Seth Stohs

I know I posted it on TD and Twitter a couple of months ago. He had surgery (I can't remember the name, but it was attaching a tendon (or something) to his shoulder.) He's out for the year, but I don't think anyone should give up on him.

After starting the season 0-4, the Twins won their last two games and scored a combined 16 runs, games started by Jered Weaver and Dan Haren. It was a full night in the Twins minor league system as well. For much more information on many Twins minor leaguers, be sure to listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly podcast. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 1, PAWTUCKET 10 This was a very close game most of the way, but it got out of hand in a hurry. Daryl Thompson started and gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings. Jeff Manship came in and threw two scoreless before giving up one run in the 7th. He was replaced by Tyler Robertson who gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in one inning. Brendan Wise came in and gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless ninth. Rene Rivera hit his second home run. Matt Rizzotti added a double. Brian Dozier and Tsuyoshi Nishioka were 1-4 with a walk. Fun Note – In this game, Drew Butera played in left field. The night before, JR Towles was in left field. Rene Tosoni is likely out another week with his lacerated finger. NEW BRITAIN 5, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 Jason Marquis would appear to be ready to re-join the Twins next week and make his first start for the team. In his second start at New Britain, the righty gave up two runs on five hits in eight innings. He walked none and struck out seven. 57 of the 89 pitches he threw were strikes. Deolis Guerra came in and gave up one run on a hit and a walk in the 9th. He recorded his first save of the year and struckout two. Aaron Hicks is on a good streak now. He went 2-3 in this game with a sacrifice fly, his second double and his third home run. Each came as a left-handed batter. Deibinson Romero was 2-4 with his first two home runs of the season. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 1, BRADENTON 0 There was a pitcher’s duel in Bradenton on this night. Pat Dean started and in 5.2 scoreless innings, he gave up six hits and walked two. Ricky Bowen came in and struckout two over 1.2 innings. Edgar Ibarra got the final five outs, three on strikeouts to record his first save of the season. As you would expect, there wasn’t much offense for the Miracle. Angel Morales was 2-4. Levi Michael went 1-3 with a walk. The game’s lone run came on a Josmil Pinto sacrifice fly. BELOIT 2, CLINTON 5 Lefty Steven Gruver had a rough start for the Snappers. In three innings, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits and two walks. AJ Achter struckout four in three scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin and Bart Carter each threw a scoreless inning as well. Adam Bryant was 2-4. Miguel Sano was 0-1 but walked three times. Jhonathan Goncalves knocked a double. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 12, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero Download attachment: DJRomero.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean Download attachment: PatDean.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Friday, April 13, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs. Pawtucket – 6:05 (CST) – RHP Cole DeVries New Britain vs Harrisburg – 4:05 (CST) – RHP Steve Hirschfeld Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – 5:30 (CST) – RHP BJ Hermsen (vs Jameson Taillon) Beloit @ Kane County – 6:30 (CST) – RHP Tim Shibuya --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

3:15 p.m. - Dustin Morse (from the Twins PR department) just tweeted that Terry RyanDownload attachment: ScottBaker.jpg and Scott Baker will have a press conference at Target Field at 4:00 today. UPDATE - 4:05 - At a press conference at Target Field, the Twins announced that RHP Scott Baker will undergo surgery to clean up his flexor tendon in his right elbow. The surgery ends Baker's 2012 season before it even got started. The surgery requires a six-month rehab period. He has no damage to his UCL. Terry Ryan commented that he hopes that Baker will be ready for the 2013 season. It is an interesting comment since the Twins have a $9.25 million option for Baker for 2013 that certainly seems to be questionable at this point. Please feel free to comment. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

It’s hard to believe that the baseball season has completed three months already. As we enter July, it’s time to take a look at the top hitters, starting pitchers and relief pitchers in the Minnesota Twins minor league system during June. We will start with the relief pitchers. In May, there were not many strong bullpen performances, but in June things were much better. About one year ago, Michael Tonkin and AJ Achter were working out of the bullpen in Beloit. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] They both pitched (and dominated) the second half of the 2012 season in Ft. Myers. I selected Achter narrowly over Tonkin as my 2012 Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. This year, they both began their season in New Britain. Tonkin moved up to Rochester at the end of May, and Achter will now join him with the Red Wings as July begins. The 24-year-old Achter was the Twins 46th round pick in 2010 out of Michigan State. 23-year-old Tonkin was the Twins 30th round pick in 2008 out of high school in California. He was known as Jason Kubel’s brother-in-law until last year when he really made a name for himself. Both have put themselves in position to help a now-struggling Twins bullpen. Let’s get to the list. Here are my choices for the Top 5 Twins Minor League Relief Pitchers in June (starting with three Honorable Mentions): Aaron Thompson (Rochester) – 12 G, 12.2 IP, 1-0, 2.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 11 H, 2 BB, 12 K AJ Achter (New Britain) – 8 G, 10.0 IP, 1-0, 0.90 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 9 H, 4 BB, 11 K Tim Atherton (Cedar Rapids) – 6 G (1 GS), 13.0 IP, 1-0, 1.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 7 H, 8 BB, 12 K Number 5 – Ft. Myers – RHP Zack Jones - 6 G, 1.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 7.1 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 13 K Jones has been on this list in the first two months. He was the Reliever of the Month in April. Last month, he made the list despite walking a batter per inning. We all know that Jones throws very hard, reaching into the upper 90s with his fastball. He is working diligently on his slider and it is a very important pitch for him. In limited duty in June, he did improve his control while striking out nearly two batters per inning. Number 4 – Rochester – RHP Luis Perdomo - 9 G, 2.30 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 9 H, 7 BB, 12 K The 29-year-old right-hander has a 4.60 ERA on the season, but as you can see, he was solid in June. Still too many walks, but he did well in a lot of innings for the Red Wings. He was able to limit base runners. Will he get another shot with the Twins this season? It’s possible, but he’ll have to be better yet. Number 3 – Ft. Myers – LHP Jose Gonzalez - 6 G, 2.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 12 K Gonzalez began the season in New Britain but was sent back to the Miracle after posting a 6.20 ERA in 16 appearances. In his first month with the Miracle, he was very good. He gave up few hits, walked only one and struck out 12. He is a fastball/slider guy who, despite not being real tall, has a chance to move up. He has been in the organization since 2007 and is still just 23 years old. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Steven Gruver - 7 G, 1.29 ERA, 0.50 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 12 K Gruver just turned 24 over the weekend. He remains in Cedar Rapids despite pitching pretty well for Beloit a year ago. He’s been very, very good out of the Kernels bullpen again this year. He was named to the Midwest League All-Star game. The left-hander just did not allow many base runners in June. He shows very good control and the ability to miss bats when needed. And the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Month is: Rochester Red Wings – Michael Tonkin - 8 G, 0.00 ERA, 0.51 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 11 K For the second straight June, Tonkin is the Reliever of the Month. He very easily could have been the Pitcher of the Month in June, as well. Back in May, in AA, he posted a 0.00 ERA and in 12.1 innings he walked three and struck out 20. Tonkin throws hard and gets sink. He induces a lot of ground balls and also gets lots of strikeouts. It may not be very long before we get to see Tonkin at Target Field. So what do you think? I’ve listed several relievers here that deserve be recognized for their terrific performances this past month. Who would your choice be? How would you rank these guys (and feel free to include others)? Be sure to check back later for the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher and Hitter of the Month of June. View full article

Download attachment: AJ Achter AS600.jpg The Beloit Snappers’ season is now complete, and that marks the end of the season for each of the Twins minor league affiliates. Several Twins minor leaguers are currently playing in the European Cup in The Netherlands. October marks the beginning of the Arizona Fall League and soon winter leagues in the Caribbean will start. Before thinking about that, it’s time for Twins Daily to hand out some minor league awards! In coming days, I’ll be presenting my choices for Twins minor league hitter of the month and starting pitcher of the month. Today, I’ll present for you my choices for the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There were a lot of terrific seasons put in by relievers throughout the Twins minor leagues. For instance, Corey Williams, who led the organization with 17 saves, did not make the below list. Dakota Watts had a nice season, but he missed the first couple of months with injury. Matt Hauser was again very good out of the bullpen and also made a half-dozen starts. Some of the most exciting bullpen guys are the ones drafted by the Twins in the 2012 draft. The Twins have made an effort in recent drafts and with minor league free agents to add some power arms. The six players mentioned below are a good mix of arms. Feel free to debate them, or ask any questions you may have. Relief Pitcher of the Year #6 – Anthony Slama – Rochester Red Wings (1-0, 14 saves, 1.24 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 36.1 IP, 26 H, 18 BB, 56 K) That Slama is on this list is no surprise to anyone who has followed his entire career and particularly his AAA career. The only thing that kept him from likely being at the top of this list (and probably from the big leagues) is that he missed nearly two months with a broken leg, suffered when Norfolk’s Miguel Tejada hit a line drive back at him in a game. #5 – Luis Perdomo – New Britain Rock Cats / Rochester Red Wings (8-5, 9 saves, 2.60 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 72.2 IP, 54 H, 22 BB, 68 K) Perdomo was signed by the Twins this past offseason after spending the previous three seasons in the Padres organization. San Diego had drafted him in the Rule 5 draft in December 2008 and he pitched 35 games for them in 2009 (55 strikeouts in 60 innings). He pitched one game for the Padres in 2011, but the rest of the time he’s pitched in AAA. The Twins had him begin this season in AA New Britain. In 26 games, he went 4-4 with 2 saves and a 2.75 ERA. In 39.1 innings, he struckout 43 in 39.1 innings. He advanced to AAA Rochester where he was 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA and 7 saves. In 33.1 innings, he walked just six and struckout 25. He was promoted to the Twins in early August and was also a September call-up. #4 – Bruce Pugh – Ft. Myers Miracle / New Britain Rock Cats (5-5, 14 saves, 1.94 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 69.2 IP, 55 H, 31 BB, 72 K) Pugh was the Twins 19th round pick in 2008 out of community college. The 24-year-old, hard-throwing right-hander really struggled in 2011, including in the Arizona Fall League. However, he came back in 2012 to show that he has a chance to be a back-of-the-bullpen guy for the Twins in the near future. The Twins decided to have him starting in Ft. Myers where he went 1-3 with a 2.60 ERA and 5 saves. He moved up to New Britain and went 4-2 with a 1.50 ERA. In 42 innings, he struckout 48 batters. He still needs to walk less batters, but he could get a 40 man roster spot this offseason. #3 – Caleb Thielbar – Ft. Myers Miracle / New Britain Rock Cats / Rochester Red Wings (6-2, 6 saves, 2.43 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 77.2 IP, 64 H, 21 BB, 74 K) The 25-year-old lefty from Minnesota became the first player that the Twins signed from the St. Paul Saints when he signed in August of 2011. Thielbar started this season in Ft. Myers where he walked two and struckout 16 in 12.1 innings. He moved up to New Britain where he walked three and struckout 26 batters in 25 innings. By midseason, he was pitching in AAA where he did meet some struggles but still held his own, posting a 3.57 ERA in 40.1 innings. He will continue his 2012 in the Arizona Fall League. #2 – Michael Tonkin – Beloit Snappers / Ft. Myers Miracle (4-1, 12 saves, 2.08 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 69.1 IP, 53 H, 20 BB, 97 K) Eyes were raised by some when Michael Tonkin returned to the Beloit Snappers for the third straight year. The first year, he came up as a starter who touched the low-90s and had a decent curveball. When I saw Tonkin throw in early June for the Snappers, he was a hard-throwing right-hander who threw with sink and had a terrific slider. He looked so much better than he had a year earlier. At Beloit, he was 3-0 with six saves, a 1.38 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. In 39 innings, he walked nine and struckout 53. Following the Midwest League All Star game, he was promoted to Ft. Myers where he logged late-innings again. He went 1-1 with a 2.97 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. In 30.1 innings, he walked 11 and struckout 44. Instead of throwing a low-90s fastball, Tonkin’s fastball now sits in the mid-90s and touches 96. Tonkin will also be playing in the Arizona Fall League this fall. Will he be added to the 40 man roster? Download attachment: AJ Achter.jpg Relief Pitcher of the Year – AJ Achter – Beloit Snappers / Ft. Myers Miracle (5-2, 6 saves, 1.70 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 94.1 IP, 54 H, 15 BB, 86 K) In 2010, AJ Achter was the Twins 46th round draft pick out of Michigan State. He didn’t sign right away, choosing instead to play in the Cape Cod League. He was terrific and before the deadline, he agreed to terms with the Twins. He started 2011 in EST, but moved up to Beloit where he made 19 starts for the Snappers. He returned to Beloit in 2012 but in a new role, pitching out of the bullpen. In 40 innings, he posted a 2.48 ERA. He walked 12 and struckout 49 hitters. After 18 games with the Snappers, he moved up and pitched 18 more games with the Miracle. He was markedly better. In 34.1 innings, he gave up just 21 hits, walked three and struckout 37 batters. The 24-year-old righty has a very solid three-pitch mix. He has terrific control and struckout well more than a batter per inning. Although he didn’t get as many saves as others, it was an easy choice to make AJ Achter the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. ---- So, what was Achter’s response to hearing he had been named by Twins Daily as the Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Years? AJ Achter: (I am) “very honored and privileged to be chosen for this award. There were some other guys who had fantastic seasons who very easily could've been chosen. I can attribute almost all of this past season’s success to hard work and my coaches. It was a thrill for me to get the ball late in games and have the success that I had. ” So what was the secret to his 2012 success? What was he able to work on and improve between 2011 and 2012? AJ Achter: “The thing that I improved on most was throwing more quality strikes and just attacking hitters. Coming out of the pen, I just tried to force the action with hitters early in the count and let the defense make plays behind me. The defense made some unbelievable plays behind me and I worked so well with our catchers on coming up with a pitch plan to get guys out. I was able to go out and execute that plan most nights.” What does Achter throw, and what is his thinking out on the mound? AJ Achter: “My repertoire is fastball, slider, changeup. One of the biggest things that helped me out of the pen was being able to throw all three pitches for strikes, especially the changeup behind in counts. I don't think much changed from last year as far as in if my stuff got better, but I executed my pitches very well this season. I used the slider as a strikeout pitch to righties a lot, but besides that I just tried not letting guys get free bases and making them put the ball in play.” Congratulations again to AJ Achter and all of these relief pitchers who had some terrific seasons of the bullpen in the Twins farm system. Download attachment: AJ Achter 2.jpg (action photos by Rinaldi Photos) We’ll be back tomorrow with the Twins Daily Minor League Start Pitcher of the Year. Click here to view the article

On Sunday night, Twins Daily's draft expert Jeremy Nygaard and myself put together a 35 minute podcast in which we dove into several topics. First, we discussed all that happened in the Twins minor league system on Sunday. You may have heard that a certain 3B prospect was promoted to New Britain, as were Eddie Rosario and Angel Morales, but Kyle Gibson and DJ Baxendale also were on the mound. Cedar Rapids moved one game closer to clinching a spot in the Midwest League playoffs which likely would signal yet another promotion of a player in the system. We then asked Jeremy about several topics from the three days of the draft including potential strategies, sleeper picks, and much, much more. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It's only about 35 minutes long, so after you watch the Cedar Rapids Kernels play on Fox Sports North at noon today, be sure to listen to this informative podcast. Also, we at Twins Daily want to sincerely thank Jeremy Nygaard for all of his draft coverage the past couple of months. I know he's already excited about the 2014 draft, but please take a moment to thank him for his time and his expertise. I know we at Twins Daily certainly appreciate it! Listen to podcast here. Download attachment: Buxton Kernels.jpg Photo by The Gazette Click here to view the article

Rain wiped out two of the four Twins minor league affiliates. It rained much of the day in Boston, but the Twins and the Red Sox were able to get in the final game of their series. Rain also caused a delay in Jupiter, Florida, but the Hammerheads and the Miracle were able to finish their game. Miguel Sano returned to the Miracle lineup on Thursday night and the team was also boosted by three players who were working in Extended Spring Training just a week ago. Somehow, the Miracle just keep winning! On Friday, The New Britain Rock Cats and the Cedar Rapids Kernels will each play a doubleheader, so tomorrow night’s report will be a little longer.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 2, Toledo Mud Hens 12 Box Score It’s been a tough go for Liam Hendriks in his time with the Red Wings this year. On Thursday, he gave up six runs on 11 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out three. He was replaced by Daniel Turpen who did not record an out. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on three hits. He was replaced by Michael O’Connor who gave up two runs on two hits and two walks in… one inning. Virgil Vasquez came on and threw two perfect innings. Nate Hanson got the start in right field. He went 2-3 with a walk and his second double. Jeff Clement was 2-4. Chris Colabello hit his ninth double. The outfield alignment was Hanson in right field, Joe Benson in center and Chris Herrmann in left. Clete Thomas may miss a couple of games with a groin injury. Evan Bigley was put on the disabled list earlier in the day with a sprained wrist. Danny Lehmann was promoted to Rochester where he will serve as a backup catcher. This will allow Herrmann to play in the outfield. New Britain Rock Cats, Portland Sea Dogs This game was postponed by rain. A makeup date has not yet been determined. These two teams are already playing a doubleheader on Friday from a previous weather postponement. Cole De Vries will be making his second rehab start, his first with the Rock Cats. Ft. Myers Miracle 8, Jupiter Hammerheads 0 Box Score The Miracle improved to 26-7 on this night- how the team is doing it is beyond me. Miguel Sano returned to the lineup on Thursday night after missing two games. He had a good day at the plate, though he committed his third error, and the offense was also helped by a group of players who have been added to the Miracle roster from the Extended Spring Training camp, just across the parking lot. Sano was 2-4 with a walk in his return. However, Jonathan Murphy went 3-5 with his second double. Joel Licon, in his first game with the Miracle, also went 3-5 with a double. Aderlin Mejia was 2-3 with a walk, his third double and his second stolen base. A week ago, those three were toiling in anonymity on the back fields in Ft. Myers. This week, they’re helping one of the best minor league teams continue to win. Tom Stuifbergen started for the Miracle. He gave up two hits in two shutout innings. Then the rains came, and delayed the game long enough that Stuifbergen was replaced. Cole Johnson was brought in to the game and he continued what he’s done all year. He threw three shutout innings and gave up just two hits. He struck out four (and walked none) to reduce his ERA to 1.06. Dakota Watts went two scoreless innings and gave up one hit. Corey Williams gave up two hits and a walk, but he provided two scoreless innings as well. Cedar Rapids Kernels, Quad Cities Bandits The game was rained out. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader starting at 5:00 on Friday. Outfielder JD Williams has not played since Saturday. In a text message with Kernels manager Jake Mauer, he said, “JD tweaked his groin, should be good tomorrow.” Please feel free to comment or ask questions below. View full article

After many rumors, the Minnesota Twins announced their third free agent signing of the offseason in mid-December. After signing Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes, the Twins re-signed Mike Pelfrey to a two-year contract that has several achievable incentives. He is excited to be back, and so are a couple of the Twins young pitchers. Download attachment: Pelfrey_Mike_walking_US_720.jpg According to Pelfrey, “I had another offer on the table. It wasn’t where I wanted to be. Also, Terry Ryan was pretty tough at negotiations. He said ‘take it or leave it.’ I said, ‘Hey Terry, I’m going to take it. I want to come back. I told you that all along.’”[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] His teammates were encouraging him throughout the process and excited when he finally signed. He said, “I’d get texts from guys saying ‘How come you haven’t signed yet?, and I’d say, ‘Hey, if they wanted to sign me back, they would have done it by now, OK.’ So, we’d be go back and forth and joke around.” Why did Pelfrey want to return to the organization? There were several reasons, but the people had a lot to do with it. “This organization is great. A lot of very good dudes to be around. So I’m obviously excited to come back and see those guys.” However, that isn’t enough for him. He has goals for himself, but also for his team. “The only other thing is we’ve got to win. That’s the thing that we’re missing. We had fun last year, but winning is fun. We need to get that back.” So, why does he think that winning may be on the horizon? “I honestly believe that we’re heading in the right direction. We have Buxton. We have Sano.” He also singled out one prospect that he is really excited about. “We have Alex Meyer, who I think that, when he is ready, he’ll be the ace of the staff. His stuff is that good. I’m a huge believer in him.” So, what is it that he likes about Meyer and how good he can become? Pelfrey commented, “He’s got the best stuff on the team. No offense to anyone else on the team. He’s got the best stuff. He just does. I think when he realizes that, and harnesses that a little bit, he’s going to be dominant. He’s 6-9, throws downhill, mid-to-upper-90s. He’s got a pretty good breaking ball, but just needs to harness it and pull it together which is going to happen with a little more seasoning. You know, that power-strikeout guy that this organization has been wanting and fans have been wanting, I think he’s coming. I think when he’s ready, which is maybe in spring, maybe later on the year, that they’re going to make room for him and he’s going to be an impact guy.” Meyer also spoke highly of Pelfrey. Meyer said, “I was really happy about Pelfrey coming back. I really liked Mike a lot. He talked to me a lot in spring training. He took me out to dinner a couple of times, just to talk. We have the same agent. That’s kind of how it fell into place. It was good for me to be out there and be around him. I’m excited to go out there and learn from him. When Rick Anderson called me and told me ‘I put you in the same group in spring training as Mike Pelfrey so he can show you the way.’” Meyer isn’t the only young Twins pitcher who has leaned on Pelfrey. Kyle Gibson had some ups and downs in his first big league campaign, but Pelfrey was the guy he leaned on too. “I think some of it was he went through the same surgery, pretty similar timelines. Maybe because he’s just a funny guy and likes to talk a lot and that’s how I am too. He was really helpful. He’s real easy to talk to, real easy to ask questions to.” Pelfrey is looking forward to starting over after a rough return from Tommy John surgery in 2013 with the Twins. What is his personal goal for 2014? “I think you go in, your goal is always 200 innings. Even last year, coming off surgery. They said they were going to put me on an innings limit. Save it. My goal was 200 innings. But my goal was 200 innings and I fell way short of it. At the end of the year, there was no other way to put it. I had a bad year. Coming off surgery or not coming off surgery, whatever, I had a bad year. I definitely need to get back to what I had done years before.” He acknowledged that although he is a competitor and wanted to come back, he may have come back too quickly. The mental aspect of his return may have been just as difficult as the physical. “I think the mental part is fully trusting that you’re ok, that you can let it go and snap it at the end. I thought I got through that. It’s all mental. I talked about the physical part of it, the feel, which I couldn’t get until month 13. I think it’s a little bit of both (physical and mental) and getting that assurance back that you’re really OK.” With the additions the team has made this offseason, Pelfrey feels good about the 2014 Twins. “Obviously going into the offseason having the highest ERA in baseball as a starting staff is definitely not acceptable or what we expected. I think they knew that was an area of need and they went out and addressed it. The inner competition that you can create among each other is good and brings out the best out of people. It’ll be good. I think, looking at the rotation, we’ll have a chance to win every night. Guys are going to give us a chance to be in the ball game and have a chance. Hopefully we’ll go and do that and win a lot more games.” It goes back to why Pelfrey wanted to return to the Twins. “This organization is going to turn it around in a hurry as long as everything works out. I think things are changing and we’re heading in the right direction.” Fans of the Minnesota Twins who have endured the past three seasons certainly hope that is true too! Click here to view the article

Buyers or Sellers The Tigers are certainly buyers at the trade deadline. They have completely stocked up over the last two seasons to make a World Series run. They acquired and then retained Anibal Sanchez. They added Torii Hunter this offseason. After missing all of 2012, Victor Martinez is back in the middle of their lineup. Their top four starters (Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister and Sanchez) are the envy of the rest of the league. Most believed that the Tigers would run away with the AL Central, but at the All-Star break, they have just a 1.5 game lead over Cleveland. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: detroit-tigers.jpg What they Need The Tigers have spent to win in the very short term. They have a powerful lineup, a tremendous starting rotation and a Joaquin Benoit and Drew Smyly have been terrific in the bullpen. However, the back end of the Tigers bullpen has caused a lot of issues. Bruce Rondon showed that despite a 100-mph fastball, he wasn’t ready. Things got so bad they brought back veteran Jose Valverde, only quickly to be reminded why they didn’t bring him back at the start of this year. Phil Coke, Al Albuquerque, Darin Downs and Jose Alvarez all have ERAs over five. Octavio Dotel is on the disabled list. The Tigers can use bullpen help. The only other thing the Tigers may need is be another utility infielder who would play very little. What Might Work Jamey Carroll’s playing time has been limited enough in the first half that he will become a free agent after the season. Although his numbers this season are well down, his inconsistent playing time may play a role in that. If there is a team where Glen Perkins makes a lot of sense, it is the Detroit Tigers. If the Tigers were in any other division, it would make even more sense. Perkins has a terrific contract that any team would be happy to take on. Both teams will be leery about dealing with each other. Obviously, the Tigers want to win now, but they won’t want to see one of their top prospects in a starring role for the Twins against them for the next four to six years. The Twins won’t want to see Glen Perkins coming in for ninth innings against them. So, it would be interesting to see if the two teams can make a major trade. Minor trades are one thing, but blockbusters rarely occur within a division. Sleeper Targets Dixon Machado - 21 - SS – High A Two years ago, I saw Dixon Machado playing in Beloit for West Michigan. I recall thinking that I may not have ever seen such a smooth defender at shortstop. He is 6-0, and he is rail thin, almost Alexei Ramirez-like. However, he doesn’t hit like Ramirez. In 2012 in the Florida State League, he hit just .195 with a .535 OPS. This year, repeating the level, he is hitting .231 with a .558 OPS. He’s not going to hit, but his glove makes him a potential utility infielder. Jose Ortega - RHP- AAA Ortega is probably in the middle ground of prospects that make him an unlikely candidate to come to the Twins. The hard-throwing right-hander has an impressive 1.47 ERA in AAA right now and has had time with the Tigers. In 30.2 innings this year, he has 33 strikouts… to go with 19 walks. Sound familiar? To me, he sounds a lot like another hard-throwing reliever that the Twins acquired from the Tigers, Lester Oliveros. Dream Target Nick Castellanos was a supplemental first round pick in 2010 out of high school. The Tigers gave him $3.45 million (about $2 million over slot) to sign. Recently, the Tigers have said that Castellanos could be available in a trade for a top closer. Perkins would certainly fit into that category. Drafted as a third baseman, the 6-4 potential power hitter was moved to outfield a year ago when Miguel Cabrera moved to third base. Because he’s 6-4, he could be a first base option as well if the Twins have enough outfielders. With AAA Toledo, he is hitting .281/.353/.455 with 29 doubles and 12 home runs this year. Outfielder Avisail Garcia, who played well for the Tigers in the playoffs last year, is also said to be available. Bruce Rondon throws 100 mph but often without great control. He would also be worth inquiring about. If he’s available, that’s a great arm to consider replacing Glen Perkins with, if that’s the direction the Twins were to go. Click here to view the article

On Opening Day, I had the opportunity to talk to a very excited Ryan Pressly. The right-hander was the Minnesota Twins Rule 5 pick last December and had a strong spring training. Understandably, Pressly was very much excited. During the Twins final weekend, I had the chance to catch up with Pressly and see how he felt about his season. “I’m happy with it. Obviously there’s a couple of games I’d like to take back. Other than that, I’m pretty happy with what I accomplished this season.” [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Fifteen players were selected by 13 teams in last year’s Rule 5 draft (with Houston and Florida making two selections). Ten of those players were returned to their old team. One player, 30-year-old Angel Sanchez remained with the White Sox and played the season in the minor leagues. He went 0-2 with the big league club. Nate Freiman was selected by the Astros with their second pick. The 1B/DH was then selected off waivers by the A’s and played in 80 games for Oakland. He hit .274/.327/.389 with eight doubles, four homers and 24 RBI in 190 at bats. Pressly was taken with the fourth pick behind Josh Fields (Astros), Hector Rondon (Cubs) and Danny Rosenbaum (who was returned to the Nationals). Here are how his numbers compared to those two two picks: [TABLE] Name Age Games IP W-L ERA WHIP BB/9 K/9 Josh Fields (HOU) 28 41 38.0 1-3 4.97 1.29 4.3 9.5 Hector Rondon (CHC) 28 45 54.2 2-1 4.77 1.41 4.1 7.2 Ryan Pressly (MIN) 24 49 76.2 3-3 3.87 1.28 3.2 5.8 [/TABLE] Asked when he felt he belonged, Pressly said, “It was a little of everything. It was the situations I was put in. My stuff plays up here, and that’s what I was concerned about. It was a little bit of pitching to (the catchers) and the meetings we have and what was going to work that day and how I felt that day, so it was a little bit of everything.” His “stuff” was led by an average fastball of 93.6 mph. He threw his fastball 61.4% of the time. He also showed a very good slider that he threw at an average of 86.2 mph. He threw that 14.2% of the time. He threw his slower curve ball 18.2% of the time, and it averaged 80.8 mph. He also threw a changeup just 5.6% of the time. It was 87.6 mph, so ideally he would find a way to reduce that by about 5 mph. What worked for Pressly? “I went out there and just attacked hitters. That’s all I tried to do was to get people out. If the starters were in trouble and left guys on, it was my job to come in and bail them out. That’s really what I tried to do.” The answer to what the highlight of his rookie campaign came pretty easily to him. “My first win in Boston. I mean, obviously my debut, but to get my first win in Boston against my old team, that’s pretty special to me. ” Download attachment: RPressly.jpg Photo by Betsy Bissen On May 8th at Fenway, the Twins scored four runs in the top of the first only to see the Red Sox score five in the bottom of the inning off of Pedro Hernandez. The Twins then scored seven runs in the top of the first to take an 11-5 lead. Hernandez gave up another run in the bottom of the second frame. So, Pressly came in for the third inning and went a season-high four innings to gain the win. He gave up no runs on just two hits in that time. That was his role in 2013, and he did well in it. Six other times he worked at least three innings, gaining valuable experience that will carry him into the offseason and hopefully to a bright future with the Twins. Consider this. In an August game in Kansas City, he gave up seven earned runs in 1.1 innings. Without that appearance, his rookie season ERA would have been under 3.10. I know, you can probably do that for every reliever in baseball. Every one of them has clunkers, but what it shows is that, despite spending about a half-season in AA and no time in AAA, Pressly showed he can succeed in the big leagues. That, in my mind, is a tremendous positive that Twins fans can gain from the 2013 season. Will Pressly be given another chance to start? It is certainly possible. It will be interesting to see what 2014 holds for Ryan Pressly. Click here to view the article

I can understand some of the arguments people make against the Twins, and some I even agree with, but I can't say I understand this one (Twins don't look hard enough for talent)... They are in more countries in the world than anyone. They're in the Caribbean and getting stronger. And, they have found several guys from independent leagues and non-drafted situations over the last decade. They have the people out there.

The Red Wings had not been to the playoffs since 2006. This afternoon in Pawtucket, their season ended with a Game 5 loss in the International League playoffs. Pawtucket scored three runs on four, two-out hits in the second inning, and that was about it for the offense. Virgil Vasquez got the start in Game 5 as there was not a day off in the series. He threw a shutout inning before getting the first two batters of the second inning out. He went three innings and gave up the three runs on four hits. He didn't walk anyone and struck out three. Logan Darnell came on and threw 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits. He walked none and struck out two. Shairon Martis got the final four outs. The offense did very little, and they did not come up with a big hit in the 6th inning. Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger was still in the game after five shutout innings. However, the top of the order came up. Antoan Richardson singled. James Beresford was hit by a pitch. Eduardo Escobar had an infield single to load the bases with nobody out. Haeger was able to strike out Jeff Clement before he was replaced by Chris Martin. Chris Parmelee came off the bench to pinch hit for Deibinson Romero, and he struck out. Aaron Hicks flew out to center to end the inning. After scoring nine runs on Saturday, the Red Wings managed just four hits on Sunday afternoon. Box Score Following the game, the Twins recalled Michael Tonkin, Chris Parmelee, Cole De Vries, Scott Diamond and Eduardo Escobar. In some surprise, they also will add RHP Shairon Martis and catcher Eric Fryer to the 40 man roster for September. Martis has big league time with the Pirates and Nationals. Fryer played a handful of games with Pittsburgh last year. To make room for Martis and Fryer, the Twins announced that Wilkin Ramirez and Sam Deduno have been moved to the 60 Day Disabled List. Download attachment: Shairon Martis.jpg photo by milb.com Click here to view the article

Last week at Twins Daily, we presented several minor league awards. This week, I wanted to present the organization's minor league All-Star team. As we have discussed many times here throughout the year, it was a terrific season in the Twins farm system. That can be further illustrated by looking at this All-Star team, and a potential lineup. How do you think the following lineup would compare against All-Star lineups from other organizations? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] CF Byron Buxton SS Jorge Polanco 2B Eddie Rosario 3B Miguel Sano DH Chris Colabello C Josmil Pinto 1B Dalton Hicks RF Adam Walker LF JD Williams Download attachment: BuxtonWalkerJimenez.jpg Photo by Seth Stohs includes three members of this All Star roster. From L to R: JD Williams, Byron Buxton, Adam Walker, Romy Jimenez Byron Buxton is the best prospect in baseball, and he had a tremendous all-around season for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the Ft. Myers Miracle. His plate discipline, power and speed make him the nearly perfect prospect. All the comparisons to Mike Trout as a prospect are absolutely accurate. I did take a bit of liberty in putting Jorge Polanco as my shortstop, but he did play the position in 49 games in 2013. He was signed as a defensive infielder, but after a strong short-season at Elizabethton in 2012, he put up some terrific numbers. He hit .308 with 47 extra base hits for the Kernels this year. Eddie Rosario has been a big prospect since being named the Appy League Player of the Year. However, he has taken his prospect status to a new level. He hit .302 with 50 extra base hits between Ft. Myers and New Britain this year as a 21 year old. He has made himself a decent second baseman and will easily be able to handle a move back to the outfield if necessary. Miguel Sano can hit cleanup in many lineups, including one made up by me. Like Rosario, Sano played for both Ft. Myers and New Britain, only he did it at the age of 20. He hit .280 with a .992 OPS, and he accounted for 70 extra base hits including 35 home runs. Chris Colabello may have struggled in his time with the Twins, but what he was doing in Rochester was incredible. The 29-year-old first baseman was named the International League Rookie of the Year and MVP. In 89 games with the Red Wings hit .352 with a 1.066 OPS. He also hit 25 doubles and 24 home runs. Josmil Pinto has flown under the radar for several years. He's made a strong first big league impression with the Twins, but he was terrific in New Britain and Rochester this year. Combined, he hit .302 with an .882 OPS. He is also known for having great plate discipline. The backstop also has a very strong arm. Dalton Hicks led the organization in RBI this season with 110. He had 82 RBI in 89 games in Cedar Rapids before driving in another 28 runs in Ft. Myers. He combined to hit .289 with an .826 OPS. Adam Walker's 109 RBI was second only to Hicks in the organization and led the Midwest League. His 27 home runs also led the league. The 21-year-old hit .278 with an .844 OPS in his first full season of professional baseball. Only Miguel Sano may have more raw power in the organization than does Walker. JD Williams repeated in the Midwest League for the first half of the 2013 season, and it was beneficial for him. He was a different player. His approach at the plate was vastly improved as evidenced by his .372 on base percentage. His is still raw and very toolsy. He has good speed and some power. So, the next obvious question is what about the pitching? Here are my choices for the 2013 Twins All Star team: LH SP - Taylor Rogers RH SP - Alex Meyer Taylor Rogers was my choice for Twins starting pitcher of the year. He combined to go 11-7 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers. He led the organization with three complete games and two shutouts and in his playoff game for the Miracle, he threw nine shutout innings. Alex Meyer missed nearly three months of the season and yet, in his 16 starts, he posted a 2.99 ERA. In 78.1 innings, he struck out an impressive 11.5 per nine innings. Upon his return from the shoulder issues, he was again hitting triple-digits on the radar gun. LH RP - Edgar Ibarra RH RP - Zach Jones Closer - Tyler Jones Ibarra posted a 1.93 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP between New Britain and Rochester in 2013. As he heads to the Arizona Fall League, Zach Jones boasts a 1.85 ERA and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings this season with the Ft. Myers Miracle. Tyler Jones was my choice for reliever of the year. Between Cedar Rapids and Ft. Myers, he recorded 13 saves and posted a 2.58 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He walked 3.4 per nine while striking out 11.4 per nine. All-in-all, it was a tremendous season in the Twins farm system. There were team successes, and most important, prospects (and specifically key prospects) took another step forward in their development. 2014 may be another rough season for the Twins, but it should be a year in which the next core of Twins players debuts. I'm already envisioning a September 2014 lineup that includes: C - Josmil Pinto, 1B - Joe Mauer, 2B - Brian Dozier, 3B - Miguel Sano, SS - Pedro Florimon, LF - Aaron Hicks, CF - Byron Buxton, RF - Eddie Rosario, and DH - Oswaldo Arcia. I'm envisioning a starting rotation that includes the likes of Alex Meyer, Kyle Gibson and Trevor May. Patience is a virtue, and for the most part, Twins fans have been patient. I'm thinking that patience needs to last one more year as this next core of players starts getting their opportunity. Click here to view the article

Jason Wheeler will be making the start today for New Britain.

New Britain's starter today will be Jason Wheeler.

Yesterday, we looked at the Top Relief Pitchers in May, and today we’ll be taking a look at the top pitching performances of the month. There were some starters who put together very solid months, and that includes more than just the Top Five: Andrew Albers posted a 2.48 ERA for the month and isn’t in the Top 5. Kyle Gibson threw a couple shutouts during May and he falls outside of this list. Jason Wheeler went 3-0 with a 2.68 ERA and also isn’t listed. So hey, who made the final list? Here are the Top 5 Starting Pitchers for May:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Number 5 – New Britain – Logan Darnell - 6 GS, 2-3, 2.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 41.2 IP, 40 H, 7 BB, 33 K Darnell is a 24-year-old left-hander who was the Twins 6th round draft pick in 2010 from Kentucky. He had a very good month of May. As important as any of the other numbers are his innings pitched. He averaged nearly seven innings per start which is huge for any team. Though he isn’t a high strikeout pitcher, he knows how to pitch. Number 4 – Cedar Rapids – Jose (JO) Berrios - 5 GS, 2-2, 2.63 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 27.1 IP, 31 H, 6 BB, 31 K Last year’s supplemental 1st round pick, Berrios has impressed since signing. He has incredible control. Last year in the rookie leagues he walked just four and struck out 49. This year, the young Puerto Rican righty has maintained his ability to throw strikes and miss bats. He has given up some hits, but hasn’t hurt himself with free passes. His season started in late April due to his time in the World Baseball Classic; he has been very good despite the late start and being nearly four years younger than the average player in the Midwest League. Number 3 – Cedar Rapids – Tyler Duffey - 5 GS, 0-1, 2.93 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 30.2 IP, 31 H, 3 BB, 26 K Duffey was in the Top 5 a month ago as well. He has been the Kernels most consistent starter. Like Berrios, Duffey has strong control of the strike zone. He has the stuff to get strikeouts, but generally, he just gets really weak contact. Last year he was the team’s 5th round pick out of Rice where he pitched in the bullpen. He has transitioned very smoothly to the role of starter. He is a sturdy young man and has some projection. Because of his performance in the first two months, Duffey will be making the trek from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers today where he will join the Miracle staff. Number 2 – Ft. Myers – Taylor Rogers – 5 G, 4 GS, 2-1, 1.00 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 27.0 IP, 31 H, 4 BB, 21 K Just look at the numbers that Rogers put up in May. Most months, those would make him an easy choice to win such an award. He made four starts and one relief appearance in the month. In the relief appearance he was piggybacking on Cole De Vries who was making a rehab start. Rogers was the Twins 11th round pick last year. Like fellow lefties Albers and Darnell, he went to the University of Kentucky. He has a fastball in the low-90s and a very good slider that can be devastating to left-handed bats. And the Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month is: Photo by Greg Wagner/Fort Myers Miracle Ft. Myers/New Britain – DJ Baxendale - 5 GS, 3-1, 2.20 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 32.2 IP, 22 H, 7 BB, 25 K Baxendale had a rough start in his AA debut last week, and that shows in his numbers. However, when a guy starts a month with four starts and gives up just one earned run in 28 innings, he can’t be ignored. He didn’t give up many hits nor did he walk many. Rarely has anyone dominated in Ft. Myers as he did. He was the Twins tenth round pick last year from Arkansas. A year ago he was preparing for the MLB Draft by playing in the College World Series. Now, he’s showing what he can do in AA, two promotions from the big leagues. For the second straight month, DJ Baxendale is our Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Month. There were a lot of very good performances by starters in May and more could be written on each. I hope this shows who has been pitching best. As we know, Kyle Gibson is close. Tyler Duffey has been promoted to High-A. How will these and the rest of the pitchers perform as the season starts to get a little long and their arms start to tire. That’s the fun part. We shall find out. We’ll be back tomorrow to discuss the top Hitters in the Twins system in May. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. View full article

After struggling during the first week of spring training with the bat, the Twins go three home runs on Sunday afternoon to top the New York Yankees 5-1. Joe Benson got the Twins on the board with a long, solo home run in the 5th inning. In the bottom of the 7th, Danny Valencia gave the Twins a 2-1 lead with his second home run in as many days. In the bottom of the 8th, Michael Hollimon hit a long, 3-run homer into the wind that gave the Twins the 5-1 lead. (Hollimon is now 4-6 on the spring with the Twins.) Download attachment: GardyHollimon.jpg The Twins continued to pitch well also. Nick Blackburn started and threw three scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and was helped by his defense. With speedy Brett Gardner on first base, Curtis Granderson hit a long drive to center field. When Joe Benson (who was in the lineup because Denard Span had a stiff neck) realized he couldn't make the catch, he played the ball perfectly off the wall. He uncoiled a strong throw toward the infield. Alexi Casilla grabbed the throw and relayed a perfect strike to Joe Mauer to get Gardner easily at the plate. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The bullpen was terrific again. Brian Duensing pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Capps walked one but did not allow a run. Aaron Thompson came in and gave up a run on two hits in the 6th. Jeff Manship came in and looked very sharp in a scoreless seventh inning. Carlos Gutierrez pitched the 8th frame. He consistently hit 96 mph with his fastball. He threw two offspeed pitches, neither of which was close to the strike zone. Brendan Wise gave up a single to lead off the 9th, but he got a double play and another ground out to end the game. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame began in the year 2000 when they inducted former owner Calvin Griffith along with Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, and Kirby Puckett. Since then, one or two people (players or other Twins-related personnel) have been added each year. Last year, Camilo Pascual was named to the Twins Hall of Fame. Recently, the Minnesota Twins put their online ballot for the 2013 Twins Hall of Fame.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The ballot includes 18 former Twins players. Ten hitters and eight pitchers comprise the ballot. Today, I’m going to post some numbers for the hitters and the pitchers before I rank the candidates, 1 through 18. In the comments, let us know which former players you would vote for, and why. Then, go to the Twins website and make your actual votes. Download attachment: Tom Brunansky.jpg Let’s take a look at the candidates. THE STARTING PITCHERS [TABLE=width: 485] Pitcher W-L IP ERA (ERA+) WHIP BB/9 K/9 WAR Dave Boswell 67-64 1,036.1 3.49 (101) 1.24 4.0 7.5 9.5 Dean Chance 41-34 664.0 2.67 (126) 1.07 2.3 6.8 12.0 Dave Goltz 96-79 1,638.0 3.48 (112) 1.31 2.7 4.9 22.5 Mudcat Grant 50-35 780.2 3.35 (107) 1.21 1.9 4.3 5.0 Kevin Tapani 75-63 1,171.1 4.06 (108) 1.27 2.0 5.6 17.8 [/TABLE] THE RELIEVERS [TABLE=width: 495] Pitcher W-L-S IP ERA (ERA+) WHIP BB/9 K/9 WAR Eddie Guardado 37-48-116 704.2 4.53 (105) 1.34 3.4 7.8 8.6 Jeff Reardon 15-16-104 226.1 3.70 (116) 1.15 2.2 7.4 4.0 Al Worthington 51-31-88 473.1 2.62 (134) 1.19 3.5 7.6 9.4 [/TABLE] THE HITTERS [TABLE=width: 540] Hitter H-AB BA/OBP/SLG OPS (OPS+) 2B/3B/HR/RBI WAR Tom Brunansky 829-3,313 .250/.330/.452 .782 (109) 154/13/163/469 14.5 John Castino 646-2,320 .278/.329/.398 .727 (97) 86/34/41/249 14.2 Dan Gladden 661-2,470 .268/.318/.382 .700 (95) 117/26/38/238 4.8 Brian Harper 767-2,503 .306/.342/.431 .773 (110) 156/6/48/346 12.2 Larry Hisle 697-2,437 .286/.354/.457 .799 (127) 109/23/87/409 15.8 Chuck Knoblauch 1,197-3,939 .304/.391/.416 .807 (114) 210/51/43/391 36.3 Corey Koskie 781-2,788 .280/.373/.463 .836 (116) 180/13/101/437 20.5 Shane Mack 668-2,161 .309/.375/.479 .854 (130) 119/24/67/315 18.7 Roy Smalley 1,046-3,997 .262/.350/.401 .750 (104) 184/21/110/485 19.1 Cesar Tovar 1,164-4,142 .281/.337/.377 .714 (102) 193/45/38/319 24.0 [/TABLE] THE RANKINGS Let me again say that this ranking is mine. Each of you will likely switch some players around and although it could look similar, it could also look completely different. #18 – Dan Gladden – OF – 1987-1991 Gladden came to the Twins before the 1987. He was the team’s leadoff hitter on the two Twins championship teams. He scored the World Series-winning run in the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series after his hustle double. He was a solid left-fielder, but he was a leadoff hitter with a .318 on-base percentage. Maybe he can make the Twins Hall of Fame several years down the line for his radio work. #17 – John Castino – IF – 1979-1984 Castino was the co-AL Rookie of the Year in 1979 along with Alfredo Griffin. Unfortunately, his career was shortened by back injuries. #16 – Jeff Reardon – RH RP – 1987-1989 Like Gladden, Reardon also came to the Twins before the 1987 season. Although he posted a 4.48 ERA that season, it was such an improvement from The Ron Davis days that people thought it was good. He was actually much better in 1988. #15 – Jim “Mudcat” Grant – RH SP – 1964-1967 Grant has done quite well for himself after his playing days with a career in music. He was also very good on the mound. He was a huge part of that 1965 World Series team when he won 21 games. He struckout pretty much no one, and he walked no one. He was also a pretty good hitter. #14 – Brian Harper – C – 1988-1993 Harper came to the Twins as a journeyman before the 1988 season. He established himself as a very good batting average-hitting catcher with some doubles power. Although he refused to walk, he put together solid at bats. He was a key to the 1991 World Series team. #13 – Dean Chance – RH SP – 1967-1969 Chance could probably be higher on this list, but he played for the Twins for just three years. He had a no-hitter, and he won 20 games in 1967. He was worth 12 WAR in just three seasons. #12 – Eddie Guardado – LH RP – 1993-2003, 2008 Guardado’s overall numbers certainly don’t look great. He was not good as a starter his first couple of seasons. Although he earned the “Every Day” nickname, his first several seasons in the Twins bullpen were not successful. However, from 2001-2003, Guardado did a tremendous job as the Twins closer. His ‘stuff’ was not all that impressive, but he was all guts. #11 – Larry Hisle – OF – 1973-1977 Hisle is another guy who did not spend a lot of time with the Twins, likely because he played so well he priced himself out of Mr. Griffith’s comfort zone. He posted hi 15.8 WAR in just four seasons. #10 – Tom Brunansky – OF – 1982-1988 “Bruno” came to the Twins from the Angels as a 21-year-old who had just made his big league debut. He joined the other young Twins who came up in 1982 and provided the nucleus for that 1987 team. He represented the Twins in the 1985 All Star game. He was quite durable in his time with the Twins, and although he didn’t hit for average, he averaged over 28 homers a season from 1983 through 1987. He is now the Twins hitting coach. #9 – Dave Boswell – RH SP – 1964-1970 Boswell is best known for his 1969 fight in Detroit with manager Billy Martin, but he also won 20 games during that season and was a solid performer for the Twins. He actually threw hard and unlike most pitchers from that era, he wasn’t afraid to try to miss bats. Boswell passed away this past June. #8 – Al Worthington – RH RP – 1964-1969 Worthington was the Twins’ closer during the pre-closer era. He actually came to the Twins in 1964 as a 35 year old reliever. He debuted with the New York Giants in 1953, and he was just a 5th or 6th starter and long reliever for parts of seven seasons. He was in the minor leagues in 1961 and 1962 before resurfacing. However, once he got to the Twins, he was a dominant reliever for five years. He didn’t post an ERA over 2.84 until his final (age 40) season. #7 – Roy Smalley – SS – 1976-1982, 1985-1987 Back in the 1970s, shortstops were supposed to be just good glove little guys. Smalley was the Twins shortstop during his first stint in the organization and provided 25-30 doubles and 18-20 home run power. He came back to the Twins as a part-time player in 1985 and ended his career with the 1987 World Series champion team. He now is an analyst for the Twins on Fox Sports North. #6 – Kevin Tapani – RH SP – 1989-1995 Tapani came to the Twins from the Mets in the Frank Viola trade. He put together several solid, innings-eating seasons. He was kind of Brad Radke before Radke as he walked hardly anyone. His career season was 1991 when he was 16-9 with a 2.99 ERA in 244 innings. #5 – Cesar Tovar – IF/OF – 1965-1972 Tovar was a player who could do it all. He played everywhere during his time with the Twins, and not just in the 1968 game in which he played all nine positions. From 1968-1971, he was a well-above average player. He played every day (and even played 164 games in 1967). He led the lead with 204 hits in 1971. He led the league in 1970 with 36 doubles and 13 tripled. He stole 186 bases during his time with the Twins. #4 – Shane Mack – OF – 1990-1994 As I wrote last week, the former Rule 5 pick is one of the most underrated players in Twins history. A bust with the Padres, Mack became one of the best outfielders in baseball during his first years with the Twins. His 130 OPS+ shows just how much better than league average he was for that entire time frame. He did it all. He hit for average, got on base, showed power, stole bases and played great defense. Download attachment: CoreyKoskie.jpg #3 – Corey Koskie – 3B – 1998-2004 Speaking of underrated, the Manitoba native put up some very good numbers during his time with the Twins. He came up to the Twins as a project, a defensive liability at third base. Through hard work, he became one of the better defensive third basemen in the league. He had some power, and he took tremendous at bats. Download attachment: DaveGoltz.JPG #2 – Dave Goltz – RH SP – 1972-1979 The Minnesota native got to live a dream of playing for his home-state team. Goltz didn’t strike anyone out, certainly not unusual in that era, but he also had good control. He won 20 games in 1977 when he also threw 303 innings. From 1974-1978, he never posted an ERA over 3.67, and his best ERA was 2.49 in 1978. The innings caught up to him. After leaving the Twins, he fought arm problems and only had one more season in which he threw more than 90 innings. Download attachment: ChuckKnoblauch.jpg #1 – Chuck Knoblauch – 2B – 1991-1997 By the numbers, Knoblauch is clearly the best player on this list. The 1989 first-round pick had an incredible debut in 1991. He was the AL MVP that season and was an ideal top-of-the-order hitter for the World Series championship team. He was a tremendous defensive second baseman who, if not for Roberto Alomar, would have won several gold glove awards. He became the team’s leadoff hitter and his .391 on base percentage. He stole 276 bases. He eventually added some doubles power. Things got a bit weird for Knoblauch and his career after he was traded to the Yankees, but Knoblauch is one of the greats in Twins history. So there you have my thoughts. I would probably cast a vote for my #1-5 choices, but it would be in this order. What do you think? Cast your vote in the Comments and then on the Twins site. Click here to view the article

We are getting close now. Today, we enter into the Top 10 Twins prospects by looking at prospects six through ten. To give a heads up, the Top 5 prospects will be posted for Thursday, so be sure to come back for that. And on Friday, I'll review my Top 50 and encourage all of you to post a Top 20 (or 30 or 50, or whatever you like). I would argue that the top five Twins prospects approach 'elite' status. Prospects six through ten all have great upside, but each still has a question or two. It may be youth. It may be plate control or discipline. It may be development of a third or fourth pitch. These guys have a chance to be solid major league contributors. Likely they won't be big league All-Stars, but they can be big league regulars (and sometimes they do become All-Stars). Part 9: Prospects 6-10 As we start the Top 10 Twins prospects today, this group is really pretty interchangeable (and I think Josmil Pinto fits with this group). I think it's fair to say Cedar Rapids is pretty well represented as four of the five players on this list spent at least most of the season there. One was the Midwest League's Player of the Year, according to Topps. Two are hold-overs from last year's Top 10 while the fourth has jumped up prospect rankings over the last 18 months. The fifth is a hard-throwing kid who would still be a senior in high school if he were from the US. Download attachment: Adam Walker 2.jpg Photo by Rinaldi Photos #10 – Adam Walker – OF (22) The Milwaukee native went to Jacksonville University and put together three very good collegiate seasons. He posted OPS of 1.035, 1.168 and 1.007 in those seasons. He hit 52 doubles and 42 homers in those three seasons, plus he went 40-41 in stolen base attempts. After the Twins drafted him in the third round of the 2012 draft, he hit 14 home runs at Elizabethton, not to mention the two playoff homers that helped the E-Twins to the Appy League title. At Cedar Rapids in 2013, he hit .278/.319/.526 (.844) with 31 doubles and seven triples. He led the Midwest League with 27 home runs and 109 RBI (which was second in minor league baseball to only Dalton Hicks). He was also 10-10 in steal attempts. At 6-4 and 225 pounds, Walker is built for power. Except for Miguel Sano, Walker has as much power and power potential as anyone in the organization. He didn’t walk much in his first full season in the minors, which is a concern, so that will be the area worth watching. Defensively, he is solid in right field with good speed for his size. Yesterday, Topps named him the Player of the Year in the Midwest League. #9 – Lewis Thorpe – LH SP (17) Last week, Lewis Thorpe was kind enough to participate in a Q&A, so be sure to check that out. We know he has grown physically a lot since signing last summer from Australia. He also now has the ability to throw a fastball at 95 mph. He has a good curveball and an improving change up. In his 44 innings pitched for the GCL Twins this year, he walked just six and struck out 66 batters. He then dominated Team USA in international competition after the season. He is very young and has a long way to go, but he has certainly, and very quickly, put himself on the Twins prospect map! #8 – Max Kepler – OF/1B (20) Since signing at the same time as Polanco, Kepler has slowly worked his way up the system. Whereas Polanco spent two years in the GCL, Kepler spent two years at Elizabethton. Unfortunately, he began this season with an injured throwing elbow. He moved up to Cedar Rapids for the season’s second half. He hit just .237/.312/.424 (.736) with 11 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. He really struggled against left-handers with the Kernels. At 6-4 and nearly 200 pounds, he has the build to hit a lot of home runs. He stands at the plate with his hands held high, and is able to get the bat through the zone very quickly. He is a solid outfielder with adequate range and arm. If he stays in the outfield, left field is his likely destination. He also plays a very good first base which could be a very good fallback option for him. #7 – Jose (JO) Berrios – RH SP (19) Berrios was the Twins supplemental first round pick in 2012 out of high school in Puerto Rico. After an impressive professional debut in 2012 between the GCL and the E-Twins: He combined to go 3-0 with four walks and 49 strikeouts in 30.2 innings. He showed up at the Twins big league camp this year because he was selected to play for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. Because he pitched out of their bullpen, he remained in extended spring training after returning to the Twins. He was stretched out before being called up to the Kernels where he made 19 starts. He went 7-7 with a 3.99 ERA over 103.2 innings. He walked 40 and struck out 100. As pitching coach Gary Lucas told me, there were times when Berrios looked like a future star and other times he looked like a teenager on the mound. He has the pitches to be very successful. His fastball is between 92 and 95. He has a very good breaking ball. His changeup is improving. He just needs to slow it down to get a good differential between it and his fastball. He is just 6-0 and thin. He’s very athletic on the mound and he should advance to Ft. Myers in 2014. Download attachment: Jorge Polanco 3.jpg Photo by Tim Gale #6 – Jorge Polanco – 2B (20) When the Twins signed Polanco as a 16-year-old in 2010 out of the Dominican Republic, he was a very skinny kid, known for his defense. It’s possible that his defense was a bit overrated because generally the belief is that he doesn’t really have the arm for shortstop. He is a solid defensive second baseman. The surprise is that he has grown into a really solid hitter. After really struggling with the bat his first two seasons, he had a strong showing at Elizabethton in 2012 and he proved himself again with the bat with a solid first full season campaign in Cedar Rapids. He hit .308/.362/.452 (.813) with 32 doubles, ten triples and five home runs. Although he is an aggressive hitter, he does have a good idea of the strike zone and puts together quality at-bats. He was the 3rd overall pick in the Dominican Winter League draft and began in that league this winter by hitting .359 in his first ten games. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Thank you for reading part Part 9 of my ten-part series with my Top 50 Twins Prospects. On Thursday, the Top 5 Twins prospects (in my opinion) will be revealed. In case you missed any of the previous installments, here are those links: Part 1: 46-50 Part 2: 41-45 Part 3: 36-40 Part 4: 31-35 Part 5: 26-30 Part 6: 21-25 Part 7: 16-20 Part 8: 11-15 Click here to view the article

On Sunday night, the paperback version of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2014 became available. On Tuesday night, the electronic pdf version became available for immediate download. As we have mentioned, Cody Christie, Jeremy Nygaard and I put a ton of work into it over the last couple of months. As has been mentioned, there are over 150 player profiles in the book, but I thought today I would share a few nuggets from some of the stories that were written.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As you know, I wrote articles on all four of my postseason minor league award winners. I selected Miguel Sano as the Hitter of the Year. Taylor Rogers was the Starting Pitcher of the Year while Tyler Jones was the Relief Pitcher of the Year. Finally, Jake Mauer was the Manager of the Year. Here are some blurbs of those articles: Minor League Hitter of the Year 3B Miguel Sano Jon Paley was the Director of Pelotero (and is working on the sequel, The Miguel Sano Story which you can read more about at http://miguelsanostory.com/). He talked about the movie and how Sano was selected. “When we started filming we were following 5 characters. We narrowed that down to (Jean Carlos) Batista and Sano who ended up in the movie. The first week we were there, we went to a very high profile showcase with most of the top prospects in the country. We met both Sano and Batista's trainer there.” He continued, “We were welcomed into Miguel's life by him and his whole family. We would spend most days filming at the field and the Sano house for hours. Whether it was working on the field or on the film Miguel had a dedication and a work ethic that is incredible to watch. Talent is one thing, but he's got the determination to take on any challenge.” Asked about Sano’s personality, Paley expressed that it did change some through the scandal. “Miguel has always been the kid with a sweet swing and a big smile. He is a goofy kid with a great sense of humor. When the age scandal began to effect his signing options you could start to see that demeanor change and Miguel take things more seriously. It was really the first stage of his transformation from being a kid to a grown up.” ---------------------- Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year LHP Taylor Rogers He caught the attention of Twins scouts. He was the team’s 11th round pick in 2012. “During the draft, it was a possibility that the Twins were interested, but I just wanted to be taken at some point. After it all settled in, I was very thankful that it was the Twins because of their reputation with developing minor league players and drafting well-rounded individuals.” Tim O’Neil is a Twins scouts and a national cross-checker. He saw Rogers pitch several times. Regarding Rogers, O’Neil said, “He was a three year starter, and we saw him pitch a lot. His stuff was light, but he knew how to pitch and compete. His hits per nine were high, but he had pitches, and he threw it over. He threw 87 to 88 with lighter spin at the SEC tourney which may be a reason for the slide. His stuff is all a grade higher now as he’s maturing physically. He’s now proving he’s a legit starter prospect.” However, O’Neil continued, showing that sometimes scouts can find other intangibles that come into play. “During the winter prior to Taylor’s junior season, I was working out a former UK pitcher and quarterback, Shane Boyd. That day, our usual catcher couldn’t make it, so Taylor volunteered to catch Boyd – in shorts, no cup, with his pitching glove. Boyd threw hard, with a heavy ball and erratic command. Taylor gutted out numerous balls in the dirt and never flinched. It was pretty impressive.” ---------------- Minor League Reliever of the Year RHP Tyler Jones “My first year, I was in really bad shape. From college, you play fall ball, winter workouts, then spring ball. Then you go play summer ball, so it’s baseball year-round for three years. When I got home, I relished the time off. I did nothing. It hurt me. It cost me a spot on the Beloit roster. I had to start in Extended Spring. I went in there at like 260, and by the time I got to Beloit a month and a half later, I was at 245. I didn’t want to make that mistake again.” Jones worked hard throughout the offseason and came to spring training in 2013 in much better condition. “I think it helped immensely. It helped in spring training. I felt fresher. I felt better throughout the season. Instead of getting to spring training and having to get in shape, I got to spring training in a lot better shape and continued to get in better shape throughout the year. I think that I’ll improve on that this year, and I plan on it.” --------------- Minor League Manager of the Year: Jake Mauer Download attachment: Jake Mauer Smiling.jpg Unfortunately, 2005 was his final season as a professional baseball player. So, what was his transition from player to coach? For him, it came quite abruptly. “In 2006, I was in (minor league) camp. I had just had surgery the summer before on my elbow and tried to come back and play and really couldn’t throw. Even to this day, I don’t throw very well. Rob Antony talked to me a little bit about possibly making the switch, and Jim Rantz talked to me as well about what I thought. I wanted to try to play, but as we got to the end of camp, it didn’t look like I was going to be able to play. Literally, I signed my release papers, and then I signed my contract to be the hitting coach within about five seconds of each other. I went back into the clubhouse, grabbed my stuff out of my locker and walked into the coach’s locker room. So, it was kind of a quick transition. That was actually at the end of camp, so GCL and Extended had two days off. Nelson Prada was the manager, talked to him for a while, and then we had two days off and I was back hitting fungoes. So, it was a really quick turnaround.” -------------- Of course, these segments are just the tip of the iceberg. Each of these articles is six to eight pages worth of quotes and stories. I just thought these were really good ones to share. Again, I hate shameless self-promotion, but the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook is now available online in paperback and e-book at Lulu.com. You can order them or previous versions by clicking here. Click here to view the article

Francisco Liriano struck out 15 batters in eight innings for the Twins on Friday night, and he got a loss. The talented left-hander was pitching with his form from 2006. Unfortunately, he also had the fourth inning. It started with a single by Jemile Weeks. One out later, Denard Span dropped a fly ball. Liriano then issued a walk. With the bases loaded, Liriano served up a pitch that Johnny Gomes knocked for a grand slam. Outside of the one inning, Liriano was dominant. Josh Willingham homered twice and drove in all three runs but it wasn’t enough as the Twins lost 6-3. Willingham now has 21 home runs. Joe Mauer and Denard Span were each 2-4. Friday afternoon was the deadline for 2012 draft picks to sign. In the end, the Twins signed 27 of their 43 draft picks, including their first 11 picks. With that, here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Friday the 13th games in the system. Kyle Gibson was back on the mound in the GCL. How did he do? Which Twins pitcher carried a no-hitter into the late innings? Did Liam Hendriks continue his IL dominance? Which five hitters had three hits on Friday?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 7, TOLEDO 3 Liam Hendriks continued his mastery of the International League. In seven innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out five. He improved to 7-0 with a 1.79 ERA. Kyle Waldrop got five outs and gave up one run on two hits and two walks. Luis Perdomo picked up his 5th save by recording the final out. JR Towles went 2-3 with his first home run of the season. Sean Burroughs was 2-4 with his 11th and 12th doubles. Pedro Florimon and Matt Carson were each 2-5. Danny Valencia had an RBI double. NEW BRITAIN 9, TRENTON 2 The Rock Cat bats came out in this game. All nine hitters had at least one hit. Deibinson Romero went 3-5 with his 12th double. Oswaldo Arcia then went 3-5 with two RBI. He is now hitting .316 in New Britain. He also threw out a base runner at home. Evan Bigley went 2-4 with a walk and his 12th homer. Nate Hanson was 2-4 with his 10th double. James Beresford went 2-4 with his sixth double. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with two walks. Shairon Martis started and gave up one run on six hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out two. Daniel Turpen pitched a scoreless inning, walking one batter. Dakota Watts came in for the 9th and gave up one run on two hits and a walk. FT. MYERS 3, CLEARWATER 4 Pat Dean had one of the best performances in the organization this season. The left-hander from Boston College had a no-hitter through the first six innings. He then gave up two runs on four hits in the seventh inning when he recorded two outs. He walked two and struck out four in the game. Miguel Munoz went got the final four outs. Unfortunately, he gave up a two-run home run in the 8th inning to a rehabbing Laynce Nix that proved to be the game-winner. Josmil Pinto went 3-4 with his 15th double. Andy Leer went 3-4. Danny Rams was 2-4 with two RBI including an RBI single in the top of the 8th that gave the Miracle a 3-2 lead. Mike Nesseth recorded the save for Clearwater. The 6-5, 225 pound, 24 year old right-hander drafted out of the University of Nebraska hails from Windom, MN. BELOIT 8, FT. WAYNE 3 The Snappers completed a series in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, with an 8-3 win. Matt Summers won for the 9th time. The right-hander went six innings and gave up two runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out four. Steve Evans came in and gave up a run on two hits in two innings. He walked one and struck out three and walked none. Steve Gruver pitched a scoreless ninth frame. Drew Leachman led the offense with a 3-5 day. Wang-Wei Lin walked three times. Stephen Wickens went 2-3 with two RBI. Miguel Sano was 1-3 and walked two times. The Snappers are in the western division of the Midwest League and are playing games now in the Eastern Division. Way in the Eastern Division. Following the game, the Snappers took the bus further east. At 3 a.m., they drove through Cleveland and soon arrived at their new destination. They will now play three games against Lake County whose home is in Eastlake, Ohio. Lake County is the smallest of Ohio’s 88 counties, but it ranks 11th in population. ELIZABETHTON 2, GREENEVILLE 3 (10 innings) Many believe that professional baseball, even in the minor leagues, is a glamorous life. Tell that to the members of the Elizabethton Twins who sat through a long rain delay and got home at about 2:30 a.m. The game was delayed at the start and didn’t start until almost 10:00. Angel Mata started and gave up one run on one hit and four walks in three innings. There was another long delay around midnight. When the game resumed, Josh Burris was on the mound. He dropped his ERA to 0.56 with two innings of work. He gave up an unearned run on two hits and a walk. Christian Powell then struck out three in two scoreless innings. DJ Baxendale struck out five in two perfect innings. Kaleb Merck came in to start the bottom of the 10th frame. He got two outs in the inning, but gave up the winning run on two hits. Max Kepler got one base four times. He had a single, two walks and was also hit by a pitch. Candido Pimentel was 3-5. He also stole his seventh base. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RAYS 1 Kyle Gibson was back on the mound on Friday morning, pitching in a game for just the second time since late last July. On this day, he gave up one run on two hits and a walk. He hit a batter as well. One of the hits was a Nevin Ashley home run. (Ashley is a AAA catcher for a Rays, a very good prospect in AAA.) He recorded just two outs before being removed from the game due to the predetermined pitch count limitation. Asked how his arm felt after the outing, Gibson responded to Twins Daily by saying he “felt good!” Regarding his performance, he said, “(I) threw some good pitches and bad one, but overall felt good.” That is all part of the process . Matthew Tomshaw, who is also rehabbing in Ft. Myers. He had not pitched in a game since May 18th with the Beloit Snappers. The left-hander gave up just two hits over two scoreless innings. Randy Rosario came in and struckout four batters in 4.1 perfect innings. Gonzalo Sanudo recorded his second save with two perfect innings. Joel Licon hit his fifth and sixth doubles. John Murphy and Kelly Cross each doubled. Will Hurt finally got his first professional hit. The middle infielder drafted in June started the year 0-25, but he was 1-4 in this game and now at least has a batting average (.034). --- Players of the Day for Friday, July 13, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean Download attachment: Pat Dean 2.jpg Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero Download attachment: Deibinson Romero.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, July 14, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Nick Blackburn New Britain vs Trenton – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Clearwater – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Lake County – LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBD GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

At this point, we have reviewed the infielders and catchers throughout the Twins organization. Today, we will jump to the outfield. This information, of course, could be completely altered by an unexpected free agent signing or a trade. This exercise is not so much an attempt to perfectly predict where all of these players will wind up. In reality, there will be changes. Several players will be released. Some will be placed a level higher (or lower) than I would guess. This is just giving readers a reminder of who remains in the Twins system from last year, and who are the new players brought in this year. That said, I try to think about where these guys will I need to reiterate that these are my thoughts. I have no insider information to know where players will be playing for certain in 2012. Obviously after spring training, some of these players will be let go. There will be Disabled List players, extended spring training and more. Minnesota Twins Ben Revere (LF), Denard Span (CF), Josh Willingham (RF), Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit A lot of people seem to wonder why Willingham would be the right fielder. To me, that’s an easy choice. At Target Field, left field, centerfield and the gaps are pretty huge. I want Span and Revere covering the ground. Willingham isn’t a good left fielder. As far as playing the strange bounces off of the right field wall, anyone can have difficulties and will have to adjust to hit. Willingham will walk a lot and hit a bunch of home runs. I was chatting with Jamie Ogden at Twins Fest, and the comment that we agreed upon was the he will have the ability to take advantage of a pitcher’s mistakes and hit them a long way. It’s nice to have a guy like that in the middle of the lineup. As for Revere, I think it’s much better for him to play 3B. Simply, the throw from LF to 3B is much shorter than it is from CF. Also, the throw to home from CF is longer. Span doesn’t have a rocket for an arm, but he can throw. Span, when healthy, is a good on-base guy with speed and some extra base pop. Revere should be much improved, at least in terms of OBP, in 2012. He said that his goal is to steal 100 bases on 2012. He dropped that number to 80, but he plans on going whenever he gets a chance. Even though he didn’t play great in 2011, he made the Twins fun to watch and he made things happen. Imagine what he can make happen when he actually gets on base at a good clip! Trevor Plouffe should get plenty of time in left field, but he could also DH. He can hit lefties, and it will be interesting to see how he does in left field now that he doesn’t have the infielder’s glove. Ryan Doumit could get some time in right field as well. Rochester Red Wings Wilkin Ramirez (LF), Joe Benson (CF), Matt Carson (RF), Rene Tosoni, Mark Dolenc, Dustin Martin Ramirez and Carson were minor league free agents brought in by the Twins. Carson is a power hitter. Ramirez is an all-around player who was a top prospect with the Tigers just a couple of years ago. Joe Benson has spent the past two years at New Britain, so he is ready for the challenges of AAA. He could move up to the Twins as necessary throughout the year, at least after the June Super 2 timeline. The same can be said of Rene Tosoni who will likely play nearly every day between the three outfield spots as well as DHing. Benson could be a star if everything comes together. He could be a 30/30 guy with plus-defense in time. Tosoni is a guy who I think could fill a role as a platoon player and bench bat and occasional DH. He showed at times the power the he possesses. Dolenc has spent the past two years in New Britain and will likely need to advance to Rochester in 2012. He has averaged 439 plate appearances over the past four years and had a career-high 467 plate appearances in 2011. He has terrific tools, can play all three positions, gets on base, has very good speed, and plays really good defense with a strong arm. Dustin Martin put together his best year at Rochester (in his third season there). New Britain Rock Cats Angel Morales (LF), Aaron Hicks (CF), Evan Bigley (RF), Steve Liddle, Michael Hollimon Aaron Hicks had a frustrating and inconsistent season in 2011 in Ft. Myers. He was tremendous in June and then struggled for a couple of months. He definitely represented himself well in the Arizona Fall League. His defense and arm are certainly ready for advancement. It is a big year for Hicks. He will be added to the 40 man roster following the season, but he will have to continue to show improvement on the field, in his approach at the plate and show consistency. What he does in 2012 may determine whether he remains a switch-hitter as well. Evan Bigley spent all of 2011 in New Britain and showed that he could be a candidate for a midseason promotion. Angel Morales is younger than Hicks (something many seem to forget). 2011 was a lost year for him. He missed three months with his elbow injury. He had arthroscopic surgery and came back at the end of the season. He has good speed and a vastly improved approach at the plate. Although he hasn’t hit as many home runs the last couple of seasons, no one seems to be worried about his power. Liddle really struggled last season in Ft. Myers, and he had shoulder surgery following the year. The Vanderbilt product is the nephew of Twins 3B coach Steve Liddle. Hollimon can play all around the infield and can also play around the outfield. He could be the guy to go back and forth between New Britain and Rochester regardless of where the need is. Ft. Myers Miracle Lance Ray (LF), Nate Roberts (CF), Oswaldo Arcia (RF), Wang-Wei Lin, Danny Rams, Dan Rohlfing I was surprised when the Twins sent Arcia to Ft. Myers following rehab of his elbow. I would be surprised if he jumps up to New Britain to start the season, but not completely. If he has one thing to work on, it is cutting down on the strikeouts. I think he can end the year with the Rock Cats. Lance Ray can hit, even if his 2011 Beloit numbers didn’t strongly indicate that. He has a very fluid swing and good power. Nate Roberts was the 5th round pick a couple of years ago. He missed a lot of time on the DL with a knee injury. He is an on-base machine, taking walks and always willing to get hit. Wang-Wei Lin has steadily improved over his time, and after two years in Beloit, he will need to play in Ft. Myers. He has a good, line drive swing but the Taiwan native still has plenty to improve. Dan Rohlfing impressed behind the plate and will go to big league spring training in that role, but he can also play the outfield. At Instructs, Rams was moved to the outfield, although he will continue to catch some. The goal is to let him really focus on his swing and his bat. Beloit Snappers Danny Ortiz (LF), JD Williams (CF), Tyler Koelling (RF), Drew Leachman, Matej Hejma, Jhonatan Goncalves Ortiz was my choice for player of the month last April in Beloit, but it was a struggle through most of his season. He could start with the Snappers and spend a couple of months there (he already played in the Midwest League All-Star game last year). Tyler Koelling and Drew Leachman are two college outfielders who should advance to Beloit. JD Williams had an incredible season in Elizabethton in 2011, yet it went almost unnoticed thanks to Rosario and Sano. Baseball America just called him the fastest player in the Twins farm system, and he has the ability to bunt for hits from both sides of the plate. He played RF usually for the E-Twins because Eddie Rosario was in center. Matej Hejma is from the Czech Republic. Although he didn’t play a lot, or that well, in Elizabethton, he has to move up to Beloit because he has already played three seasons in the short season leagues. Goncalves is an interesting case. He has played most of the past two seasons in Ft. Myers, but he ended last year in Beloit which is probably where he should have been all along. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Max Kepler (CF), Candido Pimentel, Romy Jimenez, Kelvin Mention, Kelvin Ortiz, Dereck Rodriguez Like Niko Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will begin the season at Extended Spring Training. Like Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will not return to Elizabethton but will instead advance to Beloit before the short season begins. He has so much talent but is still very raw. Pimentel is similar to Otis Nixon, very thin and very fast. Romy Jimenez (formerly known as Romy Trinidad) missed most of last year with an injury in his first year in the States. Kelvin Mention did miss all of 2011 with injury. Kelvin Ortiz came to the States and really struggled. He should go back to the GCL. And Dereck Rodriguez (the son of Ivan Rodriguez) will certainly spend another season in the GCL. TOP THREE (OR SO…) PROSPECTS Oswaldo Arcia, 2.) Aaron Hicks, 3.) Joe Benson, 4.) Angel Morales, 5.) Max Kepler, 6.) JD Williams, 7.) Lance Ray, 8.) Danny OrtizSUMMARY Barring injury, the Twins starting outfield should be solid despite the losses of Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel (And to a lesser extent, Jason Repko). Benson and Tosoni are fairly close to being ready to contribute on a regular basis. Beyond that, there is a lot of talent but a lot of question marks. Can Aaron Hicks take that next step? Will Angel Morales return in 2012 with some added power? How quickly will the Twins advance Oswaldo Arcia? The ceilings of JD Williams and Max Kepler are very high, and there are so college draft picks (Roberts, Ray, etc.) who could advance fairly quickly. Of course, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano also remain in the future outfield situation as well which provide even more depth over time. Outfield is a position of strength for the Twins system. 2012 will be a big year for many of them! If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! Click here to view the article

It was a very good night for the Twins on Wednesday. Expectations coming into the season were that the Twins offense could be very good. To this point in the season, the Twins offense has been pretty non-good. A 15-run game can help get things going for individuals and, we all hope, also for the offense and the team as a whole. There were a lot of highlights in the game, and amazingly, there were even a couple important highlights for pitchers as well. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The one negative from this game was the performance of lefty Pedro Hernandez. The soft-tosser certainly has had his moments this season, but he was only able to get through two innings and he gave up six runs. It was especially disappointing, certainly, because the Twins offense gave him plenty of support. However, in a night full of hitting highlights, the player of the game, in my mind, was Ryan Pressly. And, just to be thorough, we have to explain the back story. As you know, this year the Twins made Pressly their Rule 5 selection, taking him from the Boston Red Sox organization. He likely came to spring training with an outside shot at making the Twins bullpen. As some injuries and poor performances crept in, Pressly continued to get outs. Thinking long-term, the Twins kept him on their opening day roster and he has pitched pretty well in limited duty so far this season. So, coming into a crazy game in the third inning in Fenway Park, a place he likely wanted to call home for the past several years, you can only imagine the thoughts and nerves running through his mind and body. In spite of this, he showed up and he performed. He gave the Twins exactly what they needed. That is, he pitched effectively. Even the most optimistic Twins fans could not have realistically hoped for four shutout innings from the rookie. That’s exactly what he did, giving up just two hits and two walks. In the end, Pressly was rewarded with the W, giving him the first win of his big league career. The other pitching performance of note on Wednesday took place in Toledo, Ohio, where the Rochester Red Wings got a 3-0 win over the Toledo Mudhens. Why is this important? A night after these two teams went 16 innings and the Red Wings used nine pitchers, Kyle Gibson gave the team a complete game shutout. He yielded just four hits, walked two and struck out eight. He threw 114 pitches. Why is this this important? The fact that Gibson is pitching on the same day as Hernandez, who has struggled his last couple of outings, may not be completely coincidental. Could it be possible that Gibson’s next start will be on Monday, not in the International League, but at Target Field against the White Sox? It is certainly not a given, but it is possible. Gibson has had two poor starts in Rochester this year. He has had one OK start. He has had three good starts, and Wednesday’s start would likely be classified as great. He will continue to need to gain consistency, but both his pitch count and that he recorded a strikeout for the final out tell us that his arm is where it needs to be. Whether he debuts with the Twins next Monday or next month, it is very encouraging. Red Wings play-by-play man Josh Whetzel tweeted some interesting details about Gibson’s complete game shutout. “He induced 11 ground outs (2 for DPs), 2 infield pop ups, 1 infield line out and 3 outfield fly ball outs.” It’s encouraging for Gibson for another reason. First, Sam Deduno has now made his first Red Wings start. Cole De Vries pitched on Sunday in a rehab start for Ft. Myers. He is scheduled to start for New Britain on Friday. Along with Liam Hendriks and PJ Walters, options are lining up to take a spot in the Twins rotation. (Do the Twins have too much pitching?) Now to the hitting. Oswaldo Arcia enjoyed his final day as a 21-year-old by becoming the first Twins rookie to get four hits in a game since Joe Benson did in September of 2011 against Ubaldo Jimenez, Chris Perez and Cleveland. Arcia came into the game hitting .255 and ended the night at .300. The first hit came off of Red Sox starting Allan Webster. The next three hits came off of southpaw Felix Doubrant: two solid singles to left field and a big double off the wall. The scouting reports on his offense have been accurate to this point in his career. He is quite aggressive and he wants to go up to bat swinging. I love watching that. That said, he doesn’t go outside the strike zone a lot either. As we saw in his 2-0 green light swing, he is not afraid to take a mammoth cut. We have already seen him launch two homers. I had always heard about his power to all fields. I watched him take a couple of rounds of batting practice two years ago and watched him hit long balls to left, center and right. But to see him stay down on pitches and hit them hard the other way is very encouraging, long term. Arcia hitting left-handed pitching is also important. A year ago at this time, he was playing in Ft. Myers and struggling against southpaws. He moved up to AA New Britain in mid-June and at that point he suddenly was able to hit lefties. Was that a short-term, small sample? Or, was it a sign of notable improvement? It’s something to watch, but thus far, the results have been quite positive. Two days ago, Ryan Doumit was hitting .158. After five hits in the last two games, he is now hitting .239 and looking like the hitter he was in 2012. Trevor Plouffe had three hits on Wednesday and is now 8-21 (.381) over his last six games, beginning the streak with a couple of home runs in Cleveland. One year ago today, Plouffe was hitting .103, the low point of his season. Maybe it should be encouraging he’s hitting .244 so far this year. Getting Plouffe and Doumit going will be very important in helping the Twins extend their lineup. Likewise, it was good to see Justin Morneau take some quality at-bats. He has kept his batting average in the .250 to .267 range, which is where it is after a 2-3 night. However, he has shown very little power while batting in the middle of the lineup. Looking ahead, I think the patience we have seen in recent games bodes well. Pedro Florimon had a home run and a double in the second inning. His home run was a lined shot to right field while batting left handed. Later in the inning, he came up right-handed and hit a double off The Monster. Any offense from Florimon is welcomed. I almost forgot… Joe Mauer had three hits, including two doubles. Sure, he had his little slump and saw his batting average drop to “just” .282. Now, over the past four games, he is 8-16 (.500) and has raised his average to .311. Of those eight hits, six were doubles. He has also walked five times in those four games. In other words, yes, he is pretty good. It was a big night for the Twins, their offense, their bullpen and for one of their future pitchers. It is important to remember that it is just one night. In baseball consistency is often one of the most difficult things to find. However, there were some nice performances from hitters that will, we hope, find a way to continue heating up. There are also some nice trends to provide optimism. The older veterans are known commodities. The second-tier veterans are, perhaps, starting to take a step toward being more productive. And the hope is the young players can continue to improve and contribute. View full article

Twins minor league affiliates had not won a game since Friday. All four affiliates lost on Saturday. Rochester was the only team to play on Sunday, but they lost. On Monday, the Twins affiliates were back to their winning ways as all four teams won. Not only that, but some of the organization’s top prospects either continued to hit or broke out a little bit. Eddie Rosario, Brian Dozier and Danny Santana continued to rake. Meanwhile, Miguel Sano had a special day, and Levi Michael and Aaron Hicks put together their first really good games with the bat. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, but here is what happened in the minors on Monday (and that one Sunday game): [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 5 (SUNDAY) On Sunday, the Red Wings were the lone Twins affiliate that played. Cole DeVries got the start and gave up two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked two and struckout four. Jeff Manship came in and went 3.1 perfect innings, striking out four. Casey Fien gave up two runs on six hits (including a homer) in two innings. Rene Rivera went 2-3 with his first homer of the season. Brian Dozier was 1-3 with a walk. ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 2 (MONDAY) Brian Dozier was the big story again for the Red Wings on this night. Dozier went 2-4 with an RBI double and a two-run home run, giving the Red Wings the 3-2 win. Ray Chang was 2-4. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-3 with a walk. The single gives him one hit in 16 at bats. Sam Deduno was solid in his first start. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Carlos Gutierrez struckout three in two scoreless frames. Tyler Robertson pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Anthony Slama struckout two in a scoreless ninth to record his second save. NEW BRITAIN 6, HARRISBURG 3 Alex Wimmers first start of the 2012 season was a huge improvement over his 2011 debut. In 4.1 innings, he gave up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struckout three. Deolis Guerra threw 2.2 innings without allowing a run. Daniel Turpen struckout two and walked on in two innings. He gave up one run. Aaron Hicks hit his first AA home run, a three run blast. He later added an RBI single. Deibinson Romero was 3-4 with his third double. Evan Bigley was 2-3 with his second double. Darin Mastroianni went 2-5 and stole two bases. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 3, JUPITER 1 Adrian Salcedo started for the first time this season and although he was a little wild, it was a good start. The lanky right-hander gave up just one run on two hits in four innings. He walked three and struckout three. Edgar Ibarra gave up three hits but no runs in 2.2 innings. Ricky Bowen got the next four outs. Bruce Pugh recorded his first save, striking out two in one inning. Levi Michael had his first big game. He went 3-4. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his first double. Danny Santana was 2-4. Jairo Perez hit his first home run of the year. BELOIT 9, KANE COUNTY 7 Miguel Sano has three hits in 13 at bats this season. The first was a grand slam, and on Monday, he hit a two-run homer and a three-run homer in lifting the Snappers to a win against the Cougars in Kane County. He had plenty of help on this day. Former Gopher AJ Pettersen went 3-4 with a triple. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with a walk. He stole his second and third bases. Jhonathan Goncalves went 2-5. Rory Rhodes walked three times. Daniel Ortiz and Tyler Grimes each hit a double. Jason Wheeler made his professional debut on Monday. He gave up one run in a nervous first inning, but that was it. He went four innings and gave up five hits, walked one and struckout three. Matthew Tomshaw gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Bart Carter gave up two runs on one hit and three walks in 1.1 innings. Michael Tonkin got the next four outs. Corey Williams recorded the save despite allowing one run on one hit in his inning. He struckout two. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, April 9, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano (photo from Rinaldi Photo... follow them on Facebook!) Download attachment: Miguel Sano.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Edgar Ibarra Download attachment: EdgarIbarra.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – 12:05 (CST) – RHP PJ Walters (vs Mets top pitching prospect Matt Harvey)New Britain vs Harrisburg – 5:35 (CST) – LHP Luke FrenchFt. Myers vs Jupiter – 6:05 (CST) – RHP Marty PophamBeloit @ Kane County – 12:05 (CST) – RHP Matt Summers--- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The Twins top pick in this year’s draft made his Elizabethton debut on Tuesday night and was very impressive. I mean, if you happen to like strikeouts. He likely would have made this debut a couple of weeks earlier if not for his foot injury. He probably would have been promoted along with fellow 2013 pick Stephen Gonsalves. The two young pitchers join Elizabethton’s Big Three of Felix Jorge, Randy Rosario and Yorman Landa. Hein Robb has been pitching very well of late. And, that’s not even counting college starters Ryan Eades and Aaron Slegers who are working out of the E-Twins bullpen. Elizabethton was well out of playoff contention 7-10 days ago, and now they find themselves nearing a wild card position. See what else happened in the Twins farm system on Tuesday.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 1, Louisville Bats 5 Box Score Former #3 overall pick, Greg Reynolds, was terrific for Louisville, but the Red Wings didn’t get good pitching or defense. PJ Walters made the start. He wasn’t helped by his defense, which committed three errors, but his control was not good either. One of the errors was a poor throw by Walters, but he also walked four and hit another. He was charged with four runs (2 earned) on just two hits over five innings. He struck out five. Cody Eppley gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Edgar Ibarra worked two more scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and walked one. Ibarra has now gone 31.1 innings, over 26 games, since giving up a run. Virgil Vasquez gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning. The Red Wings bats didn’t do much against Reynolds. They managed just five hits. Jeff Clement hit his 21st double. Josmil Pinto drove in the lone run with a single. Aaron Hicks returned to the lineup and went 0-3. New Britain Rock Cats 6, Trenton Thunder 4 Box Score Trevor May was back on the mound for the Rock Cats on Tuesday night. He gave up two runs on two hits over six innings. He walked four and struck out four. Cole Johnson came on and gave up two runs on five hits in just 1.2 innings. He left with runners on, and lefty Ryan O’Rourke came on and struck out the one batter he faced to end the eighth inning. Closer Dakota Watts came on and recorded the save, giving up just one hit in a scoreless ninth inning. The Rock Cats got offense from several places. Newcomer Brad Boyer was slotted into the DH role and the #2 spot in the lineup for his first Rock Cats start. He had hits in his first two at bats and ended the game 2-4. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his 21st home run. Miguel Sano’s 13th double drove in two runs. Nate Hanson doubled for the 21st time on the season. Evan Bigley and Angel Morales each hit their sixth Rock Cats double. Ft. Myers Miracle 0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 1 Box Score It was a tough loss for the Miracle, and particularly for lefty Taylor Rogers. He gave up just one run on three hits over eight innings. He walked three and struck out five. However, one of the three hits was the 11th home run of the season for Richie Shaffer that gave the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead in the 7th, a lead they were able to hold. Zach Jones pitched a scoreless ninth frame. The Miracle had just four hits. Dalton Hicks had the only extra base hit, his sixth Miracle double. Byron Buxton went 1-3 with a walk. He also stole his 18th base with the Miracle. It was his 50th overall stolen base this season. Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Peoria Chiefs 3 Box Score Tim Atherton gave up three runs early, but he was able to provide a Quality Start for the Kernels. He gave up three runs on five hits in six innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out four. Brett Lee pitched a perfect inning. Brandon Bixler struck out two in the eighth inning. Dallas Gallant struck out the side in the 9th inning to end the game. Max Kepler recorded his 10th and 11th doubles in five at bats. Niko Goodrum was also 2-5. Adam Walker drove in two more runs with a single. Michael Gonzales drove in two runs with his fifth double. Bo Altobelli went 2-4. Elizabethton Twins 10, Greeneville Astros 8 Box Score Twins top pick Kohl Stewart made his first Elizabethton start and impressed. The young right-hander gave up no runs on one hit in four innings. He walked one and struck out eight. Download attachment: Kohl Stewart Mug.jpg Tanner Mendonca walked one in a scoreless fifth inning. He then walked the first three batters of the sixth inning. Andre Martinez came in and got a fielder’s choice and a strikeout before walking a batter. Josh Burris came on and got the final out but not before giving up a hit, throwing a wild pitch and walking two. In total, the Astros scored six runs in the sixth inning. Austin Malinowski came on in the 7th and threw two scoreless innings. Brandon Peterson got the ninth inning. He walked one and gave up two on a home run, but he struck out two and got the final out to preserve a 10-8 win. Malinowski was credited with the Win. Bryan Haar continues to lead the E-Twins offense. He went 3-5 with his 13th double, fifth home run and three RBI. Logan Wade went 3-4 with his third double. Stuart Turner hit his second homer. Mitch Garver went 2-4 with his 11th double. GCL Twins 3, GCL Rays 4 Box Score Download attachment: Deolis Guerra.jpg There was the game, and then there are the rehab appearances that happen in the GCL. In the offseason, the Twins removed Deolis Guerra from their 40 man roster but were able to re-sign him to a minor league contract. After a tremendous showing in the Venezuelan Winter League, Guerra had the opportunity to pitch for his home country in the World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately, he was unable to participate because a blood clot was found in his right shoulder. On March 15, Guerra underwent rib resection surgery, which is essentially the removal of a rib. The rehab started pretty simply with some range-of-motion exercises. Gradually, more was added and in the last month or so, he has started his throwing program. In the 6th inning today, Guerra entered the GCL game and gave up just one hit in one scoreless inning. He struck out one. It was a pretty clean line, but considering where he was just five months ago, it’s a nice story. Chih-Wei Hu started for the Twins and gave up just three hits in five shutout innings. He didn’t issue a walk and struck out seven. Guerra pitched the sixth. Reyson Zoquiel came on for the eighth and got just two outs. He gave up just one hit and walked one batter, but he also hit two batters. All four runs ended up scoring. Tyler Stirewalt allowed the inherited runners to score before getting the final four outs of the game, two via the strikeout. Jason Kanzler led the offense. Leading off, he went 2-5 with his fifth double and his second home run. Brian Navarreto went 2-3 with a walk and his eighth double. Engelb Vielma went 1-2 with a walk and his third double. Ivory Thomas doubled for the third time. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Click here to view the article