Moses gets week to get into groove

It's only a week, but it means a lot to the Twins and third base prospect Matt Moses.

Moses has completed rehabilitation from a back injury that limited him to 20 games and 76 at-bats at Class A Quad City. He left the Twins' Florida headquarters on Friday to rejoin Quad City for the final week of the season.

"He's going to finish the year there, because from there he's going straight to the instructional league," said Jim Rantz, Twins director of minor leagues.

Moses, the Twins' first-round pick in the 2003 draft, had back problems dating to an old high school football injury. In order to play baseball, Moses will have to do specific exercises to keep his back in playing condition,

Rantz said the club is not worried about Moses' long-term health. Moses was batting .237 with three home runs and 13 RBI before breaking down, but the club thinks Moses can help Quad City, the only Twins affiliate with a shot of reaching the postseason this year.

Getting instruction

"We try to teach them fundamentals and get them settled into our system and how we do things, and teach them on being a pro," Rantz said. "There's a lot of classroom stuff, and we probably overload them, but we're trying to get them to the next level."

Latin report

One player who caught his eye was righthander Johan Piņo, who was 10-1 with a 0.53 ERA with 81 strikeouts and five walks in 84 2/3 innings. Piņo is a long way from the majors but is off to a good start.

Check that, a decent start. The Twins were led to believe that Piņo was 18 but later discovered he was actually 20. He will be brought to the United States next year.

"He's still a prospect," Smith said. "We will have to move him a little quicker because of his age. We still like him. He's a tall, slender kid who dominated that league."

The Twins merged their Dominican and Venezuelan academies this season, After moving many players to the States, releasing others and turning over much of their Latin scouting department, they didn't have enough players to participate in the Venezuelan League. So their Dominican League team included some Venezuelans, two players from Colombia and one from St. Maarten. Smith said the club would like to field a full Venezuelan league team next year.