Thrylos

Yeah, I was at that game too and that was an amazing game, because Butera hit the winning HR later and I remember the texts I got from the guy I am quoting here and another character at that moment

Here is the difference between high A (like Fort Myers), A (like Beloit) and low A (like a team in the short season New York/Penn League, and I think that I posted that before) : In most cases (90% plus), for a pitcher to be in high A, he has to have at least one secondary pitch that is "above average" or "plus", in addition to their main "plus" or "above average" pitch (usually a fastball). So, these days, if a hitter can dominate high A pitching, it is a good bet that he will make it to the majors (even for a cup of coffee) So moving to high A, hitters see more and better breaking and slow stuff, pitching against the count and such and they have to make adjustments.

So Plouffe has governor potential?

Kaleb Merck is a college senior. If he does not sign this means life outside of baseball (other than ILs) for a year (at least) which is a risky proposition, unless he does not care to play ball... I'd put Mazzilli on the doubtful, based on what I heard from CT, unless Buxton signed for a mil or 2 less and they spend a decent amount on Mazzilli.

Back to the original question, I think that there would have to be several promotions as the draftees get signed. I suspect at least a few Ps would be/should be assigned to Beloit (Melotakis, Chargois, Duffy, Bard - when signed) a couple of the senior college OFs and BK Shanty or one of ST Cs would/could probably assigned there. So that would push for promotions up to Fort Myers all the way to Rochester (and some releases to make space.) If I were one of JR Towles, Shawn Roof, Mark Dolenc, Clete Thomas, Nate Hanson, Aaron (the remaining) Thompson, Brendan Wise, Brett Jacobson, Matt Maloney, I would be dusting my resume at this point... and if I were Mike Holimon or Ray Chang, I would be doing some soul searching as well... In addition to the previously mentioned Koch and Pinto who merit a promotion to (A+ and AA, respectively), Arcia (to AA), Herrmann (to AAA), Sano and Rosario to (A+), Deibinson Romero (to AAA) , Danny Santana and Jairo Perez (to AA), Drew Leachman or Nate Roberts or both (to A+). BJ Hermsen and Andrew Albers (to AAA), Dakota Watts (to AA), Tim Atherton, AJ Achter, David Hurlbut, Matt Thomson and Mike Tonkin (to A+) (pretty much the whole Beloit pen and being replaced by the new college signees) Matt Houser (to AA), Louis Perdomo (to AAA), Rickey Bowen and Danny Turpen (to AAA). Something like that

Dan Rohlfing (.581 OPS) was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain. Josmil Pinto (.738 OPS) in the same team (and the same age as Rohlfing) was passed over. Former Gopher catcher Kyle Knudson (.680 OPS) was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers. Matthew Koch (.957 OPS) in the same team and a year younger than Knutson was passed over. I think that the Twins organization needs to do some serious soul searching with their promotions and reward merit, otherwise there will be some pretty upset minor league players... If any of you were Koch or Pinto, and did not feel mis-treated because of that, please let me know.

thanks. Koch should be promoted. There is a pretty big difference between A and A+ pitching (and hitting) that really makes a whole lot of difference: A (like Beloit) and A- (like NYPenn league) pitchers can get by with one plus/above ave pitch and a secondary average offering. At high A, unless that secondary offering is above ave as well, they will get pounded. So hitters get much more and better secondary (ie. breaking or off-speed pitchers or cutters) stuff than at A or A-. It is a very good test. If you can dominate high A, you will be a major leaguer (even for a cup of coffee) unless something freaky happens... And once Herrmann gets promoted to Rochester (any day now), the dominos will fall

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: Who would have thought that at this point this season, Trevor Plouffe would have higher OPS+ (110 vs 107) and more HRs (9 vs 7) than Michael Cuddyer. Yet, again, the similarities were too good to ignore last November It is fairly astonishing, but every Twins' position player now, other than the middle infielders, has an OPS+ higher than 100. The only 3 pitchers with more than a strikeout an inning are Fransisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Jared Burton. The only Twins' relief pitcher to have allowed more than a hit per inning pitched is Anthony Swarzak, but a bunch of those came when he was starting I have created a list of the 2012 Twins draft signees and will update as new information comes. You can find the list here. You can find useful information like High School or College player or College Senior. Also the bonuses are included. As of this post, 18 draftees have signed, including 9 of the Twins' 10 top picks. I am editing the list when new information, including bonus amounts comes and will continue to do so until July 13th, the signing deadline After following closely the 2012 Draft, the biggest difference (and was expected) from previous drafts was the amount of College and JC players selected. Lots and lots. Guess that helps high school kids go to College and will probably improve College Baseball. Now if they got rid of the aluminum bats there... This is a great article describing some of the new nuances of the MLB Draft The Director of Media and Community Relationships of the Beloit Snappers has a blog. Nick Lockwood, the Twins' 9th round pick of the 2009 MLB Draft who was released has been playing with the Washington (PA) Wild Things of the Independent Frontier League. Other notable 2009 Twins' draft picks making their debuts in the independent leagues: Ben Tootle (3rd Round) with Abilene (TX) Prairie Dogs of the North American Baseball League, Brad Stillings (7th Round) with the River City (MO) Rascals of the Frontier League, and Kane Holbrooks (21st Round) with the Fort Worth (TX) Cats of the North American Baseball League. Oswaldo Arcia made the Florida State League (A+) All Star team And former Twin Luke Hughes was assigned to the A's AA team, Midland Rockhounds of the Texas League. The Twins' product of the week is the MLB Minnesota Twins Authentic On Field Alternate 59Fifty Fitted Cap, Navyhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B003LCE64K AKA, the Twins'lucky "M" Cap The parting shot today is of one of the best-kept secrets in the Twins' organization as far as prospects go, Beloit Snapper's catcher Matthew Koch. He is having an incredible season and is flying totally under the radar. As of yesterday he was hitting .291/.413/.544 for a .956 OPS. This OPS is at least 100 points higher than that of his very well celebrated teammates Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. As a matter of fact, his OPS is the highest of any Twins' Catcher in any step of the organization including MLB. He also threw out 48% of the would be stealers this season. Koch was the Twins' 12th round pick in the 2011 Draft out of Loyala Marymount University and played 12 games with the Elizabethton Twins after he signed last season. I would not be surprised if he gets called up to Fort Myers soon. And as I was writing this last night, this scouting report on the Snappers came out... http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7363337772_f0f5ff7278_o.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: Who would have thought that at this point this season, Trevor Plouffe would have higher OPS+ (110 vs 107) and more HRs (9 vs 7) than Michael Cuddyer. Yet, again, the similarities were too good to ignore last November It is fairly astonishing, but every Twins' position player now, other than the middle infielders, has an OPS+ higher than 100. The only 3 pitchers with more than a strikeout an inning are Fransisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Jared Burton. The only Twins' relief pitcher to have allowed more than a hit per inning pitched is Anthony Swarzak, but a bunch of those came when he was starting I have created a list of the 2012 Twins draft signees and will update as new information comes. You can find the list here. You can find useful information like High School or College player or College Senior. Also the bonuses are included. As of this post, 18 draftees have signed, including 9 of the Twins' 10 top picks. I am editing the list when new information, including bonus amounts comes and will continue to do so until July 13th, the signing deadline After following closely the 2012 Draft, the biggest difference (and was expected) from previous drafts was the amount of College and JC players selected. Lots and lots. Guess that helps high school kids go to College and will probably improve College Baseball. Now if they got rid of the aluminum bats there... This is a great article describing some of the new nuances of the MLB Draft The Director of Media and Community Relationships of the Beloit Snappers has a blog. Nick Lockwood, the Twins' 9th round pick of the 2009 MLB Draft who was released has been playing with the Washington (PA) Wild Things of the Independent Frontier League. Other notable 2009 Twins' draft picks making their debuts in the independent leagues: Ben Tootle (3rd Round) with Abilene (TX) Prairie Dogs of the North American Baseball League, Brad Stillings (7th Round) with the River City (MO) Rascals of the Frontier League, and Kane Holbrooks (21st Round) with the Fort Worth (TX) Cats of the North American Baseball League. Oswaldo Arcia made the Florida State League (A+) All Star team And former Twin Luke Hughes was assigned to the A's AA team, Midland Rockhounds of the Texas League. The Twins' product of the week is the MLB Minnesota Twins Authentic On Field Alternate 59Fifty Fitted Cap, Navyhttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B003LCE64K AKA, the Twins'lucky "M" Cap The parting shot today is of one of the best-kept secrets in the Twins' organization as far as prospects go, Beloit Snapper's catcher Matthew Koch. He is having an incredible season and is flying totally under the radar. As of yesterday he was hitting .291/.413/.544 for a .956 OPS. This OPS is at least 100 points higher than that of his very well celebrated teammates Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. As a matter of fact, his OPS is the highest of any Twins' Catcher in any step of the organization including MLB. He also threw out 48% of the would be stealers this season. Koch was the Twins' 12th round pick in the 2011 Draft out of Loyala Marymount University and played 12 games with the Elizabethton Twins after he signed last season. I would not be surprised if he gets called up to Fort Myers soon. And as I was writing this last night, this scouting report on the Snappers came out... http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7363337772_f0f5ff7278_o.jpg

After what Thome did against the Twins for so many seasons, and esp. what he did in that game 163 wearing a Sux uniform against the Twins, when the Twins signed him, I felt the same way I felt when the Vikings signed Bret Favre... Class act and whatever (Thome not Favre) but he made the Twins miserable for many many years. Find it very hard to root for him.

Adam Walker is assigned to E-town.

Here is the thing: This is too similar to 2012. And they are on pace to lose 96 games. How many more games would that roster (i.e. the 2 FA SPs win?) 30? Because that is the magic number to be competitive.

I think that every team has peaks and valleys during the season. At this point the Twins are in a peak. Still they are on a pace for 96 losses, so we have to look at the big picture and not focus on this temporal peak. They absolutely have to be sellers at this point and start getting new blood (esp. arms here because 2013 is starting to look fairly futile as well...) On the other hand, here are a cuople of fairly encouraging stats: At this point NOBODY other than middle infielders has an OPS+ of less than 100 and the only RP who allowed more hits than IPs is Swarzak and lots of those hits came on his starts. This indicates that this might be a fairly decent core to build on. But, again, this rotation needs major overhaul to the rhyme of 3 plus pitchers in addition to Hendriks and Diamond in 2013. How do you do that? By trades...

I think that it is too early to determine what type of player Plouffe would be based on 508 MLB appearances (that's less than a full season's worth). One fun thing is that at this point, Plouffe has higher OPS+ (110 vs 107) and has hit more HRs (9 vs 7) than a former Twins' IF, turned OF, turned jack of all trades and master of none, turned Rockie...

Josh will start his Twins career with the Elizabethton Twins of the Appalachian League.

If the Twins had to pay about $2-3 Million total for the remaining 2 years of Soriano's contract and all it would take is some non-prospect like Tosoni to get him, I would have zero problem with that. Big IFs though Again, the Twins are in a pace for 96-97 loss season. Nothing is happening this year. They should be sellers and try to get SP. But Soriano as a DH until 2014 for about $1-1.5 Mil per season would not be a bad thing.

100% agreed. JR Towles is hitting a Buteresque .193/.242/.295 at Rochester and he needs to go. Promote Herrmann to AAA, Pinto to AA, Koch to Fort Myers, add one of the EST Cs to Beloit (Quintera?) and call it a day.

There is a way to look at it fairly objectively. One of the major tests for drafting players in the MLB these days is their time in the 60 yard dash (similar to the 40 yard for FB players.) You can google the other times, but here are 3: Ben Revere: 6.28 Bill Hamilton: less than 6.5 Buron Buxton: 6.4

Should be (and should have been a while ago - and at least they are using him in blowouts, which is good) but will be? Who knows? They might send down Manship again.

Can't argue with that, other than the absense of players who are at the DSL right now. If you include current draftees, I think you got to include at least a couple of the DSL kids in this list.

I think the first player who might fit that category for the Twins would probably be Sano, unless the CBA changes by then, or they hit lightning in a bottle with a SP.

Not word on Melotakis, but according to BA, looks like Twins spent their whole slot allotment on Zach Jones ($356,700). They have a database where they indicate the signings (but is in not updated fast.) Might be a good resource to at least get the amounts. Their Twins' page is here.

Yeah that one is confirmed by multiple sources too, including Ben Revere who also went to the same high school.

that's $106,700 under slot

Buxton will be there (Minneapolis, not Fort Myers where all the other guys are reporting to) Tuesday. Expect a press conference and an announcement there and then.