Seth Stohs

Ownership, front office, coaching staffs, the players... everyone.

he's playing CF in Cedar Rapids, and he's capable there. He's just fine. But generally, most think he's a solid left fielder as he moves up.

I apologize. The tone was meant more to attack the "Guilt By Association" mentality in these threads. So-and-So is part of this, they must be non-smart and could never do the job here or anywhere. That bugs me because it's unfair to those individuals. It is possible that in internal person may be perfect for the job, but with this type of thinking (not you, but the general vibe in this thread) that guy would never be given a chance.

I bet I would...

I also chose not to say bad things in public about people I don't know... it's called being a decent person...

I don't see how Smith and Anthony are lumped together, other than they were both Assistant GMs under Ryan. I mean, I think saying that Anthony was responsible for Kubel and Bartlett making the Opening Day roster (And that's all I've heard/read people say) is 1.) too small of a sample size, and 2.) he was in contact with Terry Ryan every single day. He was being the assistant and the voice at that time. And that's all people have on him, so that means pretty much nothing. Do I think he is smart and could be a good GM? I do. Do I know that with certainty? Of course not. But I won't base it off of just the one situation.

I think Bill Smith was bad as a GM, but he's good at what he's doing now which is also important. I don't know that any of the front office types, etc. are bad at their jobs. I think the results right now are really bad, and I understand that many think that means everyone is doing bad. I tend to look at it differently. I generally like most of the people themselves, so I'm not going to sit and badmouth them as people. I also believe that every move, or non-move, deserves to be judged on its own. Everyone is going to have their "good" moves and everyone is going to have their "bad" moves. Just like all of us in our jobs. I believe in judging process, and that certainly differs than judging just big league results. There are just so many layers to it.

I often wonder what people say about my work in my job too... even if they don't know what I do. I don't know the complete list of things that Dave St. Peter is responsible for as the President of the Twins. I believe that it has little if anything to do with baseball. I may be wrong. But I think the stadium is nice, they do good updates each year, the food selections are strong, the gameday experience is great. The Twins do a terrific job in the community. They give back. They're adding the Dominican League facility. The baseball academy in Ft. Myers is terrific. He's involved in social media and generally responsive to fan interaction. That's all I know. I think he's done very good at those things. My assumption is that he has very little to do with the baseball operations, so in my mind, firing him because the baseball team is bad doesn't make sense. If there are other reasons, then fine. Also, I don't think Nick is advocating firing St. Peter in here at all. He's just encouraging maybe a new hierarchy with a baseball man above the GM. And the Twins right now - and most teams - don't have that. But there now are a handful of teams that do, so it's worth looking into.

If his job has pretty much nothing to do with baseball (which I assume to be true), then saying that he's somehow responsible for the losing makes little sense to me.

When he was slapping all those little singles to left...

Speaking of players from Cedar Rapids... isn't that where AJ Puk is from? Also, Perfect Game ranks Dalton Feeney as the #1 prospect in ND, #200 overall. They have Muckenhirn at #330 overall. (Though Muckenhirn is much more likely to sign)

That's fine, but there weren't exactly other teams claiming him either. He didn't sign until pretty late, and he came to Red Sox camp hoping to find some playing time, maybe platooning with Kevin Millar or competing with Jeremy Giambi. It's not like teams were clamoring for him. Good for him though, he made the most of it and took off.

To be fair, when St. Peter is asked about baseball-related topics by whoever, he needs to answer the questions. He often will qualify his comments by saying "That's Terry's group" or something like that. I think St. Peter is very good at his job, and I don't care in the least what his thoughts on on player personnel,etc. I suspect he knows what he needs to know.

Ortiz couldn't stay on the field, and the turf at the Dome killed his knees. Sure would have been nice to get his production, but his career wouldn't have been anything close to what it has become had he stayed. He probably wouldn't have been able to walk by now. Sure, in hindsight, it goes down as one of the biggest blunders in the team's history, but at the time, it made a ton of sense.

Alex Wojciechowski is his name... I'm guessing Jeremy just didn't want to have to spell that a couple of times, and I can't blame him. For UMD this year, he hit .442/.506/.973 (1.479) with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 33 homers and 101 RBI in 55 games. He is about 6-5 and at least 230 and a 1st baseman. I think he'd be hard to NOT take in a late round. He's a senior from Coon Rapids. But he's not the only Bulldogs player worth being interested in, if only it was just based on stats. Jimmy Heck is a 2B from St. Louis Park. This year, he hit .424/.498/.741 (1.239) with 12 doubles, 17 homers and 78 RBI. He's 6-5 and 225 pounds. A big second baseman. Kyle Comer is a 6-1, 220 pound 3B from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He hit .435/.510/.745 (1.255) with 20 doubles, four triples and 13 homers. The last two names are seniors too. Of course, at that level, the concern about level of competition comes into play for scouts, well beyond the stats themselves. Another name to consider... Bismarck Century (same high school Carson Wentz is from) has a RHP named Dalton Feeney. Again, competition matters, but he has something like a 0.24 ERA this year. He's thrown 2 perfect games. But, he's been on scouts' radars for more than 3 years already. He's committed to the University of Missouri. He sits right around 90, but has been clocked as high as 95. He's definitely one to watch though he said that it'll completely depend on where he's drafted and what he's offered. Like Shore and Boldt three years ago, he's a guy who could go on Day 2, but if he doesn't go pretty early, he'll fall (maybe out of the draft) because scouts know he likely won't sign.

Numbers are fairly similar. And Stewart was there for 10-12 more starts. Without knowing, they may have had a certain plan for Stewart, or certain things they wanted him to do, or see from him, etc. Gonsalves deserves it too, and I think it will happen. I'd be fine with 1.) him starting the FSL All Star game in Ft. Myers, or 2.) let him put up some crazy numbers so he can pitch in the Futures Game in his hometown of San Diego. I'm holding on to the hope that that is the reason he hasn't moved up yet. I'd be OK with that. That's what happened with Berrios two years ago.(not that I put them in the same category quite yet, just comparing the situations).

Probably just outside the Top 30. Maybe... For now... Maybe.

My bad!

He is some kind of impressive. He's a little emotional on the mound - like if he doesn't get a strike call - but he's young. He throws mid-90s and that curveball is sharp. Very exciting.

He's been playing in Extended Spring Training games after his most recent injury. So, I think he's actually on their roster, but it's likely more of a rehab thing.

CEDAR RAPIDS - Another day in Cedar Rapids and no on-field batting practice because of the rains. In reality, it only rained for about 15 minutes, but it came down hard and accumulated. However, the Kernels grounds crew did a great job. There was one more rain cell that hit the ballpark about game time, so the Kernels decided to delay the start of the game by about 45 minutes which was the right decision. It was a fireworks game for the Kernels, so the stands were pretty full, and the crowd got to watch some bonus baseball as the Kernels and TimberRattlers went 11 innings. And the rest of the organization was full of exciting games. See how Travis Harrison helped the Lookouts to a win. How did Tommy Milone fare? Did he throw too many strikes? Stephen Gonsalves was on the mound too. And, were you ready to give up on Eddie Rosario?We’ve got quotes from the Kernels starting pitcher, catcher and manager as well, so continue reading today’s Minor League Report. TRANSACTIONS On Saturday, there was just one transaction in the Twins system: In Ft. Myers, Max Murphy was placed on the 7-Day disabled list with a strained hamstring. Taking his spot is Engelb Vielma who has been rehabbing in extended spring Ttaining.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 3, Charlotte 4 Box Score The reports of the demise of Eddie Rosario might have been a little premature. The outfielder went 4-5 with his sixth double for the Red Wings. He raised his average to .289. Byron Buxton nearly homered but had to settle for a ground rule double on the play. He was 2-4 with his ninth double. Jorge Polanco added his second double. Tommy Milone was the definition of a strike thrower on Saturday night. 82 of his 102 pitches were strikes. The lefty gave up two runs on three hits over 7.2 innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out seven. JT Chargois came on for the final out of the eighth inning. He gave up a hit but the inherited runner did not score. Alex Wimmers came on for the ninth. He gave up two runs and got just one out. Sean Burnett got the final two outs on the inning. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 3, Tennessee 2 Box Score Travis Harrison drove in three runs which was enough to help the Lookouts to a 3-2 win. The outfielder went 2-3 in the game with his ninth double. Dalton Hicks and Ryan Walker were both 2-3. Hicks hit his 10th double. Aaron Slegers made the start. The lanky right-hander gave up two runs on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out six. Corey Williams was excellent in relief. He struck out three over two shutout innings to improve to 2-0. Trevor Hildenberger recorded his fifth save with a perfect ninth inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 3 Box Score This game was close until the eighth when Charlotte put together a big inning. Stephen Gonsalves gave up some hits, but he put together another quality start. In six innings he gave up three runs (2 earned) on nine hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel came in and pitched a scoreless seventh inning. However, things didn’t go so well in the eighth. It started with four straight hits. After getting two outs, he gave up a single and a home run. Six runs on six hits, in a hurry. Brian Gilbert got the final out. Logan Wade went 2-4 with his fourth triple. Alex Real went 2-3 with a walk. Tanner Witt and Brian Navarreto each hit his first home run of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Wisconsin 2 Box Score The story in this game was all the strikeouts. Unfortunately, it was the Kernels who struck out on the scoreboard at the end of the night. Righty Miles Nordgren made the start for the Kernels. He came into the game with 28 strikeouts in 31+ innings. In this game, he went seven innings and struck out 12 batters without issuing a walk. He gave up one run on four hits, easily the best start of his professional career. The lone run he allowed came on a broken bat blooper. The right-hander who says that he hits 90 “on a good day” said that he threw “a lot more sliders” instead of his curveball. His catcher AJ Murray was impressed. “He made my job easy. I just put my glove down and he threw it there every time. He was in control the whole game the whole time, and it’s probably the best I’ve seen him throw this year or last year.” Williams Ramirez came on and worked a season-high three innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out five. He showed a mid-90s fastball with a very sharp, high-70s curveball. Earlier in the day, Jake Mauer said that Ramirez had never pitched under the lights as he has done a couple of times now with the Kernels. Following the game, Mauer said that Ramirez “He’s got a live arm too. It’s electric. It comes out good. It’s downhill. Breaking ball’s good. He looks more and more comfortable out there each time.” When I said, “The lights don’t seem to bother him,” Mauer said with a chuckle, “No I think he’s used to it now.” Could Ramirez eventually start? Mauer said he could, but right now, the team needs someone to pitch late in games ,and Ramirez is in that mix too. Unfortunately, the Kernels were unable to muster any offense. However, in the bottom of the ninth, they were able to get one across to tie the game and send it to extra innings. JJ Fernandez lined a double to the right field corner. Alex Perez ran for him and advanced to third base on a slow bounder to third base. Jermaine Palacios lined out to medium-deep center field allowing Perez to score the game-tying run and send it to extra innings. In the 11th inning, CK Irby came on. The first batter blooped a single. The second batter bunted. Irby fielded and threw to second. The throw tailed into the runner’s helmet and bounced away. He was able to advance to third, though he was clearly hurt and left the game. A deep fly to right scored the go-ahead run. JJ Fernandez led the way with his 10th double and first triple of the year. Luis Arraez went 2-4. LaMonte Wade wasted no time extending his on-base streak to 28 games with a first inning walk. He added a single later. Sean Miller hit his third triple, and Brad Hartong hit his second double. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Miles Nordgren, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Eddie Rosario, Rochester Red Wings SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (12:35 p.m. CST) - LHP Andrew Albers Tennessee @ Chattanooga (5:15 CST) - RHP Omar Bencomo Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (11:35 am CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – RHP Cody Stashak Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Saturday games. Click here to view the article

CEDAR RAPIDS - There was rain falling for most of the trek between the Twin Cities and Cedar Rapids on Friday morning and early afternoon, but it was a good night for baseball. The Kernels fell behind early but it was still a good game. Be sure to follow Twins Daily and SethTweets on twitter for many pictures to come. For much more on what happened on Friday in the Twins farm system, including quotes from Kernels manager Jake Mauer, please continue.TRANSACTIONS On Friday there were a few transactions in the Twins system: Catcher Brian Olson was promoted from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers. Kevin Garcia was sent down to the Kernels.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 5, Charlotte 0 Box Score Logan Darnell was terrific on this night. The left-hander needed 109 pitches (72 strikes) to throw the complete game shutout. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four. It was his second shutout of the season already. Byron Buxton came into the game having homered in three straight games. He didn’t homer, but had a walk and his eighth double. Wilfredo Tovar went 2-4 and stole his 13th base. Buck Britton added his ninth double. Eddie Rosario and Adam Brett Walker each hit their fifth Red Wings double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Tennessee 5 (11th inning) Box Score In the bottom of the 11th, Travis Harrison came to the plate with a runner on and two outs. He singled to score Leonardo Reginnato and give the Lookouts a 6-5 win. Zach Granite led the offense. He went 4-6 and stole three bases. He now has 21 steals on the year. Daniel Palka provided the power. His seventh homer of the year was a grand slam. Mitch Garver went 3-5 with his ninth double. Reginnato hit his ninth double as well, and he walked in the 11th before the Harrison single. David Hurlbut started. The lefty gave up four runs on ninth hits. He walked two and struck out one. Jake Reed struck out four over two scoreless innings. He gave up a hit and walked two. Mason Melotakis gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Trevor Hildenberger worked a quick inning. Luke Westphal struck out five over two scoreless, one-hit innings and is credited with the win. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Charlotte 3 Box Score Kyle Gibson made his second rehab start for the Miracle, this one with Terry Ryan in attendance. The right-hander gave up one run on six hits in five innings. He struck out six without a walk. Nick Anderson came on and gave up one run on four hits over two innings. He struck out two. John Curtiss worked a scoreless inning. However, he gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth to take a loss. Of the four outs he got, he struck out three. Alex Real went 2-4 in the game. Max Murphy doubled for the second time with the Miracle. Logan Wade hit his fifth double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 3 Box Score Dereck Rodriguez’s rocky season continued. Watching him, you can see that he has some good stuff. Low 90s, good breaking ball. But, at some point, he just loses movement and starts getting hit. And he got hit hard, lots of solid contact. The right-hander was charged with seven runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out five in 3.2 innings. Mauer didn’t mince words. “The ball’s up. It’s just plain and simple. He’s got a good breaking ball. He just can’t get to it, but everything’s up. Up. Up. Up. He threw it pretty good, down the first inning, but he was up the second inning. They barreled him up.” It’s not a lack of effort. “It just seems the harder he tries, the more the ball gets elevated. He’s got to figure things out. He’s got good stuff. No doubt about it.” Michael Cederoth came on and threw a wild pitch and gave up a line drive single so both inherited runners scored. However, he settled down and really saved the bullpen. He went 3.1 innings and gave up just two hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Mauer said, “It was real encouraging. It was really good to see. That’s the longest he’s thrown here. I thought everything looked good. Fastball looked lively. Breaking stuff was good. They really didn’t touch him up.” It was important, because it was the second straight night the starter didn’t complete four innings. “Him and Theo. We’ve had five innings-plus the last two nights. The bullpen picked us up. Gave us a chance. Keep putting zeroes up.” Mike Theofanopoulos came on and got two outs. With a runner on second base, he got a pop-up straight up. AJ Murray got under it but he dropped the ball and the runner scored. It ended his scoreless innings streak at 19.1. However, he got the third out and worked another scoreless inning. So, the consecutive innings without an earned run streak is now at 20.2. “He started out real slow, walking a lot of guys. He’s been real good the last seven or eight outings. We’re probably going to use him, with (Nick) Anderson gone, trying to find someone to close some games. He’s a guy we’ll start using later in games.” Offensively, the Kernels were unable to put many hits together. Sean Miller went 2-4 with his seventh double. It was questioned as half of the people in the stadium thought it went out. The other half didn’t. After an umpire conference, they decided it was a double. Daniel Kihle went 2-5. Luis Arraez went 2-5 and had a triple. The three-bagger came in the ninth inning and scored a run. Arraez was actually thrown out at third base, but they called “Obstruction” on the first baseman as they made contact. Nelson Molina drove in a run with a double. The throw went home and got past the catcher. Molina was at second base, celebrating with his arms pointed to the sky. He should have been watching the play and run to third base. Mauer was clearly upset and following the half-inning, Molina was replaced by Alex Perez. It was a good learning opportunity. Mauer said, “He’s a good kid. He just got caught up. The ball’s rolling around back (there), and he’s standing there pointing at the sky. That’s not good.” He continued, “He can thank Jesus after the play is over.” LaMonte Wade went 0-4 through the seventh inning. His 26-game on-base streak was in jeopardy. However, in the ninth, two batters reached ahead of him, meaning he would get one more shot. Rains were pouring down. He was facing a hard-throwing lefty who threw side-arm and had a good slider. Wade launched a home… No wait, he just put together a really good plate appearance and drew a walk, but it did extend his on-base streak to 27 games. Zander Wiel, owner of a 14-game hitting streak, got the night off. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Logan Darnell, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Zach Granite, Chattanooga Lookouts SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Charlotte @ Rochester (6:05 p.m. CST) - LHP Tommy Milone Tennessee @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers Ft. Myers @ Charlotte (5:05 CST) – LHP Randy Rosario Wisconsin @ Cedar Rapids (6:36 CST) – RHP Miles Nordgren Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

With almost two full months of the season in the books, the number of Twins fans who believe there’s a playoff run in the cards has dwindled to almost nil. Those left clinging to hope are doing so against all visual and statistical evidence. Some fans are actively rooting for the team to break the Cleveland Spiders’ record for losses in a season (154) to make sure the Braves don’t nick the first overall pick in the 2017 draft, to maximize the probability of a front office overhaul, or because it’s simply more interesting to be a historically bad team than just a typically bad one. But are they just as delusional as those still holding out hope for a postseason run? Long-time Twins fans should know what a bad team looks like. The Twins are headed for 90 or more losses for the sixth season out of the last seven, and from 1993-2000 (less the strike-shortened 1994 season) they averaged 91 losses. But as bad as those teams were -- and they were certainly bad -- they’re actually fairly pedestrian. No one talks about the 1997 or 2014 Twins with disgust, only sadness. However, just three years after they broke out of their nearly decade-long World Series hangover, however, the Twins got an up-close look at a truly horrible team.The 2003 Detroit Tigers are a very worthy successor to 1962 Mets’ crown as the worst team in recent memory, finishing the season 43-119. Nearly 40 years passed between these monuments to ineptitude, but it was worth the wait. They hit rock bottom some 80 games below .500 before a last-season flail netted them five wins in their last six games. At no point in the first half of the season did they break double digits in runs, and they were shut out a total of 17 times. As a team, the Tigers hit .240/.300/.375; their combined 83 OPS+ means they were 17 percent below league average offensively. Yet as bad as their offense was, their pitchers managed to be worse: a combined 5.30 ERA, a 1.51 WHIP, and staggeringly poor 4.8 K/9 all added up to an 81 ERA+. All in, the Tigers posted a team WAR of -1.2. En route to a division title, the Twins beat the hapless Tigers 15 times out of 19 meetings (the second place White Sox went 11-8 against Detroit and lost the division by four games; needless to say, those games were a substantial missed opportunity). They lost close games when their bullpen failed, they lost blowouts when the hitters didn’t hit, they lost pretty much every way imaginable, which is what it takes to get all the way down to 119 losses. The first six weeks of the Twins’ season felt a little bit the same way. They actually pitched moderately well during their losing streak to start the year, but either couldn’t hit or couldn’t preserve the leads they got. Over the first 16 games of the season, they scored 53 runs and allowed 67, making their 5-11 record somewhat puzzling, as the gap of less than a run per game should have -- in theory -- put them closer to .500. Their next 15 games (3-12) made them look like a team with a chance at truly historic ineptitude, as they scored 53 runs in one fewer game, but allowed 93 runs. So through 31 games, the team had been both unlucky and very bad, and the comparisons to the ‘62 Mets or ‘03 Tigers seemed apt. Over the last 15 games, even if the record hasn’t been much better, the Twins are quietly becoming more of the team they looked like they’d be before the season started. They’ve scored 61 runs, just a touch over 4.0 per game or about half a run better than their full-season per-game average, but the pitching has given up 88 more runs and they’ve come in worryingly large bunches. Miguel Sano has five home runs in those games, Robbie Grossman has made a nice first impression, and while there’s still a substantial amount of scuffling in the rest of the offense, it’s getting easier to see how the lineup is supposed to function. Since warm air really does add extra distance to flyballs, and since the Twin Cities are in for a hotter-than-average summer, the Twins should see a few extra home runs now that spring has ended. Yes, it is worrisome that Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe, Joe Mauer, Byung-Ho Park, and others look so bad, but it’s a presupposition that the team is bad right now. That they’re at least ahead of a historically bad pace with so much dead weight is a good sign for the future, provided you believe one or more of them will come around before Eduardo Nunez regresses. Contrast this to the Tigers, who were little more than Dmitri Young and the Also-Rans. If he didn’t hit, they didn’t win; though, frequently, they didn’t win even if he did. So, yes, looking at the season to date, the Twins look only marginally better than the Tigers (about 3 percentage points according to both OPS+ and wRC+) but expecting the Twins to improve as the summer heats up isn’t irrational; in fact, it may already be happening. If the Twins are going to avoid being historically bad, however, they’re going to need to start seeing that improvement in the offense soon, because seeing improvement from the rotation takes a good deal of squinting and maybe letting your eyes go out of focus like the old Magic Eye books. Kyle Gibson’s return may help -- it should help -- but it’s hard to guess how much like the old Gibson he’ll look. Jose Berrios will likely return to the majors at some point in the season’s second half, but he too offers an uncertain amount of improvement. Like the Twins’ hitters, their pitchers currently compare favorably to the Tigers’ staff, but the margin is razor thin. If the Twins do end up with the Tigers, Mets, and Spiders as one of the most beatable teams in history, the pitching is going to be a major reason for it. Heading into the middle third of the season, the Twins are on an almost identical pace to the Tigers. If nothing changes, they’ll finish with either 119 or 120 losses, making them one of the all-time worst teams. Injuries could change their course for the worse, but barring a complete health crisis, they’re unlikely to lose more starters than they already have. If I were a betting man, I’d take the under on 120 losses, but until the offense strings together more than two weeks of 4+ runs per game, 100 losses feels very possible. Whether that’s better or worse than being the worst team since those hapless Spiders is a matter of opinion, but if the last few weeks have been an aberration instead of a pattern, the Twins won’t be able to stop fans debating whether they’re one of the most hapless groups to ever take the field. 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