Seth Stohs

Uffdah, I'll have to give that some thought... I know Chargois had an interesting mustache at times last year. We'll have to check.

If I had a ballot, these ten players would be checked: Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens, Ken Griffey, Jr., Mike Mussina, Tim Raines, Mike Piazza, Gary Sheffield, Curt Schilling, Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell. I feel that there is a great case to be made for, but because I'm limited to ten, I can't put them ahead of others: Nomar Garciaparra, Trevor Hoffman, Jeff Kent, Fred McGriff, Sammy Sosa I think these guys will get in: Griffey is an easy choice. Piazza should finally get in. And I think Raines will be right there, very close to 75% Could go either way.

Throughout the offseason, we have posted several Q&As with Twins minor league players in an attempt to help our readers get to know the people beyond the box scores and stat lines. Today, we have an interview with outfielder Roberto Gonzalez, a young player and a very good athlete.From the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook: “Scouting Report: The Twins selected Nick Gordon with the 5th overall pick in the 2014 draft out of high school in Orlando. The Twins didn’t draft another prep player until the 15th round when they took another great athlete, Roberto Gonzalez, from Orlando. Gordon called Gonzalez a great athlete and when asked if Gonzalez could be a five-tool talent, he immediately responded, “Oh yeah!” In 2014 in the GCL, Gonzalez played just 13 games before breaking his kneecap and missing the rest of the season. He is a hard worker. He has good speed and profiles more in the corner outfield. He is a good outfielder with a strong arm. He has a strong left-handed swing which could develop some power. Former Cardinals outfielder Oscar Taveras, who passed away in October of 2014, was a cousin of Gonzalez.” Recently, Gonzalez answered several questions for us. Continue reading to learn more about this very talented, young prospect in the Twins system. ------------------------------------------------------ Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Orlando, who was your favorite team to follow, and who were some of your favorite players? Roberto Gonzalez (RG): Growing up in Orlando was a big change for me, especially moving from New York when I was 7. While I was in Florida, my two favorite players to watch were Ken Griffey and Hanley Ramirez. I never really did have a team, but if I did have a team, it would probably be the Marlins because of Hanley. SS: What were some of your favorite high school memories, from baseball or other activities you were involved in? RG: Some of my favorite high school memories are when I had to travel for all the showcases and all of the workouts. It was a very humbling experience. Probably one of my favorite memories was hitting at Safeco Park and going to watch my very first Minnesota Twins game. SS: Drafted by the Twins in the 15th round in 2014. Is that about where you thought you might be selected coming into the draft? RG: I honestly thought I would go high, but to me it didn't matter. I just wanted to have an opportunity to play and show my talent. SS: What were your thoughts when you heard your name called by the Twins? RG: When I was drafted by the Twins, I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. It was so surreal when you hear your name being called no matter where you are in the rounds. You just have that huge weight lifted off of your shoulders, and I couldn't wait to get started. SS: You spent the end of your 2014 season rehabbing an injury. How frustrating was it for you to have signed and then not be able to play? RG: It was very frustrating. It was also more of a mental game than a physical game. Physically, I knew I would recover, but mentally it discourages you because you start to think how many at-bats you missed and also how many other opportunities you are missing out on. SS: What was the biggest adjustment you had to make, going from high school or amateur ball to the pro game? On or off the field? RG: There weren't any major adjustments, just probably being away from home for a long period of time without going back was the biggest adjustment I had to make. SS: How would you describe yourself as a player? What are your strengths at this time? RG: I would describe myself as a little of an undeveloped player. I have all the tools, I just need to put it together. My biggest strength is being able to put the ball in play. SS: What are the things that you feel you need to improve over the offseason and going forward? RG: There's not just one thing I need to improve. I need to improve on everything as a whole to continue to become a better baseball player. SS: How has your offseason been? (Have you started your baseball training, but also what do you enjoy doing away from the game of baseball?) RG: I never really had an offseason. Just because the game is over doesn't mean I don't need to continue working hard but the time I do spend off I spend it with family and my girlfriend enjoying the time that I do get to spend with them when I am home. SS: Can you talk a little bit about Oscar Taveras and the relationship the two of you had, and how he has impacted you on and off the field? RG: Oscar was like a role model to me. Whenever I had questions about the game or life in general, he was always there for me. Practicing with him, and just being around him, made me want to do so much better. Even if he is not here, I still can feel him here with me every step of the way. SS: Who are some of the coaches and others who have helped you get to this point in your career? RG: Mostly my parents got me to where I am. Also my neighbor Frank Fields, who gave me the best opportunity to meet Ken Griffey Jr. and learn from his ways as well. SS: Favorite Baseball Movie? RG: My favorite baseball movie would have to be The Sandlot with Squints and Wendy Peffercorn! That was one of my favorite parts of the movie. -------------------------------------------------------------- In a follow up, Roberto insists that he has not tried Squints’ move on Wendy Peffercorn. Gonzalez is likely to remain in extended spring training, but he should move up to Elizabethton when their season starts in June. Thank you very much to Roberto Gonzalez for taking time to answer our questions. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. Click here to view the article

By the way... #UtahBuyTheBook... HA!

They move him around to keep his bat in the lineup. Catchers just can't, don't catch every day, so it keeps him in the lineup.

I can also confirm the "Seth is Tired" part.

I've watched Turner hit quite a bit over the last couple of years. He has the strength and the approach at the plate that I believe he can be a good hitter. Maybe never a great hitter, but I think he should be able to hold his own. Will he? We'll see.

We're good at that... There are like 8 catchers in the history of baseball who have done what Mauer did for as long as he did. But yes, I 100% believe that defense is vital behind the plate. I also believe that the things that really matter for a catcher behind the plate aren't measured. Caught Stealing Percentage is nice. Pitch Framing can be OK. But I think that working with a pitcher during and especially before a game is crucial. Developing that relationship. Gaining that trust. Calling a good game and being able to adapt quickly in-game to what is and isn't working for a pitcher. Talking to a few people, both Turner and Garver are really good at that. Pitchers love throwing to both of them and working with both of them.

Big league spring training starts in a little over a month. Rosters throughout the organization are starting to come together. As you likely would expect, I have my 2016 Twins Roster Projections document already set up. Today, I’ll start sharing my roster projections by looking at the catching position throughout the system.As always, there are a lot of catchers. There are two to four catchers listed at each level. A lot of catchers are needed during spring training, and then during extended spring training. Depth is also important as catchers get hurt. We’ve seen concussions and other injuries throughout the system. Catcher is a key position in any organization. MAJOR LEAGUES Kurt Suzuki is the incumbent. 2016 will be his tenth in the big leagues. He is coming off of a frustrating 2015 season in which he hit just .240/.296/.314 (.610). He threw out just 15% of the 94 would-be base stealers. The Twins traded Chris Herrmann to Arizona. Eric Fryer signed a minor league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Josmil Pinto was claimed by the San Diego Padres when the Twins took him off of their 40-man roster. (He was since DFAd by San Diego and claimed by Milwaukee.) The day after trading Herrmann, Terry Ryan traded Aaron Hicks to the Yankees in exchange for 24-year-old catcher John Ryan Murphy. He has played in 115 games for the Yankees, backing up Brian McCann, over the last three seasons. Over that time, he has hit .267/.311/.374 (.685). In 67 games in 2015, he hit .277/.327/.406 (.734). He threw out 28% of base runners. The Twins claimed John Hicks from Seattle shortly before the Winter Meetings. The 26-year-old appears to be an adequate offensive player. He has thrown out at least 38% of would-be base stealers in each of his five professional seasons. MINOR LEAGUES Before we get to the minor league catchers, a quick reminder that you can now pick up the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook in paperback or eBook version. With the 142 pages, you will be able to learn much more about each of the players mentioned below. Please consider picking up a copy. Or, you can order five or more copies and get 20% off print books by using the promo code, JANBULK20. It expires on Wednesday. ORDER NOW: 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (paperback, $15.99) ORDER NOW: 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (eBook, $10.99) To learn more about all of the prospects in the Twins organization, make sure to order the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. The 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook goes in-depth and provides player bios, scouting reports, statistics and much more on almost 160 Twins minor leaguers. From Abreu to Young, learn more about some of the Future Minnesota Twins. Rochester Red Wings Hicks will likely be the primary catcher in Rochester. 26-year-old Juan Centeno played 14 games with the Mets in 2013 and 2014, and another ten games with the Brewers in 2015. The Twins signed him to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training. He’s solid behind the plate. In 2013, he threw out 56% of base stealers. That number was 25% in 2015. Carlos Paulino split time between Chattanooga and Rochester a year ago. The 26-year-old has a strong arm and a little pop in his bat. Chattanooga Lookouts The catching situation in Chattanooga could be very interesting early in the season. Two very good prospects, Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, could both start there. Turner was the Twins third-round pick in 2013 out of Ole Miss. He spent the 2015 season with the Lookouts and hit .223/.322/.306 (.628) with 18 extra base hits. Known for his all-around defensive game, he threw out 39% of base stealers last year. He hit .171 in 12 games in the Arizona Fall League. He hit better in the second half. He was pushed right to Ft. Myers in his first full season. I think it mght benefit Turner to spend another half-season with the Lookouts to continue to work on his offensive game. He just turned 24 a week ago. Garver was the Twins ninth-round pick in 2013 out of New Mexico. He was our choice for Minor League Hitter of the Year in 2014 at Cedar Rapids. He struggled a bit, especially early, with the bat in 2015 in Ft. Myers. Defensively, he has made big improvements and last year threw out 38% of base stealers. He played in 12 games in the AFL and hit .317 (.916 OPS). He will turn 25 in a little over a week. Alex Swim was a late-round pick in 2013 out of Elon University. He hit .311 in Cedar Rapids in 2014, and last year, he hit .311 in Ft. Myers. He can catch and has a strong arm, but he’ll play a lot at 1B and RF as well as DH. The Twins signed independent league All-Star Joe Maloney as well. The 25-year-old hit .337/.432/.559 (.991) with 33 doubles and 14 homers for Rockland in the Can Am League. He’ll compete for a spot with the Lookouts. Ft. Myers Miracle Brian Navarreto (21) was the Twins sixth-round pick in 2013 out of high school in Florida. At 6-4 and 230 pounds, he is a big target and has a very strong arm behind the plate. In 86 game in Cedar Rapids last year, he threw out 56% of baserunners, just below the remarkable 59% of would-be base stealers the year before in E-Town. To this point, he has not hit as a professional. He hit .217/.256/.281 (.537). As a 24-year-old in Cedar Rapids in 2015, Brett Doe hit .246/.300/.321 (.621) with 11 doubles and three homers. He got eight games with Ft. Myers as well and that’s where he should spend 2016. Doe is solid behind the plate. At Baylor he played all over the place, including some shortstop. Alex Real was the Twins 24th round pick in 2014 out of New Mexico where he was a teammate of Mitch Garver. Real’s 2015 was delayed due to a 50-game suspension. He returned and played 64 games for the Kernels. He hit .261/.322/.383 (.704) with 11 doubles, four triples and three homers. He can catch, but he can also play first base and DH. Cedar Rapids Kernels Jorge Fernandez was the Twins seventh-round pick in 2013 out of high school in Puerto Rico. He is a very good athlete and there is frequent talk about him being moved to the outfield. He actually played two games in right field in 2015. He also played more first base than catcher in 2015. In 56 games, he hit .215/.268/.341 (.610) with 14 doubles, two triples and three homers. He didn’t throw out a base runner in 2015. He could return to the Kernels, but he may not be catching as much going forward. Rainis Silva is a 19-year-old from Venezuela. He played 32 games in Elizabethton after getting into 11 games with Cedar Rapids earlier in the season. He should move up to Cedar Rapids in 2016. He’s a good glove, strong-armed backstop who continues to grow his game. 20-year-old Rafael Valera joined the Kernels in the middle of their season. He played in 62 games, mostly at second base, and hit .283/.378/.338 (.716) with ten doubles and a triple. He went to Instructional League to work on catching, a position he has not played to this point. Jose Ortiz was signed last month as a free agent after being released by the Reds organization. He has played a combined 82 games for Dayton in the Midwest League over the past two seasons. He hit .198 and .199 in those seasons. He’ll likely get a shot to play for the Kernels. 2015 College Draft Picks There are several catchers selected by the Twins in the later rounds of the 2015 draft who will compete for spots with the Kernels. It’s likely several of them will begin the season at extended spring training, awaiting an opportunity. Brian Olson (34th round) was the best hitter of the bunch in his debut season. In 32 games between the GCL and E-Town, he hit .302/.414/.415 (.829) with four doubles and two homers. He threw out 9 of 14 base runners (64%). AJ Murray was the team’s 14th round pick out of Georgia Tech. He went right to Elizabethton where he hit .264/.366/.409 (.774) with 11 doubles and four homers in 51 games. He threw out 32% of base runners. Bryant Hayman went undrafted after four years at Valdosta State. In 33 GCL games, he hit .222/.322/.394 (.716) with seven doubles, two triples and two homers. Likely at least two of those three will go to extended spring training. Kerby Camacho and Lean Marrero, two high school catchers from Puerto Rico, will certainly be in EST and likely play in the GCL. Camacho was suspended for 60 games for PED use. 19-year-old Robert Molina hit .235/.289/.294 (.583) with four doubles and a homer in 37 games in the GCL. He could move up to Elizabethton. SUMMARY I would fully expect Suzuki and Murphy to split time early in the 2016 season. I think that within a couple of months, Murphy will begin to see more playing time. Murphy is young and can be a league average catcher. He could be the catcher of the future. Eric Fryer has been the #3 catcher the last couple of years, able to come up and go down. There was risk as he wasn’t kept on the 40-man roster. That role could be filled by Hicks who has two years of options remaining. The top prospects remain Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver. In reality, one of them could be ready for a big league spot sometime in 2017. It is a big year for both of them. It’s pretty clear that the Twins have made a concerted effort to improve their catcher defense. You can see that throughout the system. Catcher is, and should be, a defense-first position. However, as we all know, a catcher also needs to be able to hit a little bit to provide much value. Catcher Prospect Rankings Stuart Turner,Mitch Garver,Brian Navarreto,Rainis Silva,John Hicks. Click here to view the article

Tough question... I mean, he had his surgery a little earlier in the year than Randy Rosario and he was back with Cedar Rapids by mid-June (without looking). I would think that'd be the same plan for Thorpe. Most of me thinks Cedar Rapids, but if he's throwing well in EST, maybe they'd keep him in FM.

I'm pretty sure this was the intent of him not playing in Venezuela and working out in Ft. Myers. The hope is the Arcia got humbled in 2015 and will work hard in the offseason to try to put that past him. The guy his 20 big league homers just a year ago and is only 25. Still has potential to be a solid major league if used appropriately.

Nope, the Twins have said all along that Arcia was going to stay in Ft. Myers and work out there this offseason.

All depends on your definition of Breakout. To me a breakout player is a guy to kind of come out of nowhere to be a top prospect. For me, Randy Rosario is that guy probably. If it's who I think will be the team's #1 prospect going into 2017, I'll agree with Nick Gordon.

Thank you!

Cody informs us that these are some new promo codes that you can use to save a few dollars on the Prospect Handbook.

Lulu.com may have new promo codes after midnight. If we find any of them, we'll share them here.

I'm usually the one who used excessive exclamation points, but I used them only where Aaron used them.

Most likely we're looking at January 2nd... but we're just waiting for a couple of details and it'll be available.

Jeremy Nygaard, Cody Christie and I are very excited to announce that “very soon” the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook will be available for purchase. Without trying to sound too arrogant, the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook has become the top source for Twins prospect information in recent years, and the 2016 version is the best yet. Let us tell you a little bit more about it.This year’s version represents the eighth annual Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook that I have written. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I started this. This is the fourth year that Jeremy and Cody have helped write the book. Frankly, without their assistance, the book simply would not get done. What started as a fun, little 80 page book that I could write in two or three weeks has become a 140+ page production with a ton more information. First, we need to thank Brock for another incredible cover! As we discussed who should be on the cover, there was one clear-cut choice, Max Kepler. The young German began the season hurt, spent a week in Ft. Myers rehabbing, joined AA Chattanooga, became the league’s MVP, helped win the Southern League title and then was called up to the big leagues where he got his first hit off of Johnny Cueto. Kepler was our choice for minor league hitter of the year. He is joined on the cover by minor league starting pitcher of the year and relief pitcher of the year, JO Berrios and Trevor Hildenberger. Baseball’s top prospect, Byron Buxton, remained Rookie Of The Year-eligible, so he remains covered in the book, and gets a cover spot too. That’s a big paragraph, and that’s just talking about the cover. Inside the book, you’ll find over 140 pages of content. You’ll find out Hitter, Starting Pitcher and Reliever of the Year stories. There are also stories or articles by a few of your favorite bloggers including Steve Buhr, Brandon Warne and Ted Schwerzler. Cody and Jeremy both added articles to the content as well. As always, however, the meat and potatoes of the Prospect Handbook is the Prospect Profiles. In the pages this year, you will find profiles on 154 Twins minor leaguers. Anyone who played for the GCL Twins, Elizabethton Twins, Cedar Rapids Kernels, Ft. Myers Miracle, Chattanooga Lookouts or Rochester Red Wings and maintained MLB’s rookie status while remaining in the organization is included in the book. We also included profiles for Korean star Byung Ho Park and Dominican shortstop Wander Javier. Jeremy spent time this year working on the book’s design and formatting. From a visual perspective, we believe that the book will just look a little better. Pages will be pretty consistent. Most prospects will get a half-page profile while some of the top prospects will get full-page spreads. Each profile will include improved (and more) header information than in the past. There will be a 2015 recap which Cody wrote and provides information on the player’s season including some statistical splits and more. Seth was responsible for writing the Scouting Reports. For most, that included background information and a scouting report. For full-page profiles, Background and Scouting Reports were divided. Seth also wrote the Forecast for ’16 section which provides you with our educated projection for where the player will spend much of the 2016 season. Finally, Jeremy wrote about the player’s Roster Status. When does he become Rule 5-eligible, or when can the player become a free agent. In the past, we liked to include several pictures in the book. In this year’s version, we have pictures of about 90% of the players. We found photographers in Rochester, Chattanooga, Ft. Myers and Cedar Rapids who had pictures of most of the players who spent time in those cities in 2015. We even found two photographers who shot photos of Twins GCL games. We also would really like to thank Phil Miller from the Star Tribune (who also writes prospect stories at Baseball America). Phil was kind enough to write the Foreword for this year’s book. I believe Phil owns a copy of all seven of the previous prospect handbooks, and he’ll be sure to get at least one this year as well. As always, you’ll find the Top 30 Prospect Rankings for Jeremy, Cody and I. You’ll also find our historical Top 20s or 30s. You can look at my Top 30 for 2016 and then look back at my previous top prospect rankings. It is fun to look back and see the quality of the Twins prospects and minor league system based on those lists. Let’s just say there were a few years there where the farm system was a little bit limited. For instance, you may recall 2008 when Deolis Guerra, Tyler Robertson, Anthony Swarzak and Kevin Mulvey were my top four prospects for the Twins, just ahead of Trevor Plouffe and Ben Revere. Hey, prospect ranking is not an exact science. Needless to say, we are very excited about the release of the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. We are just crossing some t’s and dotting some I’s before it becomes available. It will again be made available through the self-publishing company at LuLu.com. (where you can also buy previous Prospect Handbooks) The 2016 version will be available in print version or in an electronic pdf form via download. There are a couple dozen players profiled in the Prospect Handbook who will be appearing at Twins Fest. If autographs are your thing, the Prospect Handbook will be great for you. But if you just enjoy watching the Twins and getting to know more about the minor leaguers coming up through the system, this is a perfect coffee table type of book that you can use throughout the year as a reference. So, check back to Twins Daily over the next few days to find out when it becomes available, pricing, etc. Also, be sure to follow Seth, Jeremy and Cody on Twitter. We’ll be announcing its availability and – if there are some – trying to help you find promotions to get discounts there. A lot of you have bought the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook in previous years. Hopefully it has proven to be a solid investment for you. If you haven’t before, please feel free to ask questions in the comments below. We’ll be happy to answer them. Thank you! Click here to view the article

If you follow the Twins and their minor league system, 2015 was a fun season. The previous four seasons were hard to watch, but it has made following the Twins farm system - one of the best in baseball - a lot of fun. In 2015, we started seeing some of the big names debut. In fact, eight players debuted for the Minnesota Twins during the season. As 2015 winds down, here is a fun look at the eight players who had debuts for the Twins this year.Let's start reminiscing on the 2015 debuts with the first: JR GRAHAM On April 6, the Twins were down 4-0 after 6. Graham, who was the Twins Rule 5 selection, came in to replace Phil Hughes. He went two innings. He gave up no runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out none. Five days later, Graham came into his third game game, this one in Chicago. The Twins were already losing. He recorded his first big league strikeout, Alexei Ramirez. EDDIE ROSARIO In early May, Oswaldo Arcia went on the disabled list. Aaron Hicks was playing great down in Rochester, and the Twins didn't want to mess with that. Not for a two-week call up. So, they decided to call up Eddie Rosario, who had impressed manager Paul Molitor in spring training. It was supposed to just be to get him a look, but he started hitting and playing great defense, and he stuck the rest of the year. Of course, the best memory of his season, happened on the very first pitch he saw. On May 6, the Twins faced lefty Scott Kazmir. In Rosario's first at-bat, he swung at the first pitch and crushed an opposite-field home run to the delight of the Target Field fans, especially his family behind home plate. BYRON BUXTON Baseball's top prospect was rushed to the big leagues in mid-June. His AA manager, Doug Mientkiewicz said he wasn't ready. Terry Ryan admits he wasn't ready. But Aaron Hicks was hurt, and Torii Hunter was serving his suspension, so the Twins needed to make a decision. They called up Byron Buxton. On June 14 in Texas, Buxton debuted against the Rangers, and Nick Martinez. Buxton went 0-4 and struck out a couple of times, but it was clear his defense was a difference-maker. A day later, the Twins were in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. Buxton was again in the lineup, hitting ninth in a National League stadium. He recorded his first big league hit. Of course, it was a triple off of veteran John Lackey. A stand-up triple at that. ALEX MEYER 2015 was a difficult year for the 6-9, hard-throwing right-hander. He struggled early as a starter and was moved to the bullpen. He had a few good games and the Twins promoted him in late June. On June 26, Trevor May made a start and went just 1/3 of an inning before giving up five runs. Alex Meyer came on for his big league debut. He got two flyouts to end the first inning. In the second inning, he gave up a three-run homer to Aramis Ramirez. He then struck out Jean Segura for his first big league strikeout. Then Scooter Gennett homered off of him, and then Meyer struck out Kyle Lohse to end the inning. He made one more appearance in the Twins bullpen before returning to Rochester for the remainder of the season. Of course, we'll highlight his first big league strikeout. It illustrates just how nasty his slider can be. MIGUEL SANO The Twins were really struggling offensively in late June. Kennys Vargas was shipped all the way to AA Chattanooga, and Miguel Sano was summoned from the Lookouts. He had been mashing for the previous six weeks after he struggled greatly in his return after missing 2014 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He debuted on July 2 in Kansas City. In his first at-bat, he lined out to center. He struck out in his next two at-bats. In his final at-bat, he was facing closer Greg Holland. He rolled a ball between short and third and beat the throw to first. As obvious as Buxton tripling for his first big league hit was, it was equally (or completely the opposite of equally) obvious that Sano would get an infield single for his. You can find , but wouldn't you rather watch all 18 of his rookie season home runs? RYAN O'ROURKE Aaron Thompson had been with the Twins since spring training. He was really good in April, and not very good in May and June. Finally in early July, he was sent back to Rochester and the Twins added lefty Ryan O'Rourke to the 40-man roster and called him up. The 27-year-old lefty came into a game on July 7. The batter he was scheduled to face was Chris Parmelee, but Steve Pearce pinch-hit for him. O'Rourke struck out Pearce and finished a 1-2-3 inning. Here is the first batter he faced in the big leagues and the first strikeout: TYLER DUFFEY There was much debate in early August when the Twins called up Tyler Duffey to make a start against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Many fans wanted JO Berrios called up at the time. After Duffey went just two innings and gave up six runs in his debut, he was sent back down. He was called up because he didn't walk many or give up home runs. In his first inning, he walked leadoff man Troy Tulowitski before giving up a home run to Josh Donaldson. In the 2nd inning, a walk to Donaldson loaded the bases before Jose Bautista hit a grand slam. Fortunately for Duffey, and the Twins, he was given another shot and over the season's final six or seven weeks, he was the team's best starting pitcher, proving that promoting him was a good decision. We'll show a highlight from his debut, but we'll find the positive. In that second inning, he struck out Tulowitski for his first big league K. MAX KEPLER Kepler had a remarkable 2015 season in AA Chattanooga. He was the Twins Daily, and the Twins, minor league hitter of the year. He remained with the Lookouts all season and got a lot of extra at-bats, big at-bats, for Chattanooga in the Southern League playoffs. His three home runs in the championship series against Biloxi helped the Lookouts to the championship. Following the celebration, Kepler received some great news. Here is a snipit of an interview done with Kepler recently for the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook regarding what happened next: "I played first [base] the final game and received the last putout ball of the game off the double play. When everything settled after our celebration in the clubhouse, I wanted to hand over the game ball to Doug Mientkiewicz, who was in his office. He didn’t want the ball, but wanted to inform me that I should pack my bags soon because I was heading up north that coming morning. I teared up out of joy and called my family minutes after I found out. Got no sleep that night but it was all worth it, and a day to remember." (More information coming this week on the 2016 Prospect Handbook. Available very soon!) On September 27th, he made his MLB debut pinch-hitting for Torii Hunter in the 9th inning of a game against the Tigers. Veteran southpaw Tom Gorzellany was the pitcher, and after a battle, Kepler struck out. On the season's final day, Kepler made his first start. He batted third and played right field. In his second at-bat of the day, off of Johnny Cueto, Kepler recorded his first big league hit. There you have it. Some very great memories for all eight of these players. What an amazing moment a big league debut must be, regardless of what happens going forward! 2015 will be a memorable year for each of them. Click here to view the article

Within the next few days, we will be sharing a bunch of information on the 2016 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. This will be the 8th annual Twins Prospect Handbook that I have been part of, and Cody Christie and Jeremy Nygaard, and – I might be biased – this feels like the best one yet. As I write about the various prospects, I always learn a few really interesting tidbits on some Twins minor leaguers. One of the more interesting stories or backgrounds in the 2016 book is that of Australian Aaron Whitefield. Recently, he answered some questions to help us get to know a little more about him and his story. Aaron Whitefield signed with the Twins in 2015. He had visa issues so by the time he got to the States, he played in just seven games for the GCL Twins. He only began playing baseball one year ago. Previously, he had been a softball player, competing for the Australian national team in some international competitions.He is currently playing for the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League. He played for the Australian team in the ABL’s All Star game. He is currently hitting .294/.308/.333 (.641) with a couple of doubles. Without further ado, here is our interview with Twins minor leaguer Aaron Whitefield. Thank you to Aaron for taking time to respond. Please feel free to ask questions or discuss below. ------- Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in Australia, were you able to follow Major League Baseball? Did you have a favorite team or players? Aaron Whitefield (AW): It's not that big over here, and I was not much of a team follower but more a player follower! My favorite player is Robinson Cano, but I also like the likes of Derek Jeter and Bryce Harper! SS: You played a lot of softball growing up including representing Australia in some international tournaments. What was it like to represent your country? AW: I love softball and loved getting to represent my country at a young age. It really helped me develop into a better player playing against/with older world players. SS: Had you played much baseball early in your life? What was your transition like moving from softball to baseball? At what point did you realize that you were good enough to sign and make baseball a career? AW: I have only been playing baseball for a year and a half and found it hard to transition especially when I was still playing both at a grade level. So I gave up softball and pursued my career in baseball! I always just played the game hard, and a team looked at me and liked it. So that's when I really pursued that path! SS: For you, what was it about the Twins that made them the team that you signed with? AW: The Twins gave me shot, and I took it especially with the pathway that they have. And I had heard a lot of good things about the Twins. So made it an easier decision! SS: What was the transition last year coming to the States from Australia? What were some of the biggest adjustments on and off the field? AW: Was not too bad was there for three weeks, the on-field was great, loved a competition and challenge that was there every day! But not too many off- field, a few Aussie slang words people didn't understand but that's all. SS: At this time, what would you say your biggest strengths are on the baseball field? AW: My speed. It is my number one tool, and I work on it a lot to try get faster and faster! SS: What are the areas you would like to improve upon in your game? AW: Power off the bat which will come. I am seeing more and more, but producing the back spin from the barrel is a real focus point for me at the moment! SS: What has your Australian Baseball League experience been like with Brisbane? I understand that originally you were only going to be on the home roster. AW: I love it in the Bandits culture. Great staff and players to share the season with! It makes it a lot easier to play, and great players to learn from! SS: Who are a few of the people who have helped you most getting to this point in your career? AW: There are a lot of people that have helped me a lot from the softball culture, and all those people know who they are and I'm very grateful! But John Deeble has helped me with skills and mental part of the game. I could not thank him enough for everything he has done especially when I first came over from softball! SS: What are some things you enjoy doing when you’re not playing baseball? AW: I like to hang out with my family and friends, gym and beach! SS: Favorite Baseball Movie? AW: The Sandlot SS: One more question... you have played second base and around the outfield for Brisbane. Where do you like to play and where are you most comfortable playing? AW: I have played shortstop my whole life and have made the transition to the outfield and second base. I feel a lot more comfortable in the infield but love learning and playing the outfield! ----- Again, a huge Thank You to Aaron Whitefield for taking time to respond to our questions. Click here to view the article