Seth Stohs

I don't think sending a Rule 5 pick back to his original team is every an "egg on face" thing. It's the normal. Keeping Rule 5 picks is the unusual.

This is my point, and I keep forgetting. Yes, they lost Bard and Burdi, which stunk, but they didn't' lose Reed, who I would guess if they did protect a RP on the 40-man, it would have been him. What Kinley has that Chargois hasn't had to this point... durability. Of course, as others have mentioned, guys are durable until they're not, so that could always change. I feel like I'm justifying the Kinley pick when I was probably most vocal about not understanding it. That's not my goal. Bard is one of my favorite people, and since he's been healthy, that spin rate and K-rate have been amazing. I just think that we're not privvy to all the information that the decision makers are, so there must be something.

Of course, if that's true, then they probably wouldn't have send Romero to Rochester.

That's not an "only in the Twins organization" thing. It's silly that he's there, but as is often the case (in all organizations), early season assignments are just as much about numbers as anything else... It's a byproduct of the Lynn signing and Mejia being sent down, and Romero kind of pushing his way ahead.

The reality is that the Twins chose not to protect Bard or Burdi from the Rule 5 draft. I was as harsh on the Kinley selection when it happened for a couple of days, and for the very reasons you're mentioning (if you're going to select a hard-throwing RHP, why not just protect Bard?)... But that's the risk with every Rule 5. My guess is that the Twins aren't terribly surprised by Bard's success. They've touted his spin rates the last couple of years. I have no idea why they didn't protect him, but I know it had nothing to do with Kinley. As for Chargois, he's got options. They didn't have to keep him on the 25-man roster regardless. That was just a weird DFAing, and weird timing, and it suggests something more. But again, I don't think there is a direct link between Kinley and Chargois. In all likelihood, I'm guessing Busenitz, Duffey and maybe even Curtiss were ahead of Chargois on the depth chart. Moya's thrown like 2.1 innings or whatever. He probably would have gone to AAA to start the season if they hadn't been wise and "DLd" Hughes, allowing them to keep an extra reliever. It's fun to mock and second guess everything. Like I've said, I do it too. But,, the reality is they've got a ton of RP depth and they clearly prioritized SP with their 40-man roster adds. It's hard to get too worked up about a Rule 5 pick. If they like and believe in Kinley's arm, they should keep him on the roster all year. If they question that, which they are free to, then they'll let him go back to the Marlins.

Shag-waa I recall asking him at a Twins Fest after an interview. I think he was impressed when I guessed right.

Yes and no... As a coach, you want to encourage aggressive, but smart decision making. In the case last night, I thought Baddoo made a good, aggressive move. The 3B was in. He had to dive. Baddoo was off of 2B already, and yes, he was able to make it. I would say this though... especially in the lower levels, managers and coaches should (and often do) question players. They let catchers call the games, and then they talk about good and bad pitches between innings and after games. For fast guys, they encourage them to try to steal bases, understanding they're probably going to go at some non-good situations, but they can learn from those situaitons, and they'll talk through those situations. I think most coaches will encourage aggressive over passive. And most coaches/managers in the lower levels love teaching and this is part of it. That was a long answer basically saying that there isn't a direct answer to that question.

No, he never had surgery. The rest and rehab did the trick. He looked fine this spring. He's not a big guy, but he's got some really good stuff.

I like Ryan LaMarre. Had a couple of nice chats with him in Ft. Myers. Love the story and seeing him do well... But yeah, there is zero chance that I would pinch hit Ryan LaMarre for Logan Morrison against a right-handed pitcher. And I'm not at all a fan of Morrison.

Quad Cities certainly made that argument... But the 3B was playing in, and the runner does get some leeway.

I'm sure it'll take a little time after missing a year, but I wouldn't worry about two games. He'll be fine.

I would have gone Gordon too, but that's the fun of having different writers, and then we can all discuss the choices in the comments.

Interesting to see Carlos Suniaga pitch tonight. He was brought across the parking lot from EST. Curious the roster move. I see Andro Cutura has been assigned to the Kernels, so maybe that's it. Though I'm sure Suniaga will go back to EST as soon as someone comes off the DL. Nick Gordon and Travis Blankenhorn have been fantastic through two games each. Blankenhorn's got four doubles and a homer in like 8 or 9 PA.Gordon's like 5-7 with two walks, a double and a triple. Of course, getting excited about two games makes about as much sense as worrying about Brent Rooker starting 0-7 with 4 strikeouts.

Correct... too many walks to get there... also being a catcher and catchers only playing 120-130 games most years decreased the odds.

He could get to Chattanooga this year. He lost 25-30 pounds over the offseason and has worked very hard. He's got a good FB, CB and SL. He is quite talented, but he also needs innings and time.

Still working his way back from the knee surgery. He was taking ground balls when I was there. I see now that he's starting to get some live at bats in spring training.

I think the Twins and Blankenhorn are more than OK with him playing and developing at 2B and 3B. He split his time this spring. Position flexibility is an important thing for young players and prospects. He'll likely never be a Gold Glove caliber defender at either place, but he can be adequate enough that if his bat develops, he can play where there is a need. Whitefield is as good of an athlete as Kepler (or anyone). He was just as raw as Kepler when he came in, and there are a lot of similarities between the two of them. Whitefield's a little bit faster. Similar power. Whitefield's probably a little better defensively. Both have strong arms. Whitefield just didn't sign with the fanfare.

Minor league spring training was just as long this year as normal years, but they'll be protective of their young arms, for sure.

Weather was the big winner around baseball on Friday, both in the big leagues and in the minor leagues. Had the Twins been scheduled to play, they likely would not have. The Red Wings were scheduled to play their first game of the season, but it was snowed out. Chattanooga was rained out. The Cedar Rapids game in Quad Cities was “colded” out. Fortunately, the weather in Ft. Myers is almost always just fine, so we still have one game to talk about.Because three games were 'weathered' out, today you will get a little more detail in your Miracle report. It was a good day for a top Twins prospect. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Buffalo Box Score The Red Wings will now begin their 2018 season on Saturday afternoon with Aaron Slegers on the mound. The teams will make up the game later in the season. The Red Wings did announce that LHP Casey Crosby and Catcher Jordan Pacheco will begin the season on the disabled list. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga, Birmingham Box Score The Lookouts were unable to play the second game of their season because of rain and wet field conditions. The teams will play on Saturday and then two games on Sunday to make up for the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Charlotte 4 Box Score The Florida State League can be a difficult league for offenses, and it certainly will play out that way. But on this night, the Miracle were able to score six runs and scored in five different innings. In the second inning, after singles from Lewin Diaz and Travis Blankenhorn, Nelson Molina singled in the Miracle’s first run of the game. And then they showed a little power. In the third inning, Aaron Whitefield knocked his first home run of the season. In the fourth inning, Travis Blankenhorn gave the Miracle a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning with his first homer of the year. Tyler Wells made the start for the Miracle. He gave up a run in the first inning, but that was the lone run he allowed through the first four innings. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out three. Logan Lombana came on for the fifth inning. He got two outs, but he gave up three hits. He left the game with two runners on and a one-run lead. Lefty Andrew Vasquez came on and after loading the bases with a walk, he gave up a two-run, game-tying single before getting the third out. Vasquez did work a perfect sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth frame, the Miracle were able to tie the game at 4-4. Travis Blankenhorn hit his second double of the season and scored on a Jared Foster fielder’s choice. The game remained tied as Colton Davis worked two scoreless innings despite walking four batters. In the bottom of the eighth, the Miracle regained the lead. Caleb Hamilton led off with a walk. Jaylin Davis hit a one-out double that scored Hamilton and give the team a 5-4 lead. Davis went to third base on the throw and then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-4 heading into the ninth inning. Hard-throwing Alex Robinson came on for the ninth inning to protect the two-run lead. After getting the first out, Robinson hit a batter, gave up a single and a walk to load the bases. He got a strikeout for the second out. He then got a fly out for the final out of the game and his first save. The Miracle improved to 2-0 on the season. Miracle pitching coach Henry Bonilla was ejected in the eighth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities Box Score The Kernels went to Quad Cities on Thursday night for their season opener. They didn’t make the trek on Friday because of the cold weather conditions. On Saturday, the River Bandits will travel north to help the Kernels open their home schedule. STARS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Hitter of the Day: Travis Blankenhorn, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Pitcher of the Day: Tyler Wells, Ft. Myers Miracle TOP PROSPECT SUMMARY With just one game, the list if pretty short in this game, but here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #13 - Lewin Diaz (Ft. Myers) - 1-4, R, K #17 - Travis Blankenhorn (Ft. Myers) - 3-4, 2B (2), HR (1), R, RBI, K New Miracle play-by-play guy, Marshall Kelner made some very nice comments about another prospect Aaron Whitefield. SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (2:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (Weathered out again) Birmingham @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - LHP Stephen Gonsalves Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:05) - LHP Charlie Barnes Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (5:05 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina Please feel free to ask any questions about Friday’s games, or ask any questions you may have. Click here to view the article

I heard that Hughes topped out at 92.

Yeah, even when they were optioned, Gonsalves was optioned to Rochester, Romero was optioned to Chattanooga.

He's a plus defender at 3B. Here's a story I did on him in the offseason: http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins-minor-leagues/get-to-know-twins-third-base-prospect-andrew-bechtold-r6339 I talked to him a bit in Ft. Myers. He told me he was clocked at 101 across the diamond, so he's got a big arm too.

If he gets four hits ever game ,probably not very long. I'd guess they go a month and see where he's at and where the Red Wings are at, and how Escobar and Adrianza are doing, etc.

Corrected... also corrected the score.