Seth Stohs

I'm trying to post them as soon as I see them. But we have about 6 so far.

I would think that could go as high as 50-50... A lot depends on Berrios, and what they see from him. How do Ober and Jax fit into the conversation. What is Dobnak's situation? But I think both will make starts for the Twins in 2021 (assuming health) and certainly go to spring training with a real shot.

Balazovic has already used his 2021 option when he was optioned during spring training. that's not a concern.

I'll be shocked if Balazovic doesn't make a few starts for the Twins this year. I was impressed with the three pitches (FB, CU, CB/SL). Had decent control/command of all three, got swings-and-misses with all three. He looks bigger and stronger. He looks pretty legit.

I expect Cave to rejoin the Twins this weekend with Celestino finally going to St. Paul. When Refsnyder gets back, I assume Gordon will go down. Celestino and Gordon are part of the future, they need lots of reps. I think that Cruz is traded and Rooker comes up. I think Garlick spends the full 20-days of his rehab with St. Paul, and when that's up, I think he's optioned. Rooker is the only one of that group that I would keep on the roster this offseason.

I watched the Bezos thing too. That was pretty cool. I personally would have zero interest in doing that, but was very impressed. As for players signing... 13th round pick David Festa signed at $125,000 yesterday. That's the only official one at this point. I assume Petty and Miller will be at Target Field this weekend to do what they need to do, get signed, meet the team and such. We will put together an article in the coming days to start following this. Rooker struck out 35% of his at-bats at AAA in 2019. He's currently at 30% this year...

I don't disagree with the pitching comments. Balazovic and Winder both seems to have playoff rotation starter stuff, so that's encouraging. To me, guys like Ober, Barnes and Jax will kind of be big in this. They're lesser discussed prospects who have come up and represented themselves well. Can that be maintained? I'm not ready to say Canterino has to be a reliever. Duran either, though I think that's a likely scenario for both, not reason to push that yet. Rooker needs to get an extended look. He's been what they wanted when they drafted him after the first round. He's not Nelson Cruz (who is?), but he can be productive. Miranda could be as good as Kirilloff/Larnach with the bat too. Sabato... not so much. He's going to have to really work on athleticism in the offseason and find a way to find some bat speed.

Just to remind... those are the Twins choices for Pitcher and Hitter of the Week, though this week that probably is what I would have picked too.

The St. Paul Saints went 5-1 this week to improve to 33-32 on the season. Now, all four Twins full-season affiliates are over .500 halfway through their seasons. The FCL Twins were able to play again after several postponements due to tropical storms. And, the Dominican Summer League is now in full-swing. Check out a busy, highlight-filled week in the Twins farm system. Be sure to read Nick’s Twins Week in Review from yesterday, and then jump into the minor league week. Transactions Before we get started, let’s check out the Transactions and the FCL Twins game on Monday: With Mitch Garver activated between the Twins doubleheader games, Ben Rortvedt has been optioned to Triple-A St. Paul. That said, Rortvedt is expected to stay close with the team as Garver and his wife are expecting their first child at any time. FCL Twins Talk Box Score The FCL Twins scored three runs in the third inning and three more runs in the fifth inning and topped the Pirates Gold squad 8-1 on Monday. Matt Wallner continued his rehab stint. He went 2-for-4 and scored twice. He played in right field. Wander Valdez went 2-for-3 with a walk. Yonardy Soto went 2-for-4 with a walk and his first double. Luis Baez and Kala’i Rosario each went 2-for-5. Rosario notched his third triple. Coming off of his no-hitter last week (5 innings), Giovahniey German gave up only an unearned run on four hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out seven. Danny Moreno returned to the mound for the first time since being injured in his second GCL game in 2021. He recorded four outs. Matt Mullenbach tossed two scoreless innings, before Ramon Pineda finished with a perfect ninth. With that, let’s look at Week 11 in the Twins minor leagues: RESULTS Triple-A: St. Paul Saints: Week (5-1, hosting Columbus), overall (33-32) Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge: Week (4-2, hosting Tulsa), overall (37-29) High-A: Cedar Rapids Kernels: Week (2-4, @ South Bend), overall (36-30) Low-A: Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels: Week (2-4, hosting Jupiter), overall (36-30) Complex League: FCL Twins are 4-10. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here are the week’s Twins minor league-related articles. Twins Minor League Week in Review: Kernels with the Sweep Tuesday: Rooker Smashes! And Rookie League No-Hitter* Wednesday: By the Hair of their Chins Twins Prospect Retrospective: LHP Charlie Barnes Thursday: Jordy Blazes, Garv Sauce Thrives 2021 has been a Big Year for Twins Draft Pick Noah Miller and Family Friday: More Late Heartbreak for Kernels Saturday: Mark Contreras is the Redemption Story we Need in 2021 Sunday: Tomas Telis, Saints Battle Back for Walk-Off Win Twins Minor League Pitching Report: Notes on Varland, Vallimont and Gore Highlights We will start with the Twins choices for the organizational hitter and pitcher of the week, and then mention several other Twins prospects who had good Week 9 performances Twins Player of the Week: Brent Rooker, St. Paul Saints Brent Rooker had a big week for the Saints. In six games, he hit .304/.393/1.000 (1.393) with a double, five home runs and 13 RBI. Three homers and a double came in one game. Rooker hit one home run in eight games with the Twins earlier this season. In 58 games with the Saints, he has eight doubles and 19 homers. His 20 total homers is most in the organization, one ahead of Nelson Cruz. With the Saints, he is hitting .239/.368/.566 (.934). Twins Pitcher of the Week: Jordan Balazovic, Wichita Wind Surge In his start last week, Balazovic was again remarkable. Over seven innings, he gave up just one hit (a single, and the runner was thrown out trying to turn it into a double) and walked one. He struck out 11 batters. He had now tossed 18 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his past three starts. In 18 2/3 innings over his first five starts, he had a 5.79 ERA. Now, overall, he is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA. In 37 1/3 innings, he has nine walks to go with 51 strikeouts. He has certainly reclaimed his spot as the organization’s top pitching prospect. For his efforts, he was also names AA Central Pitcher of the Week. Other Strong Performances this Week St. Paul Saints Mark Contreras played in four games, and he showed some power too. He hit .385/.556/1.077 (1.632) with three homers. He walked one, and he was hit by four pitches. Keon Broxton played in five games. He hit .357/.500/.643 (1.143) with a double and a homer and three walks. Jose Miranda played in all six games. He hit .385/.448/.692 (1.141) with two doubles and two homers. Jimmy Kerrigan hit .308/.357/.769 (1.126) with two homers. Jovani Moran made his Triple-A debut this week and tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out five batters. Matt Shoemaker tossed five shutout innings in his start. Ian Hamilton pitched twice, once as an opener, and gave up just one run on two hits over five innings. Griffin Jax gave up one run over five innings in his Triple-A start last week. Wichita Wind Surge Jordan Gore made his first two Double-A appearances, well, as a pitcher, well, not as a position-player-pitching. In 2019, he pitched twice for Pensacola, a combined one inning, but that was in late-inning blowout situations. Now, he is a full-time pitcher and getting some pretty high-leverage situations. So far, so good. In his two games last week, he worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Kody Funderburk also made his first Double-A appearance. He came on in relief of Cole Sands who tossed two innings in his return to the mound. Funderburk gave up only an unearned run over the next five innings. Andrew Bechtold hit .278/.350/.611 (.961) with three doubles and a home run. In 17 games with the Kernels early in the season, Chris Williams went 5-for-50 (.100) with 27 strikeouts. He was promoted to the Wind Surge. In 11 games, he is hitting .313/.476/.594 (1.070) with four doubles, a triple and a home run. He also has nine walks and nine strikeouts in 42 plate appearances. Explain that. This past week, he was 4-for-10 with two doubles and a homer. Also, he is throwing out would-be base stealers left and right. Cedar Rapids Kernels Louie Varland was very impressive in his High-A debut, he tossed six shutout innings in South Bend. He gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five batters. Tyler Watson continues to perform in whatever role he is given. This past week, he was asked to come in after a short start, and the lefty responded with five shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out nine batters! Likewise, Ben Gross came in after a short start and gave up one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. Osiris German also made his first Kernels appearance. In that game, he faced six batters and recorded six outs, three on strikeouts. Max Smith filled out the stat sheet quite well last week. In five games, he hit .294/.500/.706 (1.206) with two doubles, a triple and a home run. He also walked seven times. Gabriel Maciel played in all six games. He hit .353/.476/.529 (1.006) with a home run. He walked four times with just three strikeouts. Jair Camargo went 5-for-17 (.294) with a triple and his 12th home run of the season. Ft. Myers Might Mussels Denny Bentley continues to dominate the late innings for the Mighty Mussels. Last week, he was 2-for-2 in save opportunities. In three games and 2 2/3 innings, he struck out three batters. Lefty Aaron Rozek has bounced around in his brief time in the Twins organization. He made one start for Ft. Myers last week. He went five scoreless innings. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out seven batters. Orlando Rodriguez may have had the start of the week. In his first start in the Twins organization, the Cuban right-hander gave up one run over seven innings. He struck out six batters. Rodriguez and Rozek were both signed recently from the independent Schaumburg Boomers. Mighty Mussels hitting coach Derek Shomon had been the Boomers hitting until spring training when he joined the Twins organization. Infielder Ruben Santana got a late start, but he had a fantastic week. In five games, he hit. 571/.750/.571 (1.321). He went 4-for-7 but walked five times without striking out at all. FCL Twins Giovahniey German pitched twice. Last week, he tossed five no-hit innings. On Monday, he gave up only an unearned run over 4 2/3 innings. Combined, he gave up four hits, walked three and struck out 11 batters. Landon Leach tossed three scoreless innings. Matt Mullenbach threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Wander Valdez has big power potential, and in the last week, he played in six games. He hit .389/.500/.611 (1.111) with four doubles in 18 at-bats. Kala’i Rosario played five games. He hit .353/.400/.529 (.929) with a double and a triple in 17 at-bats. Alexander Pena went 8-for-23 (.348) over six games. Lowlights We are talking about small samples for these six-game weeks, so it’s important not to make any big decisions or develop a full impression on a player from this small size. It’s just a reminder of the fact that baseball is hard, and all players have good and bad stretches. St. Paul Saints Ian Gibaut gave up five runs on 10 hits and a walk over just four innings last week. Wichita Wind Surge I am bad luck. Last week, I was writing about how good Zach Neff has been this season. And he has, but last week, he gave up three runs on four hits over two innings of work. Chris Vallimont went just 3 1/3 innings in his start. He gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks (though he did strike out seven batters). Adam Lau pitched two innings over two appearances. He gave up five runs on five hits (3 homers). Jermaine Palacios and Ernie De La Trinidad each went 3-for-18 (.167) on the week. Outfielder DJ Burt went just 1-for-13 (.077) this past week, though he did provide one of the more interesting walk-off winners you’ll see. Cedar Rapids Kernels Melvi Acosta worked just one inning. He gave up three runs on four hits. I had to mention. Osiris German is on this list too. His second appearance didn’t go as well. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in just 2/3 of an inning. Interestingly, he did strike out three batters, but one reached base still. Daniel Ozoria and Yeltsin Encarnacion combined to go 0-for-13 on the week. DaShawn Keirsey went 3-for-21 (.143), though he had a big triple . Ft. Myers Might Mussels Juan Pichardo had a rough game, though not all of his own doing. He recorded just one out. He was charged with seven runs (just two earned) on one hit, one hit batter and three walks. Steven Cruz gave up five runs on three hits and six walks over two innings. Bradley Hanner gave up seven runs on seven hits and four walks over 3 1/3 innings. Matthew Swain gave up four runs on one hit, two hit batters and three walks in 3 1/3 innings. At the beginning of the week, Aaron Sabato was so close to getting his season batting average to .200. However, in six games this week, he went 3-for-21 (.143). Yunior Severino and Jeferson Morales each went 3-for-20 (.150). FCL Twins Elpidio Perez gave up seven runs on five hits, three walks and a hit batter in 2/3 of an inning. Rafael Felix gave up five runs on five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings. Carlos Aguiar, another guy with huge power potential, went 0-for-10 with five strikeouts over his first three games of the year. Trending Storyline There was a lot of doubt about whether there would be a Dominican Summer League this year. It wasn’t until fairly recently that they decided when the season would start. Well, that date was last week and the DSL Twins have played six games already. It is impossible to make too much for six games, of course. I have also been told many times that the further away from the big-leagues a player is, the less important the stats are, and it’s a lot about the tools, skill development and getting some reps. That said, I also like to look at who is getting the most at bats. So far, it should come as no surprise who the top two on the team in plate appearances are. Fredy Michel is another interesting prospect. Last year when the Twins signed him for $1.1 million, he was going by Fredy LaFlor. He was MLB Pipeline’s #28-ranked international free agent. He just turned 17 this month. The switch-hitting infielder leads the team with 23 plate appearances. He is hitting .222/.391/.278 (.669) with a double. He also has four stolen bases.He has four walks and 10 strikeouts. He has split time between the middle infield positions. Just one plate appearance less is Danny De Andrade leads the team with 20 at-bats in six games. He received a $2.2 million signing bonus last year when he signed as a 16-year-old shortstop. Through six games, he is hitting .200 (.4-for-20) with two doubles. He has one walk and two strikeouts. He has been the primary shortstop, but he’s also played a game at third base. The other hitters who have played in all six games: Another January 15, 2021, signing was Junior Del Valle. An outfielder, he has started the season by hitting .471/.500/.588 (1.088) with a triple. Reynaldo Madrigal received a six-figure signing bonus. The Dominican shortstop is 3-for-16 (.188) to start his season. He already has five stolen bases. Luis Rodriguez signed in the same range as Rodriguez. Both are shortstops from the Dominican. He has gone 3-for-14 (.214) through the first six games. Madrigal has played in the outfield. Rodriguez has played the corner spots mostly. As for pitchers, no one has pitched more than three games, or more than six innings. Way too small of a sample to take anything from. PROSPECT SUMMARY We have now updated this Prospect Summary to show our Midseason Twins Top 20 Prospect Rankings… #1 - Royce Lewis (Wichita) - Out for Season (torn ACL) #2 - Jhoan Duran (St. Paul) – 5 G, 4 GS, 16.0 IP, 16 H, 13 BB, 22 K, 5.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP (on IL with a right forearm strain) #3 - Jordan Balazovic (Wichita) – 8 GS, 37.1 IP, 32 H, 9 BB, 51 K, 2.89 ERA, 1.10 WHIP #4 - Matt Canterino (Cedar Rapids) – 4 GS, 18.0 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 35 K, 1.00 ERA, 0.72 WHIP (went on the IL with right elbow strain) #5 - Jose Miranda (St. Paul) – 65 games, .345/.411/.509 (1.010) with 14 doubles, 18 homers, 54 RBI, 27 BB, 39 K #6 - Keoni Cavaco (Ft. Myers) – 38 games, .279/.361/.357 (.718) with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, 16 RBI, 17 BB, 44 K, 6 SB #7 - Gilberto Celestino (Minnesotal) – Wichita (21 games, .250/.344/.381 (.725) with 5 doubles, 2 homers. 11 BB, 24 K), Minnesota (18 games, .146/.180/.313 (.493) with 2 BB, 9 K) #8 - Josh Winder (St. Paul) - 13 GS, 66.2 IP, 49 H, 13 BB, 77 K, 2.30 ERA, 0.93 WHIP #9 - Aaron Sabato (Ft. Myers) – 65 games, .189/.368/.297 (.695) with 12 doubles, 4 homers, 25 RBI, 59 BB, 87 K #10 - Matt Wallner (Cedar Rapids) – 17 games, .333/.384/.621 (1.005) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 4 homers, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 28 K. (on IL after having hamate bone surgery) #11 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) – 3 GS, 14.2 IP, 13 H, 6 BB, 23 K, 1.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP (underwent Tommy John surgery on June 9th) #12 - Bailey Ober (Minnesotal) – St. Paul (4 GS, 16.0 IP, 13 H, 5 BB, 21 K, 2.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP), Minnesota (8 GS, 33.0 IP, 34 H, 11 BB, 37 K, 5.45 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) #13 - Cole Sands (Wichita) – 8 GS, 33.2 IP, 24 H, 18 BB, 45 K, 2.67 ERA, 1.25 WHIP #14 - Brent Rooker (St. Paul) – St. Paul (58 games, .239/.368/.566 (.934) with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 19 homers, 37 BB, 74 K), Minnesota (8 games, .103/.133/.241 (375) with 1 double, 1 homer, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 13 K) #15 - Misael Urbina (Ft. Myers) – 58 games, .209/.314/.307 (621) with 6 doubles, 3 triples, 3 homer, 40 RBI, 32 BB, 50 K, 9 SB) #16 - Spencer Steer (Wichita) - 62 games, .254/.373/.483 (.856) with 7 doubles, 1 triple, 15 homers, 36 RBI, 42 BB, 51 K) #17 - Wander Javier (Cedar Rapids) - 55 games, .223/.289/.431 (.721) with 10 doubles, 5 triples, 8 homers, 34 RBI, 17 BB, 77 K) #18 - Alerick Soularie (Complex) – N/A (injured - foot) #19 - Edwar Colina (Minnesota) - 60-Day IL (had surgery on his right elbow to remove bone chips) #20 - Chris Vallimont (Wichita) - 10 GS, 41.2 IP, 36 H, 22 BB, 67 K, 3.67 ERA, 1.39 WHIP LOOKING AHEAD Daytona @ Ft. Myers (Aaron Rozek, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Brent Headrick, TBD, Orlando Rodriguez, Zarion Sharpe): Beloit @ Cedar Rapids:(Tyler Beck, Louie Varland, Jon Olsen, Tyler Watson, Ben Gross, Luis Rijo) Wichita @ Arkansas: (Jordan Balazovic, Cole Sands (followed byBryan Sammons), Chris Vallimont, Austin Schulfer, Kody Funderburk, Jordan Balazovic) St. Paul @ Omaha: (Chandler Shepherd, Josh Winder, TBD, TBD, TBD, TBD): Feel free to provide some feedback below regarding these reports. What do you like to read? What types of information would you like added? Also, feel free to ask any questions you like. View full article

Cuz since May 1st, Alex Colome has a 3.52 ERA in 25 games. Not great, but may be able to get a couple of C prospects for him. But Juan Minaya could be DFAd again. Danny Coulombe could be DFAd. Neither would be claimed. But in general, I agree with your thought that Hamilton has a chance to be part of the future. They shouldn't risk losing him. He's already been DFAd once this year, so if they DFAd him again he could become a free agent. At this point, whenever they call him up, he should stay up.

My assumption is that they really like Hamilton, but since he's out of options, they don't want to call him up and have to send him down. I would guess as soon as the trade deadline is over. Based on how well he's pitched, I would think they'll want to keep him around and on the 40-man roster all offseason.

Put me on the side of trying to be wise in keeping pitchers, especially those who didn't pitch in 2020, healthy. I'll take that any day.

I am a little surprised by this... I can't imagine how difficult this decision must be for a player. Like you said, he was a likely Top 5 round pick guy until the rotator cuff injury. I'm sure the Twins wanted to get him for that $200K amount (or something a little bit over the $125K mark)... Getting to pitch one more year in college means something, especially at a school that always has a chance to get to Omaha, versus turning down $200K and becoming a senior sign. But, along with one more season, if healthy, he could be a Day 2 guy next year. Obviously, I'd like to think we all would agree that we want guys to stay healthy and do well. Hopefully that happens!!

The Twins got impressive debuts from both Charlie Barnes and Beau Burrows in their return from the All Star break on Saturday. However, the bats were still on break as the team mustered only two hits in Game 1. Box Score Charlie Barnes: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K Home Runs: None Bottom 3 WPA: Trevor Larnach (-0.127), Josh Donaldson (-0.121), Nelson Cruz (-0.113) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) Barnes’ Debut It’s almost unfortunate that Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven wasn’t in the booth with Dick Bremer during Game 1. The first batter that Charlie Barnes faced as a big leaguer was former Twin Robbie Grossman and he hit a lead-off home run. We know that Blyleven would have said that put him in good company and reminded us he had given up a home run to the first batter he faced in the big leagues, Lee Maye. The next batter was Jonathan Schoop, and he hit a bounding single through the left side of the infield on a two-strike pitch. After that, Barnes retired the next nine batters he faced, until a leadoff Josh Donaldson error in the fourth inning. He responded by getting Miguel Cabrera and Jeimer Candelario to fly out and line out. Isaac Parades singled, but Barnes retired Zack Short on a fly out and he got out of the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, he gave up a single and a four-pitch walk. After a Wes Johnson visit, he was able to get a unique 4-6-5 double play before his day came to a close. Barnes threw just 68 pitches and 43 were strikes. As the team's 27th man, he is sent back to St. Paul following the game (though I would hope he would be able to stay in Detroit to watch Game 2). Burrows Impressive in Twins Debut Too The Twins claimed Beau Burrows after the Tigers DFAd him recently. He made a couple of appearances with the Saints, and he was called up to the Twins prior to the Saturday game. He replaced Barnes with two outs in the fifth inning and gave up an end-of-the-bat single before getting the third out. He looked strong in the bottom of the 6th inning. He certainly had his struggles in his brief opportunities with the Tigers, but he has enough stuff for the Twins to give him a shot in the second half. Bats Still on Break When you lose 1-0, it’s not on the pitching. Simply put, the Twins hitters just didn’t provide much of anything in Game 1. Tigers starter Jose Urena lasted just three innings. Daniel Norris came on and dominated for two perfect innings. Kyle Funkhouser struck out the side in the sixth inning. And, Gregory Soto got the ninth inning, and unlike Sunday when the Twins jumped all over him, he made easy work of the middle of the Twins lineup in the seventh inning. Luis Arraez and Jorge Polanco each had a single, but that is it for the Twins offense in Game 1. Postgame Interview Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet TUE WED THU FRI SAT TOT Thielbar 0 0 0 0 0 0 Duffey 0 0 0 0 0 0 Rogers 0 0 0 0 0 0 Robles 0 0 0 0 0 0 Colomé 0 0 0 0 0 0 Burrows 0 0 0 0 32 32 Coulombe 0 0 0 0 0 0 Alcala 0 0 0 0 0 0 View full article

This may sound harsh, but a 25-year-old signed out of the indy leagues in 2021 isn't a "prospect" as much as a guy meant to move around, eat some innings, keep the prospect arms fresh, stuff like that... That said, hey, once you're in, if you keep pitching well, you're going to keep getting innings. You're going to keep getting opportunities. Maybe he can do enough to be brought back in 2022. That's probably his goal this year.

That's a realistic timeline. I would think he would spend most of the 2022 season in Ft. Myers. Then a year in Cedar Rapids. 2024 in hopefully Wichita. Saints to start 2025 and a potential call-up? That's pretty aggressive on an 18-year-old, but it would have him debuting sometime in 2025. It's realistic, though 2026 probably more fair. Third round picks are really valuable, but just from a prospect status, I would say this... Coming out of high school, Owen Miller went to Illinois State. Noah Miller has a commitment to Alabama, an SEC school and he was a first-round pick. So Noah definitely the better "prospect" coming out of high school. Not sure that means anything long-term, but yeah.

I wrote about him in the comments of a minor league report recently. He is 25. He's from Burnsville. He went to Minnesota State-Mankato. Has pitched indy ball in the Frontier League the last couple of years. Lefty. Tops out at 88-89. Mixes pitches well. Obviously currently seen as an Org guy as he's bounced from the Complex/FCL, to Wichita and then to start in Ft. Myers.

After selecting RHP Chase Petty with the #26 overall pick in the 2021 draft, the Twins had a second selection ten picks later. With the 36th overall pick, they took Wisconsin high school shortstop Noah Miller. We recently discussed the draft, the baseball hotbed in Wisconsin, his big-league brother’s influence, and other topics. On Saturday, May 22, Noah Miller was sitting in his bedroom. He walked into the next room and saw his mom crying. “Why are you crying?” He asked. She replied, tears in her eyes, “Owen just got called up.” Owen Miller is the older brother of Noah. He was the third-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in 2018 out of Illinois State. In August of 2020, he was traded to Cleveland in the Mike Clevenger trade. At 24, he found himself in Cleveland, batting sixth and DHing against J.A. Happ and the Twins. Sure, he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, but he is a big leaguer. And Noah Miller was there. “I did get to go. Actually, I missed my graduation for that. It was pretty exciting.” Yes, Noah was set to graduate on Sunday afternoon. Instead, he said his family got up about 2:30 a.m. and made the trek to Cleveland for a 1:10 game. The Cleveland brass found out that Noah was missing his graduation, so they put a big picture of him on their video board congratulating him on his graduation. “I actually missed it. I was getting hot dogs with my brother’s girlfriend and my cousin.” Don’t worry. Miller said that he received his diploma from the school’s principal shortly after. That May game in Cleveland was not his first Twins game of the year. He drove down to Milwaukee for the Opening Day pitcher’s duel between Jose Berrios and Corbin Burnes (and that hard-to-watch first loss of the season for the Twins). It’s been a hectic past couple of months for Noah Miller. Before baseball season began, he finished his senior season of basketball. When asked if he was any good, he sheepishly replied, “I broke our school’s scoring record, so now I’m the all-time leading scorer at our high school.” Miller didn’t play in the Area Code Games last summer, and scouts didn’t get as many opportunities to see players in 2020 due to the pandemic. He played his high school baseball season, and he continued to play more this summer. Twins Scouting Director Sean Johnson said, “We benefited from the later draft this year because normally a kid from Wisconsin, you’re not going to get to until late April or May, which may not have been enough time to get the looks we got on Noah. I saw Noah play three weeks ago for his summer team just east of LaCrosse, did a day trip that day with Deron Johnson. So we got a lot more looks than we normally would in a June 10 draft. So we used the extra month and said, ‘Who’s playing? Who can we go see?’” Soon after, Miller was invited to Target Field to participate in a pre-draft workout. Twins area scout Joe Bisenius had been tracking him for quite some time and was in contact with him all year, but when he arrived at Target Field, and there were just three other players, he knew that the Twins had a legitimate interest in him. So he wasn’t totally surprised when the Twins selected him. “I talked to him (Bisenius) a good amount. I talked to him, especially in the winter. I had a zoom call with him. I think they told me they had eight or nine guys come to see me play. I wasn’t necessarily surprised. When I went to the pre-draft workout, there were only four of us there, and they told me, ‘you’re kind of our guy here,’ that was pretty cool. I knew that my shot to get into the first round was with the Twins. It was a little bit of a surprise, but at the same time, I wasn’t surprised.” So on Sunday night, Day 1 of the draft, Miller knew there was some chance he would be drafted late in the night, maybe by the Twins, but also realized that he could be selected early on Day 2. “It was awesome. I was sitting there, and my agent called me around pick 34, and he was like, ‘Hey man, the Twins might pick you at 36. There’s a chance.’ He said, ‘Just be on the lookout.’ Then he called me again, and he was just like, ‘Again, just kind of be ready if something happens here.’ So I didn’t really know if I was going to or not, and then they picked me, and it was just, I mean, it was unbelievable. It was just me and my family, and we were going crazy.” Following Day 1 of the draft, Sean Johnson described Miller’s offense. “Johnson noted, “It’s rare anymore to see a player you believe has hit skills from both sides of the plate. Switch-hitters are pretty rare anymore. He has a great swing from both sides. We think that he will have power from both sides.” Miller said he’s been switch-hitting for a long time. He said, “Realistically, it was probably like second or third grade just playing wiffleball in the backyard with my brother and my cousins, and in the basement with tennis balls. Then in fifth grade, I finally just realized that it’s something that I should probably do, and it was something that I enjoyed doing, so I just stuck with it from there. My approach from both, pretty much the same for both ways. I don’t have the same mechanics for both ways, but my end goal is the same, and my thought is the same.” He added that he is equally comfortable from both sides of the plate. “I probably get more at-bats lefty in-game, but I’ve done the work outside of games to make it feel the same.” Johnson talked about Miller’s defense as well. “He’s extremely instinctive as a defender. He’s not the fastest shortstop in the world, but we think that he has a chance to stay there for a long time. He’ll profile whether he plays short forever or not. Great hands. Great feet. Great clock. It’s all the things you want to see. He’s super-advanced, more advanced than a lot of the college guys you see.” While Miller acknowledges that he grew up a Brewers fan, he said his favorite player (aside from his brother, of course) is Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford because “he’s such a smooth defender.” He said he had played some second base and some third base on some national teams or in tournaments but spent most of his time at shortstop. And finally, Johnson talked about Miller’s drive, saying, “Johnson said, “You can just see the competitiveness in him that he got from his brother, and his family and being in that environment.” Owen Miller went off to Illinois State when Noah was just 12 years old. Noah would hear all of the different things that Owen was working on in college, and he would be sure to work on those things as well. Noah was 15 when Owen was drafted, and he continued to get tips and things to work on and put into his game. “Very beneficial for me. It was just awesome to have. (Owen) being such a great hitter. Him being my number one hitting coach was kind of the best thing that he’s ever done for me,” Owen has continually provided solid advice for Noah. “He told me about college. He told me about pro ball. He told me the benefits of both, the cons of both. He thought I was ready for pro ball. He thought that was something that I should maybe do if I get the chance. He said maybe I should take that, and I’m glad I did now. He told me about the grind of minor league baseball, everything like that, just working in the offseason with him, working out with him, hitting with him. Everything that improved my game.” It certainly isn’t difficult to understand why the Twins are so excited about both Chase Petty and Noah Miller. Soon their long journey up the organizational ladder will begin. It should be fun to watch. Jared Walsh. JP Feyereisen. Daulton Varsho. Jarred Kelenic. Gavin Lux. Alex McRae. Jonathan Stiever. Recently-retired Jordan Zimmerman. Twins catcher Ben Rortvedt. Owen Miller. All of these players have spent time in the big leagues in 2021. All of these players were born and grew up in Wisconsin. Miller hopes to join his brother and these other Wisconsinites in the big leagues one day. Miller gives a lot of credit to RJ Fergus at Hitters Baseball in Caledonia, Wisconsin, for giving Wisconsin kids an indoor facility for the winter. Next up? The Twins will be talking with Miller and his family and representation and come to terms on a signing bonus. He is likely to sign that contract at Target Field and then head down to Ft. Myers and begin his pro career. If he does get into games, and he should, it will be with the FCL Twins. Let the journey begin. View full article

The need to move him to AAA is simply procedural this year as players can only be called up from AAA.

Welcome!! Hope you continue to enjoy it. So, I'm not completely sure on how Varland grades out on the 80 scale, but ... we know he hit 100 on a radar gun this offseason. But, as a starter, he sits more 94-96. He does have a good breaking ball and an improved changeup. He certainly has jumped into legit prospect range. German has been in the organization a while, though in the DSL/GCL levels. The big thing to know with him is that he has a plus-plus changeup. And yes, he has had an incredible season.

There are salaries for first year on 40-man, second year and third year... I haven't seen what those numbers are for years. I thought it was like $8000/$10000/$15000 several years ago... It's probably more now. And, I believe when players get called up for that first time, they sign a deal, a two-way deal.

I would guess that to be true (27th man)... but adding him to the 40 man is a big step too. My assumption would be Smeltzer to the 60 day IL since he's already close to that and we shall see.