Twins Minor League Report (7/23): Mighty Mussels and Kernels Comeback Wins on Sunday

[Ted Schwerzler]

There was another walkoff for the Kernels today, and Randy Dobnak was nothing short of lights out for the Saints. Maddux Houghton kept the Fort Myers lineup rolling, and it was a busy day on the farm.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints (photo of Randy Dobnak)

TRANSACTIONS

• RHP Aaron Sanchez released from St. Paul
• OF Luis Baez released from Fort Myers 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
Omaha 3, St. Paul 1
Box Score
It was Randy Dobnak’s night on the bump for St. Paul, and he worked four innings of very strong baseball. Allowing only a single run on four hits and a walk, Dobnak also struck out six and continued a stretch of solid performances. Two-way player Andrew Bechtold then took over in relief. The Saints called him Bechtani tonight, which is amazing.

After getting down in the first inning, it took the Saints a bit to score, but they finally broke through during the sixth inning. Mark Contreras roped his 17th double of the season to bring home Kyle Garlick and even the score at one.

Omaha added a pair in the seventh inning, and it was up to St. Paul to find an answer in the ninth inning. After Garlick struck out, Contreras singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Chris Williams struck out swinging, but Jair Camargo made it first and third with two outs. Austin Martin stepped in and got down 0-2 before battling back to a full count. He punched out on a cutter and that’s how the game ended.

Contreras grabbed two hits off the bench for Trevor Larnach and Camargo followed his lead. Rehabbing Jorge Polanco was 1-for-2 with a HBP and didn't have a ball hit to him. This was his first game at third base since 2016.

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 12, Amarillo 6
Box Score
Taking the ball for Wichita was Aaron Rozek, but it was an abbreviated outing with the starter working just three innings. Rozek gave up a pair of runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out two, but both of the runs came on solo shots in the first inning.

Answering and taking the lead during the fifth inning, Wichita first got an RBI double from David Banuelos when he drove in Seth Gray. Then DaShawn Keirsey Jr. tripled home Will Holland and Banuelos. The good guys had their first lead of the night. Yunior Severino singled to score Keirsey Jr. and double up Amarillo.

In the sixth inning, Gray singled home Jake Rucker. Later in the inning, Gray stole home on a double steal with Banuelos. With two more runs, the Wind Surge led 6-2.

The Sod Poodles scored a run in the sixth inning, but the Wind Surge quickly responded. During the seventh inning, Yoyner Fajardo singled home Severino. Next, Rucker doubled to drive in Alex Isola and Fajardo. Gray continued his hot hitting with a ground-rule double. Jake Rucker scored to make it a 10-3 lead. Amarillo had yet to record an out during the inning. Tanner Schobel did flew into a double play. However, Gray scored their 11th run on the play.

Amarillo drew closer in the bottom of the seventh inning with two runs. Ivan Melendez homered for Amarillo in the eighth inning to make it an 11-6 game, but Will Holland answered with a solo blast in the ninth. Wichita stayed out in front and their commanding lead was enough.

Rucker recorded three hits in the game. Keirsey Jr., Severino, Fajardo, Gray, and Banuelos each added two hits.

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 7, Peoria 6
Box Score
Christian MacLeod drew the start on Sunday for Cedar Rapids and went 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just one run on four hits and a pair of walks. MacLeod struck out five and his ERA dropped to 3.22 on the year.

After allowing Peoria to take a lead during the third inning, the Kernels answered and jumped ahead in the fourth inning. Jorel Ortega singled to center scoring both Emmanuel Rodriguez and Kala’i Rosario.

In the sixth inning, Noah Cardenas doubled for the 16th time this season, plating Rodriguez to make it a 3-1 game. Noah Miller drove in Andrew Cossetti on a seventh-inning double play.

After giving up the lead, the Kernels found themselves down 6-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Cedar Rapids mounted a comeback. Cossetti scored when Rosario was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Still down a run, Ben Ross singled to drive in Willie Joe Garry, Jr., and Emmanuel Rodriguez for another walk off win.

Cardenas was 3-for-3 on the day to lead the Kernels offense.

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 11, Bradenton 7
Box Score
Samuel Perez started on Sunday for the Mighty Mussels and went three innings. He allowed two runs on three hits (including a home run). He struck out three batters.

During the first inning, Perez served up a two-run blast putting Fort Myers behind. Maddux Houghton singled to score Gregory Duran in the second inning and put the Mighty Mussels on the board.

Entering the eighth inning down 7-1, Fort Myers was sick of playing from behind and responded in a big way. Rubel Cespedes blasted a solo shot for his ninth homer on the year. Dillon Tatum drove home Duran.

Trailing by four entering the top of the ninth inning, Fort Myers exploded for eight runs. Carson McCusker doubled to drive in Danny De Andrade before a dropped third strike to Rafael Cruz allowed McCusker to scamper home. Tatum took a bases-loaded walk, bringing home Kamron Willman, and Houghton singled in Duran and Alec Sayre to give the team a lead. Ricardo Olivar crushed his eighth home run of the season, a three-run shot that gave the Mighty Mussels up 11-7.

Jackson Hicks worked two scoreless innings of relief and punched out three batters. He gave up no hits or walks. He recorded his fourth win of the season. Houghton had three hits while Olivar, De Andrade, and Cespedes each had a pair.

TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak (St. Paul) - 4.0 IP, 4 H, R, ER, BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Maddux Houghton (Fort Myers) - 3-5, R, 3 RBI

PROSPECT SUMMARY
We will again keep tabs on the Twins top prospects. You’ll probably read about them in the team sections, but if they aren’t there, you’ll see how they did here. Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 performed:

#3 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, 3 R, 2 BB, K
#5 - Matt Wallner (Minnesota) - 2-2, R, 2B, BB
#8 - Austin Martin (St. Paul) - 0-4, 2 K
#10 - Tanner Schobel (Wichita) - 1-4, RBI, BB, K
#16 - Kala’i Rosario (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, RBI, BB, 2B, 2 K
#17 - Yunior Severino (Wichita) - 2-4, R, RBI, BB, 2 K

TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS
Toledo @ St. Paul (7:07PM CST) - TBD
Frisco @ Wichita (7:05PM CST) - TBD
Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:40PM CST) - TBD
Palm Beach @ Fort Myers (5:00PM CST) - TBD

Please feel free to ask questions and discuss Sunday’s games!

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[FlyingFinn]

Moving to AA can be a challenge as Schobel is learning. Off to a slow start but I'm thinking he will make the adjustments and do well.

Anyone know why Larnach was pulled after 1 AB last night?

[Doctor Wu]

Great to see Dobnak putting in another solid performance. Not sure if we'll see him called up this season, but I hope to see him again at some point!

[Doctor Wu]

Meanwhile, in the new nickname department, kudos on coming up with Bechtani. I love it!

[Dman]

I know this might be off subject but are we signing Jenkins or is there trouble in paradise?  The deadline for signing is coming up and so far crickets.

McCleod has been pitching pretty well after TJ.  Hoping he can be a lefty solution down the line.  

Those high A hitters are still doing well.  They have three hitters in the top 10 for OPS (not including the recently moved up Schobel).  Rosario is number 2, Rodriguez number 8 and Cardenas number 10 and if you go as far as 15 then Ross is there making it four.  That doesn't include the two promoted bats that don't qualify in Cossetti (.851 OPS would be tied with Rosario if qualified) and Ortgea with a .747 OPS..  Those guys are having good years.

[roger]

Great seeing Dobber with another very solid outing.  Sure seems like he is putting himself into the hunt for a long look next spring.  Recall he was very solid that first season, however long ago that was.  Looks like his finger problems are finally behind him.  I know he had a long term contract, is it one more year?  Or two?

Some days it the pitching, yesterday the bats.  But the Kernels seem to finish nearly every game with the same result...a W.

 

[DJL44]

35 minutes ago, roger said:

Great seeing Dobber with another very solid outing.  Sure seems like he is putting himself into the hunt for a long look next spring.  Recall he was very solid that first season, however long ago that was.  Looks like his finger problems are finally behind him.  I know he had a long term contract, is it one more year?  Or two?

Unfortunately the Twins are stuck with Dobnak until 2025 with the next two seasons costing them $6.25M. His first option on that contract is 2026 when he will be 31 years old. If you enjoy rooting for him there will be plenty of opportunities to see him pitch in St. Paul.

[MN_ExPat]

24 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Unfortunately the Twins are stuck with Dobnak until 2025 with the next two seasons costing them $6.25M. His first option on that contract is 2026 when he will be 31 years old. If you enjoy rooting for him there will be plenty of opportunities to see him pitch in St. Paul.

Dude

[DocBauer]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

I know this might be off subject but are we signing Jenkins or is there trouble in paradise?  The deadline for signing is coming up and so far crickets.

McCleod has been pitching pretty well after TJ.  Hoping he can be a lefty solution down the line.  

Those high A hitters are still doing well.  They have three hitters in the top 10 for OPS (not including the recently moved up Schobel).  Rosario is number 2, Rodriguez number 8 and Cardenas number 10 and if you go as far as 15 then Ross is there making it four.  That doesn't include the two promoted bats that don't qualify in Cossetti (.851 OPS would be tied with Rosario if qualified) and Ortgea with a .747 OPS..  Those guys are having good years.

Was wondering the same thing on Jenkins over the weekend. I did the math really quick, so might have made an error, but with what's been paid out, the Twibs are about $170,000 short of the slot value for Jenkins. I'm sure a deal will get done, but looks like they will have to go over budget a little and suffer the tax penalty. Also means no $ left over for the HS kids picked 19/20th.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

I know this might be off subject but are we signing Jenkins or is there trouble in paradise?  The deadline for signing is coming up and so far crickets.

McCleod has been pitching pretty well after TJ.  Hoping he can be a lefty solution down the line.  

Those high A hitters are still doing well.  They have three hitters in the top 10 for OPS (not including the recently moved up Schobel).  Rosario is number 2, Rodriguez number 8 and Cardenas number 10 and if you go as far as 15 then Ross is there making it four.  That doesn't include the two promoted bats that don't qualify in Cossetti (.851 OPS would be tied with Rosario if qualified) and Ortgea with a .747 OPS..  Those guys are having good years.

With the agent I think everything is fine on the Jenkins front.  Likely either negotiating a little more money or possible working on something to sign either 19 or 20 prospect.  

[roger]

28 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Was wondering the same thing on Jenkins over the weekend. I did the math really quick, so might have made an error, but with what's been paid out, the Twibs are about $170,000 short of the slot value for Jenkins. I'm sure a deal will get done, but looks like they will have to go over budget a little and suffer the tax penalty. Also means no $ left over for the HS kids picked 19/20th.

Was thinking the same thing, Doc, as I checked several times a day to see if he had signed.  Also thought they were a bit over, but just did the math.  With everyone but Jenkins signed, they are actually under their pool, by a whopping -$4,500.  So call that break-even.

That means they can give him his full slot of what is it, $7,400,000 something?  With Boras as his agent, I will be surprised if he is under.  Would be great if they could get a couple hundred grand to see if they could entice that kid going to LSU.  Expect they will follow the JC kid and try to sign him next spring for the $225,000 they can spend.  Or is it $250,000 for JC follow picks?

Considering this kid is going to get a check for over $7,000,000, I suspect the hold up is that he, Boras and his financial advisors are jumping thru a lot of hoops to minimize the tax hit on that check.  I recall back when the Twins drafted Mauer, it was also held up.  Reason was he was moving his residence to Florida to eliminate the Minnesota State Tax.  This kid's from North Carolina and I doubt their taxes are as high as Minny, but there may be things like that going on.

[Edit: just checked and North Carolina state tax is 5.25%.  So if he relocates to Florida, where there is no state tax, he would have an extra $350,000++ in his investment account should they do that.]

[FlyingFinn]

4 minutes ago, roger said:

Considering this kid is going to get a check for over $7,000,000, I suspect the hold up is that he, Boras and his financial advisors are jumping thru a lot of hoops to minimize the tax hit on that check.

Probably right. Boras and the Twins have an excellent relationship so I'm sure whatever agreement reached prior to drafting Jenkins will be honored.

[Obsvr]

48 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

Probably right. Boras and the Twins have an excellent relationship so I'm sure whatever agreement reached prior to drafting Jenkins will be honored.

Unless there is a medical issue.  The physical would have to come after the draft so cant rule that out.

[gbg]

9 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Anyone know why Larnach was pulled after 1 AB last night?

Heading West to Target Field. Buxton on paternity list.

 

Willie Joe Garry Jr will probably never make the bigs, but that is a might fine baseball name!

[Major League Ready]

7 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Unfortunately the Twins are stuck with Dobnak until 2025 with the next two seasons costing them $6.25M. His first option on that contract is 2026 when he will be 31 years old. If you enjoy rooting for him there will be plenty of opportunities to see him pitch in St. Paul.

According to baseball reference is $2.25M in 2024 and $3M in 2025 so a total of $5.25M.  Hopefully they will get more value than that out of him but if not, it's not going to influence the team they put together.

[Major League Ready]

4 hours ago, Obsvr said:

Unless there is a medical issue.  The physical would have to come after the draft so cant rule that out.

Remember Brady Aiken?  The Astros didn't like his medicals and they ended up not signing him.  I hope it does not derail this signing.  

[DJL44]

15 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

According to baseball reference is $2.25M in 2024 and $3M in 2025 so a total of $5.25M.  Hopefully they will get more value than that out of him but if not, it's not going to influence the team they put together.

Plus the $1M buyout of his 2026 option.

[DJL44]

15 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Remember Brady Aiken?  The Astros didn't like his medicals and they ended up not signing him.  I hope it does not derail this signing.  

The Twins haven't been super concerned about medical issues.

[Major League Ready]

4 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The Twins haven't been super concerned about medical issues.

Maybe they are learning they should be more concerned.