Twins minor league notes

Luis Maza once was considered an up-and-comer in the Twins farm system.

His development stalled in recent years because of an annoying amount of errors at shortstop -- 18 in 56 games for Class A Elizabethton in 2000, 23 in 116 games for Class A Quad City in 2001, and 32 in 105 games for Class A Fort Myers in 2002.

Maza has since been moved to second base -- and turned his career around. Through 45 games, Maza has not committed an error at Class AA New Britain. And he's batting .335, perhaps in a better mood because he's not making errors.

"He's been playing the heck out of second base," said Jim Rantz, the Twins' director of minor leagues. "He has quick feet and quick hands. His bat has been something special. He hitting about fifth in the league in hitting."

Part of the reason Maza was moved to second was because of the emergence of shortstop Jason Bartlett, but moving closer to first clearly has helped.

Despite the Twins lacking many good infield prospects, Maza continues to be viewed more of a utility prospect than an everyday player.

Crain improving at Rochester

He earned his 12th save with a three-up three-down inning on Thursday against Norfolk. Crain's ERA has dropped to 2.70 and he has 33 strikeouts in 26 2/3 innings.

"He's getting in the routine of getting out there and pitching a couple of innings and repeating two or three days in a row," Rantz said. "He's concentrating on getting the ball down in the zone, and he's getting better with more experience and games on the mound."

The Twins coaching staff reads Crain's line with great interest. He's expected to be called up sometime this season, but it will be tricky because he would have to be placed on the 40-man roster and the club is worried about making too many of those moves.

Around the minors

• After a slow start, righthander Matt Yeatman is 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA at Fort Myers. Yeatman was one of two pitchers acquired from Milwaukee for Matt Kinney and Javier Valentin.

• Outfielder Denard Span, the Twins first-round pick in 2002, is still out because of a sore wrist.

• Third baseman Matt Moses, last year's first-round pick, will be out for another week as he recovers from a sore back.