Seth Stohs

As PJ Walters walked slowly off the field with a trainer in the top of the first after failing to get an out through the game’s first four batters thoughts immediately jumped to the Twins’ starting rotation. Scott Diamond will be on the mound on Thursday in the series finale versus the Phillies. Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn are back in the rotation after missing starts. Carl Pavano is on the Disabled List. PJ Walters will have an MRI on his shoulder on Thursday. Who will make upcoming starts for the Twins and is there any help in the Rochester starting rotation? Here is a look at the Twins and Red Wings upcoming schedules:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] [TABLE] Day Twins Starter Red Wings starter Thursday, June 14 Scott Diamond Luke French Friday, June 15 Francisco Liriano Liam Hendriks? Saturday, June 16 Liam Hendriks? Cole De Vries Sunday, June 17 Nick Blackburn Matt Maloney Monday, June 18 No Game Scheduled Sam Deduno Tuesday, June 19 ? Luke French Wednesday, June 20 ? Liam Hendriks? Thursday, June 21 ? Cole De Vries Friday, June 22 ? Matt Maloney Saturday, June 23 ? Sam Deduno Sunday, June 24 ? Luke French [/TABLE] We have all heard that it appears that Liam Hendriks (turned 23 in February) will be called up to start for the Twins on Saturday. In fact, if you look at Yahoo! Sports schedule, it lists Hendriks as the Twins scheduled starter for Saturday. However, as of late Wednesday night, Hendriks had not yet been informed that he would be promoted. As he is also scheduled to start for Rochester on Friday, he will have to be told on Thursday. Hendriks is currently 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA with the Red Wings. In 46.1 innings, he has given up just 29 hits, walked 13 and struck out 42. Let’s make an assumption that Hendriks will start for the Twins on Saturday, the Red Wings will need a starter for Friday. The Red Wings have already had 14 pitchers start a game for the team this season. Bullpen guys like Brendan Wise and Esmerling Vasquez have made spot starts in Bullpen games. It is also possible that David Bromberg (25 until September) could come off of the 7-Day Disabled List to start. He last pitched for the Red Wings on June 2nd. After a rough start to his season in the New Britain bullpen, Bromberg earned his promotion to the Red Wings in late May. He made two starts before going on the DL with right shoulder tendonitis. If Bromberg is not able to go, righty Steve Hirschfeld could be brought up to start for the Red Wings. The 26-year-old threw five shutout innings for Rochester in a spot start last week. The other option would be 22-year-old BJ Hermsen who is 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA in eight starts for the Rock Cats. So, if PJ Walters can’t start for the Twins next Tuesday, who will? I think because of the off day on Monday, the Twins would go with just four starters this time through the rotation with Diamond starting again on Tuesday on regular rest. If that’s the case, the next time the Twins would need a starter would be Saturday, June 23, in Cincinnati. Could Walters be ready then? Is there any chance that Carl Pavano would be ready to come off the Disabled List by then? As of now, the answer to both questions would likely be no. I think we can also assume that the Twins would not consider going to 13 pitchers on the staff during their games in National League ball parks. So here is an update on the other Red Wings starters and others the Twins could use to start that game (again, making the assumption that Liam Hendriks will come up and start Saturday): Jeff Manship – He went three innings on Wednesday night. When he was starting in Rochester, he was the team’s top starter (of those not promoted), posting an ERA of 3.08. Anthony Swarzak – He has already made several spot starts for the Twins this year. The team clearly prefers him to be in the bullpen. Brian Duensing – for some reason his name keeps coming up as a starting option despite the fact that he’s done a terrific job out of the bullpen and wouldn’t be stretched out at this point. Cole De Vries (27 until February) – He was just optioned to Rochester on June 7, days after recording his first big league Win. He last started for the Red Wings on Sunday and gave up six runs on six hits in just two innings. His overall Rochester numbers this year are 1-5 with a 5.18 ERA. He’s given up 53 hits in 48 innings. He is on the 40 man roster. Matt Maloney (28 until January) – Maloney was removed from the Twins 25 and 40 man rosters in early May. He cleared waivers and was sent to Rochester. He pitched twice out of the bullpen before moving into the starting rotation. He is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA. In 18.2 innings, he has given up 31 hits, walked two and struck out 13. His most recent start was on Monday, and he gave up six runs (3 earned) on five hits in just two innings. Luke French (26 until September) – French went a combined 9-12 in 31 games (25 starts) for the Tigers and the Mariners in 2009 and 2010. The Twins signed him right before spring training to a minor league contract. He made five starts in New Britain before moving up to Rochester. The lefty has made seven starts for the Red Wings and is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA. In 38 innings, he has given up 32 hits, walked 17 and struck out 23. However, he has not given up more than two runs in his last four starts (1-1, 2.05 ERA). Sam Deduno (28 until July 2) – The Twins signed the minor league free agent and invited him to spring training. He left his April 27th start after walking the first two batters and was put on the disabled list with right shoulder tendonitis. On Tuesday, he made his return and threw four scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit, walked three and struck out five. On the year, he is 0-1 with a 3.15 ERA. In 20 innings, he has given up 15 hits, walked 11 and struck out 18. He pitched in four games for the Rockies in 2010, and two games for the Padres in 2011. With all of the above, I believe this is what the upcoming schedule will look like: [TABLE] Day Twins Starter Red Wings starter Thursday, June 14 Scott Diamond Luke French Friday, June 15 Francisco Liriano Steve Hirschfeld Saturday, June 16 Liam Hendriks Cole De Vries Sunday, June 17 Nick Blackburn Matt Maloney Monday, June 18 No Game Scheduled Sam Deduno Tuesday, June 19 Scott Diamond Luke French Wednesday, June 20 Francisco Liriano Steve Hirschfeld Thursday, June 21 Liam Hendriks Cole De Vries Friday, June 22 Nick Blackburn Matt Maloney Saturday, June 23 Jeff Manship Sam Deduno Sunday, June 24 Scott Diamond Luke French [/TABLE] Of course, this is the great game of baseball which means anything can happen, and all of the above thought may be out the window! Any thoughts on the Twins upcoming rotation? Any thoughts on the Red Wings rotation? Any wonder why the Red Wings are struggling again in 2012? Download attachment: Liam Hendriks 2.jpg Click here to view the article

Dave Boswell won 20 games for the Minnesota Twins in 1969, but he is likely remembered for something else that happened to him that year. Last night, Bert Blyleven tweeted, "Just heard the sad news about the passing of Twins great Dave Boswell. Everyone that knew him will remember his love for his wife Lou & life." Dave Boswell was born in Maryland in January of 1945. He passed away yesterday at the age of 67. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Boswell signed with the Twins as an 18 year old in 1963 for $15,000. In September of 1964, he made four starts for the Twins. In the Twins 1965 season, he pitched 106 innings for the Twins, making 12 starts and 15 appearances out of the bullpen. He worked 2.2 innings out of the bullpen for the Twins in the 1965 World Series. The next four seasons (1966-1969), Boswell was remarkably consistent. His ERAs were between 3.14 and 3.32. His WHIP was between 1.09 and 1.24. Combined those seasons, he went 56-42 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. It culminated with his 1969 season in which he went 20-12 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. As a 24 year old that season, he threw 256.1 innings. He took the loss in his one start in the 1969 ALCS. In that game, he gave up one run in 10.2 innings. However, he is best known for getting punched by his manager, Billy Martin, outside a bar in Detroit. Whether is was that event, or the 256.1 innings, Boswell never was the same afterwards. He threw just 68.2 innings in 1970 (and walked 44 and struck out 45) for the Twins and went 3-7. Following the season, the Twins released him. He signed with the Tigers in April of 1971 and pitched in just three games before being released. The Orioles signed him quickly, but he walked 15 and struck out 14 in 24.2 innings. Following the season, the O's released Boswell, and he didn't play in the big leagues again. Download attachment: Dave Boswell Card.jpg Click here to view the article

The Twins and the Red Sox had a nice three hour rain delay, and fans were treated to The Sandlot during the delay. There was plenty of excitement in the Twins minor league system as well. One of the Twins' top prospects almost made a little bit of history. One of the Twins minor league affiliates won on a walk off. A couple of non-roster players continued to make their cases for a big league roster spot. With that, check out what happened with the Twins minor league teams on Sunday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 11, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 0 Box Score In an attempt not to be too obvious about what to write about to this game, I’m going to write it up a little differently. Let’s try writing this like a hockey post-game and name three stars: Third Star – CF Antoan Richardson – The diminutive leadoff hitter did about as well at his leadoff duties as anyone could hope. The job of a leadoff hitter is to get on base. Richardson was 2-3 with three walks, his third double and his first triple with the Red Wings. He also stole his second base. The former big leaguer should be considered a possible Aaron Hicks replacement when the Twins decide to send him down. Second Star – 1B Chris Colabello – Normally a day like Colabello had on Sunday would be an easy choice for top performance on his team. Colabello went 4-5 with his 16th and 17th doubles of the year. He was also hit by a pitch. The 29-year-old is now hitting .361/.419/.657 (1.076) through 44 games. He has 17 doubles and 11 home runs. He should be coming to the Twins soon. First Star – RHP – Kyle Gibson – Through 7 2/3 innings, the former first-round pick did not allow a hit. With two outs in the 8th inning, he gave up a slicing double down the left field line that landed inches inside the foul line. He gave up a bloop single and a seeing-eye roller through the right side of the infield to lead off the 9th inning. He proceeded to get a strikeout and a ground-ball double play to end the game. Gibson threw his second nine-inning shutout in his past three starts. He ended with three hits allowed, he walked two and struck out eight to reduce his ERA to 3.25 on the year. Maybe the most impressive thing about his performance was that he needed just 93 pitches to do it! And, like the first two stars, Gibson should be performing in a Twins uniform very soon. Ray Olmedo went 3-5. Jeff Clement was 2-6 with his fourth double. New Britain Rock Cats 4, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7 Box Score The return of BJ Hermsen from his intercostal (rib muscle) injury has been slow. In this start, he gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks in five innings. Two of the hits were home runs. Bobby Lanigan came on and was charged with two unearned runs in his two innings. Jose Gonzalez pitched the final two innings. He struck out two and he allowed one run. A year ago in New Britain, Deibinson Romero hit 23 doubles and 19 home runs. Because of some visa investigations in the Dominican Republic this spring, Romero was unable to get to the States. He had been invited to big league camp for the second time (he was on the 40 man roster several years ago), but he could not make it out of the DR. He was likely scheduled to spend the season in Rochester; instead he was returned to New Britain six weeks into the season. On Sunday, he played in his sixth game with the Rock Cats and went 3-4 with his first home run. It raises his average on the season to .304. Danny Ortiz was 2-4. Ft. Myers Miracle 0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 Box Score Matt Summers gave up a single run in the first inning and another in the sixth inning; that was more than enough scoring for the Stone Crabs on this day. Summers went 5.1 innings and gave up the two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes came on and walked one and struck out one in 1.2 innings. Zack Jones struck out one in his perfect inning. Kyle Knudson led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk. Levi Michael went 2-5. Kennys Vargas, Andy Leer and Angel Morales each hit a double. Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Kane County Cougars 7 Box Score On Sunday, the Kernels recorded their third walk-off win in their past four games. Kane County tied the game at 7 in the top of the ninth, but the Kernels quickly came back to win this one. In the bottom of the inning, JD Williams led off with a double. After a pitching change, Byron Buxton bunted him to third base. Though it was a sacrifice bunt, those in attendance, including manager Jake Mauer who argued the call, believed that Buxton beat the throw to first base. With one out and a runner at third base, the Kane County manager did the obvious, calling for intentional walks to Niko Goodrum and Jorge Polanco to load the bases for Dalton Hicks. Hicks is no stranger to dramatic walk-offs. Recall last year, he came to the plate in the 12th inning of the Appalachian League championship game and promptly hit a championship-winning grand slam. He didn’t need to be as dramatic this time. He flied out to left field, but it was deep enough to allow the speedy Williams to score from third base. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with two walks, his sixth triple and his first stolen base. Hicks went 2-4 with three RBI. Candido Pimentel was 2-4 with his second double and his fifth and sixth stolen bases. JD Williams was 2-4 with his eighth double and fourth home run. Travis Harrison hit his sixth home run. Byron Buxton stole his 18th base and scored two runs. Matt Tomshaw started and gave up five runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Alex Muren came on and threw two shutout innings. However, in the ninth inning, he gave up a two-run homer that tied the game. He walked none and struck out three. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

The Twins saw a couple of familiar faces on the other side of the diamond when they squared off against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday afternoon in Ft. Myers. However, at the end of the day, er.. game, there was no winner. The game ended after nine innings with a 1-1 tie in front of a Hammond Stadium record crowd of 8,764. Ben Revere reminded Twins fans of what they missed in the bottom of the fourth inning. Josh Willingham lined a ball to left-centerfield. Revere ran toward the gap and left his feet. He made one of his patented diving catches, parallel to the ground. It warranted cheers from the home crowd. He went 1-4 in the game.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It comes as the Twins still have a question at centerfield. “(Aaron) Hicks hasn’t been out there. (Alex) Presley’s been fine. (Darin) Mastroianni’s out there today,” Rob Antony continued before the game, “You’d always like the players to determine it for you if you’ve got an open competition. It’s a little tougher when no one separates themselves.” Also, former Twins pitcher Jeff Manship started on the mound for the Phillies. He is currently in a bit of a battle for the 5th starter job with Philadelphia. He gave up one run against the Twins, a first inning, RBI single off the bat of his former battery mate, Joe Mauer. It would prove to be the lone run for the Twins on the day. Download attachment: Pelfrey 37.jpg Mike Pelfrey was good through three. He uncharacteristically walked two, but did not allow a run or a hit over his three innings. Sam Deduno gave up only a bloop single and a walk. Kyle Gibson pitched better than his line. He gave up an unearned run on just one hit. He also walked a batter. Seven of the nine batters who put the ball in play against him hit the ball into the ground. He was sitting at 93-94 mph with the fastball with a slider in the mid-80s. Michael Tonkin pitched a scoreless ninth and struck out two on fastballs. He touched 97 a couple of times. Replay was again part of the storyline. In fact, Ron Gardenhire asked for replay twice in a matter of two batters. The first play was whether a Brandon Warring wild throw went out of play. The second was a play at home. Danny Santana threw home and Chris Herrmann thought he applied the tag. The home plate umpire disagreed. In both cases, the calls were not reversed. It wasn’t because of conclusive evidence, just that there aren’t as many cameras and angles at the spring training games as there would be in a regular season big league game. Sunday Twins Notes: I talked to lefty Logan Darnell shortly before he was told he would be sent down to minor league camp. He was very excited to have been added to the 40 man roster and has enjoyed his time with the Twins. He hopes to return to Rochester where he ended the 2013 season. In his first start with the Red Wings, he had a blister pop, said it was bleeding all over. At New Britain, he had finally reached a point where he was consistent, and consistently eating innings and succeeding. When he got up to Rochester, he had to make an adjustment. He said he just struggled with that consistency at the new level. He wants to correct that and hopes to debut sometime in 2014. Chris Colabello and I chatted a little this morning as well. I asked him about decision to remain with the Twins instead of signing in Korea where he would have been guaranteed (reportedly) about double the amount that he would make with the Twins in 2014 if he was on the roster the full season. However, he said it wasn’t about the money. “I basically paid to play independent league ball for all those years.” It reminds me of a guy in a similar situation who had the same opportunity. A year before he made his big league debut with the Phillies, Chris Coste was offered the opportunity to play in Korea. He said the money made it something to consider. However, he told me, “My goal isn’t to play in Korea, it’s to play in the big leagues.” You have to admire the sentiment. Aaron Hicks said that his elbow felt fine. Likely would be another day. Rob Antony said that with the day off tomorrow, he will likely play on Tuesday. The same is true for Oswaldo Arcia who took batting practice on Saturday. Pedro Florimon took a full round of infield on Saturday. On Sunday, he took a round of batting practice. Rob Antony said, “He’s going to hit off of live pitching in the next day or two and will likely be in games by the end of the week. His first game will probably be in three games or something.” Dan Rohlfing was the Twins 14th round pick in 2007 out of high school near St. Louis. He was a project. He played third base in high school and the Twins made him a catcher. He slowly worked through the Twins system. In recent years, he’s logged time in the upper levels of the minor leagues, splitting time between catcher and the outfield. He could have become a minor league free agent following the season, but when the Twins told him right away they wanted him back, he didn’t give it a second thought. He and his agent worked out the details to get him to the Dominican Republic where he was part of a championship. Once that was set, he was thrilled to sign back with the Twins. I talked to Adam Walker down at minor league camp for a while. The Wisconsin native spent some time around the holidays at his parent’s place. There was a big snow storm. He had to shovel. He soon returned to Jacksonville (where he went to college) where he spent the rest of his offseason. Talked to Luke Bard, who was married in January. Although he is listed on the DL on the minor league rosters, he says that his arm feels really good. The Twins have an off day on Monday. However, the minor leaguers will play their first games of the year. It will be Rochester against New Britain and Ft. Myers against Cedar Rapids. Click here to view the article

It's pretty rare when you read me writing about any advanced statistics. I don't mind reading them and trying to understand what they mean and what they are telling me about a player. But I very rarely use more than a Triple Slash line (BA/OBP/SLG) with the OPS in parentheses. I like OPS, but like all stats, it needs to be used in context, and it's OK to ask questions about it. For instance, OPS is a combination of On-Base Percentage (OBP) and Slugging Percentage (SLG). On-Base Percentage looks at the number of times a player gets on base by hit, walk or hit by pitch. Slugging Percentage basically assigns a value to all hits. A single is one base. A double is two bases. A triple is three bases and a home run is four bases. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Joe Mauer 2.jpg It becomes apparent quickly that Hits are included in both of these numbers. I am certain that others have evaluated the following idea: since it is really included in both OBP and SLG, what if we subtracted Batting Average from the OPS to avoid duplication? How would an OPS ranking look differently than an (OPS-BA) ranking? I admit that I went into the analysis not knowing what it would show, but I thought I would share it with Twins Daily's readers just to get some thoughts and your analysis along with mine. How much will the ranking change, and what does it mean? To do so, I looked at two lists, and there was one common name. I looked at the numbers for a dozen Minnesota Twins hitters this season. I then took a look at the Top 20 MLB hitters in OPS. The common player, of course, is Joe Mauer who is currently 14th in the big leagues in OPS. Here are 12 Twins hitters, ranked by their OPS and also looking at their (OPS-BA) and how that ranking changes: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center] Name OPS BA OPS Rank OPS-BA Rank Joe Mauer .916 .330 1 .586 1 Oswaldo Arcia .823 .271 2 .552 2 Trevor Plouffe .778 .271 3 .507 4 Josh Willingham .751 .216 4 .535 3 Justin Morneau .725 .286 5 .439 8 Ryan Doumit .718 .238 6 .480 5 Clete Thomas .716 .278 7 .438 9 Chris Parmelee .703 .238 8 .465 6 Brian Dozier .678 .229 9 .449 7 Eduardo Escobar .664 .236 10 .428 10 Pedro Florimon .633 .230 11 .403 11 Aaron Hicks .575 .179 12 .396 12 [/TABLE] Analysis: Joe Mauer is good. No matter how you look at it. Oswaldo Arcia has hit well. Eduardo Escobar, Pedro Florimon and Aaron Hicks have been pretty poor offensively, again, no matter how you evaluate it. Where there is some difference in the rankings really come in the middle. Justin Morneau has the 5th highest OPS, but his OPS-BA drops him to 8th on the list. It appears to me that what this analysis does is makes the value of extra base hits stand out more. Morneau has a decent batting average, but doesn't have a lot of extra base hit power, so his numbers drop in this analysis. I think that is a fair statement. It also shows that although Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier have not hit for average, they have hit for some power. So, what does it look like when we analyze the Top 20 hitters in baseball? Can we make similar statements? [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center] Name OPS BA OPS Rank OPS-BA Rank Chris Davis 1.116 .331 1 .785 1 Miguel Cabrera 1.106 .370 2 .736 2 Troy Tulowitski 1.048 .347 3 .701 3 David Ortiz 1.005 .316 4 .689 5 Carlos Gonzalez .992 .300 5 .692 4 Michael Cuddyer .968 .339 6 .629 8 Joey Votto .957 .326 7 .631 7 Paul Goldschmidt .956 .306 8 .650 6 Adam Lind .939 .330 9 .609 15 Carlos Gomz .925 .313 10 .612 13 David Wright .923 .309 11 .614 12 Evan Longoria .923 .301 11 .622 9 Mike Trout .918 .306 13 .612 13 Joe Mauer .916 .330 14 .586 16 Yadier Molina .899 .353 15 .546 20 Jean Segura .897 .336 16 .561 19 Edwin Encarnacion .893 .271 17 .622 9 Shin-Soo Choo .890 .274 18 .616 11 Ryan Braun .890 .304 18 .586 16 Carlos Beltran .879 .305 20 .575 18 [/TABLE] Analysis: These guys are all having very good years, so this is not meant in any way to degrade what they are accomplishing. But again, we see that this analysis does minimize the value of batting average. The higher the batting average, the lower the OPS-BA, which, just makes sense since that's what we are subtracting. But that's exactly what we are trying to do as it is duplicated in the OPS calculation. What it is saying is that the higher the OPS-BA, the more often that a player walks or gets a hit that is more than a single. So, what do you think? Is OPS overvaluing batting average? If you were a GM, would you use OPS or OPS-BA to evaluate a player's value to the organization or in trade discussions? Discuss. Click here to view the article

As we get a little bit closer to the holidays, more of the American players will be leaving their winter baseball homes. At the same time, more and more veterans will start warming up for spring training by playing in a winter league. That means many of the younger players will be playing in the Parallel League or sitting on the bench more. That said, there continue to be a lot of players from the Minnesota Twins farm system getting at bats and getting innings. Here’s how players from the Twins system did during the week from December 3 through December 9: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Miguel-Sano-4.jpg VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE Player of the Week – Oswaldo Arcia, OF For the second straight week, Arcia grabs the top spot in Venezuela. Although he hit just .263 (5-19) in five games, he hit two doubles, two homers and drove in nine runs. In 43 games, he is hitting .260/.319/.493 with eight doubles and eight home runs. Eduardo Escobar – 4 Games, 3-11 (.273), 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBIDarin Mastroianni – 3 Games, 2-7 (.286), BB, 3 R, RBIJosmil Pinto – 3 Games, 2-6 (.333), BB, HR, RBIDeolis Guerra – 2 Games, 0-1, 3.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeoutsShairon Martis – 2 Games Started, 9.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 11 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts.Angel Mata – 2 Games, 0.2 innings, 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout.Bruce Pugh – 3 Games, 1-0, 3.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts.Dakota Watts – 4 Games, 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout. MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE Player of the Week – Chris Colabello, 1B For the fifth straight week, my choice for player of the week in Mexico is Chris Colabello. On the week, he played in six games. He went 9-19 (.474) with five walks, two home runs and 7 RBI. Overall in Mexico, he has had 173 at bats in 49 games played. He is hitting .347/.422/.653 (1.075) with 11 doubles, 14 home runs and 37 RBI. According to Top Prospect Alert, Colabello’s .347 batting average leads the league. Marlon Byrd is second at .339, while Karim Garcia is third. Gonzalo Sanudo – 3 Games, 3.1 innings, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout.Anthony Slama returned to the States. DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE Player of the Week – Miguel Sano, 3B Sano actually played in four games, although he didn’t get an at bat in two of them. In the two games he started, he went 5-7 with three doubles, a homer and five RBI. In 16 sporadic games, he is 12-36. He is hitting .333/.467/.667 with three doubles and three home runs. Jhonathan Arias – 3 Games, 0-6, 3 KPedro Florimon – 5 Games, 5-17 (.294), 2B, RBI and 5 K.Wilkin Ramirez – 3 Games , 0-2 (.000),Sam Deduno – 1 Game Started, 5.0 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts.Luis Perdomo – 2 Games, 2.0 innings, 2 earned runs, 3 hits, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts. PUERTO RICO WINTER LEAGUE Player of the Week – Eddie Rosario, OF For the second straight week, Eddie Rosario is the choice for hitter of the week. In three games, he went 4-12 (.333) with two walks and two doubles. In 18 games, he is hitting .345/.391/.552 with three doubles and three home runs. Jorge Fernandez – 1 Game, 0-0Angel Morales – 1 Game, 0-2, KDanny Ortiz – 3 Games, 4=12 (.333), 2 K.Kennys Vargas – 3 Games, 1-2, 2-BB, HRNelvin Fuentes – 1 Game, 1 IP, 4 hits, 4 earned runs, 0 BB, 2 KJosue Montanez – 1 Game, 1 Save, 1 IP, 0 hit, 0 runs, 0 BB, 0 K. AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE Player of the Week – Tim Atherton, RHP Atherton came back to the Twins in 2010 as a pitcher after previously having been an infielder in the organization. Since his return, the hard-thrower has been effective, primarily out of the bullpen. In the ABL, he has been starting. He pitched one game this week and threw 5.2 scoreless innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struckout four. Logan Wade – 2 Games, 0-7 (.000), RBI, 4 KJosh Hendricks – 4 Games, 2-12 (.167), 1 BBJacob Younis – 3 Games, 1-11 (.091), 5 KJD Williams – 4 Games, 3-11 (.283), 2 BB, 7 KSam Gibbons – 1 Game Started, 4.1 innings, 10 hits, 2 BB, 9 earned runs, 4 KTyler Herr – 1 Game, 1 inning, 1 hit, 0 BB, 0 earned runs, 2 K Feel free to discuss or ask any questions that you like. Also, feel free to pick a player of the week. Here were the nominees: Venezuela – Oswaldo Arcia Mexico – Chris Colabello Dominican – Miguel Sano Puerto Rico – Eddie Rosario Australia – Tim Atherton Click here to view the article

I think the theme of the Minnesota Twins draft day two is, “You can never have enough pitching.” The team made eight picks and seven of them were college pitchers. On the field, the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros began a three-game series with a rain delay. The young, talented Astros showed some power against Phil Hughes and the Twins. But hey, on Saturday, Lewis Thorpe will make his full-season debut for the Cedar Rapids Kernels while Alex Meyer pitches for the Red Wings. Eddie Rosario was promoted to New Britain after his stint in Ft. Myers. He showed that he was ready. Speaking of getting ready, check out the big hit in the top of the first inning for the Rochester Red Wings. And which farmhand launched two home runs tonight? And, which prospect added to his organizational lead in home runs? And, which prospect carried his team to victory by knocking in all of his team’s runs. Download attachment: Kennys Vargas Rock Cats.jpg [h=4]Malcolm MacMillan, founder of TheBallparkGuide.com[/h]Without further ado, here is what happened in the Twins' farm system on Friday night: RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 13, Charlotte 4 Box Score It’s always fun beating the White Sox, even when it is at the AAA level. Charlotte is the AAA affiliate of the South Siders. The Red Wings got off to a quick start and didn’t look back. In the first inning, Chris Colabello came up with the bases loaded and chose the perfect time to knock his first Red Wings home run. Wilkin Ramirez hit his first and second home runs of the season and drove in three. James Beresford was 2-5 and walked once. Chris Rahl was 2-4. Brad Nelson was 2-4 with a walk. Pedro Florimon was 2-5. Dan Rohlfing was 1-3 with two walks. It was a good game for the offense. Yohan Pino had arguably his worst outing of the season, and yet his offense helped him to the win. In five innings, he gave up four runs on eight hits, three of which were home runs. He walked one and struck out five. Edgar Ibarra and Deolis Guerra each threw two scoreless innings. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Binghamton 3 Box Score Eddie Rosario returned to the New Britain Rock Cats after a short stint with the Ft. Myers Miracle following his 50-game suspension. He had a good game. He batted second and played center field. He went 2-5 with a double. However, on this night, his story falls to the performance of his countryman Kennys Vargas. Down 4-2 in the fifth, Vargas came up with the bases load. He cleared them with his ninth home run of the season. An inning later, he drove in two more runs with his 12th double. He had a single as well and finished a triple short of the cycle. Tony Thomas went 3-5. Mike Kvasnicka was 3-4 in the game. Nate Hanson added a single and walked twice. Virgil Vasquez started for the Rock Cats and improved to 4-2. He went six innings and gave up three runs on three hits. He walked three and struck out seven. Dan Turpen struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning. In the eighth, Matt Summers struck out two without allowing a run. Lester Oliveros recorded his eighth save with two strikeouts in the ninth inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Lakeland 4 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle got another great start from their ace, and a big jolt from their power supplier, but they fell in extra frames. JO Berrios started and gave up three runs (two earned) on eight hits in eight innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out nine. Two of the runs, including the unearned run, scored in that eighth inning. Mason Melotakis worked two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one. In the 11th, Madison Boer gave up an unearned run on two hits to take the loss. The Miracle had eight hits in the game. Adam Walker went 2-5 and hit his 13th home run of the season. It was a three-run blast that gave the Miracle all three of their runs. Stephen Wickens was the only other Miracle hitter to get on base more than once. He had a single and a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Wisconsin 12 Box Score The funny thing about the MLB draft is its uncertainty. Sure things are not sure things. In 2013, the Twins took Ryan Eades in the second round with the industry-wide belief that he could be a fast mover. He may figure some things out in time, but fast-moving is probably out of the question. He is now 3-7 with a 7.07 ERA after another rough start. On this night, he gave up nine runs on eight hits in just two innings. He walked two, hit one and struck out two. Jared Wilson came on and was charged with three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk in three innings. Chris Mazza worked two scoreless innings and struck out two. Todd Van Steensel worked a quiet, scoreless inning. The Kernels got plenty of offense. They had seven hits and walked seven times. Chad Christensen led the way. He went 4-5 his tenth double and three RBI. He also stole his 15th base. Ryan Walker went 2-4 with a walk and scored three runs. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – JO Berrios, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Gwinnett (6:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) New Britain @ Binghamton (6:05 CST) – Pat Dean (Listen) Lakeland @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Kane County (6:30 CST) – Lewis Thorpe (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. Click here to view the article

Major League spring training has been running for two weeks now. The team has played five games already (with four wins). Today (Tuesday), minor leaguers will need to report to Ft. Myers for the start of camp. They will undergo physicals on Wednesday, and their first official practice will on Thursday. 72 pitchers (25 left-handed) and 54 hitters who have not been at big league camp this year will be throwing bullpens, taking ground balls, shagging fly balls and taking some batting practice. Today, I want to give a bit of a spring training preview from the minor league perspective with some interesting things to look at. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: MinorLeaguePitchers09.jpg By early next week, the Twins will start sending some of the players from big league camp down to minor league camp. You may read the phrase, “Sending them across the parking lot.” If you have been to the Twins camp in Ft. Myers, the phrase makes sense. If not, the Twins minor league facilities are literally on the other side of a big parking lot, just a hundred yards or so from Hammond Stadium. After about four days of work- outs and practices, the minor league teams will start playing some games. The Rochester roster will play the New Britain roster. The Ft. Myers roster will play the Cedar Rapids roster. The teams will also play some games against affiliates from other organizations. As players are removed from big league camp, they’ll likely move to the Rochester roster and players there will move down to New Britain and so on until the last week in March when the affiliates' opening day rosters will be set and travel plans made. The Coaching Staffs Rochester: Gene Glynn (Mgr), Tim Doherty (hitting coach), Marty Mason (pitching coach) New Britain: Jeff Smith (Mgr), Chad Allen (hitting coach), Stu Cliburn (pitching coach) Ft. Myers: Doug Mientkiewicz (Mgr), Jim Dwyer (hitting coach), Gary Lucas (pitching coach) Cedar Rapids: Jake Mauer (Mgr), Tommy Watkins (hitting coach), Ivan Arteaga (pitching coach) Elizabethton: Ray Smith (Mgr), Henry Bonilla (pitching coach) GCL Twins: Ramon Borrega (Mgr), Riccardo Ingram & Rudy Hernandez (hitting coaches), Ehren Wassermann & Luis Ramirez (pitching coaches) The big change in the Twins minor league coaching staff is that Ivan Arteaga and Gary Lucas are switching levels this year. Lucas has been in the Midwest League for many years and he moves up to Ft. Myers. Arteaga has changed teams several times in the past few years. He will be tasked with working with some of the Twins' top pitching prospects in Cedar Rapids in 2014. For their Elizabethton rookie team the Twins will still need to hire a new hitting coach for 2014. Former big leaguer Jeff Reed had been the hitting coach for 12 years. Of course, since the Elizabethton season doesn’t start until mid-June, the Twins have some time to make that decision. Injury Update Top relief pitching prospect Zack Jones had successful surgery last Monday. Doctors had found an aneurysm in his shoulder which was cutting off circulation. He said he will not be able to start throwing for six or seven weeks, so his season will be delayed. JT Chargois had Tommy John surgery last September and will begin 2014 on the disabled list. The timing of his surgery is in line with that of Kyle Gibson's and Alex Wimmers'. If he maintains the same timeline, he could be throwing off of a mound by early June and possibly pitch some rehab games in the GCL in July. Adam Bryant continues to have problems with his toe. Nate Roberts has been running in Ft. Myers. I think we’re all hopeful that he can stay healthy. Alex Wimmers and Chris Mazza are already throwing bullpens in Ft. Myers. Position Changes Each year there are typically a couple of position changes. A year ago at this time, Tyler Grimes came to camp as a catcher after spending the first two years of his professional career as a middle infielder. This year, there are a couple of cases worth watching. Travis Harrison will be spending quite a bit of time in the outfield in 2014. He actually played quite a lot of outfield in summer ball during his prep years, but the Twins had him play third base since drafting him in 2011. He made some strides in 2013 in Cedar Rapids, and he will see time at third base in 2014, but he will also be playing a lot of outfield. Mike Kvasnicka has played a few different positions since the Astros drafted him in the first round out of the University of Minnesota. They tried him at third base, and behind the plate. Last year with Ft. Myers, he played in right field. He is going to get some time behind the plate again in 2014, though he will also play in the outfield. When the Twins drafted Dereck Rodriguez, they knew they had an intriguing prospect. The son of future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez is quite athletic. Because he has all of the five tools, the Twins played him in the outfield. Unfortunately, he was frequently injured and didn’t show a lot with the bat. Arguably his best tool is his arm. Because of that, there was always talk that he could be moved to pitcher. That transition began during the offseason in Puerto Rico and will go into full effect in 2014. Brad Steil begins his second season as the Twins Director of Minor League Operations. There is a lot of talent throughout the system, and the organization has been recognized by national sites as one of the best in baseball. Each affiliate will have several players with big league potential. As you know, each year, there will be a handful of prospects who will take big leaps forward. Who will those be this year? Twins Daily strives to be the best place on the internet for Minnesota Twins minor league information. As we have done in previous years, we will continue to post daily game updates and reports. We will attempt to stay ahead of any news and information throughout the system. Please let us know if there is any more information or storylines that you would like us to follow. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins played one of the more crisp games of their 2014 season on Friday night. Phil Hughes needed just 86 pitches to get through seven shutout innings. Casey Fien dominated the 8th inning, and Glen Perkins got the save in the 2-1 win. Brian Dozier reached base four times, and Kurt Suzuki drove in both runs with a single off of Justin Verlander. Today, it will be Kyle Gibson taking on fellow Missouri Tiger Max Scherzer. It was also a full night through the Twins minor league system. Download attachment: Todd Van Steensel 2.jpg TRANSACTIONS On Thursday the Twins announced that Pedro Florimon and Chris Herrmann were heading down to Rochester. The corresponding moves were announced on Friday afternoon. Aaron Hicks came off of the 7-Day Concussion List. The Twins also purchased the contract of Chris Parmelee and went 2-4 in his return. The Cedar Rapids Kernels put Logan Wade on the 7-Day Disabled List with a dislocated shoulder. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Toledo 7 Box Score Coming into this game, Yohan Pino was pitching better than anyone in the organization. His ERA was under one. On this day, he went just 2.1 innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out one and his ERA jumped up to 1.57. Aaron Thompson got the final two outs of the third inning. Ryan Pressly came in and gave up two unearned runs on three hits over three innings. Matt Hoffman gave up a run on three hits and a walk. Eric Farris led off and led the offense. He was 3-5 with his third double. He also stole his eighth base. Chris Herrmann returned to the Red Wings and went 3-4 with his first triple and stolen base. Pedro Florimon went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in his first game for Rochester. James Beresford went 2-4 and drove in both runs. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Bowie 5 (10 innings) Box Score The Rock Cats used the long ball to score all four of their runs. However, in extra innings, the team fell by a run. Danny Ortiz hit his first home run of the season and drove in two. Brandon Waring went 2-4 with his second homer. Nate Hanson hit his third homer. AJ Pettersen went 1-2 with a walk. Pat Dean started the game and went the first 6.1 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out five. Dan Turpen came in and got the next three outs, though he walks one and was charged with an unearned run. Ryan O’Rorke struck out one batter. Adrian Salcedo got six outs, but he was also charged with an unearned run in the 10th to take the loss. MIRACLE MATTERS Jupiter 11, Ft. Myers 2 Box Score A look at this box score reminds us that player development is the key in the minor leagues. One part of development in the Minnesota Twins organization is the ability to play several positions. This is a good thing long term, though it also means that once in a while you will have a pretty ugly result. In this game, Tyler Grimes played in left field. Travis Harrison made his first start of the season at third base. Niko Goodrum made the first start this season at second base. The result was a pretty ugly game with five errors and several other misplays. Goodrum and Harrison each had two errors, and Polanco added another. Alex Wimmers was on the mound. After three shutout innings, he recorded just two outs in the fourth inning. He was charged with ten runs. Just two of them were earned due to the errors. He gave up 11 hits, walked one and struck out three. Tim Shibuya came on and went the next 2.1 innings. He gave up only an unearned run on three hits. He struck out two. Brandon Peterson gave up one hit and struck out two over two shutout innings. Tyler Jones struck out two in his inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Wisconsin 5 Box Score Aaron Slegers had his worst start of the year, and yet he improved to 4-0 on the season. The Kernels’ offense came through for him with an 18 hit, ten run performance. Mitch Garver went 4-5 with a walk, his ninth and tenth doubles and three RBI. Engelb Vielma also had four hits, including his second triple. He scored four runs. Bryan Haar went 3-4 with a walk. Chad Christensen was 2-6 with his fifth double. Jason Kanzler was 2-5. Slegers gave up five runs on nine hits (including two home runs) in 5.2 innings. He walked one and struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel was impressive. He walked two and struck out six in 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings. Christian Powell walked three and struck out one in a scoreless innings. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Todd Van Steensel, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Toledo (6:00 CST) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 CST) – Virgil Vasquez (Listen) Jupiter @ Ft. Myers (5:05 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (1:05 CST) – Ryan Eades (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday game. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday, it means that on Saturday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

Today is the day, and a lot of Twins prospects are pretty excited about their first Opening Day today. The GCL Twins will begin play on Monday at noon (eastern time). Ramon Borrego will manage the team for the third straight year. Former Twins minor leaguer Henry Bonilla will take over pitching coach duties. Milt Cuyler is back for his tenth season with the GCL Twins as hitting (…and outfield, base running and more) coach. Here is a look at the 2012 GCL Twins roster as the season starts. Since most of these names are new to Twins fans, I thought a quick note on each player would be an appropriate preview. Of course, I do welcome any questions you may have.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] THE PITCHERS RHP J.O. Berrios (SP-18) is the name right now. The Twins first supplemental first round pick earlier this month signed for $1.55 million and begins in the GCL.RHP Hung Yi Chen (19) signed from Taiwan in June of 2010. He pitched in the GCL last year. He made ten starts (and two relief appearances). In 35.1 innings, he gave up 45 hits, walked just five and struck out 38. He was 0-4 with a 4.33 ERA.Melciades De La Cruz (19) signed with the Twins in September 2010 from the Dominican Republic. Last year, he pitched in the DSL and went 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA. In 39.1 innings, he gave up 30 hits, walked 13 and struck out 38.RHP Sam Gibbons (SP-18) signed with the Twins in July of 2011 from Australia. He is tall and lanky.RHP Trent Higginbotham (SP-20) was the Twins 26th round pick in the 2011 draft. He signed on the last day and did not pitch until Instructs.Felix Jorge (18) signed with the Twins in February 2011 from the Dominican Republic. He pitched 27 innings last year in the DSL and went 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA. He gave up 119 hits, walked nine and struck out 26.Yorman Landa (SP-18) signed in September 2010 from Venezuela. Last year, he was 2-2 with a 2.38 ERA in the DSL. In 32 innings, he gave up 19 hits, walked 26 and struck out 31. He also hit nine batters.RHP Kuo Hua Lo (SP-19) signed from Taiwan in April of 2011 and did not pitch last year. He is not a big man but he is said to throw quite hard, touching 94-95.LHP Austin Malinowski (SP-19) was Mr. Baseball in Minnesota in 2011 at Centennial High School. The lefty was committed to pitch at Arizona but on the final signing day, he signed with the Twins. He didn’t pitch until Instructs.RHP Chris Mazza (22) was the Twins 27th round pick in 2011 and did not sign until late so he didn’t pitch until Instructs.LHP Josue Montanez (20) was the Twins 15th round pick a year ago out of Puerto Rico. In the GCL last year, he pitched in 12 innings over eight games. He gave up 15 hits, walked four and struck out 14.Alex Muren (20) was the Twins 12th round pick in 2012 out of Cal State-Northridge.Gerardo Ramirez (18) signed in March of 2011 from Mexico. Last year in the GCL, he threw 17.1 innings in ten games. He gave up 15 hits, walked six and struck out 12.Randy Rosario (18) signed in August of 2010 from the Dominican Republic. He threw 35 innings in the DSL and gave up 28 hits, walked 19 and struck out 26.Gonzalo Sanudo (18) signed the same day as Ramirez in March 2011 from Mexico. Last year in the GCL, he threw 20.2 innings. He gave up 19 hits, walked seven and struck out 22.Markus Solbach (20) signed from Germany in February of 2011. He pitched in 15 games for the GCL Twins last year. In 28.1 innings, he gave up 26 hits, walked eight and struck out 17.CATCHERS Kelly Cross (20) was the Twins 26th round pick in 2010 and got a couple of at bats that season in the GCL. Last year, he hit .129/.250/.151 (12-93) with two doubles.Jorge Fernandez (18) was the Twins 7th round pick in 2012 out of Puerto Rico.Bryant Santy (22) was the Twins 30th round pick in 2012 out of the University of Washington.INFIELDERS Bryan Haar (22) was the Twins 34th round pick out of the University of San Diego.Will Hurt (18) was the Twins 16th round pick out of Lexington Catholic high school in Kentucky, the same high school that the Twins drafted Ben Revere from. It was thought that Hurt would be a tough sign, but he signed quickly and passed up a scholarship to Coastal Carolina.Joel Licon (21) was the Twins 25th round pick out of Orange Coast College. There was some belief that he would be a difficult sign.Aderling Mejia (20) signed in February 2010 from the Dominican Republic. Last year, he hit .210/.291/.218 (25-119) with a double in the GCL.Javier Pimentel (18) was a big signing for the Twins in November of 2010 from the Dominican Republic. Last year, he split time between the DSL and the GCL. In the GCL, he hit .167/.227/.284 (17-102) with five doubles, two triples and a home run.Jose Ramirez (20) signed with the Twins in April of 2010 from the Dominican Republic. Last year in the DSL, he hit .256/.410/.280 (42-164) with two doubles and a triple.Logan Wade (20) signed last September from Australia. He will be making his US debut.Jacob Younis (18) signed out of Australia in May of 2010. Last year in the GCL, he hit .219/.300/.238 (23-105) with two doubles. He has also spent a lot of time behind the plate and could see some time at catcher this year.OUTFIELDERS Byron Buxton (18) was the #2 overall pick earlier this month, and it’s great to see that he has signed already (for $6 million). We are all excited to see his development, but I would caution people from expecting too much in his first season.John Murphy (22) was the Twins 19th round pick this year out of Jacksonville U. His brother, David, plays for the Mets.Kelvin Ortiz (20) was signed by the Twins in September of 2008. Last year in the GCL, he hit .189/.286/.333 (21-111) with seven doubles and three home runs.Dereck Rodriguez (20) was the Twins 6th round pick in 2011. Last year in the GCL, he hit .156/.216/.200 (14-90) with four doubles. He is the son of Ivan Rodriguez. Although he is not huge, reports from Ft. Myers said he is showing great power to all fields.DL – Jonathan Proctor (21) was the Twins 14th round pick in 2012 out of the University of Cincinnati.SUMMARY It is impossible to know how this team will play in terms of wins and losses. There is certainly a strong group of terrific athletes such as Buxton, Rodriguez, and Hurt. There are also a few guys who have some experience in this league while now being a year older which should mean some improvements. There are also some big arms who throw hard. There is also a lot of youth. So, who knows how the team will play. It is also important not to look at the stats. The further away from the big leagues, the less important the stats tend to be. Remember how much Niko Goodrum struggled in the GCL in 2010? Then he played very well at Elizabethton last year. Game 1 starts this morning! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask. Download attachment: ByronBuxtonTwinsSmile.jpg Click here to view the article

The Twins had two, touch, extra inning losses on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday night, it was Nelson Cruz that provided the game-winning hit. On Sunday night, it was Ian Kinsler. Sam Deduno had a very wild, but effective, Twins debut on Friday night. Cole De Vries was terrific, throwing seven scoreless innings against the potent Rangers’ offense. Casey Fien made his Twins debut, showing off a mid-90s fastball in a scoreless inning. It was also a busy weekend in the Twins minor leagues this weekend with a few doubleheaders. By the way, be sure to check out the Adopt-a-Prospect forums. If there are any players that have not yet been adopted, feel free to start a thread for that player and brag him up. Find stories on them, show off their big games, and in general, just encourage discussion on those players. With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday and Sunday’s games in the system:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] SATURDAY - ROCHESTER 4, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 Liam Hendriks officially dominates the International League. In his return to the Red Wings, he threw seven shutout innings to improve to 6-0. (He increased his streak to 22.2 consecutive scoreless innings) He gave up just five hits, walked one and struck out one. Esmerling Vasquez struck out two in two scoreless innings. Clete Thomas was 2-3 with his 14th double. Wilkin Ramirez hit his seventh home run. SUNDAY- GAME 1 - ROCHESTER 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 (8 innings) Nick Blackburn was terrific in his first start in his return to the Red Wings. The righty went all eight innings. He gave up nine hits but no runs. He walked none and struck out two. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Pedro Florimon reached on a walk and got to second. Danny Valencia came up with two outs and drilled a single to left field that scored a sliding Florimon and gave the Red Wings the Game 1 win. Chris Parmelee and Rene Rivera each had a hit and a walk. Florimon was 2-3 with a walk. SUNDAY – GAME 2 - ROCHESTER 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 7 In the second game, Steve Hirschfeld was on the mound. He gave up seven runs (6 earned) on six hits and a walk in four innings. Unfortunately, he gave up six runs in the second inning (3-run homers to Michael Martinez and Pete Orr) and that was more than enough for the IronPigs. Dan Sattler threw two perfect innings, and Luke French pitched one scoreless frame. Danny Valencia went 2-4 with the lone RBI in this game too. Wilkin Ramirez was 2-2 and was hit by a pitch. Matt Carson was 2-3 with a walk. This puts the Red Wings at their All Star break. Pedro Florimon will represent the Red Wings in the International League All Star game. SATURDAY - NEW BRITAIN 6, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 (10 innings) Down by three heading into the ninth, the Rock Cats got singles from Nate Hanson, Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford to load the bases. Chris Herrmann hit a single that got by the left fielder and cleared the bases to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the 10th, Evan Bigley and Deibinson Romero singled to lead off the inning. Hanson sacrificed them to 2nd and 3rd. Dan Rohlfing was intentionally walked to load the bases, and De Los Santos was hit by a pitch to give the Rock Cats the lead and the eventual win. Bigley went 3-4 with a walk. Deibinson Romero was 2-5 with his 12th home run. De Los Santos was 2-4 and James Beresford was 2-5. Shairon Martis made his second start with the Rock Cats. He gave up four runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings. He struck out three. Edgar Ibarra was charged with an unearned run on one hit in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Bruce Pugh continues his AA domination. He improved to 2-0 with two more shutout innings. He has now thrown 17.1 innings without allowing a run. He has given up eight hits, walked eight and struck out 22 with the team. SUNDAY – GAME 1 - NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 0 The Rock Cats got plenty of offensive support in this game, but that is primarily because of the left arm of Blake Martin. The southpaw went all seven innings and gave up just three hits, walked none and struck out six. As you would expect, he kept his pitch count down, throwing just 75 pitches. His mound opponent, former Twins farmhand Yohan Pino, also worked a complete game. Chris Colabello went 3-4 with his 23rd double. Chris Herrmann hit his sixth home run and Evan Bigley hit his 11th homer. Estarlin De Los Santos was 2-3, and Aaron Hicks went 2-4. SUNDAY – GAME 2 - NEW BRITAIN 4, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 David Bromberg made his first start with the Rock Cats since going on the Rochester disabled list last month. He gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out four. Marty Popham made his New Britain debut and gave up just one run on one hit (a solo homer) in his three innings. He struck out two. Chris Herrmann was 2-4 and homered for the second straight game. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with a walk. Also on Sunday, outfielder Oswaldo Arcia represented the Twins and his native Venezuela in the Futures Game in Kansas City. Arcia came in for the second half of the game. In his first at bat, he hit an RBI double off of Jameson Taillon. He got out in his second at bat. The Rock Cats play on Monday, but on Wednesday, BJ Hermsen, Chris Herrmann and Daniel Turpen will play in the Eastern League All Star game. Andrew Albers was also named to the team, but due to injury, he will not be participating. SATURDAY - FT. MYERS 6, JUPITER 11 Pat Dean started for the Miracle and gave up six runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Jose Gonzalez then gave up five runs (4 earned) on six hits in two innings. AJ Achter came on and got the final five outs, three of them by strikeout. Anderson Hidalgo had three hits in five at bats. Kyle Knudson was 1-3 with two walks and his sixth double. Joe Benson was 0-3 in his first game with the Miracle. He walked twice. Miracle batters walked 11 times in this game. SUNDAY - FT. MYERS 5, JUPITER 7 The Miracle held a 4-3 lead going into the ninth, but were unable to hold it. Cole Nelson started for the Miracle and gave up one run on seven hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out three. Michael Tonkin then gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in two innings. He struck out two. AJ Achter came in and got one out in the ninth. Unfortunately, he gave up four runs (just one earned thanks to two errors, on himself) on three hits. Ricky Bowen came in and got the final two outs but not before an RBI hit. Danny Santana, Levi Michael and Josmil Pinto were all 2-4. Danny Ortiz went 1-3 with his sixth home run. Joe Benson batted fourth. He was 0-4 in the game with an RBI. SATURDAY - BELOIT 2, BURLINGTON 1 Matt Summers was terrific again for the Snappers. The right-hander went the first seven innings and gave up just one run on eight hits. He walked two and struck out three. Dallas Gallant made his Midwest League debut and got four outs despite two walks. Corey Williams recorded the final two outs for his 13th save. Nate Roberts was 2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Steve Liddle went 2-3 with his ninth double. Wang-Wei Lin tripled for the third time this year. Important to note, Miguel Sano returned to the Snappers lineup. He went 1-3 with two RBI. Yes, he also committed his 32nd error. SUNDAY - BELOIT 3, BURLINGTON 5 David Hurlbut has been pitching quite well for the Snappers since the beginning of June, but on this night, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out two. Steve Evans came in and struck out three in three scoreless innings. He gave up just one hit. AJ Pettersen went 2-4 with a walk and his second home run of the season. Matthew Koch was 2-4 with his 14th double. Jhon Goncalves was 2-3 with a walk. Drew Leachman hit his seventh double. Nate Roberts was 1-3 with two walks. He also stole his ninth base. SATURDAY - ELIZABETHTON 8, JOHNSON CITY 4 The Twins and Johnson City have long been competitors in their division. That rivalry continued this weekend. Angel Mata started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on six hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six. Brett Lee came in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in three innings. The left-hander struck out five. Zach Jones struck out three in his inning, although he also walked three. DJ Hicks led the offense by going 3-5. Jhonathan Arias was 2-4 with three RBI. Jorge Polanco went 2-4 with his fourth double and third stolen base. Rory Rhodes hit his fourth home run. Niko Goodrum left the game after being hit by a pitch in the elbow in his first plate appearance. SUNDAY - ELIZABETHTON 2, JOHNSON CITY 6 The story was different on Sunday. Taylor Rogers started for the E-Twins and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits in five innings. He walked five and struck out three. Christian Powell struck out two in a perfect professional debut. Powell was the Twins 8th round pick this year out of the College of Charleston. Luis Nunez came in and gave up three runs on five hits without recording an out. Tyler Herr came in and got the final three outs. Max Kepler went 2-5 and stole his third base. Romy Jimenez and Josh Hendricks each were 1-3 with a walk. Candido Pimentel was 1-3 and walked twice. SATURDAY - GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 0 The Gulf Coast League rarely plays games on Sunday. On Saturday morning, the Twins had a nice, tidy win. Austin Malinowski set the tone with a terrific start. The lefty from Minnesota started and gave up three hits in five shutout innings. He walked none and struck out seven. Chris Mazza came in and gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. J.O. Berrios came in, and for the first time, he worked two innings. He also recorded the first save of his young, professional career. He struck out two in two perfect innings. Byron Buxton was the story on the offensive side of things. The Twins top pick went 2-4 with his first pro home run and his first pro stolen base. Jose Ramirez went 2-3. Kelvin Ortiz hit his second home run of the season. --- Players of the Day for Friday & Saturday, July 7-8, 2012 Pitcher of the Day- Saturday – Liam Hendriks Download attachment: LiamHendriks.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Sunday – Blake Martin (honorable mention, Nick Blackburn) Download attachment: Blake Martin Mug.jpg Hitter of the Day – Saturday – Evan Bigley Download attachment: Evan Bigley Mug.jpg Hitter of the Day – Sunday – Chris Herrmann Download attachment: ChrisHerrmann.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, July 9, 2012 Schedule Rochester – All Star Break New Britain @ New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – RHP Matt Hauser Beloit vs Burlington – TBD Elizabethton @ Johnson City – RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins vs GCL Rays – TBD Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins just announced that they have optioned Kyle Gibson and Caleb Thielbar and also reassigned Anthony Slama, James Beresford and Kyle Knudson to minor league camp. Gibson has really struggled in big league games this spring after a flashy start. Of course, this is no surprise in his return from Tommy John surgery although many thought[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] that he would have a chance at making the Twins starting rotation. More important than where he starts the season, Gibson's arm is feeling good. His velocity is back. He is throwing a very sharp slider. His control is not as impeccable as it typically has been, but that isn't completely unexpected. Gibson is going to have his innings monitored, but that is not the reason for starting the season in Rochester. He needs to get work. He needs to be more consistent. There is little question that he will be fine. He will be up with the Twins in the not-so-distant future. Thielbar was one of the surprise adds to the 40 man roster. Plucked from the St. Paul Saints late in the 2011 season, Thielbar pitched in Ft. Myers, New Britain, Rochester and the Arizona Fall League in 2012. He struggled this spring, but he does have a strong arm, and if needed, he could come up in 2013. Anthony Slama struggled this spring as well. In each of his outings, he threw a lot of pitches, struggled with control and command and was hittable. He'll go back to Rochester, probably be the closer, hopefully put up Slama-like numbers and get one more shot with the Twins during the season. He does become a minor league free agent following the season. James Beresford impressed with his glove, as always, this spring with the Twins. His first big league camp was interrupted by his appearance with Australia in the WBC. He has played three infield positions very well. Last night, he launched a solo home run for the Twins. He had just one home run in his professional career coming into the game, a home run in 2010 in Beloit. But, he has been able to add weight this offseason, a goal of his, and he has made some adjustments, so 2013 should be an interesting year for him. Kyle Knudson went to high school in Minnesota and played for the Minnesota Gophers in college. He was invited to spring training to help catch bullpens, but also to gain exposure with the big league coaching staff. He handled himself well behind the plate, and finally healthy, he should put up decent offensive numbers in 2013. He'll likely start the season in Ft. Myers. According to the press release, the Twins now have 51 players in camp (24 pitchers, six catchers, 11 infielders, and 10 outfielders. View full article

Joel Zumaya impressed local media throwing in the bullpen, but abruptly ended his session, walking off the mound with trainer Rick McWane. Zumaya said he was OK but later GM Terry Ryan acknowledged that Zumaya had felt discomfort on the inside of his elbow. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday. Download attachment: Zumaya.jpg Zumaya has a lengthy injury history, including missing all of last year with an elbow injury that happened in his first spring training start. The Twins signed Zumaya in January to a one year, non-guaranteed, Major League contract. It is worth $800,000 with incentives if he makes the Opening Day roster. If he does not make the Opening Day roster, the team will pay him $400,000. Share your thoughts and comments in the Forum. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

Tonight at 9, Seth Stohs was joined by Travis Aune for the first episode of the season of Twins Minor League Weekly. Granted, there aren't a lot of minor league topics to discuss, so they talked Twins most of the 45-minute show. As you would guess, topics included the comments of Justin Morneau and JJ Hardy. We talked about the Joel Zumaya injury and what it means for the bullpen. We discussed what the good news on Kyle Gibson meant to the Twins, and much, much more. Listen back to the new episode of Twins Minor League Weekly at http://tobtr.com/s/2940503. On Tuesday night at 9:00 central time, be sure to listen live to the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. I'll be joined by a couple of guests and it should be a fun-filled show. If you can listen live, the chat room will be open about 10 minutes before the show starts. There is also always a call-in number so you can ask questions or leave your comments. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Any feedback is always welcome! Please leave comments here: http://www.twinsdail...-Goes-Live-at-9 Click here to view the article

Coming into Sunday, the final day of the first half of the Midwest League season, the Cedar Rapids Kernels had won just three of their last ten games. Meanwhile, the Beloit Snappers had won eight of ten. Both teams had clinched a playoff spot, but each was a possible winner of the division crown. For the Kernels, they had to win AND the Snappers needed to lose. So, what happened? Well, you’ll need to read below for the answer. Another question to ask: did Byron Buxton and/or anyone else play their last game for Cedar Rapids? With that, check out what happened in the Twins' minor league system on Sunday:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 6, Gwinnett Braves 3 Box Score The bats showed up for the Red Wings on Sunday. Chris Colabello, Jeff Clement and Dan Rohlfing all homered in a four-run fifth inning to give Rochester all the runs they needed. Colabello was 2-4 with his 21st double and the homer was his 14th. Clement’s homer was his 10th. Rohlfing went 2-3 with a walk. The homer was his second of the weekend. He also stole his first AAA base. Chris Herrmann added his sixth home run. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 with his third double. Doug Bernier hit his eighth and ninth doubles. Cole De Vries got the win. He went 5.1 innings and gave up three runs. He allowed eight hits, walked none and struck out five. Blake Martin gave up two hits over 2.2 scoreless innings, striking out two. Michael Tonkin struck out two in a scoreless ninth. New Britain Rock Cats 2, Harrisburg Senators 5 Box Score The Rock Cats had plenty of hits but were unable score enough to win. DJ Baxendale started. He gave up four runs on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out one. Bobby Lanigan gave up one run on a walk and two hits in the 7th. Dakota Watts and Dan Turpen each worked a scoreless inning. Danny Ortiz led the way with a 3-5 day. Kyle Knudson was 2-3 with a walk. Jordan Parraz, Nate Hanson and Reynaldo Rodriguez were each 2-5. Miguel Sano was 0-3 to drop his batting average to .091 through his first five games with the Rock Cats. He is 1-11, but he has six walks and just three strikeouts. Ft. Myers Miracle All-Star break’s last day. The Miracle start their second half on Monday night, with Tyler Duffey on the mound. Cedar Rapids Kernels 9, Peoria Chiefs 10 Box Score Needing a win and a Snappers loss to win the first-half division title, the Kernels didn't have a good game, but they did have a chance at the end. The hitters showed up. The best news came in the form of the return of Niko Goodrum. The all-star shortstop has missed about two weeks after suffering a concussion; he went 3-4 with a walk and his 13th double. Dalton Hicks has been on fire. Sunday, he went 3-4 with his 21st double and his 12th home run (homering for the 3rd straight game). He also drove in six runs and ended the first half with 63 RBI. Jorge Polanco and JD Williams each went 2-4. Was it Byron Buxton’s final game with the Kernels? We’ll likely find out on Tuesday night or Wednesday, but if so, he ended his stay in the mid-west with two hits. The Kernels scored nine runs. Mason Melotakis got the nod on the mound. He gave up five runs on six hits and three walks in 6.1 innings. He struck out two. Tyler Jones came on and took it to the ninth. The Kernels held a 9-5 lead heading to the ninth. Beloit was down a run in the ninth inning of their game. Things were looking positive. Jones was able to get just one out in the ninth though and was charged with two runs. Josue Montanez came on and gave up two hits and hit a batter. He left and was replaced by Alex Muren who got the final two outs, but not before Peoria had scored five in the inning and taken a 10-9 lead .The Kernels were unable to score in the bottom of the 9th. The drama was for naught anyway, as Beloit had won in walk-off fashion to win the Western Division’s first-half title. The Midwest League All-Star game is Tuesday night. The second half will begin on Friday. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

Monday night was a full night in the Twins minor league system, and each team provided impressive highlights. For Rochester, it was LHP Logan Darnell. For New Britain, pick between Miguel Sano and Danny Ortiz. For Ft. Myers, how about Dalton Hicks? Maybe Tyler Duffey? For Cedar Rapids, of course it was Adam Walker. Zach Granite gets the nod for Elizabethton. You can pick between Zach Larson, Chad Christensen and Amaurys Minier for the GCL picks, but you won’t pick their defense. Find out what those players did and how the minor league games went Monday night:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 1 Box Score Logan Darnell has certainly experienced good and bad in his short time with the Red Wings. On this night, he was very good. The lefty went six shutout innings and gave up just four hits. He walked none and struck out two, needing only 65 pitches. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up one run on three hits in his two innings. Shairon Martis came on and pitched a perfect ninth for his seventh save of the season. It was also Darnell’s first AAA win. Oswaldo Arcia remained hot in his return to the Red Wings. He went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth double. Chris Parmelee went 2-4. Game 1 – New Britain 4, Portland 5 Box Score Danny Ortiz continues to be overlooked as a prospect, but he was very good in this game. He went 3-3 with his 23rd double and his ninth home run. AJ Pettersen went 2-3 with his fourth double. Jordan Parraz hit his eighth home run. Miguel Sano was 1-2 with two walks. BJ Hermsen got a spot start in the front end of the double-header. He falls to 1-7 after giving up four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. Matt Hauser came on and gave up one run on two hits over 3.1 innings. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out five. Game 2 – New Britain 3, Portland 8 (9 innings) Box Score They needed a couple extra innings to decide the second game of the double- header. In the end, after five runs in the top of the ninth, there was no miracle comeback for the home team. DJ Baxendale made the start and threw well. In six innings, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. Jose Gonzalez got the first two outs of the seventh. Cole Johnson got the final out of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth frame. However, both batters he faced in the ninth hit solo home runs. He was replaced by Ryan O’Rourke who gave up three runs on three hits and a walk before getting out of the inning. Angel Morales went 2-3 with his third home run. Miguel Sano was 1-4, as he hit his ninth Rock Cats home run (and 25th overall, taking over the organizational lead from Chris Colabello). Ft. Myers 10, Brevard County 3 Box Score The Miracle offense exploded in this game. Dalton Hicks led the way. He went 3-4 with the second home run since his promotion, three RBI and two walks. Stephen Wickens went 3-4 with a walk and three RBI. Matt Koch was 2-5 with a walk and three RBI. Jhon Goncalves was 2-4 with a walk. Aderlin Mejia and former Gopher Mike Kvasnicka each added two hits. Tyler Duffey put together another quality start. He went the first seven innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out a season-high ten batters. Nelvin Fuentes came on and threw two scoreless innings; he walked one and struck out one. Cedar Rapids 11, Ft. Wayne 4 Box Score The Kernels also put up big offensive numbers, though that happens on a nearly nightly basis. Speaking of things that happen on nearly a nightly basis, Adam Walker had another big game and hit another home run. The outfielder went 3-5 with his 22nd double and his 22nd home run. He drove in three runs to give him 88 RBI for the season. Michael Gonzales went 3-4 with a walk and his first double. Jorge Polanco went 3-5 with a walk. Max Kepler was 2-5. JO Berrios was on the mound and pitched well for the win. In six innings, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on eight hits and a walk; he struck out four. Tim Shibuya came on and gave up a run on two hits in his inning. Alex Muren walked one in a scoreless inning. Dallas Gallant walked one and struck out one in his inning. Elizabethton 3, Danville 3 (Game suspended after five innings) Box Score This rain-shortened game began poorly. Tanner Mendonca started and recorded just two outs. He gave up three runs on one hit and five walks. The two outs came on strikeouts. Andrew Ferreira went the next 3.1 innings without allowing a run. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out five. Austin Malinowski struck out two in the final inning. Zach Granite went 2-3 with his second double and second triple. GCL Twins 6, GCL Rays 13 Box Score Pitching and defense win, right? Well, in this game, it was defense that cost the GCL Twins a win. The teams combined for ten errors- unfortunately, eight were by the Twins. Alex Wimmers got the start. He gave up one run on five hits in 3.1 innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out four. Brandon Easton got the final two outs of the fourth frame, but not before giving up six runs; three were earned. Derrick Penilla pitched the fifth and was charged with three runs (two earned) on three hits. Kohl Stewart came on and pitched the next two innings. He gave up three runs (one earned) on two hits and struck out two. Reyson Zoquiel gave up an unearned run in his inning. Josh Guyer didn’t give up a run in his inning despite a hit and two walks. Zach Larson went 3-4 with a walk. Chad Christensen went 3-5 with his fourth double. Amaurys Minier went 2-5 and launched his fifth home run of the season. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

On Thursday morning, the Twins made their first cuts of spring. The following 40 man roster players were optioned and will report to minor league camp. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Scott Diamond - LHP - it's not a surprise at all that Diamond will not be making the big league opening day roster, but it is somewhat surprising that he is cut this early. However, he will be starting in the minor leagues and needs to be stretched out. Matt Maloney's emergence likely makes this an easy decision.Deolis Guerra - RHP - This is Guerra's final option year. He had a rough first spring outing, but he has been decent the last two. It's a big year for Guerra to show if he has a big league future.Lester Oliveros - RHP - It is also a little surprising that Oliveros is cut this early. He has pitched alright so far this spring, but he was unlikely to make the big league roster for opening day anyway. It is best for his development to get more AAA time.Tyler Robertson - LHP - Robertson was just added to the 40 man roster last fall, so this is his first option. He had a good showing in his first big league camp.Darin Mastriaonni - OF - There were some that thought that Mastriaonni was a candidate if the Twins went with a 5-man outfield because of his speed and ability to play centerfield, but he didn't show much offensively or defensively. Interesting that the guy the Twins took off their 40 man roster in order to claim Mastroianni (Esmerling Vasquez) will remain in camp.Oswaldo Arcia - OF - Like Robertson, this is Arcia's first camp. He spent just half of last season in Ft. Myers, so there was no chance of him breaking with the big league club. But he had a couple of good moments in spring including a long, opposite field home run in a B game.The following players were non-roster invites to big league camp that were re-assigned to minor league camp: Aaron Thompson - LHP - The lefty made his debut a year ago with the Reds and is still just 24 years old, so he has a chance yet. He'll go to minor league camp and it will be interesting to see if he starts or comes out of the bullpen. The fact that he's sent down this early tells me that he may be stretched out.Steve Pearce - 1B/3B/OF - Pearce was a very long-shot to make the big league roster anyway, but an injury that will keep him out about a week meant he had no chance.Danny Rams - C/1B/OF - Rams was invited to big league camp shortly after it started because the team wanted another catcher. So, it's no surprise that he's among the first cuts.Any thoughts on this first round of cuts? The Twins are now down to 57 players in camp. They will need to cut another 22 players before Opening Day, so much more to come! Download attachment: ScottDiamond.jpg Click here to view the article

The Big Picture The Rangers have been the American League representative in the World Series each of the past two seasons. In 2012, they are 46-29 and battling with the New York Yankees for the best record in the league. To no surprise, the Los Angeles Angels have started playing (pitching) better and despite a slow start, they are just 4.5 games behind Texas. Why They Will Trade With the Twins [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Rangers don’t have a lot of needs. Generally, they are considered one of, if not the, best all-around teams in baseball. They have the best offense in baseball. Their pitching staff is among the top five in baseball. However, the Rangers have shown in recent years that they are willing to deal at the trade deadline to become even stronger. Two years ago, they gave up (then) top prospect Justin Smoak to Seattle for Cliff Lee. Last year, they had one of baseball’s strongest bullpens and went out and acquired Koji Uehara and Mike Adams and Michael Gonzalez. Then in the offseason, they signed Joe Nathan. If Justin Morneau can possibly turn things around and hit for the next three weeks, he is a possible target as he would be a little improvement over the currently-injured Mitch Moreland at first base. David Murphy plays left field most of the time with Josh Hamilton in centerfield. Late in games, they move Hamilton to left field and insert Craig Gentry for defensive purposes. The team would like to move Hamilton to left field more permanently. Currently, the Rangers leadoff hitter is Ian Kinsler who does a decent job of getting on base, but with his power, he might fit better down in the lineup. Denard Span would make a lot of sense for the Rangers as he could take over in center field and in the leadoff spot. Of course, they could also inquire about Josh Willingham to take over in left field or DH (with Michael Young playing more first base). Much depends upon how well Leonys Martin can play over the next month. Of course, with Nolan Ryan involved, it would surprise no one if the Rangers did target some additional pitching. That means names like Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins and Jared Burton could be trade targets, as well. Why They Won't Trade With the Twins As mentioned above, the Rangers do not have many needs. The Rangers’ offense currently leads MLB in Batting Average (.282), On-Base Percentage (.343), Slugging Percentage (.456), and of course OPS (.800). The Rangers are also fourth in MLB in team ERA (3.61) and Batting Average Against (.242). How much more salary will the team want to incur going forward? In the offseason, Josh Hamilton will become a free agent. The Rangers have a strong farm system. They have the talent to win already, as they have proven the last two-plus seasons. Their core, along with some of the impressive stable of prospects in their system, could keep the Rangers in contention for years to come. Conclusion The Rangers do not have a lot of needs, but after falling short in the World Series each of the past two seasons, they will certainly be willing to deal to make themselves better. The Rangers have a strong farm system and have shown a willingness to use it to acquire players in each of the past two seasons. With their 20 year, $3 billion television contract from Fox Sports Southwest, payroll is not an issue. According to Forbes, the Rangers are worth $674 million, a 20% increase from 2011. However, adding a player like Denard Span and his team-friendly contract would make their offense, and their defense, even stronger. And based on last year, the Rangers clearly believe that you can never have too much quality pitching. Here is a list five Rangers prospects that the Twins could look for in return in potential trades. ~~~ Possible Trade Targets Martin Perez - LHP Perez is set to make his much-anticipated Major League debut this weekend for the Rangers. The 21-year-old southpaw was called up to take the place of Colby Lewis who was put on the Disabled List. Perez has always been very young for his level of competition. Baseball American has ranked him 17th, 24th and 31st respectively in their Top 100 prospect lists. He has a fastball in the low 90s with sink, a good changeup and a sharp, slow curveball. His potential is immense, although he is yet to experience much success at the AAA-level. Tanners Scheppers - RHP Scheppers played for the St. Paul Saints before the 2009 draft. The Rangers selected him in the supplemental first round that year. It was the third time he had been drafted because he has tremendous stuff. His fastball reaches into the mid-90s. He has a very good curveball as well. There were often durability concerns with him, and he struggled at times with control. The 25-year-old began this season in the AAA bullpen where he walked just four and struck out 27 in 29 innings. He was called up to the Rangers in early June where he has just one walk and nine strikeouts in 7.1 innings. Jurickson Profar - SS Profar is one of the elite prospects in baseball. The shortstop turned 19 in February and is currently hitting .289/.369/.463 (.832) in Double-A. He has 17 doubles, six triples, seven homers, 34 RBI and nine stolen bases. This comes after posting an OPS of .883 last year in High-A ball. The reality is that the Twins likely couldn’t get Profar in exchange for Span, Morneau and Perkins. But could the Rangers reigning shortstop, Elvis Andrus, be available? He is just 23 and has been their starting shortstop since 2009. He can hit and field and is in the first year of a three-year, $14.4 million deal that takes him to free agency. Neil Ramirez - RHP 23-year-old Ramirez came in to the season as a top prospect, but he has struggled at AAA. The 2003 first-round pick out of high school in Virginia Beach throws hard. As a starter, his fastball sits in the low-90s but touches 96. This spring, in a one-inning stint, he touched 98 mph. His curveball is said to be his best pitch, although he also has a very good changeup. Still young, he profiles as a mid-rotation starter, but with a fastball that is impressive. Cody Buckel - RHP Buckel was the Rangers second round pick in 2010 out of high school. He just turned 20 and made his first AA start. At High-A Myrtle Beach, he was 5-3 with a 1.31 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. In 75.2 innings, he walked 25 but he struck out 91. He has a fastball that touches 94. He throws a cutter that sits between 85-90. He has a good 12-6 curveball in the 70s. He throws a slider in the low-80s. He also has a good changeup in the low-80s. Please add your thoughts and trade ideas (and other names the Twins could pursue) in the comments below! Download attachment: ElvisAndrus.jpg Click here to view the article

On Saturday, four Twins minor league affiliates played a total of five games. Two of them involved walk-offs. Another was won on a big home run in the eighth inning. There were three very good starts. Sam Deduno made his second start of the year and no fewer than four WBC competitors had very good games in the Twins' minor leagues on Saturday. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On Sunday, the Miracle will get a day off. Rochester will send PJ Walters to the mound. New Britain will have Logan Darnell start. JO Berrios will be starting for the Kernels in Beloit. Also, catcher Michael Quesada will be joining the Kernels very soon, returning from his 50-game suspension. Game 1 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Columbus Clippers 3 Box Score The Red Wings had to make up the game rained out on Friday night; they did so on Saturday. Game 1 was started by Sam Deduno. The right-hander gave up one run on four hits. In 5.1 innings, he walked four and struck out five. Caleb Thielbar came on and struck out four in 2.2 perfect innings. Luis Perdomo took the loss, giving up two unearned runs in the ninth frame. Download attachment: Thielbar.jpg Brian Dinkelman provided the Red Wings' scoring offense in this game. He hit his second homer of the season, a solo shot. Jeff Clement was 2-5 with his second double. Eric Farris went 1-1 with two walks and his fifth stolen base. Game 2 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Columbus Clippers 3 Box Score The Twins lost the second game by the exact same score. Andrew Albers started and was again pretty good. The lefty Canadian gave up two unearned runs on five hits in six innings to drop his ERA to 2.75. He walked one and struck out seven. Rafael Perez pitched the seventh frame. He gave up one run on two hits and a walk. Chris Colabello went 2-3 with his tenth double. He drove in the lone Red Wings' run in this game. Joe Benson and Brian Dinkelman each had two hits. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Portland Sea Dogs 4 Box Score Alex Meyer made the start for the Rock Cats. The right-hander gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out seven. Jose Gonzalez struck out two in two perfect innings. Bruce Pugh walked one and struck out one in a scoreless eighth inning. Aaron Thompson gave up a hit, but nothing more, in a scoreless ninth. Curt Smith signed with the Twins after a strong showing in the WBC for Team Netherlands. His two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Rock Cats a lead that they were able to hold on to. It was Smith’s third homer of the year. Josmil Pinto hit his seventh homer of the year, as well. Dan Rohlfing went 2-2 with two walks. Antoan Richardson walked three times. Ft. Myers Miracle 4, Jupiter Hammerheads 5 Box Score DJ Baxendale was terrific again on this day, but the bullpen coughed up the lead in the ninth. Baxendale went the first seven innings and gave up only an unearned run, reducing his ERA to 1.25. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out one. Dakota Watts pitched a scoreless eighth inning. However, in the ninth, he gave up four singles. He left with the bases loaded and a one run lead. Corey Williams came on and gave up a double that scored the two runs to give the Hammerheads the walk-off win. Jairo Rodriguez went 3-4 with two RBI. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his ninth double and third triple. Stephen Wickens was 2-5. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Beloit Snappers 3 Box Score The Kernels have won several games this year in the late innings. On Saturday, they were the victims of a walk-off. Tyler Duffey was on the mound and again pitched quite well. The right-hander threw seven innings and yielded just one run. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out seven. Manuel Soliman came on and pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He got the first out in the ninth inning before issuing a walk. That was followed by back-to-back doubles to end the game. Travis Harrison went 2-4 with his 11th and 12th doubles. JD Williams went 2-3 and stole his seventh base. Byron Buxton added his eighth double. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. Click here to view the article

As you know, I have been in Cedar Rapids for their past two games against Wisconsin. They won on Thursday, but they fell 8-7 on Friday. This is a first. Following the game, my brother played cameraman, and we decided to record the minor league report. This is, essentially, a video version of what you would typically read. Let us know what you think. I'd also like to thank everyone involved with the Kernels, from GM Dog Nelson, to the coaching staff and the players, for being great to talk to. The Kernels are covered well locally by The Gazette and MetroSportsReport.com. Special thanks to Steve Buhr for hanging out with us. It was again a great experience, and I certainly still recommend planning a trip to see the Kernels. And yes, the rumors are true... i did throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Video possibly in the comments. here is the report: Click here to view the article

Download attachment: MauerMorneau600.jpg It's been a long season for the Twins and their fans. Many years at this time, I would say, "Boy, April doesn't seem like that long ago!" This year, it has been a very, very long season and April does seem like forever ago. However, starting tonight, the Twins will have just 15 more games to play this season, and although it's been a frustrating season, again, there are still plenty of reasons for fans to "play out the string." The best reason is "Because it's Baseball." Here are some more: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Just Be Better Than Last Year The Twins enter this series with a record of 60-87. Maybe they can reel off a 15-game winning streak and end up 75-87. A nice goal might be to go 8-7 in the last 15 games and finish 68-94. To avoid losing 99 games again, the Twins need to win four more games. With the hitters healthy, that seems to be a fair goal. Milestone Chasing There may not be any huge milestone career numbers that Twins players are chasing, but the M&M Boys can continue their rise up the Twins leader boards. Joe Mauer needs 1 RBI to tie Michael Cuddyer for 10th on the Twins all-time list with 580. Justin Morneau needs 12 RBI to catch up to Bob Allison for 5th on the Twins RBI list with 796.Justin Morneau needs 2 doubles to tie Torii Hunter for 6th on the Twins career list with 259. If Joe Mauer can notch 6 more doubles, he would tie Gary Gaetti at 252 for 8th all-time.Six more walks and Joe Mauer would tie Roy Smalley with 549 walks. Smalley is currently sixth on the all-time Twins list.With one more sacrifice fly, Justin Morneau ties Kirby Puckett for 4th place with 58. If he hits two sacrifice flies, he ties Gary Gaetti for 3rd place with 59.Can Mauer Lead the League? Are we talking about Batting Average? If so, here are the current leaders: Miguel Cabrera .330 Mike Trout .329 Derek Jeter .323 Joe Mauer .321 Let's say that it will take a .330 batting average for Mauer to win the batting title. Let's also say that over the final 15 Twins games, Mauer will get 51 at bats to bring his season total to 540. He would need to go 21-51 (.412) to hit .330. Of course, any of those above him are capable of a similar run and are capable of hitting over .330. At any rate, Mauer still could win an unprecedented fourth batting title, but it will take some serious work! If we are talking about On-Base Percentage, which in most ways is more important than Batting Average, then Mauer is certainly the favorite. Here is how the OBP leader board looks heading into Tuesday: Joe Mauer .415 Prince Fielder .404 Mike Trout .396 Miguel Cabrera .395 David Murphy .391 No matter how you look at it, Joe Mauer returned to form in 2012. Three More Opportunities With fifteen games left, my Minnesota Math tells me that the current five in the Twins starting rotation will each get three more starts. That is, they will each get three more opportunities to show the Twins manager, pitching coach, GM, other teams, and fans what they are capable of. Scott Diamond seems all but guaranteed a rotation spot in 2013, but I'm sure he'd like to finish strong. He is currently sitting at 188.1 combined innings on the season (153.2 with the Twins, 34.2 with Rochester). Samuel Deduno seemed to have nearly locked in a 2013 starting gig with the Twins until he struggled with his control again in his most recent start. PJ Walters needs to try to show that his first three Twins starts were the real him and the terrible starting since then is the anomaly. Esmerling Vasquez needs to let the brass know if he can throw enough strikes to be a starter or a reliever. Liam Hendriks needs to relax and pitch like we all know that he can. Three starts is obviously a small sample size no matter how you look at it, but coupled with what they've done to this point, it's the beginning of their case. Firsts As you all know, I love seeing players come up through the minor league ranks and succeed. Chris Herrmann got a late call up here in September. He made his big league debut on Sunday when he grounded out to second base in a pinch hitting effort. I'm sure he'll make a couple of starts, and it will be great to see him get his first major league hit. However, if there is one thing that I want to see more than anything in these final 15 games, it is a Liam Hendriks win. It would be great for him to get Number One out of the way before the offseason so that he doesn't have to carry that with him. Yes, it has been a very long, very frustrating season in many ways, but hey, it's still baseball. It's still the best game that there is. Last night, the Twins didn't play. I decided to watch the first episode of NBC's Revolution. That's an hour of my life that I can't get back, and if that's what we have to look forward to watching on TV until the Twins come back next spring, it is going to be a very, very long winter!! So, enjoy the final couple of weeks for what they are. Click here to view the article

Minor League Opening Day has come and gone, and all is good in the world! As we ever-so patiently await today’s Twins opener, we were able to peruse the box scores of four Twins affiliates. Opening Day is a sign of hope, especially for the guys who had good games. If players had rough games, hey, it’s just one of 144 games! But it is box scores and games that count. Which prospects will rise, and which will fall? Will any of the teams make the playoffs? They are questions that no one knows the answer to, but each of those answers start on Opening Day. Below you’ll find the results of each of the Twins minor league games as well as some of the highlights. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 7, SYRACUSE 4 Matt Carson’s debut with the Red Wings was a successful one. The eldest player on the Rochester had hits in his first four at bats. He was 4-5 with a double and a triple. Brian Dozier doubles in his first AAA at bat and singled in his second. He was 2-4 with a walk. Aaron Bates went 2-3 with two walks. Drew Butera went 2-3 with a sac fly, a double and a two-run home run that bounced off the foul pole. PJ Walters started and threw four scoreless innings. He gave up two hits and walked two while striking out four. Jeff Manship and pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings. Tyler Robertson then gave up three runs (2 earned) on one hit and a walk in an inning. Brendan Wise replaced him and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Casey Fien recorded the Save with a perfect 1-2-3 ninth frame. Behind the Box Score – Tyler Robertson’s stats may not look good at the end of the day, but he had Key Moment #1 of the game. With the Red Wings leading 2-0 in the 6th inning, Bryce Harper came to the plate as the potential tying run. Robertson came in to replace Manship. He struckout Harper and then got veteran Jason Michaels to pop out to end the inning. It was a key moment at the time. Brian Dinkelman was just 1-4 in the game, but after Robertson’s key moment, Dinkelman gave the team Key Moment #2. His bases-clearing triple off of the right field wall gave the Red Wings a 5-0 lead. NEW BRITAIN 3, RICHMOND 2 Luke French has made 25 big league starts, yet the 26-year-old lefty finds himself starting in Double-A. In this game, he threw five shutout innings, allowing two hits. He walked two and struckout four. Deolis Guerra came in and continued the dominance he displayed after his transition to the bullpen last season. He threw two perfect innings and struckout three. Daniel Turpen, acquired for Kevin Slowey, threw a scoreless eighth inning. He came out for the ninth inning, holding a three-run lead. He recorded two outs, but allowed two runs on four hits. Lester Oliveros came in and struckout the one batter he faced for the save. Mark Dolenc and James Beresford were each 2-3. Chris Herrmann was 2-4 with an RBI. Evan Bigley notched a double. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 8, CHARLOTTE 6 The Miracle nearly completed a miraculous comeback, but it fell short. However, the big news in this game was that Scott Baker made the start but lasted just three batters and 11 pitches. He left the field complaining that he just could not get warmed up. Edgar Ibarra came in and the lefty pitched well. He gave up three hits and a walk but no runs in 2.2 innings. Jose Gonzalez came in for the 4th inning and gave up three runs on three hits. He did strikeout three. Ricky Bowen came in and gave up one run on four hits in three innings. He walked none and struckout three. Matt Hauser pitched the final inning and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. Danny Santana had a nice Florida State League debut. He went 3-4 with a walk and two doubles. Angel Morales went 3-4 with a stolen base. Oswaldo Arcia singled his first time up. Then he walked three straight times. He added a stolen base. BELOIT 2, PEORIA 5 Eden Prairie’s Madison Boer threw two scoreless innings to start the game. In the third inning, he gave up four runs (3 earned). He gave up another unearned run in the fourth inning. Matt Tomshaw came in and threw two perfect innings, striking out three. Matt Summers struckout the side in the 7th inning. Nelvin Fuentes threw a scoreless 8th inning despite giving up a hit and two walks. Bart Carter struckout two in the ninth. The Snappers offense didn’t show up on Opening night. The team managed just five hits. Jhonathan Goncalves had two of them. Eddie Rosario and Danny Ortiz each had a double. Of course, they each also had an error. Miguel was 0-3 in his MWL debut. He was hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance and then stole second base. --- For much more on the Twins Minor League system, be sure to listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly episode. Travis Aune and I discussed all four games and many of the players. --- Thursday, April 5, 2012 Players of the Day Hitter of the Day – Matt Carson Download attachment: MattCarson.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Luke French Download attachment: LukeFrench.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Friday, April 6, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – 3:00 (CST) – Scott Diamond Richmond @ New Britain (Doubleheader, Game 1 @ 3:35 CST) – Steve Hirschfeld, Logan Darnell Charlotte @ Ft. Myers – Pat Dean (6:05 CST) Peoria @ Beloit – 6:30 – 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

I posted the Twins Minor League Starting Pitchers of the month a day early, but nothing would have changed with it had I waited a day. This morning, I am happy to present to you the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month, and tomorrow, I’ll follow-up with the Twins minor league Hitter of the Month for May. Happy June!! I’m about to embark on the Territory Train, bound for Davenport, Iowa, tonight to watch the Quad Cities River Bats take on Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Twins Daily contributor AJ Pettersen and the rest of the Beloit Snappers. On Saturday morning, we will drive to Beloit to watch a Snappers game at Pohlmann Stadium. It should be a fun trip and expect a blog or two on the events. For now, enjoy the fact that there were a lot of very good relief pitching performances in the Twins organization in May. It was tough to limit the list to six. However, here are my choices for the Top 6 Twins Minor League Relief Pitchers in May:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 6 – New Britain – LHP Blake Martin - 9 G, 0.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 11 IP, 8 H, 5 BB, 10 K, I have to be honest, I am surprised that Blake Martin is still in the Twins organization. The last two seasons, he has actually walked more than he struck out and put up really poor numbers. However, the left-hander remains with the organization and had himself a terrific month of May. He likely won’t be a control pitcher, but he can get left-handers out. Hopefully he can continue this success moving forward and get a shot in Rochester later in the season. Number 5 - Beloit – RHP Clinton Dempster - 9 G, 1.84 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 14.2 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 12 K, Dempster was drafted by the Twins in 2010, and in the first half of 2011, he dominated out of the Beloit bullpen. He earned a midseason promotion to the Miracle, but things really didn’t go well for him there. He started this season back with the Miracle, and after a bit of a slow start, he has returned to his more dominant form. Dempster could be in line for another midseason promotion to the Miracle, one he is likely more ready for this go around. Number 4 – New Britain – LHP Caleb Thielbar - 10 G, 2.65 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 17 IP, 16 H, 2 BB, 14 K, Thielbar was a nice story last year. The Minnesota native signs with the St. Paul Saints and late in the season, he became the first player that the Twins signed from the Saints. He pitched well in a couple of outings for the Miracle, but many assumed the story ended there. Thielbar started this season with the Miracle and had a tremendous April, earning a spot on this list a month ago, and earning his late-April promotion to AA. It would have been a nice story had it ended there. However, the left-hander keeps the great story going by pitching remarkably well in New Britain. He has good stuff, and terrific control, and apparently that is a good combination. Number 3 – New Britain/Rochester – RHP Lester Oliveros - 8 G, 1.88 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 11 H, 2 BB, 19 K Oliveros came to the Twins last August in the Delmon Young trade. The hard thrower split 2011 between the Tigers, their AAA and AA affiliates, the Twins and their AAA affiliate. With many bullpen arms coming out of spring training, the Twins wisely sent this hard thrower back to AA, where he most recently had some dominating success. Oliveros handled it well, dominating the Eastern League the way you would hope and earning this month’s promotion to Rochester. During one stretch between AA and AAA, he accumulated consecutive scoreless innings. Oliveros is still just 24 years old and could be a very good big league reliever. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Bruce Pugh - 9 G, 0.56 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 16 IP, 13 H, 3 BB, 13 K, 2011 was a frustrating season for the hard-throwing Pugh. He fought injury, but he also fought control issues throughout the season that continued into the Arizona Fall League. Pugh returned to Ft. Myers this spring and has shown better control. The results have been there, especially in May. He has the kind of stuff that make him a strong candidate for a future big league bullpen spot. It’s just a matter of control. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester – Anthony Slama - 11 G, 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 11 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 18 K Was there even any question about this one this month? Anthony Slama hasn’t given up a run in a long time, extending well back into April. He continues to strike out more and a batter and a half per inning. This month, his control was actually in check. The “Why hasn’t Slama been given a chance?” plot line continues to thicken because he has dominated AAA hitters for three seasons now. Maybe he will get another shot and prove us all wrong, or maybe he’ll find a way to continue to miss bats consistently. That debate will continue until he has a lot more than seven big league innings under his belt. But for now, we are left with giving him ‘awards’ like the Twins Minor League Reliever of the Month for May. So what do you think? I’ve listed six players here and there are a few bullpen guys in the Twins farm system that could (should?) be recognized for their terrific performances this past month. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Be sure to check back later for the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Month of May. Download attachment: AnthonySlama2.jpg Click here to view the article

It was an interesting day in the Minnesota Twins system. At the top, the Twins got another horrific starting from Kevin Correia and Michael Tonkin struggled again. David Ortiz took it to his old team for the second straight night and the Red Sox topped the Twins 9-4. There were two walk-off wins in the Twins' minor leagues, so that’s always fun. Another team scored its winning run thanks to a big blast in the team’s first inning. Unfortunately, if you’re a Cedar Rapids fan, it was a tough night. For the second straight day, they were swept in a double header against Peoria. Let’s look at the goings on in the Twins system: Download attachment: Nate Hanson 3.jpg TRANSACTIONS As mentioned yesterday, Ryan Walker and Carlos Avila were added to the Cedar Rapids Kernels roster on Wednesday morning. They take the roster spots of Engelb Vielma and Jason Kanzler. Dalton Hicks came off the Ft. Myers Miracle DL, and Alex Swim returned to Extended Spring Training. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5, Columbus 4 Box Score Going into the 9th inning, Pedro Florimon had been 0-13 in his short time with the Red Wings. However, he picked a great time for his first hit, a leadoff double. Two batters later, James Beresford drove him in with a sacrifice fly to give the Red Wings a walk-off win. Chris Herrmann went 2-3 with a walk, his second double and his second stolen base. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-4. Scott Diamond made the start for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits. In 5.1 innings, he struck out two. Yohan Pino went the next two innings and didn’t allow a run despite giving up a hit and walking two. He struck out three. Matt Hoffman got two outs. He walked two and struck out one. AJ Achter pitched the final inning and was perfect. He struck out two. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Portland 3 Box Score Walk-off home runs are fun! Even walk-off singles are great! Winning walk-off walks? Well, hey, they're certainly better than walk-off (or any) losses!! Down 3-1 going into the bottom of the 9th, the Rock Cats got a single and a double from Corey Wimberly and Tony Thomas, respectively. That set up an RBI single for Nate Hanson, followed by the game-tying RBI single off the bat of Kennys Vargas. Still no one out, Reynaldo Rodriguez singled to load the bases. Danny Ortiz grounded into a force out. However, with one out, Brandon Waring worked the game-winning, walk-off walk. Waring walked three times in the game. Nate Hanson was the hitting hero, however. He went 3-3 with two walks. Along with his game-tying single, Vargas walked twice as well. Tyler Duffey started for New Britain. He went five innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. Jim Fuller gave up one run on two hits and two walks over his two innings. Ryan O’Rourke walked one and struck out one in his scoreless inning. Dan Turpen struck out two in a scoreless inning. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Brevard County 3 Box Score David Hurlbut has been terrific since moving into the Miracle rotation. On this night, he improved to 3-1 with a seven-inning effort. He gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and a walk. Tim Shibuya pitched a scoreless inning. Tyler Jones came in with a two-run lead and he recorded the save, though he made things interesting by giving up a run on one hit and two walks in the ninth. Adam Walker came up to bat in the top of the first inning and gave the Miracle all the runs they would need. His sixth homer run came with the bases loaded. He went 2-4 in the game. Dalton Hicks returned to the Miracle lineup from the DL and went 1-3 with a walk. KERNELS NUGGETS Game 1 – Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 4 Box Score For the second straight day, the Kernels played two games. Kohl Stewart was the starter in the first contest. He gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. Brandon Bixler took the loss. He gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits in his three innings. He struck three out without a walk. Mitch Garver went 2-2 with two walks. Chad Christensen, Bo Altobelli, Michael Quesada and Joel Licon each went 2-4 in the game. They had base runners. In fact, they were 5-13 with runners in scoring position. However, they still left 11 runners on base. Game 2 – Cedar Rapids 3, Peoria 5 Box Score The Kernels gave up five first inning runs and were unable to come back. Derrick Penilla made his first start since his recent call up. He gave up those five runs – though just three were earned – on five hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out five. Todd Van Steensel was again impressive. He gave up just one hit over four shutout innings. He walked none and struck out five. Chad Christensen went 2-4 in the second game as well. He hit his seventh double and drove in two runs. Joel Licon went 2-3. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Todd Van Steensel, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Nate Hanson, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ Rochester (2:35 CST) – Alex Meyer (Listen) Portland @ New Britain (9:35 a.m.) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Ft. Myers @ Brevard Country (5:35 CST) – Alex Wimmers (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST) – Felix Jorge (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

The Big Picture The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are currently 47-45, 4.5 games behind both the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are also 4.5 games behind those two teams in the Wild Card race, but just three games back of the Atlanta Braves and 1.5 games behind the Dodgers for the second Wild Card. The team traditionally is not afraid to make a splash at the trade deadline. Last year, it was a deadline deal that is often credited for propelling the team to the playoffs late in the season. They won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on another deal this July. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Carlos Beltran is playing like an MVP. Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman continue to rake. David Freese became a household name in the playoffs last year and has broken out for real this season. This is a good, deep team that frankly, should not be outside of the current playoff picture looking in. Why They Will Trade With the Twins The Cardinals are blessed with one of baseball’s best offenses. Their pitching is pretty middle-of-the-pack, and their bullpen could use some proven, quality arms. The Red Birds are 12th in baseball with a 3.89 ERA, 15th in WHIP at 1.31, and 22nd in opponent batting average, at .260. Their starters have generally been just find, providing the team with 55 Quality Starts, which ranks sixth in the game. Adam Wainright (7-10, 4.42, 1.29), Kyle Lohse (9-2, 2.80, 1.10), Lance Lynn (11-4, 3.27, 1.21), and Jake Westbrook (7-8, 3.82, 1.33) make up four-fifths of the starting rotation. Jaime Garcia is most likely out until at least mid-August. He had an elbow injury in May and is now out with a shoulder injury. Just last week, ace Chris Carpenter had shoulder surgery and is out for the year. Joe Kelly has stepped in and is 1-2 with a 2.75 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, but I am certain that the Cardinals would be on the lookout for an impact starter. In fact, they are rumored to be kicking the tires on Mariners LHP Jason Vargas. Considering that several of the other big name pitchers who are likely on the trade block are from the NL Central (Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza of the Cubs, and Zach Greinke and Shawn Marcum of the Brewers), it certainly helps make a case for the Cardinals and Twins having some in-depth conversations surrounding lefty Francisco Liriano. Liriano has been pitching as well as anyone in baseball of late. He could also balance out their rotation a little bit by giving them a left-handed starting pitcher. The Cardinals bullpen after Jason Motte and righty Mitchell Boggs is kind of a mess. If the Twins are willing to deal the likes of Glen Perkins or Jared Burton, they could get back quite a haul at this time. That said, someone like Casey Fien, who has come up recently as a minor league veteran and pitched very well and shown a lot of life on his pitches, might be someone of interest in a much more minor deal. Why They Won't Trade With the Twins Tom Brunansky for Tommy Herr. OK, that deal was horrible, but it was made 24 years ago, so I think we should be able to move past it by now. The Cardinals offense is very strong. They rank 2nd in MLB in batting average (.274), 2nd in on-base percentage (.340), 7th in slugging percentage (.478) and 5th in runs scored. With Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran playing the corner outfield spots, and John Joy posting an OBP around .360, they are one team that doesn’t need to go after an outfielder. The only players among their regulars that are currently posting sub-.700 OPS are 2B Daniel Descalso and All Star SS Rafael Furcal (.699). Frankly, the Twins don’t have a better option for them at that position. Conclusion The Cardinals are used to being in the playoffs and the teams they are chasing may not have better teams on paper. This team may just need to infuse one piece to go on a run. They may also see the Joey Votto injury and think that now is the time to go for it. They will never say it, but I’m sure that Mike Matheny and his ball players would love to get back to the playoffs and show that they can do it without manager Tony LaRussa or all-time great Albert Pujols. ~~~ Possible Trade Targets Shelby Miller - RHP The assumption would be (and probably still should be) that Miller is not available in pretty much any trade. The 21-year-old right-hander has a fastball that sits in the mid-to-high 90s with good movement. He also throws a curveball and a changeup. He entered the season as Baseball America’s #8 prospect in baseball. He is now pitching in AAA (in the Pacific Coast League). For the first time, he is struggling. He is 4-8 with a 5.79 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. He’s given up 91 hits and walked 46 in 82.1 innings. However, he has still struck out 94 batters. Carlos Martinez - RHP Martinez is on the upward moving track. He is a right-hander with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and frequently hits 100 on the gun. His curveball and his changeup are works-in-progress and their development will determine whether he is a high-end starter or a high-leverage late-inning reliever. He began the year at Hi-A where he made seven starts, and now he is at AA where he is 2-2 after six starts. Tyrell Jenkins - RHP Jenkins was the 50th overall pick in the 2010 draft out of high school. He throws in the low 90s and touches 95-96 mph despite being just 20 and very skinny. In other words, there is room for growth and velocity. He throws a breaking ball and he is working on a changeup. At Quad Cities this year, he is 2-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 starts. He has 54 strikeouts (and 28 walks) in 58 innings. (Note – These top three prospects would not have been in the discussion had Francisco Liriano not been so incredible over the past two-and-a-half months. Now, I think it’s fair to at least start negotiations with some of these names. Jenkins’ name has been rumored in the Jason Vargas talks, so excuse me for being hopeful! At least I didn’t bring up 20 year old OF Oscar Taveras who hit .386 in the MWL last year and jumped to AA this year where he’s posting a .971 OPS.) Trevor Rosenthal - RHP Rosenthal was a 21st round pick of the Cardinals in 2009 out of a small community college in Kansas. He throws 90-95 with a lot of sink and a strong slider. A changeup will be big for him as a change-of-pace pitch. At AA this year, he is 8-6 with a 2.78 ERA in 17 games. He is striking out 7.9 per nine innings. Last year in Low-A, he struck out 9.9 per nine. Kolten Wong – 2B The Twins drafted Wong in the mid-rounds out of high school, but he chose to go to the University of Hawaii. It panned out for him as, well, 1.) he got to hang out in Hawaii for 3 years playing baseball, and 2.) he played well enough that he jumped into the middle of the first round last year. The 21-year-old is currently hitting .298/.372/.419 (.791) in 84 games at AA. Please add your thoughts and trade ideas (and other names the Twins could pursue) in the comments below! Download attachment: Carlos Beltran.jpg Click here to view the article