Seth Stohs

Edgar Varela grew up in Southern California. He was drafted by the Tigers out of high school but chose to head to college. Four years later (2002), he was the 31st- round pick of the Chicago White Sox out of Long Beach State. He spent parts of five seasons playing for three organizations. In 2008, he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization where he spent a decade in a variety of coaching roles. He was a hitting coach at several levels. He spent three seasons as a minor league manager. He also spent a year as the organization’s Latin American hitting coordinator. The variety of responsibilities may have made him an ideal candidate for his next job. The Twins hired him before the 2018 season to be the Minor League Field Coordinator, a role he held the last two years. “It wasn’t something I saw myself doing when I was with the Pittsburgh organization because I had a hitting background and did some managing. When it came about, it was an opportunity to move forward and help create development opportunities for staff, but also putting a vision together with Jeremy (Zoll) and Alex (Hassan) in moving the organization forward. What we were looking for and how we could continue to combine those processes and how it can lead to the major leagues.” In the role, he was also responsible for minor league spring training, a remarkable task when you consider that involves more than 170 minor league players at more than a half-dozen affiliates. “My goal was to have a functional spring training where everybody was getting an opportunity to develop, not only on the player side, but on the staff side as well. That starts with building relationships.” Success! The Twins saw several players throughout the minor league system take big steps forward in 2019. Several of those players even got to the big leagues, and they contributed when they got there. In addition, minor league catching coordinator Tanner Swanson (Yankees) and minor league hitting coordinator Peter Fatse (Red Sox) got major-league jobs this past offseason. Varela is the third Twins minor league coordinator to get a big-league job. “I’m a people-first person. Everybody has dreams, so when I’m given an opportunity, I want to do the same for others as well.” --------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after Rowson left for Miami, Varela received a phone call from Twins Chief Baseball Operator Derek Falvey. “He said they wanted to give me an opportunity to interview for the position. It was truly humbling in itself after what they did last year.” He then went through the interview process. On a Sunday afternoon, he was outside of his house doing some yard work. He had just turned on his air blower when he received a phone call. He looked at his phone and saw that it was from Rocco Baldelli. He answered the phone, and then realized he’d better turn off the blower. Baldelli told him that he wanted him on his coaching staff. Water began welling up in his eyes. At that time, Varela’s wife came out of the garage door. “I had woken up our daughter from having the blower on. She was kind of mad at me.” That anger dissipated pretty quickly when Varela mouthed, “It’s Rocco!” and pointed to his phone. “She started crying. It was a special moment.” It was a great moment for the 39-year-old Varela. It was a long-time goal. “It’s always been a dream of mine. As you’re in a system in player development, it’s about being able to make an impact at the highest level. It became the dream and then a goal. Coming over here two years ago, Jeremy Zoll and Alex Hassan gave me an opportunity to be with a special group.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shortly after the Twins announced Varela as the new hitting coach, they also announced that they were removing the word “assistant” from Rudy Hernandez’s “assistant hitting coach” title. So, the two of them will work together. They started having conversations shortly after Varela was hired. “I’ve been picking his brain on what they’ve done in the past. I want to be prepared, and make it as seamless a transition as possible.” They will work with a very talented group of hitters. The 2019 Twins hit an MLB record 307 home runs and were clearly one of the top lineups in all of baseball. DH Nelson Cruz and catcher Mitch Garver won Silver Slugger Awards. Cruz, Garver, Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler all hit more than 30 homers.Jorge Polanco was the starting shortstop for the American League in the All Star game. Luis Arraez hit .334 in 92 games as a rookie. And they added Josh Donaldson to the mix this offseason. “What an opportunity!” Varela continued, “I’m excited and humbled to be here. I’m going to be able to learn from these guys as well. I think J-Row and Rudy did a (great) job last year, obviously, setting all the records that they did. I`m here to continue that. I’m not here to switch it all up. It’s not about me. I’m here to be there for them. They’re the ones that are playing. As best we can, continue the philosophies that J-Row and Rudy put together last year. There’s going to be little tweaks here and there. It’s not going to be major stuff. Communication with Rocco has been tremendous. Even last year, being able to communicate with him and Shelty (former bench coach and new Pirates manager Derek Shelton) throughout the course of the year was great.” In addition, his two years in the Twins minor leagues system could be helpful to him, but also to the players. He can be somewhat of a liaison between the minor leagues and the big leagues. He has worked in the last couple of seasons with the likes of Royce Lewis, Brent Rooker, Alex Kiriilloff and Ryan Jeffers. “I relate that to something we’ve done really well in the organization over the past couple of years. We send our coordinator group and coaches to the Dominican so that when our young Latin players come to the States, I know this guy. I do know these guys, so I relate it to that. When these guys do come up and help us in the big leagues, it’s more of a comfort level. They already know who's there. He knows who I am. He knows what makes me tick. All the little intricacies that, not just the swing.” Baseball is hard enough to play, so making the other aspects of the big leagues easier helps. He also understands that he has veterans on this roster who can help as well. “I think some of the older, veteran guys, the Nelson Cruz’s, and you’ve heard Josh Donaldson say it already. He wants to help out the younger players, stuff like that. When it’s peer to peer, it’s extremely valuable.” As you can tell from his answers, Edgar Varela is very humble and excited to work hard with the Twins hitters.

Thomas Nicholas has quite the crazy schedule. Last weekend he was in Detroit for an event. This coming weekend, he will be performing at Outtakes Bar and Grill in New Hope on Saturday night and at the Heavy on Wrestling event on Sunday in Duluth. He’s had an acting career that has now spanned over three decades, and he is doing more and more behind the camera as well. He is heading to Portugal later this month for a film festival and while he’s there he’ll join some of his American Pie cast mates at Comic Con in Liverpool. He is currently working on his seventh musical album. In addition to all that, he and his wife are the parents of a second-grade son and a three-year old daughter who is just about to start preschool. Life is busy, but Nicholas is really happy about his life and his career. Rookie of the Year came out in 1993. He was not even a teenager when he became a star. The movie did well at the box office. It was referred to as a “Sleeper Hit.” It was never the top-billed movie at theaters, but it ended up making around $50 million in the box office. Maybe even more impressive, it is still a movie that people watch and enjoy. It has aged well. It may surprise many to learn that Nicholas wasn’t a baseball player as a child. He was busy running from audition to audition, something he had been doing that since before he was five. “I was kind of like Henry in that I grew up in a single-parent household. So, no. I wasn’t really into sports. In fact, I didn’t play baseball until after I shot Rookie of the Year. Then because of my audition schedule, I spent the majority of the season riding the bench because the coach said that if you miss practice during the week, then you ride the bench the next game. I was going on anywhere from three to 15 auditions a week at that time. So, I always rode the bench.” Rookie of the Year is now nearly 30 years old. As Nicholas notes, “The coolest part about that film... I never would have thought that it would have transcended through generations, and now parents are showing it to their kids. And it’s living on, so that’s pretty cool.” It strikes close to him now. “My kids have both seen the film, and they both enjoy it. Even my son at the early age of three saw a clip of the 12-year-old version of me and instantly recognized that that was his dad, which is pretty odd.” In movies, actors can go to some pretty cool locations to shoot scenes. For this movie, they got to spend time at Wrigley Field. “Being at Wrigley Field was pretty awesome. I didn’t have to be a baseball fan to realize the value of that time and that place.” In fact, the Cubs have him come back to Wrigley Field every year to throw out a first pitch and sometimes even sing during the 7th Inning Stretch. “I embrace it. I feel like if it was the only feather under my cap, I might be a bit more against the idea. But because there have been other successful moments in my career, I’ve really embraced some of the stuff like Rookie of the Year or even A Kid in King Arthur’s court. For the last ten, eleven years, I’ve been going back every year and throwing out a ceremonial first pitch for the Cubs. It’s always really cool to be back there and on the field and hanging with all the Cubs fans who loved that film. We had a good eight-year run where Henry Rowengartner was the last hope of the Cubs. It still goes beyond that even though they have now won a World Series.” He is bringing that “Rowengartner” Cubs jersey that he wore when throwing out the first pitch at a game in August in Chicago (seen in the photo above) with him to Minnesota this weekend, hoping to sell it and present the funds to charity. Following Rookie of the Year, he stayed quite busy. Then in 1999, American Pie came out. It may not have been a blockbuster hit, but it gained popularity over time and became incredibly successful. Two years later, he was in American Pie 2. Next came American Wedding. In 2012, he and much of the cast returned for American Reunion. The group still stays in contact despite separate careers and their own families. Early next month, he’ll be at Comic Con Liverpool with Chris Klein and Shannon Elizabeth and Tara Reid. He has played a variety of roles in his career. He was Walt Disney in the movie Walt Before Mickey. He starred in, and produced, Living Among Us. He has been a regular on TV shows such as Party of Five and had many guest appearances as well. He will be traveling to Portugal later this month for the Fantasporto Film Festival where his newest movie, Adverse, will open the festival, which is a huge honor. He’s very proud of the work he did acting but also producing. And, check out the trailer below. The movie looks intense, and what an impressive cast! He has already produced six feature films and some music videos and will be doing more behind the camera in the near future. In recent years, he’s been trying to be the producer on one film every other year. In 2020, he may be producing two movies. “I love being behind the camera while also being in front. It basically means I have less down time. As an actor, you’ll come in and do your scene, and then you’re just sort of on a break until the next set up or the next scene. So there’s a lot of down time. That’s actually why I started playing music, just because I was so bored during those middle moments. You don’t have any responsibilities during that time. So, as a producer, as soon as the cameras cut, I switch hats, and I don’t get that down time which is a lot more fun and exciting, I think.” Thomas Nicholas is also quite the musician. He noted that he is currently working on his seventh album. In fact, he has a single called “iWant” which will be released on Friday, Valentine’s Day. “Music and entertainment run in my blood. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a stand-up comedian. My dad was a musician. My mom was a dancer. I don’t do stand up comedy or dance, but entertainment is definitely in my blood. I started playing guitar when I was 14 on sets. Yeah, I would bring the guitar for me for something to do. I fell in love with that too, so I spent a lot of time playing guitar. I do love music.” His song “My Generation” is on the Soundtrack for American Reunion. Since 2007, he’s released six albums. He’s played more than 700 shows in about 12 countries. When he goes to Portugal, he’s leaving a day early to do a concert. When he goes to Liverpool, he’s going to go on a tour of England and Wales and play at a few bars too. This weekend, there is an opportunity to see him perform. Just shy of 40, Nicholas already has a couple of ‘cult hit’ movies under his belt. He’s been a star on TV and in the movies. He’s produced and directed. And he’s a musician too. And it doesn’t appear he’s slowing down, not even a little bit. (Ticket information below) ----------------------------------------------------------- Website: tinicholas.com Actor Producer Director Musician Twitter: TINBand Instagram: TINBand ------------------------------------------------------------ On Saturday night at Outtakes Bar and Grill in New Hope, MN, (map) you can hang out with Henry Rowengartner… or Kevin from American Pie. Along with acting and producing films, Thomas Nicholas has a strong passion for music and performing as well. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. with food and drinks available. At 7:00 p.m. Rebel Queens will play. Then at 7:30, Thomas Nicholas will play an acoustic set for about 30 minutes. At about 8:00, there will be a Meet & Greet with Thomas for Meet & Greet ticket holders. Tickets are available here. According to Fan HQ, General Admission tickets are available for $10. Meet & Greet tickets are available for $29.99 and include a photo with Thomas and an autograph on the item of your choice. On Sunday, he will be in Duluth as a celebrity musician at the Heavy on Wrestling “No Love Lost 3” event. You can order tickets here.

John Manuel grew up in North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina and wrote for the school paper. After a couple of jobs in baseball, he received an offer to work at Baseball America. He accepted and remained with the magazine for 21 years. In his job, at various times he covered the draft, the College World Series, prospect rankings and eventually did all those things while being a co-editor-in-chief. He spent time on MLB Network and ESPN. After the 2017 season, he was offered a job with the Twins as a pro scout. He covers the Carolinas. In this week's episode, we caught up with Manuel and discussed a number of topics. We discusses his days at North Carolina. We talked about all of the roles he had through more than two decades at Baseball America. And we also discussed his role with the Twins and the pro scouting department. For fun, we talked about old Twins prospect rankings and much, much more in this hour-long conversation. You'll certainly enjoy it. http://traffic.libsyn.com/sethstohs/GTKE_Podcast_Ep11.mp3 You can subscribe to the Get to Know 'Em podcast on iTunes. or follow Libsyn for new episodes here as well. Please leave ratings or feedback. And did you know that you can listen to the Get To Know 'Em podcast by asking Alexa to "Listen to the Get To Know 'Em Podcast." PAST EPISODES Episode 1: Get to know Niko Guardado (Actor and son of Eddie Guardado) Episode 2: Get to know Pat Dean, Brent Rooker Episode 3: Get to know Royce Lewis, AJ Achter Episode 4: Get to know Devin Smeltzer Episode 5: Get to know Jaylin Davis, Tyler Wells Episode 6: Get to know: Travis Blankenhorn, LaMonte Wade Episode 7: Get to know: Matt Wallner (and Ten Minutes with Tyler Wells) Episode 8: Get to know: Caleb Hamilton, Austin Schulfer, Nick Anderson Episode 9: Get to know: Andy Young, Billy Boyer (and Ten Minutes with Tyler) Episode 10: Get to know: Wesley Wright (Twins Pro Scout) Please share your thoughts in the comments below. Not registered? Click here to create an account. To stay up to date, follow Twins Daily on Twitter and Facebook.

Age: 18 (DOB: 6-2-2001) 2019 Stats (GCL): 92 PA, .172/.217/.253, 4-2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI ETA: 2025 2019 Ranking: NR National Top 100 Rankings BA: NR |MLB: NR | ATH: NR |BP: NR What’s To Like There’s no hiding the reality that the Twins have had a history of drafting, signing and developing many toolsy, talented high school athletes with early-round picks. Torii Hunter. Michael Cuddyer. Joe Mauer, Denard Span. Ben Revere. Joe Benson. Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis in recent years. When it comes to tools and athleticism, Keoni Cavaco can match up with any of these players. Cavaco was drafted from Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, California. The school has several players go Division I every year as well as get drafted. Cavaco only played infield his final two years of high school and wasn’t a known commodity on the national scene until after the summer of his junior year. Like several others from his school, he was committed to San Diego State. Cavaco has a very strong, athletic build. He’s already 6-2 and hovers around 200 pounds. He’s got quick hands and has the potential to hit a lot of home runs, in time. He also has speed that can match up with most anyone in the organization. In fact, he was clocked at 3.9 seconds to first base from the right-hand batters box. Right now, his defense is ahead of his offense. The Twins had him play shortstop through the short-season following the draft, but he had spent most of his high school career playing third base. His team’s shortstop was hurt during the season so Cavaco had an opportunity to show scouts that he could play the position as well. Reports from Ft. Myers indicate that he’s got great footwork, soft hands, good range and a strong arm. What’s Left To Work On When Cavaco came to Target Field to sign his contract, FSN’s Marney Gellner interviewed him on the TV broadcast. He said that he wanted to be in the major leagues in “four years or less.” Well, Twins fans, and Cavaco himself, will need to have more patience than that. The tools are all there, but many of them are quite raw. https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1138604938240512000 First and foremost, Cavaco’s “hit” tool is going to take some time. It’s all there. He’s got the size and strength. He’s got the quick hands. He’s got good vision. In his professional debut, he missed some time with some minor injuries which kept him from getting into a groove. He also had a lot of swing-and-miss, striking out in 35 of his 92 plate appearances (38%) while walking just four times. And as you would expect from any player that is just 18 years old, he’s got a lot of work to do across the board. His swing is just one of those things. He’s got work to do in terms of base running, and defense, and control of the strike zone. He’s also learning how to work properly in the gym, and before games, and dietary, and more. https://twitter.com/BaseballAmerica/status/1135705853632372736 What’s Next After just 25 games and his struggles in the GCL following the draft, expect that Cavaco will spend the first half of the season in Ft. Myers at extended spring training continuing to work on his all-around game. At that point, it will be interesting to see if Cavaco is pushed up to Elizabethton (likely) or starts the short season in the GCL again. It’s also possible, if he picks things up quickly, he could spend some time in the second half of the season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Twins Daily 2020 Top 20 Prospects Honorable Mentions 20. Jose Miranda, 3B/2B 19. Cole Sands, RHP 18. Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/LF 17. Misael Urbina, OF 16. Edwar Colina, RP 15. Matt Canterino, RHP 14. Matt Wallner, OF 13. Wander Javier, SS 12. Gilberto Celestino, OF 11. Lewis Thorpe, LHP 10. Blayne Enlow, RHP 9. Brent Rooker, OF 8. Keoni Cavaco, SS Stop by tomorrow for prospect #7! --------------------------------------------------------- Get to know more about Keoni Cavaco and about another 170 minor league players (and two Dodgers prospects too - Graterol and Raley) in the 2020 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. ORDER NOW: 2020 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (paperback, $17.99) ORDER NOW: 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (eBook, $12.99) The 2020 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook goes in-depth and provides player bios, scouting reports, statistics and much more on about 170 Twins minor leaguers.