Seth Stohs

Walker's strikeout rate dropped quite a bit from the first half to the 2nd half. He'll obviously start next season in Rochester too, and hopefully he can continue that improvement. Hey, if he can get that K-Rate in AAA down to the 26-30% range, why not. Palka's way over that. Buxton was over that in his most recent stint. But Brock is right... he's likely a 12-18 range Twins prospect this year even with some more graduations. I just want to see him continue to make improvements in Rochester. His power is way too intriguing to give no hope to him ever being a productive big leaguer. I think he can be.

Recently, the Twins posted a video for Season-Ticket holders. It is Dave St. Peter, Paul Molitor and Brian Dozier. Obviously they're trying to convince season-ticket holders to re-up their tickets. It could be a rough year, but they have to try. I won't add much more. Curious what others will take from this, but I don' really disagree with much. There are a few veterans, and then it's going to be all about the performance of the youth. Watch the video here: http://m.mlb.com/min/video/v1110931683/a-message-to-our-season-ticket-holders/?partnerId=ed-10797195-927618293

If he's healthy, that's very realistic. Hopefully the elbow is improving!

I've said many times that I think that Mauer is the best manager in the Twins organization, at any level. He's a player's manager, but in my opinion, he's also in Cedar Rapids because he keeps a pretty tight ship. He is perfect for that level. He's managed at Ft. Myers before. He has won with talent, and he has won with a lot lesser talent the last few years. He's very smart. He and Mientkiewicz would be different, but I'd love to see them both stick around. They would seemingly complement each other well, I'd think. Unfortunately, there are too many Twins fans that dislike Joe so much that they would whine about Mauer becoming the next manager.

I can't speak for Law, but not sure if he saw him this year. Before this year, he was primarily fastball/changeup with a sub-par (by many) breaking ball. That was what he spent a lot of time working on in the offseason and it became a great pitch for him. He got a lot of strikeouts on it. Different speeds. So, in reality, he's got 4-5 pitches and understands how to change velocity on them.

Is there a link, by any chance? I'd love to listen. I've written and talked about the organizational pitching philosophy change a few times. That was pretty clear from conversations with players as well as some of the stats. Talked to some catchers who talked about working UP in the zone with the fastball which is something they never would have done before. In my opinion, it changed when Brad Steil took over for Jim Rantz. He's much more into the numbers, digs into the trackman and gets the value of the strikeouts. I also think that Jack Goin deserves some credit as well. Two very smart individuals.

Our friend Mike Bates wrote an article this morning regarding the idea of the Twins trading Brian Dozier. Dozier hit his 40th home run last night and is owed just $15 million over the next two years. It makes sense for the Twins to consider the idea of trading Dozier, and yet, as Mr. Bates points out, the return on top infielders traded in recent years verifies that it would be a huge risk to trade the slugging second baseman. He considers the trade returns for the likes of Andrelton Simmons, Josh Donaldson, Ian Kinsler, Ben Zobrist and a couple more.

I thought about including that, but I don't think that news will come through TV or radio. That'll be massive twitter info!

I don't really watch the playoffs if the Twins aren't in it. Maybe I will, but we'll see. So that's a good one... After that last game, it's 5 months until spring training!!

As the Minnesota Twins fall to 53-91, the NFL season, college football, high school sports and activities have crept into view of many baseball fans. However, with 18 more games to play in the 2016 season, there are still reasons to keep watching the Twins day in and day out… or at least a reasonable amount of your viewing time. Today, I’m going to see if I can come up with 18 reasons to watch the final 18 Twins games. Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson, USA Today As the Minnesota Twins fall to 53-91, the NFL season, college football, high school sports and activities have crept into view of many baseball fans. However, with 18 more games to play in the 2016 season, there are still reasons to keep watching the Twins day in and day out… or at least a reasonable amount of your viewing time. Today, I’m going to see if I can come up with 18 reasons to watch the final 18 Twins games. After reading my 18, discuss what else will keep you watching... if you're still watching. Number 1 - Brian Dozier On Monday in Detroit, the Twins second baseman joined an elite club. He joined Harmon Killebrew as the only members of the 40 Home Run Club in Twins history. He has had a very interesting season to say that least, but since late May, he has been one of the best players in major league baseball. Hopefully he can end the season strong. He is seven RBIs from 100, and he’s four runs scored from 100. Whether you’re on the side of trading him in the offseason or not, let’s just enjoy the show he is putting on right now. Number 2 - Byron Buxton In the 11 games since Buxton has been back with the Twins, he has been more aggressive. He has had success. He has five home runs in those 11 games. He’s turned singles into double. He has done, in this small sample size, what we hope that he will show Twins fans for the next decade. The defense is always elite with Buxton. His presence in center field can be a big factor in making the Twins pitching staff better. Let’s just watch and hope that he continues this nice stretch and can go into the offseason with a lot more confidence. Number 3 - Miguel Sano If a “bad” season is going to results in 25 homers, I think we know how great Sano’s bat can be. He left Monday night’s game with lower back soreness. Hopefully it’s minor so that he can play most of the remaining games. We saw a couple of plays on defense that show he could be an adequate or solid defensive third baseman. We’ve seen plenty of examples that show that he shouldn't play defense, anywhere. But it would be nice to see him get more time at third base to help the front office (whoever that is) have more data points in their evaluation. It’s also great to see his bat in the middle of the lineup. There’s no question he’ll hit going forward. But will he play any defense? Number 4 - Max Kepler He’s certainly cooled off with the bat the last few weeks, but he’s been very solid for a rookie with the bat. He’s also been real good defensively with some very good plays in the last handful of games. He struggled against lefty Daniel Norris, dropping his batting average against southpaws below .200 for the season. A year ago in AA, he hit lefties and righties pretty evenly, so getting him more at bats against same-siders will be good. Again, like Buxton and Sano, Kepler is an elite talent who is going to be a big part of the team’s future. Every at-bat, and every ball he fields and throws will help him grow. Number 5 - Jose Berrios Speaking of big pieces of the Twins future, I think we can all agree that Berrios fits into that category. It’s been a tough go for Berrios in the big leagues most times out in his young career, but the 22-year-old has the stuff and makeup to overcome this and still be strong. Clearly, he’s got to command the strike zone better with his plus stuff, but he’s showing how important control of all pitches and consistency are. With the position players, it’s easy to say start them every day. With a young starting pitcher who is struggling so much right now, it’s fair to ask whether it’s better for him short-term and long-term to continue starting or work in long-relief in no-pressure situations? I won’t pretend to know the answer. I tend to think long relief in an attempt to let him gain some confidence. Number 6 - The Crawl to 100 It’s the theme on the Twins Daily Pub Crawl 2016 shirts. With 18 games to go, the Twins would have to finish 9-9 to avoid losing 100 games. To avoid the worst record in Twins history (60-102 in 1982), the Twins would need to go 6-12. I don’t feel real confident on either of those. Number 7 - Jorge Polanco Maybe not an elite prospect like the four mentioned above, Polanco firmly sits in that next level of prospect. Getting him every day a- bats should be a priority, and he’s shown that he has a chance to be a productive hitter. The question with him is where should he play in the field. Before the season, the Twins made the decision that he wouldn’t play shortstop. Before his promotion, he played zero innings at shortstop all year. And, after seeing him the last couple of years at shortstop, there was little question that it was the right decision. With the Twins, that is where he has played the last six weeks. With Brian Dozier at second base (assuming he’s not traded), it is where he would have to play with no changes. Hopefully he gets another 15 starts or so at shortstop to further evaluate his defense there. Number 8 - The Starting Rotation After Santana These could probably be all separate numbers, but let’s lump them together. Aside from Ervin Santana, there is a lot to prove for the rest of the rotation in their final three or four starts. Kyle Gibson will be arbitration-eligible for the first time. After taking a step forward in 2015, he was hurt early this season and one has to wonder if he’s fully healthy as he has struggled most of the time in 2016. However, he’s shown flashes. So has Tyler Duffey. He’s had a couple of strong outings, but he’s been nowhere near what he was over the final six weeks last year for the Twins. He still has just two pitches and his command has not been the same. He should get more time as a starter before moving him to the bullpen, but he needs to find something in the final three weeks. Hector Santiago has been an OK starting pitcher for the Angels for a long time. He’s been an All-Star (2015) and he’d frustrated the Angels brass to the point that they were willing to take Ricky Nolasco (and Alex Meyer) to let him go. He listened to Twins coaching after coming to the team. He threw more strikes but he got lit up. In his last two or three starts, he’s gone back to what he did with the Angels and he’s been much better. Will the Twins tender him a contract for 2017? Probably, but three or four more starts could solidify their decision. Number 9 - JT Chargois It’s easy to look at Chargois’s 6.60 ERA (coming into Monday night’s game in which he had a nine-pitch 1-2-3 innings). It’s easy to see 11 walks and ten strikeouts in 16 innings. However, in his last six outings, he’s walked two and struck out six in 5.2 innings. The Twins deserve a lot of credit for his return from missing two years after Tommy John. They also, maybe frustratingly, took care of him early this season too. He began in AA and then advanced to AAA. He rarely worked in back-to-back games or more than one inning. With the Twins, he has been used more. He appears to be figuring some things out. Hopefully that will continue the rest of the way and he can be relied upon in 2017! Number 10 - Pat Light Light has also struggled with his control since coming up to the Twins. In 9.1 innings, he has ten walks to go with nine strikeouts. That isn’t a surprise. His stats in the Red Sox organization indicated his ability to throw hard and get strikeouts, but that he also often had control problems. No reason to give up on Light at this point. Not only is he trying to navigate his way through his first extended big league time, he’s doing it late in the season (which might explain some of the velocity drop in the last two weeks) and for a new organization. That’s a lot of learning and stress. While he may not put himself in position to make the Opening Day roster next year, a strong end to his season could help him gain confidence heading into next season. Number 11 - The Rest Of The Bullpen There are a lot of questions in the entire Twins bullpen as we look toward 2017. It starts with how ready will Glen Perkins be at the beginning of the season. In my mind, Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressly and Taylor Rogers have established themselves as reliable for 2017. Trevor May is a major league pitcher, but a decision needs to be made on whether or not he should start or continue to come out of the bullpen. Unfortunately, he’s still not 100% and we won’t really be able to see the full May here in September. Buddy Boshers is a nice story in that he came out of the independent leagues, which should not be held against him after a solid season. He’s got enough fastball and his breaking pitches are pretty good. Ryan O’Rourke has shown what he can do against left-handers, but he’s improved some against righties too. It’ll be a big final three weeks for those two lefties. And Pat Dean can potentially help his cause if he can finish strong as a long reliever/spot starter. Michael Tonkin is another guy who has had ups and downs throughout the season. He just came back after missing a little over a week. He can improve his roster position with a strong end to his season. Alex Wimmers went through a lot to get to the big leagues. He’s there, and he is excited for the opportunity. He can make an impression too. Number 12 - Joe Mauer Mauer is likely to miss a couple of games in the next few days with his quad injury. It’s been clear for over a week that he has not been able to run because of his quads, so this is a wise thing. He isn’t what he once was (hey, neither am I), but he’s still a productive MLB player who has been a Top 5 MLB player in Twins history, so enjoy it. If he can walk 10 more times, he’d have his second-best walk season of his career and 15 would tie his career-high. One more triple would be a career high five. Two more homers would tie his best home run season (not counting that 2009 MVP season) and tie him with Jacque Jones for 11th in Twins history with 132. Number 13 - James Beresford In a September where 100 losses is likely, there has to be a feel-good story. While the Alex Wimmers story is tremendous, it’s the second-best story to James Beresford’s. He signed with the Twins in 2005. He was called up for the first time last Monday after four seasons in Rochester and over 1,070 minor league games. On Saturday, he made his big league debut at third base. He lined a single to center for his first big league hit, dropped down a sacrifice bunt and made some nice plays at third base. On Sunday, he played first base and notched his first extra base hit, a double off of Cleveland’s Corey Kluber. He may not play a lot, but he can have a role as a utility infielder, late-inning defensive replacement, pinch runner or more. Number 14 - Paul Molitor Owner Jim Pohlad has backed the Hall of Fame player as his manager a couple of times.A dreaded vote of confidence, or do they mean it? Lineup construction. Bullpen usage. A fixation on sacrifice bunting. We could go on and on with things that Molitor has not done well as a manager. We thought because of his willingness to shift and his baseball IQ that he would be more new school than his predecessor, Ron Gardenhire. Aside from an occasional shift, it’s hard to see where Molitor is any less old school than Gardenhire was. However, in an attempt to be fair to to Molitor, he’s working with many young players that need to play (see the guys mentioned at the top of this article) and a pitching staff that has been terrible. How much of that can or should really be thrown at Molitor? That’s for the next President of Baseball Operations and General Manager to determine, I guess. But in these last 18 games, we can see how Molitor handles various situations. Number 15 - John Ryan Murphy I’m curious how much Molitor will play Murphy down the stretch. We all know he was bad early in the season, and he struggled most of the year in in Rochester too. He finished strong in Rochester, hitting over .300 in August. He just turned 25 in May. He is known as a solid defensive catcher, which should be a priority for any catcher in 2017 and beyond. And, he does have a history of some offensive production. In 99 games with the Yankees between 2014 and 2015, he hit .280/.324/.394 (.718). If he can put up numbers list that with good defense… well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. But, let’s give him some starts in September and see what happens. Number 16 - What Else Are You Going To Do? Clean the garage? Bring the radio. Yard work? Radio. Fall house cleaning? Keep the TV on. Go to a movie? Umm… matinees are cheaper, so pick a time when the game isn’t on. Go to work? Radio, or listen online. Watch football? I mean, there are only 18 games left, and that’s it. Follow football during Twins commercials or on Twitter or by keeping tabs on your fantasy football team. After 18 more games, you can watch as much football as you want. Number 17 - Because You’re A Twins Fan You’re going to feel a lot better about yourself when the Twins get back to the playoffs and then win a World Series in a few years. You’ll be able to say, I was with them through the really bad times, that season they lost over 100 games, and I’m happy to see how far these players and this team have come since. Hey, if you frequent Twins Daily, you’re already a die-hard Twins fan. You’d probably feel guilty not watching them. Number 18 - Your Turn I’ve got nothing more. So, number 18 will be up to you. If I missed any reasons to continue watching the Twins for the final 18 games, share them in the comments below. View full article

Am I the only one a little nervous about the idea of a guy who is below the GM level jumping right to the President of Baseball Operations? McLeod sounds smart. He's from an organization with Epstein/Hoyer, so he's got to have some idea through osmosis or something. But he'd be jumping up several levels. I'd almost rather he jump up to the Twins GM with someone else (maybe a current GM or executive) in the Baseball Operations.

He'll be coaching at the Instructional League as well, per the Twins roster mentioned here last week: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/23854-2016-twins-instructional-league-roster/ I think that this came out in July but it wasn't publicized too much.

Hard to get to the World Series two years in a row. Sure, every team has a little luck, but great defense and OK pitching and a dominant bullpen and an offense that puts the ball in play is a good strategy. But, it took that group a long time too. They certainly had some rough times in their early big league days.

I'd also like to see it compared with other organizations. I'm not saying it's wrong, or right, but there's no context to it. If a couple of 22 year olds struggle in their first or second year in the big leagues, I don't know that that tells us anything. They used Torii Hunter as an example of a star that was developed by the Twins, and part of that development was going up and down a few times early in his career. It happens. 1.) Buxton and Berrios are not guys to give up on. 2.) Sano hasn't been good, but he's still put up some quality numbers. 3.) Did the Twins help develop Brian Dozier? I suppose that doesn't support the theory though... 4.) Stewart is mentioned, and yet he's a 21-year-old with a half-season of AA time. And, do they get any credit for taking Gonsalves in the 4th round? 5.) Kepler and Polanco seem to be alright. If I'm buying stock, there's no question I'd be buying on the Twins prospects and young players.

At 6:00, the Minnesota Twins will take on Cleveland in the middle game of a three-game series. Australian James Beresford will make his Major League Debut! While the Twins are trying to avoid 100 losses, Cleveland is in the thick of the pennant race, holding a lead over the Detroit Tigers. They also have the fourth best record in the Major leagues behind the Cubs, Rangers and Nationals. Here are a few Twins notes before tonight's game. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs At 6:00, the Minnesota Twins will take on Cleveland in the middle game of a three-game series. Australian James Beresford will make his Major League Debut! While the Twins are trying to avoid 100 losses, Cleveland is in the thick of the pennant race, holding a lead over the Detroit Tigers. They also have the fourth best record in the Major leagues behind the Cubs, Rangers and Nationals. Here are a few Twins notes before tonight's game. James Beresford was on the field about five hours prior to the start of tonight's game, taking ground balls at third base. He was wearing his green Mr. 1000 shirt that his teammates in Rochester gave him. He had found out that he was going to make his Major League debut. He will be hitting eighth and playing third base tonight. In the clubhouse before the game, he said he was very excited but not nervous. He thought that would come later on. I asked him if he truly did not know that his parents were flying in from Australia or not. He said he didn't know anything about it, although the fact that he didn't hear from either of them after his first game was very surprising. It did make him wonder a little bit. He said when Brian Dozier told him to follow, he did. Dozier said it was a lot of fun to surprise James that night. It was the first time he had met the Beresford family. At tonight's game will be Beresford's family, his brother Simon and his wife. His girlfriend arrived in town on Friday. So, there will certainly be a cheering section for Beresford in the family section tonight. NOTES I chatted briefly with lefty Pat Dean in the clubhouse. Players were starting to head out for their pregame stretch, so I said, "I better get going and write something." He responded, "Keep it positive!" I laughed and said, "Hey, I'll try." Let's start with Dean. He said he has enjoyed his time in the big leagues this year and by season's end, it will be a half-season. He said it was a little different coming out of the bullpen, something he had to adjust to. I asked if he had come into a game with runners on. He smiled and noted that he allowed two of Pat Light's runners to score. "that is an awful feeling." That was positive, right Pat? It was a positive learning experience. Byron Buxton was really happy with how he's playing right now. A quiet, humble guy, Buxton said there were times he was frustrated after being sent down the second time. But he said it's nice seeing the hard work paying off with numbers and stats finally. He said, "The key has been patience." Alex Wimmers said that big league life has been everything he thought it would be and more. He said "After all the things I've come back from, injuries and such, it's really rewarding to get this opportunity. I was at the point where I didn't know what would happen at the end of the year." Wimmers also said that becoming a father this season has been instrumental in his success on the mound too. He said it's provided him with a proper perspective on the game and everything. The other thing he enjoyed was being a co-closer in Rochester with JT Chargois. He said it put him into the mindset of the pitchers before him did a great job to put the team in position to win, and he didn't want to let the whole team down, so it really pushed his focus on the mound to a different level. I verified with Andrew Albers that he is NOT on Twitter. There is a twitter account that has his name with a number and the profile picture is of the southpaw, but it is not him. Cory Provus said that he'd be doing college football and basketball on the Big Ten Network again this offseason. Tonight there is a Brian Dozier blaze orange winter hat giveaway with certain, special tickets to get them. In the clubhouse before the game, he had a duck call that he sounded off a few times. Dozier's obviously a big outdoorsman who spends a lot of his offseason hunting, in addition to traveling to third-world countries helping as he can. Some of the proceeds from tonight's event will go to Pheasants Forever. 1987 Minnesota Twins World Series hero is at Target Field tonight. Before the game, he was seen talking with former teammates like Bert Blyleven, Dan Gladden, and Tom Brunansky, as well as Tony Oliva. It was good to catch up with Jose Berrios as well. He talked a little about how frustrated he was when he was optioned to Rochester the first time. He said it took him almost a week to kind of get over the disappointment and feeling like he let people down. He said, "Once you go to the big leagues, you don't want to go back to the minor leagues." He said he got back to work and figured some things out. He knew why he was optioned and what he needed to do. He said he never lost confidence or the drive to be great. He also understood why he was optioned again in late August, but he said that time he was able to go to Rochester and be successful right away, pointing out the 14 strikeout in eight-inning outing. He's excited to be back. David Laurila from FanGraphs is at Target Field for this three-game series. Be sure to follow him on Twitter. @DavidLaurilaQA. When I got to the stadium and was approaching the clubhouse, I saw lefty Taylor Rogers walking through the halls with his Twins brother Tyler to his side. It's a good thing Taylor was in his Twins garb or there's no way a person could tell the two apart. How fun would it be if the two decided to swap for a day. Frew would notice, at least not until Tyler got on the mound and threw right-handed, and submarine. What a story that would be! Byron Buxton and Ryan Pressly had their eyes on one of the clubhouse TVs watching the end of the Oklahama State/Central Michigan game. When the "hail mary/lateral/TD" was completed, giving Central Michigan the upset, Pressly and Buxton leapt in amazement, and understandably so. I was talking to Alex Wimmers at the time and we looked up at the monitor. A minute later, Wimmers sat and pointed to the TV right across from his locker, perfectly situated so he could watch. "That's my game" It was showing Ohio State. Trevor Plouffe was officially placed on the 15-Day Disabled List before the game. View full article

Brady Anderson starting Game 1 tonight, and Sam Gibbons starting tomorrow in Game 4.

Thank you for all the kind words and encouragement. It's nice to hear. I know I enjoy writing this... most of the time!

Of course, Buxton didn't play in the playoffs that year because he had been promoted a couple of months earlier. Buxton was essentially replaced by Kepler.

1.) anyone who is crying bust on any play after 17 at bats or 32 at bats is just silly, but 2.) very cool to read Hinch mentioning contact rate and exit velocity.

I guess, but his "downside ceiling" (if I can use that term), is like Andrew Miller, who started for several years out of North Carolina and then finally became a dominant reliever. Health is obviously one of the biggest concerns for any pitcher.

Did You Know: Twins affiliates finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 304-257 (.542). That was 5th in MLB behind only the Yankees, Phillies, Mariners and Cleveland this year. Also, their 1,225-1,020 record from 2013-2016 (4 seasons) is third overall in baseball. While development is the most important thing in the minors, developing a culture of winning can and should be a part of that as well.

I'm told this isn't a finalized roster. It could still change a little bit. Also told that Kirilloff wouldn't be ready for Instructs (elbow), so he's not going to be there.

514 PA, 51 K, 31 BB. Regarding Puckett... who knows? I mean Arraez is only 19. Puckett wasn't signed til he was way after that. Arraez's body will likely change between now and when he's 23.