Seth Stohs

Although I'd like to see it, and would have no problem with it, teams just don't do that. And probably shouldn't. Tommy Watkins earned his promotion in that he was playing pretty well, there was an injury and a need and he came up and played almost every day for like 17 games until he got hurt. I'd like to see Beresford get that call. I think we could make a strong argument that he's earned it. Certainly did last year. Jairo? On the field, not so much, and being a good guy and a good teammate just doesn't get you to the big leagues. But... it can get a story on Twins Daily!!

Here is the press release: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today the franchise has retained Korn Ferry to assist the team in its search for new baseball operations leadership. “The Twins are pleased to be working with Korn Ferry Sports on the search for a new leader of baseball operations,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said. “Korn Ferry has a long-term, proven record of success across the world of sports - including within Major League Baseball. Going forward, Korn Ferry’s expertise and experience will assist the Twins in our focus on finding the best candidate for this important role.” Korn Ferry’s Global Sports Practice provides top talent recruitment and leadership development solutions for the world’s leading sports organizations. Korn Ferry’s recent executive search clients include the Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays and MLB. www.kornferry.com

I say that in the minor leagues, yes.

Maybe in some cases, but the two are very different in terms of willingness to talk and staying away from cliches as much as possible. He's pretty open, while at the same time not completely giving away too much. He's really good.

Here is the tweet on Blankenhorn's "strange" home run situation that I received from his agent during the game.

I think Duffey, at 25, needs to make his adjustments in the big leagues. He's been back down and made some adjustments. Now he has to go through the ups and downs here. Berrios, at barely 22, was up here, struggled incredibly, got sent down, has made some adjustments and now should be up within a week to ten days. At this point, I'd make the same argument with him. Unless he's just completely lost in a bunch of starts, he now will need to make the adjustments in the big leagues. I'd be OK with DFAing one or both of Milone and Nolasco on 8/2, but I don't mind them trying once last-ditch effort to get anything for them.

Updated... thank you for pointing that out.

If I were to ask you which five players have been in the Twins organization the longest continuously, it might take you a couple of minutes. However, you would likely, quickly name the top three; Joe Mauer (2001 - 1st round), Trevor Plouffe (2004 - 1st round) and Glen Perkins (2004 - 1st round). And you’d be right. If I were to ask you who the next two on the list are, would you know? The Twins signed Australian James Beresford in August of 2005. He’s spent the last four seasons in AAA Rochester, having earned an opportunity for a big league call up yet having not received one to this point. Today, I’ll help you get to know the fifth-longest tenured player in the Minnesota Twins organization. It’s catcher Jairo Rodriguez who signed on May 9, 2007, out of Venezuela. That makes 2016 his tenth season in the organization. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs (photo of Jairo Rodriguez) If I were to ask you which five players have been in the Twins organization the longest continuously, it might take you a couple of minutes. However, you would likely, quickly name the top three; Joe Mauer (2001 - 1st round), Trevor Plouffe (2004 - 1st round) and Glen Perkins (2004 - 1st round). And you’d be right. If I were to ask you who the next two on the list are, would you know? The Twins signed Australian James Beresford in August of 2005. He’s spent the last four seasons in AAA Rochester, having earned an opportunity for a big league call up yet having not received one to this point. Today, I’ll help you get to know the fifth-longest tenured player in the Minnesota Twins organization. It’s catcher Jairo Rodriguez who signed on May 9, 2007, out of Venezuela. That makes 2016 his tenth season in the organization. You probably haven’t read his name in the Twins Daily Minor League reports real often. In his 10 years, Rodriguez has played in 374 games. Since the beginning of the 2014 season, the 27-year-old has played in a total of 72 games. Each season, he has played a little bit less. In 2016, he has played in a total of just six games in Chattanooga. He has spent a lot of time on the disabled list in recent years. As a solid defensive catcher, yet not a top prospect, it is nice to have the depth that he provides for the organization at a position where it is difficult to remain healthy all season. In the minor leagues, the disabled list is a little bit more loose. In other words, the organization needs to list an injury to put them on the disabled list. Some like to call it the “Fake DL.” Last week, when Travis Harrison was placed on Chattanooga’s DL with a concussion (sustained when he was hit by a pitch in the helmet), Jairo Rodriguez was added to the active roster. On that roster, he can catch when Stuart Turner gets a day off, or Mitch Garver gets a day at first base. Since being added to the roster ten days ago, Rodriguez has one at-bat. Rodriguez isn’t what you’d call a prospect. He is what many people call a glue guy, an organizational. He is described as a great teammate, a hard-worker who sets a good example for his teammates. He is said to have a very high baseball IQ and is willing to help teammates, especially catchers with their game. Jairo Rodriguez was born and raised in Acarigua, Venezuela, a city of about 300,000 people a little over 200 miles west of Caracas. He started playing baseball at a very early age. “I was four years old when I first started playing. My brothers and I would play together.” Soon after, he began playing more organized ball. “I played in a league called Incitos. I really enjoyed playing it.” In 2007, he signed with the Twins. “The Twins were the only team that was interested in signing me. That made the decision easy.” He has been a guy that the Twins have felt comfortable placing at any level. He spent one year playing in Venezuela, followed by two years in the Dominican Summer League. He came to the States in 2010 and played in the GCL. He split the 2011 season between the GCL and Elizabethton. In 2012, he played in Beloit for the full season. He traveled quite a bit in 2013. He played for Cedar Rapids, Ft. Myers and even Rochester. In 2014, he split time between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He has spent 2015 and 2016 in Chattanooga. It is primarily his attitude, his character and his defensive abilities that have kept him around for a decade. “I like catching. I try to be like Ivan Rodriguez as much as I can. He is who I look up to.” He continued, speaking of what he most enjoys about the catcher position, “I would say blocking balls and helping the pitcher command the game.” Some might get frustrated by the lack of playing time and jumping from affiliate to affiliate over the years. Rodriguez doesn’t seem to mind in the least. “I like doing that because I love baseball and whatever the Twins want me to do, I will do.” His love of the game keeps him playing all year round. In the winters, he doesn’t take too much time off. “I go on a week’s vacation with my family every offseason, and then go play baseball in Venezuela.That’s my favorite.” He plays for Aragua in the Venezuelan Winter League. “It’s really cool because a lot of big leaguers play there, and I like playing with those guys.” Rodriguez got the chance to live the big league life for a couple of days before the 2016 season started. Rodriguez was one of a few minor leaguers invited to travel with the Twins to Washington DC and play in the final exhibition games. Though he was the fourth catcher on the traveling squad, it was - even if unspoken - a reward for Rodriguez’s loyalty to the organization. Making the experience even cooler, in the second exhibition game, Rodriguez came in as a pinch hitter. On the first pitch, he lined a solid single to right field. “It felt really good to get a base hit in that game. The big leagues is very different because there are a lot of superstars up there that you watch on TV.” Rodriguez is proud to have remained in the Twins organization for a full decade. “It’s an organization that has been good to me. We have good coaching staffs, and I like that everybody plays hard with the Twins.” Rodriguez will continue to play as long as the Twins want him back, but after that, he has some ideas. “I would love to stay in baseball and be a coach for somebody one day. Maybe even for the Twins.” Just four players have been in the Twins system longer than Jairo Rodriguez, and I’m guessing there are several who read this article who had never heard of him. That’s too bad. Players, and people, like Jairo Rodriguez deserve to be recognized. View full article

I'm not arguing with any of the information above, other than the guess that he wouldn't be up with other organizations. No way to know if that's fact of not. He would have been sent down after the four starts he had in the big leagues (most likely). Teams aren't trying to put their best prospects in a position to fail. There's no right or wrong answer to any of this.

He's been good for 7 starts in a row. Before that, he was still struggling with control and command. I have no problem with them letting him work on his issues in AAA and then doing well for more than 3-4 starts. He's at 7 in a row now... any time now.

I'll be incredibly disappointed if he makes a start for Rochester AFTER August 1st.

I'd have him up, but I can't blame the Twins for letting it play out. They're in no rush with the playoffs out of the realm of possibility.

Berrios should absolutely be up on August 2nd (or officially whichever day would be his next start after Aug 1). I have no problem with them waiting until they see what happens with their starters and the trade deadline. I think they could get a low-level minor leaguer for Tommy Milone. I think they'll just have to DFA Nolasco. Either way... something will happen and Berrios will be up.

http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/canadian-baseball-network-articles//elliott-terry-ryan-minnesota-nice Bob Elliott is a Hall of Fame writer from the Canadian Baseball Network. He wrote a (very long) tremendous article on former Twins GM Terry Ryan. I don't typically read a lot, but I hung on to each word in this article. It discusses his oppotunity to be the GM of the Blue Jays in 2001, which he declined. There are probably a dozen stories from various people including Corey Koskie, LaTroy Hawkins, Justin Morneau, Sal Butera, Howie Norsetter and many others. Definitely worth the time to read it.

I believe their GM is Dave Stewart and the Director of Baseball Operations is Tony Larussa...

There are just so many variables that you'd hate to put any sort of progress timeline in concrete. It's just not fair. Sure, the stars and Hall of Famers tend to come up to the big leagues by 22 or so, but there are plenty of All Stars and solid regulars who come up at 24 and 25, and there are plenty of contributing utility guys, bullpen arms, etc., who come up when they're 25-27. By that theory, Hildenberger should never have even been drafted as a 5th year senior.

Weird place for a conversation on Brandon Lopez... Could just start another thread. But, he signed late because Miami was in the College World Series. Had to start him somewhere. I guess you could release Sean Miller, Nelson Molina, Luis Arraez or Jermaine Palacios from the Cedar Rapids roster to make room for the 10th round pick. (Note - Miller actually spent most of his summer last year in Cedar Rapids after a very brief stint in E-Town). Or, they could have him just jump right up to Ft. Myers where he could take over for Nick Gordon? Also, not sure what Mike Radcliff has to do with this. And... let's find some examples of other organizations that put their mid-to-late round college draft picks into the Midwest League or higher (and I'm not talking about high picks)... The Twins had Tom Hackimer, a 4th round pick from this year, start his career in Cedar Rapids. Nick Burdi started in Cedar Rapids and spent about 3 weeks there before moving up to Ft. Myers. Jake Reed made about 3 appearances in E-Town before moving up to Cedar Rapids. LaMonte Wade (9th) and Chris Paul (6th) ended last season in Cedar Rapids and played for them in the playoffs. In 2012, Taylor Rogers, DJ Baxendale and Tyler Duffey all moved up to Cedar Rapids. I guess I see nothing wrong with letting the college guys start in E-Town and see how they adjust to wood bats, etc., before moving them up to Cedar Rapids. So this theme that the Twins start guys too low or don't move them up quick enough is just silly at this point and there is plenty of backing for that.

I would argue that if you hit on 3 out of 8 minor league free agent signings in a season, that's pretty good.

Triple-A Rochester left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers is the Twins minor league Player of the Week...Albers made two starts for the Red Wings, pitching 15.0 shutout innings, allowing 14 hits, two walks and seven strikeouts... he earned the win last Saturday over Norfolk and again with a 9.0-inning complete game on Thursday vs. Syracuse...he has made 16 starts for the Red Wings this season, going 9-3, 3.14 ERA (97.1 IP, 34 ER) with two complete games, 23 walks and 63 strikeouts...the Saskatchewan native is in his second stint with the Twins organization after signing a minor league contract in late April.

I just researched and posted the following on Twitter: ---- ---- There are a lot of other terrific streaks by other players in the system... Click here for more. http://www.twitter.com/sethtweets

My only point is that you just never know with prospects. So many want to write off a guy who is 22 at E-Town and that's just silly. Odds they become Tony Oliva... very small.

Agreed... I thought I was about the only Herrmann supporter around these parts the last couple of years, and even I was amazed that they got so much for him in a trade, knowing he was out of options and unlikely to stick around. I also am glad people are starting to realize that building a bullpen via high priced options is never a good thing. Abad, aside from last year, was right in line with the likes of Sipp and to some degree Bastardo. Kintzler was solid before the knee injury. Unless you're talking about the likes of Chapman and MIller, they all need to be put in a similar bucket. I might add tendering Nunez to the list of good decisions, though maybe that's tempered by the decisions to tender Fien and Milone too, but can't win them all.

Another good example of why looking at age to level of competition just isn't as important as we like to think.

It's possible after the E-Town season is done.