Seth Stohs

The simple response is that it is a lot like what they're doing in spring training. They'll likely workout/practice from 9-12 or so every day. They will play some games against teams that are close (Bradenton, Sarasota, etc). They get a lot of work and there are a lot of coaches there as well. The coach to player ratio is good.

The Twins, and specifically Howard Norsetter, have a long history of signing top talent out of Australia. Some of the first included Grant Balfour and Michael Nakamura. Then players such as James Beresford and Allan de San Miguel signed with the Twins. In 2012, the Twins signed one of their top pitching prospects, Lewis Thorpe, out of Australia. Just over a year ago, the Twins signed their biggest Australian player yet, 6-5, 240 pound first baseman Jack Barrie.Barrie went to Kawana Waters State College in Queensland, Australia. The Twins scouted him at some national tournaments. At the Under-18 National Championship just over a year ago, he hit .636/.652/.1.136 with six doubles, two triples and four home runs in 44 at bats. It was shortly after that performance that the Twins were able to outbid several other teams -- including the Diamondbacks, Reds and Rangers -- and sign Barrie, reportedly for a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $250,000. Before signing, he put a lot of thought into his future. “I was going to eventually go to college and not even worry about the contract. I was tying up between college and the Twins. They gave me a really good college package with my signing bonus so I decided to go with them so I’d have a backup after baseball.” Did the fact that the Twins have so many players from Australia factor into his decision in any way? Maybe. As Barrie recalls, “I spoke to Lewis Thorpe before making my decision. It was nice knowing there were other Australians here. That just makes me feel a bit more at home. But other than that, it was more a decision for my personal benefit.” The interesting thing is that Barrie did not start out playing baseball in his early childhood. He said, “I’d only been playing baseball before I signed for maybe five or six years. I used to skateboard and swim and play AFL and rugby so that was my thing.” With his size, I would imagine he would be an intimidating force on the teams. However, he worked very hard this offseason to get himself into much better shape. About six weeks ago, he left Australia to attend the IMG academy in Bradenton, Florida for a month. The IMG Academy is a well-respected place where elite, young athletes in most sports (from golf, to tennis, to football, basketball, baseball and more) go for expert training. “I wanted to give myself a bit of a head start before spring training and get a little more work in, work with some really good coaches. That kind of stuff. Just use all of their facilities, which are all absolutely amazing. That was one of the biggest things.” He continued, “We mostly did gym workouts. We did a lot on running technique, body composition, and then we did our outfield work and ground balls and out work on our hitting, fundamentals, and that kind of stuff.” He was very happy with his decision to spend a month in Bradenton preparing for spring training. As someone who just turned 19 years old, but is still young to the game of baseball, he is immensely talented and strong but still has much to learn about the nuances of the game of baseball. He is certainly willing to work on the game, but also on his body. He worked hard all offseason and when he weighed in last week at his physical, he had lost 35 pounds. “It was a goal. When I left the Twins left year after the season. I had a goal to be 240 pounds and 18% body fat. When I got home to Australia, I was 270 pounds. I had put on a lot of weight. That was one of my biggest goals is to get down somewhere where I was comfortable. I feel better. I run faster. My body feels better. I’m not getting injured and I’m throwing harder as well. I’m really liking my body as well.” He struggled in his professional debut in 2014 with the Gulf Coast League Twins which was to be expected. In 25 games, he hit .205/.284/.233 with two extra base hits. The struggles were to be expected considering his lack of playing time against this kind of competition. To be completely fair, when Barrie came to the States a year ago, he wasn’t even sure what he was getting into. “I thought it was going to be completely different. As an international person, I had no idea about baseball in America. First time really being there. I was expecting something a lot different. I came in. The heat was crazy. The amount of work we were doing was insane. I just ran into a wall.” With the experience under his belt and the work he put in for the offseason, Barrie is hoping for improvement in 2015. “This year, I have a bit more of an understanding. Now I got invited to spring training which I’m really grateful for. I’m just playing it day-by-day.” Jack Barrie has a lot of potential. As an observer the last week in Ft. Myers, you can see that potential. He is a big, young man and strong. He shows good power in batting practice, and he looked fairly solid defensively. He’s got a lot of work yet to do to get to where he wants to get, and he knows it. You could see struggles and some confusion at times, but he really took instruction well and the next time, he did things right. That’s what you want to see in a young player with that much potential. The other thing that is clear is that he has great work ethic. He clearly has a strong drive to learn and to become successful. He’s a very bright kid. As fans, it is going to be fun to watch this young talent grow over the next few years. Fans will also need to be patient as he continues to learn and make adjustments physically, mentally and emotionally to a game that is still fairly new to him and in a country that is very much new to him. For his part, he is willing to learn, but he’s also excited for how far he has come in a short time. “Two years from playing, I made my first state team. Three years from playing, I made the national team. Two years after that, I got signed. It just kind of all worked together. I was playing on a club team all around Queensland, all around my state.” He is also gracious and appreciative of those around him in this game. “I had a lot of people that were trying to help me out, trying to get me to where I wanted to go.” Expect that Jack Barrie will remain in Ft. Myers for extended spring training and the play with the Gulf Coast League Twins in their brand new field later in 2015. Click here to view the article

1 - Sano didn't have inflated weight, and he had his moments of clear rust but he was OK. Why were they sent down? They weren't going to make the team and they have some tough decisions to make. Buxton needed playing time. He wasn't playing terribly much in big league camp. They can both go down to minor league camp and get more at bats and get ready for their seasons. 2 - Yes. yes. Rosario had 21 HR in ETown that year and Sano had 20. Of course, they were great hitters and the fences there were quite short.

I definitely am a big believer in track record, and Milone certainly has that. We all like velocity and strikeouts, but there have been a lot of guys in this game's history that have succeeded without those things.

After announcing that thirteen players were removed from the Minnesota Twins spring training roster on Sunday, three more Twins players were optioned and will report to minor league camp. Miguel Sano was officially included in the group, along with LHP Jason Wheeler and RHP Lester OliverosIn all, the Twins have now sent 16 players to minor league camp in the last two days.There are no surprises among the players cut from big league camp to this point. With Opening Day less than three weeks away, manager Paul Molitor has some tough decisions to make and needs to give opportunities to those who are competing for the final roster spots. As a quick reminder, those players who are on the 40-man roster need to be "optioned" when they are not on the active roster. These players are then assigned to the roster of one of the Twins minor league affiliates. Non-roster invitees are just "reassigned" to minor league camp. They do not need to be assigned to a specific roster. That will happen later in spring training. Miguel Sano certainly impressed with his power this spring, hitting two long home runs in big league games. He needs some time in the minors to shake off rust, both offensively and defensively. However, in his time in big league camp, he certainly showed again that he may not be far off. These moves reduce the current Twins spring training roster to 45. Eleven of those are non-roster players. They have 21 pitchers (two non-roster), six catchers (three non-roster), 10 infielders (three non-roster) and seven outfielders (two non-roster). Click here to view the article

I don't think all of these are true. Gardy did the pop up things on several occasions. Gardy had some NRI guys pitching late innings, but the Twins are sending several minor league pitchers on their road trip already tomorrow, so Molitor will do the same (and every manager does). So far, I agree on the outfield situation, I guess.

They won't have HIcks up as a pinch runner, so it's be Robinson... Unless Rosario starts, then Schafer remains the 4th OF.

He's most likely the backup catcher who gets to DH when they give Vargas or Mauer a day off. I think he's almost a given.

He's fine in the outfield and he's alright in the infield. Not great range, but he makes the routine play which is just fine. I don't have any problem with Nunez, or picking up his option. No real risk. And, I definitely am a fan of Herrmann too. I like versatility and think it's important.

Kanzler did shave his mustache for their photo, but I have a feeling it'll be back.

He was fun to talk to. When I approached him, he looked at me like, "How or why would anyone possibly know who I am?" We had a good conversation though. Very excited for an opportunity. And still just 25, left handed and breathing!

Hunter was clear about this at his introductory press conference too. He basically said if he played well and felt right he might keep playing.

In my opinion, Nunez is competing with Herrmannn for the 25th roster spot. They already know Escobar is the main utility infielder. If Herrmann beats out Nunez, they'll DFA or trade him.

Uti Utility infielder. At one of Terry Ryan's pregame chat, he said he thinks Escobar could get 300 at bats. I think an injury at SS or 2B is what it would take.

I'm not certain what changes you're looking for. The offense was pretty good last year. Centerfield was really the only question mark after Hunter signed and whichever guy plays out there will likely bat ninth. The lineup didn't need much change. Gary's lineup last year was fine. His pitchers just didn't all pitch very well.

I was there. Pictures to facebook and twitter shortly.

They did not. The four players that I tweeted showed up down there in the morning didn't play and the others didn't show up (excused). Guys on the 40 man roster get 48 hours to report to minor league camp. Non-Roster guys don't have that ability. They are generally expected to go there right away, but I'm guessing the Twins will give them a day.

Correct. The Twins have not formally announced Sano being sent down, though there are reports that he has... There's timing and things like that (that are beyond my understanding). There are as many as 5 guys that have already been told that they will be sent down. That may officially be announced tomorrow, but it could wait until Tuesday as the Twins have a complete off day tomorrow.

There are so many interesting stories in minor league baseball. The Twins are well-known for scouring the furthermost reaches of the globe to find players that have some potential. Last offseason, they signed another kid who was playing in Australia, but this one was a little different. He is actually from Wisconsin. Get to know the story of left-handed pitcher Luke Westphal below.Luke Westphal was born and raised is the town of Clintonville, Wisconsin. Clintonville has a population just over 4,500 residents. It is located about 45 miles north of Oshkosh in northeast Wisconsin. He pitched for four years at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, a school that was a huge Division III powerhouse for decades. However, following his four seasons of college baseball, Westphal wasn’t drafted. Following his 2013 graduation, he received an opportunity to pitch in the independent Frontier League, for the Gateway Grizzlies. The team is located in the St. Louis area. He posted a 1.59 ERA and struck out 21 batters in 17 innings coming out of the bullpen. He returned to the Grizzlies in 2014 for the full season. He went 3-5 with a 2.91 ERA in 52.2 innings over 35 games. He struck out 68 and walked 39 batters. So how did he wind up playing in Australia? Westphal recalled, “I had a teammate out at Gateway who was actually from Australia. One day, he was just talking to a couple of my other teammates who had played over in Australia also. He was talking about guys heading back. I thought it sounded like a great plan and a good idea. I approached him and asked if there was any way there would be any interest in me playing over there. He said he’d make a couple of phone calls. I got an e-mail within the next couple of days asking if I’d like to come over and play.” He jumped at the opportunity and went to Australia for the winter. Now, he didn’t play in the Australian Baseball League. Instead he played for a team in Doncaster, in Victoria. Westphal was excited for the opportunity in baseball, but also for an opportunity to see something new. “That was my first time out of the country, and it was an absolutely amazing experience. I went over there. Friendliest people you’ll ever meet.” He continued, “My teammates were terrific.” He had been a starter in college, but with the Grizzlies he had pitched out of the bullpen. He wanted another opportunity to start. “I had been in the bullpen in independent ball but I’d like to start. So, I had the opportunity to start over there. They let me build back up as slow as I wanted. It was four innings the first two outings. Five innings the next two. Six. Seven. They let me build my pitch count up. They were great with me, and I had an unbelievable experience. It was awesome.” Though we don’t have final statistics, at one point right before the end of the season, Westphal had 136 strikeouts in just 74 innings. That’s 16.5 strikeouts per nine innings! It wasn’t the Australian Baseball League, so the competition wasn’t quite as high, but there was still some really good talent. According to the left-hander, “It was a very wide range of talent. Every team had a couple of terrific hitters. Every team had a couple of guys with affiliated experience, whether it was High-A or AA. Then every team had a couple of guys that were 18, 19 years old, looking to go to college or to sign with somebody. It was a big gap. It was a wide range. It was different.” The Twins had scouted Doncaster before. In fact, Lewis Thorpe was signed after playing for Doncaster. Matz Schutte was signed as a 16-year-old from The Netherlands, but the Twins sent him to Australia to play with Doncaster as well. Twins scout Howard Norsetter who is responsible for so many of the Twins international signings, particularly in Australia, got the chance to see Westphal pitch, probably by accident. Westphal said, “The club that I played with is where Lewis Thorpe had signed out of, Doncaster. Actually Daniel McGrath, who is with the Red Sox, he signed out of Doncaster as well. And then Matz is with the Twins. He was over there to get innings. So I think Howard probably showed up to see Matz, and I was starting and then Matz would come in after me most games. He watched me the first time he saw Matz.” Doncaster, he said, typically played on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Westphal usually was the team’s pitcher on Saturday, but late in the year, he was asked to make a couple of starts on Tuesday instead. It can be a little more difficult, you see, because Westphal had to work Monday through Friday. In his second-to-last start, his first Tuesday start, he had his worst outing of the year, by far. In about the fourth inning, one of his teammates pointed to the stands and told him that there was a Twins scout (Norsetter) there. Understandably, Westphal was quite disappointed. He said, “Oh great, that’s the game he came here to watch. Went home, wasn’t in a great mood and was watching some ESPN. Ended up finding a voice mail on my phone. He had actually called me after the game and said he wanted to talk to me. I couldn’t believe it. He liked what he saw and wasn’t too worried about the results. He’d seen me previously as well, and he gave me the opportunity.” Westphal is a left-handed pitcher, listed at 6-3 and 240 pounds. He throws fairly hard. Asked what his pitches were, he said, “Right now I’m throwing a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball that sinks a little bit. Curve ball, slider, change-up. So, four pitches with a little two-seam variation off my fastball. I’d probably say that I like to go to the slider, especially to the lefties. I like my two-seam versus lefties or righties. I like my curve ball as well. The change-up is probably the pitch I use least.” As for his hopes for 2015, Westphal is keeping it simple and enjoying the ride. “I’m just super thankful for the opportunity, and I’m really hoping to come in to spring training, throw as well as I can, show them everything I have, and when we break camp, I just hope I’m with a team and whatever level they decide they want to put me at, I’ll be happy with that as long as I have the opportunity to make it out of spring and try to move up from there.” Westphal is another guy you can’t help rooting for. Just seeking an opportunity, the 25-year-old southpaw from Wisconsin traveled halfway across the globe to sign with the team from Minnesota. Baseball can be a funny game. Click here to view the article

On Sunday, the Minnesota Twins announced that nine players had been cut from big league spring training. Byron Buxton and JO Berrios were among the first round of cuts. UPDATE - Following Sunday's game, the Minnesota Twins announced that LHP Logan Darnell was optioned to Rochester, and infielder Jorge Polanco was optioned to Chattanooga. RHP Adrian Salcedo and infielder Argenis Diaz were reassigned to minor league camp.40-Man Roster These players get a couple of days to report to minor league camp. Max Kepler - 1B, OFNon-Roster Invites These players are expected to head across the parking lot. In fact, several of them went right to work after learning the news, fitting into the minor league drills. Jose Berrios - RH SPByron Buxton - OutfielderTyler Duffey – RH SPTaylor Rogers – LH SPRyan O’Rourke – LH RPHeiker Meneses – InfielderMitcher Garver - CatcherStuart Turner - CatcherThe Twins spring training roster is now at 52 players. UPDATE - With the four additional moves, the Twins roster is now at 48 and just 11 of them are non-roster players. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins farm system is full of really good relief pitchers. Alex Muren was one of the better minor league relievers in 2014, and it’s very possible that you’ve never heard of him. He’s just fine with that. While some prospects have reporters surrounding them and autograph hounds begging for their signature, Muren is fully comfortable lurking in the shadows.Alex Muren was the Twins 12th round draft pick in 2012 out of Cal State-Northridge. Despite a 5-8 record and a 5.30 ERA, and just 47 strikeouts in 91.2 innings for the Matadors, the Twins obviously saw something that they liked. After signing, he was assigned to the GCL Twins where he worked out of the bullpen and posted a 1.46 ERA. In 2013, he pitched in relief at Cedar Rapids most of the season. He went 6-1 and posted a 2.85 ERA in 60 innings. He returned to the Kernels to start the 2014 season. In 33 games, he went 3-1 with a 2.85 ERA. He earned a promotion to the Ft. Myers Miracle for the final months and had a 2.45 ERA in 18.1 innings. In his professional career, he has a strikeout rate of just 4.8 K/9. However, he hasn’t posted an ERA above 2.89 at any level. Why? In 2014, Alex Muren posted an incredible 2.8 groundouts to flyouts. Coupled with dropping his walk rate in half, to a miniscule 1.5 BB/9 in 2014, and you can understand why Muren posted the kinds of numbers that he has. In Cedar Rapids, Manager Jake Mauer would often go to Muren in tight situations with runners on, knowing there was a good chance that he would coax a ground ball and maybe they could get a double play. Most often, that’s exactly what happened. I caught up with the right-hander on Saturday, and he said he was much more comfortable now that he is in his third spring training. “The more you’re here, the more you know the guys and the routines. It makes it easier.” He is a ground ball pitcher for a couple of reasons. First, he works with a low-90s, four-seam fastball. “I get a little bit of late run on it which helps.” He has also, as mentioned above, worked to gain better control. He credits his pitching coaches with a great plan of attack. He understands what makes him so successful. “I think just working with the pitching coaches and focusing on staying at the knees and below the knees. And hopefully they’ll hit it on the ground.” Muren reported to Twins minor league spring training earlier this week. He threw a bullpen a couple of days ago and, on Friday, threw his first live batting practice of the year. Asked if there are certain statistics that he looks at and finds most important, he had an interesting response. “I try not to look at stats at all throughout the year, for superstition reasons. I just go based on the outing, how the outing went. I’ll look at the game chart to look at ground balls, strikes to balls ratio. Those are the ones I care about.” Muren took a couple of months off after the season before starting his throwing program again. He worked during the day as a middle school substitute teacher. It was an ideal situation for him as he could earn money, but he also has another reason that he does it. “I just do that because it helps scheduling-wise. I can pick which days I work.” Do the kids that he teaches know that he plays professional baseball? “I try not to bring it up at all, but if they ask what I do, I’ll tell them.” Muren is married, and his wife is currently finishing up her student teaching. If her schedule permits, she may come and visit him in Ft. Myers during spring training. So, as he looks to 2015, what are his goals? Will he be able to back up his terrific 2014 season in which he finished sixth in the Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year balloting? “Just keep building off of last year. Go out there and do better, get more groundballs. Throw more strikes. Getting the velo up higher earlier.” Of course, if as he moves up he continues to post the kinds of numbers he did in 2014, more and more people will know his name. Click here to view the article