TWINS REPORT: Mauer earns a promotion

St. Paul's Joe Mauer, one of the top minor league prospects in baseball, moved tantalizingly close to the major leagues Sunday when the Twins promoted him to Class AA New Britain.

Mauer, 20, who led the Class A Florida State League with a .335 batting average the first half of the season and played in the FSL all-star game Saturday, was promoted from Fort Myers along with pitchers J.D. Durbin (9-2, 3.09 earned-run average) and Jim Abbott (5-3, 2.31).

"It's time," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said of Mauer, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft. "He's catching well. He's throwing well. He's playing well. So it's time. He and Durbin and Abbott, all three are deserving."

Durbin struck out three in one inning in Saturday's all-star game.

Ryan said the move to AA, from which players frequently are promoted to the big leagues, is not an indication Mauer is especially close to his major league debut.

"It's a sizable jump. We'll see how he handles it,'' he said. "There are a lot of 25-year-old players at AA. There are some players at the AA level who have played in the big leagues. The weather up there is a little different. Travel's much shorter in Florida. So it gives you a little different feel."

Other shuffling of minor leaguers included sending catcher Rob Bowen (.308) from New Britain to AAA Rochester, moving AAA catcher Gabby Torres (.192) down to New Britain, and sending AA catcher Kelley Gulledge (.260) back to Fort Myers.