Seth Stohs

On Tuesday, many of us voted. Maybe your candidate won. Maybe not. But here at Twins Daily, we also voted for the Top 10 Twins Hitters of All-Time. Generally speaking, the top three players were the same on most ballots. It was also interesting to see how people chose to vote 6-10. Today, I will present a group of twelve of the best pitchers in the Twins 52 year history. You can see how long each spent with heir Twins, how many innings they pitched and how well they performed. Each is pretty good, but the choice is yours. Put your ballot in the comments section, ranking them 1-10. In a couple of days, we’ll be sure to tally the votes and see how these pitchers rank. With that, here are a couple of charts looking at the top Twins pitchers statistically. These lists are alphabetical so as not to provide any bias. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] [TABLE=width: 432] Player Yrs w/Twins W-L (S) ERA ERA+ WHIP Rick Aguilera 1989-1999 40-47 (254) 3.50 130 1.18 Bert Blyleven 1970-76, 1985-88 149-138 3.28 119 1.19 Dave Goltz 1972-1979 96-79 3.48 112 1.31 Mudcat Grant 1964-1967 50-35 3.35 107 1.21 Jim Kaat 1961-1973 190-159 3.34 110 1.23 Joe Nathan 2004-2011 24-13 (260) 2.16 204 0.96 Camilo Pascual 1961-1966 88-57 3.31 113 1.22 Jim Perry 1963-1973 128-90 3.15 113 1.20 Brad Radke 1995-2006 148-139 4.22 113 1.26 Johan Santana 2000-2007 93-44 3.22 141 1.09 Kevin Tapani 1989-1995 75-63 4.06 108 1.27 Frank Viola 1982-1989 112-93 3.86 111 1.30 [/TABLE] As you can see, I did include two closers in the analysis. They certainly stand out compared to other relievers. So, how will you vote for them relative to the starters. It’s also fun to see the Adjusted ERA (ERA+) from the various eras. Johan Santana’s 3.22 ERA during the first eight seasons of this millennium shows an ERA+ of 141 while Jim Perry’s 3.15 ERA through the ‘60s and early ‘70s is ‘just’ a 113 ERA+. [TABLE=width: 376] Player WAR Innings Walks:Strikeouts K/9 Rick Aguilera 14.6 694 179:586 7.6 Bert Blyleven 46.3 2,566 674:2,035 7.1 Dave Goltz 22.5 1,638 493:887 4.9 Mudcat Grant 5.0 780 163:377 4.3 Jim Kaat 27.2 3,014 729:1,851 5.5 Joe Nathan 17.8 463 134:561 10.9 Camilo Pascual 16.9 1,284 431:994 7.0 Jim Perry 24.2 1,883 541:1,025 4.9 Brad Radke 42.6 2,451 445:1,467 5.4 Johan Santana 34.0 1,308 364:1,381 9.5 Kevin Tapani 17.8 1,171 255:724 5.6 Frank Viola 25.0 1,772 521:1,214 6.2 [/TABLE] So how important are the number of innings pitched to you in your rankings? In other words, how does Santana’s or Nathan’s dominance over less innings compare to the longevity of pitchers like Kaat and Blyleven? How important is the strikeout statistic to you? In other words, Santana and Nathan are clearly the most dominant pitchers on this list, but the numbers that guys like Perry and Goltz put up while barely striking out a batter every other inning are also incredible. It also speaks to the era they pitched in, when hitters took pride in not striking out. So, what does your Top 10 list look like? I’ll post mine in the Comments section, but be sure to have your voice heard!

Happy Election Day 2012! It may be happy for you for many reasons. Maybe your candidate will win. Or, maybe you are just happy that you don’t have to see any more political advertisements on TV for a couple of years. In any case, be sure to take time today to make your voice heard on a ballot. Here are Twins Daily, you haven’t read any articles on the politicians, and you won’t. However, on this election day, I did think it would be fun to take another look at some of the greatest Minnesota Twins players over their 52 seasons in Minnesota. Below, I will list 12 candidates. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Of course, there are a handful at the top of everyone’s list, but I encourage you to ‘vote’ in the Comments below. Rank them 1-10, and at the end of the day, we can take a look at see who Twins Daily ranks as the Top 10 Twins hitters of all time. Of course, on your voting ballot today, you can feel free to write-in me (or anyone else). Likewise, if I missed a candidate you would consider, feel free to write him in. With that, here are a couple of charts looking at the top Twins players statistically. These lists are alphabetical so as not to provide any bias. [TABLE=width: 441] Player Yrs w/Twins Games H-AB 2B/3B/HR Bob Allison 1961-1970 1236 999-3926 167/41/211 Rod Carew 1967-1978 1635 2085-6235 305/90/74 Michael Cuddyer 2001-2011 1139 1106-4072 239/35/141 Gary Gaetti 1981-1990 1361 1276-4989 252/25/201 Kent Hrbek 1981-1994 1747 1749-6192 312/18/293 Torii Hunter 1997-2007 1234 1218-4492 259/26/192 Harmon Killebrew 1961-1974 1939 1713-6593 232/21/475 Chuck Knoblauch 1991-1997 1013 1197-3939 210/51/43 Joe Mauer 2004-Curr 1065 1270-3933 247/20/94 Justin Morneau 2003-Curr 1151 1190-4254 257/16/204 Tony Oliva 1962-1976 1676 1917-6301 329/48/220 Kirby Puckett 1984-1995 1783 2304-7244 414/57/207 [/TABLE] I notice that each Twins decade is represented by at least one or two players. In other words, even through some of the bad times, the Twins have always had a hitter or two in their lineup that put up numbers. Here are some more numbers: [TABLE=width: 379] Player WAR BA/OBP/SLG OPS (OPS+) Bob Allison 28.4 .254/.361/.479 .840 (131) Rod Carew 60.4 .334/.393/.448 .841 (137) Michael Cuddyer 10.2 .272/.343/.451 .794 (111) Gary Gaetti 24.8 .256/.307/.437 .749 (100) Kent Hrbek 35.7 .282/.367/.481 .848 (128) Torii Hunter 24.7 .271/.324/.469 .793 (104) Harmon Killebrew 56.1 .260/.383/.518 .901 (148) Chuck Knoblauch 36.3 .304/.391/.416 .807 (114) Joe Mauer 37.0 .323/.405/.468 .873 (135) Justin Morneau 19.2 .280/.351/.492 .842 (123) Tony Oliva 39.7 .304/.353/.476 .830 (131) Kirby Puckett 48.2 .318/.360/.477 .837 (124) [/TABLE] What role does defense play in your vote? The Twins player with the best defensive WAR in their years is Greg Gagne, and he isn’t on this list at all. However, this overall WAR number does include defense which clearly has helped a couple of players and hurt others. I also find it interesting comparing the OPS+ numbers from era to era. So, what is your Top 10? How does your ballot look? I’ll post mine in the Comments section, but be sure to have your voice heard today!

Last week, Twins Daily got you caught up on how the Twins players were doing in the various Winter Leagues. Obviously the entire seasons are Small Sample Size, so looking at just this week has to be taken for what it is worth. In some cases, there were really good weeks had by certain players. In other cases, they may be in a one-week slump. We’ll take a look at who is hot and who is not in Arizona, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Australia. Feel free to ask questions and discuss. Also, via Twitter on Monday, infielder Brian Dozier mentioned that he will soon be headed to Venezuela to get some additional at bats.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE Who’s Hot? The answer to this question remains the same as it has been for most of the AFL season. Nate Roberts had another terrific week. He went 8-17 (.471) on the week. Overall, he is still hitting .465/.579/.558 (1.137). He had a 4-5 game and a 2-4 game among the four games that he played. Who’s Not? Caleb Thielbar had an impressive 2012 season at three levels for the Twins, and many believe that he really can be a solid left-handed reliever, but he has really struggled in the AFL. This past week, he pitched twice and gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in 2.2 innings. His season ERA is now at 11.57. Rising Stars Two Twins pitchers were selected to play in the Arizona Fall League’s Rising Stars game. Kyle Gibson started and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in the game’s first two innings. Michael Tonkin came in to the Rising Stars Game to start the fifth inning. In seven AFL appearances, he is yet to give up a run in nine innings. He had given up just five hits, walked one and struck out six. However, in the AFL “All Star” game, things didn’t go so well. He faced five batters. He gave up three hits, hit a batter and the other reached on an error. All told, he was charged with five runs (4 earned) without recording an out. Others Logan Darnell pitched just once during the past seven days. He gave up one run on two hits and two walks in 0.2 innings. Both outs he recorded came on strikeouts. Evan Bigley went 3-9 on the week. He played in two games and in one of them he went 3-5. He’s hitting .217/.280/.326 on the season. VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE Who’s Hot? Oswaldo Arcia got off to a slow start. However, in the past week, he is 6-15 (.400) with two doubles and a home run. He also walked four times while striking out just three times. That raised his season totals to .250/.321/.438 (.759) in 48 at bats. Angel Mata pitched two more times. He went 2.1 scoreless innings. The 19-year-old now has a 0.87 ERA in 10.1 innings over 7 games. He has given up nine hits, walked four and struck out 12. He started for Elizabethton during the season. Who’s Not? After getting off to a fast start, Aaron Hicks has gone cold. In the last week, he has one hit in 12 at bats (over 5 games). Overall, he is now 11-54 (.204/.306/.296 (.603)). Others Josmil Pinto went 2-7 with two doubles during the week. He’s now 2-11 (.182) on the season. David Bromberg made one start. On Halloween, he gave up six runs on six hits (including two home runs) and three walks in just three innings. He struckout four. He is now 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP. Edgar Ibarra also made one start. The lefty gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out two. Dakota Watts didn’t pitch for a week and then in the past week, he pitched three times. He gave up no runs on just one hit and three walks in five innings. He struck out just one. Overall in six games, he is 0-1 with a 4.91. In 7.1 innings, he’s given up four runs on three hits and five walks. Eduardo Escobar went 4-14 (.286) during the week. Deolis Guerra pitched two innings over two games. He gave up three runs on four hits and two walks. In four games, he has a 9.82 ERA. In 3.2 innings, he has given up one hit and walked two while striking out three. DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE Who’s Hot? A week ago, Pedro Florimon was 4-35 through his first nine games and hitting just .114. In the seven games he played in the last week, he is 11-28 (.393) and has had five multi-hit games. Overall, he is now hitting .237/.328/.254 (14-59) in 16 games overall. Others Drew Butera went 2-8 with a double in four games this week. He’s now hitting .250/.385/.344 with three doubles overall. Wilkin Ramirez went 1-7 with four strikeouts. Luis Perdomo pitched 2.2 innings over two games. He gave up one run on one hit and three walks. Jhonathan Arias made his season debut. He is 0-2 in his at bats. Miguel Sano played in two games this week. He went 1-5. MEXICO WINTER LEAGUE Who’s Hot? In last week’s report, we noted that Chris Colabello had gone 2-28 (.071) over his previous eight games. In the six games he played in the last week, he has gone 9-21 (.429) with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBI. He walked three times and struckout twice. In 19 games overall, he is now hitting .294 with eight doubles, three homes and 15 RBI in 68 at bats. Others Anthony Slama pitched three times in the last week. In 3.1 innings, he has given up three runs on four hits. He walked two and struckout six. AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE The regular season of the ABL got started over this past weekend. Four teams opened their seasons. JD Williams went 2-12 with a walk and three strikeouts. Jacob Younis was 0-3 with an RBI. Tyler Herr pitched a scoreless inning. There is our weekend Winter League Update. Please feel free to ask question and discuss.

Mark it down somewhere. Friday, November 2nd. It is the end of the Alexi Casilla Era as a Minnesota Twins player. According to MLB Trade Rumors, the athletic infielder who just never quite met his perceived potential has been claimed by the Baltimore Orioles. Casilla came to the Twins in a December 2005 deal with the Angels in which the Twins send then-talented JC Romero to the west coast. Casilla debuted in September of 2006 and was primarily used as a pinch-runner down the stretch for the Twins. In his 515 career games with the Twins, Casilla hit .250/.305/.334 with 72 doubles, 14 triples and 11 homer runs in 515 games. He also stole 71 based in 80 attempts.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] He was given every opportunity to be the Twins starting shortstop and second baseman, but he never took to it. He appeared much more comfortable in a utility role. With the Twins acquiring so many similar middle infield types, letting go of Casilla makes sense as he would likely make nearly $2 million in arbitration. Best wishes to a class act!

According to the Troy Renck, the Twins have claimed RHP Josh Roenicke and Infielder Thomas Field from the Colorado Rockies. Last year in Colorado, Roenicke went 4-2 with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. In 88.2 innings, he walked 43 and struckout 54. Looks awful Jeff Gray-like to me. I wouldn't be surprised if the Twins decided to DFA him in the coming days and try to sneak him through on a minor league deal. He's pitched in the big leagues for Cincinnati and Toronto before the Rockies. Field hits about like Pedro Florimon who the Twins claimed from the Orioles after the 2011 season. He played in just two games for the Rockies last year after hitting .246/.315/.400 with 31 doubles, 6 triples and 8 home runs for Colorado Springs last year. He committed 24 errors in 117 games in 2012. He had played 16 games for the Rockies in 2011. Comment here. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Roenick: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roenijo01.shtml Field: http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=field-003tho

In the recent Twins Daily interview with Twins GM Terry Ryan, it was surprising to hear him say that his Number Two priority, after starting pitching, was the bullpen. He followed by using the old “You can never have enough pitching” cliché. It is a cliché, of course, because it has proven true over many years of baseball history. It was surprising because the Twins bullpen was a bright spot in 2012. However, I wanted to take a look at the pitchers that could potentially comprise the Twins 2013 bullpen to see if it is an area that the Twins should address this offseason.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Closer Glen Perkins has established himself as one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball the last couple of seasons. His fastball-slider combination can be devastating to lefty and righty batters alike. He has pitched in every role including the ninth inning and done well. The Others The rest of the bullpen does come with at least some question marks. Jared Burton came to the Twins last year as a six-year minor league free agent. He became available because he had missed a lot of time the two previous seasons with injury. The Twins eased him back in 2012 and he performed incredibly well, posting a 2.18 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. Similarly Casey Fien came to the Twins as a minor league free agent before the 2012 season. He had a terrific spring training, but he was very pedestrian in Rochester. However, once he came to the Twins, he was great. In 35 games, he posted a 2.06 ERA and a 0.97. Unlike Burton, the 29-year-old had no big league success (just 11 games) coming into the season. Maybe he finally found the key to success? Maybe he’ll turn back into a pumpkin in 2013? Brian Duensing needs to be a bullpen guy. Just a bullpen guy. In 2012, he was a solid 2-4 with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP as a reliever. However, he was 2-8 with a 6.92 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP as a starter. It primarily comes down to the fact that he is tremendous against left-handed batters but really poor against right-handers. In those games he started, teams set their lineups full of right-handed bats. He can be a great asset if used in the right role. Alex Burnett had a very solid season in 2012. He posted a 3.52 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP despite striking out just 4.5 batters per nine innings. It’s hard to imagine that success can be maintained with that few strikeouts. However, he’s still just 25 years old and ended the season on a good strikeout note, so hopefully it is something he learned from and can carry into 2013. Anthony Swarzak’s overall numbers in 2012 weren’t very good (5.03 ERA, 1.42 WHIP). However, he made five starts and went 0-5 with an 8.10 ERA and a 1.80 WHIP in this games. As a long reliever, he was 3-1 with a 4.05 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. Very average numbers, but that’s alright at the back end of the bullpen. Tyler Robertson represented himself well in his big league debut. The soon-to-be 25-year-old showed a very good slider that could be very tough on lefties. As you would expect, he was inconsistent, but showed promise. Can he show improvement in 2013? Will the Twins want to bring in a more proven lefty? Ryan will certainly want to give him some competition. If that is the composition of the 2013 bullpen, it is a strong bullpen at the back-end with Perkins, Burton and Duensing. The others provide some question marks but each has room to get better… or take a step backwards. And, of course, injuries are almost impossible to predict. Others Possibilities Even after last week’s roster purge that made Esmerling Vasquez, Luis Perdomo, Jeff Manship and Kyle Waldrop free agents along with Matt Capps whose option for 2013 was turned down, there are still some options that could provide bullpen depth. Remember that the Twins will likely acquire at least a couple of starting pitchers. Some of the guys who made starts for the Twins last night could compete for a long-relief job with the Twins. PJ Walters resigned on a minor league contract. Before his injury last year, he was pitching quite well. Samuel Deduno was wild, but is certainly intriguing. If he isn’t starting, could he do a good job out of the bullpen? Cole De Vries could start but could also work out of long relief. In the minors, he was quite successful in short relief as well. Nick Blackburn may never make another start for the Twins, but could they get any value for him in the bullpen? I also have to mention Deolis Guerra. He is out of options, so he will have to make the Twins active roster and stay on it all year. If not, he will have to go through waivers and could potentially be claimed. Would that be the end of the world? Most likely not, but for a team looking to make strides in 2013 with some young players, Guerra certainly will get every chance. And, as a blogger, you know I have to also mention Anthony Slama. No, his fastball didn’t exceed 88 mph most of the 2012 season, and he missed almost two months after breaking his leg on a come-backer. But one look at the numbers he has put up throughout his minor league career and the 29-year-old deserves a chance. It’s also possible that Walters is not the only recently released player who could come back. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of the Vasquez, Perdomo, Manship and Waldrop group would come back. Again, there’s no such thing as too much pitching. And frankly, there aren’t a lot of Twins minor league pitchers who are screaming to be promoted to AAA next year. SUMMARY The back of the Twins bullpen certainly looks strong, but after that, there are a lot of question marks. Ideally, guys like Fien, Burnett and Robertson will all take a step forward while Deolis Guerra shows that his 88 mph fastball is OK thanks to his tremendous changeup. There are a lot of arms here and there is some depth. Personally, I would probably not spend any of the big league budget on the bullpen. I would do just like they did last year. I would bring in six to eight relievers on minor league contracts. As they did last year, the guys they brought in all threw fastballs into the mid-90s. They found success with Samuel Deduno, Jared Burton and Casey Fien. Jason Bulger didn’t pan out. Luis Perdomo and Esmerling Vasquez pitched very well in Rochester and earned their short tryouts with the Twins. Those are the types of arms that they should target again. If watching the playoffs this year taught us anything, it’s that having hard-throwing bullpen options is really valuable. The Twins started addressing that the last couple of drafts and need to complement it with some more power arms.

The Twins Cities chapter of the Baseball Writers of America voted for the Twins 2012 Diamond Awards They will be presented at the Diamond Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 24th at Target Field, kicking off Twins Fest weekend. Feel free to discuss: MVP - Josh Willingham Pitcher of Year - Scott Diamond Most Improved - Ben Revere Rookie of the Year - Scott Diamond Determination and Leadership - Justin Morneau Media Good Guy - Glen Perkins Defensive Player of the Year - Ben Revere Upper Midwest Player of the Year - Joe Mauer [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Honestly, I can't disagree with any of them. One could argue that Scott Diamond could have also won the Most Improved. Some will argue that Joe Mauer could have been MVP, but since he got the Upper Midwest Player of the Year award, it's great that Willingham (who also deserved it) gets the MVP. What are your thoughts?

There are a lot of Twins players playing in Winter Leagues in warm climates. I thought it would be good to provide Twins Daily readers with a quick update on how some are doing. Of course, at this point, all of these numbers are incredibly small sample, so take them for what they’re worth. ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE On Monday, Kyle Gibson had his first clunker in four starts. The right-hander gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk in just two innings. All of the runs came in the 2nd inning. With the loss, he is now 3-1 with a 4.20 ERA in 15 innings. He has walked three and struck out 20 batters.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Reliever Michael Tonkin has been terrific through his first five games. In 6.1 innings, he has given up no runs on three hits. He has one walk to go with five strikeouts. Relief pitchers’ numbers really can look great or bad due to small sample size. Lefty Caleb Thielbar has made six appearances. He is 1-0 with a 10.80 ERA. In 6.2 innings, he has given up eight runs on 11 hits and a walk while striking out five. In his first three outings, he gave up one hit and no walks in three innings. Then in his next two outings, he gave up eight runs on eight hits and a walk in 2.1 innings. Reports from Peoria indicate that a couple of bad calls may have contributed in some degree. He came back on Saturday with 1.1 scoreless innings. Lefty Logan Darnell has been a starter since being the 6th round pick in 2010 from Kentucky. He has thrown over 150 innings each of the past two seasons. However, in the Fall League, he is working out of the bullpen. He gave up one run in two innings on Monday. In six games, he has given up three runs on nine hits and three walks. He has struckout eight in 9.2 innings. Chris Herrmann was 5-10 with a double and two walks in his three AFL games. Last week, he was sent home with some minor inflammation in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. He was replaced by catcher Dan Rohlfing who has played in one game since arriving. In it, he went 1-3. He had two RBI, one on a sacrifice fly and the other when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Outfielder Evan Bigley is hitting .206/.270/.294 in nine games. He is 7-34 with three doubles. In his past four games, he is 4-12 (.333) Through eight games, outfielder Nate Roberts (and his mustache) were hitting .522/.647/.652 (1.299) with three doubles. He also had six walks to go with just two strikeouts. On Monday, he went 0-3 and was hit by a pitch (something he is very good at and takes a lot of pride in) which dropped his average to .462. VENEZUELAN WINTER LEAGUE As you know, many Twins players play for Aragua in the VWL. Outfielder Oswaldo Arcia is hitting .182/.194/.303 (.497) through the first 13 games. He is 6-33 with a double. He hit his first home run over the weekend. He has walked just once and struckout 12 times. Catcher Josmil Pinto is 0-4 in two games for Aragua. Right-hander David Bromberg is 0-0 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts and 13 innings. The peripherals don’t look quite as good. In those 13 innings, he has given up 12 hits and eight walks while striking out nine. However, he has been able to go at least five innings in his last two starts. Lefty Edgar Ibarra is 1-2 with a 9.22 ERA through four starts and 13.2 innings. He has given up 20 hits, walked eight and struckout 15. Ibarra split his 2012 season between Ft. Myers and New Britain and made 42 appearances, all out of the bullpen. On October 18, he threw five shutout innings and gave up just two hits and a walk. His next start, he gave up eight runs on seven hits and three walks in just two innings. 19-year-old righty Angel Mata went 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA for Elizabethton this season. He is pitching out of the bullpen for Aragua. In five games, he has given up just one run on six hits and three walks in eight innings. He also has 11 strikeouts. Right-hander Miguel Munoz missed much of the 2011 season with an elbow injury. He returned in 2012 and pitched 63.2 innings in 28 games (6 starts). For Aragua, he has given up three runs on four hits and two walks in just two innings so far. Righty Dakota Watts had a very good season pitching in the bullpens for Ft. Myers and New Britain. He missed time at the start of the season due to shoulder tendonitis. He arrived in Aragua. In his first game, he gave up a hit to the one batter he faced. The next night, he gave up three runs on one hit, one hit batter and one walk. The hit was a home run. In his third game, he gave up one run in two innings. He has not pitched in a week. There are several other Twins players around the VWL. Aaron Hicks has come back down to earth for Margarita. In 11 games, he is now hitting .238/.347/.357 (.704) with two doubles, a home run and five RBI. He is 10-42 with seven walks and 15 strikeouts. In the four games he has played in over the past week, he is 1-12 with five walks and five strikeouts. Eduardo Escobar is a combined 3-24 (.125) with two teams this winter. Deolis Guerra has given up one run on three hits in 1.2 innings so far for Magallanes. Yorman Landa has given up three runs on three hits and six walks in 3.2 innings. He pitched for the GCL Twins in 2012 and is certainly considered a prospect. DOMINICAN WINTER LEAGUE The Twins have several players playing around the Dominican Republic as well. Coming in to play on Monday, Drew Butera was hitting .300/.462/.400 (.862) with two doubles and five RBI. However, on Monday, he went 0-4 to drop his average to .250. Pedro Florimon’s bat was off to a slow start. Coming into the game on Monday, he was 3-31 (.097). He was 0-3 on Monday night before a single in his final at bat. So, he is now 4-35 (.114) over the small sample of nine games. Outfielder Wilkin Ramirez is 3-21 (.143) with a double and triple through his first seven games. Miguel Sano made his DWL debut over the weekend and went 1-4 with a walk. Luis Perdomo gave up one hit in 1.2 scoreless innings in his only appearance to this point. MEXICAN WINTER LEAGUE Anthony Slama is pitching for Mazatlan. He has pitched in four games to this point. In 4.2 innings, he has given up no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two. 1B Chris Colabello is hitting .234/.280/.362 (.642) with six doubles in his first 13 games. He is 11-47, so more than half of his hits have been for extra bases. In his past eight games, he is just 2-28 (.071). AUSTRALIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE The ABL has been playing an exhibition schedule the past ten days. The season officially kicks off on Thursday, November 1. Two team’s rosters do not have any current or former Twins. Here is a quick look at the Twins-related players on the four other rosters: Brisbane Bandits: Current Twins: LHP Aaron Thompson, 1B/OF Rory Rhodes, IF Logan Wade. Former Twins: RHP Tristan Crawford. Melbourne Aces: Current Twins: RHP Sam Gibbons, LHP Lewis Thorpe, OF Josh Hendricks. Former Twins: OF Justin Huber. Perth Heat: Current Twins: RHP Liam Hendriks. Former Twins: RHP Brendan Wise, C Allan De San Miguel, IF Luke Hughes. Sydney Blue Sox: Current Twins: RHP Tim Atherton, RHP Tyler Herr, IF Jacob Younis, OF JD Williams. Former Twins: LHP Brad Thomas, RHP Todd Van Steensel, RHP Matthew Williams, and Coach Glenn Williams. For the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks fans out there, shortstop Zach Penprase also plays for the Blue Sox. That's a lot of players continuing their 2012 seasons with some more innings pitched or plate appearances. Note also that other players will get some time as well.