Seth Stohs

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

You know it is coming, but certainly there will be some disappointment. With just two weeks before opening day, the Minnesota Twins made some more moves. They optioned Danny Santana, Eric Fryer and Kris Johnson. Five players were reassigned to minor league camp. They are Sean Gilmartin, Brandon Waring, James Beresford, Jermaine Mitchell and Darin Mastroianni. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Danny Santana ST.jpg Danny Santana was the biggest name on the list on Sunday as he was optioned to Rochester. That he was optioned at this time tells us that the team is comfortable with Pedro Florimon being ready for spring training. Santana was the player who likely increased his value most in spring training. In the clubhouse, Santana told the Pioneer Press's Mike Berardino that he was sent down and told to focus on making the routine play. He said he planned to be back "in a couple months." The Eric Fryer promotion means that it is between Josmil Pinto and Chris Herrmann competing to back up Kurt Suzuki. With Beresford sent back, Doug Bernier and Jason Bartlett are still around to compete for a possible second utility infielder role. Gilmartin came to the Twins this winter in exchange for Ryan Doumit. He pitched well in camp and hopes to return to form in 2014 after an injury-plagued 2013 season with the Braves. Jermaine Mitchell hit well early in camp. He is a veteran with plenty of minor league experience who could surface if the Twins need a fifth outfielder. (earlier in the week, I asked Mitchell what he enjoyed most about being involved in baseball) Darin Mastroianni was taken off the 40 man roster this winter. This demotion is pretty telling in what the Twins are thinking in the outfield. His ankle was hurt throughout the 2013 season affecting his best tool, his speed. Brandon Waring hit two home runs in spring training and showed he can be a good third baseman as well. That is consistent with what he has done with the Orioles in recent years, mostly in AA. He has very good power. The Twins now have 40 players remaining with the big league club in camp. They have 20 pitchers (4 non-roster), four catchers (one non-roster), nine infielders (four non-roster) and seven outfielders (two non-roster). Click here to view the article

The Twins have long credited themselves with being able to throw strikes and then catch the ball. It’s well known that it is very important to be strong up the middle. In 2012, the Twins middle infield was a mess which didn’t help a pitching staff that was already behind the eight ball.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins addressed their middle infield deficiencies by, well, non-tendering Alexi Casilla. It appears that the Twins are counting on major improvements from the other guys that were there a year ago. Pedro Florimon will begin the season at shortstop. Brian Dozier played 83 games at shortstop last year, but he will move over to second base to start the season. Jamey Carroll is capable of starting at all three infield positions, but he will likely be the backup at all three. Eduardo Escobar will also be a utility infielder, as well as the emergency catcher. This is a story from a free ebook that TwinsDaily is publishing on Opening Day that previews the Minnesota Twins 2013 season. To get your free copy, just make sure you follow @TwinsDaily on Twitter or Like our Facebook page. Worst Case Scenario It’s hard to imagine that both middle infield positions will be any worse than they were last year. Consider the following: In 2012, the Twins shortstops were 29th in baseball with a .580 OPS (.226/.277/.303). In 2012, the Twins shortstops were 21st in baseball with a .969 fielding percentage (with 25 errors) In 2012, the Twins second basemen were 28th in baseball with a .604 OPS (.245/.296/.308). In 2012, the Twins second basemen were 24th in baseball with a .979 fielding percentage. It is entirely possible that Pedro Florimon can’t replicate the .579 OPS that he had in 43 games with the Twins in 2012. Last year between New Britain and Rochester, he posted a .670 OPS, but he struckout 117 times while walking just 34. With the Twins, he struckout another 30 times with ten walks. It’s possible that he struggles enough to be let go in June or July. Eduardo Escobar could take over at shortstop. After being the Twins minor league hitter of the year in 2011, Brian Dozier really struggled in his debut with the Twins in 2012. He posted just a .603 OPS. He posted an uncharacteristic 16 to 58 walk to strikeout rate. He even struggled in the field. Although he’s been impressive at second base with the glove so far this spring and he has some playing time at the position in the past, it is a relatively new position for him. Jamey Carroll will likely get a lot of playing time regardless of how well Florimon and Dozier do. If he gets 401 plate appearances during the season, his 2014 option will vest, although it will be at just $2 million. Carroll got off to a slow start last year with his batting average. He turned 39 years old last month. At Twins Fest, he acknowledged that his goal is to play in the big leagues as a 40 year old. How much is left in the tank? If there are injuries, the likes of Ray Olmedo, Doug Bernier and Jason Christian are the middle infielders in Rochester. James Beresford will be in New Britain with Danny Santana. Best Case Scenario Much of the Best Case Scenario for the Twins middle infield will come from its defense. Pedro Florimon is known for his glove. He has great range and a very strong arm. If his performance can match the hype and he can play Gold Glove caliber defense a shortstop, there is a lot of value in that even if he posts an OPS below .650. It’s vital for a pitching staff that, aside from Glen Perkins, appears allergic to strikeouts. Likewise, all reports from Ft. Myers indicate that Dozier has taken to second base very well and very quickly. He has been making highlight reel plays on a regular basis. In 2011, he played 49 games in Ft. Myers, and as he turned 24, he was promoted to New Britain. Combined, he hit .320/.399/.491 (.890) with 33 doubles, 12 triples, nine homers, 92 runs scored, 56 RBI and 24 stolen bases in his second full minor league season. I don’t think that an .890 OPS is very realistic for 2013 for Dozier, but he certainly can be much better than the .603 OPS that he posted in his big league debut. Jamey Carroll is so steady, offensively and defensively. He makes all the plays he gets to, and he takes quality at bats. His .660 OPS in 2012 was the lowest he’s had since 2007 in Colorado. He was over .700 the last two years in Los Angeles. Eduardo Escobar was the late-inning defensive replacement for the White Sox throughout the 2012 season until he was dealt to the Twins. He will likely play a bigger role with the Twins in 2013. Signs to look for The biggest thing to look for, the most important thing, will be improved defense. Can Pedro Florimon make the routine plays consistently? Will Brian Dozier be able to smoothly make the move to second base? Florimon is not going to hit, but can he reduce the strikeouts a little bit? Also, how much offense will Twins fans want to see from Florimon to accept gold-glove caliber defense? How little offense will the manager require to keep him in the lineup if he is hitting ninth? As Parker wrote last month, will Brian Dozier be able to stay fundamentally sound with his approach at the plate. In the minors, he had very good plate discipline and walked nearly as often as he struckout. That will be an important number for Dozier. He will likely be batting second for the team, so it will be important for him to get on base and control the plate. And, it will be interesting to follow Jamey Carroll’s Countdown to 401 plate appearances. A strong defensive middle infield is very important to a team, and specifically to a pitching staff. Defense should be a strong factor in determining who plays up the middle. But again, it is the same question that we often ask with Drew Butera. How much offense is required if a player is providing great value with the glove? Brian Dozier has a chance to be a solid hitter, and Jamey Carroll has proven to be just that over the last decade. Florimon and Escobar come with plenty of questions, and until (or if) Eddie Rosario is ready with his glove, there are lot any high-upside middle infield hitters. You'll get to kick off Opening Day with your free @TwinsDaily Minnesota Twins 2013 Season Preview. Just add us to your Twitter feed by following us, or tell us you like us (we're pathetic like that) . We'll publish a link to the free ebook on Opening Day on both sites. View full article

The Minnesota Twins and the Rochester Red Wings have now begun their All-Star breaks. Andrew Albers and Chris Colabello will be representing the Red Wings at the AAA game. The Twins showed again that if you can get to AAA, you have a shot to play with the Twins. On Sunday, three Twins players were sent back to Rochester while two Red Wings were promoted to the major leagues. Chris Herrmann and veteran Doug Bernier will be with the Twins along with a Player to be Named Later (likely Colabello on Friday). [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here is a look at what happened in the Twins farm system and at the Futures Game on Sunday: Futures Game The USA team topped the World Team 4-2 on Sunday afternoon in New York. Miguel Sano started for the World Team, played third base and batted fourth. He grounded out in his first at bat. He then walked and was hit by a pitch. In the ninth, he flew out to the warning track in center field. It was caught by Byron Buxton, who played the second half of the game. He batted twice and struck out swinging both times. Rochester 6, Pawtucket 2 Box Score Earlier in the day, Pedro Hernandez was placed on the disabled list with a strained left forearm, so Aaron Thompson got a spot start. The lefty worked the first three innings. He was charged with two runs on two hits and two walks while striking out three. Luis Perdomo came on and threw two shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one. Cody Eppley struck out four in three perfect innings. Michael Tonkin, after returning from the Twins the night before, worked a 1-2-3 ninth. James Beresford went 3-5 and stole his second base. Jermaine Mitchell went 2-4 with his sixth triple. Chris Colabello doubled for the 24th time this season. The Red Wings now begin their All-Star break and return to action Thursday. New Britain 1, Trenton 0 Box Score Virgil Vasquez had his best performance of the season. The veteran was perfect through five. In the sixth inning, an error ended the perfect game, and it was followed by a walk. The no-hitter was broken up by the first batter of the 7th inning. Vasquez threw eight shutout innings. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out nine. Edgar Ibarra got the first two outs of the ninth, and Dakota Watts got the final out for his third save. The Rock Cats also did not put up much offense. They managed five hits in the game; second baseman Eddie Rosario had three of the hits. Danny Ortiz added his fourth triple. Ft. Myers 7, Lakeland 8 (10 innings) Box Score This loss came in extra frames, and manager Doug Mientkiewicz didn’t get to see most of it. Stephen Wickens went 3-4 with two walks and his tenth double. He was caught stealing second base in the third inning. Mientkiewicz disagreed vehemently enough to get ejected. Aderlin Mejia went 2-5 with a walk, bringing his average to .335. Jhon Goncalves went 2-5 with a walk and his seventh stolen base. Evan Bigley homered for the first time with the Miracle. Mike Kvasnicka hit his seventh home run. Jason Wheeler started and went the first 4.2 innings. He gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks. He struck out just one. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. He also struck out two without walking any. Jose Gonzalez gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Zack Jones struck out two over two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke entered for the tenth inning, and he gave up a run on two hits to take the loss. Cedar Rapids 7, Bowling Green 6 Box Score For the second straight day, we start the Cedar Rapids report with “Adam Walker remains hot.” On this day, he went 2-3 with his 20th double. His college teammate Jonathan Murphy went 2-4 with a walk and his second double. Jorge Polanco was 2-5 with his fourth home run. Joel Licon and Jeremias Pineda were both 2-4. Dalton Hicks won the race to 30 doubles, first in the Twins organization. Lefty Mason Melotakis put together a solid quality start to earn the win and raise his record to 7-3. In six innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He walked none (important for him) and struck out two. Alex Muren came on in the seventh and gave up four runs (3 earned) on four hits and recorded just one out which came on a strikeout. David Hurlbut came on and gave up one hit in two shutout innings. Tyler Jones got the final two outs to record his ninth save. Elizabethton 3, Greeneville 5 Box Score Randy Rosario is one of The Big Three starters at Elizabethton. All three dominated in their first three Appy League starts and, after Sunday, all three of them have struggled in their fourth start. Rosario went four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out none. Tim Shibuya struck out two in two scoreless innings. Kuo Hua Lo walked one in a scoreless inning. C.K. Irby gave up one run on one hit and a walk in his inning. Bryan Haar led the offense. He went 3-4. Dereck Rodriguez went 2-4. Rory Rhodes hit his second home run. GCL Twins No games on Sundays. Thanks for checking out today’s Twins minor league report. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions. View full article

Late in the year, the Twins traded Justin Morneau who had been in the organization since he was the team’s 3rd round draft choice in 1999. After the season, Nick Blackburn, who had been with the organization since signing after the 2001 draft, was allowed to become a free agent. As the Twins have added players to their 40 man roster and made free agent decisions on others, I got to wondering which players in the Twins organization have been around the longest. To make the top 15 on this list, a player had to be signed before 2009. There are some interesting names that you may not have realized have been with the Twins for so long. In fact, there may be a couple that you have never heard of and I’ll add a few more names to take us to 2008. So, here you have it, a look at the Top 15 most tenured players in the Minnesota Twins organization: Honorable Mention: Hein Robb – Signed from South Africa as a 16 year old in July 2008.The June 2008 Twins draft class and round taken – Aaron Hicks (1), Danny Ortiz (4), BJ Hermsen (6), Michael Gonzales (9), Evan Bigley (10), Nate Hanson (28), Michael Tonkin (30).Deolis Guerra came to the Twins in the January 2008 trade from the Mets for a certain left-handed pitcher.In December 2007, the Twins signed Danny Santana and Adrian Salcedo as 16 year old free agents.The Top 15 #14/#15 – On July 4, 2007, the Twins signed a left-handed reliever named Jose Gonzalez and a left-handed hitting outfielder named Oswaldo Arcia. Arcia debuted as a 21-year-old in April and showed signs of the type of hitter that he has become. Gonzalez has been a very good reliever in the lower levels of the system, but he has struggled in his transition to AA the last two years. #13 – Dan Rohlfing was the Twins 14th round pick of the Twins in 2007 out of his high school in St. Louis. After splitting the 2013 season between New Britain and Rochester, he signed quickly with the Twins following the season to avoid becoming a free agent. He has primarily caught in the Twins system, though he’s a good athlete and can play a solid corner outfield, too. #12 – Jairo Rodriguez signed with the Twins in May of 2007. Like Rohlfing, he signed quickly to return to the Twins as a backup minor league catcher. In 2013, he played for Cedar Rapids, New Britain and even played in a game with Rochester. #11 – Liam Hendriks signed out of Australia in February of 2007. After missing the 2008 season with a spinal injury, Hendriks flew through the minor leagues in 2010 and 2011, pitching at five levels those seasons. Since then, he has gone back and forth between the Twins and the Red Wings, hoping to stick with the big league club. #10 – Chris Parmelee is the only member of the Twins 2006 draft who is still in the organization. He is out of options so he will need to remain with the Twins or they risk losing him to another team. With Joe Mauer’s move to first base, Parmelee will need to make it as a corner outfielder and pinch hitter. #9 – Josmil Pinto signed with the Twins in February of 2006. He could have become a minor league free agent following the World Series in 2012, but he decided to avoid that and return to the Twins. They added him to the 40 man roster a year ago and he had another strong season in 2013, including a tremendous showing with the Twins in September. #8 – Edgar Ibarra signed with the Twins in January of 2006. Like Pinto, Ibarra avoided free agency after the 2012 season and put together a solid 2013 campaign. That, along with a good repertoire, including a fastball the regularly hits 94, earned him a spot on the Twins 40 man roster following the 2013 season. 2014 will mark his first big league camp with the Twins. #7 – James Beresford, from Australia, signed with the Twins in August of 2005 as a skinny kid. His missed a season and has just gradually worked his way up the system. Again, he became a minor league free agent last offseason and came back to the Twins. He re-signed much more quickly with the Twins this offseason. #6 – Brian Duensing was one of two third round picks by the Twins in 2005, out of the University of Nebraska. He moved quickly through the Twins minor league system as a starter. He was given a couple opportunities as a starter in the big leagues, but his inability to get right-handers out while dominating lefties meant he would be given an opportunity out of the bullpen. In 2013, he struggled against lefties too, but he should bounce back strong in 2014. #5 – Deibinson Romero signed out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2004 and has been with the organization since. He was actually a member of the Twins 40 man roster in his first year of eligibility, but injuries affected him earlier in this career. He was invited to the big league camp last year, but he had visa issues and could not come to America until the regular season was about to start. He’s got good power and provides organizational depth at third base. #4, #3, #2 – The Twins had a lot of draft picks in 2004 and three of them remain with the Twins. Second round pick Anthony Swarzak has been very good as a long reliever the last couple seasons. Glen Perkins became an All-Star for the first time in 2013. Trevor Plouffe remains a question mark at the hot corner, though that six week stretch in 2012 still gives us hope. Download attachment: Joe Mauer.jpg #1 – Joe Mauer is now the longest tenured Twins player, having signed in 2001 after being the #1 overall pick in the draft. I won’t get into all of the accolades, the AL MVP, the three batting titles, the Gold Glove Awards, the Silver Sluggers, etc. He’s moving to first base this year after his Hall of Fame first decade in a Twins uniform at catcher. So there you have it, the players in the Twins farm system who have been in the system the longest, consecutively. Some of the names may not surprise you, but I’m certain you wouldn’t have guessed everyone on this list. Feel free to leave your thoughts, or let me know if I forgot anyone. I didn’t count Ron Gardenhire who has been in the organization since 1987, or Terry Ryan who has been around since 1986, though maybe not consecutively. Click here to view the article

My flight arrived in Ft. Myers at about 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday night. Pick up the car. Find the lodging. Find something to eat. Crash. On Saturday morning, I actually was able to wake up after hitting snooze just twice. I was pretty proud of myself. Despite a GPS error that sent me the wrong direction, I was at Hammond Stadium by about 8:00 AM. The Twins bus to Dunedin had already taken off. No worries, I still put in six-and-a-half-hours of “Work.” Day One at Minnesota Twins spring training, for me, was a day to catch my bearings, get the lay of the land, and see a little bit of everything.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There were several that did not make the trek north to play the Blue Jays. Pitchers played long-toss on the main stadium and got their running in. There was an extended round of infield featuring Deibinson Romero, Jorge Polanco, Danny Santana, Kennys Vargas and Joe Mauer. One important thing to note is that Pedro Florimon participated in a full round of infield for the first time since his appendectomy. Kurt Suzuki could be seen in the main bullpen, working on blocking pitches in the dirt. Later, at Tom Kelly Field, Santana and Polanco were taking more ground balls off the bat of Paul Molitor. Jason Bartlett was taking grounders at second base. Joe Mauer took more ground balls at first base. He worked as though there was a runner on first base that he was holding on. He came off the bag to make plays. A couple of times, Tom Kelly came down the line and provided Mauer with additional pointers. With the new boardwalk overhead the whole conversation could be heard. Download attachment: ST Molitor Kelly.jpg Tom Kelly and Paul Molitor hitting fungoes on Tom Kelly Field. In the batting cages under the bleachers, Aaron Hicks and Alex Presley were taking cuts. Rod Carew was instructing. Later, Carew was working with them on drag bunting. He would be a good guy to do that! About 100 yards from Hammond Stadium, fans can find the minor league facilities. It is comprised of three full fields, a bullpen and a half-field. Of course, there is the newly-renovated clubhouse and training area for the minor leaguers as well, though I couldn’t see that. Work is also continuing on the dorms that Twins minor leaguers will be able to use as early as next spring training. Getting welcomed to Ft. Myers by Tommy Watkins is always nice too. About 9:30, the minor leaguers began to take the fields. The Cedar Rapids roster again went to City of Palms (Red Sox old facility) to work out due to space constraints. Players remaining broke into two groups, the hitters and the pitchers. In those groups, they did their stretching. Hitters did some base running drills as well. Soon, an incredibly controlled chaos broke out. One field had pitchers doing PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice). The bullpen mounds were full. Infielders were all on one field and ground balls were hit from several angles. Outfielders worked on throws, but also took fly balls, line drives and ground balls, working on their footwork, throwing and routes. They came together and ran some infield practice that included the pitchers backing up bases. Catchers worked on blocking pitches in the dirt, coming from out of their stance to field bunts and throw, and a lot of footwork. Like I said, there is so much going on, yet it runs so smoothly. Download attachment: Mark Hamburger.jpg Mark Hamburger's terrific mustache doing some PFPs. Around 11:30, those minor leaguers went to grab some lunch. By 12:20, they were back on the field. It was time for batting practice. Three of the fields went about the same general process. A group of four hitters would take a good round of batting practice from a coach. Then, pitchers were brought in to face the hitters. Download attachment: Alex Wimmers 2.jpg Alex Wimmers throwing live batting practice. That is obviously a good thing and a necessity as players get set for their first games of the spring on Monday (against each other). Some pitchers did better than others. Some of the young pitchers showed their good and their bad. For instance, hard-throwing Fernando Romero was quite impressive. Yes, he throws very hard. I also saw the looks on the faces of hitters and coaches when he threw a couple sharp sliders. Romero was pitching to outfielder Zach Larson when a slider got away. It his Larson right square in the shoulder. He stepped out of the batter’s box and didn’t even wipe it off. When asked, he told an onlooker, “It was only a slider.” Download attachment: Fernando Romero 2.jpg Fernando Romero throwing speed balls. The day came to an end around 2:30 for the minor leaguers. I can confirm that infielder Adam Bryant has decided to retire. The former ninth round pick suffered with injuries in 2012, and missed all but one inning of 2013. As I wrote last week, he was still suffering from the toe injury. It certainly is fun to see former Twins Doug Mientkiewicz, Chad Allen and Tommy Watkins coaching the players up. It’s very interesting to watch Gary Lucas, Stu Cliburn and Ivan Arteaga work with pitchers. There are a lot of Minnesotans at Hammond Stadium. There are also a lot of parents and families of players. I was fortunate. I started talking to a couple about how nice it was being down here after such a tough, long winter in Minnesota. Turns out, they were the parents of Caleb Thielbar. Soon after, I heard my name. It was AJ Pettersen’s mom. I asked how she knew it was me, and she said she watched the Twins Hangouts, at least those that AJ is in. AJ’s dad was also there. So was his younger brother Luke who recently announced that he will follow his brother and play baseball for the Gophers. It was also nice to see AJ’s wife again. Looking around and such, it is clear that there is a certain bond, of sorts, among parents of ball players. Download attachment: AJ Pettersen 2.jpg Twins Daily contributor AJ Pettersen taking a round of infield at shortstop. The weather was a common theme for more than the fans. It was a conversation with the players well. I talked to a few of the Minnesota players who just came down to Ft. Myers in the last week or so (Nate Hanson, Austin Malinowski), and the sentiment was the same. They are glad to be out of the snow. Download attachment: Austin Malinowski 2.jpg Minnesota native Austin Malinowski throwing live BP. I also talked to catcher Tyler Grimes who said he came to Ft. Myers a month ago because he “couldn’t do any work outdoors in Kansas.” Over the next week, I will be representing Twins Daily in Ft. Myers. John did a great job last week, and be sure to check out Twins Daily on Facebook to see his interview with Glen Perkins. I will also be at several of the Twins games and doing stories. However, as you likely hope and expect, I will attempt to follow the minor league side of things as well. Nick and Parker will take over in coming weeks. (by the way, I also posted many pictures on my Facebook page from spring training) Download attachment: ST Mientkiewicz Pettersen.jpg Watching BP (L to R: Lance Ray, AJ Pettersen, Doug Mientkiewicz, JD Williams) The biggest thing I learned on day one for me was probably a pretty obvious thing. Yes, I took in a lot of baseball activity and enjoyed it. I learned a lot about the updates to the stadium and much more. But the biggest thing I learned… USE SUNSCREEN!!! We bought sunscreen on Friday night. I managed not to even think about it on Saturday morning. It was “only 51 degrees” (sorry again to those up north). I didn’t need it, right? WRONG!! My head is red. It hurts. Tomorrow, I will be loading on a bunch of sunscreen, and likely purchasing a Ft. Myers Miracle hat to don while outdoors down here. Lesson Learned! And now I can’t wait for Day 2! Click here to view the article