FORT MYERS, Fla. — Carlos Santana hasn’t hit leadoff in a regular-season game since 2018. But if Twins manager Rocco Baldelli’s spring training lineups are an indication of what’s coming, that could soon change.

Santana, a middle-of-the-order bat for most of his career, has hit leadoff recently in two games against lefties. While Edouard Julien is expected to fill that role against righties, Santana is among those Baldelli is considering against southpaws.

Last year, Donovan Solano, now a free agent, primarily settled into the leadoff spot against lefties. With him gone, there are “a few” options on the table, Baldelli said.

“It’s something I’m definitely thinking about and considering,” Baldelli said of Santana. “I think he will hit leadoff. I don’t know if it’s going to be the whole year. Our lineups really rarely hold for that long, but I think he’s a good candidate to do it. I think he can certainly handle it and he could do it.”

The switch-hitting first baseman, who said he enjoyed hitting leadoff, has historically been more successful from the right side of the plate. Last year, he slashed .266/.354/.453 against lefties with an .807 OPS.

Though his overall on-base percentage of .314 last season took a dip from his career number of .356, Santana has twice led the league in walks and is known for having a disciplined approach at the plate.

“They know that I’m taking a lot of walks and I’m getting on base all the time,” Santana said. “Everything that the team needs me for, that will help the team, I’ll do it.”

Spring Breakout on tap

The Twins’ top prospects will take center stage on Saturday, participating in the Spring Breakout against the brightest up-and-comers in the Tampa Bay Rays’ system. The game, which will start at 3:05 p.m. CT and will be seven innings, will be broadcast on Bally Sports North.

While top prospect Walker Jenkins is sidelined because of a quad strain, most of the organization’s top prospects will participate in the game, including Brooks Lee, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Gabriel Gonzalez.

David Festa, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, is slated to start the game, with 18-year-old Charlee Soto, whom the Twins drafted 34th overall last year, also expected to pitch.

“I think it’s a really cool opportunity for them, especially some of them who didn’t play in big league camp and haven’t been brought over to just get in front of a slightly bigger crowd to get that feeling that they are being showcased for the future,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “Hopefully it’s a reflection of their status in the industry but also my hope is that they come out of it with the desire to work harder. This isn’t the end point.”

Briefly

Former Twins center fielder Michael A. Taylor has reportedly reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates on a one-year, $4 million deal. The Twins had been interested in a reunion with Taylor before pivoting to Manny Margot. … The Twins will play a Grapefruit League game against the Rays on Friday before the Spring Breakout. Pablo López will start that game.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Reddit said Friday that the Federal Trade Commission has opened an inquiry into the social media platform’s sale, licensing or sharing of its users’ posts and other content to outside organizations for use in training artificial intelligence models.

The company disclosed the inquiry Friday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that cited a letter from the FTC dated Thursday.

“Given the novel nature of these technologies and commercial arrangements, we are not surprised that the FTC has expressed interest in this area,” Reddit wrote in the filing. “We do not believe that we have engaged in any unfair or deceptive trade practice.”

Like many other social media platforms, Reddit has expressed interest in business deals where AI companies pay to access databases of human-written text that AI models can use to refine their ability to converse, answer questions and produce written work and images on request.

Almost a month ago, Reddit announced a $60 million deal with Google for exactly that purpose. That arrangement will also give Reddit access to Google AI models for improving its internal site search and other features. Reddit declined to comment or answer questions beyond a written statement about the deal.

Friday’s disclosure comes as Reddit prepares to sell shares to the public for the first time. The San Francisco-based company on Monday filed paperwork that projected a price for its initial public offering valuing the 18-year-old platform at up to $6.4 billion.

Loic Mesanvi was mobbed at Allianz Field on March 2; it was one of the cutest things.

After the Minnesota United winger from Lakeville made his MLS home debut in the 1-1 draw with Columbus Crew, Mesanvi’s mother, father and younger brother wrapped him in huge heartfelt hugs. And one embrace wasn’t enough as it turned into multiple group hugs.

“It felt great,” Mesanvi said. “They have been wanting to come to my game for a while. I mean, I was thinking it would be the second-team game, but they came to a first-team one, which was big — and I got to play, too!”

It was big moment for the Mesanvis, who emigrated from the small African country of Togo to Minnesota in approximately 2018. His family members had not yet seen Loic play in a Loons jersey.

Mesanvi, 20, took advantage of two short-term loans to MNUFC from MNUFC2, the club’s second-level developmental team, to play in the opening two MLS matches of the 2024 season.

Mesanvi will now continue to develop with MNUFC2 this season; their MLS Next Pro league season opener is 3 p.m. Sunday versus Los Angeles FC 2 in Fullerton, Calif.

Jeremy Hall will be the head coach for MNUFC2 this season, Loons Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad told the Pioneer Press this week. But El-Ahmad wants to provide more opportunities for other up-and-coming coaches: Fanendo Adi, Alex Morawiecki and Justin Ferguson, who had been leading MNUFC2 in preseason.

Hall was an assistant under MNUFC2 coach Cameron Knowles last season and helped Knowles out when Knowles was interim head coach of MNUFC in the first three MLS games.

Knowles, now a first-team assistant under head coach Eric Ramsay, said this week that he still remembers Mesanvi’s debut for MNUFC2 in 2022. Mesanvi scored a goal in his debut match versus Portland Timbers 2.

“To see the growth that he has had in that time, to come into the first team — fantastic,” Knowles said. “I think he showed really well in those opportunities and showed his work rate, he showed how tenacious he is, he showed he can be an attacking threat. Obviously, his pace as well.”

But with restrictive league rules, Mesanvi cannot be called up to an MLS game for the rest of the season. He will have to continue to hone his game with MNUFC2.

“Just to keep my head up and just keep working and try to get that spot again,” Mesanvi said of his mindset. “It was a great chance, and I’m really grateful and thankful for it. But it’s not over, the season has just started, so I got to keep working and get back out there again.”

The Loons’ second team will represent the club in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup against Chicago House at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Mesanvi will likely be in the mix for that tournament match.

In his MLS debut, Mesanvi came off the bench for 14 minutes in the Loons’ season opener at Austin FC on Feb. 24. He got a 30-minute shift against the Crew. He had a shot on target and wasn’t shy about letting the officials know Columbus players were, he believed, going down too easy with contact.

“I was really nervous because it was my first time, obviously,” Mesanvi said. “But (vs. Columbus) I knew that I was home. Everybody was on our side. Every time we were going in their attacking third, I could hear the fans cheering and stuff. It was really good. In Austin, it all went mute.”

Mesanvi left Togo when he was 13 years old to join an academy in Ghana.

“I improved a lot,” he said. “It was the first time actually being away from my parents. It was tough on me because I was young and missed my family and stuff, but it was good for me in terms of development.”

Mesanvi said his father won the visa lottery in order to move the family from Togo to Minnesota. They settled in Lakeville, where Mesanvi starred at Lakeville South and was named the Pioneer Press East Metro boys soccer player of the year in 2021. He scored 24 goals and added seven assists.

Mesanvi then played for Minneapolis City SC in the USL League 2 and National Premier Soccer League. He recorded 15 goals and four assists.

Mesanvi said MNUFC saw him play in a U.S. Open Cup game in early 2022. He decided to shelf going to college and joined MNUFC’s Under-19 team that summer. He then signed with MNUFC2 in November 2022 and contributed one goal and three assists in 19 appearances in MLS Next Pro in 2023.

But he did not anticipate getting a taste of MLS this spring.

“I was not thinking that at all,” Mesanvi said. “In the offseason, actually, it was in my goal just to get fit, train with the second team and prove my spot with the second team.”

Knowles hopes Mesanvi understands this point is just the beginning.

“It’s early,” Knowles said. “You have to continue to develop, and hopefully that taste of being in those first-team games at Allianz (Field) gives him that energy to keep going and strive for more.”

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