Seth Stohs

It's easily available online.

No one ranks farm systems by Win-Loss record.. I don't pay attention to other systems, but I would think the Twins should be in the Top 20. 28 days is a very random number.

Also steel percentage is one of many, many ways of evaluating catcher defense... some analytical, some just viewing the mechanics (arm strength, footwork, athleticism, blocking, etc.)

Ben Rodriguez looks the part of a great athlete. He stands 6-6 and weighs in at about 230 pounds.He’s lean, and he’s strong. He is an athlete, and he’s a pretty good baseball player. But Rodriguez is more than just baseball. He’s got a fascinating family, and he’s got plans beyond baseball. Today, let’s get to know a little bit more about Cedar Rapids first baseman and catcher Ben Rodriguez.“I’m good at being an athlete. I want to be a good baseball player.” Ben Rodriguez is 23-years-old, one of the elder statesmen on a very young Cedar Rapids Kernels roster. However, he may have the least time spent on a baseball field relative to many of the hitters on the roster. He is currently on the Kernels disabled list. Through his first 35 games, he has hit .237/.302/.377 (.680) with seven doubles and three home runs. He has come up with some big hits for the Kernels. But he acknowledges that he needs time and games and at bats. Rodriguez grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he played a lot of basketball. His father has played basketball in the Dominican Republic. Ben played a little baseball, but he was also a good basketball player. He didn’t start playing baseball only until midway through his high school years. He was pretty good at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, so as graduation approached, he had several college options to continue playing baseball. One school that jumped out for him was Pepperdine for a variety of reasons, and then he took his visit to the school and was sold. Rodriguez said, “I had options. Before I visited the school, I knew it was a very competitive academic school, which meant a lot to me. It was a smaller school, which I liked, great academics and great athletics. Once I visited, I was sold. I had to go there.” His first year at Pepperdine, he didn’t play much. The next year, he missed a lot of time due to injury. But he played in 91 games over his final two seasons. As the draft approached following his senior season in 2017, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. He didn’t have an agent. He knew he wouldn’t go on Day 1, but senior signs can start getting phone calls from teams around the fifth or sixth rounds. He heard from a couple of teams on Day 2, but he wasn’t drafted. Day 3 is a long day as Rounds 11 through 40 are covered. It’s a long day for the teams, and it can be a long day for the players. Rodriguez noted, “I didn’t know what was going on. I was pretty confused. I was a little overwhelmed. Teams were calling and asking a lot of questions. I didn’t really follow the draft. I figured if someone called me, they’d call me. If not, I don’t know.” Mid-afternoon, Rodriguez went to lunch with a friend. “Basically, I hadn’t received a call. I guess I wasn’t getting drafted. It was a good run. I had a good time. That whole process, I went through it with him at that time. What am I going to do now?” And right after that, he said, “I got a text from the Twins. They were saying, ‘It’s late, but you’re still on the board and we want you to be on our team. What would you think if we drafted you here?’” He was interested, but there were some deep thoughts going on through his head in literally just a few moments. “To be honest with you, at first I was thinking to myself, I don’t know. What kind of opportunity will I get? Then I talked to some people close to me very briefly, but I had an overwhelming Yes. You have to go. You have to give it a shot. It was incredible. I had realized that dream I had all my life. No matter if it doesn’t come to you how or when you want it to, I had still achieved it. That was huge. That was a really big moment for me. I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t expecting to feel that way.” Let’s just say this… If Ben Rodriguez had not been drafted and been given this opportunity in baseball, he was going to be just fine. When he said that he picked Pepperdine in large part for the academics, it wasn’t just lip service. Rodriguez graduated in four years from Pepperdine with a degree in physics with an emphasis in electricity and magnetism. “I went there originally as an engineering major. A lot of physics overlaps with engineering. I love science and I just thought it was so interesting. After my freshman year, I had taken some physics classes, and after that I thought, Absolutely, this is what I want to do. As far as interest in magnetism, I just thought it was cool. Those were fun classes for me. They were super challenging, really hard, and I like them so much. It was some extra class. I picked it, and that was my track.” If he wasn’t playing baseball right now, he would be continuing his education. “Last summer, before I had been drafted, I had applied and been accepted into the medical school at Columbia University.” While he hadn’t taken a pre-med curriculum at Pepperdine, Columbia has a program designed to achieve that goal. “It’s called the post baccalaureate pre-medical program. It’s a program specifically designed for people who didn’t necessarily major in something to do with medicine. If you want to go there, you take the pre-med classes and then you get accepted and go to their medical school. I was on track to get into their medical program.” Not a bad fall back plan, I’d say. While he notes that the acceptance can only be deferred for a year, he did talk to people at Columbia and told them he was playing baseball. “They were extremely supportive of the decision, and they told me whenever your career is over, try again.” He acknowledged, “It gives me time. I didn’t really know what I wanted, to be honest. I knew I was a good student, and I knew I wanted to continue my education. That seemed like the most altruistic way to continue my education, to go to medical school and help people the best way that you can which is all I really cared about doing. Now that I’m here, I’m afforded more opportunities and I have more time to see if maybe there is another path that I can go on to fulfill that. Whatever it is. At some point, either during or after my career, my education will be continued.” Helping people is something that is very important in the Rodriguez family. It’s not just words. They put their will to help people into action. Ben’s mom joined the Peace Corp after college and was sent to the Dominican Republic where she was able to help a lot of people. That’s also where she met Ben’s dad, who is a doctor. Ben also has an older sister who is a public school teacher in Brooklyn. “She did ‘Teach for America’ which is a branch of the Peace Corp. She went to the inner-city of Dallas and taught. She postponed continuing her education to do that. I’m very proud of her. Right now, she’s at Columbia getting her Masters in Education and teaching at the same time.” His junior year of college, Ben went to Ecuador to teach. Yes, it is fair to say that altruism runs in the family’s genetics. A scouting report on Ben Rodriguez might look optimistic and glowing. At first glance, Rodriguez has the size (6-6, 230), some good speed, power and power potential and more. He's got the size to play first, but is nimble around the bag which is important. He has the ability to, as he said, “look good in a showcase. I can throw really hard. I can hit really far. I can run pretty fast.” It was that athleticism and the tools that made him standout to me during spring training. He continued, “I think I’m good at being an athlete right now. I don’t know if that’s necessarily something to be good at. That’s what I feel. I can react to pitches. I can hit guys who throw really hard. I can make good plays at first base. I can move around. I can catch well. I am flexible. I am a good athlete right now, but I want to be a good baseball player.” But Rodriguez is still very raw on the field, and he knows it. “I need to work on everything in the sense that I need to develop myself as a ballplayer. I’ve always been toolsy. But as a ballplayer I need to develop. I talk about that with Toby all the time, whether it’s having a better approach at the plate, or being more savvy with how I approach things offensively or defensively. Being a baseball player. I have a brain. I love learning, and I love thinking. My whole career thus far has been predicated on the fact that I can do things that are cool. I can come into a game and hit a ball really far, but I’m less attune to some things that others do. There are some things that you can only get through playing more and more games. I didn't play much in college. The last two years, I played, but I didn’t play summer ball. I don’t have the game time that most guys have. I think that’s a plus for me. When I look at my career. When I look at my strengths as a baseball player, I think I have the tools that I need. The thing that I need is just more time. What do I need to work on? I need to work on everything. I need to work on approach and knowing myself as a player.” When the Twins called his name in the 38th round in 2017, they selected him as a catcher. Of his 35 games played this year, just six of them have been behind the plate. He played little behind the plate in college, but he was a catcher in high school. “The scout who drafted me had seen me in high school as a catcher. Can you still catch? Obviously, being a kid who wanted to play professional baseball, I was like Sure, I’ll do whatever you want. I loved catching. In college it didn’t work out that way. There was more of an opportunity for me to play in different spots, so I moved around.” Here’s hoping that the Twins give him some of that time that he needs to develop. Watch him play and you can see the potential. With his size and strength and speed, it is certainly worth giving him time to see if those athletic tools can turn into more polished skills in time. Click here to view the article

Borrego would have been his manager with the GCL Twins in 2010. He was manager in the GCL for a long time before getting the Miracle job this year.

I added a paragraph on this. Steve Singleton is the Miracle hitting coach. he's good. I think he's' the right guy to work with him. Also, minor league hitting coordinator Rick Eckstein is probably going to be down there a lot. I think he can be helpful too. I think this is a restart for Sano. The pitching may be easier, but it's not easy... and frankly, Sano needs to go down there and almost start over mechanically.

My personal opinion, its a wise, wise move.

One year ago, Miguel Sano was named to his first All Star Game. Today, Miguel Sano was optioned to High-A Ft. Myers in an attempt to jump-start his career.Following the Twins 3-1 loss on Thursday in Detroit, Paul Molitor announced the Jake Cave was heading to Rochester. The surprise was that Miguel Sano is being optioned to Ft. Myers. It isn't a surprise that Sano is being optioned. I think many of us expected that. That he's being optioned to Ft. Myers is more telling. He almost needs to start over. The Miracle are about to go on their All-Star break, so he should be able to get down there and have a week or so before even getting into a game. He can work at their facilities, and hope that by being down several notches, he'll be able to get to fundamentals. Roy Halladay is a guy who pitched in the big leagues, but when he struggled and lost his mechanics, he was optioned to A-ball. He worked on those things with a clear mind, and he came back better. Since the All-Star Game last year, things have gone abruptly downhill for Sano. Late last year, he fouled a ball off of his shin. He worked to come back, but the pain was bad. He had surgery following the season to insert a titanium rod into his leg. During the holidays, allegations of abuse were made against him. A long investigation led to no suspension, but clearly that was another blow to his reputation. At Ft. Myers, he will be able to work with their hitting coach, Steve Singleton, and Twins minor league hitting coordinator Rick Eckstein. Those two are very well respected hitting instructors in the system. Playing for Ramon Borrego may also be a positive. There was no easy answer for how to get Sano back on track. This is what the Twins have decided is the best route. It should not be a short-term deal. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. What do you think? Click here to view the article

Nice note from Regi Grace to Mississippi State.

Garry and Grace signed today:

Yeah... we need to be careful with going by any of the draft rankings... Teams see these guys so much more than those sites (as good as they are)... and all teams will see things differently... I know I'm not smart enough to say a guy "should have signed for" whatever the amount.

The Twins signed a few more today:

Jim Callis says that Jeffers got $800K. Well under slot!

I'm guessing, most likely, that Belisle had an opt-out date of June 11th that the Twins were aware of. If they had not signed him, he would have had other offers.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced that reliever Matt Belisle had signed with the Twins after being released a day earlier by Cleveland. Infielder Gregorio Petit was Designated for Assignment to make room on the 40-man and 25-man rosters. It was a minor transaction, in the big picture, but it certainly created a ton of discussion. What does this signing mean for the Twins? Let’s try to figure it out.When the news came out that the Twins had signed Matt Belisle, my level of surprise was fairly low. I don’t know why. It just seems like what we would have always deemed a “Twins” type of move. The DFAing of Petit was also not a surprise. But as I gave it more thought, my mind raced in several different directions, and at the end of the day, I’m much calmer, but I can’t say that the move makes any more sense than it did eight hours ago. It still begs several questions. 1.) What Does Matt Belisle Have Left? Matt Belisle got off to a very slow start last year with the Minnesota Twins, but he turned it on in the second half. He pitched well and did a nice job as the Twins closer after the Brandon Kintzler trade at the deadline. Late in the offseason, he signed a one year, $1.5 million deal with Cleveland. He made the Opening Day roster. He began the season with three scoreless outings before giving up runs in his next three outings. He responded with two scoreless outings. Cleveland DFAd him. Belisle became a free agent, but soon re-signed with the team. He was released on Sunday and signed with the Twins on Tuesday. In his 10 2/3 innings, he posted a 5.06 ERA. He walked one and struck out just four. In nine outings (and also 10 2/3 innings) for Triple-A Columbus, Belisle posted a 4.22 ERA with one walk and 11 strikeouts. In other words, he shouldn’t be a late-inning reliever, but the 38-year-old can probably be a solid big league pitcher still. 2.) What Does It Say About The Front Office’s Opinion of the AAA Relievers? This was my first thought, and I know it was the thought of many others. First and foremost, it is inexplicable to me that Alan Busenitz isn’t pitching in the big leagues. Of course, that was my opinion before the Belisle signing. He pitched well late in the 2017 season for the Twins and became a reliable arm for Paul Molitor. While Busenitz didn’t make the Opening Day roster, he was promoted in mid-April. He then pitched in four of the next six games. The Twins were struggling and needed arms, so Busenitz was sent back to Rochester. In 14 games for the Red Wings, He has posted a 0.38 ERA. In 24 innings, he has given up 15 hits, walked five and struck out 28. The 27-year-old has nothing to prove in AAA, and he still have some upside. But Busenitiz isn’t the only reliever in Rochester who has to be wondering what the Twins front office is thinking. Tyler Duffey was just sent down over the weekend to make room for outfielder Jake Cave. Duffey had pitched well in limited duty since being called back up. That said, it did make sense to want a fourth bench bat. So, three days later, adding a bullpen arm and going back to three bench bats has to make him think. In 26 innings over 11 outings for the Red Wings, Duffey has posted a 1.38 ERA. He’s walked seven and struck out 26 batters.John Curtiss has the pitches to be a dominant reliever. While his short stay with the Twins earlier this season wasn’t pretty, it doesn’t (or shouldn’t) limit anyone’s idea of his potential. Coming into Tuesday, he had a 1.61 ERA in 22 1/3 innings. In that time, he had 31 strikeouts, but ten walks.Luke Bard has 19 strikeouts and six walks in his 17 innings (11 games) since his return to the Red Wings after his stint with the Los Angeles Angels. His big fastball, slider and spin rates are pretty much big league ready.Nick Anderson has given up nine earned runs in his last three outings (2 2/3 innings) which raised his season ERA from 1.16 to 4.15. So, as rough as this current “slump” is, it’s important to think about the first 14 games and 23 1/3 innings. In his 26 innings, he has walked 12 and struck out 39.Jake Reed remains in the organization. He missed time earlier in the year and has struggled somewhat in his return. In his 15 2/3 innings over ten outings, he has walked seven and struck out 14 batters.While he’s left-handed, Gabriel Moya has also pitched well in his five weeks with the Red Wings after being optioned at the end of April. He’s posted a 2.11 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. In that time, he has walked eight and struck out 29 batters.Trevor May is working his way back from Tommy John surgery. As his rehab stint ended, the Twins optioned him to Rochester and he has worked out of the bullpen since. At some point, he’ll be ready as well.That is a lot of quality options who all were just told that they have been pushed down the line another spot with the Belisle signing. The team likely calls it "depth." Hopefully the players will consider it a challenge. The other option is that they get overly upset and don't handle it well. 3.) What Kind of Leader is Belisle? (And What Kind of Leadership Does This Twins Team Need?) Matt Belisle likely isn’t going to be a difference maker for the Twins bullpen (which, frankly, has been pretty solid most of the season). The Twins have pitchers at Rochester who are just as talented, if not more talented, and younger. What we keep hearing is that the Twins are bringing in Belisle for his leadership in the clubhouse. Fair enough. There were plenty of good stories in 2017 about the role Belisle played for the team, particularly in a leadership role. However, when the Twins signed Fernando Rodney, there was some conversation about him being brought in as a leader for the pitchers. Then Zack Duke was signed, and we heard about how great of a teammate he is. And, when they signed Addison Reed, his leadership was again mentioned. I don’t mean to downplay the value of veteran leadership. It is important. But there are a lot of veterans, and there are a lot of veterans who are touted as leaders, and there are several indications that the clubhouse is not a happy place right now. There are issues. The team is five games under .500, not at all where they felt they would be at this point, Can Matt Belisle’s leadership push the Twins to more wins? That is to be determined. Can he help the Twins offense score more runs? That would also be helpful. As would getting more of the regulars back on the field and healthy. Summary So at the end of the day, this is a minor move. Matt Belisle probably has a little left in the tank. Maybe he can help out. Maybe he can eat some of the innings that are currently constantly going to Addison Reed and Ryan Pressly so that they don’t reach 100 games pitched this year. Trevor Hildenberger is starting to take more and more of those opportunities, and Matt Magill has pitched well enough to earn those opportunities as well. We have also seen what Paul Molitor likes from his bullpen. He trusts Addison Reed and Ryan Pressly. In the first half last year, he trusted Taylor Rogers and ran him into the ground by the second half. We saw that somewhat in the second half last year when he used Trevor Hildenberger most every day over the final couple of months. My guess is that Molitor will not be afraid to use Matt Belisle late in games because of how well he did in the role last year. Trust. I also suspect that this is one move that the front office is giving Molitor and the team, a veteran, in an attempt to win this year. The trade deadline is about seven weeks away. By mid-July, the front office will have some big decisions to make. Most important, will they believe that the Twins could still make the playoffs this year? As Nick wrote yesterday, it’s not yet time to give up on this year. What this signing appears to me to be, in the big picture, is a message to the team and its veterans that they have a little over a month to turn things around and put themselves in a position to compete for a playoff spot. If not, all bets are off and at that time, we can start discussing which veterans could be on the trading block and which players will come up to take their places. Click here to view the article

Steve may have a different answer, but... No...

When it comes to the big leagues, age to level of competition shouldn't matter at all. Carter was acquired in a trade as a depth piece, and I don't think the front office would hesitate to promote him if they feel he can help the big league team. He's very one-dimensional, like Sano, and he will strike out as much as Sano... He's great depth.

If Arraez keeps hitting .450 and getting on base 50% of the time, he'd be in line for a promotion. However, I expect him to spend the full season in Ft. Myers. It took him a bit to get going, and I think the biggest thing is just to get him back to his old self. He appears to be either there or very close to it, which is great. I tweeted yesterday about how disappointing Balazovic's 2017 was... But when I saw him in spring training, he was very impressive. I mentioned him to Toby when I was in Cedar Rapids, and he said really good things about his development since the disappointment last year. But that was a day before he was called up there, and I don't think anyone could have thought he'd do this well. Then again, it's' two games,, but more important than the results, he just seems back to full strength with the velocity and command.

The Miracle played two, one-inning games on Monday night. The Red Wings had a rough start, though Chris Carter continues to hit home runs. A couple of veterans led the Lookouts offense, and they got a quality start, but it wasn’t enough. Luis Arraez continues to stay hot at the plate for the Miracle. Tyler Watson pitched well again in his second Miracle start. Trey Cabbage had a big game at the plate for the Kernels, and Canadian Jordan Balazovic put together one of the best starts in the Twins system in 2018.Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Monday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Things were quiet on the transaction front in the Twins system on Tuesday.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 10 Box Score For Stephen Gonsalves at Rochester, his starts have either been very good or very, well, non-good. Unfortunately on this night, he had one of the latter. In four innings, Gonsalves gave up nine runs on nine hits (including two home runs). He walked five and struck out three. With a doubleheader on Tuesday, I’m sure manager Joel Skinner had hoped to get more innings from the lefty. Gonsalves threw 91 pitches. Just 47 of them were strikes. Jake Reed came on and provided three strong innings of relief. He gave up one run on three hits. He struck one batter out. Luke Bard pitched a scoreless inning. Chris Carter led the offense. He went 2-for-4 with his fifth home run. LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Cameron Rupp added a single and a walk. The Red Wings are now 28-31 on the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Montgomery 4 Box Score Sean Poppen’s first two starts for the Lookouts were rough. In eight innings, he gave up 11 runs. On Monday, he posted a quality start. He gave up three runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out two and didn’t walk anyone. Sam Clay worked the final two innings. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out two. James Ramsey led the offense. He went 2-for-3 with a walk and his third home run. He also stole his first base. Andy Wilkins picked up his first walk and his first two hits, including a double, of the season after returning from the disabled list (hamate bone surgery). Edgar Corcino was also 2-for-3 in the game. The Lookouts are now 34-30. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 3 (completion of suspended game) Box Score On Monday, the Miracle resumed a game that started last week against Palm Beach. Their game was suspended in the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at three. Griffin Jax had started the game last week and gave up three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and didn’t walk any. That is when the game was suspended. Fast-forward to Monday. Tom Hackimer “started” for the Miracle, and he worked 3 1/3 perfect innings to earn the win. With Brandon Lopez starting the bottom of the tenth inning at second base, Luis Arraez singled to center to score Lopez and end the game. Arraez went 2-for-3 in the game. Shane Carrier and Joe Cronin each went 2-for-4 with a home run. It was Carrier’s second and Cronin’s fourth. Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 5 (regularly-scheduled game) Box Score Lefty Tyler Watson started the second game with four scoreless innings. He gave up two runs in the fifth frame. Those were the only runs he gave up in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out four. Hector Lujan came on. He got the final out of the sixth inning. He gave up an unearned run in the seventh inning. Then in the bottom of the eighth, he gave up a double and a single but got two outs. Kevin Marnon was brought in, but he gave up a two-run double to give Palm Beach the lead before getting the final out. Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 with his second triple. He also stole his first bag. Travis Blankenhorn went 2-for-4 with his 12th double and an RBI. With the split, the Miracle are 25-37 on the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 1 Box Score In a get-away afternoon game in Wisconsin, the Kernels got a fantastic start from a guy making his first Midwest League start. Jordan Balazovic came up on Memorial Day and worked 3 2/3 shutout innings in relief. After a brief stint back in extended spring training, he was called back up and made his first start on Monday. The right-hander from Canada gave the Kernels seven strong innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He struck out 11 batters without issuing a walk. Jared Finkel and Calvin Faucher each threw a scoreless inning which included a strikeout. Faucher recorded his first save. Trey Cabbage provided most of the Kernels offense. He had three of the team’s six hits including his eighth double and his fifth home run. Royce Lewis, who left the Kernels game on Sunday with an apparent leg injury, did not play on Monday afternoon. The Kernels are now 28-35. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Trey Cabbage, Cedar Rapids Kernels (3-3, 2B(8), HR(5)) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Jordan Balazovic, Cedar Rapids Kernels (7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - Did not play #2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - Did not pitch #3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - 0-4, 2 K #4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - 4 IP, 9 H, 9 ER, 5 BB, 3 K #5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 1-4, R, 2 K #6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 0-4, 2 K #8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Disabled List #9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - 0-4, RBI, K #11 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - Did not pitch #12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch #13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - 1-5, K #14 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 2-4, 2 RBI #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-1 #17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 2-4, 2B(12), RBI #18 - Yunior Severino (Extended Spring Training) - #19 - Tyler Jay (Chattanooga) - Did Not Pitch #20 - Felix Jorge (Chattanooga) - Disabled List, still no official timetable for return. MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre (DH @ 4:00 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (5-3, 3.43 ERA), LHP Gabriel Moya (0-0, 2.11 ERA) Chattanooga @ Montgomery (12:05 CST) - RHP Todd Van Steensel (5-1, 1.60 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 CST) - RHP Clark Beeker (1-4, 3.59 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) - RHP Randy Dobnak (3-2, 4.65 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Monday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

He signed for no money?? Wow! What a good kid. Makes me want to cheer for him... And yes, I am a jerk... Ha!

Their prospects were hyped... But prospect status doesn't have much to do with on-field performance, especially in the lower levels. The Kernels have the 2nd youngest Hitters in the league at 20.8, a full year, on average, younger than the average pitcher in the league. They have the third youngest Pitchers in the league. I rarely look at W-L record either. I certainly don't' care about it other than adding a sentence at the end of the occasional team story. But I would say that the young guys are more than holding their own.