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• Needing to make room on the 40-man roster for Torii Hunter and Ervin Santana the Twins first dropped Chris Colabello--who was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jays--and have now designated Chris Parmelee for assignment. Parmelee was previously dropped from the 40-man roster during spring training, but passed through waivers unclaimed, stayed in the organization, and was eventually re-added to the roster.

Parmelee was the Twins' first-round draft pick in 2006 and as a California high schooler his power potential received lots of hype, but that simply never developed. His path to the majors stalled at Double-A, where he repeated the level and hit .282/.355/.416 with 19 homers in 253 total games, but Parmelee got a September call-up in 2011 and came out of nowhere to hit .355/.443/.593 in 21 games for the Twins. Unfortunately that proved to be a mirage.

In three seasons since then Parmelee logged 813 plate appearances in the big leagues, including several stints as a lineup regular, but hit .238/.304/.371 with 20 homers and a 197/63 K/BB ratio in 252 games. During that same period his Triple-A numbers were a lot more promising and at age 27 he still has time to become a productive major leaguer, but Parmelee got a fair shake in Minnesota and just never hit enough for a mediocre defensive first baseman/corner outfielder.

• Selected by the Twins in the Rule 5 draft, J.R. Graham is a one-time top prospect whose career has been derailed by shoulder problems. Graham was the Braves' fourth-round draft pick in 2011 out of Santa Clara and moved quickly through their system, advancing to Double-A in his second pro season. He fared well there at age 22 and that offseason Baseball America ranked Graham as a top-100 prospect, praising his mid-90s fastball and ability to generate ground balls.

However, the diminutive right-hander broke down in 2013, making just eight starts, and last year Graham posted a 5.55 ERA while being limited to 71 innings back at Double-A due to more arm issues. Once on the fast track, Graham is now 25 years old and has yet to advance past Double-A, spending three years there with increasingly poor results. His fastball has dipped into the low-90s and the Braves thought so little of Graham's upside that they left him off the 40-man roster.

Rule 5 picks must remain in the majors for the entire season or be offered back to their original team. Graham has been a starter throughout his career, but shifted to the bullpen last year and could be stashed by the Twins in a middle relief role pretty easily. They did that with Rule 5 pick Ryan Pressly in 2013, giving him 49 low-leverage appearances, and shifting to the bullpen full time could help Graham stay healthy too.

• As part of the Rule 5 draft the Twins also lost left-hander Sean Gilmartin to the Mets. Acquired from the Braves last offseason in exchange for Ryan Doumit, the 24-year-old former first-round pick turned mediocre prospect fared well at Double-A and then struggled at Triple-A. He doesn't throw hard or generate many strikeouts and now has a 5.03 ERA in 38 starts at Triple-A, so it's tough to see Gilmartin developing into a useful starter in the majors.

However, he may still have some value in the bullpen as a situational southpaw. This past season righties hit .285 off Gilmartin, but he held lefties to a .201 batting average with zero homers and a 49/4 K/BB ratio. Once the Twins decided to keep Brian Duensing via arbitration for around $2.5 million there wasn't much room for Gilmartin in their plans and losing a potential lefty specialist in the Rule 5 draft generally isn't worth fretting about.

• As a free agent last winter Kendrys Morales turned down a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer from the Mariners and then found zero teams interested in forfeiting a draft pick to sign him. He sat out until after the draft, signing with the Twins for $7.5 million. Morales was terrible, first for the Twins and then back with the Mariners, hitting .218/.274/.338 in 98 games as a DH. And now the defending American League champs have given him a two-year, $17 million contract.

• This week's "Gleeman and The Geek" episode featured tons of Santana talk, plus our attempt to figure out Eduardo Escobar rumors and Ricky Nolasco's place in the Twins' plans.

This week's blog content is sponsored by Harry's Razors, which has a special offer for "Gleeman and The Geek" listeners who use the promo code "GleemanHoliday" on their order.