The Twins this morning optioned righthander Tyler Duffey to Class AAA Rochester and righthander Chase DeJong to the minor league camp. That puts the camp roster at 44 players, 21 of them pitchers.

Both were long shots to make the team, and both didn't pitch particularly well in exhibition games this year. The pitching picture will take more time to sort out, and probably go down to the last day. The Twins have pitchers in camp who are out of options, like Adalberto Mejia and Matt Magill. And there are non-roster invites like Mike Morin and Ryne Harper who has been chugging along and deserve to stick around.

Kyle Gibson is on the mound today as the Twins face the Rays in Port Charlotte. He has thrown five scoreless innings through two starts, and he should be reaching the 60-pitch limit after this outing.

The Knutson Classic championship is on the line here. With a win or tie, the Twins will win the, "Dukes Cup," for the fourth consecutive season.

Dukes Knutson, from Duluth, is a friendly man who has worked in the pressboxes for both clubs (mostly the Rays), so we made up a championship and named it after him. The concept is meant as a slap in the face of the crummy Commissioner's Cup that the Twins and Red Sox play for every year. If they can make up a contest of no signifigance, so can we.

A few years ago, writers from all three clubs met at a bar in Fort Myers and tried to come up with a trophy series. We settled on the McCarty Cup, named after David McCarty, who played for all three teams. Somehow, the idea never became reality.

We're going to try again next year. The Braves are moving into the region, so were trying to figure out a four-team contest. Anyone who knows a common link between the four teams let me know.


Twins

Max Kepler, RF
MARWIN, 1B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Eddie Rosario, LF
Jonanthan Schoop, 2B
Willians Astudillo, C
Byron Buxton, CF
Adam Rosales, 3B
Ronald Torreyes, SS

Kyle Gibson, RHP

Rays

Austin Meadows, LF
Tommy Pham, DH
Joey Wendle, SS
Avisail Garcia, RF
Kevin Kiermaier, CF
Yandy Diaz, 1B
Daniel Robertson, 2B
Kean Wong, 3B
Mac James, C

Yonny Chirinos, RHP