The Twins not only are banged up on the major league level. Several of their better prospects are injured. In a couple of cases, they will be out for weeks,

Luke Hughes, Class AAA Rochester: He came off the disabled late last week and was scheduled for play six innings. He lasted four, as he aggravated a groin muscle injury and will now miss four to six weeks.

Rene Tosoni, Class AA New Britain: He injured a shoulder during spring training, enough that the Twins hoped Tosoni could get through the season then have surgery. He was batting .270 with a .369 OBP at New Britain but could only DH. He grew frustrated,so the Twins decided to send Tosoni for season-ending surgery to repair his labrum.

Ben Revere, New Britain: Revere was trying to break up a double play on Tuesday and got kneed in the eye. ``No fractures. No concussions," said Jim Rantz, the Twins director of minor leagues. ``But his eye is closed shut." Revere will miss a week. Remember that Revere was hit in the knee earlier in the year while standing in against his teammate - and roommate - during a bullpen session and missed a week.

Aaron Hicks, Class A Beloit: The same day Revere was injured, Hicks, one of the Twins' top prospects, left Class A Beloit's game with a sore back. Hicks should be fine but it's something the organization is watching. Hicks' batting average, by the way, has slipped to .238.

Still, Hicks was voted to the Midwest League All-Star roster by managers, along with teammates in third baseman Anderson Hildago, Kane Holbrooks and Tom Stuifbergen. Stuifbergen's shoulder is acting up again, however, and he has been shut down. Update: Actually. he was having forearm problems, so Stuifbergen had an MRI on his elbow to make sure that was O.K. That checked out fine, but he's still shut down. Jim Rantz apologizes for the confustion,

Moves

Christopher Parmelee has been promoted to Class AA New Britain to replace Tosoni on the roster. Parmelee struggled at New Britain at the start of the season and was sent back to Fort Myers. He hit .338 with 2 homers and 17 RBI in 22 games there, earning the promotion,

Joe Benson could have been a candidate for promotion - but he has a sore back and will rest it over the next few days.

Righthander Deolis Guerra was sent to Rochester when Anthony Swarzak was injured. Now that Swarzak is back, Rochester has one starter too many. Guerra was sent back to New Britain. In his first game back on Wednesday, Guerra threw eight innings, giving up two unearned runs..

Rochester is waiting to see how J.J. Hardy's wrist turns out today or tomorrow. The feeling is that shortstop Trevor Plouffe could be on his way back to the majors,.

The draft

I planned to open this week's notebook with thoughts on the draft, But then I learned of all these injuries.

The Twins took a lot a pitchers. They claim they always select a lot of pitchers. Well, they took 29 pitchers last year and 28 the year before. And what really matters is how many they end up signing.

But the Twins were pleased with the hitters - the bats - they drafted.

They really like the potential of second round pick Niko Goodrum. He was drafted as a shortstop but is expected to wind up in the outfield. While Baseball America mentioned holes in his swing, the Twins see a player they can work with to close those holes and make into a good hitter. They really like his athletic ability.

Fifth round pick Nate Roberts is going to be an interesting case. He tore it up for High Point University ( 416/.573/.746 with 19 home runs and 36 stolen bases.)but wasn't seen by a lot of teams. Baseball America even wrote that Roberts lacked great tools. I threw that at the Twins yesterday,

``They had lesser background," said Mike Radcliff, the Twins VP in charge of player personnel.

``We feel confident on this guy," said Deron Johnson, the Twins' scouting director. ``We sent two scouts to the conference tournament and they backed the area scout. I trust those guys."

10th rounder J.D. Williams was timed at 6.5 seconds in the 60. While he was drafted as a second baseman he could end up in the outfield too,

Is Jamie Moyer's kid Dillon (SS taken in the 22nd round) a real prospect? ``We like him as a player," Radcliff said. ``He plays the game the right way."

Next week

I'm going to update my top ten prospects list - and there will be a change at the top. And stay tuned in the next couple of days (perhaps Sunday) for an update on what the Twins are doing in Latin America this year. They are after seven-figure talent again.