Mauer off disabled list, rejoins Twins

CLEVELAND -- The Twins activated first baseman Joe Mauer from the 10-day disabled list and recalled utility infielder Taylor Motter from Triple-A Rochester on Friday, a day after they optioned third baseman Miguel Sanó to Class A Advanced Fort Myers and outfielder Jake Cave to Rochester.
Mauer missed 25 games with a cervical neck strain and concussion-like symptoms stemming from a diving attempt in Anaheim on May 11. He played in four rehab games with Rochester, going 0-for-10, but most importantly, he said his concussion symptoms are behind him. He led off against the Indians in his return, going 0-for-4 in Minnesota's 6-3 win.
"It's been going good," Mauer said before Friday's game. "Went down there, got in a couple games and did everything I had to do to get back here. It was a short little stint, but definitely excited to check off those boxes."

Motter, 28, brings versatility to the Twins, as he has experience at four infield positions and three outfield positions. Minnesota optioned Cave and brought up Motter because they needed infield depth after optioning Sano, as Ehire Adrianza will now be the primary shortstop with Eduardo Escobar at third base.
Motter is a career .198/.269/.326 hitter with 10 homers and 36 RBIs in parts of three seasons with the Rays and Mariners. He was hitting .167/.255/.310 in 13 games at Rochester after he was claimed off waivers from the Mariners on May 28.
"I'm happy and excited to be here," Motter said. "It's always tough to get DFA'd. But to get picked up by another team is always good. Your opportunity doesn't lay with just one team. I'm excited it's for the Twins now, and hopefully it's for the rest of my career."

As for Sano, he arrived in Fort Myers on Friday and will begin his program on Saturday, chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. The Twins chose to send him to Fort Myers instead of Rochester because he has more access to coaches and trainers there, and they can have him work on his conditioning and hitting at the club's Spring Training complex.
He'll play in games with the Miracle, but will also have some days where he focuses on conditioning or hitting work instead of seeing game action. There's no timetable for his return, and he doesn't necessarily have to advance to any other levels in the Minors before he's called back up. It's almost like a second Spring Training for Sano, who had offseason surgery to have a titanium rod inserted in his left shin and also missed 24 games with a strained left hamstring suffered in late April.
"We're going to do strength work, hitting work, infield work," Falvey said. "Some days he might not play in a game and do a heavy dose of other areas. It's been a challenging 12 months for him since he had that injury. He had some downtime and then had that surgery. His offseason was atypical when it comes to workouts. And he goes through Spring Training in a decent spot and then has the hamstring injury. We just felt the best thing we could do was start from a blank canvas and get some strength and go from there. That's our view."
Injury updates
• Shortstop Jorge Polanco, who is set to return from his 80-game suspension on July 2, was set to start his 15-game rehab assignment on Sunday, but is dealing with a cut finger on his right hand after accidentally slamming it in a door. The Twins don't believe it's a serious injury, but Polanco will likely have fewer games to get ready for his return. Polanco, who is out of Minor League options, has to be added to the roster once eligible, unless he's placed on the disabled list.
"All it does is cut down his rehab," Falvey said. "If he doesn't start Sunday, it doesn't really matter. It might just mean he'll play in fewer games in that window. But we don't see it as a long-term issue."
• Right-hander Ervin Santana threw his first bullpen session since suffering a setback with his surgically repaired right middle finger. He'll continue his throwing program before restarting a second rehab assignment and is roughly a month away from returning.