Seth Stohs

Holy!! This is awesome!! This (and a few of the other blogs) is why this "Blog" section of Twins Daily can be so great. Seriously, this is very creative. It's unique. I't's fun!! I loved this!!

So, people will like him better as a player if he pulls off some pranks in the clubhouse and drinks? I often wonder this... what would have Twitter said about Hrbek during his playing days had it been around? My guess is that it would not have been kind!

Awesome Blog!!! I like this angle! Well done!

Good topic... Great discussion.

I think the idea of Buxton, and Levi Michael, moving up to AA is that they'll get to play in the Arizona Fall League... and they can still add two more from Ft. Myers to that group as well.

Great topic, Doc! I think that you're right. I think this has been a productive year. I think prospects not named Buxton/Sano have really progressed nicely to this point, and guys like Berrios, Burdi, Reed, and others could be ready late next year. Guys like May, Santana, Vargas, Arcia will get plenty of playing time (experience) the rest of the way. I'd think that Hicks and Pinto come up after Labor Day and get to play a lot. And now Buxton has a month in AA before likely going to the AFL and then getting to completely rest that wrist. Sano will be ready sometime next year too. Meyer will compete for a job in spring training. They're getting there!

Maybe I'm weird, but I like when they bring in former players to be involved with the development of the next crop. Doug Mientkiewicz represents that type of player. So does Chad Allen. I really like when they bring back players during spring training as well. I think it's a good thing.

The last time the Minnesota Twins had a stretch of losing seasons like they are today happened in the late 1990s. From 1996 through 1999, the team lost more than 90 games each season. However, the Twins had a team in 1999 that played a lot of young players that would be part of the Twins turnaround last decade. One of those rookies was their starting left fielder, Chad Allen. Today, Allen is in his second season as the hitting coach of the New Britain Rock Cats. Last month, I had the opportunity to chat with him about Kennys Vargas, but also about his time with the Twins and his transition into coaching.Chad Allen was the Minnesota Twins fourth-round draft pick in 1996 out of Texas A&M University. After playing for Team USA, he signed late and spent the final week of the season in the Midwest League. In 1997, he started at Ft. Myers but finished the season in AA New Britain. That’s where he spent the entire 1998 season. He hit .262/.344/.399 with 31 doubles, seven triples and eight home runs. He came to big league spring training in 1999 and played so well that he was the Twins Opening Day starter. His greatest memories of that team involved playing with a bunch of his friends. Allen recalled, “I think the best thing that happened to the 13 guys who made it in ’99 is that we were all able to play with each other before we got to the big leagues.” Those guys had quite a bond. He continued, “To have them be able to know when you’re down, to know how to pick you up, to know if you need something, or that a guy will always have your back. That’s a special feeling. That’s something that I think all 13 kind of helped each other out with. We were always there to pick each other up, to have each other’s back.” 1999 was the best season of Allen’s career. He played in 137 games and hit .277/.330/.395 (.725) with 21 doubles, three triples and ten home runs. He spent parts of the next two seasons with the Twins. Some fans reading this may remember the final play he made for the Twins. Playing right field in a mid-August game in 2001, Kenny Lofton hit a ball to the wall. Allen took off for it, but a cleat got stuck in the grass and he tore his ACL. Somehow, Allen got to the ball and side-armed it back toward the infield, keeping Lofton from scoring. That was the type of player he was. He worked for everything and even in that moment,his playing was with maximum effort. It may not have been a long time, but Allen says that his bond to those teammates remains strong. He keeps in touch with several of his former Twins teammates from time to time. “(Doug) Mientkiewicz is managing in Ft. Myers. One of my best friends to this day is Mike Lincoln. He was my roommate my first, second and third years. He’s a great friend of mine. I stay in contact with him to this day. AJ Pierzynski? I saw this year at spring training when he was playing with Boston. He came over to the clubhouse and still says hello to all the coaches. Just a great teammate. Torii Hunter still lives in Dallas. I saw his wife and kids in Dallas a couple of times. It’s just like I say, when you play with guys for two or three years, even though you may not talk to them more than a couple of times a year, there still is that special place in your heart for them because you grew up with those guys, and it was a special time for us all to be rookies in the same year.” He remained in the game, spending parts of 2003 with Cleveland, 2004 with Florida, and 2004 and 2005 with the Rangers. He was with the Royals AAA team for 2006. So, what became of Chad Allen after his playing career? Allen told me, “Honestly, I left the game in 2008. For about two years, I actually went back to school, got my degree and got away from the game. Well, not really got away from that game, but really concentrated on getting my degree so I could get back into the game.” And then it took a bit of random luck for him to get back with the Twins. As Allen recalls, “It just so happened that I was actually coaching at a high school in Dallas, and we were playing a team in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was at third base, and I heard my name called. It happened to be Bill Springman who is now our minor league hitting coordinator. Spring yelled at me, and I looked up. I hadn’t seen him in probably ten to twelve years. So, we started to talk, and I said ‘Spring, I’d love to get back in the game, if there was ever an opportunity for it, I’d really appreciate it.’” It was left at that until the following year when an act of providence occurred. “Ironically enough, his son was actually playing football against our school. I was on the sideline as the sideline referee. He walked up behind me during the game and said, ‘Chad, what are you doing here these days?’ I said, ‘Spring, I’m still coaching here at the high school and would love to get into the game.” He said, ‘Well, you know, I think you might be a guy that we’d like to interview.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir, any time you would like, I’d be willing.’” Chad Allen flew up to Minnesota and interviewed with Terry Ryan and Brad Steil. Soon after, he was named the hitting coach of the New Britain Rock Cats. He has served in that role the last two seasons (2013 and 2014). He remains very thankful to Bill Springman for the opportunity. “To this day, I thank him all the time that he gave me this opportunity, and the Twins gave me this opportunity. It’s a blessing. I just pray to God that I can help develop these guys and get them to the big leagues and that they go on and have great careers.” So what brought him back? I don’t think the reasons will surprise you. “To me, it’s the love of the game. Even though I went to school for two years, the desire and the love of the game never left me. Even though I’m not playing anymore, I still have a passion and a love to see these guys go up and have the opportunity to go to the big leagues. You have the relationships that you build with these guys. You have the clubhouse atmosphere that you rarely get to see. Obviously I was fortunate enough to play. And now, to be able to again develop those relationships with players and our coaching staff. To me, it’s the best job in the world to have.” Do his players know that he spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues? Does it give him any credibility with the players? “I think the majority of the guys know that I did play in the big leagues, but no matter if you played zero years in the big leagues or if you have ten, the biggest thing I wanted to do when I became a coach was to gain the confidence of my players. I have to learn as a coach how to gain their confidence and I do that by learning not only what those guys do on the field mechanically and mentally, but what’s going on in their lives off the field. I think if I can gain their trust on and off the field, that’s going to help me in the future.” Allen looked back at his career and the type of coaches that he had and that he enjoyed playing for. “I think the greatest coaches I had were the ones that truly cared about me. If I was up or down, those guys were always behind me, always upbeat. That’s the kind of coach I want to be. No matter how things are going at the plate, I’m behind you and I have confidence in you. That’s just something that was most important for me when I was playing was I wanted my coaches to have confidence in me so I think by gaining their trust, knowing what makes them go is the most important thing for me.” The Twins coaching staff in his minor league days were the guys who became his coaches at the big league level with the Twins. The obvious question remains. Is getting to the big leagues as a coach a goal for Chad Allen? “Obviously that would be a phenomenal gift from God to be able to get back up there. Obviously I can’t tell the Twins that I want to go to the big leagues. That’s a decision that they’re going to have to make. But again, if I made it to the big leagues, would I thoroughly enjoy it? Absolutely! 100%. I think the most important thing for me is the passion and the love for the game is still there. Whether I’m in the big leagues or the minor leagues, I’m going to give my guys everything I’ve got. That’s just something that I… That’s how I played. I played as hard as I could. That’s something that I want to give my players. Whatever they need, I’m going to do the best I can for them.” There is one trait that I have seen from Twins minor league coaches that I have met and talked to. They have tremendous passion for the game of baseball. Chad Allen fits that mold. If you remember his playing days, you remember that he was a max-effort guy, always going at 100% It sure appears that his passion and love of the game has transferred into his coaching career. He has worked with Kennys Vargas this year and Miguel Sano last year. He credits Reynaldo Rodriguez for being a great on-field mentor for Vargas and Eddie Rosario. Starting on Tuesday, he will get the opportunity to start working with top prospect Byron Buxton in an attempt to get him ready for the big leagues. ------------------------------ Thanks to the Twins win against the Houston Astros on Monday night, it means that on Tuesday you can get 50% off a Large of Extra Large pizza for the second straight day when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

Doogie Wolfson first tweeted it and a few minutes later Twins PR man Dustin Morse confirmed it... Byron Buxton has been promoted to AA New Britain.

Throws 95, could start, just 23 in AA... I'll take that any day. That's all I need to know. Good deal! And, good for Willingham. I really do hope that he does great the rest of this season and gets to play in the playoffs. I remember at Twins Fest two years ago (after his big year), I was up in the clubhouse area where players were between signings, etc. I am sure I looked lost and Willingham came over to me, shook my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Josh Willingham." I think a couple of seconds later, I said, "I'm Seth Stohs." Inside, I was thinking, "Yeah you are!" Dude wasn't that tall, but he was huge, such huge arms. But, just a great impression for me. However, I saw that he would go up to all of the minor leaguers who were at Twins Fest to sign and introduce himself as well. Seems to be a great man with a great family. The injuries have really hurt him which is too bad.

I don't think so. I think he's a very good defensive infielder who they hope will grow at some point and become a decent hitter. My guess is he signed for less than $10,000.

I expect the Twins to take him off the 40 man roster this winter. Jeremy (I believe) still thinks they'll keep him on.

Kepler (or guys like him from Europe or Australia or other places) are going to likely be more raw than guys from the US or DR or VZ. I just don't care if it takes him a little bit longer than others to develop. Age to level just isn't as important with a guy like that. Yes, it will effect his prospect ranking, but I don't know that anyone thought he was going to be a star anyway. He can be an MLB starter at best and a role player more likely, maybe a platoon type. I don't care if he's 25 vs 23 when he debuts.

Beyond the stats that jokin posted, which was neat to see, I don't think anyone thinks Kepler is a centerfielder. And, he won't have to be. Buxton will be. He will be a LF/1B type. But, he's good enough with the glove and the arm that he can play CF in hi-A ball and be just fine.

I'd take Harper on my team (if I had a team) because of his immense talent, but he's a jerk. This isn't a huge deal, but it's just dumb. I get that he's young, but he's been like this since before the Sports Illustrated article in high school...

He should repeat either way. He needs playing time. Getting to AA should not be a rush. They need to put him in a position to succeed and work on his skills when healthy... It's the right thing to do for his career.

Thank you for writing! As someone who follows the Twins minor leagues and minor leaguers so closely, I've always wanted to learn Spanish better. Maybe listening to Oliva and Fernandez would help! I hope you will continue to to post from time to time! The Twins are doing (and did) a lot of very good things environmentally, no question. Their green efforts have been awarded, and it's great to see them continue to do more.

Kepler is a solid player, a solid hitter. He is raw, and he's missed so much time the last two years. Might be a very wise thing to have him repeat in Ft. Myers in 2015. It's best for him!

By all accounts, Cedar Rapids did a wonderful job hosting the rehabs of Joe Mauer and Ricky Nolasco. Both appear to now be headed back to the Minnesota Twins. For the second straight day, the Rock Cats had an important starting pitching prospect return from the disabled list. For the second time in the last two weeks, the Rochester Red Wings faced a pretty high profile MLB pitcher on rehab assignment. The Kernels played nearly two games in one. The Miracle put together a very complete game. And there were several transactions again. Here is the Minor League Report for Sunday:TRANSACTIONS There are a few transactions from Sunday that we’ll address here: Jonatan Hinojosa has been promoted to Cedar Rapids.Darren Wolfson reported via Twitter that “2nd round pick Nick Burdi is heading to Ft. Myers.Wolfson also was informed that the Twins have had four offers between $1-1.5 million from overseas teams for Red Wings lefty Kris Johnson, but the Twins have said no.Jeff Johnson is hearing also that Bryan Haar is heading to Ft. Myers.RED WINGS REPORTRochester 0, Indianapolis 10 Box Score For the second time in the last two weeks, Rochester faced Pirates ace Gerrit Cole making a rehab start. Cole was definitely on his game. He gave up just one hit over six shutout innings, though he recorded just three strikeouts. James Beresford had another multi-hit game. He was 2-4. Dan Rohlfing had the lone extra base hit, his 17th double. The team had just five hits in the game. Kris Johnson had a tough start. The lefty was charged with seven runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks in just three innings. Stephen Pryor then went two shutout innings. Michael Tonkin then gave up three runs on four hits in just one inning. Lester Oliveros struck out two in a perfect inning. Aaron Thompson then threw a scoreless inning despite two hits. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Erie 2 Box Score A dozen days ago, Twins fans (and likely front office and teammates) had a bit of a scare when JO Berrios had to leave a game with an injury. Fortunately, by the next day, we learned that he just had a stiff shoulder. He would miss a start, but things could have been much worse. On Sunday afternoon, Berrios returned to the mound for the Rock Cats. He went four innings and gave up one run on two hits. He walked one, hit one and struck out two. He threw 65 pitches. Adrian Salcedo came, threw three shutout innings and picked up the win. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Cole Johnson gave up one run on two hits and two walks over the final two innings. It was his eighth save of the year. Brandon Waring led the offense. He was 2-4 with his 13th home run. Brad Boyer went 2-4 with his third double. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 and drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario (15) and Nate Hanson (18) each hit a double in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 9, Palm Beach 1 Box Score Aaron Slegers made his second Miracle start and improve to 2-0 with six strong innings. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out four. Brian Gilbert, Madison Boer and Alex Muren each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. The Miracle had plenty of offense from plenty of sources. Dalton Hicks led the way. He went 3-5 with his 20th and 21st doubles and three RBI. Aderlin Mejia went 3-5 as well. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with a walk, his 16th double and he also stole his 27th base. Max Kepler went 2-4 with his 14th double. Tyler Grimes also had two hits. Travis Harrison walked twice. Byron Buxton went 1-4 with a walk and his sixth stolen base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Kane County 7 (15 innings) Box Score After collecting five hits in the two previous games, Joe Mauer was not in the lineup for the Kernels on Sunday, likely headed to Houston to join the Twins. However, Ricky Nolasco made his second rehab start for the Kernels. He gave up three runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out six. He got eight groundballs to just one fly ball. He will likely rejoin the Twins and start this coming weekend. After he pitched nearly six innings, the Kernels played another nine innings, finally falling in the 15th inning. Brandon Bixler replaced Nolasco and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Jake Reed pitch two more scoreless innings. He has now thrown 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Jared Wilson gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. Chris Mazza worked two scoreless innings. However, in the 15th frame, he was charged with all three runs and took the loss. Hudson Boyd got the final out. In 15 innings, the Kernels had ten hits. Alex Swim went 2-6 with his ninth double. Ryan Walker also had two hits. Mitch Garver walked three times and hit his 23rd double. Michael Quesada hit his 11th double. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton, Bristol This game was postponed by rain. GCL TWINS TAKES The GCL Twins do not play games on Sundays. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Ft. Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Dalton Hicks, Ft. Myers Miracle MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Indianapolis (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (also completion of a game suspended previously) New Britain – No Game Scheduled Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – Matt Tomshaw Cedar Rapids – No Game Scheduled. Elizabethton @ Bristol (DH starting at 5:00 CST) – Felix Jorge, Derrick Penilla GCL Twins @ GCL Rays (11:00am CST) – TBD Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. A quick reminder: Thanks to the Twins first win against the Oakland A’s in nearly two years on Sunday, on Monday you can get 50% off a Large or Extra Large pizza for the fourth straight day (on Monday) when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

I was wrong last night when I wrote about Jake getting ejected. That was the night before. Saturday was a long (but good) day.

Well, based on a couple of tweets from Twins Daily's own, Parker Hageman tonight: Tweet 1: Tweet 2:

Agreed... by all accounts, he is a professional, a good teammate, and he was exactly what the Twins likely thought he would be. He was certainly worth the contract he got. He stayed healthy and gave innings. really, his only truly bad stretch was about his first 8 starts this year.

This is looking pretty good with the exception of Tuesday, though since Colabello was optioned instead of Pino, Pino can start on Tuesday...