Seth Stohs

The Twins announced, following the Sunday afternoon game in Detroit, that outfielder Wilkin Ramirez will be put on the 7-day disabled list, a result of his collision in left centerfield on Saturday afternoon. To fill the roster spot they have promoted catcher-outfielder Chris Herrmann. Herrmann has struggled in AAA. Through 38 games, he has hit .238/.311/.285 (.589) with five doubles and a triple. Although he has primarily caught, he continues to get time in left field. When he was in Ft. Myers, he got some time in centerfield, but that is hardly an ideal situation. This means that the Twins really do not have a backup behind Aaron Hicks in centerfield. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Interestingly, had this move been needed a day or two earlier, it likely would have been Joe Benson promoted, but he was lost on Saturday when he was claimed by the Rangers. Ramirez will likely undergo more testing and the team will evaluate him over the next seven days to determine his status. View full article

I’m known on Twitter for doing a lot of tweeting and retweeting. For those who are not on Twitter, it simply means that I tweet something that someone else already tweeted. I retweet Twins related articles and blogs or general comments that I tend to agree with. If you’re interested in following me on Twitter, you can click the “Follow” button here, or you can simply bookmark my twitter page and check it from time to time. Today, I wanted to go back to Saturday and blog many of my retweets from the week. Hopefully you enjoy the variety of topics! SATURDAY It was Saturday afternoon that I found out I had been included in Top Prospect Alert’s Top 50 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts. Quite an honor! You’ll want to check the link out just to see who else made the cut!Here is a nice article on Scott Diamond’s 2011 season and becoming the first player from Binghamton University to play in the big leagues.SUNDAY Puckett’s Pond continues its look at the Twins non roster invites by writing about OF Matt Carson.I exchanged a few tweets with Jon-Paul Morosi (from Fox Sports) And Seth Everett. My opinion is the Raines is an easy choice for Baseball’s Hall of Fame. To this point, voters don’t necessarily agree. Rained was overshadowed by Ricky Henderson as a leadoff hitter, and he was much more of a Hall of Famer than former Expos and recent Hall of Fame inductees Andre Dawson and Gary Carter.MONDAY NoDak Twins Fan blogged his first of a three part series on Justin Morneau.Todd Van Steensel wrote about his release by the Twins. More unfortunate, arguably, was the manner in which he found out. Sadly, I’ve heard a few other similar stories from former Twins minor leaguers.The Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of this day was Ray Chang, who is from Kansas City. He was terrific last year until a broken fibula cost him two months of his season.Travis Aune and I co-hosted a special offseason Twins Minor League Weekly. We weren’t sure how much there would be to be said, but we went 90 minutes and filled the time fairly efficiently.Check out the new DiamondCentric t-shirt showing Timberwolves rookie sensation, Ricky Rubio!There were several tweets regarding Reds SS Barry Larkin entering the Hall of Fame. I was always a big Larkin fan, and I think it goes back to my baseball card collecting days. I thought his 1987 Topps and Donruss cards were so cool. It’s kind of how I became a big Roberto Alomar fan, because of his cool mustache thingy on his 1988 Donruss card! I thought Larkin was a definite Hall of Famer, and it was good to see him get such support from the voters too.Often I hear Twins fans frustrated by how slowly they perceive the Twins to be when promoting prospects. I think the opposite side of that spectrum is what the Mets did five years ago. Aaron Gleeman and I had a fun-filled exchange on Twitter after the Mets DFAd former huge prospect Fernando Martinez, the Mets top prospect at the time. (Aaron sent me a link to an article I wrote at that time.) In the Johan Santana trade, the Twins got the Mets #2 prospect according to Baseball America (Deolis Guerra), their #3 prospect (Carlos Gomez), their #4 prospect (Kevin Mulvey) and their #7 prospect (Philip Humber). That would be the equivalent of them trade Joe Benson, Eddie Rosario, Aaron Hicks and Kyle Gibson. At the time, Tyler Robertson was my #1 Twins prospect which indicated how much the Twins needed to restock their farm system. Guerra was clearly rushed by the Mets. Gomez was pushed to the big leagues far too fast. Mulvey went from being a 2nd round pick straight to AA. And Humber had Tommy John surgery.ManCenter.com posted its Top 10 Twins prospect list.TUESDAY Are you following the log entries of former Twin R.A. Dickey as he and Kevin Slowey are currently climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro?Check out this photo that the North Dakota Twins Fan is calling “Pot of Gold.”NoDak Twins fan posted Part 2 of his Morneau Chronicles series.Paul Boye (Phrontiersman) tweeted: “Greg Maddux should be the first unanimous Hall of Famer and I won’t hear otherwise.” I concur!John Manuel was in charge of putting together Baseball America’s Top 10 Twins Prospect list. 1500espn got their copy in the mail and posted the list.WEDNESDAY Here is the newest episode of Gleeman & The Geek.Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of the day was Brian Dinkelman.NoDak Twins Fan posted Part 3 of his Morneau Chronicles.Some Twins fans are down on our favorite team and its minor league system, but hey, at least we aren’t White Sox fans!Knuckleballs’ Jim Crikket posted his Top 10 Twins Prospects list.Hudson Boyd, Dakota Watts, Kyle Gibson and David Bromberg joined former Twins 3B (and lifetime .357 big league hitter) Tommy Watkins for the Ft. Myers portion of the Twins Winter Caravan.Here’s a pretty cool Sports Illustrated picture of Kevin Garnett’s shoe tribute to Kirby Puckett after his death.Starting next week, the Twins Winter Caravan will begin throughout the Upper Midwest. Here is the list of locations, times and dates for the caravan. It’s a great time, so if you get a chance to go to one, be sure to do so.Twins International scout Howie Norsetter posted a tremendous response to an angry blog commenter regarding the Twins and their Australian signings. Well worth the read!! Upon reading this blog, Todd Van Steensel, who the Twins just released last week, tweeted to me, “I loved the Twins and had a great time there, had great coaches and made great friends, just wish it ended a little better.”Thrylos98 informed us that former Twins catcher Mike Redmond was promoted to Dunedin to manage the Blue Jays Hi-A affiliate in the Florida State League.THURSDAY North Dakota Twins fan wrote about the pursuit of a little white spherical object (sometimes referred to as a baseball.Brian Dozier was the subject of the Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of the day.Baseball America’s Ben Badler informed us that the Twins signed Mauricio Silva, a 16-year-old right-handed pitcher from Venezuela, for $370,000. It makes me happy every time that I see the Twins sign one of the top 20 or 30 prospects from Latin America.Puckett’s Pond also posted several Thursday links.According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it was 30 years ago (on Thursday) that the Twins drafted Kirby Puckett with the 3rd overall pick in the now-defunct January draft.Had a good Twitter discussion with FSN’s Robby Incmikoski. He posted a couple of pictures from the arena in Chicago and commented on Jordan’s 6 NBA titles and called him the best athlete ever. I said I thought that Bo Jackson was the best athlete. Others chimed in with discussion on how winning NBA titles has to do with being an athlete, and I think the word “athlete” refers to strength, speed, power, and everything that Bo Jackson was. I just wish the guy wouldn’t have had the hip injury because he was incredible. Few remember he had a 32 home run, 105 RBI season with the Royals. The man was amazing. As I tweeted, “Bo Jackson was 6-1 and 230+ pounds and ran a 4.2/40. He hit a bunch of HR before “the era”, had a big arm, knocked down LB and out-ran DBs.”Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Twins and Target Field will host the 2014 All-Star game. Later, Twins President Dave St. Peter tweeted that nothing was official yet.Phil Dumatrait, who spent much of 2011 with the Twins, is the non-roster invite of the day at Puckett’s Pond.FRIDAY Parker’s TwinsCentric blog of the day is titled Coffey is for (setting up for) closers.Nick’s Twins Blog discusses payroll.NoDak Twins Fan posted his Friday Links-n-Thinks.Aaron Gleeman posted, at Hardball Talk, that Johan Santana still isn’t sure when he’ll be able to pitch again despite having surgery 16 months ago.Joe Christensen wrote a very nice article on Dan Johnson, from Blaine, and his career which has been up and down but full of some big moments.Phil Mackey wrote about the Twins’ Pitch-to-Contact philosophy.If you’re heading down to Ft. Myers for spring training, tickets go on sale tomorrow morning.You can now vote for Prospect #29 in the Twinkie Town Community Top 50 Prospect voting!FINALLY – I’ll be editing the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 all weekend, so look for much more order information on Monday! Twitter is awesome… Way better than Facebook, which I’m also on from time to time. If you’re interested, you can follow me at www.Twitter.com/SethTweets. If you have any questions, please let me know! Click here to view the article

It’s hard to believe that the month of May is already complete, and with it, it is time to announce the choices for Twins minor league hitter, starting pitcher and relief pitcher of the month. This month, we are going to start with the starting pitching. There were some very solid starting pitchers during the month of May. Instead of making four starts, as they did in April, they had to be good for five or six starts in May. Below, you will find my rankings of the Top 6 starting pitchers in the Twins farm system in the month of May. Be sure to vote for your choice in the comments. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] --- Number 6 - Beloit – Jason Wheeler - 5 GS, 3-1, 3.09 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 32.0 IP, 34 H, 5 BB, 22 K Wheeler, the Twins 8th round pick in 2011 out of Loyola Marymount, was on this list in April. Overall, the lefty is now 6-1 with a 2.75 ERA. In ten starts, he has given up more than three earned runs just once. In fact, he has given up three runs just once. Number 5 – Beloit – RHP Matt Summers - 6 GS, 3-1, 2.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 36.0 IP, 35 H, 10 BB, 24 K Summers was the Twins 4th round pick in 2011 out of UC-Irvine. The big right-hander had a rough April with the Snappers. He went 1-2 with a 6.64 ERA. However, in May, he warmed up with the weather. He walked the same number of batters in over 15 more innings while striking out 11 more. Number 4 – New Britain/Rochester – RHP David Bromberg - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.48 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29.0 IP, 23 H, 12 BB, 28 K It’s been well documented. Bromberg’s 2011 was a lost season after having a line drive back at him break his forearm. He began this season in the Rock Cats bullpen and gave up nine runs in his first two innings. However, since May, Bromberg was spectacular. At one point, he threw 20 consecutive scoreless innings. The month ended with a start for the Rochester Red Wings. Number 3 – Rochester – RHP Liam Hendriks - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.93 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 22 H, 10 BB, 24 K Hendriks was sent back to Rochester after struggling with the Twins in April. He pitched great, and if not for a bad starting on Wednesday night (6 ER in 5 IP), he probably would be #1 on this list. Coming into the game on Wednesday, he was 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. The right-hander should get another month with the Red Wings and then potentially come back to the Twins in July. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – LHP Pat Dean - 6 GS, 4-0, 1.34 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 34 H, 6 BB, 16 K Dean got an extra start in May because he pitched just three innings before there was a rain delay one game, so he was able to come back on short rest. Although he strikes out very few, Dean doesn’t hurt himself with walks. The 2010 third round pick just turned 23. On the season, he’s 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA. He has just 30 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: New Britain – BJ Hermsen - 6 GS, 3-1, 2.68 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 43.2 IP, 39 H, 2 BB, 23 K For the second straight month, BJ Hermsen is my choice for Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Last month, he pitched for Ft. Myers. At the end of the month of April, he was promoted to AA New Britain, and he hasn’t missed a beat. What is remarkable is that he averaged almost 7.5 innings per start. He definitely is a pitch to contact pitcher, reliant upon a lot of movement and pinpoint control (note, two walks in 43.2 innings). Overall this year between the two stops, he is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA in 66.2 innings. What do you think? I listed six pitchers here that pitched quite well in the month of May. There were actually a few other choices. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Download attachment: BJHermsen.jpg Click here to view the article

Each year, I try to do a Minnesota Twins Top 52 Prospect list right before the draft. That way, we're looking at players who have (generally) been in the organization for at least a year. It can also give you a sense of which positions have some strength. Through nearly two months of the season, there have been several very impressive performances throughout the organization. Many of the top prospects are in the lower levels, but when you put together this list, you see that there are a few players mentioned in the upper levels too. I'll count down from 52 with brief comments on each, right up to the Top 2 prospects, and I have to say, it's still a very difficult decision. Who will I put at Number One?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Aaron Hicks has 'graduated' from the "Prospect" lists as he is now over the 130 at bats mark. For pitchers, the limit is 50 innings. Let's get to the list: #52 - Caleb Thielbar - LH RP - Rochester/Minnesota - The Randolph native has been impressive in his debut. He throws hard and has three good pitches. He can be a solid big league reliever. #51 - Tyler Jones - RH RP - Cedar Rapids Kernels - Jones was a starter a year ago, but he's got the fastball and breaking pitch to be a very good reliever as well. He missed a few weeks with an injury. #50 - Madison Boer - RH RP - Ft. Myers Miracle - Yes, I am listing him as a reliever because I would be done with the starting experience for him. He's can reach into the upper-90s with his fastball out of the bullpen, so they need to go with that. That is, when he returns from his broken hand. #49 - Mike Kvasnicka - OF/C - Ft. Myers Miracle - The former Gopher came to the Twins from the Astros late in spring training and pretty much immediately broke his hamate bone. He'll be out a few more weeks. He didn't put up the numbers you would hope from a 1st round pick with the Astros, but he does have power. #48 - Jason Wheeler - LHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - Since signing with the Twins as an 8th round pick in 2011, he has gone 19-6 with a 3.62 ERA. The 6-8 lefty doesn't throw over 89 mph, but he has good control of multiple pitches. #47 - Kuo-hua Lo - RHP - Extended Spring Training - Lo signed from Taiwan and he has very good stuff. He can throw hard, has multiple pitches, good control and a knowledge of how to pitch. He should start for the Elizabethton Twins. #46 - Austin Malinowski - LHP - Extended Spring Training - The Minnesota native gave up a scholarship to the University of Arizona to sign with the Twins. He pitched well in the GCL last year and should be in the Elizabethton rotation. #45 - James Beresford - 2B/SS - New Britain Rock Cats - I have no idea why he is still in New Britain. Despite missing a couple of weeks with an injury, he is hitting over .330, and he is an elite defensive player around the infield. #44 - Felix Jorge - RHP - Extended Spring Training - Hard-throwing youngster has terrific stuff and should be in the rotation for the E-Twins. #43 - Angel Morales - OF - Ft. Myers Miracle - He seems to have figured things out with the Miracle, and though he can be a six-year minor league free agent after the season, he is still just 23 years old. He should move up to New Britain soon. #42 - Dan Rohlfing - C/OF - New Britain/Rochester - Last night, he homered in his first AAA game. Always seen as more of an organizational player, Rohlfing has worked hard and made himself into a future big leaguer because of his athleticism and versatility. #41 - Dalton Hicks - 1B - Cedar Rapids Kernels - Hicks is a large man with great power. Drafted in the 17th round last year, he has come up with some big hits in his two pro seasons. #40 - Tom Stuifbergen - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - "Stuif" is finally healthy and pitching well again this season. He has incredible control and works fast. It'd be nice to see more strikeouts, but has the pitches. #39 - BJ Hermsen - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - The Twins minor league pitcher of the year a year ago, Hermsen has put up very good numbers at every level, despite low strikeout totals. He went to big league camp and unfortunately got hurt. He has struggled in his return and has moved now to the bullpen. He'll start again, and he'll be fine. #38 - Angel Mata - RHP - Extended Spring Training - Last year in Elizabethton, he made 13 starts. He threw 53.1 innings, gave up just 31 hits and struck out 55. Why is he not in Cedar Rapids? Well, he also walked 34. #37 - Randy Rosario - LHP - Extended Spring Training - Call me intrigued by left-handed pitchers who have been clocked at 95 mph. Rosario struck out 42 in 38.1 innings last year (And walked 19). #36 - Matt Summers - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - Still hasn't put up big numbers despite having very good stuff. Maybe he'll be a reliever down the line, where he might see those strikeout numbers increase. #35 - Aderlin Mejia - IF - Ft. Myers Miracle - He's been a story the last three weeks in Ft. Myers, hitting .400 and playing all over the field. He was just supposed to be with the team for a short period, but he's earned his way into the daily lineup. #34 - Nate Roberts - OF - Ft. Myers Miracle - He's an on-base machine and showed in the AFL just how good he can be at the top of an order. He just has to find a way to stay on the field and another offseason knee surgery has limited him to just one game this year. #33 - JT Chargois - RH RP - Extended Spring Training - Chargois throws incredibly hard and can be a late-inning reliever. He just has to get healthy. #32 - JD Williams - OF - Cedar Rapids Kernels - A tremendous athlete, the charismatic outfielder has done a great job of getting on base and even showing power to go with his great speed. #31 - Hudson Boyd - RHP - Cedar Rapids Kernels - The numbers don't show it yet, but Boyd does have a chance to be good. He has the pitches, a fastball up to 93, a very good curveball and a terrific changeup. He just needs to find consistency with each of those pitches. #30 - Levi Michael - IF - Ft. Myers Miracle - His season was delayed several weeks with another injury, and he hasn't hit much since his return. The positive is that a big percentage of his hits have gone for extra bases. #29 - Chris Herrmann - C/OF - Rochester/Minnesota - He struggled in his AAA debut the first month of the season, but he had been much better before his promotion. His value is that he is a solid offensive contributor with defensive versatility that includes improved abilities behind that plate. #28 - Logan Darnell - LHP - New Britain Rock Cats - Darnell seems to have taken that next step and is pitching very well. He's left-handed and knows how to pitch. #27 - Corey Williams - LH RP - Ft. Myers Miracle - The power lefty is off to a great start with the Miracle after a disappointing 2012 in Beloit (despite 17 saves). He's still not getting the strikeouts you'd like to see from someone with his stuff. #26 - Adrian Salcedo - RHP - Ft. Myers Miracle - He was a top ten Twins prospect until an injury-plagued 2012 season (elbow and shoulder). He struggled at the start of this season, but in the last month, he has reclaimed his stuff and, in my opinion, should return to starting soon. #25 - Luke Bard - RHP - Extended Spring Training - His season is yet to start due to some arm problems, but he can pitch. Whenever he does get on a mound, he has the stuff to be very good. #24 - Danny Ortiz - OF - New Britain Rock Cats - Arguably the most under-appreciated prospect in the organization. Maybe it's because there are so many outfielders, but Ortiz has put up the numbers, in AA and in Puerto Rico, to warrant a higher ranking. #23 - Mason Melotakis - LHP - Cedar Rapids Kernels - He has been OK so far as a starter for the Kernels. The numbers have been 'good.' Of course there is a lot more value if he can be a starter, but if he does move to the bullpen again, he can be a dominant reliever. #22 - Tyler Duffey - RHP - Cedar Rapids Kernels - Another college reliever turned starter, Duffey has pitched quite well to this point for the Kernels. He threw 7 perfect innings in his first start and has been good the rest of the way. #21 - DJ Baxendale - RHP - Ft. Myers/New Britain - The Twins 10th round pick a year ago had a rude awakening in his AA debut last night, but before that had thrown 31 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. He can be a mid-rotation starter but it won't be overnight. #20 - Taylor Rogers - LHP - Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers - 11th round pick a year ago, the lefty throws 91-92 mph with a very good slider. He just looks like a future starter and has the make up to be very good. #19 - Zack Jones - RH RP - Ft. Myers Miracle - 100. That says it all. OK, his fastball generally sits 96 to 98 mph, but when you can touch 100, that's impressive. He's working on the consistency of his slider, but when that comes, he could dominate. #18 - Michael Tonkin - RH RP - New Britain - After spending time as a starter, and maybe too much time in Beloit, he has skyrocketed the last 12 months because he has put it all together. A mid-90s fastball with good secondary pitches makes for an exciting late-inning option. (Jeremy Nygaard tweets this morning that Michael Tonkin has been promoted to AAA Rochester.) #17 - Danny Santana - SS - New Britain Rock Cats - April was not a good month for the talented shortstop. He didn't hit, and he committed a ton of errors. He now has 18 errors on the season, but most came in the first month. He has also hit very well in May. Now, he just needs to be consistent. #16 - Alex Wimmers - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - the right-handed former first round pick is now throwing off of a mound in his return from Tommy John. He is about on the same schedule as Kyle Gibson was a year ago. If he can end the season making starts in New Britain, that would be great. He'll be added to the 40 man roster after the season. #15 - Niko Goodrum - SS - Cedar Rapids Kernels - Niko has amazing tools, but watching him play makes you really appreciate just how solid he is. He makes the routine plays. He hits well from both sides of the plate. He has range. He has a great arm. He needs time, but he has great upside. #14 - Max Kepler - OF - Extended Spring Training - There was a lot of excitement about Kepler coming into the season. Unfortunately, an arm injury has meant that he is yet to debut with the Kernels this year. He's got size and power and very good speed. He just needs to get on the field. #13 - Josmil Pinto - C - New Britain Rock Cats - OK, I give in. I have ranked him far too low for far too long. The guy can flat-out hit. He is OK behind the plate, but when you have a catcher that you also like to hit #3 and DH, you have something special. #12 - Adam Walker - OF - Cedar Rapids Kernels - Walker has shown a flair for the dramatic, with big, long home runs and some important grand slams. He needs to find more consistency, but he has so much talent and incredible power. He should move up to Ft. Myers. #11 - Trevor May - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - May is back in the Eastern League and he's showing the talent he has. He's also continued to be inconsistent from start to start and his control has not been great. But he's still young,he puts in the work and I believe he'll be all right. #10 - Travis Harrison - 3B - Cedar Rapids Kernels - The supplemental first round pick in 2011 showed last year in E-Town that he can hit. This year, he has flashed some of the incredible power potential that he has. He has made improvements with the glove, but it is his power potential and youth makes him very exciting. #9 - Jorge Polanco - 2B/SS - Cedar Rapids Kernels - The slick-fielding, little middle infielder has grown up. He now has the size to put up some numbers with his bat too. He has a smooth swing from both sides of the plate with extra base pop. And, his glove is still terrific. #8 - Kennys Vargas - 1B - Ft. Myers Miracle - Baby Papi just keeps hitting for power. He's got 15 doubles and 10 home runs in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. He's made improvements in his footwork at 1B as well. #7 - Kyle Gibson - RHP - Rochester Red Wings - Three out of four starts have been tremendous. If he can put up another good start tonight, we could see him in Minnesota as early as next week. Still just 25, Gibson has very good stuff, throws strikes, gets ground balls and has great makeup. He's going to be a good one. #6 - Eddie Rosario - 2B - Ft. Myers Miracle - No one questions his bat. He is going to hit. What people are most impressed by so far this year from Rosario is how well he has made the adjustment to second base. He has been very good defensively which shows that he's willing to do work. Still some maturity issues to work through, but he will. #5 - Jose (JO) Berrios - RHP - Cedar Rapids Kernels - A supplemental pick just a year ago, Berrios is very young. He now has 6 walks and 40 strikeouts in 33.1 innings with the Kernels. That's after he walked four and struck out 49 last year in the rookie leagues. He's got good stuff and a fastball that hits 94-95 mph. #4 - Alex Meyer - RHP - New Britain Rock Cats - The 23-year-old has been good in his adjustment to AA after just nine games in High-A a year ago. In 54.2 innings, he has struck out 54, but he has also walked 25. He hasn't walked hitters in the past, so hopefully that's just a mirage. But his four-pitch mix is special. He just needs some time. #3 - Oswaldo Arcia - OF - Rochester Red Wings - We all knew he could hit. We all know he's going to be a special hitter in the big leagues. Now we have seen a little glimpse of what he can be. He needed to go back down to Rochester as he has some adjusting to do, but he'll make those adjustments and be back in no time. #2 - Miguel Sano - Ft. Myers Miracle - It's really ridiculous to have Miguel Sano as the #2 prospect. In how many organizations would that be the case? Maybe three or four? In reality, I'm not even comfortable having him at #2. He is a Top 10 prospect in baseball and has put up incredible numbers, including power numbers, in Ft. Myers. All while improving his defense and stealing bases. He's so good. #1 - Byron Buxton - OF - Cedar Rapids Kernels - He has slumped in May and yet I still rank him (slightly) ahead of Miguel Sano. He's just such a great all-around talent. He does have power. His speed is elite. His defense is incredible, and he has a strong and accurate arm. He has great plate discipline and isn't afraid to hit with two strikes. He hits the ball to all fields. I don't know if there's anything he can't do. He just needs time and patience, but it'll be hard not to move him up the ladder pretty quickly. So there you have it. I hope you've enjoyed reading about 52 names in the Twins system. I did not include Amaurys (German) Minier, though he should start appearing in my lists following this season, especially if he spends time with the GCL Twins. What do you think? Who is too high? Who is too low? Who do you have questions about? Feel free to ask and I'll try to answer as many as I can throughout the day. View full article

It’s been fairly easy to write the Twins minor league reports the past four or five days. Aside from the Ft. Myers Miracle, the other Twins affiliates have each missed games this week due to weather. The Cedar Rapids Kernels haven’t played since Monday. So, on a Saturday, it all came together. Four Twins affiliates played a total of six games. Rochester and Cedar Rapids played doubleheaders. The Twins nearly got no hit by Matt Harvey in their fifth straight loss to fall to 4-7 on the season. Wilkin Ramirez was put on the Paternity List following the game, so we’ll find out the corresponding move soon. Could the Miracle win their ninth straight game to start the season? Keep reading, and find out…[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Game 1 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Pawtucket Red Sox 7 Box Score The Red Wings managed just four hits in the first. Chris Colabello drove in the lone run. Chris Herrmann went 1-2 with a walk. Shairon Martis started and gave up one run on four hits in 3.2 innings. He walked four and struckout four. Tyler Robertson got the next three outs. He gave up no runs despite two hits and a walk allowed. Anthony Slama had a rough one and took the loss. In just 0.1 innings, he gave up four runs on two hits and two walks. Of his 18 pitches, just five of them were strikes. Caleb Thielbar got the final three outs, but not before giving up two runs on two hits. He did strikeout two. Game 2 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Pawtucket Red Sox 7 Box Score The Red Wings had just four hits in Game 1, and that was twice as many hits as they managed in Game 2. Eric Farris had a single. Chris Colabello launched his fourth home runs of the season. On the mound, veteran Virgil Vasquez gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk. In four innings, he struckout three. Bruce Pugh’s struggles continued. He gave up three runs on two hits and a walk in his inning. Michael O’Connor pitched the sixth frame and gave up one run on two hits. Andrew Albers is set to take the mound for the Red Wings on Sunday afternoon. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Portland Sea Dogs 6 (10 innings) Box Score Alex Meyer made his second start for the Rock Cats. He gave up a leadoff single and two, RBI doubles in the first innings before settling down. He gave up just those two runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. He struckout six. Bobby Lanigan came on and gave up one run on one walk in 1.2 innings. He struckout two. Jose Gonzalez walked the one batter he came in the face. Michael Tonkin came on and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Edgar Ibarra worked two innings and gave up the 10th inning run on three hits and two walks. He struckout three. Antoan Richardson went 2-4 with a walk. He stole his third and fourth bases. Nate Hanson went 2-4. Curt Smith was 2-5 with a double. Evan Bigley was 2-5. Blake Martin will take the ball for the Rock Cats on Sunday afternoon. Ft. Myers Miracle 8, Jupiter Hammerheads 7 Box Score With the win, the Miracle are now 9-0 and tied with the 1994 Miracle for the best start in franchise history. The team got plenty of offense led by centerfielder Angel Morales. He went 3-5 with his fifth and sixth doubles. Eddie Rosario was 2-5 with a stolen base. Kyle Knudson was 2-4 with his first double. Lance Ray and Miguel Sano each doubled. Kennys Vargas was 1-3 with two walks and a big, three-run home run. Madison Boer started and worked the first six innings. He gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struckout three. Miguel Munoz made things close. He gave up four runs on four hits over two innings. Corey Williams worked a 1-2-3 ninths for his third save. DJ Baxendale will make his second Miracle start on Sunday. Game 1 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Clinton LumberKings 3 Box Score Hudson Boyd was back on the mound for the Kernels as they returned to action against the LumberKings. The right-hander gave up three runs on four hits and a walk in five innings. Following the game, he tweeted me saying, “It felt good today. Let the athletes behind me do most of the work” That may be true, but he also struckout six. Brett Lee came on and gave up two hits but no runs in his inning. Chris Mazza recorded his second save. He gave up a walk in a scoreless seventh inning. Niko Goodrum hit his first two doubles of the season in this game. Dalton Hicks hit his fourth double. Jorge Polanco walked twice. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with a walk. Game 2 - Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Clinton LumberKings 1 Box Score If fans wanted to see all the action of this double header, they could have watched the first game and just the first inning of the second game. In the top of the first, Dalton Hicks knocked in two runs with his fifth double. It scored Byron Buxton and Candido Pimentel. In the bottom of the first inning, Mason Melotakis gave up a leadoff home run. That was it for the scoring. Melotakis went the first five innings and gave up one run on three hits. He walked one and struckout seven. Steven Gruver gave up one hit and struckout four over the final two innings to record his first save. Pimentel went 1-2 with a walk and his second stolen base. JD Williams had a walk and stole his fifth base of the season. The Kernels are now 6-1 on the season. Tyler Duffey and David Hurlbut will pitch for the Kernels on Sunday afternoon. View full article

Download attachment: Thanksgiving-Thank-You.jpg It was about one year ago that John, Nick, Parker and myself started a string of communication around consolidating our sites to create a singular place for our Twins information. It took a lot of time and thought because it isn't as simple as it sounds, especially if you want it to meet certain expectations and goals. There were lots of drawings, and back-of-the-napkin designing by non-design folks. There were House Hunters Wants and Needs lists created to determine what we wanted from the site and the was absolutely necessary. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The one absolute necessity in development was to create the forums. As TwinsCentric, one of the top goals was always to build a community of Twins fans and bloggers. We wanted to create a place where people could not only discuss our blog articles, but contribute their own topics into the forum. There is so much Twins news and content and discussion that we can't keep up with it all. If you see a good Twins article you want to link to, or you have had an ongoing debate with your buddy about a certain Twins topic, feel free to post them and let others weigh in. Not everyone is going to agree with your opinions, or my opinions, but we really want a place where we can all at least respect each others opinions and intelligently debate. For the most part, I think we have that here. Yes, the phrase "anyone can start a blog" stands true here at Twins Daily. And, in the psat year, several people have really stepped up and written some well-written, thought-provoking blogs, some of which were promoted to the front page. We definitely encourage others to not only read the Blogs but consider writing your own as well. As we celebrate Thanksgiving today with turkey and hopefully lots of family and friends, I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of the Twins Daily community/family a very Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you, Twins Daily community. We believe that you have helped us, in less than a year, become the premier destination for Twins articles, news and discussion. We hope we've earned that. Twins Daily readers and contributors deserve a ton of our thanks and gratitude today (and every day). You come to our site for the articles, but you stay for the conversation. In thanking you today though, I also want to present a couple of challenges to you today. If you enjoy what you read at Twins Daily, tell your Twins fan friends about this site. E-mail them the link. Hey, take a minute or two to update your facebook status to include the link to Twins Daily. Secondly, if you've been coming here for awhile, but have not participated in the Forums yet, make an effort over the weekend to post a new topic, something that's on your mind, something you think you'd like to have debated. I think you'll see how easy it is, but I also think you'll see how much fun the community aspect of this site can be. And, if you're more brave and ready, spend a little more time and start your Twins Daily blog. I think, with the Winter Meetings coming quickly and rumors all over the place, Twins Daily is the place to go for Twins fans wanting to join in on the conversation. Finally, I want to encourage you to let us know what you like or don't like about Twins Daily. Do you have any ideas that you think we should explore, anything that you think will help us be better? That's important information. We need that. We want that. If you don't want to post it here, please feel free to send me a Personal Message here, or e-mail me at (sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com). Once again, it's fun to think about what Twins Daily has become since we launched the day that Twins pitchers and catchers reported in mid-February. Consider where it has come from a year ago when it was just some guys' random drawings on napkins. For me, it gets me excited to think about where we can get to by spring training, or one year from now, or five years from now. We do know that we are very thankful to have added Brock to the Twins Daily mold because he will help us get there. I don't know where it will go... I do know that the Twins Daily family/community will be a big part of getting us there. So again, Happy Thanksgiving, and a very heartfelt and sincere thank you to all of you!! Click here to view the article

On Monday morning, the Minnesota Twins made several very telling roster decisions.The Twins optioned catcher Drew Butera. They also reassigned catcher Dan Rohlfing, infielders Ray Olmedo and Jeff Clement, and outfielder Brandon Boggs. The roster is now at 31. The news is good for outfielder Wilkin Ramirez.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There is really just one more offensive, Opening Day roster spot that is up for grabs. Drew Butera had an option remaining, so he was sent to Rochester. This means that the Twins must be comfortable with Eduardo Escobar as an emergency catcher. More proof of that, the Twins also demoted Jeff Clement, who has not caught much in the last couple of years, but was drafted as a catcher. Dan Rohlfing was not going to make the roster, but he did have a very strong showing. Brandon Boggs was another possibility for the 25th man job. Earlier this morning, Ken Rosenthal tweeted that a lot of teams really would like Butera, but that the Twins prefer to stash him at Rochester for when needed. This basically means that Wilkin Ramirez will be the 25th man unless the Twins decide to go with 13 pitchers. Ramirez was once a prize prospect of the Detroit Tigers and has spent big league time with the Tigers and the Braves. He showed terrific power in Rochester last year and had a very strong big league camp. He will be the fifth outfielder, but primarily, he will be a pinch hitter. The moves really leave just a couple more roster decisions to be made. They are on the pitching side of things. There are 18 pitchers left in camp, but that includes Rafael Perez and Rich Harden, who have only pitched bullpens to this point. Tim Wood will begin on the Disabled List. Samuel Deduno also suffered a groin injury in the WBC championship game. We know that Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing and Casey Fien are the givens. Rule 5 choice, Ryan Pressly, appears to be a lock as he has had a very good spring training. So, it really comes down to Alex Burnett, Tyler Robertson, Josh Roenicke and PJ Walters for two spots. Robertson would the the left-handed option, should they go that direction. He does have two options remaining. Alex Burnett really struggled this spring, and he has one option remaining. Josh Roenicke threw 80+ innings for the Rockies a year ago, and he is out of options. PJ Walters could be competing for the fifth starter job (unlikely) as well as a long-relief job, but he is on a minor league contract. Opening Day is one week away! We're getting close now! View full article

In recent days, we posted the choices for Minnesota Twins Minor League Starting Pitchers and Hitters for the month of July. Today, I present the top relief pitching performers for the month. There are a couple of guys at the top of this list that, if you argued the other should be #1, or vice versa, I wouldn’t have much of an argument. Two guys stand out on this list, but all five of them warrant recognition. Interestingly, the short-season teams played all July and they are represented on this list as well. A couple 2013 draft picks make an appearance. Here’s a look at the Top 5 relief pitching performers from July. Feel free to discuss below.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] --- Number 5 – GCL Twins – LHP Stephen Gonsalves – 5 G, 2 GS, 1-0, 0.63 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 8 H, 7 BB, 18 K Gonsalves was the Twins 4th round draft pick in June out of high school in San Diego. Already 19, the lefty pitched very well in his professional debut with the GCL Twins in his first month. In fact, he pitched well enough that he was just promoted to Elizabethton. At 6-5 and just 190 pounds, the Twins should be patient and let him grow. The Twins had to go a little over slot to get him signed, but he should prove to be worth it in time. Number 4 – Ft. Myers – RHP Adrian Salcedo - 6 G, 2-0, 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 12.0 IP, 9 H, 1 BB, 7 K Salcedo was a Top 10 Twins prospect as recently as before the 2012 season. However, that season was lost because of both shoulder and elbow injuries. He spent most of the year, and the offseason, rehabbing. He has been brought back this year in the Ft. Myers bullpen. Overall, in 27 relief appearances this year, he is 5-1 with a 3.72 ERA. In 48.1 innings, he has given up 47 hits, walked just seven and struck out 48. Salcedo is 6-3 and 175 pounds. He is extremely athletic. It will be interesting to see if he gets another opportunity to start. Number 3 – Elizabethton – LHP Brandon Bixler - 6 G, 1-1, 0.73 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 12.1 IP, 6 H, 4 BB, 18 K The 21-year-old Bixler was the Twins 16th round draft pick of the Twins this June out of Dunk City, Florida Gulf Coast University. This college season, he went 5-3 with a 4.14 ERA. He had 64 strikeouts in 50 innings. Over three college seasons, he struck out 156 batters over 128.2 innings. The left-hander is just 5-11 and 170 pounds, but he does throw hard. Bixler put up these terrific numbers in Elizabethton, and has now been promoted to Cedar Rapids where he has made one appearance in August. Number 2 – New Britain/Rochester – LHP Edgar Ibarra - 9 G, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.44 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 11 K I saw Ibarra make a start for Beloit in 2010 and came away incredibly impressed. I saw a very good fastball that he worked inside and outside. I saw a tremendous changeup that he was able to spot. He also had a very good breaking ball that he threw at various speeds. All of his pitches moved. Then again, he never really put up great numbers as a starter. The following year in Ft. Myers, he made 16 starts and 16 relief appearances. He has not made any starts since. Today (8/4) marks two months since he last gave up a run. That covers 20 appearances and 25.2 innings. The left-hander touches 95, and I believe he has a very good chance of helping the Twins. His control has been good so far with the Red Wings, but over his career walks have been the biggest issue. Ibarra could have become a 6-year minor league free agent, but he quickly re-signed with the Twins. Don’t be surprised if the Twins don’t let him become a free agent at the end of this season and add him to the 40 man roster, either in September, or days after the World Series is complete. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Download attachment: Tyler Jones.jpg Photo by Cedar Rapids Kernels Cedar Rapids/Ft. Myers – RHP Tyler Jones - 8 G, 0-0, 7 Saves, 0.00 ERA, 0.45 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 17 K Jones, a 23-year-old Milwaukee native, was the Twins 11th round pick in 2011 out of LSU where he spent just one year. In 2012, he began the season at Extended Spring Training because, as he said to me earlier in the season, he was completely out of shape. He did make 16 starts with Beloit and posted a 4.67 ERA, but he had 102 strikeouts in 86.2 innings. This year, he got himself into tremendous shape, and also moved into the bullpen at Cedar Rapids. In doing so, he can now air-out his fastball. When I saw him a month ago, he ended a game with a strikeout on a 96 mph fastball. His slider is also much improved from when I saw him in 2012. He was tremendous in July, starting in Cedar Rapids and earning that promotion to Ft. Myers. Not only did he not give up any runs in July, but look at the walks and strikeouts per inning. Astounding. Jones is definitely one to watch! What do you think? Please feel free to discuss and ask questions. Click here to view the article

On Saturday morning, the Minnesota Twins announced that they had optioned outfielder Oswaldo Arcia to Triple-A Rochester where he is likely to begin his 2013 season. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Arcia was the Twins minor league hitter of the year in 2012 when he combined to hit a combined .320/.388/.539 (.928) with 36 doubles, 8 triples, 17 home runs and 98 RBI between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He played very well in the Venezuelan Winter League. Unfortunately, soon after arriving at his second big league spring training, he was sidelined with a strained intercostal (muscle in the side). He was unable to play ntil last weekend, but he has been in the lineup most days since. After yesterday's announced moves, the Twins also send catcher Danny Lehmann back to minor league camp. That means that the spring training roster is now down to 49 players. There are still 24 pitchers (7 non-roster), 5 catchers (2 non-roster), 11 infielders (5 non-roster) and 9 outfielders (4 non-roster). That number will need to get down 25 before Opening Day, although there will likely be at least a couple of players on the Disabled List as well. View full article

As the World Series combatants Download attachment: Brian Dozier HR.jpg are now set, and we all start putting together our thoughts for what the Twins offseason should look like, one of the key positions discussed by many is the middle infield. Specifically, people are asking now who the Twins shortstop will be early in the 2013 season. Some will say Jamey Carroll. Pedro Florimon’s name is mentioned. Could the Twins go outside the organization to fill the spot? One name that is hardly ever mentioned at this point is that of Brian Dozier. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] One year ago at this time, Dozier was making a name for himself with some solid performance in the Arizona Fall League. That was coming off of a 2011 season that saw him named the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year. In that 2011, just the second full season in the pros for Dozier, he split time between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He combined to hit a robust .320/.399/.490 with 33 doubles, 12 triples, 9 home runs, 56 RBI, 92 Runs scored, and 24 stolen bases. He filled the stat page while quickly proving himself as a team leader and a solid defender in the field. Despite being in a prolonged slump, Dozier made his Twins and Major League debut as a 24-year-old. In his time with the Twins, Dozier showed some flashes of the kind of talent he had displayed in 2011. He showed a little bit of power. He made some nice plays with his glove and arm. But overall, he really struggled in his debut. In 84 games and 340 plate appearances, he hit .234/.272/.332 with 11 doubles, a triple and six home runs. He was successful on nine of eleven stolen base attempts. As you know, John Bonnes was able to interview Twins GM Terry Ryan yesterday for the Offseason GM Handbook. During their discussion, the middle infield was one of many, many Twins topics mentioned. When asked whether he thought there were any Twins minor league middle infielders who he felt could fill the shortstop role for the next several years, Ryan said, “Yeah, yeah we do.” When pushed, Ryan continued, “Well, it depends what you think of some of the guys we’ve got. What do you think about (Brian Dozier)? What do you think about Pedro Florimon?” The answer to those two questions may come with very different answers for many of you. Coming into the 2012 season, I was quite high on Brian Dozier. I ranked him as my #11 Twins prospect. Now, #11 doesn’t shout out elite prospect or perennial All-Star. I agree. I don’t know of anyone who ever said that Dozier would be (although in spring training, we certainly read a few articles that pushed a reader to think that way). My thought on Dozier continues to be that he can be a solid, every day shortstop for a half-dozen years. Considering the Twins frequent musical chairs seasons at the position, a ‘solid, every day shortstop for a half-dozen years’ sounds pretty good. Will he get there? As with any prospect, #1s, #11s or #111s, no one knows that answer. But to jump off of the Brian Dozier bandwagon because of 84 games in his first stint in the big leagues is not something that should happen. Dozier has had success in the upper levels of the minors filling out a stat line and showing leadership qualities and of solid defense. What does Mr. Ryan think of the Florimon/Dozier/Shortstop situation? “They’ve got the skills to play shortstop and it didn’t quite go as well, but they’re not the first guy that has come and had to go back. About every player that comes up here has to go back once or twice. We’ve got hope for Dozier and Florimon and we think they’re certainly capable of doing that job. They need some more polishing and consistency and taking a quality at-bats and all that stuff. But they have enough arm. They have enough speed. They have enough range. They have enough agility. And more importantly, they have enough baseball intellect to play the position. So. One of them is 25 [years old] and the other one is 25. And they’re getting to the point now where we should expect them to take the next step forward and we’ll be anxious to see what they look like in spring training.” Now, Pedro Florimon has had very little offensive success in his long minor league career. However, he is known to be an elite defensive shortstop. Back in the day, that used to be enough, and frankly, assuming health, the Twins should have enough offense to account for a little less offense from a strong defensive shortstop. But this isn’t a backup catcher who plays once every five games or so. We are talking about the starting shortstop position, a guy that plays every day, so there does need to be some minimal offensive threshold. I don’t know if Florimon can reach that number. If he can, he becomes a legitimate shortstop option, and in that case, Brian Dozier could easily transition to second base where he would do well. With Jamey Carroll around, there is always competition and a backup plan or two. Frankly, I would not spend money on another middle infielder when I believe almost all money should go to pitching. I think Dozier is very capable of stepping up in 2013 as a solid contributor. So, I will concur with one thing that Terry Ryan said in his interview. “Don’t give up on Dozier and Florimon yet!” To read the full transcript of John’s terrific, in-depth, exclusive interview with Terry Ryan, be sure to order your copy of the Offseason GM Handbook today. Of course, it comes with much more, like player grades, free agent lists with estimated contracts, lots of minor league information, a foreword by Aaron Gleeman, our blueprints, and so much more. Click here to view the article

On Tuesday, Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers had to report to Ft. Myers for spring training. Although many infielders and outfielders have already been working out at the Lee County Complex, they officially have to report on Friday and the team will have the first official full squad workout on Saturday. On Tuesday, I posted my first roster projections for the pitchers and catchers, and today, I’ll post my roster projections for the infielders and outfielders Each Friday through spring training, I’ll be taking a weekly look at the Twins roster and project who will make the Opening Day roster. After looking at 43 pitchers and catchers who reported Tuesday, today I’ll post a percent likelihood that each infielder and outfielder will be on the Twins Opening Day roster. As we learned on Thursday when the Twins signed Rafael Perez to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, the roster is still subject to change, and I will account for those each week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] INFIELDERS 40 MAN ROSTER Jamey Carroll (100%), Justin Morneau (100%), Trevor Plouffe (100%), Pedro Florimon (66%), Brian Dozier (62%), Eduardo Escobar (51%), Danny Santana (0.6%) Justin Morneau will be at first base, and Trevor Plouffe will be at third base. After that, there are still plenty of question marks remaining. Question marks that may not be answered until the final week of the spring. Jamey Carroll will be on the roster. He could start at shortstop or second base, and he could be a three-position utility player. Pedro Florimon appears to be the favorite to start the season at shortstop. Brian Dozier could be given a very good opportunity to start at second base and told us not to give up on him as a shortstop. Remember that the Twins traditionally have two utility infielders on the roster. Eduardo Escobar can play all three positions very well, and was a utility infielder for the Chicago White Sox in 2012 until he was traded to the Twins for Francisco Liriano. Danny Santana will likely head to New Britain to start the season. NON-ROSTER INVITES Ray Olmedo (8.0%), Chris Colabello (1.0%), Jeff Clement (0.9%), Deibinson Romero (0.8%), Mark Sobolewski (0.7%), James Beresford (0.4%) In 2003, Ray Olmedo got 250 plate appearances as a 22-year-old for the Cincinnati Reds. Over the next three seasons, he had another 138 total plate appearances. He played in 27 games for the 2007 Toronto Blue Jays. He then was in the minor leagues until the White Sox called him up as a 31-year-old for 20 games in August and September (after Escobar was traded). Colabello was one of the best stories in the Twins farm system in 2012, his first year in affiliated ball. He also crushed the ball in Mexico this winter. He likely will go to Rochester, but with left-handed hitting 1B options (Morneau, Parmelee, Mauer), he could find a role as a right-handed part-time player for the Twins. The Twins drafted Clement out of high school, but he went to college and was the #3 overall pick of the Mariners in 2005. He has played in 152 games in the big leagues, for the Mariners and Pirates), including going 3-22 for the Pirates in 2012. Romero returns to Twins big league camp for the first time since he was a 40-man-roster member in 2009 spring training. A year later, he was off the 40 man roster, but he has remained with the only organization he has played for since signing with the team in 2006. Last year in New Britain, he hit .267/.356/.441 with 23 doubles and 19 home runs. Sobolewski was a minor league Rule 5 selection of the Twins in December. The third baseman was a 4th round pick of the Blue Jays in 2008. He hit 20 home runs in 2012 (18 in AA, 2 in AAA) and is known to be very good defensively at the hot corner. James Beresford became a free agent following the 2012 season, but he decided to remain with the only organization he’s known since signing with the Twins from Australia. He will again be on the Australian team in the WBC this spring. The middle infielder is a terrific leader and has a great glove. THE OUTFIELDERS 40 Man Roster Josh Willingham (100%), Darin Mastroianni (100%), Chris Parmelee (99%) Aaron Hicks (48%), Joe Benson (42%), Oswaldo Arcia (1.2%) Josh Willingham had the best season of his career and earned his Silver Slugger Award with career-high 35 home runs and 110 RBI. Right Field has been opened up for Chris Parmelee to take after he dominated AAA and has earned the opportunity. He will have to take the job and make it his as Twins minor league hitter of the year, Oswaldo Arcia, is quickly moving up the system behind him and should make his major league debut sometime in 2013. The biggest question mark of spring training is who will take the centerfield position. Darin Mastroianni will make the team. He will be given a shot to win the starting job after doing a nice job in the 4th outfielder role. Aaron Hicks is the name that most people are talking about. The 23-year-old had a breakout season in 2012 in AA New Britain, showing the immense talent that made him the 14th overall pick in 2008. He will have to take the job in spring, but there is little doubt that he will debut in 2013 with the Twins. The name that is too often forgotten is Joe Benson. One year ago at this time, he came to spring training after making his major league debut the September before. He was as highly-regarded last year as Hicks is this year. He was hurt the entire 2012 season and tried to play through the pain as long as he could. He is blessed with amazing athleticism and talent, and if healthy, he can still be an impact player. One important question is whether Benson would be considered an option as the 4th outfielder, or would they still want the ultra-competitive 25-year-old to continue to play every day. Non-Roster Invites Brandon Boggs (17%), Clete Thomas (14%), Wilkin Ramirez (7.0%), Brian Dinkelman (1.9%) If Mastroianni starts the season as a starter, and the Twins decide that they want Hicks and Benson to play every day in Rochester, Brandon Boggs and Clete Thomas will compete for the 4th outfield spot on the roster. We saw Thomas last year when he had one impressive game before becoming unable to make contact. Once he went down to Rochester, he was OK, and he certainly could be a 4th outfielder because he’s good defensively and we know he’s better than he showed with the Twins in 2012. Boggs was the 4th round pick of the Rangers in 2004 out of Georgia Tech. As a 25-year-old in 2008, he played in 101 games for the Rangers. He played in just 13 games for the Rangers over the next two seasons and 16 games for the Brewers in 2011. Last year in AAA Indianapolis, he hit .259/.359/.408 with 24 doubles, five triples and nine home runs. In 481 plate appearances, he walked 62 times, but he also struckout 120 times. But again, we’re just talking about a 4th outfield spot for a month or two. Ramirez came to Twins camp a year ago, but unfortunately, he was hurt in camp. After rehabbing, he hit .276/.316/.451 with 18 doubles and 15 home runs in 98 games in Rochester. He played 15 games (13 PAs) for Detroit as a 23-year-old in 2009 and 20 games (30 PAs) for the Atlanta Braves in 2011. What hurts his chances of making the Twins roster as a fourth outfielder is that he is really a corner outfielder with limited centerfield time in his career. Brian Dinkelman was the Twins 8th round pick in 2006 out of NAIA McKendree University. He debuted and played in 23 games as a 27-year-old in 2011. He hit .301 in his 73 big league at bats. In 2012, he missed a lot of time with injury. ROSTER PROJECTION #1 (2/15/13): Infielders (6): Justin Morneau, Trevor Plouffe, Jamey Carroll, Pedro Florimon, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar Outfielders (4): Josh Willingham, Chris Parmelee, Darin Mastroianni, Joe Benson Catchers (3): Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, Drew Butera Starting Pitchers (5): Scott Diamond, Kevin Correia, Vance Worley, Mike Pelfrey, Liam Hendriks, Kyle Gibson (Diamond and/or Pelfrey likely starting season on DL) Relief Pitchers (7): Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Brian Duensing, Alex Burnett, Casey Fien, Josh Roenicke, Tim Wood (Anthony Swarzak possibly on the DL?) What are your thoughts or projections on the Twins Opening Day roster as Pitchers and Catchers report? Make your 25-man-roster projections and we'll check back on Opening Day to see who got the most right. View full article

Download attachment: slideshow.jpg From the Twins Twitter Feed: #Twins to reinstate Justin Morneau from 15-day DL prior to tomorrow night's game in Detroit. Option Chris Parmelee to Triple-A Rochester. For discussion on this latest move, please click here. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

It's time for our monthly look into the Twins and members of the Twins organization that are on Twitter. Last month I added some of the staff and media associated with the minor league affiliates. This month there are several new players who have each added a Twitter account including Twins reliever Ryan Pressly and uber-prospect Miguel Sano. I've also now included the percent their Twitter following has increased since both last month and February. It's an interesting look. As always, I encourage you to let me know if there are players or others who should be included. Of course, we encourage you to follow the Twins Daily writers as well. Help us catch up to Miracle pitching coach Ivan Arteaga.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Twitter.png [TABLE=width: 801] First Name Last Name Twitter 5/9 Update 4/15 Update 3/10 Update Feb Update %change past month %change since Feb AJ Achter @ajachter35 491 [TD=align: right]468 [/TD] [TD=align: right]435 [/TD] [TD=align: right]416 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]18.0% [/TD] Bo Altobelli @BoAltobelli 148 [TD=align: right]140 [/TD] [TD=align: right]130 [/TD] [TD=align: right]113 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]31.0% [/TD] Oswaldo Arcia @arciaoswaldo 718 [TD=align: right]413 [/TD] [TD=align: right]378 [/TD] [TD=align: right]334 [/TD] [TD=align: right]73.8% [/TD] [TD=align: right]115.0% [/TD] Ivan Arteaga @IvanArteaga 70,737 [TD=align: right]66,717 [/TD] [TD=align: right]61,761 [/TD] [TD=align: right]59,958 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]18.0% [/TD] Tim Atherton @TimAtherton89 226 [TD=align: right]223 [/TD] [TD=align: right]213 [/TD] [TD=align: right]206 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.7% [/TD] Luke Bard @Luke_Bard 1,007 [TD=align: right]1,001 [/TD] [TD=align: right]998 [/TD] [TD=align: right]721 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]39.7% [/TD] DJ Baxendale @DBax24 4,173 [TD=align: right]4,003 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,930 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,906 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.8% [/TD] James Beresford @JamesBeresford2 943 [TD=align: right]909 [/TD] [TD=align: right]841 [/TD] [TD=align: right]784 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]20.3% [/TD] Doug Bernier @dougbernier 215 [TD=align: right]204 [/TD] [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.4% [/TD] J.O. Berrios @JOlaMaquina 868 [TD=align: right]757 [TD=align: right]355 [/TD] [TD=align: right]263 [/TD] [TD=align: right]14.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]230.0% [/TD] Evan Bigley @Bigley3 626 [TD=align: right]606 [/TD] [TD=align: right]571 [/TD] [TD=align: right]542 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]15.5% [/TD] Hudson Boyd @boyd_hudson 355 [TD=align: right]308 [/TD] [TD=align: right]232 [/TD] [TD=align: right]193 [/TD] [TD=align: right]15.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]83.9% [/TD] Joshua Burris @Josh_Burris_ 197 [TD=align: right]185 [/TD] [TD=align: right]171 [/TD] [TD=align: right]164 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]20.1% [/TD] Drew Butera @DrewButera 16,094 [TD=align: right]15,704 [/TD] [TD=align: right]15,275 [/TD] [TD=align: right]15,052 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.9% [/TD] Byron Buxton @OfficialBuck103 1,822 [TD=align: right]1,272 [/TD] [TD=align: right]448 [/TD] [TD=align: right]299 [/TD] [TD=align: right]43.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]509.4% [/TD] Chris Colabello @CC20rake 1,268 [TD=align: right]1,204 [/TD] [TD=align: right]765 [/TD] [TD=align: right]493 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]157.2% [/TD] Logan Darnell @ldarnell15 162 [/TD] Pat Dean @PDean15 355 [TD=align: right]337 [TD=align: right]335 [/TD] [TD=align: right]328 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]8.2% [/TD] Scott Diamond @Scott_Diamond58 14,160 [TD=align: right]13,280 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12,651 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12,446 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]13.8% [/TD] Brian Dinkelman @BrDink 1,686 [TD=align: right]1,663 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,626 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,589 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.1% [/TD] Brian Dozier @BrianDozier 11,453 [TD=align: right]10,382 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9,463 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9,334 [/TD] [TD=align: right]10.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]22.7% [/TD] Brian Duensing @BrianDuensing52 14,780 [TD=align: right]14,261 [/TD] [TD=align: right]13,794 [/TD] [TD=align: right]13,707 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.8% [/TD] Tyler Duffey @TheDoof13 194 [TD=align: right]173 [/TD] [TD=align: right]144 [/TD] [TD=align: right]127 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]52.8% [/TD] Eduardo Escobar @escobarmaracay 653 [TD=align: right]386 [/TD] [/TD] [TD=align: right]69.2% [/TD] Andrew Ferreira @Get_Meaty 4,804 [TD=align: right]4,942 [TD=align: right]5,186 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5,263 [/TD] [TD=align: right]-2.8% [/TD] [TD=align: right]-8.7% [/TD] Dallas Gallant @DGallant18 385 [TD=align: right]377 [/TD] [TD=align: right]361 [/TD] [TD=align: right]353 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.1% [/TD] Kyle Gibson @KGib44 7,181 [TD=align: right]7,017 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6,722 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6,569 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.3% [/TD] Jhonathan Goncalves @jhong1305 105 [TD=align: right]89 [/TD] [TD=align: right]83 [/TD] [TD=align: right]71 [/TD] [TD=align: right]18.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]47.9% [/TD] Niko Goodrum @NikoGoodrumTC 415 [TD=align: right]369 [/TD] [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.5% [/TD] Steven Gruver @sgruv30 83 [TD=align: right]79 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.1% [/TD] Deolis Guerra @deolisguerra 1,791 [TD=align: right]1,451 [TD=align: right]1,076 [/TD] [TD=align: right]885 [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]102.4% [/TD] Bryan Haar @BryanHaar24 134 [/TD][TD=align: right]133 [TD=align: right]120 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]11.7% Nate Hanson @NHans12 440 [TD=align: right]400 [/TD] [TD=align: right]371 [/TD] [TD=align: right]356 [/TD] [TD=align: right]10.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.6% [/TD] Matt Hauser @mhauser_17 268 [TD=align: right]247 [/TD] [TD=align: right]224 [/TD] [TD=align: right]211 [/TD] [TD=align: right]8.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]27.0% [/TD] BJ Hermsen @BJHermsen12 1,426 [TD=align: right]1,377 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,287 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,246 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]14.4% [/TD] DJ Hicks @DHicksMTB 845 [TD=align: right]773 [/TD] [TD=align: right]710 [/TD] [TD=align: right]699 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]20.9% [/TD] Aaron Hicks @AaronHicks31 11,307 [TD=align: right]10,486 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6,694 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5,279 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.8% [/TD] [TD=align: right]114.2% [/TD] Trent Higginbotham @trenthigg 168 [TD=align: right]156 [/TD] [TD=align: right]145 [/TD] [TD=align: right]136 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.5% [/TD] Travis Huber @TravisHuber55 425 [TD=align: right]417 [/TD] [TD=align: right]405 [/TD] [TD=align: right]396 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.3% [/TD] David Hurlbut @leftydh1989 88 [TD=align: right]77 [/TD] [TD=align: right]68 [/TD] [TD=align: right]61 [/TD] [TD=align: right]14.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]44.3% [/TD] Will Hurt @Will_Hurt 647 [TD=align: right]639 [/TD] [TD=align: right]626 [/TD] [TD=align: right]611 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.9% [/TD] Tyler Jones @TmfJones 36 [TD=align: right]36 [/TD] [TD=align: right]36 [/TD] [TD=align: right]28 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]28.6% [/TD] Zack Jones @Jack_Zones04 409 [TD=align: right]397 [/TD] [TD=align: right]369 [/TD] [TD=align: right]358 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]14.2% [/TD] Max Kepler @kepleroni 330 [TD=align: right]284 [/TD] [TD=align: right]138 [/TD] [TD=align: right]123 [/TD] [TD=align: right]16.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]168.3% [/TD] Kyle Knudson @KKnudson6 438 [TD=align: right]406 [/TD] [TD=align: right]370 [/TD] [TD=align: right]344 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]27.3% [/TD] Matt Koch @M_Koch4 60 [TD=align: right]49 [/TD] [TD=align: right]47 [/TD] [TD=align: right]42 [/TD] [TD=align: right]22.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]42.9% [/TD] Bobby Lanigan @BobbyLanigan 487 [TD=align: right]472 [/TD] [TD=align: right]430 [/TD] [TD=align: right]420 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]16.0% [/TD] Drew Leachman @d_leachman 198 [TD=align: right]192 [/TD] [TD=align: right]170 [/TD] [TD=align: right]160 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.8% [/TD] Andy Leer @andyleer12 123 [TD=align: right]113 [/TD] [TD=align: right]102 [/TD] [TD=align: right]95 [/TD] [TD=align: right]8.8% [/TD] [TD=align: right]29.5% [/TD] Austin Malinowski @AJMalinowski24 353 [TD=align: right]336 [/TD] [TD=align: right]302 [/TD] [TD=align: right]274 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]28.8% [/TD] Trevor May @TrevMay54 5,727 [TD=align: right]5,556 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5,272 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5,153 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]11.1% [/TD] Trevor May (MAZR) @TrevorMAZR 238 [/TD] Chris Mazza @ChrisMazza10 241 [TD=align: right]234 [TD=align: right]203 [/TD] [TD=align: right]193 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]24.9% [/TD] Kaleb Merck @TwinsMerckin 316 [TD=align: right]313 [/TD] [TD=align: right]304 [/TD] [TD=align: right]297 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.4% [/TD] Alex Meyer @Meyer17A 4,731 [TD=align: right]4,475 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,890 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,770 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]25.5% [/TD] Levi Michael @LeviMichael9 303 [TD=align: right]287 [/TD] [TD=align: right]267 [/TD] [TD=align: right]256 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]18.4% [/TD] Angel Morales @AngelMorales24 296 [TD=align: right]285 [/TD] [TD=align: right]275 [/TD] [TD=align: right]264 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.1% [/TD] Miguel Munoz @mikemunoz59 131 [TD=align: right]123 [/TD] [TD=align: right]108 [/TD] [TD=align: right]98 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]33.7% [/TD] Jonathan Murphy @JMurph6 259 [TD=align: right]251 [/TD] [TD=align: right]251 [/TD] [TD=align: right]246 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.3% [/TD] Lester Oliveros @lesteroliveros 1,945 [TD=align: right]1,870 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,779 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,755 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]10.8% [/TD] Ryan O'Rourke @RyanO_Rourke 581 [TD=align: right]562 [/TD] [TD=align: right]547 [/TD] [TD=align: right]547 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.2% [/TD] Chris Parmelee @CParms27 5,933 [TD=align: right]5,232 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,998 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3,656 [/TD] [TD=align: right]13.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]62.3% [/TD] Glen Perkins @glen_perkins 18,130 [TD=align: right]16,322 [/TD] [TD=align: right]14,874 [/TD] [TD=align: right]14,509 [/TD] [TD=align: right]11.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]25.0% [/TD] AJ Pettersen @apettersen1 761 [TD=align: right]694 [/TD] [TD=align: right]646 [/TD] [TD=align: right]629 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]21.0% [/TD] Trevor Plouffe @TPlouffe24 24,333 [TD=align: right]22,988 [/TD] [TD=align: right]21,651 [/TD] [TD=align: right]21,434 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]13.5% [/TD] Ryan Pressly @pressly_ryan 738 [/TD] Jake Proctor @JProc23 1,192 [TD=align: right]1,163 [TD=align: right]1,140 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,125 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.0% [/TD] Bruce Pugh @brucepugh55 79 [/TD] Michael Quesada @KSada55 154 [TD=align: right]146 [TD=align: right]137 [/TD] [TD=align: right]125 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.2% [/TD] Danny Rams @DannyRams35 1,065 [TD=align: right]1,061 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,055 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,057 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.8% [/TD] Antoan Richardson @ARichardson242 260 [/TD] Chad Rodgers @CMRodg 215 [TD=align: right]209 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.9% [/TD] Dereck Rodriguez @DereckRodRF3 331 [TD=align: right]330 [TD=align: right]325 [/TD] [TD=align: right]320 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.4% [/TD] Taylor Rogers @trogers34 286 [TD=align: right]275 [/TD] [TD=align: right]263 [/TD] [TD=align: right]250 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]14.4% [/TD] Dan Rohlfing @DanRohlfing 810 [TD=align: right]757 [/TD] [TD=align: right]644 [/TD] [TD=align: right]580 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]39.7% [/TD] Miguel Sano @SanoMiguel 2,001 [/TD] Danny Santana @bigmen07 73 [TD=align: right]47 [/TD] [TD=align: right]55.3% [/TD] Bryan Santy @BKSanty41 167 [TD=align: right]159 [TD=align: right]142 [/TD] [TD=align: right]127 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]31.5% [/TD] Anthony Slama @Slama39 4,430 [TD=align: right]4,389 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4,308 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4,293 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.2% [/TD] Markus Solbach @MSolbach23 58 [TD=align: right]39 [/TD] [TD=align: right]25 [/TD] [TD=align: right]16 [/TD] [TD=align: right]48.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]262.5% [/TD] Manuel Soliman @Soliman30 561 [TD=align: right]535 [/TD] [TD=align: right]496 [/TD] [TD=align: right]488 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]15.0% [/TD] Tom Stuifbergen @TomStuifbergen 727 [TD=align: right]706 [/TD] [TD=align: right]664 [/TD] [TD=align: right]615 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]18.2% [/TD] Anthony Swarzak @ASwarzak51 8,038 [TD=align: right]7,661 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7,301 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7,258 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]10.7% [/TD] Matt Tomshaw @matthewJTomshaw 215 [TD=align: right]209 [/TD] [TD=align: right]208 [/TD] [TD=align: right]203 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.9% [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.9% [/TD] Michael Tonkin @mtonkin37 231 [TD=align: right]176 [/TD] [TD=align: right]139 [/TD] [TD=align: right]124 [/TD] [TD=align: right]31.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]86.3% [/TD] Daniel Turpen @DdTuRpEn 149 [TD=align: right]148 [/TD] [TD=align: right]149 [/TD] [TD=align: right]142 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.9% [/TD] Kennys Vargas @kennysvargas 33 [TD=align: right]32 [/TD] [TD=align: right]29 [/TD] [TD=align: right]20 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]65.0% [/TD] Adam Walker @walkoff28 601 [TD=align: right]543 [/TD] [TD=align: right]494 [/TD] [TD=align: right]482 [/TD] [TD=align: right]10.7% [/TD] [TD=align: right]24.7% [/TD] PJ Walters @PJWalters39 2,514 [TD=align: right]2,479 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2,353 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2,311 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]8.8% [/TD] Tommy Watkins @TommyWatkins 1,507 [TD=align: right]1,447 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,358 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,336 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.8% [/TD] Dakota Watts @watts_22 872 [TD=align: right]862 [/TD] [TD=align: right]831 [/TD] [TD=align: right]819 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.2% [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.5% [/TD] Jason Wheeler @Lil_Wheels 178 [TD=align: right]172 [/TD] [TD=align: right]168 [/TD] [TD=align: right]163 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.2% [/TD] Stephen Wickens @wicks1221 126 [TD=align: right]120 [/TD] [TD=align: right]117 [/TD] [TD=align: right]107 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.0% [/TD] [TD=align: right]17.8% [/TD] Corey Williams @coreyw24 336 [TD=align: right]337 [/TD] [TD=align: right]334 [/TD] [TD=align: right]326 [/TD] [TD=align: right]-0.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.1% [/TD] Alex Wimmers @AlexWimmers21 1,341 [TD=align: right]1,322 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,267 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,244 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]7.8% [/TD] Tim Wood @The_Woodpile 850 [TD=align: right]798 [/TD] [TD=align: right]730 [/TD] [TD=align: right]685 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]24.1% [/TD] Vance Worley @VANIMAL_49 54,382 [TD=align: right]54,314 [/TD] [TD=align: right]53,851 [/TD] [TD=align: right]54,137 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.1% [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.5% [/TD] [/TD] FRONT OFFICE First Name Last Name Twitter 5/9 Update 4/15 Update 3/10 Update Followers Dave St. Peter @TwinsPrez 15,990 [TD=align: right]15,321 [TD=align: right]14,316 [/TD] [TD=align: right]14,131 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]13.2% [/TD] Dustin Morse @Twins_morsecode 10,834 [TD=align: right]10,674 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9,484 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9,299 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]16.5% [/TD] Mike Herman @HermTT 2,231 [TD=align: right]2,201 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2,129 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2,108 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.4% [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.8% [/TD] Bryan Donaldson @MNCommunityGuy 1,529 [TD=align: right]1,524 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,495 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1,488 [/TD] [TD=align: right]0.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.8% [/TD] Andrew Heydt @AndrewHeydt 461 [TD=align: right]437 [/TD] [TD=align: right]423 [/TD] [TD=align: right]395 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.5% [/TD] [TD=align: right]16.7% [/TD] Mike Kennedy @TwinsPRMachine 457 [TD=align: right]407 [/TD] [TD=align: right]370 [/TD] [TD=align: right]334 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.3% [/TD] [TD=align: right]36.8% [/TD] Brace Hemmelgarn @bracehemmelgarn 1,166 [TD=align: right]1,115 [/TD] [TD=align: right]972 [/TD] [TD=align: right]913 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]27.7% [/TD] TC Bear @TC_00 10,052 [TD=align: right]9800 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9217 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9907 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.6% [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.5% [/TD] [/TD] Twins Daily 5/9 Update 4/15 Update 3/10 Update Twins Daily @TwinsDaily 2,279 [TD=align: right]2149 [TD=align: right]1557 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]6.0% [/TD] John Bonnes @TwinsGeek 5,334 [TD=align: right]5127 [TD=align: right]4839 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]4.0% [/TD] Seth Stohs @SethTweets 4,984 [TD=align: right]4891 [TD=align: right]4745 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]1.9% [/TD] Nick Nelson @Nnelson9 2,703 [TD=align: right]2663 [TD=align: right]2554 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]1.5% [/TD] Parker Hageman @OverTheBaggy 3,165 [TD=align: right]3082 [TD=align: right]2849 [/TD] [/TD][TD=align: right]2.7% [/TD] Brock Beauchamp @rocketpig76 75 [TD=align: right]72 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4.2% [/TD] Jeremy Nygaard @JeremyNygaard 316 [TD=align: right]274 [/TD] [TD=align: right]15.3% [/TD] Cody Christie @NoDakTwinsFan 852 [TD=align: right]839 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.5% [/TD] Minor Leagues 5/9 Update 4/15 Update 3/10 Update Rochester Red Wings @RocRedWings 5,717 [TD=align: right]5376 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.3% [/TD] Josh Whetzel @JoshWhetzel 1,013 [TD=align: right]988 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.5% [/TD] Morrie Silver @MorrieSilver8 298 [TD=align: right]293 [/TD] [TD=align: right]1.7% [/TD] Jim Mandelaro @JMand1 1,116 [TD=align: right]1093 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.1% [/TD] Christopher Fee @CJFee 148 [TD=align: right]119 [/TD] [TD=align: right]24.4% [/TD] New Britain Rock Cats @RockCats 5,275 [TD=align: right]5098 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.5% [/TD] Ken Lipshez @KenLip1 110 [TD=align: right]107 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2.8% [/TD] Jeff Dooley @Jdooleysports 287 [TD=align: right]202 [/TD] [TD=align: right]42.1% [/TD] @Mnfanfromafar 319 [TD=align: right]284 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.3% [/TD] Ft. Myers Miracle @MiracleBaseball 5,606 [TD=align: right]5052 [/TD] [TD=align: right]11.0% [/TD] Bryce Zimmerman @ZimMiracle 414 [TD=align: right]261 [/TD] [TD=align: right]58.6% [/TD] Steve Gliner @stevieGFTM 389 [TD=align: right]377 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.2% [/TD] Adam MacDonald @AdamMacMiracle 74 [TD=align: right]60 [/TD] [TD=align: right]23.3% [/TD] David Dorsey @DavidADorsey 1,108 [TD=align: right]1071 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.5% [/TD] Cedar Rapids Kernels @CRKernels 3,816 [TD=align: right]3406 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12.0% [/TD] Morgan Hawk @Morgan_Hawk 337 [TD=align: right]307 [/TD] [TD=align: right]9.8% [/TD] Jim Crikket @JimCrikket 396 [TD=align: right]348 [/TD] [TD=align: right]13.8% [/TD] Jeff Johnson @jeje66 1,044 [TD=align: right]977 [/TD] [TD=align: right]6.9% [/TD] Metro Sports Report @metrosportsrept 757 [TD=align: right]720 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5.1% [/TD] Andrew Pantini @stadium65 88 [TD=align: right]85 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.5% [/TD] Brandon Clemens @brandonclemens 262 Elizabethton Twins @ETownTwins 647 [TD=align: right]623 [/TD] [TD=align: right]3.9% [TD][/TD] [/TABLE] Click here to view the article

The Twins have had some good success over the years in the Rule 5 draft. Shane Mack became part of the 1991 Minnesota Twins World Series championship team as is one of the more underrated players in Twins history. Garry Wayne had a couple of solid seasons with the Twins as a left-handed reliever. Doug Corbett had a couple of good years and was later dealt to the Angels for Tom Brunansky. Obviously the Twins selection of Jared Camp was terrific because they were immediately able to trade him to the Marlins for one Johan Santana. And two years ago, the team selected Scott Diamond who was arguably their top pitcher in 2012. Will 2012 Rule 5 draft selection Ryan Pressly be able to have an impact on the Twins organization? Well, only time, and spring training success, will tell[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]. Most are aware of the Rule 5 scenario, but just as a reminder, I’ll include the following. A Rule 5 pick (Major League portion) must remain with the big league club throughout the season or be offered back to his previous club. Last year, their Rule 5 pick, Terry Doyle, was returned to the White Sox after a tough spring training. Scott Diamond, chosen the year before, had to be offered back to the Braves. However, Atlanta and Minnesota were able to work out a trade (for RHP Billy Bullock) that allowed the Twins to remove Diamond from their 40 man roster and keep him. As they did a year earlier, the Twins selected a right-handed pitcher who performed very well in the Arizona Fall League. Although he posted an ERA of 3.86, in 14 innings he struckout 18 batters and walked just one. Regarding his AFL stint, Pressly remarked, “It went well. I never thought I’d be able to say it, but I threw too many strikes. When I told my dad that, he laughed too. Never thought I’d have that problem. 18 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio, I’ve never had that before. Hopefully it’s going to keep coming along.” Pressly, the 11th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2007’s Rule 4 draft, had been a starter throughout most of his minor league career. In 2012, he struggled in High-A and AA as a starter and was moved to the bullpen where he began to experience more success. About his move to the bullpen, Pressly sees it as an opportunity. “Obviously I wasn’t throwing as well as I wanted to as a starter, so I thought the change to the bullpen was another opportunity. I want that opportunity. As a reliever, you can go out the next night, so I like the reliever role better.” But it isn’t always easy to make the transition to the bullpen. Pressly said the transition wasn’t too bad. “I picked it up pretty quick. I picked the brains of guys who have been in the bullpen. They just kind of shoved me away. I want to run with it now.” It might be the perfect role for the 6-3 right-hander as he had a tendency to dwell on a bad start for a few days. “The first two days you’re pretty disappointed because you want to go 6, 7, 8 innings. You want to help the bullpen out. I’ve been on both ends of that now, so I know how that feels. Yeah, I would kind of dwell on it a little bit because it would make me mad, more that I didn’t do as well as I could. But now as a reliever, you’ve got to get rid of it the second you’re off the mound.” Pressly added, “As a starter, you have to pace yourself, obviously, but as a reliever, you can come in and reach back and let it go. With my velocity and strikes, I’m just going out and attacking hitters and not holding anything back.” As Jeremy Nygaard wrote about him in the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2013, “Pressly throws three pitches: a low-to-mid-90s fastball, a curveball that sometimes looks like a slider and a deceptive changeup/cutter that is developing into a swing-and-miss pitch.” So, what does he consider his put-away pitch? “Whatever the hitter shows me, I guess. It could be the sliders. It could be the curveball. It could be the fastball. Just kind of depends on how he approaches me.” Pressly may not know all the faces of his new teammates, but he is not unfamiliar with the Twins organization. The Red Sox spring training complex is also in Ft. Myers and the two teams and their minor league teams play frequently. So what is Pressly hoping to learn from working with the few veterans in the Twins bullpen like Glen Perkins and Jared Burton? “You can’t learn anything by talking, so I’m just going to out there and not speak unless spoken to. I want to watch and see what they do. See if it helps me. We’ll see what happens.” As generally no more than two or three Rule 5 guys each year remain with the club that selects him, the odds that Pressley won’t be a member of the Twins bullpen on Opening Day. However, it can happen and has happen, and if not else, Spring Training is about opportunity, and that’s how Ryan Pressly is going to look at it. “When they picked me I was pretty pumped. They have had some success with Rule 5 guys and hopefully I can keep that going. We’ll see what happens this spring.” View full article

Players with less than three years of major league service time will typically sign one year, two-way contracts. Now that spring training has started, expect many of the Twins players to sign such contracts in the next week. These two-way contracts are for a certain dollar value if the player is in the big leagues, and another (significantly smaller) dollar value if they are playing in the minor leagues. The Two-Way Contract means that a player is EITHER making $X in the big leagues OR $(X – LOTS) in the minor leagues. With Terry Ryan at the helm and so many difficult questions to be answered when the season starts, it appears that the Twins have set up a Two-Way Planning system for the 2012 season. How it plays out will be determined by a series of EITHER/OR scenarios. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: TerryRyan2.jpg The biggest EITHER/OR scenario is will the Twins be able to complete for a division title in 2012? We can all make assumptions, but we don’t know, and there are so many factors. FACTORS The health of Joe MauerThe health of Justin MorneauThe health of Denard SpanThe elbow of Scott BakerThe durability of Carl PavanoThe mindset and performance of Francisco LirianoThe improvements of Danny Valencia, Ben Revere and other young playersMatt Capps ability to get outs in the 9th2-5 bullpen arms need to step up and contribute consistently well.Minor Leaguers coming up and contributing when needed throughout the season (Hendriks, Diamond, Gutierrez, Guerra, Waldrop, Oliveros, Benson, Parmelee, Dozier, etc.)Each one of those ten Factors was a factor whether or not the Twins brought in any free agents. If seven or eight of those factors wind up positive for the Twins, they have a chance to compete. NEW VARIABLES Josh Willingham – The outfielder will likely replace the offensive production of Michael Cuddyer and play about as well defensively. He has a career track record of walking a lot, striking out a lot and hitting a bunch of home runs.Jamey Carroll – the middle infielder should help solidify an infield defense that was pretty atrocious last year. He also perfectly profiles as a #2 hitter due to a very good on-base percentage.Ryan Doumit – Likely becomes the team’s #2 starting catcher meaning he should start most of the games that Joe Mauer doesn’t behind the plate. On other days, he should get a lot of time as a DH, at 1B and even in RF. Offensively, he should add plenty of extra base hits.Jason Marquis – Although many Twins fans did not like this acquisition (and I’m not wild about it myself), Marquis has put together a pretty solid career. He was even pretty good last year in Washington (9-5, 3.95 ERA) before being traded to Arizona where he hurt his leg. He strikes out about as many Pavano. Let’s hope that he can eat that many innings!Joel Zumaya - The ultimate in ‘injury risk,’ Zumaya hasn’t pitched in nearly two years. However, he had a good throwing session in front of a lot of scouts. He still throws pretty hard. It will be very interesting to see how the Twins use him and how much he has to contribute.Although none of the above are All-Stars (with the possible exception of Willingham), they are the types of players that will compliment the roster well. The Two-Way Plan All of that background gets us to The Two-Way Plan for July. Because we don’t know for sure how it will play out, they will need to be written as IF/THEN statements. Scenario One IF seven or eight of the factors listed above are going positively, AND the Twins are getting positive performances from their minor leaguers and these new players, AND the team is in contention in mid-July, THEN they will have plenty of payroll flexibility to add a significant piece or two at the deadline, if they choose. Scenario Two However, IF things are not going well, AND they are enduring another year of injuries to key players, AND players are not stepping up as needed, AND the Twins find themselves well out of contention in July, THEN they have accumulated a lot of trade pieces to start a more rapid rebuilding plan. Carl Pavano, Jason Marquis and Francisco Liriano are all free agents at the end of the season. They could be traded. Scott Baker has an option at just over $9 million. He could be traded. Alexi Casilla, Ryan Doumit and Jamey Carroll could both be traded to a contender needing to fill a role. If the Twins sour on any of their players that are out of options, they could be traded. The Twins have a $100 million payroll, so they are saying the right things, saying that they believe that with accountability, healthy and performance, they can compete. They have done so while also being in a position to go to a full-blown rebuild if the situation presents itself. I don’t know if that strategy is intentional, but the roster sets up to accommodate either option. Click here to view the article

It was quite the power display for the Rochester Red Wings, something the Twins AAA-affiliate needed badly. Clete Thomas and Chris Colabello continue to make their case for big league jobs. Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton continue to make their cases for being the #1 prospect in baseball going into the 2014 season.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins fell again in Cleveland, but there was plenty to watch in the Twins minor leagues. There was good pitching. The top prospects each had multi-hit games. And, the Red Wings got some big time power from the middle of their lineup. Check out what happened on Saturday in the minor league parks: Rochester Red Wings 8, Columbus Clippers 2 Box Score The middle of the Red Wings lineup came through in a big way on Saturday night in Ohio. Clete Thomas, Chris Colabello and Jeff Clement (the 3-4-5 hitters) combined to go 8-15 with a double, five home runs and seven RBI. Thomas is now hitting .386 after going 2-5 with his fifth and sixth home runs. Chris Colabello went 4-5 with his seventh double and seventh home run. Jeff Clement was 2-5 with the first two home runs of his season. Joe Benson had a single to extend his hitting streak to nine games. (Photo - Naples News) Liam Hendriks made the start. He gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out five. Caleb Thielbar came on and threw two scoreless innings, walking one and striking one out. Luis Perdomo gave up one hit in a scoreless ninth. He struck out two. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 2 Box Score The score was tied at one going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Lefty Edgar Ibarra, who threw a scoreless eighth inning, was back on the mound. He walked the leadoff batter and proceeded to throw two wild pitches to get the runner to third base. He then intentionally walked the next two batters in an attempt to set up a force at home plate. Jose Gonzalez was brought in, and he proceeded to walk in the winning run. Trevor May was very good while Terry Ryan watched from the stands. The hard-throwing right-hander went seven strong innings. He gave up one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out three. The Rock Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first. Veteran Charlie Haeger, the knuckleballer who spent parts of five season in the big leagues, was on the mound for Portland. He missed all of the 2012 season after having Tommy John surgery. He walked Antoan Richardson to lead off the game. Richardson stole his twelfth base of the year and then advanced to third on a groundout by Danny Santana. With Mark Sobolewski batting, Haeger threw a pitch that knuckled past the catcher to score Richardson. That was the lone run of the game for New Britain. The Rock Cats had just four hits on the game. AJ Pettersen left Ft. Myers very early on Saturday morning and landed in Portland, Maine, two hours before the early afternoon game. He arrived at the ballpark to find that he was in the lineup, batting ninth and playing second base. In his first plate appearance, Haeger walked him. In his next plate appearance, he was hit by a knuckleball. He then flew out to right field twice. Alex Meyer will face Brandon Workman when the two teams play on Sunday at noon (central time). Ft. Myers Miracle 5, St. Lucie Mets 10 Box Score The Miracle’s nine game winning streak came to an end on Saturday night. Tom Stuifbergen made the start and gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out five over the next two innings. He gave up one hit and an unearned run. Corey Williams pitched the eighth inning. He gave up a solo home run and he struck out two. Chad Rodgers yielded two runs in the ninth. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out two. Miguel Sano did his part. The slugger gave the Miracle a 3-0 lead after one inning with a three-run blast, his tenth home run of the season. He had three hits in the game and drove in four runs. Matt Koch went 3-4 as well. Cedar Rapids Kernels 5, South Bend Silver Hawks 6 (11 innings) Box Score Tyler Duffey continued to pitch well, but it wasn’t enough on this night. The right-hander went the first seven innings. He gave up two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out five. Tyler Jones came on and struck out the one batter he faced. Josh Burris came on and gave up three runs on one hit and three walks in one inning. Tim Atherton came on and got out of the ninth inning. He got the game to the 11th frame, but a leadoff walk led to a game-losing run. He gave up the run on two hits and three walks (one intentional) in two innings. Byron Buxton continued his streak of getting on base in all 27 games so far this season. He was 2-5 with a walk and his sixth and seventh doubles. He also stole his 12th base. Jorge Polanco went 2-5 with a walk and his third triple. He is now hitting .352. Tyler Grimes was 2-4 and was hit by two pitches. Niko Goodrum had a single, two walks and his third stolen base. A LOOK AHEAD to Sunday Sam Deduno will be making his first start of the season for the Red Wings on Sunday at noon (central time) in Columbus. Alex Meyer will be starting for New Britain in Portland, Maine on Sunday at noon. Ft. Myers plays at 3:05 on Sunday afternoon and will have Cole De Vries making a rehab start. J.O. Berrios will start for the Kernels in South Bend when they start at 1:05. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

The Twins had their first scheduled off-day of the season on Thursday. They were in Minnesota watching the snow fall. As they look forward to a weekend, interleague series against the New York Mets, the forecast is for snow to fall in Minneapolis throughout the day on Friday. Hopefully they will be able to get some games in. Inclement weather caused the Cedar Rapids Kernels to postpone a game for the third straight night. Three affiliates did play last night. Kyle Gibson was on the mound for the Red Wings and Oswaldo Arcia had a couple more hits. Josmil Pinto reclaimed the organization’s early home run lead. And, one of Twins Daily’s own had a big game for Ft. Myers. Find out if the Miracle were able to remain perfect on the season. All of that and more are below in today’s Twins Minor League Report.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] If you’d like to hear some discussion on the Mets and Twins, I was on the MetsMusings.com podcast last night. Listen here. Rochester Red Wings 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 5 Box Score Kyle Gibson got off to a good start on Thursday night. The right-hander had a 1-2-3 first inning that included strikeouts of Jose Iglesius and a rehabbing David Ortiz. However, in the third inning, Iglesius hit a two-run homer to left field. In the fifth inning, Ortiz singled in a run and another run scored on a double before Gibson was replaced by Caleb Thielbar who allowed one of his inherited runners to score. In all, Gibson gave up five runs on either hits. In 4.1 innings, he gave up one walk and struckout six. Thielbar struckout three in 1.2 innings. Michael O’Connor gave up one hit in 1.1 scoreless innings. Luis Perdomo struckout both batters he faced. Oswaldo Arcia continues his torrid start. He went 2-4 and knocked his third home run of the young season. Mark Sobolewski hit his first home run. The two accounted for three of the team’s five hits in the game. Ortiz went 2-3 in his first rehab appearance. Shairon Martis will start for the Red Wings against Pawtucket tonight. New Britain Rock Cats 3, Portland Sea Dogs 9 Box Score Pat Dean struggled again in his second outing of the season. The lefty from Connecticut gave up five runs (2 earned) on seven hits and a walk in 3.2 innings. Marty Popham came on and gave up two runs on a hit and three walks in one inning. He did strikeout two. Nelvin Fuentes went the next 2.1 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. AJ Achter struckout three in the final two innings. The pitchers were hurt by four errors by their defense. Jason Christian committed two errors at third base, but he did go 2-4 with his first double. Josmil Pinto launched his fourth home run of the year. Alex Meyer is scheduled to pitch for the Rock Cats against Portland on Friday. Ft. Myers Miracle 6, Jupiter Hammerheads 5 Box Score In a lineup that includes Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, on Thursday night, it was Twins Daily and Minnesota’s own, AJ Pettersen, who played hero and helped the Miracle improve to 7-0 on the season. Pettersen, batting ninth and playing shortstop, was -3 with a stolen base already when he came up with a runner on in the bottom of the 8th inning. His RBI double gave the Miracle a 6-5 lead. Pettersen is now hitting .353 on the season. Things didn’t start out so well for the Miracle. Jason Wheeler started and gave up five runs on six hits and two walks in just three innings. Chad Rodgers came in and struckout two in two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke went two scoreless innings. Once the Miracle got the lead, Zack Jones was brought in and struckout two in a perfect ninth inning for his third save. O’Rourke, the Vulture, picked up the win to improve to 3-0 out of the bullpen. The big bats at the top of the Miracle batting order contributed as well. Angel Morales was 3-5 with his third double. Eddie Rosario hit his third and fourth doubles in five at bats. He’s now hitting .367. Miguel Sano struckout three times, but when he made contact, he launched a towering home run, his second of the season. He’s hitting .393. Matt Koch was also 2-4. Cedar Rapids Kernels, Clinton LumberKings The Kernels were rained/snowed out for the third straight night on Thursday. After missing the final two games in Wisconsin, the Kernels lost last night’s game to Clinton. The two teams will attempt to play two, seven-inning games on Friday night, starting at 5:00 p.m. View full article

Download attachment: Miguel Cabrera600.jpg I have been meaning to write a blog or an article on this topic for days. Thankfully, Kurt Mensching from the terrific Tigers blog Bless You Boys wrote it for me! (http://www.blessyoub...l-you-otherwise) Sure, he's a Tigers blogger, so he might be a little biased on this topic today. But I'm a Twins blogger, and I 100% agree with him. The Triple Crown still matters, no matter what some people want you to think. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Do I think that if Miguel Cabrera achieves the Triple Crown that it should assure that he be the AL MVP? No. But the two don't have to go hand in hand, do they? Why can't we just appreciate a statistical achievement that has not happened in Major League Baseball in 45 years!! Why can't we just appreciate a statistical achievement that only 11 players have done since 1900! Batting Average - yes, I understand, it's not as important as on-base percentage, but it's still a nice statistic. It must be fairly important as it is counted twice in OPS! HR - These are fairly important and have a nice impact on Slugging Percentage and RBI. RBI - yes, they are dependent often upon teammates getting on base. Kurt wrote it so much more thoroughly and eloquently than I, but Someone has to drive in runs. As Twins fans, we should appreciate this. How many times this year (and in recent years), have the Twins had a runner on 3B and less than two outs and NOT scored a run. A sacrifice fly would do it. A ground out to 2B would do it. Someone has to score the runs. I don't know. Maybe I read the wrong bloggers and writers on Twitter or something. I like most of the new-school stats and try to have a cursory understanding of what they are telling me. They are great, and I do believe that all front offices should use them to some degree. But I also believe that front office do need to use old-school methods of scouting and player evaluation too. People can talk all they want about whether Mike Trout or Miguel Cabrera should win the AL MVP award. I'm not sure I care which wins because I feel both are deserving. Just as I hope voters will not use solely the SABRmetric stats like WAR to decide, I don't think they should only use the old-school stats either. But that's about the MVP award. If we're just talking about the Triple Crown on its own, it is incredible cool. I don't think that Cabrera is being talked about enough for what he is likely to be able to claim by the end of today. 45 years... accomplished 11 times since 1900 (and by Hall of Famers)... What Miguel Cabrera is doing in 2012 is historical, and I guess, in my opinion, it hasn't been treated as such. Especially as we are seeing offensive numbers declining the last couple of years, it is even more impressive. Vote for whoever you want for the AL MVP, but at least give Cabrera credit for a monster offensive season. It's OK. Really! You can celebrate a Triple Crown Award... And, you can discuss it here. Click here to view the article

Masterson, from what I've heard, is scheduled to pitch on Friday... Good deal for both sides. Ramsey is a former Twins pick who went back to Florida State. Good deal for both teams. And no, the Twins won't get anything near this for Correia. Masterson is a stud (when healthy).

Major League players with less than six years of service time and more than three years of service time are eligible for salary arbitration. As we all know, there are a bunch of Super-2 arbitration-eligible players as well each year. On Tuesday, arbitration numbers will be exchanged. The teams will say how much they are offering to the player, and the player and his agent will submit the value that they think they should receive. Of course, in most cases, the team and the player come up with a value somewhere in the middle and numbers never get exchanged. When the offseason began, and TwinsCentric was working on its Offseason GM Handbook, the Twins had eight arbitration-eligible players on their roster. Since the end of the season, there have been a few changes: Phil Dumatrait – Was Designated for Assignment and removed from the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but returned to the Twins on a minor league contract. That means, he is no longer eligible for arbitration.Jason Repko – Was Designated for Assignment and removed from the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but has not yet signed with another organization.Matt Tolbert – Was Designated for Assignment and removed from the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but has not yet signed with another organization.Jose Mijares – Was non-tended last month by the Twins. Less than a week later, he signed with the Kansas City Royals.Kevin Slowey – Was traded to the Colorado Rockies in December.That leaves the Twins with three arbitration-eligible players. The Twins will likely attempt to sign all three before Tuesday’s deadline. It is also possible they are working on multi-year deals with one or more of them. Here they are: 1.) Alexi Casilla – In 2011, the 2B/SS made $700,000 in his first year of arbitration. In the Offseason GM Handbook, TwinsCentric predicted that he would get $2.5 million in arbitration. If I were to place my bet, I think it will be closer to $1.5 million. 2.) Glen Perkins – In 2011, the lefty reliever made $865,000 in his first year of arbitration. TwinsCentric projected him to make $1.8 million, and I think that is about right. I also believe that the Twins may look to lock up Perkins for three years (to buy out one year of free agency). Perkins may be hesitant to sign a long-term deal knowing that there is a chance he will get some time as Twins’ closer this year, and closers make a bunch more money. However, if he wants to stay with the Twins, it’s possible that he could be signed in the neighborhood of three years and $8 million. 3.) Francisco Liriano – In 2011, Liriano made $4.3 million. Despite a frustrating season, he will likely get a raise. TwinsCentric predicted that he would be awarded $6 million, but I think it will be closer to $5 million. A year ago, I said that the Twins should sign him to a 4 year, $40 million deal. At this point, I’d be very hesitant to give Liriano a multi-year deal. However, if they are at all interested, now is the time to do it. This would be a buy low scenario. Could the Twins now have the talented (but enigmatic) Liriano to a three year, $18 million now? If so, would you consider it? We will learn quite a bit before Tuesday’s deadline. Many years the Twins get all their arbitration situations figured out before numbers are even exchanged. This year, the Twins have three very interesting situations. What do you think will happen? Click here to view the article

Last night, Astros closer and former Minnesota Twins Rule 5 pick and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly recorded the final three outs of the second no-hitter in World Series history. 2013 was the first season of Twins Daily, and I had the opportunity to cover Opening Day at Target Field. A couple of hours before the game, I walked up to a nervous Ryan Pressly at his locker. He was excited, anxious, wide-eyed, and had no clue where his career might take him. Here is that Opening Day article from April 1, 2013, at Twins Daily. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel, USA TODAY Sports Target Field - Phenom Aaron Hicks is not the only Minnesota Twins player who will be making the jump from AA to the big leagues in 2013. Rule 5 pick Ryan Pressly is also making that jump, and he’s admittedly, and understandably, “pretty nervous right now” as the Twins and Tigers are preparing to open their 2013 seasons at Target Field this afternoon. Aaron Hicks spent the entire 2012 season in New Britain. Ryan Pressly didn’t make his AA debut until mid-July, shortly after making the transition from being a starting pitcher to his new role in the bullpen. Pressly pitched very well in the Arizona Fall League in 2012 and impressed the Twins brass enough to make him their Rule 5 selection in December. By rules, the Twins are required to keep Pressly on the big league roster for the entire 2013 season or would have to offer him back to the Red Sox. Pressly is hoping to stick around with the Twins for a while. Twins Daily had the opportunity to talk to the hard-throwing, 24-year-old right-hander from Dallas before batting practice today. It wasn’t hard to tell that Pressly is thrilled to be with the Twins and in the big leagues. His ear-to-ear smile tells that story clearly. “I’m pretty nervous right now. I wouldn’t say nervous, more anxious than anything, because it’s Opening Day. A lot of these guys have gone through it, but some of us haven’t and it’s pretty fun, pretty entertaining.” He found spring training to be even more than he was anticipating this spring. “(I) never realized how the competition was there, and it just kind of shocked me. I was more in shock when I got there, seeing all the guys in camp, everybody competing. It was fun though.” It was fun, in part, because he pitched incredibly well. In 13 1/3 innings over 10 spring training games, he gave up just one run on nine hits. He posted a 0.66 ERA and opponents hit just .191 off of him. What did he credit for his success? “Just attacking hitters. I was just going after them. I didn’t really try to get too cute with anything. I just wanted to throw all my stuff for strikes and try to get people out. That’s really all you can do.” It was really just a continuation of his successful AFL stint where he walked just one and struck out 18 in 14 innings. The righty throws 95 with a good, power curveball. “I guess at the AFL and the end of AA season, it all just kind of clicked. I really can’t explain it. I can’t explain what I have done, but it’s just clicked. I guess moving to the bullpen, a new role it’s just helped a lot. ” Having come from the Red Sox organization, he already was familiar with the city of Ft. Myers. The Red Sox spring training facilities are just across town. The two teams played several times throughout spring training. It was after an appearance against the Red Sox when Pressly was told the news he had hoped for all spring training, that he would make the Twins Opening Day roster. “I got done throwing, and I wasn’t even two steps into the dugout and (Ron) Gardenhire shook my hand and said ‘Congratulations, You made the team.’ I was just in shock, and I didn’t even know what to say or do. I just shook his hand and said, ‘OK.’” His dad was in a business meeting at the time, but he still called home. “I called my mom, and she was ecstatic. Screaming. I think she was crying a little bit, but it was an awesome feeling. I don’t think I was even out of my cleats yet.” Pressly played most of the 2012 season with Jackie Bradley, Jr. who made his major league debut today as the Red Sox left fielder after splitting the 2012 season between A ball and AA ball. Pressly is excited for his first Opening Day, as he should be. He’s even excited to get to partake in the Twins bullpen tradition. How does he feel about carrying out the pink backpack full of treats? He’s excited. “I’ve got everything organized in there already. I just have to take some drink requests after we get done throwing.” Pressly isn’t completely certain what role or what types of situations he’ll be put into. He couldn’t stop smiling during a pre-batting practice interview. It’s a great story. As Twins fans, let’s hope that he pitches well and keeps on smiling throughout the season. ---------------------------------------------------- Ten Seasons. A couple of All Star games. A World Series ring, and working on a second one. Last night, Ryan Pressly recorded the final three outs of an Astros combined no-hitter, just the second no-hitter in World Series history. View full article

Download attachment: Halffullempty.jpg Two more games left. 160 Twins games have been played in 2012 season. It’s been yet another frustrating, 90-loss season for the Twins and their fans. As the offseason fast approaches, it will soon be time for the Hot Stove League. That means 40 man roster decisions, winter meetings, trades, free agents, and most important, rumors. Rumors will, as always, be prevalent throughout the offseason. Twins Daily is the place for all of that! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] One question that the Twins front office will have to ask themselves, and Twins fans will want to ask themselves (just for fun), will affect how the offseason plays out. Is the Twins' glass half full or half empty? Consider: Josh Willingham came to Target Field and in his first year with the Twins, he hit a career-high 35 home runs and drove in a career-high 110 runs in a career-high 145 games. Joe Mauer returned from a frustrating 2011 season to compete for the AL batting title and lead Major League Baseball in On-Base Percentage. Proving he can play a solid 1B, his 147 games played (assuming he plays the final two games in Toronto) will be a career high. Ryan Doumit was brought in on a one-year, $3 million deal and posted his career bests in doubles (34), home runs (18), RBI (75) and games played (134). He did a nice job behind the plate and showed enough versatility to play some left field. The Twins locked him up for two more years at just $7 million. Justin Morneau overcame wrist and brain injuries to have a monster second half. Denard Span and Ben Revere did a nice job instigating the lineup, helping the team to more an 0.5 more runs per game than a year ago. Both played very good defense as well. Lefty Scott Diamond came back from a difficult 2011 season to become the Twins best starting pitcher. With one start remaining, he is 12-8 with a 3.54 ERA (4-1 in Rochester, giving him 16 total wins in 2012 after losing 19 combined last year). He has already thrown 202.2 innings. Glen Perkins was signed to a long-term contract extension this spring and has proven to be worth every cent regardless of the role he has been in. He’s 3-1 with 16 saves. In 69.1 innings, he has walked just 16 and struck out 75. Jared Burton was signed as a minor league free agent after missing time the last couple of years with shoulder injuries. He became the Twins 8th inning stalwart. He was 3-2 with a 2.21 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP. In 61 innings, he walked just 15 and struckout 53. Note that if nothing changes, each of these players is scheduled to be back with the Twins in 2012. However, at the same time, a few realities need to be front of mind: Despite the offensive performances listed above, the Twins offense ranked 10th out of 14 teams in the American League with 4.35 runs per game. They are 7th in batting average and 6th in on-base percentage. However, they are just 12th out of 14 in slugging percentage thanks to the second fewest home runs. The Twins pitchers gave up 5.16 runs per game which was better than only Cleveland (5.17 R/G). Of course, their ERA is 4.78 and Cleveland’s is 4.77. What is staggering is that the Twins had just 924 strikeouts. The second-lowest total in the AL? Cleveland pitchers have struckout 1,058. Tampa’s pitchers led with 1,348 strikeouts. Last year the Twins were the second-worst team in baseball. This year, despite relative health (at least compared to 2011) and strong performances by all of those listed above, the Twins will have another top five pick in the 2013 draft. They’re also competing over the final two games of the season with Cleveland for last place in baseball’s worst division. So again, the question for the Twins front office (and for all of you reading this, of course), how full is the Twins cup? Half Full? Or Half Empty? Half Full - The Twins could make one trade and sign two or three mid-level pitchers who will make Diamond the Twins #3 or #4 starter, instead of #1 starter. In doing so, the Twins could be competitive in the AL Central in 2013 or at least 2014. Meanwhile, Kyle Gibson, Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Arcia, Chris Herrmann and a few other minor leaguers could be ready to contribute by midseason. Half Empty – The Twins need to blow this thing up. Trade Morneau. Trade Span. Trade Willingham. Acquire youth. Build for 2017 and hope that the rebuilding goes better than the Royals or Pirates plans have gone. The Pirates assured themselves of their 20th straight losing season. The Royals have one .500 season in the last 20. So as the Twins finish out their season north of the border, Twins Daily will be great place for Twins fans to discuss what direction we would encourage the Twins front office to go. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Kevin Correia.jpg According to sources, the Twins have agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Kevin Correia. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick is saying that the deal is a two-year deal and $10 million. The 32-year-old right-hander has gone 12-11 the last two seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His ERA in 2011 was 4.79, and it was 4.21 in 2012. He was originally a 4th round pick by the San Francisco Giants. He has spent time with the Giants, Padres and Pirates. In 10 big league seasons, he is a combined 60-65 with a 4.54 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. His career strikeout rate is 6.0. However, the last two seasons, his K/9 has been 4.5 and 4.7. He made his first, and only, All Star appearance in 2011 with the Pirates. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The past two seasons, he has thrown 154 and 171 innings. His career high innings were 198 with the Padres in 2009. Correia comes in as the veteran of a pitching staff that includes Scott Diamond and Vance Worley. Of those three, he's clearly the third best. Best case scenario, he can find a way to be just about league average in 2013 and the Twins can trade him for a C-level prospect in July. If nothing else, I do like this deal much better than the 1 year, $6 million deal that Scott Feldman got from the Cubs. Click here to view the article

Age: 23 (DOB: 1/3/90) 2012 Stats A/A+: 129.0 IP, 2.86 ERA, 139/45 K/BB, 1.10 WHIP ETA: 2014 Generally speaking, the best trades are the ones that both sides can be happy about. Of course, for fans, the best trades are the ones where your team ripped off the other team. In late November, the Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals finally reached an agreement on a deal that would send Denard Span to the nation’s capital in exchange for minor league pitcher Alex Meyer. The Nationals got the centerfielder and true leadoff hitter that they have been looking for, while the Twins got an upper echelon power pitching prospect that they have been yearning for. Another frequently-used cliché used any time there is a trade is, “To get something good, you’ve got to give up something good.”[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Denard Span played a terrific centerfield in his five seasons with the Twins. He also hit .284/.357/.389 (.746) with 90 stolen bases despite missing time due to his 2011 concussion. Span has a very team-friendly contract in which he will make $11.25 million over the next two seasons and has a $9 million option for 2015. He will be an important cog for a Nationals team that has aspirations of a World Series championship in 2013. For a team that has lost 195 games over the past two seasons and had one of baseball’s worst pitching staffs the last couple of seasons, obtaining high-ceiling, top-of-the-rotation starting pitching is crucial. The Twins acquired just that when they received Twins Daily’s choice for the Twins #5 Prospect, Alex Meyer. Alex Meyer was the 20th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2008 out of his Indiana high school. He and his parents (with the assistance of advisor Scott Boras) turned down a $2 million signing bonus and chose to attend the University of Kentucky. When he went to college, he had a lot of development to do. His delivery and arm action needed to be helped. It’s not unusual that such tall, long pitchers take quite a bit of time to find a consistent release point and be able to repeat his pitches. Kentucky’s coach, Gary Henderson, develops a lot of credit for Meyer’s development. Because if it, when the 2011 draft rolled around, Meyer was the 23rd overall pick by the Nationals, a compensatory pick from the White Sox for signing Type A free agent Adam Dunn. As much as the Twins liked him, there was no way he would fall to 30th pick where the Twins took Levi Michael. Meyer (and his agent, Boras) was still able to get his $2 million signing bonus. In his professional debut, the Nationals decided that it was best of Meyer to be sent to Low A Hagerstown. He went 7-4 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. In 90 innings, he walked 34 and struckout 107 (10.7 per nine). He was promoted to High-A Potomac where he went 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. In 39 innings, he walked just 11 (2.5 per nine) and struckout 32 (7.4 per nine) The Good When it comes to projectability, Alex Meyer tops the charts. At 6-9 and just 220 pounds, he has room to grow, to get bigger and strong, and even throw harder. That’s impressive when we are already talking about a guy who throws 94 to 96 mph and can reach back and hit 98 at any time. If you watched the Futures Game last year, he even hit 99 mph. He also has a very good slider that he throws at 85 to 89 mph. That fast became a swing-and-miss pitch for Meyer. In the last couple of years, he has really developed his changeup. It is a good pitch that has good sink. He also throws a knuckle-curveball that continues to need development. At Kentucky, Meyer was a teammate of Twins minor leaguers Logan Darnell (6th round, 2010), Lance Ray (8th round, 2010), and Taylor Rogers (11th round, 2012). It’s interesting to get their perspectives on the 23-year-old right-hander. Darnell and Meyer were teammates for two years. He said, “He (Meyer) is a great guy, good teammate and a very talented player! He throws in the mid-to-high 90s with a very good slider, and a pretty good changeup. He’s excited to be a Twin too.” Ray added, “Really excited about having the opportunity to play with Meyer again. He is a really talented pitcher, and I can’t wait to play defense behind him. Meyer is a guy who can dominate the game when he is on the mound.” What were the qualities that the Twins saw in him to make him a target, willing to give up a talent like Span for him? According to Twins Vice President of Player Pesonnel, Mike Radcliff, “Meyer has the physical attributes to be a top-of-the-rotation starter which is arguably the most difficult commodity to acquire. His present stuff and pitches, along with an evolving maturity to apply his talent, give him a very high ceiling.” Radcliff added, “Frankly, we don’t make this trade if there was not a high level of conviction that he can reach the performance levels of an impact starting pitcher.” The Bad According to Radcliff, Meyer will have to “overcome the normal hurdles. He will have to gain more command of his fastball. He’ll have to find the usability of his complementary pitches.” Again, tall, lanky pitchers typically struggle with release point consistency. It’s something that Meyer will have to overcome. Consider that Randy Johnson, one of the top handful of pitchers in the past 30 years and someone who should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The hard-throwing 6-10 lefty got to the big leagues for four starts as a 24 year old at the end of the 1988 season. In his age 25 season (1989), he walked 5.4 per nine innings and struck out 7.3 per nine. In 1990, he walked 4.9 per nine and struckout 7.1 per nine. In 1991, at age 27, he walked 6.8 batters per nine innings, although he did raise his K-rate to 10.2 per nine. And, in 1992, he walked 6.2 per nine and struckout 10.9. After turning 29 years old, he never walked more than 3.8 per nine. From 1999 (age 35 season) to 2009 (age 45 season), he never walked as many as 2.9 per nine. No, I am not saying that Meyer is going to be the second coming of Randy Johnson, just that patience with any pitcher, much less a very tall pitcher is very important. To see that he walked just 3.1 batters per nine innings in his first professional season is certainly encouraging. Radcliff added that Meyer will need to develop a couple more things that really can only be developed over time and innings. “The development of his physicality and mound presence to produce the innings potential and production of a rotation stalwart will also be key.” The Bottom Line Alex Meyer is 6-9. He throws a fastball that approached triple digits and has two or three pitches that are also considered plus-plus pitches. After developing a lot in college, he showed good progress in his first professional season. Many scouts have indicated that he has also shown a very good maturity, and a very professional approach. One question we hear often is where Meyer will begin the 2013 season and how quickly he can move up the system and be in a Twins uniform. Mike Radcliff says, “As a newcomer to the system, we need to see and interact with him in spring training to gauge his present ability to compete. New Britain looks like the natural starting place.” The Twins traded their starting centerfielder and leadoff hitter to the Nationals to acquire Alex Meyer. The Twins needed top-end starting pitching in the system, and Meyer certainly represents that. He is a Top 100 prospect in all rankings, appearing in the Top 50 in many. One person who has seen Meyer pitch several times recently told me, “He (Meyer) has the best raw stuff of any guy the Twins have had in a long, long time.” View full article

This morning, he's fine. No pain, no tightness. No further medical evaluation planned.