The Minnesota Twins have activated rookie 3B off of the disabled list and they will likely make him their starting 3B for the remainder of the season.  He has played in 8 games this season for the Twins and he is 5 for 22 (.227 avg) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI.  The Twins have placed rookie infielder Tommy Watkins on the 15-day disabled list with a lower abdominal muscle strain.

The Twins have been in a team wide slump but rookie Tommy Watkins forgot to read the memo.  He has played in 10 games this season for the Twins and he is 10 for 28 (.357 avg, .795 OPS) with 2 runs scored.  He doesn’t have power but if he can continue to hit the baseball he will get a lot of playing time for the Twins the rest of the season.

The Twins have claimed infielder Chris Basak off of waivers from the New York Yankees.  The 28 year old played in 5 games for the Yankees this season and he was 0 for 1.  He has played in 84 AAA games this season and he was 78 for 308 (.253 avg, .695 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 7 homers and 38 RBIs.  The Twins will probably give him some playing time right away due to Jason Bartlett’s injury.

Ramon Ortiz was a disappointment for the Twins this season so they were probably happy to unload him and get anything in return for him.  He pitched in 28 games (10 starts) for the Twins this season and he was 4-4 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.  The Twins received 25-year old 2B Matt Macri for Ortiz.  Macri swings the bat from the right side and he was having a good season between AA+AAA ball in 2006.   He has played in 82 games in the minors this season and he was 88 for 284 (.310 avg, .883 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 12 homers and 37 RBIs.

The Twins have signed righty starting pitcher Jerome Williams to a minor league contract.  Williams started 6 games this season for the Washington Nationals and he was 0-5 with 1 7.20 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.  In 30 innings this season he allowed 34 hits, walked 18 batters and whiffed 15.  The Twins will give him a chance to get his act together in August with the idea of bringing him up in September if he pitches well in the minors.