tonight’s Twins-Red Sox game is being telecast by the new MLB Network. In Comcast Nation, you need the digital premier sports digital tier to get that channel. But if you don’t have it and you really want to watch the game, you should be able to find a bar that has it. The Twins-Yankees games this weekend are also on MLBN.

At noon on Thursday, Joe C. will be host of a Live Chat on startribune.com. More than 1,500 people came by last week for our first Twins chat, which I hosted, and we’re planning on making these sessions a regular thing throughout the season.  Stop by and get wisdom from Joe.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 9:23 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.