Seth Stohs

I don't know that answer for certain. I do know that TJ White is the Kernels primary 3B and they also have Jonatan Hinojosa. I know that 2014 college draft picks Tyler Mautner and Blake Schmit can play 3B and they're still at Extended Spring Trainin. Might be about opportunity and what's up above and below the level.

On Wednesday night, the Twins traded veteran minor league catcher Dan Rohlfing to the New York Mets for cash considerations. Rohlfing had been the Twins’ 14th round draft pick in 2007 out of high school in St. Louis. He was one of the longest-tenured players in the Twins organization. Below, you will find a list of the 10 players who have been in the Twins organization the longest, without interruption. In other words, Torii Hunter, who signed with the Twins in 1993, is not included on this list. Image courtesy of Betsy Bissen On Wednesday night, the Twins traded veteran minor league catcher Dan Rohlfing to the New York Mets for cash considerations. Rohlfing had been the Twins’ 14th round draft pick in 2007 out of high school in St. Louis. He was one of the longest-tenured players in the Twins organization. Below, you will find a list of the 10 players who have been in the Twins organization the longest, without interruption. In other words, Torii Hunter, who signed with the Twins in 1993, is not included on this list. To make the this list, a player had to have been signed before 2008. There are some interesting names that you may not have realized have been with the Twins for as long as they have. 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 10 longest-tenured players in the Minnesota Twins organization: Honorable Mention There are still six players drafted by the Twins in 2008 who are still in the organization. We’ll call them all tied for 11th place. Aaron Hicks (1) – The Twins top pick (14th overall) is currently in AAA Rochester after starting the last two seasons as the Twins Opening Day center fielder. Danny Ortiz (4) – Ortiz split 2014 between AA New Britain and AAA Rochester. He re-signed with the Twins as a free agent this winter and went to big league camp with the Twins. He is also in Rochester. BJ Hermsen (6) – Hermsen was the Twins minor league pitcher of the year in 2012 and was on the 40-man roster in 2013. He injured his oblique and wasn’t able to regain his form. He pitched in the bullpen much of 2014 and re-signed with the Twins this offseason. He had Tommy John surgery earlier this month. Michael Gonzales (9) – The big, burly first baseman/DH is currently hitting in the middle of the Chattanooga Lookouts lineup. Drafted after a year at junior college, he has slowly worked his way up the system. Nate Hanson (28) – Hanson was drafted after his junior season at the University of Minnesota. He quickly worked his way up to AA and has split time between AA and AAA the last two years. He is currently with the Rochester Red Wings. Michael Tonkin (30) – He is also on the 40-man roster and has spent time with the Twins during the past two seasons. He was sent to Rochester to start this season, though he will certainly spend time with the Twins again this year. The Top Ten #10 – Also in December of 2007, the Twins signed shortstop Danny Santana from the Dominican Republic. He moved up basically one level each year. In 2014, it was a surprise when he was promoted to the Twins after just 24 games, but he put together a strong rookie campaign while playing a new position, center field. He has moved back to his shortstop position this season. #9 – In November of 2007, the Twins signed a slender 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic, Adrian Salcedo. At one point in the low minors, he was a top ten prospect. In 2012, he injured his shoulder and elbow and missed most of the year. He moved to the bullpen in 2013. He struck out 76 batters in 73 innings in 2013 in New Britain. He re-signed with the Twins this offseason and was invited to big league spring training. He returns to AA in 2015, this time to Chattanooga. #8 – On July 4, 2007, the Twins signed a left-handed hitting outfielder named Oswaldo Arcia. Arcia debuted as a 21-year-old in April of 2013 and has certainly shown signs of being the type of power-hitter that the Twins and their fans long for. He has 35 big league home runs and won’t turn 24 for two weeks. #7 – Jairo Rodriguez signed with the Twins in May of 2007. The last two years, 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. In 2014, he split time between Ft. Myers and New Britain. The now-26 year old is not currently on a roster, but he is reportedly in Chattanooga if there would be a need for a catcher. #6 – 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. He showed flashes of a solid bat in his time with the Twins in 2014, though he was quite inconsistent. The 26-year-old is currently mashing in Rochester and should be up with the Twins, in some capacity, soon. #5 – James Beresford, from Australia, signed with the Twins in August of 2005 as a skinny kid. His missed a season due to injury and has gradually worked his way up the system. He had the opportunity to become a minor league free agent the last couple of offseasons and each time came back to the Twins. He got to AAA in the second half of 2013 and put together a solid 2014. He was again at big league spring training this year and returned to Rochester where he is the team’s second baseman. #4 – 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 with the Twins, but his inability to get right-handers out while dominating lefties meant he was given an opportunity out of the bullpen. He’s been a solid left-handed reliever the last couple of years. He is currently on the disabled list for the first time in his seven big league seasons. The Twins had five first-round draft picks in 2004 due to losing Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins. #2b – With the 22nd overall pick in '04, the Twins drafted local, selecting lefty Glen Perkins from the University of Minnesota. He came through the organization as a starter. In fact, he won 12 games as a rookie in 2008. He moved to the bullpen in 2011 and was the Twins closer by the middle of 2012. He has been an All-Star the last couple of seasons and is signed through 2017 with an option for 2018. #2a –With the 20th overall pick, the Twins selected shortstop Trevor Plouffe. As you know, he’s been the Twins starting third baseman the last couple of seasons. He became much more consistent offensively and defensively in 2014. He is in the second of four arbitration seasons. #1 – Joe Mauer remains the longest-tenured Twins player, having signed in 2001 after being the #1 overall pick in the draft. No need to get into all of his accolades, like his AL MVP, the three batting titles, the Gold Glove Awards, the Silver Sluggers, etc. He moved to first base in 2014 after his Hall of Fame-caliber first decade in a Twins uniform at catcher. He’s played every game this season as he looks to rebound from a sub-Mauer season in 2014. So there it is, the players in the Twins organization who have been in the system the longest, consecutively. Some of the names may not surprise you, but I’m pretty sure that you wouldn’t have guessed everyone on this list. Feel free to leave your thoughts, or let me know if I forgot anyone. View full article

scroll up to see who has been taken. http://twinsdaily.com/topic/17587-article-2015-adopt-a-prospect-sign-up-here-now-live/?p=324645

Yordano Ventura just looks like an idiot at this point.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal chatted with former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire who is ready to manage again, but he is very content with what he's doing this year. He also said he would not openly campaign for any job. As classy as it gets.

I think he can be a big leaguer. He knows his versatility will help him and be important. Obviously he'll have to keep working and improving, and getting stronger and all of that. The odds are against any minor leaguer that isn't drafted in the top 10 picks, pretty much, so there's no way to know. But there's a lot of talent with Trey.

I completely agree with this. I was going to ask Jeremy if he thought the Gonsalves Factor might help the Twins sign him. I think it could, even though it shouldn't. So I think it should be all about the medical. That said, in early June, he'll only be about 3 months post- Tommy John so there won't be anything much to go on. But he has, by far, the highest upside, so I'd be in favor of taking him.

Verified that the inflammation is in Stewart's elbow.

Reminder, you can now adopt prospects at will. Just jot down here which players you have adopted. We'd love to have every minor leaguer have his own forum so that we can post updates. For instance, Trey Vavra hasn't been picked up. He was hitting .372 with a (1.098 OPS) coming into today. He had 7 hits over the last two games. That should be somewhwere. I'd love to see a page for everyone. Keep adopting!

Adding Kepler will help too... I'm happy for Harrison. I picked him as my preseason minor league hitter of the year and believe in him a lot. Good to see him off to a good start. Hicks was down last year but does a really nice job producing funs. There's a lot of potential in this group, but they're playing against generally much older competition (3-5 years). They will need to make some adjustments.

That tweet was the first time I'd ever seen the elbow mentioned. Surprised me so I'm checking on that. I assumed the shoulder as well.

The kid is so good. He's not only really talented and gifted, but he is incredibly polished too. He knows how to pitch. He gets it. He's worked with big leaguers. He was a steal in the fourth round, and he knows it. he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulders, but he could be a good one.

From Minor League Director Brad Steil, "It looks like it’s just inflammation and we knew he would miss his next start, so we put him on the DL. There is no corresponding move right now." I'm sure it'll be closely monitored over the next week to see if he'll just skip one start or possibly be out longer. If it'll be more than one start, my assumption would be that they would make a corresponding roster move.

The Ft. Myers Miracle announced that Kohl Stewart has been placed on the 7-Day Disabled List. Nothing else really mentioned.

They are both really hard workers and really good baseball players, very knowledgeable of the game.

I can't imagine that it would at all.

Trey Vavra got the day off on Monday. On Tuesday, he went 3-5 including a big three-run homer that jump-started a big offensive game for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. On Wednesday night in Wisconsin, Vavra went 4-4 in the Kernels win. As you’re reading this, he is hitting a robust .372 with seven extra base hits in his 11 games. Trey Vavra is the son of Minnesota Twins bench coach Joe Vavra and the younger brother of Ft. Myers infielder Tanner Vavra. You’ll find out below that his family support is very important to his development. Image courtesy of Seth Stohs Trey Vavra got the day off on Monday. On Tuesday, he went 3-5 including a big three-run homer that jump-started a big offensive game for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. On Wednesday night in Wisconsin, Vavra went 4-4 in the Kernels win. As you’re reading this, he is hitting a robust .372 with seven extra base hits in his 11 games. Trey Vavra is the son of Minnesota Twins bench coach Joe Vavra and the younger brother of Ft. Myers infielder Tanner Vavra. You’ll find out below that his family support is very important to his development. It has been a long and winding road to professional baseball for Vavra. It’s been a good story to this point since he signed with the Twins after being their 33rd round draft pick in 2014. Treysen Vavra was born about a month before the Minnesota Twins won the World Series in 1991 and grew up in Menomonie, Wisconsin. He played baseball and hockey growing up. In fact, he was leaning toward playing hockey rather than baseball after high school. “All through the summer, I was deciding whether I was going to play hockey or baseball,” Trey said, “I decided I was going to play hockey. I had a whole bunch of Juniors teams that I had the opportunity to go play for. I had it all lined up to go to Alaska to play. That was kind of the route I was looking to go to. Then Tanner got red-shirted, so I decided I’d go play baseball. Tanner was playing at Madison Area Technical College. They had been teammates in hockey, but the two had not been teammates often in their youth baseball. So it was a good opportunity for both of them. “For hockey, we were teammates all the way up. Two years in a row, I got to play on varsity with him. For baseball, I was a sophomore. He was a senior. I just got called up for playoffs, so not much there. Obviously I was the little brother tagging along. If someone didn’t show up, I’d play outfield, but that’s when we were little.” Trey Vavra played in two NJCAA World Series at Madison, finishing third (with Tanner) and then fourth. Both years, he was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player and to the All-Tournament team. Following his two years of junior college, Vavra accepted a full-ride scholarship to Division I Eastern Illinois. He played every game and hit well. In fact, he was named the team’s MVP. However, he wasn’t drafted. The school proved not to be a great situation for him on the baseball field. A straight-A student, there were also academic reasons that he decided to transfer following that school year. During his summers, he played in the Northwoods League, for the Duluth Huskies. “It was awesome. I got to stay at my aunt in Superior. That was incredible. Obviously she is a huge supporter of me.” Four of his teammates were playing at Florida Southern, a Division II school in Lakeland, Florida. That’s where Vavra decided to spend his final year of baseball eligibility. The school also gave him the opportunity to graduate with a degree that year. He explained, “I went to Eastern Illinois. I was under the impression that I could get out of school in two years because I was a straight-A student. First academic meeting, I learned that was not the case. I lost most of my credits when I transferred there,” He continued. “So then I went to Florida Southern and I got all those credits back. If you get A’s in all your credits, they transfer universally. I didn’t know that at the time.” Vavra graduated a year ago with a degree in Business Administration. The Florida Southern decision was also good for Vavra on the baseball field. The head coach for Florida Southern is former big leaguer Lance Niekro, the son of former Twins pitcher, Joe Niekro, and the nephew of Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro. Lance Niekro spent parts of four seasons with the San Francisco Giants and is still just 36 years old. Vavra recalls, “Phil was at all of our games, all of our home games.” But it wasn’t just the Niekro family that sat in the stands of Florida Southern games. “One of the assistant coaches was Colin Kaline. Al Kaline is his grandpa. The Tigers are right there in Lakeland. He came to all of our games. Charley Manuel came out to scout most of us for the Phillies. We had all of those guys there. ” Vavra played well. He led the conference in most offensive categories including hits, doubles and home runs. He began to hear from a lot of scouts early in the season. When draft day came in June of 2014, he wasn’t sure where he would go or when. Was he expecting to still be there when the Twins picked in the 33rd round? “No! They projected me to go anywhere from 15 to 20, somewhere in there. As a senior, I kind of expected to go around the 20th round. It didn’t work out.” Though his dad and brother were in the Twins organization, he wasn’t necessarily expecting to be taken by the Twins. “I actually didn’t talk to the Twins nearly as much as the other teams. After those rounds passed, I was just looking to get picked so that I could keep playing and didn’t have the Indy ball route. I just wanted to keep playing and very thankful that the Twins picked me up.” Trey Vavra signed quickly and was assigned to the Elizabethton Twins. He adjusted well to pro ball and had a terrific season with the E-Twins. In 50 games, he hit .319/.392/.454 (.846) with 20 doubles and a home run. It was important for him to succeed right away and know that he belonged. He said, “Everyone is a top-tier player. For me, as a 33rd round pick, I was trying to just fit in, rather than be The Man at first. At this level, everyone is the same. Once you’re drafted, it’s what you do with your opportunity. That’s the biggest thing I had to overcome, just to go out there and play.” He was able to learn under the tutelage of the veteran coaching staff at Elizabethton. Manager Ray Smith was in his 28th season on the Elizabethton coaching staff, 21 of them as manager. Hitting Coach Jeff Reed was in his 13th season as the Elizabethton hitting coach. Vavra had not met either of the former big leaguers previously, but he said he learned a tremendous amount from each. “Those are two great coaches to start out with. Jeff was out there every day working with me. I couldn’t thank him enough. We got into a routine, and he helped me not just hit the ball the other way, or hit the ball pull side, but drive the ball. He told me to not get some complacent hitting singles, but drive the ball.” Vavra has played several positions defensively. In college, he mainly played first base and third base and also got some time in the outfield. With Elizabethton, he played first base and left field. He knows that being able to play different positions will be important to his playing career. Following the Elizabethton season, he was invited to the Twins Florida Instructional League where he added another position to his resume. “I played 3B and 1B in college, spotty outfielder once in a while. I’d never caught before, in a game, before Instructs. That’s kind of the new project. I don’t really care as long as I get to hit.” In fact, he believes that his defensive versatility helps him on the offensive side of the game, especially on the bases. “Playing out there, playing all the different positions, it helps me offensively too. What they’re doing. How they’re playing me. What’s a tough throw for the left fielder if he’s going to the gap? Be more aggressive on the base paths.” Hitting is what Trey Vavra likes to do the most. How does he describe himself as a hitter? “That’s my thing, is to stay in the gaps. I’ve been taught that all the way up. Work off the other side. If the guy comes up, you can pull the hands. I just try to stay the other way, drive the ball the other way, up the middle, left-center. If the guy tries to run one in on me, I can still react in.” THE VAVRA FAMILY Treysen Vavra is the middle child of Joe and Lesa Vavra. Tanner is the eldest son, currently an infielder with the Miracle. Terrin is the youngest, a senior in high school who, as one might expect, is quite a baseball player. As you know, Joe has held several jobs within the Twins organization including third base coach and hitting coach of the big league club before being named the team’s bench coach by manager Paul Molitor. Lesa Vavra has been a huge influence on her boys and their paths. She did it all for the family. According to Trey, “Mom was the taxi. She’s the rock, for sure. My dad’s gone pretty much nine months out of the year. She always keeps us positive. It’s crazy how much she’s done for us. She keeps all of our schedules straight. When I was in college, she had her iPad watching me in college, listening to Tanner’s game and watching Terrin’s game. Or vice versa. In high school, we all played three sports, so she led all of our stuff for that.” He continued, “My mom was our hitting coach when he’s (Dad) not there. It’s kind of funny. She’s the one getting all the phone calls and then he gets the fun ones. When we played well, we called him.” Joe was always a good ear for the boys, but he has also let them be themselves. “The one thing I would say, from him, is he always says ‘Hit the ball hard. Drive the ball.’ That always stuck with me. If you’re struggling, it’s real easy to just flip the balls and get your hits rather than drive the ball hitting line drives. Nothing mechanical with him. He doesn’t talk to us any about mechanics because he’s not here. It’s just ‘Be on time and go out there and drive the ball.’” It is also very clear that Trey really looks up to and admires his older brother, Tanner. “In terms of what he’s done for me, talk about a story of never letting anything get in your way. Talk about a worker. He set the tempo for how to act as a professional for me. Not even as a professional, but as a college player, and how you work. Like I said, I was going to play hockey so I went the route to go ‘play’ baseball. He was like ‘No, you don’t just play. You’ve got to work at it.’ That’s helped me a lot. I can’t say enough good things about him.” Likewise, Tanner is very proud of Trey. “Trey is a great kid, and a great brother. He's a good person and a good ball player. Off the field he is a simple guy. He will probably be fishing with Max Murphy and never has given anyone problems. On the field, he is simply going to give his best every play and going to try to find a way to win. He is a competitor and a good teammate. They don't come much better than him.” Regarding their youngest brother, Terrin, Trey beams with pride. “He’s the best of the three of us. What hurts him is he’s in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin. Exposure-wise, it’s tough. He’s got a dozen-and-a-half D1 offers right now. He throws 90 off the mound in high school, plays short, bats left-handed. He’s going to find a spot somewhere.” LOOKING FORWARD Trey Vavra is off to a terrific start with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Through his first 11 games, he has hit .372/.400/.698 (1.098) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 11 RBI. If there were a Player of the Half-Month of April, he would likely be the front-runner. His hitting coach this year with the Kernels, Tommy Watkins, is really impressed with Vavra and his approach at the plate. “Vavra has an idea. He’s a baseball guy, been around the game. He knows how to handle the bat. He’s very easy to work with. He has a plan. For him, it’s just fine-tuning.” Vavra doesn’t like to make statistical goals for his season. “I try not to put any numbers out there because you can either trap yourself getting to that number or if you pass that number. So I’m just trying to stay on the path that I was on last year and continue to drive the ball. Obviously we want to win the whole thing. It’s pretty early, but we’ve got a good group of guys. Hopefully we can keep winning.” On the current Cedar Rapids Kernels’ roster, you will find that 17 players were drafted in 2014. “A lot of these guys are from E-Town last year, and we played together in the playoffs with them. You know what guys can do and what guys can’t do. You start playing off that. You have guys from last year’s team like (Zach) Granite and (Zack) Larson. Larson is our middle of the lineup guy. Granite’s a guy that’s going to steal a lot of bags and get on base and create some havoc out there. I’m pretty excited about it.” He concluded by saying, “That’s what we have to do, just go out there and stay on the path, try not to get to up or too down.” It’s early, but there have already been a lot of “ups” in Trey Vavra’s professional career. Hopefully he’ll continue to take professional at-bats, drive the ball and then make adjustments. That’s the key for every ballplayer, whether a first round pick, or a 33rd round pick. He’s on a good team with close teammates and coaches who are very supportive and encouraging. As you read above, he also has some very strong family support. He’s certainly a player that Twins fans can cheer for. View full article

Rohlfing is excited about this new opportunity. The Mets lost two MLB catchers, so they need some. The Twins have Fryer and Pinto at AAA and De San Miguel is also on the DL there, I believe. He's likely as hurt as Rohlfing was. He does have some good versatlity, very athletic. A very good guy.

Corrected.

It might be made up, but every time I've been excited about the prospects at certain levels and thought it would automatically make that team a winner, I've been wrong. If Buxton and Sano were hitting as they hopefully will, I think that this team will win more and more. I don't think there is a direct correlation between prospects on a roster and winning percentage.

Very kind of you to say. thank you!

Teams full of prospects rarely win in their leagues. They're very talented, but teams that play more veteran-types are the teams the often win games. That said, I fully expect this team and their talent, to make some adjustments and start putting up more numbers.

At some point, yes. I'm not there yet, but it is a fair question at this point.