Seth Stohs

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.

He was being sarcastic. He struck out nine... a bigger number than he usually gets.

Update on Royce Lewis from Doogie: He ran awkwardly into first in his first PA... should be fine. https://twitter.com/DWolfsonKSTP/status/1005938315554680838

Four Twins minor league affiliates played on Sunday. They combined to score five total runs on the day. That’s overall some really non-good offense. That said, some of their top hitting prospects had solid days (and several others just had days off). Also, a couple of right-handed starting pitchers had really strong games.Keep reading to find out more on the night in the Twins minor league system on Sunday. As always, please feel free to discuss and ask questions. TRANSACTIONS Tyler Duffey returned to Rochester. To make room on the roster, infielder Leonardo Reginnato was placed on the DL (ankle).Following their Sunday win, the Twins announced that Joe Mauer is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment in Rochester on Tuesday.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 1, Durham 6 Box Score Zack Littell made his first start for the Red Wings since his major league debut earlier in the week. It started out well, but he struggled in a three-run fourth inning. On the day, Littell gave up four runs on five hits and four walks in four innings. He struck out three. Tyler Duffey came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and struck one out. Nick Anderson pitched the seventh inning. He gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck one out. Alan Busenitz dropped his ERA to 0.38 with two more scoreless innings. Zack Granite and Willians Astudillo each went 2-for-4. LaMonte Wade went 1-for-2 with two walks. Former Twins prospect Chih-Wei Hu got the win. He gave up one run on four hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out two. He improves to 2-5 with a 4.87 ERA. The Red Wings are now 28-30 on the season. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Montgomery 2 Box Score Things started out well for the the Lookouts. The second batter, Brent Rooker hit a solo home run to give the team a 1-0 lead. It was his ninth home run. Unfortunately, the team had just two more hits, both by Edgar Corcino who also stole his third base. Mitchell Kranson made his Double-A debut and went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch. Kohl Stewart put together one of his best starts of the season. In seven innings, he gave up two runs on just six hits. He walked two and struck out nine. Cody Stashak worked one perfect inning. The Lookouts are now 34-29. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Dunedin 1 Box Score Right-hander Tyler Wells put together a second straight very strong start for the Miracle. He gave up just three hits over seven scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out four to improve to 5-3 with a 2.47 ERA. Ryan Mason picked up his second Miracle save with two innings of work. He gave up one run on two hits. The Miracle scored their two runs in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles from Joe Cronin and Travis Blankenhorn. Jimmy Kerrigan went 2-for-3 in the game. The Miracle are now 24-36. They are about to begin their final series before the All- Star Game. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 5 Box Score The Kernels had a bullpen game started by Melvi Acosta. The right-hander gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits over just two innings. He walked one and struck out two. Jovani Moran came on and gave up one run on two hits and two walks in his two innings. He struck out one. Tanner Kiest went the final four innings. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk while striking out two. Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-4 with his fifth triple. Jose Miranda and Andrew Bechtold went 2-for-4. Trey Cabbage went 1-for-3 with a walk and his first stolen base. Royce Lewis started at DH. He batted once and then was replaced in the game by Jacob Pearson. No reports yet on the reason that Lewis left the game. The Kernels are now 28-34. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Brent Rooker, Chattanooga Lookouts (1-3, BB, HR(9)) Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Tyler Wells, Fort Myers Miracle (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K) PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 - Royce Lewis (Cedar Rapids) - 0-1, left game #2 - Fernando Romero (Minnesota) - 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) #3 - Nick Gordon (Rochester) - Did not play. #4 - Stephen Gonsalves (Rochester) - Did not pitch #5 - Alex Kirilloff (Cedar Rapids) - 2-4, 3B(5) #6 - Wander Javier - out of for the season #7 - Brent Rooker (Chattanooga) - 1-3, BB, HR(9) #8 - Blayne Enlow (Cedar Rapids) - Disabled List #9 - Brusdar Graterol (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Pitch #10 - Akil Baddoo (Cedar Rapids) - Did Not Play #11 - Zack Littell (Rochester) - 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K) #12 - Lewis Thorpe (Chattanooga) - Did not pitch #13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - Did not play #14 - LaMonte Wade (Rochester) - 1-2, 2 BB #16 - Ben Rortvedt (Ft. Myers) - 0-3 #17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 1-3, 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 (5:35 CST) - Stephen Gonsalves (4-2, 4.13 ERA) Chattanooga @ Montgomery (6:35 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (0-2, 12.38 ERA) Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:30 CST) - LHP Tyler Watson (0-0, 1.13 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (12:05 CST) - Jordan Balazovic (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions about Sunday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

Here is the photo of Ryan Jeffers signing: https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1005249736893517825