Recent News

I’ve been following the Twins minor league system pretty much daily for the past eight years. I can honestly say that I have not seen a pitcher have an opening stretch like DJ Baxendale has had this season. His May numbers (see below) have been incredible. But there were other great performances including a 22-year-old southpaw throwing eight innings in New Britain. And Ft. Myers continues to get offense from unlikely sources.

Check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Thursday: ...

Who IS This Guy?

Ryne Stanek (6’ 4, 190) is a right-handed pitcher for the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Mariners selected him in the 3^rd round of the 2010 draft, but Stanek elected to head to SEC to face the best hitters in college baseball. After enrolling in Arkansas, there was some hope that he would be eligible for the 2012 draft, but he narrowly missed the cutoff. (Players must turn 21 within 45 days of the draft.) Stanek entered this season, his junior season, in a three-horse race to be the first overall selection in the 2013 draft. He’s closing out his season with lower expectations, but still is a dark-horse candidate to be the third collegiate pitcher selected.


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Immediately following today's 8-3 loss to the Braves, the Twins demoted Opening Day starting pitcher, Vance Worley, to AAA-Rochester. Worley had given up eight runs in 3.2 innings in today's game, raising his ERA to 7.21 on the year. The Twins did not announce a corresponding move, though they have announced that Samuel Deduno will pitch on Friday and has not been called up. However, he will be taking Hernandez' - not Worley's - spot in the rotation.

Worley joined the Twins this offseason when he was acquired ...

With all the coverage of roster moves, the minor leagues and the upcoming MLB Draft we’re having trouble finding room for all the quality blog entries members are cranking out. Here’s a few from yesterday you might want to check out:

• Cody Christie profiled new Twins Chris Collabello.
• Mr. Horrorpants recaps the Braves series. I can’t think of a more appropriate named author given that series.
• Barks’ Lounge laments the lack of an emotional leader on the current Twins team.
• And John Swol notes the depressing

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Who IS This Guy?

At six-foot-six and just 175 pounds, 18-year-old Trey Ball from New Castle High School in Indiana has an extremely projectable frame, one that experts agree will fill out nicely as he matures. Opinion, however, appears split between where he should play: pitcher or outfielder.

Who Could He Be?

The majors have few left-handed power arms whose fastballs average in the mid-90's. Tampa’s David Price, Texas’ Derek Holland and Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw are members of a rare breed who can dial up that kind of velocity from the port-side. Because of that, Ball’s immediate future may be as a pitcher. In 2012, during ...

One of the top ranked high school power hitters at the time, Travis Harrison was drafted by the Twins with a supplemental first round pick (the 50^th overall pick) in 2011. He signed a $1.05 million bonus to join the Twins organization and bypassed a scholarship offer to play baseball for USC. There's never been much doubt about Harrison's ability to hit a baseball. The question in many minds is what his ultimate defensive position will be. Right now, the Twins are working with Harrison to develop his skills at third base for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Harrison is one of the top third base prospects in the Twins minor league organization, along with super-prospect Miguel Sano, who is currently playing for high Class A Fort Myers.
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