Seth Stohs

Yesterday, we discussed the Minnesota Twins minor leaguers who were named the recipients of the Harmon Killebrew Awards for Community Service. Today, we continue our minor league award week by looking at the top starting pitchers in the Twins farm system in 2013. First, be sure to note that this is about 2013 performance. This is not a prospect ranking of any kind. In 2013, there were several very good starting pitchers in the Twins system. Several of the top prospects put up solid numbers, but will not be on this list.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Alex Meyer was pretty impressive in his New Britain starts, but he missed about two-and-a-half months. Trevor May was solid at times, but lacked consistency. Most of the names on this lists were not high-level prospects coming into the season. However, they each pitched well and deserve to be recognized. Their performances, in some cases, may also boost their prospect standing this offseason. To be clear, this is just my ranking, subject to debate. This list does include some starters with very good control this season. Unfortunately, as has been consistent in recent years, there are not many big strikeout numbers on this list, nor throughout the Twins farm system (exceptions really being Meyer and May). Later in the week, we’ll look at my choices for top reliever, hitter and manager. Today we discuss the top starting pitchers in the Twins minor league system. Feel free to debate them, or ask any questions: Starting Pitcher of the Year Honorable Mention: Mason Melotakis, Cedar Rapids (11-4, 3.16 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, 6.8 K/9), Logan Darnell, New Britain/Rochester (10-10, 3.22 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9, 7.0 K/9), Tyler Duffey, Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers (7-7, 3.64 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 1.7 BB/9, 6.8 K/9), DJ Baxendale, Ft. Myers/New Britain (12-7, 3.90 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 2.0 BB/9, 6.7 K/9) #5 – Matt Summers – Ft. Myers Miracle, New Britain Rock Cats (7-7, 3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 142.2 IP, 125 H, 46 BB, 100 K) Summers was the Twins 4th round pick in 2011 out of UC-Irvine. Like most other college pitchers, he went to Elizabethton and dominated out of the bullpen. He went 9-4 in 18 starts in Beloit before finishing the season in Ft. Myers. In 2013, he made 21 starts for the Miracle and led the Florida State League starters in ERA (2.47) and WHIP (1.11). He had a couple short stints with the New Britain Rock Cats where he made five starts (and one relief appearance). He was the Game 1 starter for the Miracle in the playoffs. Of those on this top five list, his 142.2 innings is the most. Summers throws a fastball that hits 94, and he has a good curveball too. To this point, however, he has not been a strikeout pitcher. Like others on this list, he walks very few. At just 24, he should spend 2014 in New Britain. #4 – Kyle Gibson – Rochester Red Wings (7-5, 2.92 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 101.2 IP, 85 H, 33 BB, 87 K) Kyle Gibson was certainly the most talked about through most of the 2013 season. Having missed most of the 2012 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, there were plenty of questions on what would happen with the former first round pick. Could he make the Twins roster out of spring training? What would his innings limit be? How much time would he make in the minors before coming up? Early in the season, the Twins discussed the lack of consistency for Gibson’s first ten starts. It was true. He was tremendous in his even-numbered starts and really bad in the odd-numbered starts. At that point, he took the advice and found a way to be more consistent. On June 29, he made his major league debut. He went 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA in 51 innings, but he got the big league experience. He will learn from it. The 25-year-old has always had very good control and command of his pitches, and I would expect it to show more in 2014. #3 – Brett Lee – Cedar Rapids Kernels (8-4, 2.95 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 116 IP, 117 H, 26 BB, 89 K) When the Twins drafted Lee with their 10th round pick in the 2011 draft, it was the third time he had been selected in the draft. He signed on the last day that he could, so he did not pitch that year. Last year, he pitched primarily out of the Elizabethton bullpen. He went 4-0 with a 2.68 ERA over 43.2 innings. He walked just 12 and struck out 48. He began the 2013 season in the Cedar Rapids, six-man rotation, though he worked out of the bullpen a couple of times early due to weather. At one point in late June and early July, he worked eight or more innings in three out of four outings. He actually was shut down for two weeks, and his innings were monitored closely so he could pitch Game 1 for the Kernels in the playoffs. The left-hander has four good pitches including a fastball in the low-90s. He will advance to Ft. Myers to start the 2014 season, and it will be interesting to see if he starts or if he’ll see more time working out of the bullpen. #2 – Andrew Albers – Rochester Red Wings (11-5, 2.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 132.1 IP, 124 H, 32 BB, 116 K) The Andrew Albers story was incredible in 2011 when he was my choice for minor league relief pitcher of the year after the Twins signed him out of the Can-Am League and he pitched well in Ft. Myers and New Britain. The minor league portion of his story culminated in early August when he had his contract purchased and he made his major league debut. Adding to the mystique, Albers began his big league career with 18 scoreless innings. He has now made seven starts for the Twins and is 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA and has given up less than a base runner per inning. Albers began the season at the back end of the Rochester Red Wings starting rotation. The 27-year-old was clearly the team’s best, and most consistent starter throughout the season. Despite a fastball that tops out well below 90 mph, he led the International League in strikeouts when he was promoted to the Twins. As we have seen, he has impeccable control and needs it. A very strong case could be made for him being in the top spot in this category. Starting Pitcher of the Year – Taylor Rogers – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Ft. Myers Miracle (11-7, 2.88 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 140.2 IP, 133 H, 36 BB, 93 K) Download attachment: TaylorRogers2.jpg Photo by Linwood Ferguson/Ft. Myers Miracle Taylor Rogers began the 2013 season as the Opening Day starter for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Twins had made the left-hander their 11th round pick in 2012 out of the University of Kentucky, the same school that produced Logan Darnell and Andrew Albers, fellow left-handers in the Twins' system. He began his pro career with Elizabethton where he made six appearances before moving up to Beloit where he pitched five times out of the bullpen and made four starts. Combined, he worked 63.1 innings and posted a 2.27 ERA and struck out 10.5 per nine innings. With the Kernels, he pitched in just three games and posted a 7.80 ERA in ten innings. This year he was promoted to Ft. Myers in late April, and things couldn’t have gone much better for him than they did. With the Miracle, he went 11-6 with a 2.55 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He led the league with three complete games and two shutouts. When the season ended, and the Miracle were in the playoffs, Rogers started Game 2. He threw nine shutout innings in the game. Unfortunately, the Miracle didn’t score and their season ended. Rogers has a very nice pitch mix. He throws a fastball that hits 91-92 mph, touching 93 on occasion. He has a terrific slider that really helps him against left-handers. He also has a changeup that can be very good at times. He should start the 2014 campaign in the New Britain Rock Cats rotation. Tomorrow, we’ll be back with more Twins minor league awards. Feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article

Yesterday we looked at the top hitters in the Twins system in May and today we’ll be taking a look at the top pitching performances of April. It will be separated into two blog postings, one for the relievers and this one for the starting pitchers. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] While the hitting leaders were primarily in the lower levels of the Twins farm system, there are a couple of starting pitchers that appear on today’s list that may not be too far from contributing to the Twins. With that, let's jump to the starting pitchers. Here are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for April: Number 5 - Rochester – Kyle Gibson - 5 GS, 1-3, 3.33 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 21 H, 9 BB, 26 K Gibson’s return from Tommy John surgery has been filled with ups and some downs. He had one start in which he gave up five runs in 4.1 innings. It is a process, to be sure. However, the 25-year-old has been able to strike out nearly a batter per inning. The general belief is that he is getting close to being able to contribute to the Twins. Twins Director of Minor League Operations Brad Steil said, “Kyle is making good progress. He pitched into the 7th inning in his last outing, which was good to see.” Number 4 – New Britain – Alex Meyer - 5 GS, 2-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 28.0 IP, 26 H, 11 BB, 34 K In Meyer’s most recent start, he gave up four runs in six innings, but all four runs came in the third inning. If we were nice and we could just pretend that one inning didn’t happen his ERA for the month would be 1.33. Certainly his walk total is a little high, but his strikeouts are encouraging, even exciting. Meyer is blessed with an upper-90s fastball, a hammer for a curveball, a sharp slider and an ever-improving change up. Still just 23 years old, Meyer could rise quickly. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – Tom Stuifbergen - 5 GS, 1-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 27.2 IP, 23 H, 0 BB, 18 K The 24 year-old is back with the Miracle for the third straight year. Stuifbergen doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts, but he also doesn't walk many. Zero walks in 27.2 innings?! He also doesn’t give up many home runs. He gave up two homers in his first start of the year and in 22.2 innings since has given up none. He has the pitches, he just needs the opportunity to advance. Steil said, “He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and be ready when there’s an opportunity. When he’s pitching well, it’s usually because he’s changing speeds effectively and keeping hitters off balance.” Number 2 – Cedar Rapids – Tyler Duffey - 4 GS, 3-1, 2.60 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, 27.2 IP, 18 H, 3 BB, 21 K Last year the Twins used their fifth round pick on Duffey, a relief pitcher from Rice. As would be expected, he dominated the Appalachian League out of the bullpen. The Twins were committed to giving Duffey (and several other college relievers) an opportunity to start. Duffey got that opportunity, and he has made the best of it. In his first start of the season, he threw seven perfect innings for the Kernels, and two pitchers completed the no-hitter. With a six-man rotation and the weather issues this year, Duffey made just four starts in the month. He has shown impeccable control and a general ability to keep runners off base. He is efficient with his pitches and has been able to complete seven innings in three of his four starts. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Greg Wagner Ft. Myers – DJ Baxendale - 5 GS, 4-0, 1.84 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 29.1 IP, 21 H, 6 BB, 25 K Baxendale was the top starter of the Arkansas Razorbacks team that advanced to the College World Series. During that season he set the Arkansas record with 20 starts. He went 8-5 with a 3.11 ERA. The Twins were thrilled to use their 10th round pick on the right-hander as they believed he had the talent to be selected much earlier. He began his pro career with the Elizabethton Twins but quickly moved up to Beloit. Combined, he walked just two and struck out 31 in 18.2 innings. He pitched out of the bullpen primarily because of the 107 innings he threw during the college season. The plan was for him to move to a starter's role this season, but it was somewhat surprising that he began the season with the Miracle. However, as Steil said, the things he’s done so well in April are the things that got him pushed to Ft. Myers. “He’s been locating well, keeping hitters off balance by changing speeds and keeping the ball down. Along with (those things), just his maturity and poise on the mound.” Take a look at the numbers: 4-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP. He has limited long balls and walks. The Miracle were 21-4 in April, and Baxendale was a big part of it. So, what does he throw? A scouting report will tell you that he throws both a 2-seam and a 4-seam fastball that range from 87 to 92 mph. He has a big bending curveball in the low 70s, with downward break, which makes it a pitch that induces ground balls. He also has a very good, late-breaking slider in the 78 to 82 mph range. He has terrific control of it and when he spots it on the outside corner he can get hitters to chase. He also has good arm speed and sink on his changeup. What would Baxendale himself say? “I throw a four-seam fastball, sinker, change-up, curve ball and slider. I try to use the slider and curveball both as strikeout pitches in order to keep the hitters guessing what pitch I will come with ahead in the count.” Baxendale has great command and makeup. He has the ability to move the ball around the strike zone very well. He can pitch to all zones of the plate, up and down, inside and out. He gets a lot of swings and misses outside of the zone, in part, because he hides the ball well. He is competitive and wants to win at everything. He has a knack of getting out of jams, and has grittiness and intensity on the mound. Baxendale credits his pitching coach and his control for his success so far this year. “The biggest key to my success so far is throwing low, quality strikes with all of my pitches. I’ve been working hard with pitching coach Ivan Arteaga to be able to consistently repeat my mechanics which improves my command and control of all pitches.” It’s also been about making adjustments to the professional game. Baxendale explained, “The biggest adjustment I’ve made so far in pro ball is to be efficient in my innings and keep the pitch count down. I’ve done this by pitching to contact, throwing the ball down in the zone and getting outs in early counts.” For Baxendale to continue to develop and rise through the Twins system, he may need to get a little bigger and strong. By adding some weight and strength, he would likely see a little increased velocity. But for now, Baxendale is happy to be part of this tremendous Miracle team. “Being part of a talented team is always fun. We are all really competitive so we want to win. It’s pretty special to be a part of a team that is as talented as we are because every game is fun to watch.” There were a lot of great hitting performances in April, but several pitchers threw the ball very well and were quite successful in the season’s opening month as well. DJ Baxendale is the choice for April Starting Pitcher of the Year, but Tyler Duffey, Tom Stuifbergen, Alex Meyer and Kyle Gibson all performed quite well during the month. We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the Relief Pitcher of the Month. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. View full article

The Twins got just one run off of Royals’ starter Luis Mendoza and found themselves down 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. Jonathan Broxton came in the Twins scored two off of him. They had the tying run at third base with two outs but were unable to score. The Twins lost 4-3. Saturday will be a long day as the Twins and Royals will play a double header with Game 1 at noon and Game 2 scheduled for 6 p.m. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Friday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 6 (10 innings) The Red Wings had an early lead but the IronPigs scored three in the eighth to tie the game and send it to extra frames. It was just one extra frame as the IronPigs scored in the bottom of the 10th. Luke French started for the Red Wings and wen the first seven innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits and four walks. He struckout five and left the game with a 5-2 lead. Casey Fien came in and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and recorded just two outs in the 8th. Caleb Thielbar came in and walked two (one intentionally) in his scoreless frame. Luis Perdomo got the final out of the ninth and one out in the tenth. Unfortunately, he gave up the winning run on two tenth inning hits to take the loss. Sean Burroughs went 3-4 with his second stolen base. Clete Thomas was 2-4 with his 13th double and third stolen base. Brian Dinkelman went 2-5. NEW BRITAIN 8, TRENTON 4 New Britain got a big win in this game and won three out of four games from a team trying to move in front of them in the division race. The Rock Cats got five runs in the third inning to take a 7-0 lead and were able to hold on. The big blow in that big inning came off of the bat of James Beresford. The Aussie drilled a two-run double. Beresford was 2-4 in the game with three RBI. Estarlin de Los Santos was 2-4 with his fifth double. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his first triple. Aaron Hicks went 3-5. Logan Darnell got the start and improved to 7-6. The lefty went the first six innings and gave up four runs on four hits and three walks. He struckout four. Shairon Martis came on and made his Rock Cats debut throwing a perfect inning. Daniel Turpen threw two shutout innings despite giving up a hit and three a walks. He also struckout three. FT. MYERS 5, CHARLOTTE 0 Matt Hauser made his second professional start, and he was terrific. He threw five shutout innings, and in fact, he had a no-hitter through four innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four. AJ Achter came in and struck out four in two perfect innings. Michael Tonkin gave up a hit and a walk, but no runs, in the final two innings. He struck out three. The Miracle offense helped Hauser out by giving him five first inning runs of support. Levi Michael and Kyle Knudson each went 2-4 with a double. It was Michael’s sixth double and Knudson’s fourth. Jairo Perez and Angel Morales were each 2-3. BELOIT 3, CLINTON 6 Seven Snappers batters had one hit a piece, but could not piece together enough runs to capture a win on this night. Steve Liddle was 1-3 with a walk and his first home run. Jhon Goncalves went 1-2 with two walks. Miguel Sano had an 0-fer and committed his 28th error. Steven Gruver started for the Snappers. The lefty gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out just one. Tim Atherton dropped his ERA to 0.44 with three more shutout innings. He gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out four. Corey Williams gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth inning. ELIZABETHTON 1, PULASKI 9 2011 supplemental 1st round pick Hudson Boyd started for the E-Twins on Friday night. Through four innings, he had given up just one hit and no runs. In fact, he got the first two batters out in the fifth frame. However, a walk and a single were followed by fellow 2011 supplemental 1st round pick Travis Harrison’s seventh error at third base. It was followed by Jorge Polanco’s second error of the season. And the flood gates were opened. Boyd’s line score says that he gave up seven runs (ZERO earned) on four hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out three. Steve Evans came in and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in two innings. Kaleb Merck, the Twins 33rd round pick from Texas Christian made his professional debut. The right-hander faced five batters. He struck out four of them, but gave up a solo home run to the other. Zach Jones came on and struck out two in his inning. The E-Twins managed just four hits in this game. Jorge Polanco hit his third doubles. Stephen Wickens went 1-2 with a walk. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RED SOX 5 Dereck Rodriguez continues to hit well, but it wasn’t enough in this game. The outfielder went 2-4 with his third double and first home run of the short season. Jorge Fernandez went 3-4. Aderlin Mejia went 2-5 with his fourth double. Joel Licon was 2-5. Byron Buxton was 0-2, but he did walk two times. Randy Rosario got the starting nod on Friday. He gave up one run on one hit in 2.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Felix Jorge came on and gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks in two innings. He struck out three. J.O. Berrios gave up a run on two hits and a walk, but all three outs he recorded were strikeouts. Chris Mazza gave up only an unearned run on one hit in 2.1 innings. He struck out three. Markus Solbach pitched a 1-2-3 inning. --- Players of the Day for Friday, June 29, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Matt Hauser Download attachment: MattHauserMug.jpg Hitter of the Day – Dereck Rodriguez Download attachment: DereckRodriguez.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, June 30, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Empire Island – Jeff Manship New Britain vs Bowie – RHP Brett Jacobson Ft. Myers @ Charlotte – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit vs Clinton – LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs Pulaski – RHP Ricardo Arevalo 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

Jaynesville, WI - The Twins were in Cleveland on Saturday night and won 7-4. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead after one inning thanks to RBI singles by Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Trevor Plouffe. Cleveland clawed back with single runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth to tie the game. However, Plouffe’s sixth home run of the season made it 5-4 after six, and Mauer’s third home run, a two-run shot, gave the Twins their 7-4. PJ Walters started and his string of quality starts came to an end. He gave up four runs on eight hits and three walks in 4.1 innings. The bullpen did great again. Brian Duensing threw two perfect innings. Jared Burton came on and struck out the two batters he faced. Glen Perkins worked a perfect eighth inning, and Matt Capps struck out two in the 9th for his 11th save. It was a mixed bag of success in the Twins farm system on Saturday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] GAME 1 - ROCHESTER 3, COLUMBUS 0 Luke French got the starting nod for the Red Wings. Despite five walks and three hits) in five innings, he did not allow a run. Lester Oliveros came in and recorded his second Red Wings save by striking out three in two perfect innings. There wasn’t a lot of offense, but just enough. Wilkin Ramirez was 2-3 with his fourth double and two RBI. Tsuyoshi Nishioka had the only other hit, his first double of the year. Chris Parmelee drove in the third run. GAME 2 - ROCHESTER 0, COLUMBUS 1 In the second game, it was David Bromberg making the start. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits. In three innings, he walked three and struck out five. Casey Fien then struck out three in two perfect innings. Although the Red Wings had eight hits in this game, they were unable to score a single run. Clete Thomas was 2-3 with his eighth double. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was also 2-3. NEW BRITAIN 3, HARRISBURG 4 The Rock Cats come back came up a run short on Saturday. Logan Darnell started and gave up four runs on ten hits in 6.2 innings. He struck out four and walked none. Brett Jacobson went 1.1 innings and gave up just one hit. Luis Perdomo pitched a scoreless ninth frame. The Rock Cats had eight hits. Deibinson Romero hit his sixth home run to cut the deficit in half. Aaron Hicks and Rene Tosoni were each 1-3 with a walk. FT. MYERS 5, DAYTONA 10 Pat Dean pitched so well for the Twins in May, but in his first June start, he gave up six runs on 13 hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out three. Ricky Bowen came in and gave up four runs (3 earned) on three hits and a walk in two innings. Then infielder Andy Leer came in to pitch the ninth inning and went 1-2-3. Oswaldo Arcia continues to swing a hot bat. In this game, he was 4-5 with his 14th double, his sixth home run and three RBI. He’s now hitting .328. Danny Santana is back up to .316 with a 3-5 day. Levi Michael was 2-5. Jairo Perez had a nice day as well. He was 2-3 with two walks. BELOIT 9, WISCONSIN 5 This game was scoreless until the fourth inning, and then the offenses took over. The Timber Rattlers scored two in the top of the fourth, and the Snappers responded with five runs in the fourth inning. Miguel Sano led off with a double to the gap. Drew Leachman singled to right. Jonathan Goncalves was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then Matt Koch hit a two-run double which was followed by a two-run Kyle Knudson single. Later, Eddie Rosario singled in AJ Pettersen with the fifth run of the inning. Wisconsin came back with two runs in the top of the 5th inning off of starter Matt Summers. However, the Snappers responded with four more runs in the bottom of the 5th. Sano again led off the inning, this time in a line drive singled to left. Sano stole second, and Leachman singled to center. After a pitching change, Goncalves hit a smash down the 3B line that the third baseman dove and knocked down and got the force at second. Sano scored on the play. Goncalves stole second, his second steal of the game. Koch walked. After a balk put runners on second and third, Knudson was walked. AJ Pettersen came up and drilled a deep fly ball to left center to plate the next run. After Wang-Wei Line walked, Nate Roberts drilled a two-run single to center to give the Snappers a 9-4 lead. Tim Atherton came in for the sixth inning. He walked the first batter and gave up a bunt single to the next batter. It was the first hit he’s allowed (in 6 innings over 2 outings) since he was promoted to the Snappers a week earlier. He limited the damage to just one run in the inning, and that was it for the scoring. Summers started and got the win. He gave up four runs (2 earned, thanks to a dropped pop up by Sano) on five hits and three walks. He fanned four. Atherton gave up one run on three hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out five. Corey Williams pitched a scoreless eighth, and Michael Tonkin struck out two in a scoreless ninth. For much more on my trip to Beloit, check back to Twins Daily later. I’ll be posting a two-part log of the Territory Train trip to Quad Cities to see the Snappers play on Friday night, and then the trip to Beloit on Saturday which included lunch with several members of the Snappers team. Plus, I'm guessing you'll want to read my thoughts and scouting reports on various players on the roster, such as Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, maybe? --- Players of the Day for Saturday, June 2, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia Download attachment: ArciaMug.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Lester Oliveros Download attachment: Lester Oliveros 2.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, June 3, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Columbus – Nick Blackburn New Britain vs Harrisburg – TBD Ft. Myers vs Daytona – RHP Madison Boer Beloit vs Kane County – RHP Tyler Jones --- 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

Recently, I had the chance to chat with Gary Lucas, former big league pitcher and currently the pitching coach of the Ft. Myers Miracle. When asked to write about JO Berrios a few weeks ago, I thought Lucas would be the perfect person to talk to. The following gets into the mind of a man who have been in and around the game of baseball for a long time.Recently, I had the chance to chat with Gary Lucas, former big league pitcher and currently the pitching coach of the Ft. Myers Miracle. When asked to write about JO Berrios a few weeks ago, I thought Lucas would be the perfect person to talk to. The following gets into the mind of a man who have been in and around the game of baseball for a long time. Lucas is in his first year as the Miracle pitching coach. Last year, he was the pitching coach in Cedar Rapids. He has played a large role in the development of JO Berrios over these last two seasons. I talked to him before the Futures Game about the Twins pitching prospect. As a 19-year-old last year in Cedar Rapids, Berrios performed admirably. He went 7-7 with a 3.99 ERA. In 103.2 innings, he gave up 105 hits, walked 40 and struck out 100. This year, in 16 starts with the Miracle, he went 9-3 with a 1.96 ERA. In 96.1 innings, he gave up just 78 hits, walked just 23 and struck out 109. A significant, and dominating performance even before considering that he only turned 20 years old in late May. Lucas said there are many reasons for the improvement in Berrios’s performance including his maturity and what he learned last year. However, he highlighted a couple of specific things that he has worked on. “For the last month, he was pitching, for the most part, on four days’ rest. We've had a six man rotation here. I just thought a little less rest helped him to go out there on a more regular basis and have a more regular schedule and he didn't miss too many starts. I think it allowed him to get into a groove. I think the six man rotation is fine, and there are certainly some great reasons for it. I just think in his case, he had a little better feel for all his pitches when he was pitching a little more often.” Lucas continued, “So often, if you have a six man rotation between rain outs and off days, it could be seven days before you pitch. Now a lot of college guys are used to that, when they only pitch once a week, but for Jose being so young in the development stage, I think he reaped the benefit of working more often. We watched his workload in between starts and certainly tried to work on some things to better himself, but I just thought that was one of the major reasons.” There was obviously more to it than just pitching on a regular basis. Lucas also says that it was usage and confidence in another pitch. “The second reason I think that he progressed so well is he committed to using his changeup a little bit more. I think we've got a kid that mixed his pitches really well. He probably threw 60-to-70 percent fastballs most of the time in his starts. He probably threw 15-to-20 percent curveballs and 15-to-20 percent changeups, and it got to the point where the changeup wasn't just to get them off his fastball, it was an out pitch. He got a lot of swing and misses on all three, but I noticed he was getting a lot of swing and misses on his changeup in two-strike situation.” So, is the success of the changeup due to deception or movement? “This kid has some savvy. I noticed to right-handed hitters, he would throw it low-middle and it would dive in the dirt between the plate and the catcher. He got a lot of good results, some off balance swings when it went low-middle. Then he has the ability to turn it over to left-handed hitters, and some really good, off balance swings from left-handers when the ball would sink down and away to left-handers. He's certainly got touch and feel for that pitch so in essence, by throwing it a little bit more he got a feel for when to use it and how to use it.” So pitching on a regular basis and the development and usage of the changeup have been very important for Berrios. He has also put up number which, according to Lucas has “helped his confidence go sky high.” Download attachment: JO Berrios 5.JPG Berrios gave up five runs in five innings in his AA debut two weeks ago. In two starts since then, he has given up a total of two runs on seven hits in 13 innings. He’s walked one and struck out nine. I talked to Lucas just before he made his first AA start and asked if he believed that Berrios was ready for this jump. “I do think he's ready for this Double-A jump. I think he's done most everything, in my guess, that you would want a young prospect to do at the A ball level in two years; certainly in innings, certainly with improvement on usage of pitches, mix of his pitches, command of his pitches, results. I think it's time to be tested. I don't think there's a reason to hold him back. We have to find out if the hitters who are better and more experienced are going to lay off stuff that is out of the zone, and if he'll make an adjustment and get it back in the zone, and get hitters out in the zone. You know, if you're a good Major League pitcher, you have to get outs in the zone. You can't get a lot of hitters to chase. You certainly have to have pitches that look like strikes and get the hitters to swing and miss at times, but I think you also have to be ready to challenge hitters in the strike zone. So, I think that's the next step, to see if he's got enough stuff in the zone that produces results. The better hitters know themselves. They chase less. They wait him out, and then we see what we've got. He makes quick adjustments. I saw enough legitimate strikes here that he wasn't getting all of his results out of the zone. He was in the zone with enough pitches here to merit the move up. We just need to see if experienced hitters react to him in any different way, so yes, I do think he's ready for this move.” There is a likelihood that he could still miss a start at some point this season, likely fairly soon. “I think he could benefit from a rest. I know there was some talk before he went up that we should rest his arm at some point, and I’m sure after the Futures Game, it'll probably be discussed of where to skip a start, and that'll be beneficial. 100 innings last year, and I'm sure he's on track to get 150 or more, and that's pretty good for a 20-year-old trying to be a guy for us in the big leagues eventually and pitch that 200 innings that we'd all like to see. But he's so young that you want to protect that arm and that's one thing I think they'd have to consider.” The Futures Game was a big deal for Berrios, according to Lucas. “I think it is. I think he looks back, playing for the WBC team. I think that gave him a taste of what he is capable of doing, to get that accolade. We have to do, as Twins pitching coaches, a half-year progress report on each pitcher, and I sat down with Jose like the others about mid-May and went over his goals, what he wanted to accomplish this year. Right away, without hesitation, he rattled off his three goals, and one of them was to be elected and pitch in the Futures Game along with making our All Star team in the Florida State League and hopefully getting moved up to AA.” Check. Check. Check. Lucas continued, “For such a young age, he is mature beyond his years. He has a mission that he is on. You can see that he is keeping his focus to stay on that path, and these are some goals he's reached. I know staying healthy would be another one. This is a big, big deal for him, I think, that he's accomplished this.” Berrios is not a finished product, which should really be exciting for Twins fans. “I still think he's got a lot of things to work on, to improve on. At his age, who wouldn't? He's not in the big leagues yet, but he's certainly made some huge strides in a quick period of time.” Gary Lucas, and the entire Twins organization, is excited about Berrios and what he could become. “We're just tickled in the organization that we have a young man of his stature and makeup and talent that's progressing, so it's really, really good for the Twins organization to have a pitcher of this caliber in our minor leagues.” Twins fans are excited too about a rotation that potentially could include the likes of Alex Meyer, Trevor May, Kyle Gibson and JO Berrios. The thing is, with how Berrios has performed, and with his work ethic, it may happen sooner than anyone might have guessed. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: PInto_Josmil_Smiling_Un_600.jpg Friday was a busy day in the Twins organization. Aside from the big league club needing 13 innings to score a win, there were seven minor league games on the day. Miguel Sano was out of the New Britain lineup again, but a source informed me that he had a tight hamstring. Also, Byron Buxton was out of the Ft. Myers lineup for the fifth straight game. He reportedly lost a toenail and is deemed day-to-day. Kohl Stewart was[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] finally put on the GCL Twins 7-day disabled list with his cut foot. His teammate and fellow 2013 draft pick Stephen Gonsalves was promoted to Elizabethton after posting a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 innings with the GCL Twins. Catcher Bo Altobelli was promoted to Cedar Rapids. And, maybe you’ve heard, the Twins did select the contract of LHP Andrew Albers. Check out what else happened in the Twins Minor League system on Friday: Rochester 9, Lehigh Valley 5 Box Score It was the offense that picked up the Red Wings on this night. After going 0-4 in his AAA debut the previous night, Josmil Pinto went 3-4 with his first double. He was also hit by a pitch. Eric Farris went 3-5 with two RBI; he also stole his 15th base. Chris Parmelee had a single and two walks. Eduardo Escobar doubled for the seventh time with the Red Wings and drove in three runs. Virgil Vasquez got the start and recorded his fourth Red Wings win. He gave up one run on eight hits in 5.2 innings. He walked none and struck out two. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up two runs on four hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Shairon Martis gave up two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings. He walked none and struck out two to record his ninth save. New Britain 9, Erie 6 Box Score Two hitters starred for the Rock Cats tonight, creating most of the team’s offense. Evan Bigley appears to be back and at 100% He homered on Thursday night. On Friday night, he was 3-4 with his second home run and three RBI. Angel Morales hit ninth, but he had a big night too. He went 2-3 with a walk, his fourth double and his fourth home run. He also drove in three runs. Kyle Davies started for the Rock Cats and went seven innings to improve to 2-0. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on five hits. He walked two and struck out seven. Ryan O’Rourke came on and gave up two runs on three hits in the eighth inning. He struck out one. Dan Sattler came on and had a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his first save. Ft. Myers 1, Tampa 2 Box Score Byron Buxton was out for the fifth straight game, and the Miracle offense really struggled. They had just four hits in this game and managed to strikeout 15 times. Darin Mastroianni went 1-2 before being replaced. Dalton Hicks was 1-3 with a walk. Manuel Soliman was back on the mound to start. He gave up three hits in 3.1 scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out one. Adrian Salcedo came on and struck out three in 2.2 perfect innings. Tyler Duffey came out of the bullpen and worked the final two innings. He was charged with two runs on three hits and a walk; he struck out two and took the loss. Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 6 Box Score As we’ve seen with many of the other affiliates, the offense had a tough day. It’s rare for the Kernels' offense to struggle. They had just six hits. Adam Walker, the July Minor League Hitter of the Month, went 2-4 and hit his 23rd home run. Niko Goodrum drove in the other run. Tim Atherton started for the Kernels. The Aussie right-hander gave up six runs (4 earned) on five hits and a walk in just three innings; he struck out two. Alex Muren came on and was perfect for three innings. He struck out four. Hudson Boyd walked one and struck out one in two scoreless innings. Elizabethton 3, Bluefield 11 Box Score It was yet another rough night for the Elizabethton Twins. Randy Rosario started and gave up four runs on five hits and six walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out five. CK Irby came on and gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and one walk in 1.1 innings. Ryan Eades came on and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in two innings. Yes, he had two strikeouts, too. Andre Martinez’s struggles continued. He gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in his inning. He struck out two. Zach Granite was 2-4 with a walk. Logan Wade was 2-4 with his second triple. Javier Pimentel was 2-4 with his ninth double. Ryan Walker went 2-4. Mitch Garver and Stuart Turner each hit a double. Game 1 – GCL Twins 5, GCL Red Sox 3 Box Score Fernando Romero was terrific in the first game. He went five shutout innings and gave up just one hit. He walked one and struck out five. Luke Bard them came on and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. Derrick Penilla got the final out but not before giving up a hit. Lester Oliveros came in and recorded the save. He walked one and struck out three in his rehab inning. The GCL Twins managed just five hits. Chad Christensen hit his fifth double. Jorge Fernandez hit his sixth double. Jason Kanzler tripled. Game 2 – GCL Twins 1, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score It was a pitcher’s duel in Game 2. Leonel Zazueta went the first four innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out one. Reyson Zoquiel walked one in his inning. Josh Guyer gave up one hit in his inning. Brian Navarreto went 2-3 and drove in the team’s lone run. Joel Polanco was 2-3 with his fifth double. Adonis Pacheco hit his fourth triple. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. Click here to view the article

Aaron Hicks is the most talked about Twins prospect these days as he is making the strong case that he should be the Minnesota Twins Opening Day leadoff hitter and centerfielder. Hicks was the Twins first 1st round draft pick that year. Some of the other the other top picks didn’t pan out, but there are still ten in the organization.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Let’s take a look: THE FIRST-ROUNDERS Aaron Hicks was taken with the 14th overall pick. He slowly worked through the lower levels of the Twins minor league system, but after filling out the stat line thoroughly at AA New Britain in 2012, he looks to be the favorite for the Twins centerfield job. When he was drafted, many believed that he would be better as a starting pitcher due to a mid-90s fastball. However, Hicks said he wanted to hit, and the Twins believed he could become a five-tool talent. In 2013, the team will find out how many of those tools are going to show in the big leagues. On defense, Hicks has very good range and a strong arm. On offense, he has the ability to get on base at a good clip with his patient approach. He may never hit 30 home runs, but the switch-hitter could hit as many as 20 homers. His strikeout totals may keep him from ever hitting for a real high average, but with the way he progressed in 2013, it is very possible he will continue to improve upon that. He also stole a career-high 31 bases last year for the Rock Cats. No question, Hicks is in a good position to be the Twins centerfielder for many years. Carlos Gutierrez (27th overall) and Shooter Hunt (31st overall) were two college pitchers, expected to move fast, that the Twins acquired as compensation for having lost Torii Hunter via free agency. The Twins decided to give Gutierrez an opportunity to start. The thinking was that he would be more valuable as a starter, and if it didn’t work out, he could always move to the bullpen. In the end, he was a one-pitch pitcher who couldn’t throw strikes. The other part of starting was that he would have more innings to work on the secondary pitches, but it just didn’t help. He was taken off of the 40 man roster after the 2012 season and claimed by the Cubs. The Cubs took him off of their 40 man roster and he went unclaimed. Shooter Hunt was the type of pitching prospect that screamed top of the rotation. He threw hard and had a tremendous, sharp breaking pitch. In his junior year at Tulane, he walked more than he had previously, but not enough to become alarming. However, in 2009, he completely lost any semblance of control. He could not throw strikes. The Twins tried everything from moving him to the bullpen, to putting him on the DL. Nothing worked. He was claimed by the Cardinals in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, but he never pitched in a regular game in the organization. Often people like to look back and see which players were drafted after picks that didn’t work out. To the point, there has been little major league success for the players taken between Gutierrez at 27 and Jordan Lyles at 38: 27 – Carlos Gutierrez – Twins 28 – Gerrit Cole – Yankees (Did Not Sign) 29 – Lonnie Chisenhall – Indians 30 – Casey Kelly – Red Sox 31 – Shooter Hunt – Twins 32 – Jake Odorizzi – Brewers 33 – Bradley Holt – Mets 34 – Zach Collier – Phillies 35 – Evan Frederickson – Brewers 36 – Mike Montgomery – Royals 37 – Conor Gillaspie – Giants 38 – Jordan Lyles – Astros ALSO ON THE 40 MAN ROSTER High school players selected in the 2008 draft (and college players taken in 2007 had to be protected for the Rule 5 draft or potentially be lost. Along with Hicks, these two players were added: BJ Hermsen was taken in the 6th round from West Delaware High School in Manchester, Iowa. He had accepted a scholarship to pitch at Oregon State, but then the Twins went well over slot, he signed. He has pitched well ever since then. In 2011, between Beloit and Ft. Myers, he went 13-8 with a 3.33 ERA. In 2012, he was the Twins minor league pitcher of the year. He made four starts in Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain for 22 starts. Combined, he went 12-6 with a 2.88 ERA. Hermsen doesn’t throw hard and relies on impeccable control and good movement. Michael Tonkin was drafted out of his California high school in the 30th round. He received a $230,000 bonus to convince him to sign. He pitched in Beloit in 2010, 2011 and that’s where he started in 2012. It proved to be a great decision as he finally figured things out. He also developed from being an average fastball, slow curve type of pitcher into a guy with a mid-90s fastball and a devastating slider. After a slow rise to this point, he is ready to move quickly. It may not be long before people refer to Jason Kubel as his brother-in-law. STILL AROUND Bobby Lanigan (3-92) was drafted out of Adelphi University in New York. He moved fairly quickly early in his career as a starting pitcher, reaching AA for the second half of the 2010 season. He remained with the Rock Cats until the second half of the 2012 season when he was promoted to Rochester. When drafted, many believed that he had a great slider that could be an asset out of the bullpen. In 2012, he was finally moved to the bullpen where he experienced some success in the new role. He will likely pitch with the Red Wings in 2013. Daniel Ortiz (4-126) is a native of Puerto Rico. This winter, he played on the same team as Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas, and it was Ortiz that hit in the third spot. The outfielder can play all three positions well. Not blessed with great size, he can still pack a punch. He missed the entire 2009 season due to a knee injury. He played well in the 2nd half of the 2010 season in Elizabethton. He got off to a great start in Beloit in 2011, but he really struggled in the season’s final four months. He returned to the Snappers to start the 2012 season, but he moved up to Ft. Myers after just a month and played much better. With the Miracle, he hit .269/.313/.424 with 24 doubles, five triples and eight home runs, re-establishing himself as a prospect. Michael Gonzales (9-276) is a big (6-6, 250), powerful first baseman who was drafted out of Diablo Valley College. He moved up one level a year until 2011 when he repeated at Beloit. But he did use that year to make some big improvements in his game, speeding up his swing and losing weight to become a much better first baseman. He struggled in Ft. Myers in 2012 thanks in part to a condition with dehydration. He was unable to play nine innings or often in back-to-back games. He could head to New Britain in 2013. Evan Bigley (10-306) was drafted from Lew Ford’s alma mater, Dallas Baptist. He moved quickly up to AA New Britain late in the 2010 season. He then stayed with the Rock Cats through the first half of the 2012 season when he moved up to Rochester. He played in the Arizona Fall League following the 2012 season and will likely return to Rochester in 2013. Blake Martin (17-516) was drafted out of LSU. He is a good example of a left-hander who is breathing continuing to get opportunities. He has certainly shown signs of being good at times. He split 2012 between the bullpen and the starting rotation and struckout 73 in 77 innings. He could return to New Britain, where he has pitched in at least parts of the past three seasons. Bruce Pugh (19-576) was drafted after one year of junior college. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Pugh pitched in both Ft. Myers and in New Britain. However, something clicked for him in 2012. He posted a 2.60 ERA in 27.2 innings in Ft. Myers. Then, he posted a 1.50 ERA in 42 innings in New Britain. He struckout 48. If he can throw strikes, he can have dominant stuff, including a mid-90s fastball. Nate Hanson (28-846) went to high school in Eden Prairie and then played at the University of Minnesota. When the hometown Twins drafted him, he signed quickly and has gradually moved up the farm system since. He spent all of 2012 in New Britain where he started the season in a utility role, but he really took off when he moved to second base full time. If he were to make the big league roster, it would likely be in utility role. THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY With their 16th round pick, the Twins took a high school second baseman named Kolten Wong out of his high school in Hawaii. Wong chose to play for the University of Hawaii, and it proved to be a good decision. In 2011, he was the 22nd overall pick, by the St. Louis Cardinals. Baseball America ranked him as the #84 prospect in baseball. THE ONE THEY TRADED AWAY In the 2nd round, the Twins took a very athletic shortstop named Tyler Ladendorf out of Howard College. He was playing well in 2009 at Elizabethton and promoted to Beloit where he played in just 15 games. You see, at the July trade deadline, he was sent to the Oakland A’s in exchange for shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera helped lead the Twins to an unlikely and thrilling run to the playoffs. Ladendorf has slowly progressed through the A’s system. He played in High-A ball in 2010 (and four games in AAA). In 2011, he hit .225/.308/.319 in AA (And had four more games in AAA). Last year at AA, he hit .240/.324/.358 with 20 doubles, a triple and nine home runs. SUMMARY The success of the Twins 2008 draft is largely dependent upon how Aaron Hicks adapts to the big leagues and how good he becomes. That is generally the expectation for a pick from the first half of the first round. It doesn’t always come to fruition. The other high-impact pick in this group could be Michael Tonkin. He will likely start the season in New Britain and could rise quickly. He could be a strong, dominant late-game bullpen arm for many years. And if he continues to pitch well, Hermsen has a chance to be a back-of-the-rotation type of starter. Others may find themselves getting an opportunity and that’s always a good thing. For there to still be ten players drafted in 2008 in the organization is unusual. Here is a quick look at how many players drafted by the Twins are still in the organization since the 2004 draft: 2004 – 3 2005 – 2 2006 – 5 2007 – 5 2008 – 10 2009 – 6 2010 – 17 2011 – 26 I think this is a good illustration of how difficult the draft can be. However, if any draft gives you one key starter and a possible starting pitcher and a potentially dominant reliever, the draft is a tremendous success. We still won’t know the success of the Twins 2008 draft for a few years, but right now, it looks pretty successful. View full article

The Twins lost to the Yankees and CC Sabathia on Tuesday night, but there was plenty to talk about in the minor league system. A Japanese import had a big game. An MVP from independent ball had a second straight big game. The Snappers played two, and the big man from the Dominican launched home run #5 on the young season, to keep up with Josh Willingham for the organizational lead! The minor leagues finished the day 3-2. Here is a look at the Twins minor league games from Tuesday and even more of the highlights: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 4, SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE 2 Tsuyoshi Nishioka raised his batting average above .200 (to .208) with a 3-4 game in which he also walked and stole his third base of the season. Brian Dozier had an RBI double (his fifth). Daryl Thompson started and gave up just one run on four hits in five innings. He walked and struck out three. Tyler Robertson struck out three in two scoreless frames. Anthony Slama made things interesting in recording his fourth save. In two innings, he gave up a run on three hits and three walks. He struck out three and did get the save. NEW BRITAIN 6, PORTLAND 3 On Monday, Chris Colabello had a two-out, two-on, game-tying, 9th inning home run, and then he had the big double in the Rock Cats five-run 11th inning. On Tuesday, he was back at it. Colabello went 2-3 with his third and fourth home runs and he drove in three runs. Chris Herrmann and Diebinson Romero were each 1-3 with a walk. David Bromberg made his first start of the season. The right-hander gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked two and struck out one. Bobby Lanigan threw three scoreless innings in relief. Deolis Guerra struck out two in two perfect innings. Lester Oliveros gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the 9th, but the Rock Cats had plenty of lead to maintain the lead and get the win. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 0, JUPITER 4 The Miracle bats were silenced in this game. They managed just four hits. Angel Morales hit his second double. Pat Dean started and gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out three. Jose Gonzalez and Caleb Thielbar each threw a scoreless inning of relief. GAME 1 - BELOIT 2, KANE COUNTY 5 Miguel Sano launched his fifth home run of the season in Game 1 of the Snappers double header, but it wasn’t enough. Madison Boer started and gave up three runs on nine hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out three. Bart Carter gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the seventh. Danny Ortiz was 2-2. Eddie Rosario was 1-3 with his fifth and sixth stolen bases. GAME 2 - BELOIT 3, KANE COUNTY 2 Jhonathan Goncalves was 3-3 with his third and fourth doubles. Eddie Rosario was 1-1 with two walks and his third double. Rory Rhodes was 1-1 with a walk. Matt Tomshaw started on the mound and gave up one run on four hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out four. AJ Achter struck out six in three perfect innings. Clinton Dempster gave up the tying run on two hits in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the 7th, Rhodes walked and AJ Pettersen pinch-ran for him. He was sacrificed to second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Following an intentional walk, Pettersen scored the game-winning run on another wild pitch. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, April 17, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Chris Colabello Download attachment: ChrisCollabello.jpg Pitcher of the Day – AJ Achter Download attachment: AJ Achter.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, April 18, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes Barre – RHP Cole DeVries New Britain @ Portland – RHP Steve Hirschfeld Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled Beloit vs Kane County – 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 Big Picture The Orioles are currently seven games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. However, they are currently 45-40 as the second half starts and that puts them 0.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. The Orioles last finished with a .500 record (and last made the playoffs) in 1997. For that matter, the last time the O’s finished with more than 70 wins was 2005 when Lee Mazzilli was the team’s manager. (Mazzilli’s son LJ was the Twins 9th round pick this June. He is yet to sign and may go back to U Conn for his senior season.) All Star Adam Jones has been Mr. Everything for the O’s. He leads the team in nearly every statistical category including Batting Average (.289), OBP (.330), Hits (98), Home Runs (20) and RBI (44). [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Why They Will Trade With the Twins The Orioles have not won in a long time and already shown that the will be aggressive, trading weeks ago for DH Jim Thome. But what are their needs? The Orioles are 26th in baseball in batting average (.240), 26th in OBP (.302), and 19th in Slugging (.402). They are also 19th in runs scored (351). So, they need offense. The Orioles are 19th in baseball in ERA (4.05), 15th in WHIP (1.30) and 16th in Batting Average Against (.253). Their starters have 37 Quality Starts, which ranks 26th in baseball. Zach Britton and Jake Arrieta are now in AAA Norfolk, leaving a starting rotation or Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chin, Miguel Gonzalez and Dana Eveland. Their bullpen has actually been quite solid, with Jim Johnson leading the way. However, counting on Luis Ayala, Darren O’Day and Kevin Gregg can’t give O’s fans a lot of confidence. Nick Markakis is coming back from injury, but the Orioles could still acquire one outfielder to put into left field. Denard Span and Josh Willingham would help the offense tremendously. JJ Hardy has a .642 OPS this year but continues to play solid defense. Robert Andino is playing a lot of second base because Brian Roberts is always hurt. Could they be interested in Jamey Carroll as a second baseman or for depth? Baltimore needs pitching, starting and relieving. They could be interested in Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, Jared Burton or even Matt Capps, assuming his rehab continues to go well and he gets some innings with the Twins in the next week. Why They Won't Trade With the Twins To be sure, the Orioles have a lot of needs, and they do match up well with the Twins. If they want to go in and make a big push, they may be willing to over-spend, but they may also go after those big names that may or may not truly be available. They may go after Justin Upton, Zach Greinke and Cole Hamels. Also, based on all of the weaknesses that the Orioles have, the next two weeks will be very important. Their next 11 games are against the AL Central (3 vs Detroit, 4 @ Minnesota, 4 @ Cleveland). That stretch is followed by three games at home against the Rays, one of the teams that they are fighting for a playoff berth. The Orioles may need to go at least .500 over those 14 games to feel like a buyer. Frankly, the Orioles farm system, after its top two prospects (who are likely not available in any trade), things are pretty weak. Conclusion The Orioles have been running, it appears, on smoke and mirrors to this point in the 2012 season. Over the next two weeks, they will need to determine if they’re legitimate enough to make a big run, or if they just stand pat. Peter Angelos seems ready to make a run for it, whether is makes sense to do or not. ~~~ Possible Trade Targets Dylan Bundy - RHP Most consider him the top prospect in all of baseball at this point, so he is not available in any deal (one wouldn’t think). Even if he was traded, he couldn’t be traded by name. Since the 2011 fourth overall pick didn’t sign until the August deadline last year, he would have to be a Player to be Named Later. I included him because his numbers were so amazing. He debuted this spring in Low A and in 30 innings, he gave up two unearned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out 40 batters! He has since worked 32.2 innings in High-A where he has given up 13 runs on 30 hits and 11 walks and struck out 34. Manny Machado - SS Machado, the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, just turned 20 years old. At 6-3 and 185 pounds, he profiles like those great shortstops of the late ‘90s. In AA this year he is hitting .264/.347/.418 with 21 doubles, three triples and seven home runs. He has stolen ten bases and committed a respectable 14 errors. The O’s will continue with JJ Hardy and his .642 OPS for another year, but clearly they can’t wait for Machado to man the position for years to come. In other words, he’s most likely not available. (Bundy and Machado came into the year as Baseball America’s #10 and #11 prospects, respectively. At this point, both are likely in most “expert’s” Top 5 prospects. Most likely neither are available in any trade, but frankly after those two, there is a dramatic fall in talent in the Orioles farm system.) Jon Schoop – 2B Another 20 year old, Schoop is Machado’s keystone combo partner in AA Bowie this year. The Curacao native is hitting .250/.309/.382 with 14 doubles, one triple and eight home runs. I’m sure ideally the Orioles would like Schoop and Machado to stay together as a middle infield unit, replacing Hardy and Brian Roberts, for years. The Twins (And most teams) should always be looking for more middle infield depth and options. Dan Klein - RHP Klein is an intriguing prospect whose career to this point has been highlighted by injuries. He was the Orioles third round pick in 2010 out of UCLA. He had an injury in 2009. Last August he had surgery on his right labrum. He is expected to miss all of the 2012 season after having another shoulder surgery in mid-April. However, when he has pitched, he has been very good. In 2011, he posted a 1.15 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP in 15.2 High-A innings. He was promoted to AA where he was 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 16.2 innings. In 32.1 combined innings, he walked just six and struck out 38. Baseball America said he had the best control in the system. Jake Arrieta – RHP, Zach Britton – LHP, Brian Matusz – LHP, Chris Tillman – RHP Two years ago, the Orioles were boasting some of the best pitching prospects in baseball. They had a lot of veteran bats but some terrific young arms that they wanted to build around. The four pitchers I named above have all been very disappointing this season, but could a change of scenery be what they need. Arrieta is 26 and the Twins saw his upside on Opening Night. Britton is still just 24 years old and won 11 games in 2011. Matusz is still just 25. He was one of the more promising pitchers after decent seasons as a 22 year old in 2009 and a ten win season in 2010. However, he went 1-9 with a 10.69 ERA last year, the worst ERA in baseball history for a pitcher with more than 10 starts. Tillman is also still just 24. Please add your thoughts and trade ideas (and other names the Twins could pursue) in the comments below! Download attachment: Adam Jones.jpg Click here to view the article

It's hard to believe, but after a long 2011 season and a very long offseason, Opening Day is just one week away for the Twins and the rest of baseball (except the A's and Mariners, I guess.). I have been doing these weekly roster projections for for weeks, and it's a lot of fun. As much as we like to think our roster projections a month out look pretty solid, it's impossible to know. No one could have predicted that Chris Parmelee would perform so well. And who knew with the bullpen. Think about this. I posted a roster projection last Friday, and by Sunday, the Twins helped clarify things and my projection was already outdated. With one week to go, a few more spots on the roster have appeared to be solidified, but there are still question marks. Obviously injury concerns with Scott Baker and Kyle Waldrop have affected things, and we continue to keep the family of Jason Marquis in our thoughts as they remain with their daughter who was in a bicycle accident just over a week ago. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There are still roster moves to be made. Some have really impressed this spring, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. As a side note, the full-season minor league seasons actually start the day before the major league opener. Keep tuned to Twins Daily. When we get any official information on the major league and then the minor league rosters, this will be a great place to find that information and discuss it. (The players in Red are players that I believe are givens to make the roster (obviously pending injury). Those in black are potentially up for grabs. Discuss my selections and be sure to post your roster projections in the Comments as well.) Catchers: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit I have had JR Towles as the third catcher, and I have had Drew Butera retaining his spot. This week, I am going to project that the Twins will go with just two catchers. I don't know how comfortable Ron Gardenhire will be with that arrangement, and frankly, despite the fact that I don't like the idea of a third catcher, I do like the idea of Ryan Doumit getting a lot of at bats, and without a third catcher, I don't think that he will get as many. Infielders: Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Jamey Carroll, Luke Hughes, Chris Parmelee, Sean Burroughs Clearly the stories here have been Justin Morneau playing solely first base over the past 2-3 weeks and the play of Chris Parmelee. I'm not convinced that Parmelee is really ready or that it is best for his development to be on the big league roster. Thats a major reason, although not the only one, that I don't necessarily think that it is best for the Twins to have him in the big leagues. I made the argument earlier in the week that Luke Hughes could start at 2B with Casilla being a utility player. I don't think that would happen, but I would like to see Hughes get some time. Carroll has started hitting a little bit of late, but there are no concerns with him. The final bench spot does appear to be between Dinkelman, Burroughs, Butera and JR Towles. Dinkelman has had a very good camp and could be making the Twins brass consider him as a viable LH Pinch hitter option. Dinkelman or Burroughs would need to be added to the 40 man roster. Although Gardenhire did say a couple of weeks ago that Brian Dozier would start the season in Rochester (which is good), he remains in camp and continues to impress. Outfielders: Ben Revere, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe No change, in terms of who will likely be in the outfield, but plenty of change in the alignment. On Sunday, Gardenhire announced that Josh Willingham was moving back to Left Field and (no surprise) Denard Span will start in center field. He also said that Ben Revere will be the 4th outfielder. That means that Right Field will be manned by Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit and Chris Parmelee, as well as by Revere. Starting Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, Liam Hendriks, Scott Baker, Jason Marquis The top three spots appear set, and Baker and Marquis are the other two starters. However, it is still unclear whether Baker will need to start the season on the Disabled List or whether Marquis could be put on the bereavement list to start the season. In my opinion, at least one of those scenarios are pretty likely to happen, and that's why I have added Liam Hendriks to the starting rotation. I can't quite put him in red because it's possible Baker and Marquis will be ready for opening day. Although Baker and Marquis are both on the roster (and should be red), I put them in green to note that is where the question mark in the rotation lies. Bullpen: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Jared Burton, Matt Maloney, Jeff Gray,Kyle Waldrop, It's fairly clear that the Twins have set six spots in their bullpen at this point with Burton and Maloney grabbing hold of two more spots. Kyle Waldrop was certainly the favorite for that last spot and may be in red now if not for some inflammation in his elbow. He will likely begin the season on the DL. So, the final roster spot is up for grabs between Jeff Gray, Alex Burnett and Casey Fien. At this point, it come down to what makes sense. Burnett has been there the past two years, but he has really struggled in camp (and the last two seasons). Fien has pitched just fine, but he hasn't been put into early situations in the game, against big league hitters, so although his numbers look terrific and he's pitched well, it just doesn't seem that he's likely (although he is still there). Gray was a name that I mentioned last week as a guy not to forget. He didn't get many opportunities in "A" games the first couple of weeks of camp, but he's on the 40 man roster and he's out of options, so I hoped he would at least get a shot. He's pitched a couple of times and done pretty well. He's had quite a bit of (unimpressive) big league time, but I think he's the guy who gets that spot out of spring training. What are your thoughts? Discuss what your roster looks like? The season is getting close, and I'm getting excited! I hope everyone else is too! Download attachment: JeffGray.jpg Click here to view the article

According to Todd Zolecki of the Phillies mlb.com site (via twitter), The Twins acquired 1B Matt Rizzotti this morning from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for "cash considerations." The 6-5, 255 pounder was the Twins 46th round pick in 2004 out of high school. He was then the Phillies 6th round pick in 2007. Last year at AA Reading, he hit .295/.392/.511 with 34 doubles, 24 homers and 84 RBI. He walks a bunch, and he strikes out a bunch. The left-handed hitting 1B will likely play in Rochester, along with Aaron Bates at 1B. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] More to come. Download attachment: MattRizzotti.jpg Click here to view the article

It's no secret that the Twins have really struggled offensively to this point in spring training. That remained the case on Saturday when, in this sixth inning, the Twins were down 2-1 to the Pirates. Valencia stepped to the plate with two runners on and uncorked a long home run to give the Twins a 4-2 lead. The bullpen held the lead and the Twins got the win. For Valencia, it was his first home of the spring. For the Twins, it was just their third spring home run (Chris Parmelee and JR Towles had the other two). In his previous at bat, Valencia had ripped a double to the right center field gap. On the day, the Twins managed just four other hits. Terry Doyle got hit pretty hard by the Pirates. In 2.2 innings, he gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk. He was aided by a popped up bunt and a runner caught stealing on a pitch-out. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] He was helped by another terrific performance by the bullpen. Anthony Swarzak got the final out of the third inning and pitched a scoreless fourth frame. Jared Burton, Matt Maloney, Kyle Waldrop, Lester Oliveros and PJ Walters each threw a scoreless inning. Download attachment: DannyValencia.jpg ----- Earlier in the day, the Twins and Pirates played a "B" game. Scott Baker was to start, but he was unable to get loose on time, so Jeff Gray pitched the first inning. Then Alex Burnett pitched the second. Baker finally pitched in the 3rd. He was able to record just one out before the inning was called. He pitched a second inning and struggled. In all, he gave up six runs in 1.1 innings. Following the outing, Baker said his elbow was fine, he just couldn't get the ball down. Oswaldo Arcia hit a long, opposite field home run. Chris Parmelee hit two doubles. Click here to view the article

A day after several of the Twins minor league affiliates’ games were rained out, it was nearly a full schedule on Tuesday night. Elizabethton had the night off, but Rochester played two games to make up for it. A Honkball star showed what he is capable of in New Britain. A big time international signing from last year celebrated this year’s International Signing Day with a nice game. A couple big relief pitching prospects who hadn’t pitched in about ten days got back into action. A couple pitchers from the Twins' opening day roster took the mound in the minors.. Lots happened, including another homer from a guy in Cedar Rapids who quietly is putting up some monster power numbers in the shadow of Chris Colabello and Miguel Sano.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Speaking of the Kernels, were they able to continue their winning streak? Check out that and what else happened in the Twins farm system on Tuesday: Game 1 - Rochester Red Wings 2, Syracuse Chiefs 5 Box Score Cole De Vries was on the mound to start Game 1. The righty gave up three runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings. He walked two and struck out three. Michael Tonkin came on after being out for ten days due to soreness in his shoulder. He went one inning and gave up two runs on three hits. They are his first earned runs in two months. Blake Martin relieved and got the final two outs. Ray Olmedo went 2-3, the only Red Wing hitter with more than one hit. Antoan Richardson doubled for the eighth time. Game 2 - Rochester Red Wings 6, Syracuse Chiefs 5 Box Score Vance Worley was not terribly impressive in Game 2. The Twins Opening Day starter gave up four runs on six hits and in 5.1 innings he walked five and struck out just two. And, for his efforts, he improved to 5-3. Aaron Thompson gave up one run on two hits in the next inning. Luis Perdomo picked up his sixth save by getting the final two outs. The offense came through in this game though. Eric Farris was 2-4 with his 14th stolen base. James Beresford went 2-3 with his first double. Eric Fryer drilled a two-run double (his sixth). Deibinson Romero was 1-2 with a walk, his fifth double and two RBI. New Britain Rock Cats 3, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 1 Box Score It’s been an up-and-down season so far for Tom Stuifbergen, and on this night he was very good. He threw 6.1 shutout innings, giving up four hits, walking one and striking out three. Edgar Ibara got the next four outs, two of them on strikeouts. Dan Turpen recorded his second save. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings; he struck out two. The Rock Cats won despite just six hits. Josmil Pinto had his 19th double. Fisher Cats' 2012 first-round pick Marcus Stroman was very good. In 6.1 innings he walked one and struck out 13. He was charged with all three runs and took the loss. Ft. Myers Miracle 5, Bradenton Marauders 2 Box Score Tyler Duffey put together his best start for the Miracle. The right-hander threw seven shutout innings and used his defense to do so. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out zero. Jose Gonzalez came on and worked a perfect eighth frame. Zack Jones made his first appearance since June 23rd and was a little rusty. In his inning, he gave up two runs on a hit and two walks. Jhon Goncalves went 2-3 with a walk, his 15th double and fifth stolen base. Byron Buxton went 2-4. In Buxton’s first three games with the Miracle, he went 2-13. His last three games have all been multi-hit games through which he is 7-12. Now, he is hitting .360 with the Miracle. He is 19 years old. Just saying. Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Beloit Snappers 5 Box Score JO Berrios was on the mound, hoping to extend the Kernels 2nd half start to 12-0. He struggled. In just 4.1 innings, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked one and struck out six. Madison Boer came on in relief and gave up two hits over 2.2 innings. Steven Gruver came on and struck out two in the final inning. Jonathan Murphy, in his second game with the Kernels, went 3-4 with a double. JD Williams went 2-4 in his first game back since being hit by a pitch in the knee on Saturday. On the organization's home run leader board, Travis Harrison took over third place with his 14th. The loss ends the Kernels 11 game post-All-Star break winning streak. The team is 11-1 in the second half. Beloit won for the fifth straight time, and they are 10-2 in the second half. Elizabethton Twins No Game Scheduled. GCL Twins 2, GCL Orioles 3 Box Score It’s only been about ten days, but Amaurys Minier has already experienced the ups and downs of pro ball. Monday, he was very good. He went 3-3 with his second and third doubles. Brian Navaretto was 1-2 with a walk and his first double. Sam Gibbons started and worked the first three innings. He gave up no runs on four hits. He neither walked nor struck out a batter. He did hit one. Lewis Thorpe came in for the next two innings and didn't allow a run. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out two. Derek Penilla made his first professional appearance. He gave up one run on two hits in an inning. Dan Sattler had Tommy John surgery last August, and he made his first rehab appearance. He gave up two runs on two hits and recorded two outs, one on a strikeout. Sattler took the loss when Miguel Gonzalez came on and gave up a game-winning hit. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

Download attachment: TerryDoyle.jpg Twins Rule 5 draft pick Terry Doyle was the star guest on last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. The right-hander comes to the Twins organization after spending the past few seasons in the Chicago White Sox organization. The New Hampshire native went to Boston College where he went four years, was drafted twice and graduated with a math major. He teamed with the Twins prospects on the Mesa Solar Sox roster in the Arizona Fall League where he went 4-0. All told, last season, he passed the 200 innings pitched count. He is certainly excited about his opportunity with the Twins. Twins pitchers and catchers will report to Ft. Myers (officially) on Saturday and their first workout is on Sunday. Of course, as is always the case, most of the Twins roster, including many minor leaguers, are already working out in Ft. Myers. Following the 20+ minute interview with the talented right-hander, Fanatic Jack and I discussed/argued several Twins related topics. I also gave a minute or two rant about why I chose to be optimistic and positive despite my ability to be realistic as well. I actually think it went pretty well as it wasn’t an interview session, it was just back and forth Twins banter on a smorgasbord of Twins topics. If you missed the live show on Tuesday night, be sure to listen to the podcast by clicking here. Any thoughts? Click here to view the article

Download attachment: vance-worley.jpg The Minnesota Twins have traded CF Ben Revere to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for RHP Vance Worley and a prospect. The prospect is Trevor May. Revere was the heir apparent for the Twins Center Field job going back to when Denard Span was dealt to the Washington Nationals for RHP Alex Meyer. He will go to the Phillies where he and Span will compete (with BJ Upton) for NL East (CF) supremacy. Vance Worley has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Phillies. Overall, he is 18-13 with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He also has 238 strikeouts in 277.2 (7.7 K/9). [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Trevor May is a 6-5, 215 pound right-hander. He was the #69 overall prospect according to Baseball America last year. As a 22 year old in the Eastern League (AA), he went 10-13 with a 4.87 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. However, in 149.2 innings, he struckout 151 (and walked 78). He should fit pretty easily into the Twins top 10 prospects. He is currently ranked as the Phillies #2 prospect. Revere's Twins tenure is best known for his web gem frequency and his speed. He loved playing with the Twins and fans loved the smile that he always plays with. He is certainly limited offensively as a singles hitter, but he can steal bases. Some in the organization always saw him more as a 4th outfielder, so to get a solid MLB starting pitcher plus a very talented pitching prospect for him is a great move by Terry Ryan and the Twins! Click here to view the article

The big news in the Minnesota Twins organization on Saturday was the 1,000th career win of manager Ron Gardenhire. He is the 60th manager in MLB history to reach that milestone. Of those 60, only ten have done it with just one team. Kyle Gibson got the victory, and Jason Kubel had three hits. Following the game, the Twins wore shirts (made last year) that said, “1,000 Wins… 67 Ejections” on the front and “And Counting” on the back. Congratulations! The Red Wings are still looking to play their second game. The Kernels played two games to make up for a postponed game on Friday night. Their bats stayed pretty cold on Saturday too. However, the Miracle bats were out in full force on Saturday night. Continue on to see who starred in the Twins farm system on Saturday. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Buffalo Bison (Postponed) Just a warning… this may sound vaguely familiar… This game was lost due to cold and wet conditions in Rochester. The two teams will be in Rochester where Alex Meyer will start on Sunday in the Red Wings home opener. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, Richmond 13 Box Score Welcome to AA, Taylor Rogers. The lefty who was my choice for Twins minor league starting pitcher of the year in 2013, struggled in his Rock Cats debut. He was charged with nine runs (7 earned) on eight hits. He walked none and struck out three. He also hit a batter. Two of the hits were home runs. BJ Hermsen came on and gave up three runs (just one earned) on four hits and a walk in two innings. Jim Fuller made his Twins organization debut. The minor league Rule 5 pick gave up one run on two hits and two walks in 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Cole Johnson got the final two outs. Not much offense for the Rock Cats either in the game. They managed just six hits. Corey Wimberly went 2-4. Nate Hanson hit his second double. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 13, Jupiter 4 Box Score The Miracle bats showed up early in this game and didn’t let up. Two big innings were all that they needed to take this game. All nine Miracle batters had at least one hit as the team improved to 3-0 on the season. Download attachment: Mike Gonzales 2.jpg In the bottom of the first, the team scored eight runs. Levi Michael led off with a single. Jorge Polanco and Dalton Hicks walked to load the bases. Adam Walker walked to score the first run. Max Kepler singled to drive in the second. After Stuart Turner lined out, Mike Gonzales singled in a run. Travis Harrison followed with a run-scoring single. It was station-to-station until Niko Goodrum cleared the bases with a double. Goodrum stole third and scored the eighth run of the inning on a Michael ground out. Fast-forward to the fifth inning. Jorge Polanco led off with a walk. Dalton Hicks singled. After Walker struck out, Kepler reached on an error to load the bases. Stuart Turner drove in a run by being hit by a pitch. Mike Gonzales followed with a long grand slam home run. Gonzales led the way, going 2-5 with five RBI. Dalton Hicks, Levi Michael, Max Kepler and Levi Michael each had two hits as well. Jorge Polanco went 1-3 with two walks. Lost in the offensive barrage was a pretty solid pitching performance as well. Brett Lee made the start. He went the first 5.2 innings and gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits in 5.2 innings. He walked one and struck out three. Matt Tomshaw recorded the final out of the sixth inning and worked two more frames. He gave up one run on two hits. Brian Gilbert gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1 - Cedar Rapids 1, Clinton 4 Box Score The 2014 Kernels team will not be like it was in 2013. This year’s team will have some serious pitching talent. However, that talent will be making their first appearances in a new league and in a full-season league. There will be a big learning curve. Randy Rosario is a hard-throwing left hander. He started and went 3.2 innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits and two walks. Two of the hits were home runs. Brandon Bixler replaced him and gave up a single and a walk over the next 2.1 innings. He struck out two. Felix Jorge worked a perfect inning and struck out one. The bats did very little. Thursday night’s hero, Bryan Haar, went 1-2 with a walk. Michael Quesada went 1-2 with a walk, and a double that drove in the team’s lone run in this. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids 0, Clinton 6 Box Score The Kernels’ bats had a rough day. You wouldn’t know it from reading the final score, but this was actually a very good game, a pitcher’s duel through four innings. Ryan Eades started and he threw four shutout innings. However, in the fifth, he was charged with three runs. In all, he gave up those three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck three out. Brandon Peterson came on with the bases loaded and two outs. He gave up a line drive hit to right field which scored the inherited run, but Zach Larson threw out the runner trying to score from second to stop the damage. Peterson worked a scoreless sixth inning. Alex Muren came on for the seventh. He was charged with three runs on four hits. The Kernels managed just four hits in this game including doubles from Mitch Garver and Tanner Vavra. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brett Lee, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mike Gonzales, Ft. Myers Miracle SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (1:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (vs Ricky Romero) Richmond @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Matt Summers Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – JO Berrios Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (2:05 CST) – Kohl Stewart Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the games of Saturday night. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over Cleveland on Saturday, it means that on Sunday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Finally, check out the Pioneer Press's Mike Berardino's Tout video of Brian Dozier. Mike asked if he was aware that in Gardy's first managerial win, Jacque Jones led off with a home run. Dozier's response is terrific. http://www.tout.com/m/dwmobv?ref=tw5170gw[/media] Click here to view the article

The TwinsDaily AL Central Preseason Team's infield is pretty well set. It's time to move to the outfield. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Left Fielder will have the best 2012?" Be sure to vote here. The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins - Ben Revere - .267/.310/.309 (.619) with 9-2B, 5-3B, 0-HR, 30 RBI Chicago White Sox - Dayan Viciedo - .255/.327/.314 (.641) with 3-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 6 RBI Dayan Viciedo MILB - .296/.364/.491 (.856) with 28-2B, 0-3B, 2-HR, 78 RBI Cleveland Indians - Michael Brantley - .266/.318/.384 (.702) with 24-2B, 4-3B, 7-HR, 46 RBI Detroit Tigers - Delmon Young - .268/.302/.393 (.695) with 21-2B, 1-3B, 12-HR, 64 RBI Kansas City Royals - Alex Gordon - .303/.376/.502 (.879) with 45-2B, 4-3B, 23-HR, 87 RBI [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] SUMMARY Despite an OPS+ of just 73, Twins fans saw the game-changing speed that Ben Revere possesses in 2011. Now, if he can increase the batting average a bit, and find a way to get his on-base percentage up to reasonable numbers, and he could have a big affect on the Twins 2012 season. In 2011, he set the Twins rookie stolen base record with 34 steals. He will turn 24 in early May. The White Sox signed Viciedo as a young 3B from Cuba. Even now, he just turned 23. Last yaer was the first year that he was exclusively playing in the outfield. Although he primarily played right field, manager Robin Ventura thinks that his team's best defensive alignment means Viciedo will play in left field. Although he hasn't found much big league success, he is strong and has a very powerful swing that could eventually play a powerful role in the middle of the White Sox lineup. Michael Brantley is the 24 year old son of former big leaguer Mickey Brantley. He is another speedy outfielder with good range. With a full season of games, it is likely that he will surpass most of his father's big league statistics. Delmon Young finished 10th in MVP voting in 2010 when he had his breakout season with the Twins. He returned to his frustrating self in 2011 and the Twins traded him to the Tigers in August. He hit third for the Tigers and contributed a little bit to the Tigers playoff run. The team tried to trade the 26 year old much of the offseason but were unable to. If he hits in front of Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, he could put up decent numbers in 2012 again. 28-year-old Alex Gordon was the second overall pick in the incredible 2005 draft. While fellow 3B Ryan Zimmerman and Ryan Braun got to the big leagues quickly and have had tremendous success throughout their careers, 2011 was finally the breakout year for Gordon. Not only did he perform well with the bat, he won a Gold Glove for his work in left field. He also stole 17 bases. There is your information, now it is time to vote. Who will be the best left fielder in the AL Central in 2012? My choice? Download attachment: AlexGordon.jpg Click here to view the article

Manager Ron Gardenhire wanted him up in the big leagues last summer. Teammates praise his leadership as well as his ability to do anything and everything needed with the bat. Pitchers love when he is playing shortstop behind them. How can Brian Dozier make the Twins Opening Day Roster? There are many things going against Dozier this spring, at least in terms of making the opening day roster. The biggest thing he has going for him is his play and his personality. Let’s start with the reasons that he will not make the Opening Day Roster: Jamey Carroll and Alexi Casilla – The Twins brought in Jamey Carroll and paid him enough that he will get a starting job. He’s earned that by playing in 140+ games the last two years, being solid defensively and getting on base at a very good clip. The Twins are committed to giving Alexi Casilla another shot as a starter at second base. Even if the leash on Casilla isn’t real long, he will get a shot to start. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Brian Dozier is a real prospect – In other words, they are not going to keep him on the big league roster if he isn’t going to play nearly every day. It would be best for Dozier’s development to go to Rochester and play every day. Dozier will not come up as a utility player yet.40 man roster – Dozier is not on it. Sure, it would be easy to add him to the 40 man roster, especially with Joel Zumaya’s roster spot available when he is put on the 60 Day Disabled List. But the Twins may use that to add a reliever. Dozier doesn’t need to be added to the 40 man roster, so unless he proves himself in a short period of time to be vastly better than the other options, there is little reason to add him now.Free Agency – It’s weird to look six or seven years in advance, especially in baseball where year-to-year is often not a guarantee. However, if the Twins wait to add Dozier to the 40 man roster until after about April 20th, it would be an extra season before he could become a free agent. Is having him up two or three weeks earlier worth losing a full season of his best years?Hasn’t spent a day in AAA – This isn’t a complete deal-breaker, but it is unusual for players to be promoted directly from AA without spending time in AAA. It’s happened. The Twins did that with Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee last year in September and Ben Revere the September before that. In each of those cases, it was simply for an opportunity to see the players, and in Revere’s case, his speed could be used in late innings as a pinch runner during a pennant race. Brad Radke came up from AA. Others have, including Joe Mauer.Tsuyoshi Nishioka – What will the Twins do (or be able to do) with Nishioka and his contract? Would they send him to Rochester? They may be willing to keep him up as a utility player an not play him very much.I’m sure you can add other reasons for why the Twins would choose not to put Brian Dozier on their opening day roster. However, there are some reasons that it should not be considered completely out of the realm of possibility for Dozier to leave camp with the Twins. Offense – After putting up fairly pedestrian numbers in 2010 at Beloit and Ft. Myers, Dozier had an incredible 2011 season in which he was named the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year. In 49 games in Ft. Myers and 78 games in New Britain, he combined to hit .320/399/.491 with 33 doubles, 12 triples, nine home runs and 56 RBI. He stole 24 bases. He had ten sacrifice bunts.Defense – Although scouts tend to be mixed on whether or not he can be an everyday shortstop or a second baseman or a utility infielder, he makes the routine plays. That’s all that the Twins brass asks a player to do. He credited his Arizona Fall League manager Joe McEwing with helping him increase his range with just a couple of quick alterations.Versatility – He can play shortstop and second base, so if Carroll or Casilla were to be hurt, he could fill in for either of them. Carroll is also versatile, so if the Twins feel, at some point, that Alexi Casilla needs to move back to the bench, Carroll could move to second and Dozier could play shortstop.Leadership – it isn’t a measurable quality, but teammates at each level talk about his ability to lead. He isn’t a loudmouth, but he leads by example and isn’t afraid to take charge on the field. Obviously we know that is important to Ron Gardenhire.Tsuyoshi Nishioka - Because the Twins clearly are not big supporters of Nishioka at this point, it is possible that they would release the middle infielder, give Dozier a starting gig and move Carroll or Casilla to a bench role.The odds are stacked against Brian Dozier, who went 2-3 with a triple yesterday in exhibition play, to make the Twins Opening Day roster. However, the odds are definitely in favor of Brian Dozier being promoted to the Twins at some point in 2012. The odds are also very good that once he is called up, he will remain a starter with the Twins for several seasons. Download attachment: BrianDozier.jpg Click here to view the article

Buyers or Sellers As we sit here in early July, the Mets are about a dozen games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. They are more than a half-dozen games behind the Washington Nationals for second in the division. In fact, they have the second-worst record in the National League, ahead of only the Miami Marlins. If the 2014 MLB draft order were selected today, the Mets would draft fifth overall. There is no question that the Mets will, or at least should, attempt to be sellers in July. What They Need What don’t the Mets need? David Wright (.914) is the lone Mets player with an OPS over. 802. Honestly, except for third, there isn’t a position at which the Mets could not make an improvement. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Wright is a cornerstone, and the Mets are starting to see the debut of a core of talented young pitchers. Matt Harvey (24) is one of baseball’s most exciting and talented young starters. Zach Wheeler (23) recently made his debut. Dillon Gee (27), Jonathan Niese (26, signed through 2016, with 2 option years) and Jeremy Hefner (27, 3.72 ERA) are a solid group of starters. Jeurys Familia (23) can be dominant out of the bullpen. 23-year-old shortstop Ruben Tejada is posting Florimonic offensive numbers. Ike Davis (26) hit 32 homers last year, but was finally sent to AAA after hitting .161 with little power this year. The outfield of Lucas Duda, Marlon Byrd and a rotation centerfielder can certainly be improved. John Buck is adequate at catcher and they do have Travis d’Arnaud waiting, injured, in the wings. What Might Work The Twins and the Mets should both be in the sellers category, so it is unlikely that these two teams line up real well. Marlon Byrd and closer Bobby Parnell should be available, but the Twins had best not be interested in either. The Mets may be interested in acquiring a couple of veterans who are signed long-term in an attempt to compete a little more quickly. They have been rumored to have interest in the White Sox’ Alexei Ramirez. How do the Mets feel about feel about the future of Ike Davis? At the deadline could they be interested in a player like Justin Morneau and then try to lock him up for a couple of years? There could be interest in bullpen arms like Brian Duensing and Casey Fien because of their low contracts with at least a couple years of team control. One other name that might garner interest from the Mets is Trevor Plouffe. He could platoon at 1B with Davis and potentially improve one of the Mets corner outfield spots. He will become arbitration-eligible following this season. Sleeper Targets Gabriel Ynoa - RHP – Low-A - 20 years old Ynoa is not currently a highly-ranked prospect. He throws into the low 90s with encouraging but inconsistent secondary pitches, as you would expect from such a young arm. At 6-2 and just 160 pounds, he has plenty of room to grow, and hopefully be able to add some velocity. This year, he is 9-3 with a 2.89 ERA. In 87.1 innings, he has given up just 73 hits, walked only 11 and struck out 73. Matt Reynolds - SS - High A - 22 years old The middle infielder was the team’s 2nd round pick just a year ago out of the University of Arkansas where he teamed with DJ Baxendale and went to the College World Series. He is what scouts call a ball player. His tools are not great. He is not real fast. He doesn’t have huge power. He is a smart player who is quite poised on the field. Right now in the Florida State League, he is hitting .242/.327/.370 (.696) with 15 doubles, five triples, three homers and 30 RBI. It is believed that he can stick at short, but could play second, third or fulfill a utility role. Steve Matz - LHP - Low-A - 22 years old Matz was the Mets 2nd round pick in 2009 out of high school. He had Tommy John surgery in 2010 and missed all of 2011 as well. He suffered some soreness early in 2012 and did not make his professional debut until last June. He is pitching in the Sally League this year. He is just 2-4 but has a 2.53 ERA. In 64 innings, he has given up just 53 hits, walked 20 and struck out 70. The reason he may be available is the injury risk, but it is still believed that he has very good stuff. Patience would be important. Dream Target We can dream of Harvey and Wheeler and d’Arnaud all we want, but with the two teams where they are, that’s not happening. For the names mentioned above, they wouldn’t likely get Top 10 prospects. I don’t see a fit with Glen Perkins, and if we did, someone like Noah Syndergaard would have to be in play. After much research, I would love to see the Twins target one of these following mid-level prospects for the above-mentioned Twins. It would also be an acceptable haul in a deal for Morneau, in my opinion. Jack Leathersich - LHP - AAA – 22 years old There are a lot of left-handed relievers out there; few are like Glen Perkins. Those that are can be quite valuable. Leathersich fits the Perkins mold. He is just 5-11. His fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s. He has a sharp curveball and is looking to develop a change-up. After signing in 2011, he struck out 26 in 12.2 innings. Between two levels in 2012, he struck out 113 batters in 72 innings. He began this season in AA and struck out 25 in 29.1 innings. He has been promoted to AAA where he has struck out 15 batters in eight innings (9 games). Worst case, Leathersich looks like a dominant LOOGY. Best case scenario, he becomes a second Glen Perkins. Kevin Plawecki - C – High-A - 22 years old Plawecki was the Mets’ first-round pick in 2012 out of Purdue, where he was the Big 10 Player of the Year. Like Twins’ 2013 draft picks Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, Plawecki was a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award as college’s top catcher. Catchers are valuable in the minor leagues, but the Mets do have Travis d’Arnaud as their catcher of the future. After hitting .314/.390/.494 (.884) with 24 doubles, a triple, six homers and 43 RBI in Low-A, Plawecki was recently promoted to the Florida State League where he is hitting .361 with four extra base hits in nine games. Hopefully Joe Mauer will be able to catch for several years, but it will be important to having catching options (to go along with the likes of Josmil Pinto) ready within the next two to three years. The Twins have some high-upside prospects and some veterans. Together they will, we hope, make the Twins much better in 2014 and a contender by 2015. The Mets have the kind of young pitching that will make them a team to watch, potentially quickly, if they can score any runs. Twins fans may recall the most recent trade between the Twin and the Mets. In that trade, one team (Mets) was a buyer, and the seller (Twins) received the #1, #2, #4 and #8 prospects of the Mets. It’s likely fair to say that despite the lofty rankings of those four players (Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber), the Twins did not get much for the two-time Cy Young Award winner. Meanwhile, after a couple of very good years, the Mets paid a lot of money to Santana while he was on the Disabled List. This year, both teams are sellers and likely unwilling to give up top prospects. So the only way the teams will deal with each other is a minor deal. Of course, those are the types of deals that Terry Ryan has made most years of his tenure. And, many of those trades have resulted in the Twins acquiring a not-highly-publicized prospect who becomes a solid contributor. View full article

Since completing the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook a month ago, I have managed to find a little extra time in my life. So, what did I do? I am so cool that I started making my Minnesota Twins Roster Projections (which can be found hereand here). Today, another piece to that fun, preseason puzzle is presented for you today. It is my attempt to predict how the Twins hitters will fare in 2013. I'm sure you've reviewed several such projections, such as Bill James and PECOTA and others. However, those are all just done with a computer and with stats and all those things that seem to make a lot of sense based on several factors like the players' history, age and more. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] My projections are fairly similar, in nature, yet likely different in results. I admit that I used my computer and I looked at players' stats from previous seasons. I considered the players' ages and career trajectories. I also made some assumptions based on intangibles, either previously chronicled or developed on my own. In other words, I look at the numbers and then use my gut to determine what the player will do in 2013. Download attachment: Joe Mauer.jpg You're certainly free to disagree with them, if you like. Frankly, I just enjoy doing it because it helps me get ready for the upcoming season. I'm not going to claim that my projections are in any way better than the others you've read (even those other ones will be pretty close on some and not even a little close on others), but I am certainly willing to stand behind them. And, hopefully someone will remind me at the end of the season to look at them and see how close I was. I encourage all of you to do something similar and/or post your projections for the players below as well. Obviously we can't predict injury or trades and easier than we can predict who will break out and who will bust. But again, these are solely my projections for the 2012 seasons for the Twins hitters. It is not meant to be used in your fantasy league drafts or anything. If you do so, do so at your own risk. Please note that I projected player by player, and at the end, I compared my projected 2013 numbers to the actual 2012 numbers to see if I was completely off. I do show some small improvement by the offense overall. Note also that I have about 250 more plate appearances to reach those 2012 numbers, but I would say those are for other players who come up for brief stints, or to account for the unexpected. With that, I'm going to split the projections into two charts, in hopes that it will fit better onto your screen. Enjoy! [TABLE=width: 537] [/TD] G PA AB BA OBP SLG OPS C Joe Mauer 143 626 532 0.325 0.406 0.483 0.889 C Ryan Doumit 127 505 470 0.257 0.305 0.430 0.735 C Drew Butera 31 91 84 0.202 0.231 0.286 0.516 C Chris Herrmann 43 123 108 0.259 0.325 0.361 0.686 1B Justin Morneau 142 607 521 0.292 0.381 0.536 0.916 2B Brian Dozier 113 458 412 0.267 0.330 0.391 0.720 3B Trevor Plouffe 154 598 536 0.252 0.311 0.451 0.763 SS Pedro Florimon 62 179 164 0.189 0.218 0.262 0.480 UIF Jamey Carroll 129 335 281 0.274 0.343 0.342 0.685 UIF Eduardo Escobar 108 237 212 0.259 0.312 0.349 0.661 LF Josh Willingham 151 626 534 0.253 0.355 0.489 0.843 CF Aaron Hicks 91 397 336 0.265 0.348 0.399 0.746 RF Chris Parmelee 119 433 382 0.259 0.335 0.440 0.775 OF Darin Mastroianni 115 387 337 0.246 0.313 0.335 0.648 OF Oswaldo Arcia 33 128 115 0.322 0.367 0.487 0.854 OF Joe Benson 67 210 184 0.250 0.305 0.375 0.680 2013 Predictions 162 5940 5208 0.267 0.337 0.426 0.763 2012 Totals 162 6209 5562 0.260 0.325 0.390 0.715 [/TABLE] Here are more of the projected counting numbers: [TABLE=width: 498] R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO C Joe Mauer 78 173 38 2 14 78 3 81 92 C Ryan Doumit 49 121 31 1 16 63 0 33 92 C Drew Butera 5 17 4 0 1 7 0 4 19 C Chris Herrmann 12 28 6 1 1 13 1 12 18 1B Justin Morneau 77 152 32 1 31 86 0 79 99 2B Brian Dozier 49 110 27 3 6 41 13 41 52 3B Trevor Plouffe 78 135 30 1 25 68 1 51 121 SS Pedro Florimon 20 31 7 1 1 13 3 8 47 UIF Jamey Carroll 41 77 14 1 1 25 7 38 43 UIF Eduardo Escobar 18 55 11 1 2 23 3 19 38 LF Josh Willingham 71 135 27 0 33 104 1 87 141 CF Aaron Hicks 64 89 14 5 7 33 13 49 75 RF Chris Parmelee 42 99 20 2 15 41 1 46 88 OF Darin Mastroianni 44 83 12 3 4 31 29 38 94 OF Oswaldo Arcia 16 37 7 0 4 21 0 10 25 OF Joe Benson 24 46 8 3 3 22 8 18 51 2013 Predictions 688 1388 288 25 164 669 83 614 1095 [TD]2012 Totals 701 1448 270 30 131 667 135 505 1069 [/TABLE] That's a lot of numbers to digest, so take your time... Are there some you agree with? Others that you disagree with? Which are the most egregious? And again, be sure to post your projections for some of all of the players as well! Click here to view the article

There were a lot of standout performances on Friday night. Four starting pitchers provided Quality Starts for their teams. Strange for the Twins organization, one of them even had double-digit strikeouts, if you can believe that. Ten Twins minor leaguers had at least three hits on this day as well. Unfortunately, three of the Twins affiliates lost games in the last inning. But another team ended a poor steak in fine fashion. The highlight of the night was the performance of a possibly overlooked Twins prospect in New Britain. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]It isn’t every day when a player has five hits in a game. But, Rosario didn’t just slap his way to five hits. He went 5-5 with two doubles and a home run. With Buxton, Sano and Arcia around, Rosario is known to prospect followers, but he is often overlooked. He shouldn’t be. See what else happened in the Twins farm system on Friday. Rochester Red Wings 6, Indianapolis Indians 7 Box Score The offense and Scott Diamond did their jobs on this night, but one bad inning cost the Red Wings an important game in the standings. Scott Diamond was impressive for the second straight outing. After throwing a complete game in his previous start, Diamond gave up only an unearned run over eight innings. He gave up nine hits, walked two and struck out three. The Red Wings got contributions from most in the lineup. Eric Farris went 3-4 with his 22nd stolen base. Chris Parmelee went 3-5 with his first stolen base. James Beresford went 3-5. Jeff Clement went 2-5 with his 24th double and his 16th home run. Josmil Pinto went 2-4 with his fifth double. Antoan Richardson went 2-5. That brings us to the 9th inning. Edgar Ibarra came in to start the inning. He had gone 26 games and 31.1 innings without giving up a run. All good things much come to an end. He gave up a single to lead off the inning. Then, after a fly out, he gave up another single. He walked a batter to load the bases. At that point, he was replaced by Shairon Martis. Martis gave up a single that scored the first run off of Ibarra in 31.2 innings. The bases were still loaded, and Martis gave up a grand slam to #9 hitter Lucas May to tie the game. He gave up one more run to take the loss. So, Ibarra was charged with three runs in the inning, and Martis was charged with the other three. Amazingly, coming into the game, the Red Wings had been 58-0 on the season when leading after eight innings. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Bowie Bay Sox 8 Box Score The story of this game was the bat of Eddie Rosario. Unfortunately, the story of the end of the game was a lack of control, and it cost the Rock Cats on this night. The Rock Cats fell behind early, but a Rosario single tied the game in the 8th. However, the bottom of the 9th didn’t go so well for the Rock Cats bullpen. Matt Hauser pitched a scoreless eighth inning, but he walked the leadoff batter of the ninth. It was followed by a sacrifice bunt. Ryan O’Rourke came on and issued another walk. He threw a wild pitch, and Jeff Smith chose to intentionally walk the batter to load the bases. The infield came in and O’Rourke coaxed a grounder to first base. Reynaldo Rodriguez threw home for the force out. With two outs, Dakota Watts came in to the game. He walked the lone batter he faced, bringing in the winning run for Bowie. DJ Baxendale started and was charged with six runs (5 earned) on six hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out six. Daniel Turpen came on and was perfect for two innings before Hauser’s scoreless eighth frame. Eddie Rosario had one of those games that batters want to have. He went 5-5 and hit his 16th and 17th doubles, his fourth home run (12th overall) and drove in four runs, including the two runs he drove in in the 8th that tied the game at six each. Danny Ortiz went 2-5 with his 12th home run. Danny Santana also went 2-5 and stole his 26th base. Download attachment: Eddie Rosario Puerto Rico.jpg Game 1 - Ft. Myers Miracle 9, St. Lucie Mets 8 (10 innings) Box Score I have to assume that ten innings and three hours and 41 minutes is not what the Miracle and Mets were hoping for in Game 1, but that’s exactly what happened. Jason Wheeler got the start. The left-hander from Loyola Marymount gave up four runs, just one earned, on seven hits. He walked two and struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes, another lefty, came on and gave up three runs on two hits and three walks in the sixth inning. Steve Gruver, the third left-hander of the game, gave up one run on two hits and a walk over two innings. He struck out two. Right-hander Tyler Jones came on and walked two in the ninth, but he struck one out, gave up no runs, and got the win. Mike Kvasnicka and Levi Michael led the way. Kvasnicka went 3-4 with a walk, his eighth homer and three RBI. Levi Michael went 3-4 with his fourth home run. Stephen Wickens went 2-4 with his 17th and 18th home runs. Byron Buxton went 2-3 with two walks and his seventh (16th overall) triple. (According to Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zimmerman, he was hitting .411 over his previous 24 games following this game.) Jairo Rodriguez added two hits. Game 2 - Ft. Myers Miracle, St. Lucie Mets Box Score The Miracle didn’t get a lot of offense, but they got enough to sweep this doubleheader. Coming into the day, the Miracle had gone 4-14 in their past 18 games. The Miracle had just three hits in the game. Byron Buxton was 1-1 with two walks. AJ Pettersen was hit twice, once in the shoulder and once on the helmet. Pettersen scored on a Stephen Wickens RBI double. After a Buxton walk, Wickens came around to score on a Dalton Hicks single. Buxton scored on a ground out by Kennys Vargas ground out. All three Miracle runs scored in the third inning. Matt Summers made the Miracle start. He gave up just two runs on two hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five batters. Zack Jones came in for the 7th inning. He had a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts for his 13th save. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Quad Cities River Bandits 3 Box Score Hudson Boyd has had many more downs than ups in his first full season as a professional, but on Friday night, he had arguably his best start of the year, providing the Kernels with a Quality Start. In seven innings, he gave up three runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out four. Brian Gilbert gave up a hit in a scoreless eighth frame. The Kernels had nine hits, but only Adam Walker had a multi-hit game. The talented right fielder went 3-4 in the game. Shortstop Ryan Walker, the Twins 18th round pick this June, was called up to the Kernels on Friday and debuted by going 1-3 in the game. Elizabethton Twins 2, Pulaski 3 (11 innings) Box Score The E-Twins came into the day one game back of the wild card. However, the two teams ahead of them won, which means they end this day two games out of a playoff spot with just seven games to play. Felix Jorge made the start for the Twins. He gave up two earned runs on six hits over the first six innings of the game. He walked two and struck out 11. Ethan Mildren worked the next three innings and did not allow a run. He gave up just one hit, walked two and struck out three. Austin Malinowski came on and pitched a scoreless tenth inning. However, with one out in the 11th, he allowed the game-winning run for Pulaski. The E-Twins managed just six hits in the game. Stuart Turner had three of the hits, including his third home run of the season which drove in both of the team’s runs. Mitch Garver went 2-5. Tanner Vavra had the other hit, a single. GCL Twins 0, GCL Red Sox 2 Box Score The GCL squad got some good pitching, but the bats did absolutely nothing. They managed just three hits in the game and only worked one walk. Jared Wilson started and gave up one run on four hits and a walk in four innings. He walked four. For the second time, Deolis Guerra pitched in a rehab game. He pitched a perfect inning, striking out one. Seth Wagner gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk in two innings. Jose Abreu struck out one in a scoreless inning. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Click here to view the article

In the next couple of days, the Alexi Casilla arbitration situation will be over. Arbitration hearings are to be complete by February 15th. The sides are not to discuss when a hearing is scheduled, so we don’t know when the Twins and Casilla would have a hearing in front of an arbiter. Of course, it is also possible that the two sides will come to an agreement before going to arbitration. Download attachment: AlexiCasilla.jpg This is Casilla’s second year of arbitration. Last year, he signed before a hearing and played the 2011 season making $865,000. 2011 was a strange season for Casilla. He began the season as the Twins starting shortstop. In April, he hit .167/.227/.200 in 22 games. Trevor Plouffe was called up and got almost a dozen games at shortstop. Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who was rehabbing his broken leg, was being moved to shortstop. Casilla was really bad. However, once you get past April, Casilla had a very solid season. Check out his monthly splits: April - .167/.227/.200 May - .288/.351/.424 June - .274/.349/.400 July - .283/.333/.404 Season - .260/.322/.368 in 97 games. Unfortunately, he played just one game in August and September combined due to an injury. If you recall, he came back for one game and was immediately placed on the disabled list again afterward. Casilla’s 97 games played in 2011 was on less than his career-high of 98 games played as a 23 year old in 2008. He will go into the 2012 season as the Twins starting second baseman, but frankly, many question if he isn’t best as a utility middle infielder. Casilla and his representation is asking for $1.75 million. The Twins offer was $1.065 million. The midpoint is $1.407 million. Here are some comparables: Robert Andino (Orioles) – Settled for $1.3 million Mike Aviles (Red Sox) – Settled for $1.2 million Jeff Baker (Cubs) – Settled for $1.375 million Emilio Bonifacio (Marlins) – WON at $2.2 million Mike Fontenot (Giants) – Settled at $1.05 million Chris Getz (Royals) – Settled for $968,000 Jed Lowrie (Astros) – Settled for $1.15 million After reviewing this list and doing some comparison, I don’t think that Casilla is wrong in asking for $1.7 million. I personally think that the midpoint of $1.407 million seems fair. Obviously the Twins biggest case is that he hasn’t ever played in 100 games, so I don’t blame them for coming in low. My guess: Right before it would go to an arbitration hearing, they’ll agree to a one year, $1.4 million salary. I think that if it does go to arbitration, Casilla would likely win. Did You Know? It was on this day (February 11) in 1974 that this whole arbitration system was established? According to JJ Swol of Twins Trivia, 48 players invoked their new arbitration rights including Twins pitcher Dick Woodson. Woodson was seeking $30,000 and the Twins were offering $23,000. My how things have changed in nearly 40 years. Woodson won, by the way. Any thoughts? Please feel free to use the Comments Section! Click here to view the article

I thought I'd start a new series here and see how it plays out. I thought it would be fun for Twins Daily readers to vote on the preseason All AL Central team. The question with each of these rankings will be "Which player do you think will have the best season in 2012?" In other words, it has nothing to do with what happened in 2011 or earlier, and it isn't asking which you would build a team with. It is, which player will be the best in 2012. (Click Here to Vote!) Let's start with the Catcher candidates: Minnesota Twins - Joe Mauer - (2011 numbers - .287/.360/.368 (.729) with 15-2B, 3-HR, 30 RBI) Chicago White Sox - AJ Pierzynski - (2011 numbers - .287/.323/.405 (.728) with 29-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 48 RBI) [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Cleveland Indians - Carlos Santana - (2011 numbers - .239/.351/.457 (.808) with 35-2B, 2-3B, 27-HR, 79 RBI) Detroit Tigers - Alex Avila - (2011 numbers - .295/.389/.506 (.895) with 37-2B, 4-3B, 19-HR, 82 RBI) Kansas City Royals - Salvador Perez - (2011 MLB numbers - .331/.361/.473 (.834) with 8-2B, 2-3B, 3-HR, 21 RBI) Kansas City Royals - Salvador Perez - (2011 Min Lg numbers - .290/.331/.437 (.769) with 19-2B, 10-HR, 53 RBI) SUMMARY 2011 was a forgettable season for Joe Mauer. He had knee surgery in the offseason, tried to come back too quick from that, was hurt by a bad Bi-Lateral Leg Weakness disagnosis, struggled, and his season ended early with mild pneumonia. Mauer will turn 29 years old on April 19 and is just two years removed from being the league's MVP. The Twins will likely move Joe Mauer around a little bit, letting him DH and get some starts at 1B. Cleveland has been doing that for years with Victor Martinez and now with the powerful, patient Carlos Santana. Although the batting average was low, he has a good on-base percentage and a ton of power. Santana will turn 26 years old on April 8. Alex Avila was a big surprise for the Tigers in 2011. He got his playing time behind the plate and managed to stay healthy all year. He did a nice job behind the plate, but he really took off with the bat, hitting for average and good extra base hit power. Avila recently turned 25 years old. AJ Pierzynski has been a solid big league catcher for a long time, and his durability has been impressive. With Pierzynski now 35, the White Sox may give Tyler Flowers more and more at bats. The Royals made news a couple of weeks ago when the inked Salvador Perez to a long-term deal. He played in just 39 big league games with the Royals last year as a 21 year old and hit very well, continuing a season that started with 79 games in AA before 12 games in AAA. He will turn 22 years old in early May and with Brayan Pena around, the Royals can be smart in allowing his development. Two years ago, the argument could be made that Joe Mauer was the best player, much less the best catcher in baseball. Now, an argument could be made that he is the third best catcher in the AL Central. But that's coming off of a bad 2011 season. What will 2012 bring? Who is your choice for AL Central Preseason Catcher for 2012? Please feel free to vote in the poll. (in case you're wondering, my choice is...) Download attachment: Carlos Santana.jpg Click here to view the article