Jason Bartlett was sent to AAA Rochester today, and it's caused quite a bit of outrage among Twins fans who believe that Ron Gardenhire and the Twins' organization in general have something personal against Bartlett. It's true that the Twins haven't exactly shown much confidence in him since the beginning of last season. He was promptly sent to the minors after struggling the first 6 weeks of last season, and this season he hasn't been given the starting nod, despite not having any viable competition.

My guess is that the decision is completely based on Bartlett's hamstring injury of a week ago. He probably isn't going to be ready for the start of the season, so the Twins could put him on the DL or they could send him to AAA. Sending him to AAA gives the team more options. If Castro & Punto play well at SS early on then Bartlett can stay in AAA and get some at bats. If Castro & Punto struggle at SS early on, then the Twins can call up Bartlett without waiting for his 15 days on the DL to run out.

I'd rather see Bartlett spend a week or two in AAA getting some at bats until the Twins decide they need him than see him put on the DL for two weeks or see him rushed to the big-league squad where he'd likely start the season off rusty and not 100%. I'm gonna give Gardenhire the benefit of the doubt on this one and say that sending Bartlett to AAA was the better decision.

Edit: It looks like I posted my thoughts just a couple hours before the Star Tribune published its story on the matter which pretty much counters everything I speculated.