Seth Stohs

On Opening Day, I had the opportunity to talk to a very excited Ryan Pressly. The right-hander was the Minnesota Twins Rule 5 pick last December and had a strong spring training. Understandably, Pressly was very much excited. During the Twins final weekend, I had the chance to catch up with Pressly and see how he felt about his season. “I’m happy with it. Obviously there’s a couple of games I’d like to take back. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with what I accomplished this season.” [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Fifteen players were selected by 13 teams in last year’s Rule 5 draft (with Houston and Florida making two selections). Ten of those players were returned to their old team. One player, 30-year-old Angel Sanchez remained with the White Sox and played the season in the minor leagues. He went 0-2 with the big league club. Nate Freiman was selected by the Astros with their second pick. The 1B/DH was then selected off waivers by the A’s and played in 80 games for Oakland. He hit .274/.327/.389 with eight doubles, four homers and 24 RBI in 190 at bats. Pressly was taken with the fourth pick behind Josh Fields (Astros), Hector Rondon (Cubs) and Danny Rosenbaum (who was returned to the Nationals). Here are how his numbers compared to those two two picks: [TABLE] Name Age Games IP W-L ERA WHIP BB/9 K/9 Josh Fields (HOU) 28 41 38.0 1-3 4.97 1.29 4.3 9.5 Hector Rondon (CHC) 28 45 54.2 2-1 4.77 1.41 4.1 7.2 Ryan Pressly (MIN) 24 49 76.2 3-3 3.87 1.28 3.2 5.8 [/TABLE] Asked when he felt he belonged, Pressly said, “It was a little of everything. It was the situations I was put in. My stuff plays up here, and that’s what I was concerned about. It was a little bit of pitching to (the catchers) and the meetings we have and what was going to work that day and how I felt that day, so it was a little bit of everything.” His “stuff” was led by an average fastball of 93.6 mph. He threw his fastball 61.4% of the time. He also showed a very good slider that he threw at an average of 86.2 mph. He threw that 14.2% of the time. He threw his slower curve ball 18.2% of the time, and it averaged 80.8 mph. He also threw a changeup just 5.6% of the time. It was 87.6 mph, so ideally he would find a way to reduce that by about 5 mph. What worked for Pressly? “I went out there and just attacked hitters. That’s all I tried to do was to get people out. If the starters were in trouble and left guys on, it was my job to come in and bail them out. That’s really what I tried to do.” The answer to what the highlight of his rookie campaign came pretty easily to him. “My first win in Boston. I mean, obviously my debut, but to get my first win in Boston against my old team, that’s pretty special to me. ” Download attachment: RPressly.jpg Photo by Betsy Bissen On May 8th at Fenway, the Twins scored four runs in the top of the first only to see the Red Sox score five in the bottom of the inning off of Pedro Hernandez. The Twins then scored seven runs in the top of the first to take an 11-5 lead. Hernandez gave up another run in the bottom of the second frame. So, Pressly came in for the third inning and went a season-high four innings to gain the win. He gave up no runs on just two hits in that time. That was his role in 2013, and he did well in it. Six other times he worked at least three innings, gaining valuable experience that will carry him into the offseason and hopefully to a bright future with the Twins. Consider this. In an August game in Kansas City, he gave up seven earned runs in 1.1 innings. Without that appearance, his rookie season ERA would have been under 3.10. I know, you can probably do that for every reliever in baseball. Every one of them has clunkers, but what it shows is that, despite spending about a half-season in AA and no time in AAA, Pressly showed he can succeed in the big leagues. That, in my mind, is a tremendous positive that Twins fans can gain from the 2013 season. Will Pressly be given another chance to start? It is certainly possible. It will be interesting to see what 2014 holds for Ryan Pressly. Click here to view the article

The Red Wings had not been to the playoffs since 2006. This afternoon in Pawtucket, their season ended with a Game 5 loss in the International League playoffs. Pawtucket scored three runs on four, two-out hits in the second inning, and that was about it for the offense. Virgil Vasquez got the start in Game 5 as there was not a day off in the series. He threw a shutout inning before getting the first two batters of the second inning out. He went three innings and gave up the three runs on four hits. He didn't walk anyone and struck out three. Logan Darnell came on and threw 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits. He walked none and struck out two. Shairon Martis got the final four outs. The offense did very little, and they did not come up with a big hit in the 6th inning. Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger was still in the game after five shutout innings. However, the top of the order came up. Antoan Richardson singled. James Beresford was hit by a pitch. Eduardo Escobar had an infield single to load the bases with nobody out. Haeger was able to strike out Jeff Clement before he was replaced by Chris Martin. Chris Parmelee came off the bench to pinch hit for Deibinson Romero, and he struck out. Aaron Hicks flew out to center to end the inning. After scoring nine runs on Saturday, the Red Wings managed just four hits on Sunday afternoon. Box Score Following the game, the Twins recalled Michael Tonkin, Chris Parmelee, Cole De Vries, Scott Diamond and Eduardo Escobar. In some surprise, they also will add RHP Shairon Martis and catcher Eric Fryer to the 40 man roster for September. Martis has big league time with the Pirates and Nationals. Fryer played a handful of games with Pittsburgh last year. To make room for Martis and Fryer, the Twins announced that Wilkin Ramirez and Sam Deduno have been moved to the 60 Day Disabled List. Download attachment: Shairon Martis.jpg photo by milb.com Click here to view the article

Last week at Twins Daily, we presented several minor league awards. This week, I wanted to present the organization's minor league All-Star team. As we have discussed many times here throughout the year, it was a terrific season in the Twins farm system. That can be further illustrated by looking at this All-Star team, and a potential lineup. How do you think the following lineup would compare against All-Star lineups from other organizations? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] CF Byron Buxton SS Jorge Polanco 2B Eddie Rosario 3B Miguel Sano DH Chris Colabello C Josmil Pinto 1B Dalton Hicks RF Adam Walker LF JD Williams Download attachment: BuxtonWalkerJimenez.jpg Photo by Seth Stohs includes three members of this All Star roster. From L to R: JD Williams, Byron Buxton, Adam Walker, Romy Jimenez Byron Buxton is the best prospect in baseball, and he had a tremendous all-around season for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the Ft. Myers Miracle. His plate discipline, power and speed make him the nearly perfect prospect. All the comparisons to Mike Trout as a prospect are absolutely accurate. I did take a bit of liberty in putting Jorge Polanco as my shortstop, but he did play the position in 49 games in 2013. He was signed as a defensive infielder, but after a strong short-season at Elizabethton in 2012, he put up some terrific numbers. He hit .308 with 47 extra base hits for the Kernels this year. Eddie Rosario has been a big prospect since being named the Appy League Player of the Year. However, he has taken his prospect status to a new level. He hit .302 with 50 extra base hits between Ft. Myers and New Britain this year as a 21 year old. He has made himself a decent second baseman and will easily be able to handle a move back to the outfield if necessary. Miguel Sano can hit cleanup in many lineups, including one made up by me. Like Rosario, Sano played for both Ft. Myers and New Britain, only he did it at the age of 20. He hit .280 with a .992 OPS, and he accounted for 70 extra base hits including 35 home runs. Chris Colabello may have struggled in his time with the Twins, but what he was doing in Rochester was incredible. The 29-year-old first baseman was named the International League Rookie of the Year and MVP. In 89 games with the Red Wings hit .352 with a 1.066 OPS. He also hit 25 doubles and 24 home runs. Josmil Pinto has flown under the radar for several years. He's made a strong first big league impression with the Twins, but he was terrific in New Britain and Rochester this year. Combined, he hit .302 with an .882 OPS. He is also known for having great plate discipline. The backstop also has a very strong arm. Dalton Hicks led the organization in RBI this season with 110. He had 82 RBI in 89 games in Cedar Rapids before driving in another 28 runs in Ft. Myers. He combined to hit .289 with an .826 OPS. Adam Walker's 109 RBI was second only to Hicks in the organization and led the Midwest League. His 27 home runs also led the league. The 21-year-old hit .278 with an .844 OPS in his first full season of professional baseball. Only Miguel Sano may have more raw power in the organization than does Walker. JD Williams repeated in the Midwest League for the first half of the 2013 season, and it was beneficial for him. He was a different player. His approach at the plate was vastly improved as evidenced by his .372 on base percentage. His is still raw and very toolsy. He has good speed and some power. So, the next obvious question is what about the pitching? Here are my choices for the 2013 Twins All Star team: LH SP - Taylor Rogers RH SP - Alex Meyer Taylor Rogers was my choice for Twins starting pitcher of the year. He combined to go 11-7 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He led the organization with three complete games and two shutouts and in his playoff game for the Miracle, he threw nine shutout innings. Alex Meyer missed nearly three months of the season and yet, in his 16 starts, he posted a 2.99 ERA. In 78.1 innings, he struck out an impressive 11.5 per nine innings. Upon his return from the shoulder issues, he was again hitting triple-digits on the radar gun. LH RP - Edgar Ibarra RH RP - Zach Jones Closer - Tyler Jones Ibarra posted a 1.93 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP between New Britain and Rochester in 2013. As he heads to the Arizona Fall League, Zach Jones boasts a 1.85 ERA and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings this season with the Ft. Myers Miracle. Tyler Jones was my choice for reliever of the year. Between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, he recorded 13 saves and posted a 2.58 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He walked 3.4 per nine while striking out 11.4 per nine. All-in-all, it was a tremendous season in the Twins farm system. There were team successes, and most important, prospects (and specifically key prospects) took another step forward in their development. 2014 may be another rough season for the Twins, but it should be a year in which the next core of Twins players debuts. I'm already envisioning a September 2014 lineup that includes: C - Josmil Pinto, 1B - Joe Mauer, 2B - Brian Dozier, 3B - Miguel Sano, SS - Pedro Florimon, LF - Aaron Hicks, CF - Byron Buxton, RF - Eddie Rosario, and DH - Oswaldo Arcia. I'm envisioning a starting rotation that includes the likes of Alex Meyer, Kyle Gibson and Trevor May. Patience is a virtue, and for the most part, Twins fans have been patient. I'm thinking that patience needs to last one more year as this next core of players starts getting their opportunity. Click here to view the article

Jason Wheeler will be making the start today for New Britain.

New Britain's starter today will be Jason Wheeler.

Yesterday, we looked at the Top Relief Pitchers in May, and today we’ll be taking a look at the top pitching performances of the month. There were some starters who put together very solid months, and that includes more than just the Top Five: Andrew Albers posted a 2.48 ERA for the month and isn’t in the Top 5. Kyle Gibson threw a couple shutouts during May and he falls outside of this list. Jason Wheeler went 3-0 with a 2.68 ERA and also isn’t listed. So hey, who made the final list? Here are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for May:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 5 – New Britain – Logan Darnell - 6 GS, 2-3, 2.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 40 H, 7 BB, 33 K Darnell is a 24-year-old left-hander who was the Twins 6th round draft pick in 2010 from Kentucky. He had a very good month of May. As important as any of the other numbers are his innings pitched. He averaged nearly seven innings per start which is huge for any team. Though he isn’t a high strikeout pitcher, he knows how to pitch. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – Jose (JO) Berrios - 5 GS, 2-2, 2.63 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 27.1 IP, 31 H, 6 BB, 31 K Last year’s supplemental 1st round pick, Berrios has impressed since signing. He has incredible control. Last year in the rookie leagues he walked just four and struck out 49. This year, the young Puerto Rican righty has maintained his ability to throw strikes and miss bats. He has given up some hits, but hasn’t hurt himself with free passes. His season started in late April due to his time in the World Baseball Classic; he has been very good despite the late start and being nearly four years younger than the average player in the Midwest League. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Tyler Duffey - 5 GS, 0-1, 2.93 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 31 H, 3 BB, 26 K Duffey was in the Top 5 a month ago as well. He has been the Kernels most consistent starter. Like Berrios, Duffey has strong control of the strike zone. He has the stuff to get strikeouts, but generally, he just gets really weak contact. Last year he was the team’s 5th round pick out of Rice where he pitched in the bullpen. He has transitioned very smoothly to the role of starter. He is a sturdy young man and has some projection. Because of his performance in the first two months, Duffey will be making the trek from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers today where he will join the Miracle staff. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Taylor Rogers – 5 G, 4 GS, 2-1, 1.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 31 H, 4 BB, 21 K Just look at the numbers that Rogers put up in May. Most months, those would make him an easy choice to win such an award. He made four starts and one relief appearance in the month. In the relief appearance he was piggybacking on Cole De Vries who was making a rehab start. Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick last year. Like fellow lefties Albers and Darnell, he went to the University of Kentucky. He has a fastball in the low-90s and a very good slider that can be devastating to left-handed bats. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Greg Wagner/Fort Myers Miracle Ft. Myers/New Britain – DJ Baxendale - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.20 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 32.2 IP, 22 H, 7 BB, 25 K Baxendale had a rough start in his AA debut last week, and that shows in his numbers. However, when a guy starts a month with four starts and gives up just one earned run in 28 innings, he can’t be ignored. He didn’t give up many hits nor did he walk many. Rarely has anyone dominated in Ft. Myers as he did. He was the Twins tenth round pick last year from Arkansas. A year ago he was preparing for the MLB Draft by playing in the College World Series. Now, he’s showing what he can do in AA, two promotions from the big leagues. For the second straight month, DJ Baxendale is our Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month. There were a lot of very good performances by starters in May and more could be written on each. I hope this shows who has been pitching best. As we know, Kyle Gibson is close. Tyler Duffey has been promoted to High-A. How will these and the rest of the pitchers perform as the season starts to get a little long and their arms start to tire. That’s the fun part. We shall find out. We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the top Hitters in the Twins system in May. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. View full article

After struggling during the first week of spring training with the bat, the Twins go three home runs on Sunday afternoon to top the New York Yankees 5-1. Joe Benson got the Twins on the board with a long, solo home run in the 5th inning. In the bottom of the 7th, Danny Valencia gave the Twins a 2-1 lead with his second home run in as many days. In the bottom of the 8th, Michael Hollimon hit a long, 3-run homer into the wind that gave the Twins the 5-1 lead. (Hollimon is now 4-6 on the spring with the Twins.) Download attachment: GardyHollimon.jpg The Twins continued to pitch well also. Nick Blackburn started and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and was helped by his defense. With speedy Brett Gardner on first base, Curtis Granderson hit a long drive to center field. When Joe Benson (who was in the lineup because Denard Span had a stiff neck) realized he couldn't make the catch, he played the ball perfectly off the wall. He uncoiled a strong throw toward the infield. Alexi Casilla grabbed the throw and relayed a perfect strike to Joe Mauer to get Gardner easily at the plate. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The bullpen was terrific again. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Capps walked one but did not allow a run. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up a run on two hits in the 6th. Jeff Manship came in and looked very sharp in a scoreless seventh inning. Carlos Gutierrez pitched the 8th frame. He consistently hit 96 mph with his fastball. He threw two offspeed pitches, neither of which was close to the strike zone. Brendan Wise gave up a single to lead off the 9th, but he got a double play and another ground out to end the game. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame began in the year 2000 when they inducted former owner Calvin Griffith along with Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, and Kirby Puckett. Since then, one or two people (players or other Twins-related personnel) have been added each year. Last year, Camilo Pascual was named to the Twins Hall of Fame. Recently, the Minnesota Twins put their online ballot for the 2013 Twins Hall of Fame.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The ballot includes 18 former Twins players. Ten hitters and eight pitchers comprise the ballot. Today, I’m going to post some numbers for the hitters and the pitchers before I rank the candidates, 1 through 18. In the comments, let us know which former players you would vote for, and why. Then, go to the Twins website and make your actual votes. Download attachment: Tom Brunansky.jpg Let’s take a look at the candidates. THE STARTING PITCHERS [TABLE=width: 485] Pitcher W-L IP ERA (ERA+) WHIP BB/9 K/9 WAR Dave Boswell 67-64 1,036.1 3.49 (101) 1.24 4.0 7.5 9.5 Dean Chance 41-34 664.0 2.67 (126) 1.07 2.3 6.8 12.0 Dave Goltz 96-79 1,638.0 3.48 (112) 1.31 2.7 4.9 22.5 Mudcat Grant 50-35 780.2 3.35 (107) 1.21 1.9 4.3 5.0 Kevin Tapani 75-63 1,171.1 4.06 (108) 1.27 2.0 5.6 17.8 [/TABLE] THE RELIEVERS [TABLE=width: 495] Pitcher W-L-S IP ERA (ERA+) WHIP BB/9 K/9 WAR Eddie Guardado 37-48-116 704.2 4.53 (105) 1.34 3.4 7.8 8.6 Jeff Reardon 15-16-104 226.1 3.70 (116) 1.15 2.2 7.4 4.0 Al Worthington 51-31-88 473.1 2.62 (134) 1.19 3.5 7.6 9.4 [/TABLE] THE HITTERS [TABLE=width: 540] Hitter H-AB BA/OBP/SLG OPS (OPS+) 2B/3B/HR/RBI WAR Tom Brunansky 829-3,313 .250/.330/.452 .782 (109) 154/13/163/469 14.5 John Castino 646-2,320 .278/.329/.398 .727 (97) 86/34/41/249 14.2 Dan Gladden 661-2,470 .268/.318/.382 .700 (95) 117/26/38/238 4.8 Brian Harper 767-2,503 .306/.342/.431 .773 (110) 156/6/48/346 12.2 Larry Hisle 697-2,437 .286/.354/.457 .799 (127) 109/23/87/409 15.8 Chuck Knoblauch 1,197-3,939 .304/.391/.416 .807 (114) 210/51/43/391 36.3 Corey Koskie 781-2,788 .280/.373/.463 .836 (116) 180/13/101/437 20.5 Shane Mack 668-2,161 .309/.375/.479 .854 (130) 119/24/67/315 18.7 Roy Smalley 1,046-3,997 .262/.350/.401 .750 (104) 184/21/110/485 19.1 Cesar Tovar 1,164-4,142 .281/.337/.377 .714 (102) 193/45/38/319 24.0 [/TABLE] THE RANKINGS Let me again say that this ranking is mine. Each of you will likely switch some players around and although it could look similar, it could also look completely different. #18 – Dan Gladden – OF – 1987-1991 Gladden came to the Twins before the 1987. He was the team’s leadoff hitter on the two Twins championship teams. He scored the World Series-winning run in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series after his hustle double. He was a solid left-fielder, but he was a leadoff hitter with a .318 on-base percentage. Maybe he can make the Twins Hall of Fame several years down the line for his radio work. #17 – John Castino – IF – 1979-1984 Castino was the co-AL Rookie of the Year in 1979 along with Alfredo Griffin. Unfortunately, his career was shortened by back injuries. #16 – Jeff Reardon – RH RP – 1987-1989 Like Gladden, Reardon also came to the Twins before the 1987 season. Although he posted a 4.48 ERA that season, it was such an improvement from The Ron Davis days that people thought it was good. He was actually much better in 1988. #15 – Jim “Mudcat” Grant – RH SP – 1964-1967 Grant has done quite well for himself after his playing days with a career in music. He was also very good on the mound. He was a huge part of that 1965 World Series team when he won 21 games. He struckout pretty much no one, and he walked no one. He was also a pretty good hitter. #14 – Brian Harper – C – 1988-1993 Harper came to the Twins as a journeyman before the 1988 season. He established himself as a very good batting average-hitting catcher with some doubles power. Although he refused to walk, he put together solid at bats. He was a key to the 1991 World Series team. #13 – Dean Chance – RH SP – 1967-1969 Chance could probably be higher on this list, but he played for the Twins for just three years. He had a no-hitter, and he won 20 games in 1967. He was worth 12 WAR in just three seasons. #12 – Eddie Guardado – LH RP – 1993-2003, 2008 Guardado’s overall numbers certainly don’t look great. He was not good as a starter his first couple of seasons. Although he earned the “Every Day” nickname, his first several seasons in the Twins bullpen were not successful. However, from 2001-2003, Guardado did a tremendous job as the Twins closer. His ‘stuff’ was not all that impressive, but he was all guts. #11 – Larry Hisle – OF – 1973-1977 Hisle is another guy who did not spend a lot of time with the Twins, likely because he played so well he priced himself out of Mr. Griffith’s comfort zone. He posted hi 15.8 WAR in just four seasons. #10 – Tom Brunansky – OF – 1982-1988 “Bruno” came to the Twins from the Angels as a 21-year-old who had just made his big league debut. He joined the other young Twins who came up in 1982 and provided the nucleus for that 1987 team. He represented the Twins in the 1985 All Star game. He was quite durable in his time with the Twins, and although he didn’t hit for average, he averaged over 28 homers a season from 1983 through 1987. He is now the Twins hitting coach. #9 – Dave Boswell – RH SP – 1964-1970 Boswell is best known for his 1969 fight in Detroit with manager Billy Martin, but he also won 20 games during that season and was a solid performer for the Twins. He actually threw hard and unlike most pitchers from that era, he wasn’t afraid to try to miss bats. Boswell passed away this past June. #8 – Al Worthington – RH RP – 1964-1969 Worthington was the Twins’ closer during the pre-closer era. He actually came to the Twins in 1964 as a 35 year old reliever. He debuted with the New York Giants in 1953, and he was just a 5th or 6th starter and long reliever for parts of seven seasons. He was in the minor leagues in 1961 and 1962 before resurfacing. However, once he got to the Twins, he was a dominant reliever for five years. He didn’t post an ERA over 2.84 until his final (age 40) season. #7 – Roy Smalley – SS – 1976-1982, 1985-1987 Back in the 1970s, shortstops were supposed to be just good glove little guys. Smalley was the Twins shortstop during his first stint in the organization and provided 25-30 doubles and 18-20 home run power. He came back to the Twins as a part-time player in 1985 and ended his career with the 1987 World Series champion team. He now is an analyst for the Twins on Fox Sports North. #6 – Kevin Tapani – RH SP – 1989-1995 Tapani came to the Twins from the Mets in the Frank Viola trade. He put together several solid, innings-eating seasons. He was kind of Brad Radke before Radke as he walked hardly anyone. His career season was 1991 when he was 16-9 with a 2.99 ERA in 244 innings. #5 – Cesar Tovar – IF/OF – 1965-1972 Tovar was a player who could do it all. He played everywhere during his time with the Twins, and not just in the 1968 game in which he played all nine positions. From 1968-1971, he was a well-above average player. He played every day (and even played 164 games in 1967). He led the lead with 204 hits in 1971. He led the league in 1970 with 36 doubles and 13 tripled. He stole 186 bases during his time with the Twins. #4 – Shane Mack – OF – 1990-1994 As I wrote last week, the former Rule 5 pick is one of the most underrated players in Twins history. A bust with the Padres, Mack became one of the best outfielders in baseball during his first years with the Twins. His 130 OPS+ shows just how much better than league average he was for that entire time frame. He did it all. He hit for average, got on base, showed power, stole bases and played great defense. Download attachment: CoreyKoskie.jpg #3 – Corey Koskie – 3B – 1998-2004 Speaking of underrated, the Manitoba native put up some very good numbers during his time with the Twins. He came up to the Twins as a project, a defensive liability at third base. Through hard work, he became one of the better defensive third basemen in the league. He had some power, and he took tremendous at bats. Download attachment: DaveGoltz.JPG #2 – Dave Goltz – RH SP – 1972-1979 The Minnesota native got to live a dream of playing for his home-state team. Goltz didn’t strike anyone out, certainly not unusual in that era, but he also had good control. He won 20 games in 1977 when he also threw 303 innings. From 1974-1978, he never posted an ERA over 3.67, and his best ERA was 2.49 in 1978. The innings caught up to him. After leaving the Twins, he fought arm problems and only had one more season in which he threw more than 90 innings. Download attachment: ChuckKnoblauch.jpg #1 – Chuck Knoblauch – 2B – 1991-1997 By the numbers, Knoblauch is clearly the best player on this list. The 1989 first-round pick had an incredible debut in 1991. He was the AL MVP that season and was an ideal top-of-the-order hitter for the World Series championship team. He was a tremendous defensive second baseman who, if not for Roberto Alomar, would have won several gold glove awards. He became the team’s leadoff hitter and his .391 on base percentage. He stole 276 bases. He eventually added some doubles power. Things got a bit weird for Knoblauch and his career after he was traded to the Yankees, but Knoblauch is one of the greats in Twins history. So there you have my thoughts. I would probably cast a vote for my #1-5 choices, but it would be in this order. What do you think? Cast your vote in the Comments and then on the Twins site. Click here to view the article

We are getting close now. Today, we enter into the Top 10 Twins prospects by looking at prospects six through ten. To give a heads up, the Top 5 prospects will be posted for Thursday, so be sure to come back for that. And on Friday, I'll review my Top 50 and encourage all of you to post a Top 20 (or 30 or 50, or whatever you like). I would argue that the top five Twins prospects approach 'elite' status. Prospects six through ten all have great upside, but each still has a question or two. It may be youth. It may be plate control or discipline. It may be development of a third or fourth pitch. These guys have a chance to be solid major league contributors. Likely they won't be big league All-Stars, but they can be big league regulars (and sometimes they do become All-Stars). Part 9: Prospects 6-10 As we start the Top 10 Twins prospects today, this group is really pretty interchangeable (and I think Josmil Pinto fits with this group). I think it's fair to say Cedar Rapids is pretty well represented as four of the five players on this list spent at least most of the season there. One was the Midwest League's Player of the Year, according to Topps. Two are hold-overs from last year's Top 10 while the fourth has jumped up prospect rankings over the last 18 months. The fifth is a hard-throwing kid who would still be a senior in high school if he were from the US. Download attachment: Adam Walker 2.jpg Photo by Rinaldi Photos #10 – Adam Walker – OF (22) The Milwaukee native went to Jacksonville University and put together three very good collegiate seasons. He posted OPS of 1.035, 1.168 and 1.007 in those seasons. He hit 52 doubles and 42 homers in those three seasons, plus he went 40-41 in stolen base attempts. After the Twins drafted him in the third round of the 2012 draft, he hit 14 home runs at Elizabethton, not to mention the two playoff homers that helped the E-Twins to the Appy League title. At Cedar Rapids in 2013, he hit .278/.319/.526 (.844) with 31 doubles and seven triples. He led the Midwest League with 27 home runs and 109 RBI (which was second in minor league baseball to only Dalton Hicks). He was also 10-10 in steal attempts. At 6-4 and 225 pounds, Walker is built for power. Except for Miguel Sano, Walker has as much power and power potential as anyone in the organization. He didn’t walk much in his first full season in the minors, which is a concern, so that will be the area worth watching. Defensively, he is solid in right field with good speed for his size. Yesterday, Topps named him the Player of the Year in the Midwest League. #9 – Lewis Thorpe – LH SP (17) Last week, Lewis Thorpe was kind enough to participate in a Q&A, so be sure to check that out. We know he has grown physically a lot since signing last summer from Australia. He also now has the ability to throw a fastball at 95 mph. He has a good curveball and an improving change up. In his 44 innings pitched for the GCL Twins this year, he walked just six and struck out 66 batters. He then dominated Team USA in international competition after the season. He is very young and has a long way to go, but he has certainly, and very quickly, put himself on the Twins prospect map! #8 – Max Kepler – OF/1B (20) Since signing at the same time as Polanco, Kepler has slowly worked his way up the system. Whereas Polanco spent two years in the GCL, Kepler spent two years at Elizabethton. Unfortunately, he began this season with an injured throwing elbow. He moved up to Cedar Rapids for the season’s second half. He hit just .237/.312/.424 (.736) with 11 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He really struggled against left-handers with the Kernels. At 6-4 and nearly 200 pounds, he has the build to hit a lot of home runs. He stands at the plate with his hands held high, and is able to get the bat through the zone very quickly. He is a solid outfielder with adequate range and arm. If he stays in the outfield, left field is his likely destination. He also plays a very good first base which could be a very good fallback option for him. #7 – Jose (JO) Berrios – RH SP (19) Berrios was the Twins supplemental first round pick in 2012 out of high school in Puerto Rico. After an impressive professional debut in 2012 between the GCL and the E-Twins: He combined to go 3-0 with four walks and 49 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. He showed up at the Twins big league camp this year because he was selected to play for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. Because he pitched out of their bullpen, he remained in extended spring training after returning to the Twins. He was stretched out before being called up to the Kernels where he made 19 starts. He went 7-7 with a 3.99 ERA over 103.2 innings. He walked 40 and struck out 100. As pitching coach Gary Lucas told me, there were times when Berrios looked like a future star and other times he looked like a teenager on the mound. He has the pitches to be very successful. His fastball is between 92 and 95. He has a very good breaking ball. His changeup is improving. He just needs to slow it down to get a good differential between it and his fastball. He is just 6-0 and thin. He’s very athletic on the mound and he should advance to Ft. Myers in 2014. Download attachment: Jorge Polanco 3.jpg Photo by Tim Gale #6 – Jorge Polanco – 2B (20) When the Twins signed Polanco as a 16-year-old in 2010 out of the Dominican Republic, he was a very skinny kid, known for his defense. It’s possible that his defense was a bit overrated because generally the belief is that he doesn’t really have the arm for shortstop. He is a solid defensive second baseman. The surprise is that he has grown into a really solid hitter. After really struggling with the bat his first two seasons, he had a strong showing at Elizabethton in 2012 and he proved himself again with the bat with a solid first full season campaign in Cedar Rapids. He hit .308/.362/.452 (.813) with 32 doubles, ten triples and five home runs. Although he is an aggressive hitter, he does have a good idea of the strike zone and puts together quality at-bats. He was the 3rd overall pick in the Dominican Winter League draft and began in that league this winter by hitting .359 in his first ten games. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Thank you for reading part Part 9 of my ten-part series with my Top 50 Twins Prospects. On Thursday, the Top 5 Twins prospects (in my opinion) will be revealed. In case you missed any of the previous installments, here are those links: Part 1: 46-50 Part 2: 41-45 Part 3: 36-40 Part 4: 31-35 Part 5: 26-30 Part 6: 21-25 Part 7: 16-20 Part 8: 11-15 Click here to view the article

On Sunday night, the paperback version of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2014 became available. On Tuesday night, the electronic pdf version became available for immediate download. As we have mentioned, Cody Christie, Jeremy Nygaard and I put a ton of work into it over the last couple of months. As has been mentioned, there are over 150 player profiles in the book, but I thought today I would share a few nuggets from some of the stories that were written.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As you know, I wrote articles on all four of my postseason minor league award winners. I selected Miguel Sano as the Hitter of the Year. Taylor Rogers was the Starting Pitcher of the Year while Tyler Jones was the Relief Pitcher of the Year. Finally, Jake Mauer was the Manager of the Year. Here are some blurbs of those articles: Minor League Hitter of the Year 3B Miguel Sano Jon Paley was the Director of Pelotero (and is working on the sequel, The Miguel Sano Story which you can read more about at http://miguelsanostory.com/). He talked about the movie and how Sano was selected. “When we started filming we were following 5 characters. We narrowed that down to (Jean Carlos) Batista and Sano who ended up in the movie. The first week we were there, we went to a very high profile showcase with most of the top prospects in the country. We met both Sano and Batista's trainer there.” He continued, “We were welcomed into Miguel's life by him and his whole family. We would spend most days filming at the field and the Sano house for hours. Whether it was working on the field or on the film Miguel had a dedication and a work ethic that is incredible to watch. Talent is one thing, but he's got the determination to take on any challenge.” Asked about Sano’s personality, Paley expressed that it did change some through the scandal. “Miguel has always been the kid with a sweet swing and a big smile. He is a goofy kid with a great sense of humor. When the age scandal began to effect his signing options you could start to see that demeanor change and Miguel take things more seriously. It was really the first stage of his transformation from being a kid to a grown up.” ---------------------- Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year LHP Taylor Rogers He caught the attention of Twins scouts. He was the team’s 11th round pick in 2012. “During the draft, it was a possibility that the Twins were interested, but I just wanted to be taken at some point. After it all settled in, I was very thankful that it was the Twins because of their reputation with developing minor league players and drafting well-rounded individuals.” Tim O’Neil is a Twins scouts and a national cross-checker. He saw Rogers pitch several times. Regarding Rogers, O’Neil said, “He was a three year starter, and we saw him pitch a lot. His stuff was light, but he knew how to pitch and compete. His hits per nine were high, but he had pitches, and he threw it over. He threw 87 to 88 with lighter spin at the SEC tourney which may be a reason for the slide. His stuff is all a grade higher now as he’s maturing physically. He’s now proving he’s a legit starter prospect.” However, O’Neil continued, showing that sometimes scouts can find other intangibles that come into play. “During the winter prior to Taylor’s junior season, I was working out a former UK pitcher and quarterback, Shane Boyd. That day, our usual catcher couldn’t make it, so Taylor volunteered to catch Boyd – in shorts, no cup, with his pitching glove. Boyd threw hard, with a heavy ball and erratic command. Taylor gutted out numerous balls in the dirt and never flinched. It was pretty impressive.” ---------------- Minor League Reliever of the Year RHP Tyler Jones “My first year, I was in really bad shape. From college, you play fall ball, winter workouts, then spring ball. Then you go play summer ball, so it’s baseball year-round for three years. When I got home, I relished the time off. I did nothing. It hurt me. It cost me a spot on the Beloit roster. I had to start in Extended Spring. I went in there at like 260, and by the time I got to Beloit a month and a half later, I was at 245. I didn’t want to make that mistake again.” Jones worked hard throughout the offseason and came to spring training in 2013 in much better condition. “I think it helped immensely. It helped in spring training. I felt fresher. I felt better throughout the season. Instead of getting to spring training and having to get in shape, I got to spring training in a lot better shape and continued to get in better shape throughout the year. I think that I’ll improve on that this year, and I plan on it.” --------------- Minor League Manager of the Year: Jake Mauer Download attachment: Jake Mauer Smiling.jpg Unfortunately, 2005 was his final season as a professional baseball player. So, what was his transition from player to coach? For him, it came quite abruptly. “In 2006, I was in (minor league) camp. I had just had surgery the summer before on my elbow and tried to come back and play and really couldn’t throw. Even to this day, I don’t throw very well. Rob Antony talked to me a little bit about possibly making the switch, and Jim Rantz talked to me as well about what I thought. I wanted to try to play, but as we got to the end of camp, it didn’t look like I was going to be able to play. Literally, I signed my release papers, and then I signed my contract to be the hitting coach within about five seconds of each other. I went back into the clubhouse, grabbed my stuff out of my locker and walked into the coach’s locker room. So, it was kind of a quick transition. That was actually at the end of camp, so GCL and Extended had two days off. Nelson Prada was the manager, talked to him for a while, and then we had two days off and I was back hitting fungoes. So, it was a really quick turnaround.” -------------- Of course, these segments are just the tip of the iceberg. Each of these articles is six to eight pages worth of quotes and stories. I just thought these were really good ones to share. Again, I hate shameless self-promotion, but the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook is now available online in paperback and e-book at Lulu.com. You can order them or previous versions by clicking here. Click here to view the article

Francisco Liriano struck out 15 batters in eight innings for the Twins on Friday night, and he got a loss. The talented left-hander was pitching with his form from 2006. Unfortunately, he also had the fourth inning. It started with a single by Jemile Weeks. One out later, Denard Span dropped a fly ball. Liriano then issued a walk. With the bases loaded, Liriano served up a pitch that Johnny Gomes knocked for a grand slam. Outside of the one inning, Liriano was dominant. Josh Willingham homered twice and drove in all three runs but it wasn’t enough as the Twins lost 6-3. Willingham now has 21 home runs. Joe Mauer and Denard Span were each 2-4. Friday afternoon was the deadline for 2012 draft picks to sign. In the end, the Twins signed 27 of their 43 draft picks, including their first 11 picks. With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday the 13th games in the system. Kyle Gibson was back on the mound in the GCL. How did he do? Which Twins pitcher carried a no-hitter into the late innings? Did Liam Hendriks continue his IL dominance? Which five hitters had three hits on Friday?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 7, TOLEDO 3 Liam Hendriks continued his mastery of the International League. In seven innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out five. He improved to 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA. Kyle Waldrop got five outs and gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo picked up his 5th save by recording the final out. JR Towles went 2-3 with his first home run of the season. Sean Burroughs was 2-4 with his 11th and 12th doubles. Pedro Florimon and Matt Carson were each 2-5. Danny Valencia had an RBI double. NEW BRITAIN 9, TRENTON 2 The Rock Cat bats came out in this game. All nine hitters had at least one hit. Deibinson Romero went 3-5 with his 12th double. Oswaldo Arcia then went 3-5 with two RBI. He is now hitting .316 in New Britain. He also threw out a base runner at home. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk and his 12th homer. Nate Hanson was 2-4 with his 10th double. James Beresford went 2-4 with his sixth double. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with two walks. Shairon Martis started and gave up one run on six hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out two. Daniel Turpen pitched a scoreless inning, walking one batter. Dakota Watts came in for the 9th and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. FT. MYERS 3, CLEARWATER 4 Pat Dean had one of the best performances in the organization this season. The left-hander from Boston College had a no-hitter through the first six innings. He then gave up two runs on four hits in the seventh inning when he recorded two outs. He walked two and struck out four in the game. Miguel Munoz went got the final four outs. Unfortunately, he gave up a two-run home run in the 8th inning to a rehabbing Laynce Nix that proved to be the game-winner. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 with his 15th double. Andy Leer went 3-4. Danny Rams was 2-4 with two RBI including an RBI single in the top of the 8th that gave the Miracle a 3-2 lead. Mike Nesseth recorded the save for Clearwater. The 6-5, 225 pound, 24 year old right-hander drafted out of the University of Nebraska hails from Windom, MN. BELOIT 8, FT. WAYNE 3 The Snappers completed a series in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with an 8-3 win. Matt Summers won for the 9th time. The right-hander went six innings and gave up two runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out four. Steve Evans came in and gave up a run on two hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out three and walked none. Steve Gruver pitched a scoreless ninth frame. Drew Leachman led the offense with a 3-5 day. Wang-Wei Lin walked three times. Stephen Wickens went 2-3 with two RBI. Miguel Sano was 1-3 and walked two times. The Snappers are in the western division of the Midwest League and are playing games now in the Eastern Division. Way in the Eastern Division. Following the game, the Snappers took the bus further east. At 3 a.m., they drove through Cleveland and soon arrived at their new destination. They will now play three games against Lake County whose home is in Eastlake, Ohio. Lake County is the smallest of Ohio’s 88 counties, but it ranks 11th in population. ELIZABETHTON 2, GREENEVILLE 3 (10 innings) Many believe that professional baseball, even in the minor leagues, is a glamorous life. Tell that to the members of the Elizabethton Twins who sat through a long rain delay and got home at about 2:30 a.m. The game was delayed at the start and didn’t start until almost 10:00. Angel Mata started and gave up one run on one hit and four walks in three innings. There was another long delay around midnight. When the game resumed, Josh Burris was on the mound. He dropped his ERA to 0.56 with two innings of work. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk. Christian Powell then struck out three in two scoreless innings. DJ Baxendale struck out five in two perfect innings. Kaleb Merck came in to start the bottom of the 10th frame. He got two outs in the inning, but gave up the winning run on two hits. Max Kepler got one base four times. He had a single, two walks and was also hit by a pitch. Candido Pimentel was 3-5. He also stole his seventh base. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RAYS 1 Kyle Gibson was back on the mound on Friday morning, pitching in a game for just the second time since late last July. On this day, he gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He hit a batter as well. One of the hits was a Nevin Ashley home run. (Ashley is a AAA catcher for a Rays, a very good prospect in AAA.) He recorded just two outs before being removed from the game due to the predetermined pitch count limitation. Asked how his arm felt after the outing, Gibson responded to Twins Daily by saying he “felt good!” Regarding his performance, he said, “(I) threw some good pitches and bad one, but overall felt good.” That is all part of the process . Matthew Tomshaw, who is also rehabbing in Ft. Myers. He had not pitched in a game since May 18th with the Beloit Snappers. The left-hander gave up just two hits over two scoreless innings. Randy Rosario came in and struckout four batters in 4.1 perfect innings. Gonzalo Sanudo recorded his second save with two perfect innings. Joel Licon hit his fifth and sixth doubles. John Murphy and Kelly Cross each doubled. Will Hurt finally got his first professional hit. The middle infielder drafted in June started the year 0-25, but he was 1-4 in this game and now at least has a batting average (.034). --- Players of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean Download attachment: Pat Dean 2.jpg Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero Download attachment: Deibinson Romero.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, July 14, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Nick Blackburn New Britain vs Trenton – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Clearwater – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Lake County – LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

At this point, we have reviewed the infielders and catchers throughout the Twins organization. Today, we will jump to the outfield. This information, of course, could be completely altered by an unexpected free agent signing or a trade. This exercise is not so much an attempt to perfectly predict where all of these players will wind up. In reality, there will be changes. Several players will be released. Some will be placed a level higher (or lower) than I would guess. This is just giving readers a reminder of who remains in the Twins system from last year, and who are the new players brought in this year. That said, I try to think about where these guys will I need to reiterate that these are my thoughts. I have no insider information to know where players will be playing for certain in 2012. Obviously after spring training, some of these players will be let go. There will be Disabled List players, extended spring training and more. Minnesota Twins Ben Revere (LF), Denard Span (CF), Josh Willingham (RF), Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit A lot of people seem to wonder why Willingham would be the right fielder. To me, that’s an easy choice. At Target Field, left field, centerfield and the gaps are pretty huge. I want Span and Revere covering the ground. Willingham isn’t a good left fielder. As far as playing the strange bounces off of the right field wall, anyone can have difficulties and will have to adjust to hit. Willingham will walk a lot and hit a bunch of home runs. I was chatting with Jamie Ogden at Twins Fest, and the comment that we agreed upon was the he will have the ability to take advantage of a pitcher’s mistakes and hit them a long way. It’s nice to have a guy like that in the middle of the lineup. As for Revere, I think it’s much better for him to play 3B. Simply, the throw from LF to 3B is much shorter than it is from CF. Also, the throw to home from CF is longer. Span doesn’t have a rocket for an arm, but he can throw. Span, when healthy, is a good on-base guy with speed and some extra base pop. Revere should be much improved, at least in terms of OBP, in 2012. He said that his goal is to steal 100 bases on 2012. He dropped that number to 80, but he plans on going whenever he gets a chance. Even though he didn’t play great in 2011, he made the Twins fun to watch and he made things happen. Imagine what he can make happen when he actually gets on base at a good clip! Trevor Plouffe should get plenty of time in left field, but he could also DH. He can hit lefties, and it will be interesting to see how he does in left field now that he doesn’t have the infielder’s glove. Ryan Doumit could get some time in right field as well. Rochester Red Wings Wilkin Ramirez (LF), Joe Benson (CF), Matt Carson (RF), Rene Tosoni, Mark Dolenc, Dustin Martin Ramirez and Carson were minor league free agents brought in by the Twins. Carson is a power hitter. Ramirez is an all-around player who was a top prospect with the Tigers just a couple of years ago. Joe Benson has spent the past two years at New Britain, so he is ready for the challenges of AAA. He could move up to the Twins as necessary throughout the year, at least after the June Super 2 timeline. The same can be said of Rene Tosoni who will likely play nearly every day between the three outfield spots as well as DHing. Benson could be a star if everything comes together. He could be a 30/30 guy with plus-defense in time. Tosoni is a guy who I think could fill a role as a platoon player and bench bat and occasional DH. He showed at times the power the he possesses. Dolenc has spent the past two years in New Britain and will likely need to advance to Rochester in 2012. He has averaged 439 plate appearances over the past four years and had a career-high 467 plate appearances in 2011. He has terrific tools, can play all three positions, gets on base, has very good speed, and plays really good defense with a strong arm. Dustin Martin put together his best year at Rochester (in his third season there). New Britain Rock Cats Angel Morales (LF), Aaron Hicks (CF), Evan Bigley (RF), Steve Liddle, Michael Hollimon Aaron Hicks had a frustrating and inconsistent season in 2011 in Ft. Myers. He was tremendous in June and then struggled for a couple of months. He definitely represented himself well in the Arizona Fall League. His defense and arm are certainly ready for advancement. It is a big year for Hicks. He will be added to the 40 man roster following the season, but he will have to continue to show improvement on the field, in his approach at the plate and show consistency. What he does in 2012 may determine whether he remains a switch-hitter as well. Evan Bigley spent all of 2011 in New Britain and showed that he could be a candidate for a midseason promotion. Angel Morales is younger than Hicks (something many seem to forget). 2011 was a lost year for him. He missed three months with his elbow injury. He had arthroscopic surgery and came back at the end of the season. He has good speed and a vastly improved approach at the plate. Although he hasn’t hit as many home runs the last couple of seasons, no one seems to be worried about his power. Liddle really struggled last season in Ft. Myers, and he had shoulder surgery following the year. The Vanderbilt product is the nephew of Twins 3B coach Steve Liddle. Hollimon can play all around the infield and can also play around the outfield. He could be the guy to go back and forth between New Britain and Rochester regardless of where the need is. Ft. Myers Miracle Lance Ray (LF), Nate Roberts (CF), Oswaldo Arcia (RF), Wang-Wei Lin, Danny Rams, Dan Rohlfing I was surprised when the Twins sent Arcia to Ft. Myers following rehab of his elbow. I would be surprised if he jumps up to New Britain to start the season, but not completely. If he has one thing to work on, it is cutting down on the strikeouts. I think he can end the year with the Rock Cats. Lance Ray can hit, even if his 2011 Beloit numbers didn’t strongly indicate that. He has a very fluid swing and good power. Nate Roberts was the 5th round pick a couple of years ago. He missed a lot of time on the DL with a knee injury. He is an on-base machine, taking walks and always willing to get hit. Wang-Wei Lin has steadily improved over his time, and after two years in Beloit, he will need to play in Ft. Myers. He has a good, line drive swing but the Taiwan native still has plenty to improve. Dan Rohlfing impressed behind the plate and will go to big league spring training in that role, but he can also play the outfield. At Instructs, Rams was moved to the outfield, although he will continue to catch some. The goal is to let him really focus on his swing and his bat. Beloit Snappers Danny Ortiz (LF), JD Williams (CF), Tyler Koelling (RF), Drew Leachman, Matej Hejma, Jhonatan Goncalves Ortiz was my choice for player of the month last April in Beloit, but it was a struggle through most of his season. He could start with the Snappers and spend a couple of months there (he already played in the Midwest League All-Star game last year). Tyler Koelling and Drew Leachman are two college outfielders who should advance to Beloit. JD Williams had an incredible season in Elizabethton in 2011, yet it went almost unnoticed thanks to Rosario and Sano. Baseball America just called him the fastest player in the Twins farm system, and he has the ability to bunt for hits from both sides of the plate. He played RF usually for the E-Twins because Eddie Rosario was in center. Matej Hejma is from the Czech Republic. Although he didn’t play a lot, or that well, in Elizabethton, he has to move up to Beloit because he has already played three seasons in the short season leagues. Goncalves is an interesting case. He has played most of the past two seasons in Ft. Myers, but he ended last year in Beloit which is probably where he should have been all along. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Max Kepler (CF), Candido Pimentel, Romy Jimenez, Kelvin Mention, Kelvin Ortiz, Dereck Rodriguez Like Niko Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will begin the season at Extended Spring Training. Like Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will not return to Elizabethton but will instead advance to Beloit before the short season begins. He has so much talent but is still very raw. Pimentel is similar to Otis Nixon, very thin and very fast. Romy Jimenez (formerly known as Romy Trinidad) missed most of last year with an injury in his first year in the States. Kelvin Mention did miss all of 2011 with injury. Kelvin Ortiz came to the States and really struggled. He should go back to the GCL. And Dereck Rodriguez (the son of Ivan Rodriguez) will certainly spend another season in the GCL. TOP THREE (OR SO…) PROSPECTS Oswaldo Arcia, 2.) Aaron Hicks, 3.) Joe Benson, 4.) Angel Morales, 5.) Max Kepler, 6.) JD Williams, 7.) Lance Ray, 8.) Danny OrtizSUMMARY Barring injury, the Twins starting outfield should be solid despite the losses of Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel (And to a lesser extent, Jason Repko). Benson and Tosoni are fairly close to being ready to contribute on a regular basis. Beyond that, there is a lot of talent but a lot of question marks. Can Aaron Hicks take that next step? Will Angel Morales return in 2012 with some added power? How quickly will the Twins advance Oswaldo Arcia? The ceilings of JD Williams and Max Kepler are very high, and there are so college draft picks (Roberts, Ray, etc.) who could advance fairly quickly. Of course, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano also remain in the future outfield situation as well which provide even more depth over time. Outfield is a position of strength for the Twins system. 2012 will be a big year for many of them! If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! Click here to view the article

It was a very good night for the Twins on Wednesday. Expectations coming into the season were that the Twins offense could be very good. To this point in the season, the Twins offense has been pretty non-good. A 15-run game can help get things going for individuals and, we all hope, also for the offense and the team as a whole. There were a lot of highlights in the game, and amazingly, there were even a couple important highlights for pitchers as well. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The one negative from this game was the performance of lefty Pedro Hernandez. The soft-tosser certainly has had his moments this season, but he was only able to get through two innings and he gave up six runs. It was especially disappointing, certainly, because the Twins offense gave him plenty of support. However, in a night full of hitting highlights, the player of the game, in my mind, was Ryan Pressly. And, just to be thorough, we have to explain the back story. As you know, this year the Twins made Pressly their Rule 5 selection, taking him from the Boston Red Sox organization. He likely came to spring training with an outside shot at making the Twins bullpen. As some injuries and poor performances crept in, Pressly continued to get outs. Thinking long-term, the Twins kept him on their opening day roster and he has pitched pretty well in limited duty so far this season. So, coming into a crazy game in the third inning in Fenway Park, a place he likely wanted to call home for the past several years, you can only imagine the thoughts and nerves running through his mind and body. In spite of this, he showed up and he performed. He gave the Twins exactly what they needed. That is, he pitched effectively. Even the most optimistic Twins fans could not have realistically hoped for four shutout innings from the rookie. That’s exactly what he did, giving up just two hits and two walks. In the end, Pressly was rewarded with the W, giving him the first win of his big league career. The other pitching performance of note on Wednesday took place in Toledo, Ohio, where the Rochester Red Wings got a 3-0 win over the Toledo Mudhens. Why is this important? A night after these two teams went 16 innings and the Red Wings used nine pitchers, Kyle Gibson gave the team a complete game shutout. He yielded just four hits, walked two and struck out eight. He threw 114 pitches. Why is this this important? The fact that Gibson is pitching on the same day as Hernandez, who has struggled his last couple of outings, may not be completely coincidental. Could it be possible that Gibson’s next start will be on Monday, not in the International League, but at Target Field against the White Sox? It is certainly not a given, but it is possible. Gibson has had two poor starts in Rochester this year. He has had one OK start. He has had three good starts, and Wednesday’s start would likely be classified as great. He will continue to need to gain consistency, but both his pitch count and that he recorded a strikeout for the final out tell us that his arm is where it needs to be. Whether he debuts with the Twins next Monday or next month, it is very encouraging. Red Wings play-by-play man Josh Whetzel tweeted some interesting details about Gibson’s complete game shutout. “He induced 11 ground outs (2 for DPs), 2 infield pop ups, 1 infield line out and 3 outfield fly ball outs.” It’s encouraging for Gibson for another reason. First, Sam Deduno has now made his first Red Wings start. Cole De Vries pitched on Sunday in a rehab start for Ft. Myers. He is scheduled to start for New Britain on Friday. Along with Liam Hendriks and PJ Walters, options are lining up to take a spot in the Twins rotation. (Do the Twins have too much pitching?) Now to the hitting. Oswaldo Arcia enjoyed his final day as a 21-year-old by becoming the first Twins rookie to get four hits in a game since Joe Benson did in September of 2011 against Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Perez and Cleveland. Arcia came into the game hitting .255 and ended the night at .300. The first hit came off of Red Sox starting Allan Webster. The next three hits came off of southpaw Felix Doubrant: two solid singles to left field and a big double off the wall. The scouting reports on his offense have been accurate to this point in his career. He is quite aggressive and he wants to go up to bat swinging. I love watching that. That said, he doesn’t go outside the strike zone a lot either. As we saw in his 2-0 green light swing, he is not afraid to take a mammoth cut. We have already seen him launch two homers. I had always heard about his power to all fields. I watched him take a couple of rounds of batting practice two years ago and watched him hit long balls to left, center and right. But to see him stay down on pitches and hit them hard the other way is very encouraging, long term. Arcia hitting left-handed pitching is also important. A year ago at this time, he was playing in Ft. Myers and struggling against southpaws. He moved up to AA New Britain in mid-June and at that point he suddenly was able to hit lefties. Was that a short-term, small sample? Or, was it a sign of notable improvement? It’s something to watch, but thus far, the results have been quite positive. Two days ago, Ryan Doumit was hitting .158. After five hits in the last two games, he is now hitting .239 and looking like the hitter he was in 2012. Trevor Plouffe had three hits on Wednesday and is now 8-21 (.381) over his last six games, beginning the streak with a couple of home runs in Cleveland. One year ago today, Plouffe was hitting .103, the low point of his season. Maybe it should be encouraging he’s hitting .244 so far this year. Getting Plouffe and Doumit going will be very important in helping the Twins extend their lineup. Likewise, it was good to see Justin Morneau take some quality at-bats. He has kept his batting average in the .250 to .267 range, which is where it is after a 2-3 night. However, he has shown very little power while batting in the middle of the lineup. Looking ahead, I think the patience we have seen in recent games bodes well. Pedro Florimon had a home run and a double in the second inning. His home run was a lined shot to right field while batting left handed. Later in the inning, he came up right-handed and hit a double off The Monster. Any offense from Florimon is welcomed. I almost forgot… Joe Mauer had three hits, including two doubles. Sure, he had his little slump and saw his batting average drop to “just” .282. Now, over the past four games, he is 8-16 (.500) and has raised his average to .311. Of those eight hits, six were doubles. He has also walked five times in those four games. In other words, yes, he is pretty good. It was a big night for the Twins, their offense, their bullpen and for one of their future pitchers. It is important to remember that it is just one night. In baseball consistency is often one of the most difficult things to find. However, there were some nice performances from hitters that will, we hope, find a way to continue heating up. There are also some nice trends to provide optimism. The older veterans are known commodities. The second-tier veterans are, perhaps, starting to take a step toward being more productive. And the hope is the young players can continue to improve and contribute. View full article

Twins minor league affiliates had not won a game since Friday. All four affiliates lost on Saturday. Rochester was the only team to play on Sunday, but they lost. On Monday, the Twins affiliates were back to their winning ways as all four teams won. Not only that, but some of the organization’s top prospects either continued to hit or broke out a little bit. Eddie Rosario, Brian Dozier and Danny Santana continued to rake. Meanwhile, Miguel Sano had a special day, and Levi Michael and Aaron Hicks put together their first really good games with the bat. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, but here is what happened in the minors on Monday (and that one Sunday game): [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 5 (SUNDAY) On Sunday, the Red Wings were the lone Twins affiliate that played. Cole DeVries got the start and gave up two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked two and struckout four. Jeff Manship came in and went 3.1 perfect innings, striking out four. Casey Fien gave up two runs on six hits (including a homer) in two innings. Rene Rivera went 2-3 with his first homer of the season. Brian Dozier was 1-3 with a walk. ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 2 (MONDAY) Brian Dozier was the big story again for the Red Wings on this night. Dozier went 2-4 with an RBI double and a two-run home run, giving the Red Wings the 3-2 win. Ray Chang was 2-4. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-3 with a walk. The single gives him one hit in 16 at bats. Sam Deduno was solid in his first start. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Carlos Gutierrez struckout three in two scoreless frames. Tyler Robertson pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Anthony Slama struckout two in a scoreless ninth to record his second save. NEW BRITAIN 6, HARRISBURG 3 Alex Wimmers first start of the 2012 season was a huge improvement over his 2011 debut. In 4.1 innings, he gave up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struckout three. Deolis Guerra threw 2.2 innings without allowing a run. Daniel Turpen struckout two and walked on in two innings. He gave up one run. Aaron Hicks hit his first AA home run, a three run blast. He later added an RBI single. Deibinson Romero was 3-4 with his third double. Evan Bigley was 2-3 with his second double. Darin Mastroianni went 2-5 and stole two bases. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 3, JUPITER 1 Adrian Salcedo started for the first time this season and although he was a little wild, it was a good start. The lanky right-hander gave up just one run on two hits in four innings. He walked three and struckout three. Edgar Ibarra gave up three hits but no runs in 2.2 innings. Ricky Bowen got the next four outs. Bruce Pugh recorded his first save, striking out two in one inning. Levi Michael had his first big game. He went 3-4. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his first double. Danny Santana was 2-4. Jairo Perez hit his first home run of the year. BELOIT 9, KANE COUNTY 7 Miguel Sano has three hits in 13 at bats this season. The first was a grand slam, and on Monday, he hit a two-run homer and a three-run homer in lifting the Snappers to a win against the Cougars in Kane County. He had plenty of help on this day. Former Gopher AJ Pettersen went 3-4 with a triple. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with a walk. He stole his second and third bases. Jhonathan Goncalves went 2-5. Rory Rhodes walked three times. Daniel Ortiz and Tyler Grimes each hit a double. Jason Wheeler made his professional debut on Monday. He gave up one run in a nervous first inning, but that was it. He went four innings and gave up five hits, walked one and struckout three. Matthew Tomshaw gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Bart Carter gave up two runs on one hit and three walks in 1.1 innings. Michael Tonkin got the next four outs. Corey Williams recorded the save despite allowing one run on one hit in his inning. He struckout two. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, April 9, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano (photo from Rinaldi Photo... follow them on Facebook!) Download attachment: Miguel Sano.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Edgar Ibarra Download attachment: EdgarIbarra.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – 12:05 (CST) – RHP PJ Walters (vs Mets top pitching prospect Matt Harvey)New Britain vs Harrisburg – 5:35 (CST) – LHP Luke FrenchFt. Myers vs Jupiter – 6:05 (CST) – RHP Marty PophamBeloit @ Kane County – 12:05 (CST) – RHP Matt Summers--- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins top pick in this year’s draft made his Elizabethton debut on Tuesday night and was very impressive. I mean, if you happen to like strikeouts. He likely would have made this debut a couple of weeks earlier if not for his foot injury. He probably would have been promoted along with fellow 2013 pick Stephen Gonsalves. The two young pitchers join Elizabethton’s Big Three of Felix Jorge, Randy Rosario and Yorman Landa. Hein Robb has been pitching very well of late. And, that’s not even counting college starters Ryan Eades and Aaron Slegers who are working out of the E-Twins bullpen. Elizabethton was well out of playoff contention 7-10 days ago, and now they find themselves nearing a wild card position. See what else happened in the Twins farm system on Tuesday.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 1, Louisville Bats 5 Box Score Former #3 overall pick, Greg Reynolds, was terrific for Louisville, but the Red Wings didn’t get good pitching or defense. PJ Walters made the start. He wasn’t helped by his defense, which committed three errors, but his control was not good either. One of the errors was a poor throw by Walters, but he also walked four and hit another. He was charged with four runs (2 earned) on just two hits over five innings. He struck out five. Cody Eppley gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Edgar Ibarra worked two more scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked one. Ibarra has now gone 31.1 innings, over 26 games, since giving up a run. Virgil Vasquez gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning. The Red Wings bats didn’t do much against Reynolds. They managed just five hits. Jeff Clement hit his 21st double. Josmil Pinto drove in the lone run with a single. Aaron Hicks returned to the lineup and went 0-3. New Britain Rock Cats 6, Trenton Thunder 4 Box Score Trevor May was back on the mound for the Rock Cats on Tuesday night. He gave up two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked four and struck out four. Cole Johnson came on and gave up two runs on five hits in just 1.2 innings. He left with runners on, and lefty Ryan O’Rourke came on and struck out the one batter he faced to end the eighth inning. Closer Dakota Watts came on and recorded the save, giving up just one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. The Rock Cats got offense from several places. Newcomer Brad Boyer was slotted into the DH role and the #2 spot in the lineup for his first Rock Cats start. He had hits in his first two at bats and ended the game 2-4. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 21st home run. Miguel Sano’s 13th double drove in two runs. Nate Hanson doubled for the 21st time on the season. Evan Bigley and Angel Morales each hit their sixth Rock Cats double. Ft. Myers Miracle 0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1 Box Score It was a tough loss for the Miracle, and particularly for lefty Taylor Rogers. He gave up just one run on three hits over eight innings. He walked three and struck out five. However, one of the three hits was the 11th home run of the season for Richie Shaffer that gave the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead in the 7th, a lead they were able to hold. Zach Jones pitched a scoreless ninth frame. The Miracle had just four hits. Dalton Hicks had the only extra base hit, his sixth Miracle double. Byron Buxton went 1-3 with a walk. He also stole his 18th base with the Miracle. It was his 50th overall stolen base this season. Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Peoria Chiefs 3 Box Score Tim Atherton gave up three runs early, but he was able to provide a Quality Start for the Kernels. He gave up three runs on five hits in six innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out four. Brett Lee pitched a perfect inning. Brandon Bixler struck out two in the eighth inning. Dallas Gallant struck out the side in the 9th inning to end the game. Max Kepler recorded his 10th and 11th doubles in five at bats. Niko Goodrum was also 2-5. Adam Walker drove in two more runs with a single. Michael Gonzales drove in two runs with his fifth double. Bo Altobelli went 2-4. Elizabethton Twins 10, Greeneville Astros 8 Box Score Twins top pick Kohl Stewart made his first Elizabethton start and impressed. The young right-hander gave up no runs on one hit in four innings. He walked one and struck out eight. Download attachment: Kohl Stewart Mug.jpg Tanner Mendonca walked one in a scoreless fifth inning. He then walked the first three batters of the sixth inning. Andre Martinez came in and got a fielder’s choice and a strikeout before walking a batter. Josh Burris came on and got the final out but not before giving up a hit, throwing a wild pitch and walking two. In total, the Astros scored six runs in the sixth inning. Austin Malinowski came on in the 7th and threw two scoreless innings. Brandon Peterson got the ninth inning. He walked one and gave up two on a home run, but he struck out two and got the final out to preserve a 10-8 win. Malinowski was credited with the Win. Bryan Haar continues to lead the E-Twins offense. He went 3-5 with his 13th double, fifth home run and three RBI. Logan Wade went 3-4 with his third double. Stuart Turner hit his second homer. Mitch Garver went 2-4 with his 11th double. GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 4 Box Score Download attachment: Deolis Guerra.jpg There was the game, and then there are the rehab appearances that happen in the GCL. In the offseason, the Twins removed Deolis Guerra from their 40 man roster but were able to re-sign him to a minor league contract. After a tremendous showing in the Venezuelan Winter League, Guerra had the opportunity to pitch for his home country in the World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately, he was unable to participate because a blood clot was found in his right shoulder. On March 15, Guerra underwent rib resection surgery, which is essentially the removal of a rib. The rehab started pretty simply with some range-of-motion exercises. Gradually, more was added and in the last month or so, he has started his throwing program. In the 6th inning today, Guerra entered the GCL game and gave up just one hit in one scoreless inning. He struck out one. It was a pretty clean line, but considering where he was just five months ago, it’s a nice story. Chih-Wei Hu started for the Twins and gave up just three hits in five shutout innings. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven. Guerra pitched the sixth. Reyson Zoquiel came on for the eighth and got just two outs. He gave up just one hit and walked one batter, but he also hit two batters. All four runs ended up scoring. Tyler Stirewalt allowed the inherited runners to score before getting the final four outs of the game, two via the strikeout. Jason Kanzler led the offense. Leading off, he went 2-5 with his fifth double and his second home run. Brian Navarreto went 2-3 with a walk and his eighth double. Engelb Vielma went 1-2 with a walk and his third double. Ivory Thomas doubled for the third time. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Click here to view the article

A VERY HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY from TwinsCentric and the Twins Daily staff!! Scott Diamond did it again. In a repeat of his first big league start of the season, the left-hander threw seven shutout innings. That he lasted seven innings is most impressive since he was drilled in the left shoulder by a line drive in the second inning. He gave up some hits, and a lot of line drives, but seven shutout innings is always appreciated. Brian Dozier had two hits, including his first big league home run. The Twins had several opportunities to add on to a four-run lead, but did not capitalize. That proved large when Jared Burton gave up three runs in the 8th inning. Burton, who had not allowed a hit to his last 34 batters faced, gave up three straight hits before being replaced by Glen Perkins, who got out of the inning thanks to a great diving play by Joe Mauer. Matt Capps closed out the game with a big strikeout and the Twins won 4-3 to split the series with the Blue Jays. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Sunday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 2, SYRACUSE 4 The Red Wings got a very good start from Liam Hendriks. The Aussie right-hander gave up just one run in six innings. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four. Deolis Guerra came in and gave up runs for the first time in a month. Guerra gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and three walks in two innings. Ben Revere and Clete Thomas were each 2-4. Matt Carson hit his tenth double. The Red Wings went 1-6 on this road trip. NEW BRITAIN 4, READING 6 The Rock Cats lost on Sunday but split a four-game series against the division-leading R-Phillies. Andrew Albers started the game with five shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the sixth inning and the first batter of the 7th inning got on before he was taken out. Albers gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings with four strikeouts. Caleb Thielbar came in and gave up three runs on five hits in 1.1 innings. Bobby Lanigan got the final five outs. Chris Herrmann hit his fourth home run of the season. Evan Bigley had a big, two-run single in the 7th inning. James Beresford was 1-3 with a walk. FT. MYERS MIRACLE No Game Scheduled on Sunday. Their first day off in the past 23 days. BELOIT 3, CLINTON 1 For the second straight game, the Snappers topped Clinton 3-1. The Snappers managed just four hits, but they were efficient. In the fourth inning, Miguel Sano came up with two runners on. He blasted a three-run homer to give the Snappers a 3-0 lead. It was his league-leading 11th home run of the year. Eddie Rosario added his 13th double. Matt Tomshaw was the Twins 42nd round pick in 2011 out of Jacksonville. The lefty has been terrific as a pro. On this day, he threw six scoreless innings. He gave up just three hits, walked one and struck out six. Michael Tonkin picked up his second save. He gave up one run on four hits over the final three innings. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, May 13, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano Download attachment: MiguelSanoMug.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Matthew Tomshaw Download attachment: MattTomshaw.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, May 14, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – RHP Cole DeVries New Britain – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Charlotte – RHP Madison Boer Beloit vs Clinton – LHP Steven Gruver --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins lost for the second straight game to the Texas Rangers on Saturday. The story of the game was all of the runners stranded on bases, but it was a day full of stories for the Twins. The Yu Darvish Show made its first appearance at Target Field, and the right-hander from Japan didn’t disappoint. He showed all seven of his pitches and did a nice job of working out of some tough situations. Just before the game started, it came out that the Twins had claimed Clete Thomas, an outfielder who was DFAd by the Tigers. They made the easy 40 man roster choice by putting Scott Baker on the 60 Day Disabled List. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] However, following the game, they made the not-quite-so easy decision to option Ben Revere to Rochester. It actually wasn’t a difficult decision. It will allow Revere to play five or six games each week instead of two or three. Thomas is a backup and it’s no problem having him sit on the bench. Nick Blackburn actually pitched quite well, but he left early after experiencing some discomfort in his right shoulder. An MRI was conducted on Saturday afternoon, and according to 1500espn.com, it showed no serious shoulder damage. Liam Hendriks will take the mound for the Twins on Sunday to try to keep the talented Rangers from sweeping the Twins on their own field. There was a lot going on in the minor leagues as well. A hitting streak continues. A slump was broken. Each of the four games was decided in the 8th inning or later. One affiliate lost in extra innings, and there was a two out, Miracle walk-off win. For much more on the Twins affiliates and players, keep reading… it gets good! Like, Hunger Games good!! ROCHESTER 2, LEHIGH VALLEY 5 This was a close game until late when Esmerling Vasquez served up a three-run, bases-clearing triple to Dominic Brown that gave the IronPigs a 5-2 lead. Sam Deduno started and gave up two runs on six hits. In six innings, he walked two and struck out five. Brian Dozier went 2-5 and extended his hitting streak to nine games. Joe Benson and Drew Butera were each 2-4. Aaron Bates went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI. The Red Wings are now 5-5 on the season, despite losing three consecutive games now. ROSTER NOTES – With Rene Tosoni on the DL, Darin Mastroianni was promoted from New Britain in time for Saturday’s game. However, with the Twins’ claim of OF Clete Thomas on Saturday, Ben Revere was optioned to Rochester following the Twins game. It is possible that Mastroianni could be sent back to New Britain right away, but it is also possible that Brian Dinkelman and/or Ray Chang could be put on the Disabled List. NEW BRITAIN 7, NEW HAMPSHIRE 6 The Rock Cats got some early offense, terrific pitching most of the game and then held on to hold off a later furious attempt by New Hampshire to tie the game. Chris Colabello went 3-5 with his second and third doubles. Aaron Hicks went 2-4 with a walk, his fourth double and second stolen base. Deibinson Romero was 2-5 with his fifth double and three RBI. Logan Darnell improved to 2-0 with five strong innings. He gave up no runs on just three hits and two walks. Bobby Lanigan gave up one run on three hits in two innings. He struckout two. Blake Martin struckout two in his scoreless inning. David Bromberg came in for the ninth and recorded one out. However, he gave up three hits, walked on and hit another batter. Daniel Turpen came in and gave up a hit, but was able to get the final two outs and preserve the one-run win for the Rock Cats. The win gives the Rock Cats a 7-3 record. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 8 BRADENTON 7 Danny Santana actually got a day off. Or, he was supposed to. Suddenly, with two outs in the bottom of the 9th inning, game tied and a runner on third base, Jake Mauer looked at Santana and called on him to pinch hit. Santana came through with a game-winning single to score Lance Ray, who had doubled to lead off the 9th inning. Four Miracle hitters carried the team to the first seven runs of the day. Angel Morales went 4-5 with his first double, first homer and three RBI. Dan Rohlfing was 2-3 with two walks and his first homer. Morales and Rohlfing each homered against last year’s #1 overall pick Gerrit Cole. Levi Michael was 2-4 with a walk. Josmil Pinto was 2-5 with his third double and first home run. Adrian Salcedo got the start and gave up three runs (2 earned) on seven hits. In five innings, he walked two and struckout three. Jose Gonzalez walked one in two otherwise perfect innings. Bruce Pugh pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but Pinto’s home run in the 8th gave the Miracle a 7-3 lead. Pugh came out and gave up four hits in the ninth. With two outs, Tony Davis entered the game clinging to a one-run lead. He got a ground ball, but Michael committed an error allowing the game to be tied. Davis got the final out. Santana came through in the 9th inning for the Miracle and pushed their record back over .500 at 5-4. BELOIT 3, CLINTON 4 (11 innings) Down 3-1 in the 8th inning, Eddie Rosario doubled in two Snappers runners to tie the game and send it to extra innings, but the team fell in 11 innings and fall to 4-5 on the season. Rosario was 2-5 in the game. His single earlier in the game ended a 0-15 stretch that saw his batting average fall from .429 to .200. Jhonathan Goncalves was 2-5 with his second double. Miguel Sano was also 2-5 and drove in the Snappers other run. Jason Wheeler started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits and a walk in five innings. He struckout three. Nelvin Fuentes came in and struckout four in two perfect innings. Ryan O’Rourke struckout two over the next two scoreless innings. Clinton Dempster threw a scoreless 10th frame, but gave up the game-winning run in the 11th. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, April 14, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Angel Morales Download attachment: AngelMorales.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Logan Darnell Download attachment: LoganDarnell.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, April 15, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Lehigh Valley – RHP PJ Walters New Britain @ New Hampshire – LHP Luke French Ft. Myers vs. Bradenton – RHP Marty Popham Beloit @ Clinton – RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

On Friday night, the Minnesota Twins fell 4-3 to the Texas Rangers. A three-run home run off the bat of Oswaldo Arcia with two out in the bottom of the ninth accounted for all the Twins' scoring. Scott Diamond was immensely hittable and the defense failed to make a couple of plays. However, for the second straight night, all four Twins full-season minor league affiliates were winners. One power-hitting prospect homered for the third time in four games. An equally powerful young man drilled two home runs on Friday night and drove in seven runs. One prospect had two extra base hits and is attempting to reclaim his status in the organization. There are hitting streaks worth following and big offensive displays. RHP Josh Burris will be joining the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Saturday as a busy week of transactions continues. Here is Friday night’s update.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 4, Syracuse Chiefs 2 Box Score PJ Walters was a winner for the second straight start. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits and two walks in 6.2 innings. He struck out four. Michael O’Connor came in and gave up one run on three hits in 1.2 innings. Bobby Lanigan made his 2013 Red Wings debut and got the final two outs for his first save. Joe Benson fought his way back to a .200 average. In this game, he was 2-4 with his second triple and his first home run. Eric Farris went 2-5 with his second double. Chris Herrmann was 2-5. Doug Bernier followed his 5-hit game on Thursday night by going 0-1 and walking three times on Friday night. New Britain Rock Cats 7, Richmond Flying Squirrels 4 Box Score Logan Darnell was on the mound for the Rock Cats. He earned the win and gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five. Bruce Pugh gave up one run despite giving up no hits in 1.2 innings. He walked three. Blake Martin came on and gave up two walks and a hit (which scored an inherited runner), but no runs were charged to him before he got one out to end the inning. AJ Achter came on for the ninth and struck out the side to record his first AA save. Josmil Pinto went 3-4. Dan Rohlfing went 2-3 with a walk. James Beresford and Mark Sobolewski each had two hits. Antoan Richardson went 1-3 with two walks; he also scored three run and stole his 8th, 9th and 10th bases of the season. Jhon Goncalves homered for the second time this season. Ft. Myers Miracle 10, Charlotte Stone Crabs 4 Box Score On Friday night, the Miracle won for the third straight time. Josh Wheeler was the recipient of all the run support. The lefty went 6.2 innings and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. He struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes came on and got the next four batters out. Miguel Munoz gave up one run on two hits in the ninth. AJ Pettersen went 2-5 to extend his hitting streak to ten games. He is hitting .370 during that stretch. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with a triple. Kennys Vargas was 2-4 with his first triple. He later scored on an RBI single from Drew Leachman, who was 2-4. Andy Leer went 2-4 with his second home run. Miguel Sano launched his ninth home run of the month, his third in four games. Photo courtesy Rinaldi Photos Cedar Rapids Kernels 13, Great Lakes Loons 8 Box Score We’ll try to ignore the fact that Kernels pitchers have given up 15 runs over the past two games. The reason we might be able to successfully do that is because the Kernels offense has put up 29 runs in those two games. On this night, Adam Walker was the star of the show. The powerful right-handed batter hit a three-run homer in the first inning. In the fourth inning, he came up with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam. Two home runs and seven RBI equates to a fairly productive game. His five home runs and 22 RBI lead the Midwest League. JD Williams added a home run in the fourth inning, his third. Jorge Polanco went 3-4 with a walk and his fifth double. Travis Harrison and Jhonathan Arias were each 2-5. Candido Pimentel was 2-4 with a walk. Byron Buxton was hitless, walked three times and stole his eighth base. He also had no unsuccessful stolen base attempts. Hudson Boyd got the start for the Kernels. The right hander gave up four runs on five hits in four innings. He walked four and struck out just one. Steven Gruver earned the win after coming on to give up one run on three hits in 2.2 innings. He walked one and struck out six. Chris Mazza gave up three runs on three hits in 1.1 inning. He struck out two. David Hurlbut came in and struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

So far we’ve reviewed the catchers and the first basemen, and today we will be looking at the third basemen in the Minnesota Twins organization. The Twins have had an issue getting consistent third base play since the days of Corey Koskie. Danny Valencia was called up and had a very strong showing as a rookie, but he then struggled in his second season. That opened the door for Trevor Plouffe who had a huge two-month stretch in 2012, showing tremendous power. He struggled in 2013. What will 2014 bring for Plouffe? With one of baseball’s top prospects coming up quickly on the horizon, it will be a big year for the incumbent.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Big Leaguers Trevor Plouffe will begin the 2014 season as the Twins starting third baseman. Though it will be the fifth season that he has seen time with the Twins and his 11th in the organization, he will not turn 28 until mid-June. There’s no question Plouffe has some talent and the ability to hit the ball a long way. His .254 average in 2013 was his career-high. However, despite playing in a career high 129 games, his home run total dropped from 24 in 2012 to 14 in 2013. He did miss time with a concussion and when he was ready to return, he went right back on the DL with a calf injury. Download attachment: TrevorPlouffeHR.jpg Eduardo Escobar is out of options and will most likely be the team’s primary utility infielder in 2014. There is little offensive upside with Escobar, though he can play the infield positions quite well and can provide depth in the outfield too. He also had caught some bullpens and would be the Twins emergency catcher. The Non-Roster Invites Last week, the Twins announced their non-roster spring training invitees. Three of those invites are primarily third basemen. In 2013, Deibinson Romero was supposed to head to the Twins' big league camp for the first time since he was put on the team’s 40-man roster in 2009. Unfortunately, he had problems getting a visa due to MLB’s more stringent age reviewing process. He came to the States after the season began and put together a solid year. In 90 games between AA (where he just played in just a handful of games) and AAA, he hit .275/.374/.448 with 17 doubles and 13 homers. A year earlier, in AA, he had 23 doubles and 19 homers. Hopefully the 27-year-old can have a healthy, productive season. Brandon Waring (28) came to the Twins early in the offseason as a minor league free agent. After spending more than half the 2012 season with the Orioles AAA team in Norfolk, he spent all but ten days of the 2013 back at AA Bowie. He hit just .213. However, he did post a .102 IsoD with 23 home runs. He primarily played 3B, though he can also play 1B. The Crown Jewel The third non-roster invitee at the hot corner is someone who would likely be the #1 prospect in about 28 of baseball’s organizations. In the Twins system, Miguel Sano is the #2 prospect behind only Byron Buxton, the top prospect in baseball. After hitting 28 home runs and driving in 100 runs in Beloit in 2012, Sano performed even better as he moved up the ladder in 2013. In Ft. Myers, he hit .330/.424/.655 (1.079) with 15 doubles and 16 home runs. The day after the Miracle clinched the first half title, he was promoted to AA where he played in 67 more games. There, he struggled and hit just .236. However, he got on base 34% of the time and hit 15 doubles and 19 home runs. So, combined, he had 30 doubles, 35 homers and 103 RBI. His defense also greatly improved. He reduced his error total from 42 in 2012 to 23 in 2013. As exciting as Sano’s power is, he will have to continue to make improvement in his contact rate. When he connects, the ball generally travels. A return to New Britain will be beneficial to his development. However, he could move up quickly as long as his defense remains solid. And, of course, assuming his elbow turns out to be healthy. Prospect Rankings Miguel Sano is one of baseball’s best prospects, and rightfully so, but he was my choice (and most people’s) as the Twins #2 prospect. My #14 Twins prospect, Travis Harrison, put together a solid showing in his first full season. At Cedar Rapids, he hit .253/.366/.416 with 28 doubles and 15 home runs. After committing 24 errors in 59 games in E-Town in 2012, Harrison had 26 errors in 129 games in Cedar Rapids in 2013. The 2011 supplemental first round pick will likely advance to Ft. Myers for the 2014 season. Amaurys Minier was my choice as the #16 Twins prospect this year. He was the Twins big international signing in 2012 when the then-16-year-old signed with the team for $1.4 million. He was limited to 31 games in his professional debut with the GCL Twins in 2013 due to injury. He hit just .214 and got on base 25% of the time. However, he hit five doubles, two triples and six home runs. When he made contact, good things typically happened. He has work to do on his defense as well, as you would expect. Roster Projections In each installment, I’ve made my roster projections. Additional signings and injuries would affect all this, and that’s why I sometimes have more than just two or even three at each level. There are also always players put on disabled lists. As a disclaimer, these are my projections and not meant to be used as anything official. This gives an idea of who could be at each affiliate at the start of the season. Minnesota: Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo EscobarRochester: Deibinson Romero, Brandon Waring, Nate HansonNew Britain: Miguel SanoFort Myers: Travis Harrison, Stephen WickensCedar Rapids: Javier Pimentel, Chad ChristensenExtended Spring Training: Amaurys Minier, Roni Tapia, Ruar VerkerkFeel free to discuss the players and the roster. Click here to view the article

On Wednesday, the NFL decided to take the news headlines away from the other sports again by announcing the penalties for the Saints “Bounty” situation. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year and the team will lose its next two second round picks. Others, such as Rams’ Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was ‘credited’ with offering the bounties was also suspended. Bla Bla Bla… it’s football, so it really doesn’t matter. It’s baseball season. But the story did get me thinking… is there a baseball scenario that would be equivalent to Bounty Gate? What would a baseball manager have to do to warrant a one year suspension? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Obviously, things like betting on baseball (see Rose, Pete) or accepting money to throw games (see Jackson, Joe and the 1919 Black Sox) will get a player or manager suspended for life. So that is a different scenario. Baseball has, and continues to fight, its steroid era in which players now get suspended 50 games for a first offense. Could a manager (or pitching/hitting coach) put a bounty on an opposing player? How would that scenario play out? One of baseball’s unwritten and very well known rules is that occasionally a pitcher will be instructed to hit an opposing player with a fastball in retaliation for one of his teammate’s being hit. Do you remember in 2006 when then-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was so upset at rookie pitcher Sean Tracey for not throwing at an opposing batter that he sent him to the minor leagues and never called him back up. Around the same time, Guillen was very upset at veteran Jon Garland for not hitting an opposing batter in retaliation. If you recall, Guillen was not suspended or fined for his comments, lashing out against his players for not hitting opponents. Of course, if the pitcher does intentionally hit (and potentially hurt) the batter, the most he would get would be a six game suspension. Even if the batter charges the mound, the pitcher will likely only get a six games off, and the batter will probably get three games off. What if a manager told a player to charge the mound? And then the manager told one of his bench players, his 25th man, to beat up the opponent’s best pitcher in an attempt to not have to face him the next game? Using Ozzie Guillen as an example again, what about AJ Pierzynski’s antics? What if we learned that Guillen had offered a bounty to Pierzynski for taking out first baseman Justin Morneau? Maybe he would get a few thousand dollars for stepping on Morneau’s Achilles every time he ran out a ground ball? Maybe that's why AJ continued to do it? So, give it some thought. What would the baseball equivalent be to the Bounty Situation? I really can’t imagine a situation in baseball which would ever bring about the kinds of ramifications that this New Orleans Saints “Bounty” situation has. Then again, baseball’s that sport where you think you’ve seen it all and then something new happens. Download attachment: dollar-signs.jpg ---- At TwinsDaily, there is a ton of Twins information. Nick posted his Twins Centerfield Position Analysis. Twins Fan from Afar posted a nice blog on the Twins possible Centerfield Trade Bait. Parker wrote about Ron Gardenhire saying Brian Dozier will start the season in Rochester. In the forums, there are a ton of topics being discussed including the Twins ranking as the 14th most valuable baseball organization by Forbes. John asked if Justin Morneau could start the season on the DL. There was also discussion on the Twins sending Terry Doyle back to the White Sox. Terry Ryan talked about having six guys in mind for the #2 pick in the June draft. There was also a fun discussion asking readers to rank what order Brian Dozier, Chris Parmelee, Liam Hendriks and Joe Benson will be called up by the Twins in 2012. As we like to say at Twins Daily, come for the content, and stay for the discussion! Click here to view the article

It was a terrific pitcher’s dual through five-and-a-half innings. In fact, Carl Pavano was one out from getting out of the bottom of the 6th inning. Then came a blooper and an error. The Rays had a 3-0 lead, made it 4-0 later, and despite a late run for the Twins, they fell 4-1 to the Rays. In reality, after the Rays got the lead, thing were not pretty for the Twins. Jamey Carroll committed his first error. Danny Valencia misplayed a ground ball. Jeff Gray inexplicably did not allow a run in the 8th despite having zero control. Tomorrow is another day, and the Twins will hope that we get to see good Francisco Liriano against the Rays’ Jeff Niemann. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER, LEHIGH VALLEY - Postponed The Red Wings game was postponed by rain on Saturday afternoon, so these two teams will play a double-header on Sunday afternoon. NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 Lefty Andrew Albers was again tremendous in his start against New Hampshire on this night. He gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings for the Win. He walked none and struck out seven. Bobby Lanigan struck out two in hit two scoreless innings. The Rock Cats got plenty of hits in this game. Estarlin de Los Santos (playing LF) went 2-5. Chris Herrmann had his fifth and sixth doubles in five at bats. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk. Pedro Florimon was 2-4 with his second double. Aaron Hicks was 2-3 with a walk and his first triple. The Rock Cats improve to 12-5. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 8, BRADENTON 6 Down 6-1 going into the top of the 8th, the Miracle put together a miraculous comeback. They scored two in the eighth. Then in the top of the ninth, they scored three runs. Danny Santana drove in one with a triple, then Levi Michael drove him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The game went to the 10th and the Miracle offense continued. Dan Rohlfing drove in the go-ahead run with a single, and then Lance Ray doubled him in for an insurance run. The bullpen held and the Miracle came away with a very nice win. Marty Popham was on the mound to start. He gave up three runs on six hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out five. Tony Davis came in to start the sixth. He faced four batters and gave up two hits and two walks. Three runs scored were charged to him. Ricky Bowen threw two perfect innings in relief. Then Caleb Thielbar struck out six, walked just one and gave up no hits in his three scoreless frames. Levi Michael went 2-4 in the game and drove in three runs. In the first inning, he hit his first career home run. Danny Santana was 3-5 with his first triple. Josmil Pinto remains hot. He had another 3-5 game. The Miracle broke a four game losing streak and are now 7-8 on the season. INJURY NOTES – The Miracle put Danny Rams and Manuel Soliman (sore shoulder) on the Disabled List, and they activated RHP Miguel Munoz. BELOIT 5, SOUTH BEND 8 It was seven-run fifth inning that did in Matt Summers and the Snappers. The big right-hander gave up eight runs on five hits, four walks and two hit batsmen in 4.1 innings. Matt Tomshaw came in and threw 2.2 scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out one. Nelvin Fuentes then gave up two runs in the eighth inning. The Snappers got plenty of base runners, but they were unable to make up for the one inning. Tyler Grimes was 1-3 with a walk. Miguel Sano was 1-3 with a walk and his second stolen base. Eddie Rosario was 0-1 but walked his first three plate appearances. Wang-Wei Lin was 2-2 with two walks and his first triple. The Snappers fall back over .500 at 8-8. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, April 21, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Levi Michael Download attachment: LeviMichael.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Andrew Albers Download attachment: AndrewAlbers2.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, April 22, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs. Lehigh Valley (DH) – LHP Scott Diamond, RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain vs New Hampshire – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie – LHP Pat Dean Beloit @ West Michigan – RHP Madison Boer --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins got a great mound performance from Samuel Deduno who picked up his first MLB win, giving up just one run in 6.1 innings. He got plenty of run support on this day. Ryan Doumit was 3-4 hit two home runs, one from each side of the plate. He drove in four runs. Brian Dozier drove in two more runs with a double off the wall. The Twins bullpen struggled but hung on for a 7-5 win. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Sunday games in the minor leagues.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester finally has a ten-home run hitter. The Snappers had a newcomer arrive on Sunday and he helped the team put on quite a power display. But there was a lot of power shown throughout the system. GAME 1 – ROCHESTER 5, DURHAM 1 Jeff Manship improved to 6-1 with another strong performance. He gave up one run on three hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Luis Perdomo pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He gave up one hit and a walk. Clete Thomas won the Rochester Race to Ten Home Runs! He went 1-2 with a walk and the home run. Sean Burroughs went 2-3. Pedro Florimon hit his 13th double. GAME 2 – ROCHESTER 3, DURHAM 4 Luke French started game two for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Dan Sattler came in and got the next four batters out, two of them on strikeouts. Lester Oliveros came in and pitched a scoreless sixth innings, but he gave up the winning run in the seventh. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 2-3 and drove in the team’s first run. Sean Burroughs was also 2-3. In the 5th inning, Clete Thomas and Danny Valencia had back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at three. NEW BRITAIN 8, HARRISBURG 4 The bats showed up for the Rock Cats in this game and Steve Hirschfeld pitched well yet again in this Rock Cats win. Nate Hanson led the offense by going 3-5 with his third home run and four RBI. Deibinson Romero was 2-4 with a walk, his 14th home run and three RBI. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with a walk and his 29th double. Aaron Hicks was 0-2, but he walked three times and stole his 22nd base. Hirschfeld won for the 7th time this season. He worked the first six innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. David Bromberg gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Bruce Pugh got his fifth save by getting the final four outs. FT. MYERS 2, LAKELAND 4 Madison Boer falls to 4-9 after this game, but he pitched quite well. The Eden Prairie native gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in six innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out six. Cole Nelson came in and gave up two runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter in one inning. Ricky Bowen then pitched a scoreless inning. Josmil Pinto had another very good game. He went 3-4. Jhon Goncalves went 2-3. Danny Santana hit a two-run homer in the 8th inning that cut the deficit in half. It was his fifth home run of the year. The Miracle had 11 hits in this game, but left too many on base. BELOIT 7, GREAT LAKES 10 It was a big day for the Snappers offense. There was a big return and a huge power display, but it wasn’t enough on this day. Kennys Vargas was having a very strong season last year at Elizabethton when it suddenly came to an end at the hands of a 50 Game Suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs. He served about 18 games last year, so he had to serve another 32 games in 2012. Unfortunately, he needed to serve those games with the team he was with when he got the suspension. That means that his suspension couldn’t continue until the Elizabethton season started in late June. Instead of returning to the E-Twins at the end of the 50 games, the Twins had him go directly to Beloit. In his first game in almost a year, Vargas went 2-4 with a walk. In his first at bat, he hit a solo home run. In his second at bat, he hit a two-run home run. Not a bad return. Vargas wasn’t the only Snappers hitter who displayed power in this game. Steve Liddle hit his third home run. Wang-Wei Lin hit his second homer of the year. Nate Roberts was 4-4 with his eighth double and his fourth home run. He was also hit by a pitch. Tyler Jones started for the Snappers. The right-hander went just three innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out three. Ryan O’Rourke replaced him in the fourth inning and after allowing the inherited runners to score, he threw three shutout frames and struck out three. Mason Melotakis gets the loss because he gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk in two innings. Corey Williams pitched the ninth inning and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. ELIZABETHTON 5, JOHNSON CITY 6 Max Kepler continues to rake. On this day, he was 2-4 with his fifth double and fourth home run (all in the last week). Bo Altobelli went 2-3 with a walk and his second double. Travis Harrison added his fifth double. Hein Robb started for the E-Twins. He gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. Brett Lee gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits over the next two innings. Luis Nunez walked one over the next two innings without giving up a run. GCL TWINS No game scheduled. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, July 22, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Jeff Manship Download attachment: Jeff Manship.jpg Hitter of the Day – Nate Roberts Download attachment: Nate Roberts.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, July 23, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Durham – RHP Liam Hendriks New Britain vs Binghampton – TBD Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs Great Lakes – TBD Elizabethton @ Kingsport – RHP Angel Mata GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles (DH) – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins got a second win against the Angels on Tuesday night. Joe Mauer got four hits for the second straight game. Brian Dozier was forced into the leadoff spot at the last minute and got on base three times. He was leading off because Aaron Hicks was moved down in the order, and then Darin Mastroianni’s ankle flared up on him again. Following the game, Mastroianni was put on the Disabled List and Oswaldo Arcia [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] as again recalled from Rochester to take his place. In other roster moves, Bruce Pugh was sent from Rochester to New Britain. Aaron Thompson was added to the New Britain roster with Nelvin Fuentes being send down to Ft. Myers. According to Jeff Johnson of The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, the word is that J.O. Berrios will be with the Kernels by Thursday. Rochester Red Wings 0, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 1 Box Score Kyle Gibson loaded the bases in the first inning but survived by giving up just one run. Unfortunately, that one run was enough to give him, and the Red Wings, another loss to fall to 2-10. Gibson settled in very nicely after the first frame. He went six innings and gave up the one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out five. Caleb Thielbar came on and gave up three hits but no runs in 2.2 scoreless innings. Luis Perdomo came in and walked a batter before getting the final out. Oswaldo Arcia was back in the Red Wings lineup on Tuesday night after starting for the Twins on Monday night (and now heading back to Minneapolis). He went 1-4 and stole his second base. Eric Farris went 1-3 with a walk and his first double. Eric Fryer was 2-3. New Britain Rock Cats 7, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6 Box Score The Rock Cats were able to pull out another win in the bottom of the ninth on this night. James Beresford scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch. Beresford has been hot of late. On this night, he went 3-4 with his second double. He was also hit by a pitch. Curt Smith was 2-3 with a walk. Danny Santana was 2-5 with his first double. Nate Hanson was 1-2 and he also walked three times. Josmil Pinto and Danny Ortiz each doubled. Trevor May was back on the mound. The hard-throwing righty gave up two runs on six hits. In 5.1 innings, he walked four and struckout eight. Jose Gonzalez got the final two outs of the sixth inning but not before giving up four runs on five hits. Edgar Ibarra was perfect for two innings, striking out two. Michael Tonkin got the win. He walked one and struckout one in the ninth inning. Ft. Myers Miracle 7, Palm Beach Cardinals 4 Box Score Another day, another win for the Ft. Myers Miracle. This one came in dramatic fashion. Down 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Miracle loaded the bases to bring up Miguel Sano. On the first pitch, Sano launched a long, towering home run. The grand slam was his fourth homer of the season and gave the Miracle their 7-4 lead, a lead they would maintain over the final innings. Sano went 2-3 with a walk. Early in the game, he extended his hitting streak to ten games. Eddie Rosario extended his hitting streak to nine games with an early single. He was 2-4. Jhon Goncalves went 2-3 with a walk and a double. Matt Koch was 2-4 with a double. Stephen Wickens had a triple. AJ Pettersen hit his second double. Jason Wheeler made the start. The lefty gave up three runs on five hits in six innings. He walked four and struck out four. Tim Wood made his first rehab appearance. He gave up one run on three hits. Cole Johnson picked up the save with two shutout innings. He struck out two. Game 1 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 0 Box Score The Kernels remain quite busy. It was their third doubleheader in four days (7 games in 4 days). Brett Lee finally go to make his first start. The left-hander threw six shutout innings. He gave up six hits, walked none and struck out three. Tyler Jones came on for the final inning to record his second save of the season. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with an RBI. Travis Harrison went 1-2 with a walk. Niko Goodrum went 1-2 with a walk. Adam Walker went 0-1 with two walks. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 9, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 1 Box Score Byron Buxton did not play in the first game, the first game of the season he has missed. He had been hit in the elbow on Monday night. He had it checked out, and it was fine. In the first inning of the second game he returned to the lineup with a single. Later, in the same inning, he doubled in a couple of runs. The Kernels bats scored eight runs in the first inning and maintained that lead with a 9-1 win. Buxton went 3-4 with his second double and two RBI. He is now hitting .474 on the season. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 with his third double and two RBI. Travis Harrison hit his second home run, a two run shot. Steven Gruver also made his first start of the season. The lefty gave up two hits in four shutout innings. He walked none and struck out six. Tim Atherton got the win. He went the final three innings and gave up one run on two hits. He struck out two. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. View full article

The Twins reduced their spring training roster significantly on Monday morning, and there was even a surprise or two. The biggest name on the list was Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Many believed that because he has some ability to play shortstop and the had an inside track on the Twins utility job. But he has struggled throughout spring with many of the game's basics, and the Twins optioned him to Rochester. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Carlos Gutierrez and Rene Tosoni were also optioned to Rochester. Several non-roster players were assigned to minor league camp. Relievers Jason Bulger, Luis Perdomo, Daryl Thompson, Esmerling Vaszquez and PJ Walters will report across the parking lot. Catchers Chris Herrmann and Dan Rohlfing will start preparing for their minor league seasons in minor league camp. Infielder Aaron Bates and outfielder Wilkin Ramirez were also sent to minor league camp. Download attachment: Nishioka.jpg Aside from Nishioka, there are not a lot of surprises. Gutierrez has good numbers but still lacks that second pitch that could make him very good. Tosoni really struggled in big league camp, with just one hit in 15 at bats. Aaron Bates, who blogs for Twins Daily, is a surprise to some degree. The first baseman was 8-20 this spring. He was posting a line of .400/.429/.450 and has had back-to-back multi-hit games. The spring training roster is now at 45 with 21 pitchers, six catchers, 11 infielders and seven outfielders vying for 25 spots. Maybe the most interesting thing about the Nishioka demotion is the possible utility infielders remaining in camp. The most intriguing is Brian Dozier who is now hitting over .300 this spring, and hit his first home run yesterday. The Twins won't keep him up to be a backup, but he could potentially win a starting job still. Michael Hollimon has been terrific the first half of spring training, hitting .533 albeit in just 17 plate appearances. Ray Chang, Pedro Florimon, Brian Dinkelman and Sean Burroughs also seem to be in the hunt for an Opening Day roster spot. Any thoughts on the transactions? Click here to view the article

The Twins got some great pitching on Saturday and won both games of a split double-header against the Kansas City Royals. In the first game, the Twins won 7-2 and Scott Diamond worked eight innings for the Win. In the second game, it was Cole DeVries who was promoted and who recorded his second big league win with a terrific performance. Of course, he was immediately optioned back to Rochester following the game. There was a lot going on in the Twins system on Saturday. I had the opportunity to go to Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo, ND, to watch the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks take on the St. Paul Saints. Former Twins minor leaguer Tony Davis made his Redhawks debut with a scoreless inning in relief. Other former Twins farmhands, Kyle Carr and Matt Schuld pitch for the Saints. The night was great. The atmosphere for baseball in Fargo is incredible, and I will write more soon. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] But this is a report on the Twins minor leagues, so see below to see what Danny Valencia did for the second time in a week. Just how far did Miguel Sano hit one? Did the Rock Cats double their pleasure with a win against Bowie? Three players had four-hit games on Saturday, and one of them completed the cycle. For all this and more, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: ROCHESTER 4, EMPIRE STATE 6 Things were looking good for the Red Wings through the first four innings. They held a 2-0 lead thanks to two solo home runs off the bat of Danny Valencia. Also, Jeff Manship had thrown four shutout innings. Unfortunately, Brendan Wise came in to start the fifth and the floodgates opened. Wise was charged with six runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out three. Esmerling Vasquez they struck out six in 2.2, one-hit innings. Bobby Lanigan pitched a scoreless inning. Valencia ended the game 3-4 with the two homers, his fifth and sixth on the season. They were the Red Wings first in seven days. It was Valencia’s fourth multi-homer game. His most recent was one week earlier against Charlotte. Matt Carson was 2-4 with his sixth home run. Despite the loss, the Red Wings finished June with a 15-14 record, the first time they had a winning record during a calendar month since August of 2009. NEW BRITAIN 8, BOWIE 9 New Britain scored three in the bottom of the ninth but fell one short, losing 9-8. Dan Rohlfing led the offense by going 4-5 with his third double. He drove in three runs. Evan Bigley was 2-5 with his 17th double. Chris Herrmann was 2-5 with his 19th double and first triple. In all, the Rock Cats managed six doubles. Deibinson Romero hit his 10th home run. Brett Jacobson made a start I am certain he will already be second-guess himself. The right-hander gave up eight runs (7 earned) on four hits and NINE walks (with no strike outs). Edgar Ibarra came out of the bullpen and gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in four innings. Dan Sattler went the final 2.2 innings without alloqing a run. 1B Matt Rizzotti has been released by the Twins. FT. MYERS 7, CHARLOTTE 2 Tom Stuifbergen picked up his first win of the season, and he needed it. The right-hander gave up two runs on six hits in five innings. He worked quickly, walked none and struck out two. Jose Gonzalez struck out two over the next two innings. Finally, Marty Popham came on and struck out two in two perfect innings. Jairo Perez went 2-4 with two RBI and his fourth stolen base. Danny Rams went 2-4 with his first triple. Lance Ray entered the game early and went 2-3 with a walk and his 14th double. Angel Morales went 1-3 with a walk and his fourth home run. BELOIT 3, CLINTON 6 This was not a great night for the Snappers. They managed just three hits in the game although two of them traveled well. Jairo Rodriguz hit a solo home run, his second of the season. Miguel Sano then connected for his 17th home run. An on-site report from K-Bro Baseball tells us that Sano’s home run was a moonshot and towered over the scoreboard in left center field. Jason Wheeler struggled again on this night. The lefty gave up seven runs on eight hits and a walk in three innings. Cole Johnson came in and struck out five in three scoreless innings. Bart Carter pitched two frames and gave up three runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out three. Clinton Dempster pitched the final inning without allowing a run. The loss meant that the Snappers were swept by Clinton in this three-game series. A record-high number of fans (2,564) crawled in to Pohlmann Stadium to watch the Snappers. ELIZABETHTON 6, PULASKI 4 It may be just a statistical anomaly, but hitting for the cycle is still a very cool, very rare occurrence in baseball. On this night, Niko Goodrum did just that. In five at bats, he had a single, hit his second double, his sixth triple and his second home run. He also drove in four runs. Travis Harrison continues to rake. He was 3-3 with a walk. Stephen Wickens went 2-4 with his second triple. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits and three walks in just 2.2 innings. Brett Lee came in and gave up a run on three hits in 2.1 innings. Tyler Herr struckout two in two scoreless innings. Mason Melotakis pitched a scoreless eighth frame. Dallas Gallant struck out two in a scoreless ninth to lock down his first save of the season. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 3 Lefty Austin Malinowski, the lefty from Minnesota, came in after a couple of rehabbing righties and recorded his first professional win. David Bromberg started and threw the first two frames. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out two. Next, Adrian Salcedo struck out two in a perfect inning. Malinowski came in and gave up an unearned run on three hits and a walk in three innings. Hung-yi Chen and Gerardo Ramirez each threw a scoreless inning. Gonzalo Sanudo struck out five in two scoreless innings. Aderlin Mejia led the offense by going 4-5 with his fifth double. Dereck Rodriguez was 3-5 with two RBI. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, June 30, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Niko Goodrum Download attachment: NikoGoodrum.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Jeff Manship Download attachment: Jeff Manship 2.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, July 1, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Empire Island – RHP PJ Walters New Britain vs Bowie – LHP Aaron Thompson Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie – TBD Beloit vs Cedar Rapids – RHP Matt Summers Elizabethton vs Pulaski – LHP Corey Kimes GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article