Seth Stohs

The Minnesota Twins didn't play on Wednesday and won't play on Thursday. They will begin a ten-game homestand on Friday night with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rock Cats both had players participating in their leagues' All-Star games on Wednesday. On Thursday, all the Twins affiliates will return to action. One to watch will be the return of Trevor May to the Rochester Red Wings rotation. Is it possible that if he pitches well enough in his return from a calf injury, he could be up with the big league club by next week? And one of the Kerenls hitters is on a very impressive streak of late. Continue reading to check out what happened on Wednesday in the Minnesota Twins minor leagues. RED WINGS REPORT On Wednesday, the AAA All Star Game was played in Durham, North Carolina. The lone representative of the Red Wings for the International League team was reliever AJ Achter. He got into the game and didn't pitch as well as he has throughout this season. He gave up a home run to Dodgers outfield prospect Joc Pederson. He also gave up a single before coming out of the game. ROCK CATS REVIEW Wednesday was also the Eastern League All-Star Game. Five members of the New Britain Rock Cats participated in the game. Taylor Rogers pitched a scoreless second inning. He gave up one hit, walked none and struck out one. Cole Johnson came in later in the game and got out both of the batters that he faced. Kennys Vargas didn't have a great game. He went 0-4 with three strikeouts. He also had an error in the field. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 1-4. Tony Thomas came on late and went 0-1 in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 1 Box Score Matt Tomshaw has been terrific all season for the Miracle and was in fine form on Wednesday night. The lefty gave up one run on seven hits over the first eight innings. He walked two and struck out four. Madison Boer worked a perfect ninth. Danny Santana made his second rehab appearance, batting third and playing shortstop. He went 0-4. Byron Buxton was in centerfield. He went 3-4 with a walk and a triple. Adam Walker went 3-5 with his 10th double and his league-leading 20th home run. The men in second place have twelve homers. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with his 16th double. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Lake County 4 Box Score Chih Wei-Hu made his second start and again, he was terrific. Through six innings, he had given up just one run. However, he faced three batters in the seventh inning and each of them came around to score. So, his final line was four runs allowed on six hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out four. Alex Muren came on and gave up a hit and a walk over two innings. He struck out three. Jake Reed pitched a perfect ninth inning. Download attachment: Alex Swim.jpg Alex Swim has been on fire. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games by going 3-4 with a walk. In those 12 games, he has gone 22-48 (.458). Chad Christensen went 2-4 with a walk and his 14th and 15th doubles. Mitch Garver was 2-5 with his 20th double. Jason Kanzler went 2-4 with his ninth home run. JD Williams went 2-3 with a walk. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Princeton 3 Box Score Sam Gibbons started and gave up one run on six hits and two walks in 5.1 innings. He struck out six and reduced his season ERA to 2.30. Randy LeBlanc came on and gave up two runs on three hits. He recorded five outs, all of them via strikeout. John Curtiss came in and struck out two in the final inning. The E-Twins managed just six hits. Will Hurt led the way, going 2-3. Max Murphy went 1-3 with a walk. GCL TWINS TAKES Game 1 - GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 0 Box Score In his most recent start, lefty Brandon Easton gave up no runs on one hit and two walks over five innings. On Wednesday, he went four shutout innings and gave up just one hit. This time, he walked none while striking out one. Eduardo del Rosario gave up one hit and a walk in 1.1 innings. Trevor Hildenberger got the final five outs and gave up only one hit. Zach Larson, continuing his rehab from a hamstring injury, went 1-2 with a walk. The team had just six hits in the game. Joel Polanco hit his fourth double. Game 2 - GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 11 Box Score Miguel Gonzalez started and gave up three runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out five. Jhon Silva came on and was charged with six runs (2 earned) on three hits. Two of the hits were homers. He struck out three. Onas Farfan pitched a scoreless fifth inning. In his two innings, he gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. Zach Hayden struck out two in a scoreless inning. Rafael Valera went 2-2 with his fourth double. Roberto Gonzalez added a double, his third of the year. Amaurys Minier his his second homer (a two-run blast) and added a third RBI. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matt Tomshaw, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Adam Walker, Ft. Myers Miracle THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Norfolk (6:05 CST) – Trevor May New Britain @ Reading (6:05 CST) – Virgil Vasquez Ft. Myers @ Daytona (6:05 CST) – Ethan Mildren Lake County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) - Kohl Stewart Elizabethton @ Princeton (6:05 CST) – Mat Batts GCL Rays @ GCL Twins (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Wednesday games. Click here to view the article

Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version for $13.99 by clicking here. Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve pointed out the organizational depth charts for the Twins hitters. We’ve looked at catchers, 3B, 1B, Middle Infielders and Outfielders. Today, I’ll take a look at the starting pitchers. Now, especially as I move to the lower levels, I won’t pretend to know which players will move to the bullpen. Often, due to innings limits, some ‘starters’ will begin the season in the bullpen. Others will begin the season as starters and get moved to the bullpen later due to innings. Frankly, most of the pitchers in the lowest levels have been starters their whole lives and some will be given at least some opportunity. As we saw with Carlos Gutierrez, even guys destined for the bullpen can be given an opportunity to start to work on pitches and gain arm strength. That’s OK, though, because the biggest purpose of this was to provide the organization’s depth. I need to reiterate that these are just my thoughts. I have no insider information to know where players will be playing for certain in 2012. Obviously after spring training, some of these players will be let go. There will be Disabled List players, extended spring training and more. Minnesota Twins Carl Pavano (RHP), Francisco Liriano (LHP), Scott Baker (RHP), Jason Marquis (RHP), Nick Blackburn (RHP) Gardy has announced Pavano as his Opening Day starter, an obvious choice based on last season. He’s been solid in his 2 ½ seasons with the Twins, most important he has provided a ton of innings despite an alarmingly low strikeout rate. There’s no question that Francisco Liriano has the best stuff of anyone on the staff, but if he can’t find control of his fastball, it will be another frustrating season. It is a contract season for Liriano, so the goal has to be for him to have a strong season. In 2011, Scott Baker was easily the Twins top starting pitcher. He was pitching the best he had in his career, until elbow problems curtailed his season. Nick Blackburn averaged 200 innings pitched his first two seasons while posting solid ERAs. He’s been pretty bad ever since getting the long-term contract. Unfortunately, the contract has given him many opportunities and likely will continue to do so. He misses very few bats, so we can just hope that a lot of baseballs get hit right at a defender. Many Twins fans are down on the Jason Marquis signing, and although I’m not a bit fan of the contract, he has actually had a pretty solid big league career. Rochester Red Wings Liam Hendriks (RHP), Scott Diamond (LHP), Aaron Thompson (LHP), Jeff Manship (RHP), Deinys Suarez (RHP) We saw Hendriks and Diamond late in the 2011 season. Hendriks was the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year and likely needs another half-season. Diamond had his moments, but overall 2011 was the first year in his career that he really struggled. He says he has made some adjustments, so we’ll see how it goes. Manship came up with the Twins and his first major league victory came on the final weekend of the 2009 season, when the Twins needed to sweep the Royals. He was supposed to be in the Twins bullpen last season, but he was hurt the entire season. He likely will pitch in the Twins bullpen, but they may have him start in Rochester first. Aaron Thompson is intriguing, at least. He will turn 25 years old later this month. He debuted with the Pirates last season, but in 7.2 innings, he gave up 13 hits, walked six and struck out just one. He has just six AAA games under his belt, and his AA career numbers are 15-37 with a 5.03 ERA in 96 games (80 starts). Deinys Suarez signed with the Twins last spring. The Cuban defector split time between New Britain and Rochester, not pitching particularly well either place. New Britain Rock Cats David Bromberg (RHP), Logan Darnell (LHP), Tom Stuifbergen (RHP), Marty Popham (RHP), Dan Osterbrock (LHP), Bobby Lanigan (RHP) Bromberg’s 2011 season was unfortunately a lost season. He began the season in Twins spring training, but he went back to New Britain, had a line drive break his arm, spent a lot of time rehabbing, came back too quickly, shut it down, worked hard and then found out the Twins had removed him from the 40 man roster. However, he will be just 24 years old throughout the 2012 season, so don’t forget about him. Logan Darnell was a 2010 draft pick who started last year in Beloit and got all the way to New Britain. Stuifbergen had a solid season in Ft. Myers, had a terrific one-start showing in Rochester, and then was the pitcher of the year in the World Cup tournament that his Netherlands team won. He was then knighted in his homeland. Sir Tom Stuifbergen should spent this season with the Rock Cats. Dan Osterbrock missed most of last season with shoulder problems which was unfortunate because he was coming off of a very good season in 2010. Bobby Lanigan was in the Rock Cats rotation all throughout the 2011 season. Some think his stuff (specifically his slider) will play very well out of the bullpen, and we may see some of that this year too. Marty Popham was selected by the Twins in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He has pitched in Hi-A, AA and AAA each of the past two seasons. He should spend this season in AA. Ft. Myers Miracle BJ Hermsen (RHP), Pat Dean (LHP), Adrian Salcedo (RHP), Alex Wimmers (RHP), Manuel Soliman (RHP), Ryan O’Rourke (LHP), AJ Achter (RHP) This is certainly an intriguing group of pitching prospects. If not for Liam Hendriks’ terrific 2011 season, my starting pitcher of the year choice would have been BJ Hermsen who pitched very well in Beloit and followed it up with a solid performance in Ft. Myers (minus a rough final start). Alex Wimmers had a rough 2011 season too in Ft. Myers, but it ended with the seven inning no hitter. Assuming he has his control issues under control, he could move quickly. Adrian Salcedo has long been a top ten Twins prospect, and he’ll move up to the Miracle. Manuel Soliman was the innings-eater for the Snappers last year despite only having pitched now for three years. He is an intriguing prospect, but for him to remain a starter, he will need to improve his secondary pitches. Pat Dean is definitely a solid prospect but like so many others, he missed a lot of time with injury in 2011. His season started about six weeks late, but he still pitched for three teams (including a late-season spot start in New Britain). Ryan O’Rourke is a tough, competitive left-hander with a nasty slider. When I saw him pitch in Beloit last summer, my comment was that I didn’t think big league left-handed hitters could hit that slider. He was successful as a starter, but he could also become a very good relief pitcher, so it will be interesting to see how his career progresses. The game I saw AJ Achter start last year, he was tremendous. He touches 90-91 with the fastball, but he has a terrific changeup and a curveball that had good bite. Beloit Snappers Tim Shibuya (RHP), Madison Boer (RHP), Matt Summers (LHP), Matt Bashore (LHP), Tim Atherton (RHP), Matt Tomshaw (LHP), Derek Christensen (RHP) Tim Shibuya was the Appy League Pitcher of the Year and threw seven innings of a no-hitter for the E-Twins. A smart pitcher with a full mix of pitches, he should adapt well to the Midwest League. Madison Boer and Matt Summers both began their pro careers in the E-Town bullpen. Each unsurprisingly dominated. Boer struggled upon his promotion to Beloit. It is likely the Twins will have each start. I believe Boer will move to the bullpen, but I think Summers can stick as a starter. Matt Bashore was a first-round pick in 2009 and has pitched very little since. However, reports indicate that in Instructs last fall, he was looking really good and throwing as high as 93 mph again. He could be one to watch in 2012. Matt Tomshaw was the Twins 43rd round pick just last year. Like many, he was given a shot with the Ft. Myers Miracle after a couple appearances with the GCL Twins. Like few, he was very successful for the Miracle. My guess, however, is that he will step back to Beloit and start. Derek Christensen had a terrific season as a starter with the E-Twins. The side-winder may eventually move to the bullpen but his combination of deception, fastball and slider make him a very intriguing prospect. Tim Atherton was with the Twins organization a few years ago as an infielder. The team let him go, but he came back in 2011 as a pitcher, and he pitched very well. He has all the pitches, but all will need to further develop. Elizabethton Twins Tyler Jones (RHP), Corey Kimes (LHP), Brett Lee (LHP), Chris Mazza (RHP), Angel Mata (RHP), Hung-yi Chen (RHP) There are plenty of pitchers from the 2011 draft and from last year’s GCL team that will not be heading to Beloit to start the season. Tyler Jones was the 11th round pick a year ago out of LSU. He’s got great upside, throws hard, good breaking pitches. Kimes is a four year college guy who should probably be up in Beloit due to age, but he got hurt last year shortly after signing. Brett Lee and Chris Mazza both signed very near the deadline and didn’t pitch in 2011. Angel Mata and Hung-yi Chen were the two most intriguing pitching prospects from last year’s GCL team. Both have good stuff and are young. GCL Twins Hudson Boyd (RHP), Trent Higginbotham (RHP), Kuo-hua Lo (RHP), Austin Malinowski (LHP) Boyd and Higginbotham are two very high ceiling high school picks from last year. The Twins had to go over-slot to sign their second supplemental first round pick from Ft. Myers. He touched 96-97 at times last year. Higginbotham was a late-round pick but the Twins went way over slot to sign him as well. He touches 94-95, and some believe he can be a top of the rotation starter or a dominant closer. Time will tell for both of them. Lo signed last year from Taiwan, and he’s fairly advanced for his very young age. He also has hit 94 mph on a radar gun. He debuted in Instructional League last year, and will likely be with the GCL Twins in 2012. Malinowski was the Twins 16th round pick in 2011 out of Minnesota’s Centennial High School after being names Mr. Baseball in Minnesota. He gave up a scholarship to pitch at Arizona to sign with the Twins at the last minute. TOP THREE (OR SO…) PROSPECTSLiam Hendriks, 2.) Kyle Gibson, 3.) Alex Wimmers, 4.) Adrian Salcedo, 5.) Tom Stuifbergen, 6.) Manuel Soliman, 7.) Hudson Boyd, 8.) BJ Hermsen, 9.) Pat Dean, 10.) Matt Summers SUMMARY The Twins starting pitching was really bad last year. That was a combination of struggles, injury and poor defense. For the Twins to be successful, Carl Pavano needs to throw 220 innings with a league-average ERA and WHIP. Francisco Liriano will have to pull his regain control of his fastball and show a little bit of self-confidence. Scott Baker needs to pitch like he did the six weeks before he got hurt. All three need to stay healthy. I personally think Jason Marquis will be just fine. He’s not going to post a sub-3 or sub-4 ERA, but I think he can do what Pavano did in 2011. Blackburn needs to pitch like he did his first two seasons… or so badly that Liam Hendriks gets called up. Frankly, there’s not much else waiting in the wings, ready to contribute right away as a starter. Manship can be solid, but I think the team has moved him to the bullpen in their minds. Diamond will have had to improved quite a bit to say he’s ready (which is possible). That doesn’t mean the cupboard is bare though. There are some solid pitching prospects throughout the minors. Kyle Gibson should be back in 2013 (if not late in 2012). Alex Wimmers could move very quickly as well. There are several pitchers that have the potential to be a decent #3 pitcher, if all goes well on the way up. The Twins have been successful with “Twins-like” pitchers. Guys like Hermsen, Salcedo, Stuifbergen and Shibuya fit that mold. The Twins have added some power arms in the last draft or two, especially in 2011’s draft with Boyd, Higginbotham, Jones, Boer, Summers, Corey Williams and others. It will be interesting to see how they develop. If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! Click here to view the article

The Twins needed a couple of extra innings to earn a 2-1 win in Kansas City against the Royals. It was a terrific game for Darin Mastroianni who hit a solo homer and a triple. Josh Willingham drove in Joe Mauer in the 11th inning with what proved to be the winning run. The two teams will play at 6:00 central time on Saturday. It was a good day for the organization. The teams went 5-2 on the day. Oswaldo Arcia had a huge game, yet it was very difficult to decide who should be the hitter of the day because there were a lot of strong offensive performances. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday games in the minor leagues. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 4, DURHAM 7 The Red Wings had some players with some good games, but it wasn’t enough and the team lost the first game of a series in Durham. Danny Valencia went 3-5 with his 14th and 15th doubles. Rene Rivera was 3-5 with his eighth double. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 3-3 with a walk and his 11th double. Clete Thomas went 2-5 with his ninth homer. Brian Dinkelman and Chris Parmelee each doubled. Esmerling Vasquez started and gave up four runs on five hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out seven. Caleb Thielbar came in and threw a scoreless sixth inning. He gave up hits to the first two batters of the seventh inning and was replaced by Kyle Waldrop who allowed both inherited runners to score but nothing more. Brendan Wise game up a run on three hits and a walk in the final inning. NEW BRITAIN 13, HARRISBURG 2 (completion of suspended game) On Thursday nights, but teams scored no runs in the first two innings. The Rock Cats scored four runs in the top of the third, but then the rains came and the game was suspended until Friday. The Rock Cats bats continued from that point on in the game and came away with a decisive victory. Oswaldo Arcia led the way. He was 3-5 with his sixth double, his fourth and fifth Rock Cat home runs and six RBI. Rene Tosoni was 2-5 with his second homer. Chris Herrmann went 1-2 with four walks and his 21st double. Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with two walks and his sixth triple. James Beresford went 2-5. Blake Martin started on Thursday and worked two scoreless frames. When play resumed on Friday, Marty Popham took the mound. The right-hander gave up one run on four hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out four times. Bruce Pugh then gave up one run on one hit over two innings in which he struck out two batters. Edgar Ibarra threw two scoreless innings to end the game. NEW BRITAIN 5, HARRISBURG 4 (regularly scheduled game) The regular game became a seven inning game. BJ Hermsen was on the bump to start. The right-hander gave up four runs (3 earned) on eight hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out three. Dakota Watts came in for the 7th inning and recorded his first save. Dan Rohlfing went 2-3 and scored two runs, one of them in the top of the ninth that proved to be the winning run. Aaron Hicks was 1-4 but drove in three runs. He had a two-run single, and then he drove in Rohlfing with the game-winner. Shawn Roof was 2-3 with his fifth stolen base. Oswaldo Arcia and Joe Benson were each 1-3 with a walk. Benson drove in two runs. FT. MYERS 9, LAKELAND 7 The offense was certainly out in this game. Josmil Pinto led the way. He was 4-5 with his second third base. Lance Ray was 2-5 and hit his 10th homer. Danny Rams went 2-4 with a walk and his fifth double. Kyle Knudson was 2-5 with his seventh double. Angel Morales added a two-run triple, his third three-bagger. Matt Hauser started and gave up four runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Nelvin Fuentes gave up a run on three hits in 1.2 innings. AJ Achter was charged with two unearned run on three hits in two innings, but he struck out two and delivered his fourth save. BELOIT 0, LANSING 2 The bats didn’t show up on this night, but David Hurlbut sure did. The left-hander gave up two runs (just one earned) on five hits in eight innings. He walked none and struck out seven. 2012 draftee Zach Jones made his Snappers debut and struck out the side. Drew Leachman had two hits again, the third straight game he has done that. But the Snappers had just five total hits. Nate Roberts walked twice. ELIZABETHTON 8, JOHNSON CITY 6 Down 5-1 going through five innings, the E-Twins bats fought back. They scored three in the six, tied the game at six with two in the seventh and took the lead with two more in the eighth. Adam Walker was 3-4 with his fourth homer and three RBI. DJ Hicks went 3-5. Travis Harrison and Candido Pimentel were each 2-5. Niko Goodrum was 2-5 with his sixth double. Ricardo Arevalo gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits in four innings. He walked none and struck out six. Josh Burris pitched the fifth inning and gave up two unearned runs. He didn’t give up a hit but walked three and struck out two. Travis Huber made his Twins debut in the sixth frame. The 2012 pick from Nebraska gave up a run on two hits. Andrew Ferreira then made his Twins debut in the seventh frame. He gave up just one hit. Tyler Duffey came in and got the save. He gave up no runs on one hit and one walk which striking out three in two innings. GCL TWINS 10, GCL RED SOX 4 The Twins bats broke out in a big way in this game. John Murphy led the way. The outfielder went 3-4 with his fourth and fifth doubles, three RBI and his 10th stolen base. Jorge Fernandez went 3-4. Logan Wade was 2-4 with his third double. Javier Pimentel was 2-5 with his sixth double. Aderlin Mejia was also 2-5. Bryan Santy was 1-3 with two walks and his first double. Randy Rosario started and gave up one run on two hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four. Then the Twins second supplemental first round pick this year, Luke Bard, made his professional debut. He gave up two runs on one hit and three walks in one inning. He struck out one. (It will be interesting to see where he goes when he is deemed 100% The Twins could keep him in Ft. Myers, pitching for the Miracle, or he could help the Snappers in their playoff run.) Hung-Yi Chen struck out four over the next two innings. He gave up just one hit. Trent Higginbotham gave up a run on a hit and a walk in two innings. He struck out two. --- Players of the Day for Friday, July 20, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia Download attachment: Oswaldo Arcia World.jpg Pitcher of the Day – David Hurlbut Download attachment: David Hurlbut MUG.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, July 21, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Durham – LHP Luke French New Britain @ Harrisburg – TBD Ft. Myers @ Lakeland – RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit vs Great Lakes – LHP Steven Gruver Elizabethton @ Johnson City – TBD GCL Twins vs GCL Red Sox – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

Miguel Sano would be the #1 prospect, arguably, in about 27 of the 30 major league organizations, at least according to Baseball America. In the Minnesota Twins organization, he ranks a solid #2. I bet you can guess who will be named the Twins Daily #1 Twins Prospect tomorrow. It’s been a long time since the Twins have had a prospect with the kind of power that Miguel Sano has. He also has a jovial personality and that combination means he has a chance to be a popular superstar. What’s to Like? Download attachment: top-prospects-02-miguel-sano.jpg A lot! First and foremost is the immense power of Miguel Sano.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In 2012, in Beloit, Sano hit 30 home runs. Last year, he moved up to Ft. Myers where he hit 16 home runs in 56 games before adding another 19 homers in AA New Britain… as a 20 year old! Remember that the Midwest League and especially the Florida State League are considered fairly extreme pitcher-friendly leagues. What is his power potential? Sano is 6'-4" and weighed in at 250 pounds at his Twins Fest physical, and he may still be growing. As you recall from the interview with him at Twins Fest, when I asked him if his home run goal for 2014 was going to be 40 (after 30 and 35, respectively, in the past two seasons), he said, “Maybe 45, maybe 50. More games… Maybe 55. I’m working hard, getting good pitches. That’s it.” That is another thing to like about Miguel Sano. Yes, he will strike out, but his strike zone judgment has greatly improved. After walking just 6.2% of the time in the GCL and 7.8% at Elizabethton, Sano walked 14.5% of the time in Beloit. Last year, he walked about 12% of the time in Ft. Myers and then 13% in New Britain. The key has been his ability to lay off of those tough sliders down and away. With more experience, his ability to get his pitch should continue to improve. Another area of great improvement for Sano came on the defensive side of the game. 2012 was his first season when he was a full-time third baseman. He committed 42 errors and posted an 88.4% fielding percentage. Of course, I always like to point out that nearly 30 of those errors came in the first half of the season. In 2012, he committed a combined 23 errors at the hot corner and his fielding percentage jumped to 93.2% There is still work to be done, but reports say he greatly improved his range. He is able to play a little deeper because he has such a strong arm. He also has some of the intangibles for greatness. Sano has great confidence and he wants to be great, not just very good. He wants to lead the league in home runs and RBI. He can come across as brash at times. He has always had a lot of personality. Earlier in his career, some say he lacked maturity. Now, most say he is becoming more of a leader. He has a lot of fun both playing the game and in the clubhouse. His English has also come a long way over the last couple years. What’s not to like? As mentioned above, he still has work to do at third base. He will make great plays and then stumble on some more routine plays. Often that is more of a concentration thing. So, he needs to become more consistent. When Miguel Sano puts the ball in play, generally good things happen because he is so powerful. However, putting the ball in play is still a concern. Sano struck out in 26.7% of his GCL plate appearances, and then 26.3% at Elizabethton. In Beloit in 2012, he struck out 26.0%. In his 56 games with Ft. Myers a year ago, he struck out 25.1% of the time. However, when he moved up to New Britain, he struck out 29.3% of the time. For for a glimpse of what that means: in 2006, Brandon Wood struck out in 28.5% of his plate appearances at AA. So, although Sano has put up incredible power numbers, dismissing his strikeout rate might be a little naïve and premature. Remember that I put Sano’s confidence in the positive category? I believe a player need to be confident, bordering on arrogant, to become a truly great player. However, there is a certain line that shouldn’t be crossed, and that line is consciously showing up your opponent. Sano famously took his time rounding the bases last year in New Britain after a monster home run off former teammate Bobby Lanigan. Clearly Sano was in the wrong in that case, and Jeff Smith and the organization were right in benching him for a few games. Hopefully that is a lesson learned for the still just 20 year old Sano. The only other concern came early this offseason when, after playing in just two games in the Dominican Winter League, he was shut down due to a UCL strain. Immediately many were concerned about the possibility Sano would miss most, if not all, of the 2014 season if he needed Tommy John surgery. He not only saw Twins' doctors, but he also saw Dr. James Andrews, who prescribed a plan of rest and then beginning rehab in January. Sano is now on a throwing program and experiencing no pain in his elbow. It’s obviously something to be aware of, though there does not appear to be much concern. Looking Back Some of the readers at Twins Daily may be able to think back further than I, but in the last 25 years, power prospects have been few and far between in the Twins organization. I remember when Justin Morneau made his major league debut and received a standing ovation from Metrodome fans. I was watching at my home… standing up, and clapping. In 2002, he had 16 homers, 12 in the Midwest League (63 games) and four in 53 games in Ft. Myers. In 2003, he hit 22 minor league homers and four big league blasts. In 2004, he hit 22 homers in 72 games in Rochester and 19 home runs in 74 games with the Twins. Michael Cuddyer had 30 home runs in a full season at New Britain in 2001. In 2002, he played at AAA Edmonton and hit 20 home runs. That was good for 5th place on the team’s roster as Michael Ryan led with 31 and Michael Restovich had 29. I think it’s fair to say that when Miguel Sano arrives in the big leagues, he will arrive with more fanfare than any Twins player ever, with the possible exception of Joe Mauer. Sano signed with the Twins in October of 2009 under a cloud of controversy and intrigue. It’s been impressive that he has met and exceeded many of the expectations placed on him So… When will we see him? I expect Miguel Sano will return to New Britain to start the 2014 season. I also have my doubts he will spend any time in AAA Rochester. Assuming health, I would put the odds of Sano making his big league debut in 2014 at about 99.9% But when? There will be a couple factors that play into this. First, the strikeout rate and the defense will need to continue to improve. However, if Trevor Plouffe were to be placed on the disabled list for an extended period of time, I have little doubt the Twins would not hesitate to call up Sano, whether that be in May or June. Otherwise, the Twins could wait until June and gain a year of pre-arbitration time. They could have him play in the Futures Game at Target Field in July and then just stay with the big league club. Since he would have to be added to the 40 man roster after the 2014 season anyway, I believe he would, at the latest, be called up in September unless things went terribly wrong. Like TD Prospect #3 Alex Meyer, and like TD's #1 prospect whom you'll learn more about tomorrow, and like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau and Johan Santana, Miguel Sano is a cornerstone player. He is a guy who has the potential to lead the Twins organization back to prominence. Click here to view the article

After looking at the Outfielders, Infielders, Catchers and Starting Pitchers, our final Spring Training Organizational Depth Chart will take a look at the relief pitchers in the Twins farm system. The bullpen was one of the better areas for the Twins in 2012, and could be again in 2013 although there are questions. The Twins have added some power arms in recent drafts, several are starting to move up the system.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As we have done in the previous depth charts, we’ll try to project where these bullpen pitchers will start the season. There will likely be seven or eight relievers on each team, and maybe a few Disabled List spots as injuries pop up. Some of these guys could get an opportunity to start at some point during the season. So let’s get to it. Here are the Relief Pitchers in the Minnesota Twins organization: Minnesota Twins Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, Casey Fien, Alex Burnett, Josh Roenicke, Tim Wood, Ryan Pressly, (Anthony Swarzak – DL) Perkins takes over as the full-time closer after spending most of the second half of the 2012 season working in the role. Jared Burton was a minor league free agent last year at this time. He made the roster, spent the whole season, pitched terrific and earned a multi-year contract. Brian Duensing is another lock in the bullpen. Hopefully he will just be left in the bullpen and allowed to get left-handed hitters out. Casey Fien was another minor league free agent a year ago. He had a great spring, got a mid-season promotion to the Twins, pitched very well and is pitching well again this spring. After those four, it is a bunch of question marks. Frankly, Alex Burnett has an option and has been pitching horribly again this spring. Josh Roenicke is out of options, and he has pitched well with the exception of last night. Tim Wood was pretty good, but he also had one hiccup. He is also out of options. The Twins used the 4th pick in the Rule 5 draft to take Ryan Pressly from the Red Sox organization. He will need to make the roster, or he’ll have to be offered back to the Red Sox unless they can work out a trade. Anthony Swarzak had his Twins Fest wrestling around rib injury, and he is yet to throw in a game. He will likely begin the season on the Disabled List. He’ll have to pitch well and he is also out of options. Rochester Red Wings Tyler Robertson, Caleb Thielbar, Anthony Slama, Bobby Lanigan, Jason Lane, Bryan Augenstein, Shairon Martis, Luis Perdomo, Mike O’Connor (Deolis Guerra, Esmerling Vazquez, Rich Harden, Rafael Perez, Dan Sattler, Lester Oliveros – DL) Tyler Robertson is the guy on this list that has a very good chance of making the Twins Opening Day roster. He struckout the side in his major league debut ast summer. Thielbar had the big breakout season last year after signing with the Twins from the St. Paul Saints in August of 2011. He made the 40 man roster and struggled in spring games, but he should surface with the Twins sometime in 2013. Anthony Slama got another chance in big league camp this year. He deserves a shot again sometime this year, but his spring showing to this point has not left a good impression so far. Bobby Lanigan finished the 2012 season with Rochester after finally moving to the bullpen. Perdomo was one of the best relief pitchers in the Twins farm system in 2012 and earned his promotion to the Twins. He is back off of the 40 man roster. Martis is pitching for Team Netherlands in the WBC. He came to the Twins in a trade during the 2012 season and started for New Britain and for the Red Wings. Bryan Augenstein was a minor league free agent who was invited to big league spring training, but he has already been sent down. Jason Lane has 64 doubles and 61 home runs in the big leagues, but he has not played spent a day in the big leagues since 2007. Since 2009, he has been pitching in the minor leagues including the last three years in the Pacific Coast League. He ended last season with Sugar Land where he was managed by Gary Gaetti and played with the likes of Aaron Bates, Scott Kazmir and a couple of games with Roger Clemens. Reports indicated that the lefty threw quite hard. He went 9-5 with a 3.17 ERA. Deolis Guerra will be out for at least half of the season due to the clot found in his shoulder. He should be having surgery soon. Rich Harden had shoulder surgery and missed all of 2012. He will be rehabbing for a while yet and should be brought back slowly. The Twins also signed Rafael Perez who had surgery late last season, and he will be moved slowly as well. Will he actually get a chance to start? Maybe, but he has a good track record in the bullpen. Esmerling Vasquez did a nice job in Rochester last year both in the bullpen and then as a starter. He came back to Twins spring training. Unfortunately, he suffered a shoulder strain and was sent back to the minor league side. Dan Sattler signed with the Twins from the Saints early last year, and he pitched in Ft. Myers, New Britain and Rochester. Shortly after moving up to the Red Wings, he underwent Tommy John surgery. Lester Oliveros had Tommy John surgery in September and will likely miss much of the 2013 season. New Britain Rock Cats Michael Tonkin, Bruce Pugh, Dakota Watts, Andrew Albers, Edgar Ibarra, Dan Turpen, Marty Popham, Jose Gonzalez, Cole Nelson, (Aaron Thompson – DL) Of all the young players to show up at spring training this year, Michael Tonkin was one that clearly stood out to the media and to the manager. The tall, hard-throwing righty with a sharp slider should move quickly. Bruce Pugh has always been live-armed, but in 2012, he finally put it all together. For the third year, he pitched at both Ft. Myers and New Britain, but he was terrific. Likewise, it has been a roller coaster for Dakota Watts. He began the season with some tendonitis, but he really stepped up during the season. He pitched very well in Venezuela this past winter too, again showing off the mid-to-upper 90s velocity. Albers pitched well for the Twins and did a nice job with Team Canada in the WBC. He was my relief pitcher of the year in the Twins system in 2011, and last year he started for the Rock Cats. Edgar Ibarra has very good stuff. The lefty re-signed with the Twins and now that he is being a reliever, he could take off. Turpen throws hard, and although he limited his walks early in the season, by season’s end, he was walking a ton again. He ended last year at Rochester. Popham was a Twins minor league Rule 5 pick in December of 2011. He began the season in the Ft. Myers starting rotation and ended the season in the Rock Cats bullpen. Jose Gonzalez has been a closer on the teams he’s pitched on until last year in Ft. Myers. He had his ups and downs, but the hard-throwing left-hander with a terrific slider ended the season with New Britain. Nelson came to the Twins in the Delmon Young trade in August of 2011. The tall lefty from Minnesota struggled with injury and didn’t pitch well with the Miracle last year. He will likely need to make the Rock Cats roster. Thompson pitched for the Rock Cats last year before and after his 50 game suspension. Ft. Myers Miracle AJ Achter, Miguel Munoz, Nelvin Fuentes, Ryan O’Rourke, Corey Williams, Steven Gruver, Zach Jones, JT Chargois, Cole Johnson, Patrick Arnold, (Dallas Gallant, Manuel Soliman, Jhon Garcia – DL) As good as Tonkin was in 2012, AJ Achter was my choice for Twins minor league relief pitcher of the year. He spent the first half of the season learning the bullpen at Beloit. He was an All-Star and was promoted to the Miracle where he was much better. He should move up to New Britain quickly. Chargois was the Twins 2nd round pick last year out of Rice. He is one who could move quickly, if healthy. Zach Jones was the team’s 4th round pick. He was clocked at 98 and 99 consistently in Beloit last season, and frequently hit 100. Control and a second pitch, and he could move up quickly. Patrick Arnold was a minor league free agent signed for depth. Miguel Munoz was hurt and rehabbed most of the 2011 season. Last year, he was slowly brought back with the Miracle. When healthy, he throws hard and has a chance to be very good. From the left side, there are some very good options. Williams led the organization in saves last year with 17. Though he didn’t pitch real great, he does have great stuff and throws hard. Nelvin Fuentes works slow and doesn’t throw real heard, but he find a way to keep hitters off of their feet. When I saw Ryan O’ Rourke pitch in Beloit in 2011, my immediate comment was that he could get big league left-handed hitters out already because of his tremendous slider. He struggled at times in 2012, but he has a chance to fill a role as he moves up. Gruver started about half of the season last year in Beloit and did well. He also pitched well out of the bullpen and has earned a chance to move up. Garcia had Tommy John surgery last June and will likely rehab much of this season. Soliman had labrum surgery last season and is already throwing to hitters this spring. Gallant pitched some for Beloit last year, but just recently, he had an ulna nerve transposition and finds himself rehabbing again. Cedar Rapids Kernels Tim Atherton, Tyler Jones, Chris Mazza, Ricardo Arevalo, Josh Burris, Andrew Ferreira, Tyler Herr, Travis Huber, Kaleb Merck, Alex Muren, Luis Nunez, (Tim Shibuya – DL) Tim Atherton was with the Twins as a hitter a few years ago. He got in trouble, got released and then in late 2010, he was re-signed by the Twins as a pitcher. He throws hard and has a couple of good pitches. He walks too many, but he can miss bats. Tyler Jones came up to Beloit early in the 2012 season after being drafted in the 11th round in 2011 from LSU. He started for the Snappers most of the season. Mazza was a 27th round pick of the Twins in 2011, but he signed late. He pitched in both Twins rookie league teams and pitched very well. Arevalo signed with the Twins in 2009 and combined to go 0-8 in two seasons with the DSL Twins. In 2011, he was 0-4 with the GCL Twins. In 2012 at Elizabethton, he finally got that first win in his first start but then last his next three decisions. He pitched out of the bullpen for the E-Twins in the playoffs and does throw quite hard. Burris was the team’s 17th round pick in 2011. He made his pro debut in 2012 at Elizabethton and went 7-0 with a 1.75 ERA out of the bullpen. He struckout 40 and walked 21 in 36 innings. He throws hard but most talk about his big 12-6 curveball. Ferreira was the Twins 32nd round pick last year from Harvard. He pitched ten innings in ten games for the E-Twins. He went 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, walked seven and struckout 13. Herr was the Twins 44th round pick in 2009 out of his Texas High School. He spent two years in the GCL, and last year he went 3-0 with a 2.56 ERA in 31.2 innings at Elizabethton. He pitched in Australia this winter. When the Twins drafted Huber in the 23rd round last year from Nebraska, it was the third time he was drafted. He pitched nine games in Elizabethton. Merck was the Twins 33rd round pick last year out of TCU. He pitched in 16 games for E-Town last year and struckout 28 and walked six in 24.1 innings. Muren was the Twins 12th round pick last year from Cal State-Northridge. He posted a 1.46 ERA with a 0.86 WHIP in 24.2 innings despite striking out just 12. After going 5-0 with five saves and a 1.67 ERA in the GCL in 2011, Nunez went 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA in Elizabethton in 2012. The lefty throws very hard. Shibuya was the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year in 2011 in his debut pro season. He pitched alright early in the season for Beloit. Unfortunately, soon after he threw a complete game shutout, he started to feel pain in his shoulder. He did have surgery in October and hopes to pitch early in the season. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Angel Mata, Hung-yi Chen, Gonzalo Sanudo, Gerardo Ramirez, Melciades de la Cruz, Carson Goldsmith, Trent Higginbotham, Andre Martinez Mata went 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA last year in Elizabethton. He has moved up one level each of the last three years, so it is possible that he’ll move up to Cedar Rapids. Either way, they’ll continue to monitor his innings because he has a great arm. Chen signed from Taiwan late in 2010. He went 0-4 with a 4.33 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) with the GCL Twins. Last year, he stayed in the GCL and pitched in 16 games out of the bullpen. Chen has a strong arm and great control and I think he can be a starter down the road again. Sanudo has pitched the last two years in the GCL, but he made great strikes in 2012 when he posted a 2.00 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Most impressive, he walked just two and struckout 33 in 36 innings. Fellow Mexican Gerardo Ramirez has pitched with Sanudo the last two years. He struggled to a 6.62 ERA, but somehow had a 4-1 record. After a year in the DSL, de la Cruz came to the States last year and posted a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings in the GCL. He struckout 34. Goldsmith was the Twins 28th round pick last year out of Northwestern State University of Louisiana (same school as Mason Melotakis). He pitched in just three games before being shutdown with arm issues. Higginbotham was the Twins 26th round pick in 2011 out of high school and the Twins went well over slot to sign him. He debuted with the GCL Twins in 2012 and posted a 7.71 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP in 23.1 innings. The Twins were willing to go over slot to sign Andre Martinez, but when his physical turned out a shoulder issue, the Twins were able to sign him for below slot. TOP PROSPECTS 1.) Michael Tonkin, 2.) JT Chargois, 3.) Corey Williams, 4.) Josh Burris 5.) Angel Mata, 6.) Bruce Pugh, 7.) AJ Achter, 8.) Tyler Jones,. SUMMARY The Twins bullpen was very good last year. They should be solid in the 8th and 9th innings again, but there are some question marks at the back of the bullpen which will be figured out. There are also some powerful arms in the Twins farm system. Guys like Dakota Watts and Bruce Pugh and Matt Hauser are close and ready to move up quickly. They have some talented left-handers. And, although we talk about those hard-throwing college relievers that the Twins drafted in 2012 that are going to get a chance to start, there are others like JT Chargois and Zack Jones who could move up quickly in the bullpen. And, if those starters prove better in the bullpen, they too could move quickly. There are a lot of talented bullpen arms in the system. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! View full article

Rain was the winner of the day for two Twins' affiliates. The much-anticipated AA debut of Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario will have to wait for another day. Things continued to get much tighter atop the Midwest Leagues' Western Division standings as Beloit won their eighth straight game. Were the Cedar Rapids Kernels able to keep up? We are starting to hear about the Twins signing some of their draft picks and likely several more will do so by the end of the week. The short-season teams will soon start and within a week several players will be making the drive to Elizabethton. The unfortunate side of all of the new players in the organization is that room needs to be made for them. On Tuesday, three Twins' minor leaguers were given their releases.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] According to a Twins source, the Twins released catchers Brian Compton and Kelly Cross, along with pitcher Travis Huber. With that, check out what happened in the Twins minor league system on Tuesday: Rochester Red Wings 5, Toledo Mudhens 9 Box Score In his first start for the Red Wings, Vance Worley threw a complete game shutout. In three starts since then, he is now 0-3 with a 7.47 ERA. On Tuesday, Worley gave up seven earned runs on nine hits and a walk in 5.2 innings. He struck out two. Michael Tonkin came on and gave up two unearned runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. Blake Martin struck out three and walked two in two hitless and scoreless innings. Trevor Plouffe was back in the lineup for the Red Wings. After going 0-3 in his first game, he went 2-4 with his first Red Wings home run of the year and three RBI. According to Red Wings play-by-play man Josh Whetzel, it was his 47th career home run with the Red Wings. Chris Colabello was also 2-4 with his 19th double. The team was unable to capitalize on nine walks. Ray Olmedo walked three times. Antoan Richardson and Eric Farris each walked twice. New Britain Rock Cats, Altoona Curve Postponed by Rain. Ft. Myers Miracle, Daytona Cubs Postponed by Rain. Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Quad Cities River Bandits 8 Box Score This was a game full of top prospects. Byron Buxton for the Kernels. Carlos Correa, Rio Ruiz and Lance McCullers for the River Bandits. McCullers was throwing his 98 mph fastball, but he went just four innings. He gave up four runs, all in the third. JD Williams singled in a run and Jorge Polanco followed by clearing the loaded bases with his eighth triple. Unfortunately, that was the only scoring for the Kernels. Candido Pimentel went 2-3 with a walk. Hein Robb started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and four walks in 4.1 innings. He struck out five. Caleb Brewer gave up two unearned run on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. Josue Montanez gave up three runs on four hits and two walks in two innings to take the loss. Here are the standings on top of the Midwest League's Western Division. The top two teams will make the playoffs. The Kernels have five games remaining to play in the first half. [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: center] Team Wins Losses Games Back Win % Cedar Rapids 39 24 --- .619 Beloit 40 25 --- .615 Quad Cities 35 28 4.0 .556 [/TABLE] Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

On Friday, weather wreaked havoc and led to half the minor league games being postponed. New Britain played a morning game, but Rochester and Cedar Rapids were unable to play. Of course, the weather is always lovely in Florida. On Opening Night, we got a walk-off from Bryan Haar of the Kernels. On Friday, there were a couple of late-inning homers that helped propel their teams to victory. On Saturday, the Twins play their second game in Cleveland and all four affiliates are scheduled to play. As always, your comments and questions are welcomed in the forum, so ask away. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Buffalo Bison (Postponed) This game was lost due to cold and wet conditions in Buffalo. The two teams will shift over to Rochester where Alex Meyer will start on Saturday in the Red Wings home opener. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Richmond 3 Box Score The Eastern League knows Brandon Waring, and Brandon Waring knows the Eastern League. He has played in the AA league each season since 2009, each year for Bowie, the Orioles affiliate. After an 0-fer on opening night, Waring had a strong game Friday morning. In this game, he went 2-3 with a walk, a double and his first home run of the season. It was his 79th home run in the Eastern League. More important to the day, it was a home run in the bottom of the 8th inning of a tie game, giving the Rock Cats a 4-3 win. Another Eastern League veteran, Reynaldo Rodriguez, in his fourth year in the league, went 2-4 with a double. Nate Hanson went 1-3 with a walk. Brad Boyer walked twice. DJ Baxendale started and gave up two runs on six hits in 4.2 innings. He walked one and struck out two batters. He left the game with two on and two out in the fifth inning, but Adrian Salcedo ended the inning with a strikeout. Salcedo gave up a run in the sixth before he was replaced by Ryan O’Rourke in the seventh. O’Rourke recorded five outs and gave up one hit while striking out one. After Waring’s home run, he was credited with the win. Lester Oliveros pitched a perfect ninth to get the save. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 11, Jupiter 6 Box Score Download attachment: Niko Goodrum 4.jpg On Friday night, the Miracle got a second straight road win thanks to a couple big innings. The team had a five run second inning. The big hit was a two-run double by Levi Michael. In the seventh inning, it was an Adam Walker three-run home run, his first of the season. Niko Goodrum led the offense going 3-4 with a double and two RBI. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with a double. Stuart Turner was also 2-5. Tyler Duffey made the start and gave up three runs in six innings for a quality start and the win. He gave up eight hits, walked none and struck out two. David Hurlbut gave up a run on three hits over his two innings of work. Mason Melotakis got some work in, pitching one inning. He gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids, Clinton (Postponed) Weather was the winner on Friday in Cedar Rapids as well. The two teams are scheduled to play on Saturday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Tyler Duffey, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Brandon Waring, New Britain Rock Cats SATURDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Buffalo @ Rochester (1:05 CST) – Alex Meyer (vs Ricky Romero) - POSTPONED Richmond @ New Britain (12:35 CST) – Taylor Rogers Ft. Myers @ Jupiter (5:05 CST) – Brett Lee Clinton @ Cedar Rapids (DH at 2:05 CST) – Randy Rosario, Ryan Eades Click here to view the article

Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version for $13.99 by clicking here. We have looked at the catchers and the first basemen in the Twins organization the past two days. Today, I’ll be looking at the third basemen. Again, the purpose of this series is two-fold (if not more). First, it’s a look at the depth at or near the big leagues. Second, it’s a glance at the depth at the position throughout the system. You can find out who might be coming up to the Twins if there is a need, and you can find out who the prospects to watch might be. I need to reiterate that these are my thoughts. I have no insider information to know where players will be playing for certain in 2012. Obviously after spring training, some of these players will be let go. There will be Disabled List players, extended spring training and more. Minnesota Twins Danny Valencia (Luke Hughes, Jamey Carroll) 2011 was a difficult year for Valencia. In the first half, his numbers struggled thanks to a lot of at-‘em balls. His high BABIP in his rookie season was evened up by his low BABIP in his sophomore season. He can hit, and hitting in the bottom third of the lineup, he will succeed. His defense wasn’t as good in 2011 as 2010 either. More disturbing, he was the player blamed most by the manager, which makes no sense. I expect a solid season out of Valencia in 2012, maybe somewhere along the lines of .280/.340/.450 with 30+ doubles and 12-15 home runs. As I’ve pointed out before, I won’t be even a little surprised if Ron Gardenhire says that Sean Burroughs is competition for a starting job. Burroughs will get plenty of at bats in spring training though. And Luke Hughes, who is out of options, should again receive plenty of at bats and time in the field at three infield positions including 3B. Jamey Carroll is really a middle infielder, but some seem to think he might be a 3B option as well. I can’t see that. Rochester Red Wings Sean Burroughs. Ray Chang Burroughs was once one of baseball’s top prospects, then struggled, then got into drugs and alcohol. But he had a nice comeback season last year that saw him reach the big leagues for the first time since 2006. He did a nice job as a pinch hitter for Arizona. He is known as a very good defensive third baseman, which bodes well for him. He has also shown the ability to hit for average. I really believe that although he likely isn’t in direct competition with Valencia for a starting job, he is likely going to be battling Luke Hughes and maybe Tsuyoshi Nishioka for the final bench spots. With Trevor Plouffe also likely on the bench many nights, Gardy may find it important to have a left-handed bench bat. Ray Chang made a very good impression last year in spring training. He went to New Britain and played well. He was promoted to Rochester where he played even better, hitting 3rd many games for them. Unfortunately, he broke his fibula and missed almost two months. He will likely get time at 3B and at SS for the Red Wings. New Britain Rock Cats Deibinson Romero, Michael Hollimon Romero was once considered a very good, high ceiling prospect. Following a injury-riddled season in Beloit, the Twins added him to the 40-man-roster. He struggled and was removed from the 40-man-roster a year later. Many questioned his work ethic, but he responded in 2011 with a solid year in AA. He could have become a free agent after the 2011 season, but he quickly resigned with the Twins. Likewise, the Twins and Hollimon quickly agreed that he would return to the Twins rather than enter free agency. Between New Britain (97 games) and Rochester (29 games), he hit 19 doubles and 18 home runs. He primarily played 2B and LF but also go some time at the hot corner. The Twins drafted him in the 49th round in 2003 but he didn’t sign. In 2008, he got 25 plate appearances with the Tigers. He had six hits, including two doubles, a triple and a home run. Ft. Myers Miracle Anderson Hidalgo, Jairo Perez Hidalgo has been in the organization since 2006. He has moved up one level each year and was with the Miracle last year. His .274 batting average was the lowest of his career. In 2010, he was the only Beloit Snappers player to hit over .300 (.316). He has an unorthodox swing at the plate that many wonder if it will adapt as he moves up the ladder. Defensively, he’s a little below average. Jairo Perez seemingly came out of nowhere last year. He spent the first two months of the year in Extended Spring Training, but after joining the Snappers in mid June, he hit .337/.413/.580 with 20 doubles and 15 home runs. He had missed all of 2010 with Tommy John surgery. He primarily played 3B but also played a few games at 2B. He is a little guy who takes a monstrous swing. He is not fast and his range is limited, so 3B is a better option. Beloit Snappers Miguel Sano, Roy Larson, Adam Bryant I think most Twins fans have heard pretty much everything about Miguel Sano. He is the consensus top prospect in the Twins farm system. He got the big signing bonus. He draws comparisons to Miguel Cabrera and other great power bats in the game. He had a lot of errors last year in Elizabethton at both shortstop and third base, but he can flat-out hit. He hit .292/.352/.627 with 18 doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs in 66 games for the E-Twins. His power potential is off charts. The Twins are typically patient with their young prospects’ development. The same should be true of Sano. As much as his offensive game is advanced, there are more aspects of the game that he needs to work on. He needs to make more contact. He needs to run the bases better. And he needs to play better defense and just mature, in general. I would expect him to spend the whole season at Beloit. Adam Bryant was the team’s 9th round pick just last year, and as a four-year college senior, he signed quickly and was sent to Beloit where he held his own. He played all three infield positions and was solid with the bat. He’s a solid, all-around player who will likely advance as a utility player. The Twins signed Larson out of the University of St. Thomas. He’s 6-6 and struggled in E-Town, but he has very quick hands and bat speed. He can play both corner infield spots. Due to his age (he’s 24), he’ll likely have to advance through the lower levels quickly. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Travis Harrison, Javier Pimentel It will be interesting to see where Harrison and Pimentel will play in 2012. The assumption is that both will go to Extended Spring Training. Harrison was the team’s supplemental first-round pick in 2011 out of high school in California. He has a bunch of power potential and some believe that he could also become an all-around hitter. Pimentel was signed in 2010 out of the Dominican Republic for about a $700,000 signing bonus. He split the 2011 season between the Dominican Summer League and the GCL. I think he would likely head to the GCL again, but he has very good potential as well. Signed as a shortstop, he already spent most of his time at third base in 2011. TOP THREE PROSPECTS Miguel Sano, 2.) Travis Harrison, 3.) Jairo PerezSUMMARY Third base is Danny Valencia’s for the near-term. Sean Burroughs provides some quality depth. This would be a position where the Twins are quite strong at the lower levels (with Sano, Harrison and Pimentel), but there is not much help above Beloit for 2012, at least not anyone that would have any long-term potential. We’ll need to wait until at least 2014 to see Sano (and that’s only if he advances on the Joe Mauer path), and Harrison and Pimentel are likely 2016 arrivals. Will Sano be able to stick at 3B? How will Valencia fare through his pre-arbitration and arbitration years? If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! Click here to view the article

The Twins lost 6-2 to the Blue Jays. Jason Marquis was able to go just four innings. The game was ugly for Twins fans. There were base running errors. There were several defensive errors. There was bad pitching, and bad hitting. Josh Willingham did home for the second straight night. As Gardenhire told the Twin Cities media following the game, “Things happened out there that really don’t happen in high school.” I guess it’s fair to say that things have to get worse before they get better, but hopefully that means we’ll start seeing the ‘better’ soon! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Before getting to the minor league update, a big Happy 19th birthday to Twins and Snappers prospect Miguel Sano. Secondly, before you start reading all the Twins Daily articles, blogs and forums, be sure to download this week’s Twins Minor League Weekly where Seth was joined by Miracle play-by-play man Brice Zimmerman and Snappers utility player AJ Pettersen. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Thursday: ROCHESTER 6, PAWTUCKET 7 The Red Wings had a get-away, afternoon game in Pawtucket. They even had a 6-5 lead in the 9th, but they managed to suffer a tough loss. Luke French made the start. The lefty went the first six innings and gave up five runs on five hits. He walked three and did not record a strikeout. Esmerling Vasquez came in and gave up only an unearned run on two hits in 1.2 innings. Tyler Robertson came in and got a ground ball, but instead of the final out and a one-run lead, there was an error and the inning continued. Anthony Slama came in and gave up a two-run double for his first blown save of the year. He did strikeout the next batter. Ben Revere led the offense. He was 3-5 with three stolen bases. He is now hitting .309 with six steals for the Red Wings. Pedro Florimon went 2-5 with his second home run in his week with the Twins. Matt Carson (8th), JR Towles (5th) and Clete Thomas (2nd) each hit a double. NEW BRITAIN 3, READING 10 It was another rough start for lefty Logan Darnell, and the Rock Cats took a tough loss. Darnell gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out two. Brett Jacobson gave up four runs on four hits over the next two innings. Bobby Lanigan struck out four over the final two innings. Wilkin Ramirez continues to rake for the Rock Cats. The outfielder went 3-4 with his second home run and second stolen base. Chris Herrmann went 3-5 with his ninth double. Evan Bigley was 1-3 with a walk and his seventh double. The Twins signed 27-year-old infielder Shawn Roof to play in a utility role. With Brian Dozier with the Twins and Pedro Florimon up in Rochester, the Rock Cats only had two middle infielders. James Beresford started at shortstop with Estarlin de Los Santos was at second base. Roof was the 33rd round pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2007. He played in the Tigers organization, up to AAA, through the 2011 season. In 1267 minor league plate appearances, he hit .259/.334/.307 with 35 doubles, eight triples and one home run. He played 121 games at 2B, 102 games at SS and 84 games at 3B. He also spent some time playing left field, right field and first base. FT. MYERS 12, DUNEDIN 11 The Miracle bats were out again on this night, but so were the Dunedin bats. Fortunately the Miracle were able to get enough pitching at the end of the game to come away with the win. Adrian Salcedo had another short start. He recorded just one out. He gave up five runs (1 earned) on two hits and two walks. He left the game with a trainer with what appeared to be a blister. Cole Nelson came in and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. Edgar Ibarra went the next four innings and gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. Bruce Pugh recorded his third save of the year. He struck out two over the final two innings. Oswaldo Arcia had a huge game, and he wasn’t the only Miracle hitter who hit well in this game. The lefty-hitting outfielder went 4-5. He hit his sixth and seventh doubles, his second home run and drove in four runs. Lance Ray was 3-4 with a walk and his eighth and ninth doubles. Danny Ortiz was 3-5. Danny Santana was 2-5 with his third home run. Jairo Perez was 2-5 with his tenth double. Michael Gonzales was 1-3 with two walks and his third home run. BELOIT 6, PEORIA 5 Tim Shibuya started for the Snappers and dropped his ERA to 2.83 with five solid innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits. He walked two and struck out two. Bart Carter gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits in 1.1 innings. Michael Tonkin gave up one run on three hits in two innings. Clinton Dempster came on and got the final batter to strikeout to end the game. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with his second home run of the year. He drove in three runs. AJ Pettersen was 2-4 with a walk. Rory Rhodes went 1-3 with two walks. Drew Leachman was 1-3 with two walks. Miguel Sano, on the eve of his 19th birthday, added his ninth double. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, May 10, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia Download attachment: OswaldoArcia.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Bobby Lanigan Download attachment: Bobby Lanigan.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Friday, May 11, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – TBD New Britain vs Reading – RHP David Bromberg Ft. Myers @ Dunedin – RHP Marty Popham Beloit @ Peoria – LHP Jason Wheeler --- 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

Download attachment: bj-hermsen.jpg Yesterday, we named AJ Achter the 2012 Twins Daily Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. He was the best among a very strong cast of Twins minor league relievers. Today, we will name the Twins Daily 2012 Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. Starting Pitching was clearly a huge issue at the big league level for the Twins. The Rochester Red Wings had a .500 season despite losing starter after starter to the Twins. There were some very solid performances by Twins starters in 2012. However, there are very few starters who have the ability to strike out many batters.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] You will see that with the below list of starters, but it is true throughout the organization. 2012 saw the return of Kyle Gibson from Tommy John surgery, but it was also a tough year for several starters. Alex Wimmers made just one start, rehabbed and then had midseason Tommy John surgery. Adrian Salcedo uncharacteristically struggled, got hit in the nose with a one-hopper, had elbow problems, came back and his season ended with shoulder issues. Tom Stuifbergen missed the first couple of months. It was a tough season for Twins starting pitchers throughout the organization. But that should not take away from the success that several Twins minor league starters did have, and today, we recognize them. Feel free to debate them, or ask any questions: Starting Pitcher of the Year #6 – Matt Tomshaw – Beloit Snappers (4-6, 2.92 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 89.1 IP, 87 H, 17 BB, 67 K) Tomshaw was the Twins 42nd round pick in 2011 out of Jacksonville Universit. After making 11 appearances for the GCL Twins, he moved across the parking lot in Ft. Myers and pitched in seven games for the Miracle. In 25.1 innings, he posted a 2.13 ERA. For his first full season, the Twins sent Tomshaw to the Snappers where he started the season in the bullpen. It wasn’t long before he started working out of the rotation. Blessed with a six-pitch mix, he also does a great job of mixing speeds. He has terrific control. In only one month this season (July), did Tomshaw have an ERA over 3.26. #5 – David Hurlbut – Beloit Snappers (6-6, 2.76 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 111 IP, 105 H, 25 BB, 85 K) Hurlbut was drafted by the Twins in the 35th round in 2009, but instead he decided to go to Cal-State Fullerton. In 2011, the Twins selected him again, this time in the 28th round. He pitched out of the bullpen in college, but in his two minor league seasons, he has primarily started. He posted a 1.35 ERA in ten games (20 innings) out of the bullpen in 2012. He walked two and struckout 20. As a starter (15 starts), he posted a 3.07 ERA. In 91 innings, he walked 23 and struckout 65. His future may be in the bullpen, but he did a nice job for the Snappers rotation in 2012. #4 – Esmerling Vasquez – Rochester Red Wings (9-6, 2.78 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 100 IP, 74 H, 39 BB, 98 K) In his two big league starts, Vasquez has been plagued with the same issue he had during his three years with the Diamondbacks, control. Vasquez made just eight starts with the Red Wings, and his season long outing came in a game PJ Walters started on a rehab. Vasquez came in with two outs in the first and didn’t leave until the ninth inning. As a starter, he was 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA. In 43 innings, he struck out 48 and walked just 14. From the bullpen, he threw 57.1 innings and walked 25 batters while striking out 50. Overall, opponents hit just .210 off of him and he was the most consistent performer, regardless of role, for the Red Wings. I couldn’t really put him any higher on a list of starting pitchers, and he wasn’t listed among the top relievers. However, don’t be surprised if the Twins name him as their minor league pitcher of the year. #3 – Jason Wheeler – Beloit Snappers (14-6, 3.45 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 156 IP, 170 H, 43 BB, 115 K) The former Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year was the Twins 8th round pick in 2011 out of Loyola Marymount. He didn’t sign until the deadline so his professional debut officially came in 2012 with the Beloit Snappers. He began by going 3-0 in April and followed it by going 3-1 in May. He did go through a rough patch in June, but he returned to form in July when he went 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA and was the pitcher of the month. At 6-8 and 250 pounds, Wheeler can throw the ball on a downward plane. At this point, he tops out at 90 mph, but he mixes his pitches very well. He’ll give up some hits, but he knows how to pitch. However, only one pitcher in the Twins farm system threw more innings than the lefty did in 2012. #2 – Liam Hendriks – Rochester Red Wings (9-3, 2.20 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 106 IP, 76 H, 28 BB, 82 K) Hendriks won this award each of the past two seasons and a strong case could be made for him against in 2012. However, because of his regular stints with the Twins throughout the season, Hendriks only made 16 starts. However, he has little to prove in AAA after dominating the level this year. Coming into the season, he had only a handful of AAA starts before being thrust into the big leagues last September. In Rochester, Hendriks gave up few hits, and only five of those hits were home runs. Hendriks has nothing more to prove in AAA, and soon will need to turn the corner with the Twins. He has the pitches and the control. He just needs to get win number one! Starting Pitcher of the Year – BJ Hermsen – Ft. Myers Miracle / New Britain Rock Cats (12-6, 2.82 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 162 IP, 161 H, 30 BB, 87 K) Liam Hendriks was my choice for Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2010 and 2011. BJ Hermsen finished in second in 2011. Hendriks was good again in the minors in 2012, but Hermsen was very good and threw 50 more innings. Hermsen was the pitcher of the month in April when he went 1-0 with a 0.78 ERA in four starts with Ft. Myers. He moved up to New Britain and was again the pitcher of the month in May pitching for the Rock Cats. He struggled in June, but he was 4-1 in July and 3-1 in August. He was remarkably consistent, posting a 3.27 in the first half and a 3.16 ERA in the second half. Although he struckout just 4.8 per nine innings, he struck out three for every batter he walked. The 6-6 right-hander will be an interesting case. Will the Twins add him to the 40 man roster or subject him to the Rule 5 draft? Download attachment: BJHermsen.jpg --- Twins Daily had the chance to catch up with BJ Hermsen over the weekend and ask a couple of questions: What does being named the 2012 Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year mean to you? BJ Hermsen: “I would say this is more of a team award for me than it is an individual award. I’ve said many times before that I’m a guy that depends on my defense quite a bit and it makes it easier when you have lots of trust in your defense. That was obviously the case again this year. The rest of the guys that you had listed were very much worthy of winning this award as well. I appreciate it very much.” What did he work on or develop that helped him in 2012? BJ Hermsen: “I think adding the cutter last offseason helped quite a bit. It’s another pitch that hitters have to worry about. I'm always trying to learn more and more about the game and how to go about hitters.” Talk a little about the 2012 New Britain Rock Cats who still had a chance to make the playoffs on the season’s final day. BJ Hermsen: “I thought being around those guys was an absolute blast. We had a bit of a rough stretch there with about 3 weeks to go in the season, but the way we responded the last couple weeks was nice to see. We put ourselves in a position to force a playoff game that last day and did we had to do, but it just didn’t work out. The chemistry was great and being able to go to the park every day was always fun knowing these guys were there.” Feel free to discuss. Click here to view the article

You’ve heard of the Mendoza Line. Named after Mario Mendoza, a shortstop for the Pirates, Mariners and Rangers in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was a career .215 hitter. To this day, when a hitter has a batting average hovering around .200, it is known as the “Mendoza Line.” In his era, that wasn’t good, but shortstop did not become an offensive position until the mid-1990s. So today, I have to ask one question for Twins Daily readers to consider. What is the “Limbo Line” as it relates to offense from a shortstop? How Low Can They (the offensive numbers) Go?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] No one is going to dispute the importance of the shortstop position defensively. The shortstop is the leader of the infield. It is important for a good defensive shortstop to have great range, going left or right. It is important for a good defensive shortstop to have a strong, accurate arm, particularly to make the long throw from the 5.5 hole. He must make the routine plays. The Twins shortstop, Pedro Florimon, is among baseball’s best on defense. OFFENSIVE NUMBERS However, although defense is immensely important for a shortstop, offense is also part of the game. It is the part that Pedro Florimon has not been able to do well. In his minor league career, he hit .249/.321/.354 (.675) over seven seasons. In AA, his OPS was .678. At the AAA level, he posted an OPS of .652. So when Florimon hit .221/.281/.330 (.611) in his first full season last year with the Twins, it is what should have been expected. The fact that he added nine home runs and 15 stolen bases was respectable, though certainly not as good as his 70 OPS+ would indicate. Download attachment: Florimon Limbo.jpg Florimon is obviously off to a bad start in the first two weeks of 2014. Through 35 plate appearances in 11 games, he enters Tuesday’s game hitting just .067/.176/.067 (.243) with just two hits. Of course, being extremely worked up about his .067 batting average is akin to getting really excited about the possibility of a hitter with a .450 batting average at this point in the season becoming the first player since Ted Williams over 70 years ago to hit .400. The sample is just too small. How much of that is due to missing about a month of spring training after his emergency appendectomy? There is no way to know that. Over the final two weeks of spring training, Florimon was playing daily, and as the season started, he was at 100% What is realistic to expect is that 2014 should be a little bit better than 2013. Nothing dramatic. Maybe an OPS above .630. What is the batting average, on base percentage of OPS line that you would find acceptable as it relates to Pedro Florimon at the shortstop position? DEFENDING DEFENSE As a reminder, Pedro Florimon’s defense is among the best in baseball. Any look at the 2013 defensive metrics will back that up. Looking at Baseball-Reference, Florimon’s defensive WAR was 2.2. That was second among all shortstops to the Braves’ Andrelton Simmons and his remarkable 5.4. Florimon’s 5.29 Range Factor per Nine led MLB, ahead of Simmons who came in at 4.92. One of the most important things about Florimon has been his ability to not take his struggles at the plate into the field. If you don’t want to buy the defensive metrics, Florimon certainly passed the eye test. He has the range in both directions and comes in on the slow rollers well. He has a very strong arm. Finally, when you consider the pitchers on the Twins staff, middle infield defense becomes pretty valuable. Phil Hughes has struck out a batter per inning through his first two starts. However, none of the five starters classifies as a strikeout pitcher. They will all likely give up a hit per inning. The ball will be put in play and defense does matter. SUMMARY I have been a proponent of Pedro Florimon through the offseason because of the defense. For me, the “Limbo Line” with Florimon is probably an OPS about where he was in 2013. Maybe a .610-.620 OPS. I’d love to see a .250 batting average or a .300 on-base percentage. I don’t think either of those is realistic. Danny Santana is at AAA. He’s hitting about .250 this young season. He is not ready, but he could be a possibility by September or more likely mid-2015. Last week, the Twins acquired Eduardo Nunez from the Yankees. Although he is more of a utility player, he could work his way from #2 utility man to starting shortstop at some point this season. His defense at shortstop is statistically horrific, but he could post a .700 OPS. Jorge Polanco is getting a chance to play shortstop consistently at the start of the 2014 season. He has six errors in 10 games. He is hitting very well. He has a long ways to go. So, for you, what is the value of great defense? I’m curious what your thoughts are for where the Limbo Line should be for the Twins shortstop. In your opinion, how low can Pedro Florimon’s batting average, on-base percentage or OPS go? Click here to view the article

The Twins Daily personnel want to extend our best wishes for a very Happy holiday season to all of our readers. As I mentioned last week, the holidays start to signal that baseball season is approaching. The Minnesota Twins Winter Caravan will begin in the middle of January. That leads up to Twins Fest the final weekend of the month, and just over two weeks later, the Twins will begin their spring training in Ft. Myers. Generally speaking, very little happens between Christmas and New Years Day. At Twins Daily, we will obviously report and discuss any moves that the Twins make. There will be a couple of new blogs later in the week, but we are going to take a couple of days to enjoy spending time with friends and family for the holidays. Then, we will be back strong following the New Year. Then, we likely won't get any more time off until this time next year! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That said, the Forums here at Twins Daily are always open. Feel free to discuss rumors, share ideas and interact with the Twins Daily community. Of course, we always believe that the comments should be intelligent and non-combative, but that should certainly be the case at this time of year. By the way, if you missed it over the weekend, be sure to check out friend of Twins Daily AJ Pettersen's new article at Baseball America. Just a great article on the love of baseball. Happy Holidays to all of you who have helped make Twins Daily successful and a fun place for all of us to go to read about our favorite team. Best wishes to each and every one of you! Download attachment: Happy Holidays.jpg Click here to view the article

Download attachment: 87 WorldSeries 600.jpg The Twins season ended a week ago, and we’ve all had a chance to look back at another 95+ loss season. Likely, you’ve also already started thinking about what you would do to get the Twins back to being a perennial contender in the AL Central. The question I have for readers today is: If you were in charge, would you look toward winning in 2013, 2014 or something in the 3-5 year range? How you would go about building your blueprint is largely dependent upon your answer to that question.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] At Twins Daily, we are putting the final touches on the Offseason GM Handbook. I’m working on the final pieces of my blueprint, and that is the question that I am fighting the most. Obviously I want the Twins to contend in 2013! If I’ve learned anything from the past two years, it’s that I’m stronger in my conviction that the 162 games of the regular season is much better to watch when the team is competitive! But I also fully believe that going heavily the free agent direction can’t be successful long-term. If we’re all in agreement that the Twins 2013 payroll will likely be a little less than it was in 2012 (somewhere between $85-94 million), would your blueprint be one that looks to contending in 2013, 2014 or beyond? If your answer is to compete in 2013, the Twins should keep all of their veterans which means they will only have room to add a couple of mid-tier free agents. They could also trade prospects to bring in help for 2013. If your answer is to compete in 2014, then the Twins will need to determine which veterans to keep around and which to trade for some final pieces. You could probably bring in one quality free agent, but it’s also going to require that you be patient with some young players, hoping that a couple of them take a big step forward and can be counted on in 2014. That includes the likes of Pedro Florimon, Liam Hendriks and Brian Dozier, but it also includes the likes of Trevor Plouffe who will get the year to find out if he can be the 3B of the future. It also means some July trades and second-half playing time for the likes of Kyle Gibson, Joe Benson, Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks. If you’re thinking that the team is more than two years from competing, the free agents that you bring in really need to be tradeable at the July deadline. Guys who are on one-year, make-good types of deals would be ideal. It should be all about youth and player development. That doesn’t necessarily mean in the big leagues, It’s an interesting question because there is no right or wrong answer. The Twins do have a nice core of players, but they need a ton of pitching. Starting from scratch seems silly, in some ways. Consider the Oakland A’s. In recent years, they have traded away players and pitchers who were performing very well, yet they have been able to acquire some players, particularly pitchers, who are helping the A’s to their unlikely 2012 season. However, it was their first season in which they finished above .500 since 2006. The Kansas City Royals are perennially a team that has some of baseball’s top prospects. They are always supposed to be the team on the rise when all those young players develop. Well, the Royals have had just one winning season in the last 20 years. The Orioles typically go in the opposite direction. In recent years, they have been active in free agency, often signing some veteran players to deals that are too high. The last time that the Orioles had a winning season was 1997. So, there is no answer that guarantees winning or losing. So, it’s up to you, and I’ll ask again: If you were in charge, would you look toward winning in 2013, 2014 or something in the 3-5 year range? Click here to view the article

On July 2nd, the Rochester Red Wings were 11 games behind Pawtucket in the International League Northern Division. With a win tonight, and a Pawtucket loss, the Red Wings are now 60-51 and in sole possession of first place in the division. The Red Wings have now won 19 games in July, their most since 1999. Defense has been a big part of the Red Wings success. They have not committed an error in their last nine games, a span covering 82 innings. In fact, looking at errors, the Red Wings' 66 miscues on the season are the fewest in all minor league baseball. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Check out what else happened in the Twins Minor League system on Monday: Rochester 5, Norfolk 3 Box Score It’s been a pretty busy week for PJ Walters. On Friday, he became a father again to a little girl. He had very little sleep and caught a 6 a.m. flight to Rochester to make the start on Monday night. They immediately put him to work, and Walters came through. He needed 116 pitches to complete seven innings, but he gave up just one run on seven hits. He walked three and struck out five. He got the win and is now 5-2 with a 3.57 ERA with the Red Wings. Cody Eppley came on to start the eighth inning, but he got just one out and left with runners on first and third after giving up two hits and a walk. Aaron Thompson came in and preserved the 5-3 lead for the Red Wings. Michael Tonkin came on for the ninth inning and gave up one hit and no runs to record his seventh Red Wings save. Antoan Richardson led the offense. He went 3-4 with his 13th double. Oswaldo Arcia gave the team a lead in the third inning when he hit his 10th homer. He was 2-3 and was hit by a pitch. Eduardo Escobar was 2-4 with his fifth double. New Britain No game Scheduled. Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 0 Box Score Lefty Matt Tomshaw began the 2013 season in the Cedar Rapids bullpen; since his promotion to the Miracle he has been primarily a starter. The crafty southpaw had his best start of the year, throwing eight shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked three and hit one while striking out four. Nelvin Fuentes gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning to maintain the shutout. Plenty of hitters helped the Miracle to this win. Byron Buxton went 2-5 with his sixth stolen base. Stephen Wickens was 2-4 with his seventh stolen base. Dalton Hicks was 2-4 with a walk. JD Williams went 1-2 with two walks and his sixth stolen base. Matt Koch went 1-2 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and hit his sixth home run of the season. Former Twins starter Scott Baker, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, started the game for the Cubs. He went 3.1 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on three this. He walked two and struck out two. Cedar Rapids 4, Clinton 3 Box Score JO Berrios started this closely contested game. The young right-hander went the first six innings. He gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out two. Alex Muren came on and gave up one hit and two walks in two scoreless innings; he improved to 6-1 since his promotion to the Kernels. Brian Gilbert came on for the 9th inning and recorded the save. Max Kepler gave the Kernels an early lead with a two-run double, his eighth of the season. He later scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Travis Harrison went 2-4 and scored the go-ahead run. Jeremias Pineda went 2-4 with his fifth double. Adam Walker hit his 24th double and stole his eighth base. The Kernels are now 65-39 after their three-game sweep of the LumberKings. Elizabethton 0, Kingsport 4 Box Score Felix Jorge started and gave up one run in each of the first three innings. One of them was unearned. He went four innings and gave up six hits, walked two and struck out seven. Andrew Ferreira gave up a run on one hit and three walks in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Austin Malinowski came on and struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked one. There was not much offense for the E-Twins on this night. Carlos Avila went 1-1 with two walks. Mitch Garver hit his seventh double. GCL Twins 9, GCL Orioles 4 Box Score The Twins were down 3-2 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. Brian Navarreto stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and connected for his third home run. The team added three more runs in the 8th. Jorge Fernandez went 3-4 with his second stolen base. Will Hurt and Adonis Pacheco each tripled. Wilkin Ramirez returned to the field and went 1-2 with a double. Darin Mastroianni was in a game for the first time in a long time. He went 1-3 with two RBI. Alex Wimmers started and worked the first four innings. He gave up one run on two hits. He walked two and struck out six. Dan Sattler gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit and one walk in just 0.2 innings. Tyler Stirewalt gave up two hits in the next 1.1 innings. Zach Hayden gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one in his inning. Jose Abreu recorded his third save, giving up one run on four hits in the final two innings. Amaurys Minier has not played since leaving a game on July 24. He has a strained quad. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

Download attachment: Sox-Ryan-Pressly_0519WEB.jpg With the 4th overall pick in the 2012 Rule 5 draft, the Minnesota Twins drafted RHP Ryan Pressley from the Boston Red Sox organization. John Manuel reports that he throws up to 95 mph. The 23-year-old split the 2012 season between Hi-A and AA. He posted a 6.28 ERA in 20 games in Hi-A. When promoted to AA, he posted a 2.93 ERA in 27.2 innings. He walked 10 and struckout 21. He apparently impressed in the Arizona Fall League. The Twins did not lose any players in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 draft. Click through to see picks by the Twins in the minor league portions as they're announced. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Seth's initial response - 50/50 at best that Pressly sticks with the Twins all season. Could the team work out a deal with the Red Sox to keep him? He is about to turn 24 years old, so he could figure things out in the bullpen, I guess. Wanting 3B depth, the Twins selected Mark Sobolewski with their pick in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft from the Blue Jays. In AA last year, he hit .262/.295/.457 with 17 doubles and 18 home runs. He hit just .188 with 4 doubles and 2 homers in 23 AAA games. This guy might give competition to AAA 3B Deibinson Romero, although both bat right handed. The Twins lost RHP Tom Boleska to the Baltimore Orioles organization. He came to the Twins following a tremendously dominant season as the closer for the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. It's a disappointing loss, as he throws quite hard. The Twins passed on their AA Rule 5 selection, as did every single other team. Click here to view the article

The Twins got big offense from their nine through four hitters and came away with a nice 7-1 win over the Oakland A’s, one of baseball’s hottest teams. Of course, the biggest story was the performance of Brian Duensing. The lefty gave up two runs (1 earned) in six innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out seven. Quite the improvement over his mid-July start against the A’s when he gave up six runs on seven hits (3 HR) in just two innings. Casey Fien pitched two scoreless innings in relief, followed by a scoreless ninth by Alex Burnett. As for the offense, #9 hitter Pedro Florimon went 3-3 with a walk, a stolen base and three runs scored. Leadoff man Ben Revere went 2-5. 2-hitter Darin Mastroianni was 2-3 with a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly, two runs and two RBI. He also stole his 15th base. Joe Mauer went 3-5 with two RBI. Josh Willingham went 3-5 with a double and two RBI. Before the game was over, the team’s learned that the A’s had traded for Diamondbacks’ shortstop Stephen Drew who will improve the A’s. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Denard Span missed another game and incredibly had his first MRI on Monday despite missing the last nine days. With Nick Blackburn taken off of the 40 and 25 man rosters, the Twins will need to make a move before Wednesday’s game. That is when Blackburn was supposed to start for the Twins. The assumption here is that Liam Hendriks would get the start for the Twins in that spot since he last started on Friday night. The other option, Esmerling Vasquez, pitched for Rochester on Monday night. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday night: ROCHESTER 9, PAWTUCKET 6 The Red Wings had a big seven-run second inning, and it proved to be enough on this night. Wilkin Ramirez has been one of the hottest hitters in the International League the past week. In the second, he hit a grand slam, his 11th homer of the season. Brian Dinkelman added his fourth homer of the year, a two-run blast in the same inning. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 2-5. Brian Dozier doubled for the tenth time with the Red Wings. Esmerling Vasquez put together another quality start for the team. He went the first six innings and gave up two runs on three hits. Both runs scored on solo homers. Vasquez walked three and struck out four to improve to 9-5 with a 2.86 ERA. Daniel Turpen pitched the 7th inning and gave up three runs (2 earned) on two hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo gave up one run on three hits and a walk in his inning. Anthony Slama recorded his 11th save and dropped his season ERA to 0.68 with a scoreless ninth. NEW BRITAIN 3, PORTLAND 4 (10 innings) The first four Rock Cats of the game reached on singles. Before they had an out, they had scored two runs. Unfortunately, that was about it for the offense. Over the next 27 outs, the bats managed just two more hits. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his 17th double. He was also hit by a pitch. BJ Hermsen started for New Britain. He gave up three runs on 11 hits and a walk spread over 6.1 innings. He struck out five. Blake Martin came in and struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings. Matt Hauser got the next three outs. Aaron Thompson got the final out of the ninth inning. He started the tenth frame by giving up a run on three hits and only getting one out. Bruce Pugh got the final two outs without any additional runs scoring. FT. MYERS MIRACLE No games scheduled in the Florida State League on Monday. BELOIT 8, QUAD CITIES 2 Cole Johnson continues to impress in his time with the Snappers. He started this game and threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struckout seven. Steven Gruver gave up two runs on five hits over the next 2.2 innings. He struckout two. Mason Melotakis came on and got the final four outs, all of them on strikeouts. The Snappers bats showed up. Kennys Vargas was 3-5. Drew Leachman went 2-5 with his tenth double. Nate Roberts went 2-3 with a walk, was hit by a pitch and hit his 13th and 14th doubles. Matt Koch hit his 19th double. AJ Pettersen was hit by a pitch and hit his 11th double. ELIZABETHTON 5, GREENEVILLE 6 The E-Twins had plenty of offense in this game, plenty of base runners, but it wasn’t enough. Al nine E-Twins starters had at least one hit by the sixth inning. Byron Buxton was 2-4 with a walk and his third stolen base. Adam Walker was 2-5 with his seventh double. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with his second triple. Candido Pimentel was 2-6. Max Kepler was 1-3 with two walks. DJ Hicks was 1-3 with two walks and his sixth double. Travis Harrison hit his fourth home run. Ricardo Arevalo started for the E-Twins. He gave up four runs on four hits in four innings. He walked one and struckout two. Luis Nunez came on and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks over two innings. He struck out… one. Kaleb Merck pitched the final three innings. He gave up no runs on one hit. He walked one, although it was intentional, and struck out three. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RAYS 1 Kuo Hua Lo improved to 2-0 with six strong innings. The right-hander from Taiwan did not allow a run. HE gave up just three hits, walked one and struckout five to reduce his ERA to 1.19. Melciades de la Cruz gave up on erun on three hits and a walk in two innings. Alex Muren recorded his fourth save with a perfect ninth. The Twins had six hits in this game. Aderlin Mejia hit his 11th double. Dereck Rodriguez hit his 7th double. Bryan Santy was 1-2 with a walk and his fifth double. --- Players of the Day for Monday, August 20, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Nate Roberts Download attachment: Nate Roberts Walk.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Kuo Hua Lo Download attachment: KuoHuaLo.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, August 21, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Pawtucket – LHP Pedro Hernandez (vs Daisuke Matsuzaka) New Britain vs Portland – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers vs Bradenton – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Quad Cities – LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs Greeneville – RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins @ GCL Rays – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

2013 was another difficult season for the Minnesota Twins and their fans. However, that does not meant that are not some terrific stories that came out of the season. As we look to the hope these holidays bring, I think there are stories from the Twins that can inspire hope in anyone. Poor performances and injuries created opportunities that might not have been available in a typical, or at least a more successful, season. The stories of Andrew Albers, Doug Bernier, Chris Colabello and Caleb Thielbar are great reminders of believing in yourself and following your dreams.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As we look back at 2013 and build hope for 2014, these stories are worth highlighting. Caleb Thielbar had a tremendous rookie campaign with the Twins in 2013. He was my choice (and the Twins Baseball Writers’ choice) for 2013 Twins Rookie of the year. Thielbar was an 18th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2009 after four years at South Dakota State. By 2011, he was pitching out of the bullpen for the independent St. Paul Saints. He pitched well and ended the season making three appearances with the Ft. Myers Miracle. In 2012, he began with seven games with the Miracle followed by 16 games with New Britain. He ended the season with 25 games in Rochester. That’s where he began the 2013 season. He struck out 34 batters in 26.1 innings over 17 appearances with the Red Wings. On May 20, he made his major league debut in Atlanta. Facing the Braves, he struck out three in two innings. On the final day of May, he made his first Target Field appearance for the Twins and struck out two in a perfect inning against the Seattle Mariners. Making the story even better, Thielbar is a Randolph, MN, native, a small town not far from the Twin Cities. He grew up watching the Twins and in 2013 his unconventional baseball journey had him putting on a Twins uniform and playing at home. ---------- Download attachment: Chris Colabello 5.jpg In 2011, Chris Colabello was named the Independent Leagues Player of the Year by Baseball America after a remarkable season for Worcester of the Canadian-American Association. He had played in the league since the 2005 season after graduating from Division II Assumption. Before the 2012 season, the Twins gave Colabello an opportunity and he has made the most of it. He had one previous opportunity, having gone to minor league camp with the Detroit Tigers. However, after that camp, he returned to Worcester. With the Twins, he put up solid numbers in 2012 with New Britain. He had a remarkable winter season in Mexico and earned an invitation to big league spring training. He was also a key member of the improbably-successful Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He impressed at camp and was sent to Rochester. In 89 games with the Red Wings, he hit .352/.427/.639 (1.066) and was named the International League’s MVP and Rookie of the Year. Late on May 21, Colabello got the call. He hopped a late flight to Atlanta and was in the lineup on the afternoon of the 22nd against the Braves. He made the trip between Rochester and the Twins several times throughout the season. In all, he spent 81 days on the Twins 25 man roster. Colabello speaks of trusting a process and knowing that a person can’t control some things. It is a philosophy that has been great for him. He told me in September that he wants to prove that he can stick in the big leagues for a while. Recently, it was reported by Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press that Colabello had an opportunity to earn about $1 million for playing in South Korea in 2014. He has declined that opportunity, choosing instead to continue to bet on himself and his dreams. ---------- Andrew Albers is from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. He found his way to the University of Kentucky where he spent four years, splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He was a 10th round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2008. He missed all of 2009 with Tommy John surgery and while recovering in spring training of 2010 he was released. He signed with Quebec of the Can-Am Association and recorded 17 saves in 40 appearances. His story of trying to get an affiliated team to sign him for spring training in 2011 is the stuff of made-for-TV movies (or bigger). While in Arizona, working to get tryouts, he worked with his college coach and tried to get a tryout with the Twins. While the Twins were deciding if they should fly him to Ft. Myers for a tryout, Albers called the Twins back and said he would drive to Ft. Myers. If the Twins signed him, they could reimburse his travel expense. If they didn’t, he would drive back home to Saskatchewan. The Twins liked what they saw enough to invite him to minor league spring training. He earned a spot with the Miracle, though obtaining a work visa meant his season would be delayed a bit. He posted a 1.55 ERA in 22 games with the Miracle and moved up to New Britain where he posted a 2.91 ERA in 13 games. Of his 35 appearances, he made seven starts and was my choice for Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. In 2012 he fought injury, but in 17 starts (and two relief appearances), he was 4-3 with a 3.75 ERA. In 2013, in the WBC, Albers pitched well for Canada. He began the 2013 season as the fifth starter for the Rochester Red Wings. He was clearly the team’s most consistent starting pitcher. He made 22 starts and went 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA. In 132.1 innings, he struck out 116, which led the International League when he was promoted. Albers was the Twins choice for minor league pitcher of the year. Despite pitching well, Albers has never fit the “prospect” criteria. He doesn’t have the “stuff” to look like a big league starter. However, as options became limited, the Twins finally gave Albers an opportunity. On August 6th, Albers made his major league debut in Kansas City. Against the Royals, Albers went into the ninth inning without allowing a run. He got one out in the ninth, but was removed. Casey Fien completed the shutout and Albers had his first big league win. Six days later, Albers took the mound in Cleveland and this time, he didn’t need any help. He threw a complete game, two hit, no walk shutout. Overall, he was 2-5 with a 4.05 ERA in ten starts with the Twins. Albers has overcome his origin from a remote location, injury and lack of stuff to make it to the big leagues. He is as tough as it gets mentally and believes in himself. He combines that with pinpoint control, which he acknowledges is necessary for his success. He earned the opportunity and he took advantage of it. ---------- The first three that we talked about today are all Independent League survivors and success stories. Doug Bernier never spent any time in independent baseball, but he has spent a lot of time in the minor leagues. He was signed by the Colorado Rockies in 2002 as a non-drafted free agent out of Oral Roberts University. He slowly worked his way up the Rockies system, and in June of 2008, at the age of 27, he made his big league debut with the Rockies. He went 0-4 in two games before being sent back to the minors. He spent all 2007 and 2008 in Colorado Springs, the AAA Affiliate of the Rockies. In 2009, he played for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the AAA team of the Yankees. In 2010, he spent the season in Indianapolis, the Pirates AAA affiliate. He spent 2011 and 2012 back with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Twins signed him before 2013 and gave him a spring training invite. The plan, most likely, was to have him play the entire season in Rochester. However, Eduardo Escobar’s first-half struggles, coupled with a solid .295/.370/.407 (.778) line by Bernier, led the Twins to call him up at the All-Star break and he spent the rest of the season with the Twins. He was able to record his first big league hit and showed a great glove. He hit just .226, but he got on base at a .339 clip. Think about it. Bernier became a big leaguer in 2008. At any point from 2009 through 2012, when he was sent back to AAA and often struggled with the bat, he could have hung up the spikes able to tell his grandchildren he had played in the big leagues. Teams kept offering him contracts because of his great defense. Clearly Bernier has great belief in himself and a “tear the uniform off me” mentality. ---------- Following the season, Bernier was removed from the 40-man roster, but he quickly signed a minor league contract to return to the organization. Thielbar appears to be a lock for the Twins opening day bullpen and the organization hopes he can fill the role for years to come. Colabello and Albers remain on the team’s 40 man roster, but with every transaction their names are mentioned as possible DFA candidates. Both could fill a role at the big league level if given another opportunity. Whatever happens going forward, the 2013 seasons of Andrew Albers, Caleb Thielbar, Chris Colabello and Doug Bernier serve as reminders that people should not give up on their dreams and should continue to work to make them happen, because every once in a while those dreams really can come true. Click here to view the article

It was a big night for offense through most of the Twins farm system, but there were also some great pitching performances (seel below). Down 5-1 going through six innings, the Twins collected three unearned runs in the seventh inning. Cleveland’s All-Star closer Chris Perez came on and gave up three runs in the top of the 9th, two of them unearned. The Twins won 7-5 in unlikely fashion. Sam Deduno was back on the mound for the Twins. This time, he lasted just four innings and gave up four runs on five hits and five walks. He struck out three. Jeff Manship came on and gave up a run on two hits and two walks in his two innings. He struckout four. Tyler Robertson records his first major league win thanks to two scoreless innings, and Glen Perkins picked up his seventh save. Ryan Doumit led the offense with three hits, including two doubles. Ben Revere extended his hitting streak to 21 and is within one (maybe two) games of his .329 batting average being among league leaders.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Brian Dozier and Jamey Carroll each had two hits. Tsuyoshi Nishioka got the game-winning RBI on a sacrifice fly. It was a highlight-filled night in the Twins farm system as well. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Monday night of games in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 1, EMPIRE STATE 3 (11 innings) Liam Hendriks was terrific again, but the Red Wings bats didn’t show up in this game. The Aussie right-hander went seven shutout innings. He gave up just three hits, walked two and struck out four. Kyle Waldrop came into the game for the eighth inning, but he gave up a run on two hits and a walk. Daniel Turpen pitched two scoreless frames. Bobby Lanigan gave up two unearned runs. He left with the bases loaded. Caleb Thielbar came in and gave up one hit that allowed the two inherited runners to score before getting the final two outs. The Red Wings managed just two hits. Brian Dinkelman singled and later scored on a Rene Rivera double. GAME 1 - NEW BRITAIN 8, BINGHAMTON 9 It was a good offensive day for the Rock Cats, but the pitching and defense cost them this close game. Steve Hirschfeld started and gave up four runs on five hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out four. Bruce Pugh came in for the sixth frame and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks. Jose Gonzalez came in for the seventh, but he gave up three runs (1 earned) on one hit and two walks. Dakota Watts got the final out on a fielder’s choice, but two runs scored. Rene Tosoni led the offense. He went 3-4 with his seventh and eighth doubles. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-4 with his 11th double. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with his 32nd double. Nate Hanson was 2-3 with his fifth home run and four RBI. Aaron Hicks was 1-2 with a walk and his 12th home run. GAME 2 - NEW BRITAIN 8, BINGHAMTON 1 In the second game, Andrew Albers made his first appearance since June 17, and he was masterful. The lefty gave up just one hit in five innings to improve to 4-2. He walked none and struck out five. Matt Hauser came in and gave up only a solo home run over the final two innings. Aaron Hicks led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk and his 18th and 19th home runs. Chris Colabello was 2-4. Oswaldo Arcia had the big blast, a grand slam in the sixth inning. It was hit sixth Rock Cats home run. Deibinson Romero and Dan Rohlfing each doubled. FT. MYERS 22, JUPITER 5 Maybe it was the presence of Carl Pavano, but something got into the bats of the Miracle, particularly Lance Ray. The Miracle scored their 22 runs on 20 hits. Lance Ray led the way. The outfielder from Kentucky went 4-6 with his 18th double, his 12th and 13th home runs and seven RBI. Steve Liddle was 4-5 with his second double and three RBI. Josmil Pinto was 3-4 with two walks and his 18th double. Angel Morales went 3-6 with his seventh double and sixth home run. Anderson Hidalgo had two hits. Danny Rams walked twice and drilled his fifth home run of the season. He drove in four runs. Levi Michael was 1-3 and walked three times. Carl Pavano made the rehab start. He gave up one run on two hits (one was a solo home run) in two innings. He walked none and struck out one. Madison Boer went the next 4.1 innings. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and two walks. Nelvin Fuentes worked the final 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on two hits and striking out three. BELOIT 5, WISCONSIN 3 The Snappers bats were alive as well on Tuesday night. Nate Roberts led off and led the way with a 3-5 night in which he hit his 11th double, his second triple and stole his 18th base. Eddie Rosario was 2-3 with a walk and his eighth home run. JD Williams had two hits and stole his 17th base. Stephen Wickens went 2-4 with two stolen bases. Tyler Grimes was 2-3 with a walk. Miguel Sano hit his fourth triple. Tyler Jones made the start, and he went the first five innings for the Win. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three. Steven Gruver gave up a hit and a walk over two scoreless innings. Corey Kimes gave up two runs (1 earned) on two hits and a walk. He struck out four. ELIZABETHTON 2, JOHNSON CITY 4 Max Kepler led the offense on this day with his eighth and ninth doubles. Candido Pimentel went 2-4 with a walk and his sixth double. Josh Hendricks was 1-3 with a walk and his eighth double. Travis Harrison was 1-3 with a walk and his eighth double, as well. Hein Robb started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits in 2.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two. Chris Mazza came in and threw 2.2 scoreless innings, give up one hit and striking out two. Luis Nunez walked two in two scoreless innings. Christian Powell pitched a 1-2-3 inning. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 4 Kyle Gibson made what could be his final rehab start on Monday. He gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked one and struck out four. His first appearance came on July 10th, and he gets 30 days to rehab before needing to be activated. The assumption, from me, would be that he will be activated and pitch for the Ft. Myers Miracle. In nine rehab appearances, he pitched 14.2 innings. He gave up four runs on nine hits. He walked four and struck out 16. Andre Martinez came in and faced two batters. He gave up a hit and a walk before being replaced by Gonzalo Sanudo. The lefty went five innings and gave up only one hit. He struckout four. Melciades de la Cruz struck out two in the final inning to record his fourth save. Jeremias Pineda went 3-5 with his 16th stolen base. Bryan Santy went 3-4 with his fourth double. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, August 7, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Lance Ray Download attachment: LanceRay.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Liam Hendriks Download attachment: Liam Hendriks.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, August 8, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Empire State – RHP Shairon Martis New Britain @ Binghamton – TBD Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – LHP Pat Dean Beloit @ Quad Cities – LHP Matt Tomshaw Elizabethton @ Johnson City – LHP Brett Lee GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

When you’ve followed the Minnesota Twins farm system for as long as I have, you can’t help but root for the underdog. It’s easy to be a fan of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and other top prospects, no question about that. But the fun part of following the farm system, for me at least, is that there is no one way to the big leagues. There are many different paths. Andrew Albers is the latest example of a guy who didn’t exactly take a direct route through the minors to the big leagues. What a story! He is the third player to debut with the Twins this season after spending time in independent baseball. It’s about the Doug Berniers, a 33-year-old who already had a cup of coffee, but he wants to keep playing. It’s about Tommy Watkins, who spent so many years in the Twins farm system, usually as his team’s 24th or 25th man, and eventually getting to the big leagues. Chris Heintz is another example.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That’s what these reports are about. It’s recognizing the players who are working every day in an attempt to get to the big leagues or to get back to the big leagues. It’s about the first round picks, the 40th round picks, the undrafted, the sure-things and the long-shots. Before we start with the updates from Tuesday’s game, check out this Get to Know ‘Em video by the Elizabethton Twins: Check out what else happened in the Twins' minor league system Tuesday: Rochester 6, Durham 4 Box Score Scott Diamond reported to Rochester and made his first appearance since being optioned last week. The lefty gave up just three hits over six innings. However, he gave up four runs, thanks in large part to four walks, and the fact that one of those hits was a grand slam. He struck out three. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Cody Eppley came on and got an out. Edgar Ibarra got the final out of the eighth, but not before walking two. He started the ninth inning too, but he walked the first two batters. AJ Achter came on and recorded his first AAA save. He walked one and struck out two. Jeff Clement was the team’s player of the week, and his streak continued on Tuesday. He went 3-5 with his 18th double and 15th home run. James Beresford was 2-4 with a double, his third with the Wings. Eduardo Escobar hit his first home run. Deibinson Romero went 2-4. Josh Willingham went 0-3 in his time. He was replaced by Eric Farris who went 2-2. New Britain 13, Erie 6 Box Score It’s always a fun day when you score 13 runs, but a lot of players contributed to that offense. Miguel Sano went 3-5 with his eighth double, his 11th AA home run and three RBI. It was his 27th total home run of the season. Danny Santana went 2-5 with a walk, his 20th double and his 23rd stolen base. Eddie Rosario went 2-6 with his third triple. Reynaldo Rodriguez went 2-5 with his 25th double. Dan Rohlfing was 2-5 with three RBI. Jordan Parraz was 2-5. Wilkin Ramirez went 3-3 with a walk and his first double. Download attachment: Miguel Sano.jpg Matt Summers was the pitcher of the month for July. His work earned him a promotion to the Rock Cats. He started and gave up two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out three. Blake Martin came on and was charged with two unearned runs on two hits and a walk. He recorded just two outs before he was replaced by Daniel Turpen. He gave up two runs on two hits over the final 2.1 innings. Ft. Myers Miracle The Miracle had played 20 straight days before getting on off day on Tuesday. Cedar Rapids 2, Quad Cities 7 Box Score The Kernels’ got Mark Appel’ed on this night. They got Carlos Correa’ed all weekend. Starting with the #1 overall pick of the 2012 draft, Correa went 12-18 in the four game series. Appel started on Tuesday night and grabbed his first professional win. He went five innings. He gave up two earned runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out two. He, and the River Bats bullpen limited the Kernels to just four hits. Joel Licon drove in two runs with a single. Jorge Polanco doubled for the 27th time. Josue Montanez drew the short straw to pitch against Appel. The left-hander gave up five runs on five hits. He walked none and struck out five in seven innings. Consider that Quad Cities did not leave a runner on base the whole game. Dallas Gallant got the next five outs, but not before allowing two runs (1 earned) on two hits. Brandon Bixler got the final out, but not before giving up two hits. Game 1 - Elizabethton 2, Johnson City 4 Box Score The E-Twins bats have been pretty poor in 2013. In game one, the team recorded just four hits. Tanner Vavra was 1-2 with a walk. Josh Burris started. He gave up four runs on three hits in 5.1 innings. He walked five and struck out seven. Aaron Slegers came on and gave up two hits, but no runs, in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Game 2 - Elizabethton 1, Johnson City 4 Box Score It was more of the same in game two. The E-Twins managed just three hits. Zach Granite went 1-2 with a walk. Yorman Landa started and went jut four innings. He gave up three runs (1 earned) on four hits and three walks. He struck out three. Andrew Ferreira came on and gave up one run on one hits over two innings. He struck out two. Carson Goldsmith struck out two in a scoreless final inning. GCL Twins 8, GCL Rays 2 Box Score Lewis Thorpe has been as good, or better, than advertised. The lefty from Australia, who signed just a year ago, worked the first five innings. He gave up two unearned runs on four hits and a walk in five innings; he struck out eight. Thorpe has been tremendous. In 32.2 innings, he has walked three and struck out 46. He was replaced by Seth Wagner, the Twins 39th round draft pick in June of out high school. He made his professional debut and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Luke Bard came on and gave up one hit and struck one out in his inning. Josh Guyer gave up a hit, but he struck out three in his inning. Reyson Zoquiel walked one and struck out one in his inning. Lots of GCL Twins had one hit, but Adonis Pacheco was the only one who had two. The team had just six total hits. Engelb Vielma had the lone extra base hit, his second double. The team was helped by eight walks. Jason Kanzler did his job as leadoff man. He got on with a single and also walked twice. Will Hurt and Brian Navarreto also walked twice. Hurt stole his fifth base while Zach Larson stole his ninth. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. Click here to view the article

Yesterday, the Minnesota Twins acquired lefty Sean Gilmartin from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for catcher Ryan Doumit. Of course, just a couple days after we released the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook, the Twins make a trade to acquire a 23-year-old prospect. Gilmartin is not included in the paperback or electronic books, but Jeremy, Cody and I thought it would be good to post a profile on him that you can print out and consider an addendum to your handbook. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As with all of the Prospect Profiles in the Handbook, Jeremy wrote up the Amateur Days section. Cody Christie wrote the Stat Pack information. I wrote the Scouting Report and we worked on the Forecast for '14 together. Sean Gilmartin – LHP – (5/8/90) 2013 Team(s): Gwinnett Braves (also Rome & GCL Braves for rehab) 2013 Stats: 4-8, 5.06 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 105.0 IP, 33 BB, 81 KDownload attachment: Sean Gilmartin 2.jpg Amateur Days: Gilmartin graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, the same high school as Trevor Plouffe, before heading east to Florida State. Gilmartin became the Seminoles Friday-night starter just three weeks into his freshman season, a position he held for the rest of his college career. As a Seminole, Gilmartin went 33-13 (which looks even more impressive when you consider he was 9-8 his sophomore year) with a 3.57 ERA. He struck out 321 batters in 330 innings (8.75 K/9) and had a career WHIP of 1.21. Gilmartin helped lead the Seminoles to the College World Series in 2010, where he struggled in his match-up with then-freshman sensation Matt Purke. Gilmartin was drafted by Atlanta in the 2011 draft 28th overall, just two picks before the Twins selected Levi Michael and only five picks after the Nationals selected Alex Meyer. Gilmartin, who signed for $1,134,000, was lauded for his clean arm action and plus change up. Stat Pack: 2011-2012: Gilmartin moved up rapidly in his first full season in the Braves organization, his college experience likely helping push him from Double-A to Triple-A. Over 157.0 innings, he posted a 3.84 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Lefties struggled to make consistent contact against Gilmartin, hitting .185/.217/.289 with 48 strikeouts. Between the 2011 and 2012 seasons, Gilmartin had a strong AFL performance (29.0 IP with 26 SO and a 1.21 WHIP). 2013: After a couple rough outings at the beginning of June, something wasn’t right with Gilmartin. He went on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. By the end of the season, he had worked his way back to the Triple-A level. Left-handed hitters improved their numbers versus Gilmartin (.219/.252/.383), but some of this can be attributed to velocity lost due to his shoulder injury. Scouting Report: At 6-2 and 200 pounds, Gilmartin has four pitches that are at least average. His fastball sits between 89 and 92 and touches 93 at times. He has a very good change up that he throws in the low 80s. He has a terrific slider that is thrown in the low 80s as well. It is sharp and very difficult for left-handers. He also throws a slow curve ball in the low 70s which he tends to use against right-handers and it is more of a 12-6 pitch. Gilmartin has very good control and command of his pitches, at least when he is healthy. When he’s not healthy, like in 2013, he sat at 86 and 87 mph and was very hittable. Forecast for ‘14: After a frustrating 2013 season in AAA Gwinnett, next year the Twins could keep him in the International League with the Rochester Red Wings. Or, due to the starting pitching depth, they could take a step back and send him to New Britain in AA to start the season. He could be a leading candidate to be added to the 40 man roster following the season. As I've stated on Twitter, I think Gilmartin would rank somewhere between 19 and 23 in my Top Twins Prospect rankings. Hopefully he uses the offseason to get healthy and strong and get back to what he showed in 2012. If that's the case, this is another solid arm for the future. Click here to view the article

Weather was again a factor in the Twins farm system. Of course, it appears that the Red Wings get rained out whenever Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch. His first start was pushed back twice by weather, and he was supposed to start on Friday night for Rochester but it was rained out as well. As Rochester Democrat and Chronicle writer Jim Mandelaro noted on twitter, “Nine days into the season, the Red Wings have as many wins (4) as games postponed.” Of course, that lines up a replay of last Sunday’s pitching matchups highlighting the Twins top pitching prospects. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Matt Summers will get the start in New Britain, and in the second Red Wings game Yohan Pino will throw. Top prospect Alex Meyer will start in game one for the Red Wings. JO Berrios will pitch in St. Lucie. Kohl Stewart will make the start in Lansing for the Kernels. In the matchups below, I will include the links where you can listen to these games live. Download attachment: Mitch Garver 2.jpg RED WINGS REPORT Rochester, Lehigh Valley Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch, so of course weather has become a factor and his start will move to Saturday after Friday’s game was postponed. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 2, Portland 11 Box Score Taylor Rogers was back on the mound for the Rock Cats in this game. He had another rough first inning but settled down. He gave up five runs in the first, but just one more over the next three innings. In four innings, he gave up six runs (5 earned) on eight hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Cole Johnson and Ryan O’Rourke each threw a scoreless inning. BJ Hermsen pitched the seventh inning and gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Jim Fuller was perfect in the eighth. Tony Thomas led the offense. He was 2-4 with two doubles. Kennys Vargas hit his second home run of the season, a solo homer in the ninth frame. Corey Wimberly walked twice. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, St. Lucie 6 Box Score Lefty Brett Lee made his second Miracle start. In his first game, he was one out from a quality start. In this game, he got the final out of the sixth inning and gets the quality start. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on eight hits and two walks. He struck out four. Matt Tomshaw pitched a scoreless seventh inning but was charged with three runs (2 earned) in the eighth to take the loss. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with his fourth double. He also drove in two runs. He now has 10 RBI in eight games. Jorge Polanco was 1-1 with two walks and was also hit by a pitch. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 10, Great Lakes 7 Box Score This game went back and forth through the night. Lansing scored three in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a one-run lead, but Mitch Garver hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at seven. Zach Larson singled in the go-ahead run and Chad Christensen singled in two insurance runs. Hudson Boyd came on for the ninth and struck out two in a perfect inning for his second save. The hitting hero again for the Kernels was Mitch Garver who, besides the game-tying sacrifice fly, hit two solo home runs, his third and fourth of the year. Jeremias Pineda went 2-3 with a walk and a triple. Chad Christensen went 2-4. Jason Kanzler went 2-5 with a triple after going 3-5 in his first Kernels game. Lefty Randy Rosario was very good in his second outing. He threw four shutout innings before giving up two in the fifth inning. In total, he gave up four hits, walked one and struck out two. Ethan Mildren made his first appearance with the Kernels since his call up on Monday. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out three. Yorman Landa pitched the eighth inning, and it didn’t go so well. He gave up three runs on two hits and three walks in the inning. He did strike out one. Again, Boyd got the save with his two-strikeout ninth. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Randy Rosario, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (4:35 CST) – Alex Meyer, Yohan Pino (Listen) New Britain @ Portland (12:00 CST) – Matt Summers (Listen) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) – JO Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (1:05 CST) – Kohl Stewart (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Friday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over Kansas City 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

The All-Star breaks are all over, and there was a full schedule in the Twins' minor league system Thursday. A couple old college teammates helped the Kernels provide most of the organization’s offense on the day. Also, a couple now-former Twins were on the mound. However, on this day, Taylor Rogers stole the show with one of the best pitching performances by a Twins pitcher this season. See below for more. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Also last night, I was a guest on Twins Minor League Weekly podcast and answered several questions on players throughout the Twins farm system, so check that out here. Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system Thursday: Rochester 4, Syracuse 11 Box Score The pitching wasn’t good and the offense managed just five hits on this night. Logan Darnell got the start and in 1.2 innings, he was charged with six runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out one. Luis Perdomo came on and went the next 1.1 innings. He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks while striking out one. AJ Achter came on and provided three shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. Blake Martin came on and yielded one run on three hits and a walk in two innings; he struck out two. Edgar Ibarra then made his AAA debut. He walked one and struck out one in a scoreless inning. Deibinson Romero had just one hit, but it was a three-run homer. It was his sixth homer of the year. Chris Parmelee batted third and played first base. He was 1-3 with a walk. Eduardo Escobar went 0-3. He batted seventh and played second base. New Britain 3, Binghampton 4 Box Score Nick Blackburn made his second start for the Rock Cats. He gave up one run on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out two. Ryan O’Rourke came in for his AA debut. He struck out two in his first inning and then struck out the side in his second inning. It was a pretty impressive debut! He turned over a 3-1 lead to closer Matt Hauser. Unfortunately, the right-hander gave up three runs on three hits and two walks and recorded just two outs. BJ Hermsen came on to close out the inning. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 and drove in a run. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with his second Rock Cats home run and two RBI. Ft. Myers 1, Dunedin 0 Box Score Taylor Rogers was the story in this one. The lefty out of Kentucky who was taken by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2012 draft was tremendous. He faced just 30 batters in a complete game shutout. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out eight. He improved to 8-3 and dropped his Miracle ERA to 2.63. Rogers needed every inning to be a shutout inning since the Miracle bats were so quiet. They managed just five hits. In the sixth inning, JD Williams doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Byron Buxton. Photo by Linwood Ferguson/Ft. Myers Miracle Cedar Rapids 9, Lake County 7 Box Score The Kernels have continued to lose great hitters to Ft. Myers, but they have so many that they’re still scoring like crazy. Jonathan Murphy led the way in this game. The outfielder went 3-5 with his third double and first home run with the Kernels. He drove in three runs. His college teammate, Adam Walker, went 2-5. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with a walk and two runs driven in. Photo by Cedar Rapids Kernels Josue Montanez started and went the first six innings. He gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits, three of which were home runs. He walked three and struck out six. Hudson Boyd came on and gave up two runs on three hits over two innings. He walked none and struck out two. Madison Boer gave up two hits and a walk, but no runs, in the ninth inning for the save. He struck out two. Game 1 – Elizabethton 2, Bristol 1 Box Score Rained out a night earlier, the E-Twins had a double header on Thursday. Of course, Game 1 included a rain delay of nearly an hour and a half. Felix Jorge returned to form in the first game. The hard-throwing righty gave up one run on five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six. He was replaced by Carson Goldsmith who struck out two in a scoreless inning. Brandon Peterson struck out two in a perfect seventh for the save. The E-Twins managed just three hits in this game. In the sixth inning, a Bryan Haar sacrifice fly scored Carlos Avila with the team’s first run to tie the game. Zach Granite then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Game 2 – Elizabethton 2, Bristol 1 Box Score Josh Burris started the second game. He gave up two runs on three hits in four innings; he walked four and struck out five. Ethan Mildren gave up one hit in a scoreless fifth inning. In the sixth, Aaron Slegers came on and gave up one hit in a scoreless inning, striking out one. Andrew Ferreira pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Javier Pimentel went 2-3 with his first two triples of the year; the first plated the two E-Twins runs. Bryan Santy went 3-3. Bryan Haar was 2-4 with his third double and fourth home run. GCL Twins 4, GCL Rays 4 (Game Suspended in 7th by Rain) Box Score This game was not completed, but enough happened that we’ll mention the highlights in the rain-suspended game. Lewis Thorpe went the first four innings, giving up three runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out six. Sam Gibbons came on and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. Derrick Penilla then gave up one run on one hit and one walk in one inning. Yes, he had one strikeout. And then the rains came. Amaurys Minier had his third triple. Brian Navaretto hit his fourth double. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

There are certain days where you can’t help but get a little bit excited about the day’s games. Sunday was one of those days. The top three Minnesota Twins pitching prospects were making their 2014 debuts. Alex Meyer (Twins Daily’s #3 Twins Prospect) made his first AAA start. JO Berrios (#6 Twins Prospect) made his Florida State League debut for the Miracle. 2014 top pick Kohl Stewart (#4 Twins Prospect) made his first Cedar Rapids start. All three of them pitched well in their season debuts. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Following the Rochester game, the team announced that Chris Herrmann had been promoted to Minnesota. What is the other half of the transaction? According to Twins Daily’s reporter in Rochester Chris Fee, Red Wings manager Gene Glynn said he “hadn’t heard about a move other than Herrmann so far.” Download attachment: CIMG8965.jpg RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Buffalo 8 (13 innings) Box Score It took a couple of days, but the Red Wings were finally able to play their second game of the season. Alex Meyer did not disappoint in his much-anticipated AAA debut. He began his day by striking out the first batter he faced, Anthony Gose. On the day, he gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out six. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up two runs on two hits in his innings. Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless seventh inning, but gave up a run on three hits and a walk in the eighth. Edgar Ibarra got the final two outs of that inning, one on a strikeout. Michael Tonkin came on and gave up just one hit over the next two innings. Deolis Guerra came on and threw two perfect innings. However, in the 13th, Guerra gave up a leadoff single to Matt Tuiasosopo. Brooks Raley came on to face Juan Francisco, and Francisco launched his second very long home run of the game. Doug Bernier provided the big hit for the Red Wings, a long three-run homer early in the game. He was 2-6 on the day. James Beresford went 3-6. Eric Farris and Chris Parmelee each had two hits. Interesting note from Josh Whetzel, play-by-play man for the Red Wings: the two winning pitchers for Buffalo in the two games they've played have been former Twins Liam Hendriks and Bobby Korecky. Today, Korecky threw four shutout innings of relief. Additionally, the save in both games went to Neil Wagner, a Minnesota native who pitched in college at NDSU. Here were some of Meyer's post-game thoughts (courtesy Chris Fee): ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 3, Richmond 13 Box Score For the second straight game, the Rock Cats fell behind early. Matt Summers was charged with three runs in the second, two in the third and three more in the fourth. He gave up eight runs (though just five were earned) on nine hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out four. AJ Achter came on and gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. He walked none and struck out four. Adrian Salcedo then threw two scoreless innings and struck out one. Three former Minnesota Gophers players were in the lineup for the Rock Cats on this day. Kyle Knudson led the way, going 3-4 and driving in both the team’s runs. Nate Hanson had a double and Mike Kvasnicka added a single and a walk. The trio had five of the team’s seven hits in this game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 0, Jupiter 2 Box Score Well, the Miracle won’t go undefeated this season. That’s no surprise, right? What is surprising was that the potent offense could be shut out. Hammerhead starter did not allow a base runner until the 14th batter of the game, when Max Kepler walked. Two batters later, Niko Goodrum walked. However, they were unable to score in the fifth inning. John Murphy led off the 6th inning with a single to break up the no-hitter. AJ Pettersen followed with a single, but the Miracle were again unable to score. They didn’t have another runner until Adam Walker singled with two out in the ninth. JO Berrios made the start for the Miracle. The right-hander gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out four. Radio man Brice Zimmerman reported that he was hitting 95 mph on the radar gun. Steven Gruver gave up three hits but no runs in two innings. Madison Boer came on for the ninth inning and walked one in a scoreless inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Clinton 2 Box Score Certainly the excitement of this game was that it was the first start for 2013 first-round pick Kohl Stewart. The talented right-handed did not disappoint, though things did not start out well. After a groundout, Stewart gave up a single, followed by a triple and a run-scoring ground ball and the Kernels were down 2-0. However, Stewart gave up only those two runs over five innings. He gave up just one walk and hit one batter. In the third inning, he was hit by a line drive in the back of the leg. He made the play and obviously stayed in the game. Reports from Cedar Rapids, including from Steve Buhr, reported that the radar gun showed 94 a couple times, which means he hit 96 a couple times. Yorman Landa gave up one hit and walked one over his two innings. He struck out two. Josue Montanez gave up two hits, but no runs, in an inning. Hudson Boyd came on for the save and pitched a one, two, three ninth. The Kernels scrapped. They scored one in the first inning on a Bryan Haar double scoring Joel Licon. In the second, they tied the score on Mitch Garver’s first home run. In the seventh, Logan Wade broke the tie with his first homer of the season. The team added an insurance run in the eighth when Engelb Vielma blooped in a single to score Jeremias Pineda and give the team a 4-2 lead. Mitch Garver went 2-2 with two walks and the home run. Logan Wade was 2-4 including his homer. Zach Granite went 2-5. 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 – Mitch Garver, Cedar Rapids Kernels MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Kris Johnson Harrisburg @ New Britain (5:35 CST) – Sean Gilmartin Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled Cedar Rapids – No Game Scheduled Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins win over Cleveland on Sunday, it means that on Monday 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

Yesterday, we began our look at my Top 50 Twins Prospects, starting with Prospects 46-50. In Part 2 today, we continue by learning a little about my selections for prospects 41-45. There are three outfielders at various points in their career. A left-handed starter who appeared to have stalled until he was promoted to AAA. There are also two former first-round picks who find themselves at this stage of the rankings. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Yesterday I wrote about some of the things that go into my thinking when I'm ranking prospects, so check that if you have questions. Download attachment: Levi Michael.jpg #45 – Mike Kvasnicka – Ft. Myers – OF (24) The Lakeville native and former Minnesota Gopher came to the Twins in spring training in exchange for rookie-leaguer Gonzalo Sanudo. It was a great move for a guy who was a first-round pick just three years ago. As the season began, he broke his hamate bone and had surgery. He played in 69 games for the Miracle and had 24 extra base hits, including nine home runs. He has real power, but he needs to stay healthy and get at bats. His father played in the Twins farm system from 1989 to 1992. #44 – Levi Michael – Ft. Myers – 2B (22) The Twins 2011 top pick struggled in his pro debut in Ft. Myers in 2012. He returned in 2013, but he missed the first three weeks of the season with an arm issue. His batting average was lower. His on base percentage was lower. His slugging percentage was a little higher. If you’re looking for the positive, he was 21 or 23 in stolen base attempts (and now 27-29 in his career). He played more at shortstop in 2013, but down the stretch he moved back to second base. 2014 will be a big year for Michael. Can he be a starter, or will his ceiling be that of a utility player? #43 – Pat Dean - New Britain/Rochester – LH SP (24) The Twins 3rd round pick in 2010 out of Boston College, Dean quickly moved up and made a start at New Britain at the end of the 2011 season. He spent all of 2012 with the Rock Cats as well. He went 6-11 with a 4.68 ERA in 22 starts for the Rock Cats to start the 2013 season. He was promoted to Rochester where he made a great impression. He threw seven shutout innings in his debut and went 3-2 with a 2.02 ERA. He is left-handed and has pitches similar to Brian Duensing’s. However, he does not like to miss bats. #42 – Zach Larson - GCL Twins/Elizabethton – OF (20) Larson was the Twins 20th round pick in 2012 out of high school in Florida. The Twins used some of their extra bonus allotment to sign him. He began this year in the GCL and hit .317. He moved up to Elizabethton and hit .301. His hit tool is definitely his best tool. He should develop some power, which is good because he is not fleet of foot. He’s an adequate defensive outfielder. He is certainly one to watch as he moves up to see if he develops. #41 – Danny Ortiz - New Britain – OF (23) Ortiz is kind of lost among Twins outfield prospects because they have always had some top outfield prospects, but he has been solid all-around. He’s not a large man, listed at 5-11 (but he’s not) put has good extra base pop. He had 43 extra base hits including 12 home runs at AA. He is a solid defender in all three outfield spots. He doesn't have one tool that jumps out as great, but he is solid across the board. His future is fourth outfielder. ---------------------------------------------------- So, what do you think? Like yesterday, these are guys that could potentially be role players with the Twins; pinch hitters, fourth outfielders, and utility infielders. Larson is the one here who has a chance for his Power tool to really develop over time. Kvasnicka's power is legit. He could move up if he can just stay healthy. Part 1: Prospects 46-50 Click here to view the article

Wins and losses are far from the most important thing in the minor leagues. Player development matters above all else. That said, winning is always fun. And, to be fair, part of a player’s development is learning how to win, and learning how to play team baseball. When a team is able to develop players while also finding ways to win, it is a perfect collision. On Wednesday, the Twins four affiliates played five games, and the result was five wins. Call it a good day. Of course, winning at the big league level does matter, and the Twins lost their second straight game to the Oakland A’s.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Aaron Slegers.jpg Download attachment: Aaron Slegers.jpg Aaron Slegers In other news, the Minnesota Twins placed Oswaldo Arcia on the disabled list and added Darin Mastroianni to both the 40 and 25 man rosters. Be sure to look at the Twins Rosters & Payrolls page for current rosters, salary information and much more. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 6 Box Score For Scott Diamond, it was an improvement from Opening Day. However, it was still a rough one. The lefty gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk in just three innings. He was replaced by Yohan Pino who worked 2.1 scoreless innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out two. Aaron Thompson was charged with two unearned runs in 2.1 innings. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Deolis Guerra came on and gave up a hit, but recorded two outs. Brooks Raley struck out the final two batters of the game to record the save. The Red Wings bats got plenty of offense. Only Brad Nelson, who will be traveling home in the morning to be with his pregnant, overdue wife, went hitless. Chris Parmelee went 3-5 with a double. Danny Santana, James Beresford, Wilkin Ramirez and Chris Rahl all had two hits including a double. Also with two hits was Eric Farris. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 5, Harrisburg 4 Box Score It’s been a tough go in the early season for Kennys Vargas. Coming into this game, he was batting just .100 (2-20). However, in this game, he went 2-3 with a walk (and is now hitting .174). In his first at bat, in the first inning, he launched his first home run of the year, a three-run shot. Nate Hanson continues his strong start. He was 3-4 in the game and is hitting .318. Aderlin Mejia was 3-3 in the game and is hitting .364. Of course, that’s the beauty of the early season statistics; he was hitting just .125 (1-8) coming into the game. Pat Dean improves to 2-0 and just missed a quality start. The lefty gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out five. BJ Hermsen and Jim Fuller each worked a scoreless inning. AJ Achter gets the save. He struck out two in a scoreless inning. That means he has pitched 6.2 innings and given up three hits, walked one and struck out 11 with the Rock Cats. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 1 - Ft. Myers 4, Charlotte 2 Box Score After getting rained out on Tuesday night, the Miracle and Stone Crabs played two on Wednesday. In Game 1, Mason Melotakis got the start. The lefty gave up one run on three hits in three innings. He walked two and struck out two. Alex Wimmers came on for his first appearance of the year. He threw three shutout innings. In the 7th inning, he got two outs but gave up three hits and a run. He left with two on and a two-run lead. Brian Gilbert came on and struck out the one batter he faced for the save. Dalton Hicks went 2-3 and drove in three of the Miracle’s runs. Niko Goodrum drove in the other run with a bases loaded walk. Jorge Polanco added a double. MIRACLE MATTERS Game 2 - Ft. Myers 10, Charlotte 6 Box Score The offense showed up in Game , 2 taking an 8-0 lead after just three innings, but the Stone Crabs made a game of it. Jorge Polanco led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk, a double and a triple. Niko Goodrum continues his hot start. He went 2-4 with a triple. Adam Walker hit his second homer of the season, a long, opposite field blast. Jason Wheeler had given up just one run through the first four innings, but he was unable to get the final out of the fifth inning. In total, he gave up six runs (just one earned due to Polanco’s fourth error of the year) on five hits and a walk. He struck out three. Tim Shibuya came in and got the final out of the fifth and worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings as well for the win. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Great Lakes 3 Box Score Without question, the story in this game was about Aaron Slegers, and no, it’s not a tall tale. The 6-10 right-hander made his second start for Cedar Rapids and went six innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out four. Lefty Brandon Bixler, a 5-11 lefty, gave the Loons a completely different look. He went two shutout innings, allowing no hits, two walks and striking out two. Hudson Boyd came in for the ninth. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk but kept the lead. Mitch Garver got the scoring going in the second inning with a two-run homer, his second of the season. In the fourth inning, he hit his second double of the year and scored on a single by Tanner Vavra. Vavra went 2-3 with a walk and is now 3-5 in his limited playing time. Logan Wade was 2-5 with a triple. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Cedar Rapids Kernels Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kennys Vargas, New Britain Rock Cats THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell New Britain @ Portland (5:00 CST) – DJ Baxendale Charlotte @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Tyler Duffey Cedar Rapids @ Great Lakes (11:05 a.m. CST) – Ryan Eades Click here to view the article