Baker continues rapid climb

Scott Baker remains on the fast track in his route through the Twins' minor league system.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-hander was promoted to Class AAA Rochester, his second promotion this season. His first triple-A start didn't go smoothly, however, as he allowed nine hits and six earned runs in five innings. But it was one of the few times any hitters have had success against him this season.

Baker, the Twins' second-round pick in the 2003 draft, began the season at Class A Fort Myers, where he went 4-2 with a 2.40 earned-run average. That earned him a spot a Class AA New Britain, where he went 5-3 with a 2.43 ERA.

Jim Rantz, the Twins director of minor league operations, witnessed a 14-strikeout performance by Baker, a team-record for New Britain. He accomplished the feat against Binghampton, who is the top hitting team in the Eastern League at .285.

"He is pretty much like (reliever) Jesse Crain was last year, in that he went from Fort Myers to Rochester in one season," Rantz said. "This kid will get a few starts at triple-A before the year is out. He's the only guy I've had that was named an all-star in the first half of two different leagues. Of course, he couldn't play in the Florida State League All-Star Game because he was already in double-A."

Baker, who played college baseball at Oklahoma State, has shown great command of his pitches this year, his first full year of professional baseball. He combined to strike out 109 and walked only 19 before making his debut with Rochester.

"He threw strikes in his first start there but left too many pitches over the plate against more experienced hitters," Rantz said. "We'll see what kind of adjustments he makes as he moves forward. The good thing was he maintained his velocity and kept throwing."

Bringing the heat: The Twins have a pair of hard-throwing right-handers, Travis Bowyer and Kevin Cameron, in New Britain's bullpen. Bowyer, 2-0 with a 1.87 ERA, has topped out at 96 mph on the radar gun, and Cameron (0-0, 0.56) isn't far behind when it comes to velocity.

Both started the year in Fort Myers before being promoted.

With the Twins looking at trades that can help them win the American League Central Division, theirs are the types of prospects whose names that may come up in talks.

"It's possible, but it just comes down to who is coming back our way," Rantz said. "It has to be a good fit for the organization. We don't know what's going to happen, and there is still a few days until the trade deadline."

More save situations should come to both Bowyer and Cameron since closer Bobby Korecky is on the disabled list with a sore elbow. Korecky, who was part of the trade that sent Eric Milton to the Philadelphia Phillies, is waiting on results of a magnetic resonance imaging test to determine how long he will be out.

Briefly: The left side of Rochester's infield is back on the field in shortstop Jason Bartlett and third baseman Terry Tiffee. Both missed significant time this year because of injury, so winter baseball evaluations will help determine how close they are to playing in the big leagues.

The Twins must make decisions on whether to bring back Corey Koskie and Cristian Guzman next season.

Center fielder Denard Span, the team's No. 1 pick in 2003, is starting to hit off a tee as part of his rehabilitation process from hamate bone (wrist) surgery last month. The Twins hope he can return to action before the season ends next month at Class A Quad Cities.