Seth Stohs

He's a mid-round pick from last year's draft who pitched out of the ET bullpen last year. That isn't someone who profiles as a Top 30 guy. That isn't a knock. The question isn't his stuff, but I don't know what his role will be. Like others, if he keeps putting up numbers, he'll get into a top 30 in time.

Well, sadly, in minor league baseball, money often talks. Meaning... Michael got a million dollar bonus. Pettersen signed for peanuts. Who do you think it going to be the primary SS when Michael returns. I hope you are right though, that AJ gets to play quite a bit. He can play 3 IF spots and played a lot of left field too. Baxendale would likely be in the 20s somewhere. He put up some solid numbers in 2012 after signing. He pitched out of the bullpen in E-Town and Beloit and dominated. Now he's been moved to starter, which is what he did in college and made him the Twins 10th round pick a year ago. There's statistical reason to like him, but I'm going to see how he progresses in Ft. Myers for a couple of months before moving him up too far.

He's had a couple of separate set backs.

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We are already about 15 games into the minor league season. It’s not a lot of games, but it is just over 10% of the season’s schedule, even if there have been a lot of weather-related postponements and double headers. It’s too early to call any of the numbers more than a Small Sample Size, but it’s always fun to take an early look at Twins prospects. Below, you will find my preseason Top 30 Minnesota Twins prospects along with their statistics through Sunday, along with some of my thoughts and observations on many of the players. It’s exciting to see so many of those top prospects have started the season strong. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3841[/ATTACH] (Note this is my personal prospect ranking, use for entertainment purposes – and for learning about Twins prospects – only.) 1. Miguel Sano – Ft. Myers Miracle - .375/.438/.734 (1.173) with 5-2B, 0-3B, 6-HR, 16-RBI in 64 AB. 2. Byron Buxton – Cedar Rapids Kernels - .415/.523/.642 (1.165) with 2-2B, 2-3B, 2-HR, 10-RBI in 53 AB. Also 6-10 in SB attempts. 3. Oswaldo Arcia – Rochester Red Wings - .394/.474/.727 (1.201) with 2-2B, 3-HR, 8-RBI. Also 1-9 in 3 games with the Minnesota Twins. 4. Alex Meyer – New Britain Rock Cats – 1-0, 1.69 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 16 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 19 K These top four prospects would most likely fit into an “Elite” category. These are the guys who should be in Top 50 lists by any publication. All four of them are off to spectacular starts. Sano and Buxton are like Prospects 1a and 1b. Arcia and Meyer would be #1 prospects in several organizations. 5. Aaron Hicks – Minnesota Twins – .059/.200/.059 (.259) with 4-RBI. 6. Kyle Gibson – Rochester Red Wings – 0-3, 4.43 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 20.1 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 19 K 7. Eddie Rosario – Ft. Myers Miracle – .352/.385/.507 (.892) with 5-2B, 2-HR, 11-RBI in 71 AB 8. J.O. Berrios – Extended Spring Training – This would be the second tier of prospects. They aren’t quite in the elite category, but they are highly regarded in the industry. Hicks’s struggles at the onset of his big league career have been chronicled, but there is no reason to believe that he will not adjust. Gibson is still working on his gradual return from Tommy John surgery and is really just building up strength. Rosario made a name for himself in Puerto Rico this offseason, and earned his spot on that country’s WBC team. He impressed in Ft. Myers in spring training and he is off to a fast start with the Miracle. Berrios is also from Puerto Rico and despite his youth, he too was on the Puerto Rican WBC team. Because of that, he spent the first three weeks of the season in Ft. Myers, in Extended Spring Training. He made his first Cedar Rapids start on Monday night and gave up two runs in five innings. He sat between 92 and 94 with his fastball and touched 96. He got a couple of strikeouts on a strong breaking ball. 9. Trevor May – New Britain Rock Cats – 0-1, 3.14 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 14.1 IP, 13 H, 10 BB, 19 K 10. Max Kepler – Extended Spring Training Disabled List – Rounding out the Top 10, these prospects have high ceilings yet have something to overcome. For May, it is his ability to consistently throw strikes. He has the ‘stuff,’ but if he can’t control it, it will be hard to him to get big league hitters out. Kepler is yet to play because of an elbow injury. He’s still young and raw, but incredibly talented. He has to stay on the field. 11. Joe Benson – Rochester Red Wings – .170/.235/.191 (.427) with 1-2B, 0-HR, 1-RBI (Benson has been bothered by his wrist early in the season and is off to a slow start. He’s primarily playing left field although he has already played all three outfield positions). 12. Kennys Vargas – Ft. Myers Miracle – .238/.294/.460 (.754) with 5-2B, 3-HR, 12-RBI in 63 AB (Vargas just looks like David Ortiz. He’s fun-loving, and strong. He has a ton of power, but has a lot of work to do to advance. The talent is there!) 13. Danny Santana – New Britain Rock Cats – .250/.267/.319 (.586) with 1-2B, 2-3B, 0-HR, 7 RBI in 72 AB. (Santana has struggled some in the early season with the bat. That can be attributed to small sample size. However, one concern would be the eight errors he already has committed at shortstop.) 14. Travis Harrison – Cedar Rapids Kernels – .291/.349/.527 (.876) with 7-2B, 2-HR, 8-RBI in 55 AB (Harrison has tremendous power potential, potential that is still yet to develop. He certainly looks the part with a strong, balanced swing. He has five errors on the season.) 15. Alex Wimmers – Disabled List – (Alex Wimmers had Tommy John surgery last August, so he will likely be getting on a mound in another 4-6 weeks for the first time. It’s possible that he could start rehabbing when the GCL season begins.) 16. Adam Walker – Cedar Rapids Kernels – .264/.328/.358 (.686) with 2-2B, 1-HR, 9-RBI in 53 AB (Walker has as much power as anyone in the organization, including Miguel Sano. HE is a big, strong man. Last night, he added a long blast for his second home run. His father was a replacement player for the Vikings back in the ‘80s.) 17. Chris Herrmann – Rochester Red Wings – .175/.233/.200 (.433) with 1-2B, 2-RBI, in 40 AB (Herrmann is struggling early in the season, in his first games at the AAA level. He has primarily been catching early in the season, though he has the versatility to play other positions as well.) 18. BJ Hermsen – New Britain Rock Cats – 0-1, 9.64 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K (Hermsen went to big league spring training. After being optioned, he was sidelined by an intercostal strain. He made just his first start of the season on Sunday for the Rock Cats. ) 19. Jorge Polanco – Cedar Rapids Kernels – .300/.323/.417 (.739) with 4-2B, 1-HR, 11-RBI in 60 AB (Polanco had a good offensive numbers a year ago in Elizabethton, but I wasn’t able to move him higher up this list. Whenever I update this list, Polanco will move up. Having seen him play, he was a pleasant surprise. Specifically, he was great to see him swing and hit. I now am a believer in his potential with the bat. He has a ways to go, but he has a real chance.) 20. Luke Bard – Extended Spring Training Disabled List – (Bard is in extended spring training fighting some arm soreness. When he is able to reach the pitch count limit, he will move up to Cedar Rapids, or possibly right to Ft. Myers.) 21. Adrian Salcedo – Ft. Myers Miracle – 1-0, 5.63 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 8 IP, 10 H, 0 BB, 8 K (a former Top 10 prospect, he had a lost 2012 season due to elbow and shoulder injuries. He did not have surgery, and he is being brought along slowly. So far, he has been used only out of the bullpen.) 22. Mason Melotakis – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 1-1, 2.84 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 12.2 IP, 12 H, 7 BB, 11 K (Melotakis was one of the 2012 draft picks who was a college reliever but will get an opportunity to start in 2013. He has had mixed results through three starts. He’s limited runs, though he has given up a lot of base runners. He throws 94 from the left-side, so he’s got a chance.) 23. Nate Roberts – Disabled List – (Roberts had a good year at Beloit last year, and then he went to Arizona and led the AFL in Batting Average, On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage. Unfortunately, he tore his meniscus while preparing for the season and is on the disabled list awaiting clearance to play.) 24. Michael Tonkin – New Britain Rock Cats – 1-0, 6.23 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 10 H, 4 BB, 7 K (Tonkin took a big step forward in 2012, and with a big fastball/slider combination, he has a chance to move up quickly in 2013. Off to a slow start so far in New Britain.) 25. Pedro Hernandez – Minnesota Twins – 0-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 9.1 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 4 K (The lefty had a very good camp with the Twins but he went back to Rochester to stretch out and start. He never did pitch for the Red Wings as he was needed for a spot start with the Twins. He has stuck.) 26. Danny Ortiz – New Britain Rock Cats – .313/.356/.582 (.938) with 7-2B, 1-3B, 3-HR, 13-RBI in 67 AB (Often overlooked among all of the Twins outfield prospects, but Ortiz can hit. The Puerto Rican is off to a fast start with the Rock Cats. He can play all three positions. He’s not a big guy, but he packs a big punch.) 27. Niko Goodrum – Cedar Rapids Kernels – .298/.400/.383 (.783) with 4-2B, 0-HR, 5-RBI in 47 AB (Niko is a tremendous athlete who is finally growing into his frame. He plays a very good shortstop. He has greatly improved his swing from the left-side. He’s got a chance to keep moving up.) 28. Matt Summers – Ft. Myers Miracle – 1-1, 4.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 14.2 IP, 16 H, 5 BB, 5 K (Summers certainly looks the part of potential starter. He has the motion and the delivery. He has stuff and touches 93 at times. Not sure why he doesn’t get many strikeouts as a starter.) 29. Hudson Boyd – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 1-1, 5.14 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 14.0 IP, 13 H, 7 BB, 12 K (Boyd is young, and has a lot to improve, but seeing him in person, you can see why the team would make him a supplemental first-round pick. He’s got a good arm, a good changeup and a good curveball. He’ll develop and has a chance to be good.) 30. Levi Michael – Disabled List – (Michael struggled throughout his first pro season in 2012. In 2013, he has fought a shoulder injury. In his stead, former Gopher and Minnetonka native AJ Pettersen has run with the shortstop job in Ft. Myers, hitting .360 on the season and hitting at the top of the order. Michael is likely out another week or two, and when he’s healthy, he’ll likely be starting.) Feel free to ask questions about these 30 prospects or any other prospect in the Twins farm system.

Correct! There is the taunting and gamesmanship that can be 'policed', but that can happen with a fastball to the ribs too.

Some have questioned Sano's maturity in the past, but this has nothing to do with maturity. I would think most MLB veterans would not be real happy about the ball being thrown at his head. As Mientkiewicz said, if you want to make a point, hit him in the back or the butt, but if you go for the head, that's messing with the guy's future.

Miracle's Sano homers, gets ejected | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball Here's an article with some great quotes from Mientkiewicz on the incident.

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It may have only been two games, but as a Twins fan, there is not much better than sweeping the Chicago White Sox. On Sunday, the Twins scored four runs in the seventh thanks to an RBI single by Aaron Hicks, followed by a bases-clearing double by Josh Willingham. Scott Diamond got his first win of the season and Glen Perkins got the save. Down on the farm, there were several terrific performances. PJ Walters. Nate Hanson. Miguel Munoz. Lance Ray. Drew Leachman celebrated his birthday quite well on the field. Tyler Duffey was back on the mound on Sunday. The story of the day, unfortunately, came from Palm Beach and involved a top Twins prospect. Check out what happened below. Game 1 - Rochester Red Wings 1, Pawtucket Red Sox 8 Box Score Kyle Gibson made the start for the Red Wings. His line shows that he gave up thre runs on three hits and four walks in five innings. However, through five innings, he had not allowed a run. Unfortunately, when he came out for the sixth frame, he gave up a leadoff walk followed by back-to-back singles before being replaced by Luis Perdomo with the bases loaded. Perdomo gave up a walk, a single and a double before he was replaced by Tyler Robertson. Robertson walked two that half-inning, one intentional, but allowed just one inherited runner to score on a ground out before getting an inning-ending double play. Suddenly, the Wings were down by a score of 5-1. Unfortunately, things weren’t much better for the Red Wings in the seventh inning. Robertson walked the first three batters to load the bases before Dan Turpen replaced him. Three more runs scored making it 8-1. The Red Wings managed just four hits. Clete Thomas was 1-2 with two walks. Game 2 - Rochester Red Wings 2, Pawtucket Red Sox 0 Box Score The story of the second game of the double-header was the right arm of PJ Walters. He threw a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struckout five to improve to 1-2 on the season. The Red Wings had six hits in the game. Chris Colabello doubled for the third time. Ray Olmedo hit a 2-run double that was all the scoring there was in this game. The Red Wings improved to 5-12 with the split on Sunday. New Britain Rock Cats 7, Portland Sea Dogs 8 Box Score BJ Hermsen was back on the mound in a regular season for the first time this year. Hermsen, the Minor League starting pitcher of the year in 2012, went to big league spring training for the first time this spring. After being optioned, he strained his inter-costal and has been rehabbing since. Hermsen went 4.2 innings and gave up five runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three. Bobby Lanigan came on in relief and gave up three runs (2 earned) on four hits and a walk in just 0.2 innings. Edgar Ibarra struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin had a quiet eighth frame. Nate Hanson had a big day with the bat. The Eden Prairie High School grad and former Golden Gopher went 4-5 with a double and two RBI. Josmil Pinto went 2-3 with two walks. Dan Rohlfing went 1-3 with two walks. The Rock Cats fall to 8-9 on the season. Ft. Myers Miracle 5, Palm Beach Cardinals 6 (10 innings) Box Score This game was delayed for about two hours because of rain, and then it went to extra frames. However, there was drama throughout most of this game. Unfortunately the Miracle lost 6-5 in ten innings on a walk-off home run. The drama started in the fifth inning. Reliever Brandon Creath was in the game, and Miguel Sano came to the plate. The first pitch barely missed Sano’s head. Doug Mientkiewicz came out and told the home plate umpire that Creath should be ejected. The history? Five days earlier, in his most recent appearance, Creath gave up a long, grand slam to Sano. Creath stayed in this game, and on a 3-1 pitch, Sano launched a very, very long home run, his sixth of the year. He walked a few steps and then, prompted by the Cardinals dugout, started yelling at them as he ran down the line. At that point, the home plate umpire ejected Sano. Mientkiewicz came out and argued, and he was ejected. So was left fielder Stephen Wickens. There was plenty of offense for the Miracle. Unfortunately, they left 15 runners on the base paths. Lance Ray went 3-5 with his fourth double. Kyle Knudson went 2-3 with two walks and his second home run. Michael Gonzales went 2-5 with a walk. AJ Pettersen extended his hitting streak to six game with a 2-5 day. Jason Wheeler started and gave up five runs on six hits in four innings. He gave walked two and struck out two. The bullpen saved the day in this game. Miguel Munoz gave up three hits in three scoreless innings. Corey Williams gave up two hits in his two scoreless innings. However, in the tenth inning, Nelvin Fuentes came on. He threw one pitch and it was deposited over the fence in left field to end the game. The Miracle fall to 14-3 on the season. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3829[/ATTACH] photo by Jim Crikket Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Burlington Bees 2 Box Score The Kernels got terrific pitching and a big hit off the bat of Niko Goodrum to get this tough win. Tyler Duffey made his third straight Sunday start. In this game, he gave up two runs on four hits and a walk. In seven innings, he struck out six. He improved to 2-1. David Hurlbut came out of the bullpen and recorded his first save. He gave up just one hit and struck out two in the final two innings. After having four hits on Saturday, Drew Leachman celebrated his birthday on Sunday with three more hits. He was 3-3 with a triple and a sacrifice fly. Travis Harrison was 2-4 with his seventh double. Jorge Polanco had a double, his fourth. Byron Buxton was 1-3 with two walks. He stole his sixth base, but he was also caught stealing for the fourth time. Niko Goodrum had just one hit on the day, but it was a two-run single in the seventh that gave the Kernels the 3-2 lead. The Snappers are now 11-5 on the season. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.

Sano hit a LONG home run (estimates at 450 feet) on a 3-1 pitch. He was ejected during his trot for taunting. According to Brice Zimmerman (Miracle play-by-play) via twitter, he was pumping his fists and yelling at the dugout. On the first pitch to him in that plate appearance, the pitcher threw a fastball that just missed Sano's head. Mientkiewicz got ejected for coming out and saying the pitcher should have been tossed instead of just getting a warning. No information on what Wickens did in it to get ejected. Also, DJ Baxendale was ejected.

I'm pretty sure we'll get a chance to find that out sometime this season.

Here is the video of Niko's walk-off single in Game 2 this season in Cedar Rapids. Scored Travis Harrison from second base. [video=youtube;Xpg3z4-kbzg]

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The Twins got a nice 2-1, 10-inning win in Chicago against the White Sox. Eduardo Escobar, who came to the Twins last July from the South Siders, beat out an infield single to shortstop. Ryan Doumit, who was on second after an inning -opening double, advanced to third base and then continued home when Jeff Keppinger was unable to cleanly catch the one-hop throw from Ramirez. Glen Perkins came on to record the save. There were a couple of one-run games in the Twins farm system. A big home run helped Rochester a win, their first back-to-back wins of the season. The Ft. Myers Miracle also played an entertaining one-run game, but you’ll have to keep reading to see whether they won...or not. Byron Buxton’s batting average dropped to .420, but how did the Kernels play? Were the Rock Cats able to bounce back from a big loss a night earlier? Check down below, and please feel free to discuss. Rochester Red Wings 5, Pawtucket Red Sox 4 Box Score It was a back-and-forth game on Saturday afternoon between these two teams. Fortunately, the Red Wings managed to score last on Chris Colabello’s sixth home run of the season. Colabello went 2-4 with that organizational-leading sixth home run. Clete Thomas went 2-3 with a walk. Joe Benson was 2-4. Andrew Albers started and really struggled. Typically an aggressive control pitcher, Albers walked three in just two innings. He gave up three runs on four hits and struck out just one. Caleb Thielbar came on and pitched well. The lefty gave up two hits and a walk in three scoreless frames. He struck out three. Shairon Martis gave up a solo home run. He gave up that one run and three hits and a walk in two innings. Tim Wood’s rehab stint continued with his first appearance in Rochester. He was the International League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2012 and struck out two on this day. Anthony Slama came in for the ninth and set them down 1, 2, 3 for his second save of the year. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 7 Box Score After losing 12-1 on Friday night, it was important for the Rock Cats to get off to a fast start on Saturday afternoon. Danny Santana led off the game with his second triple. James Beresford drove him in with a sacrifice fly. That was about it for the Rock Cats offense. Santana was 2-4. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit his sixth double. Danny Ortiz hit his seventh double. Logan Darnell stated for New Britain. The left-hander gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits and two walks. In five innings, he struck out six. AJ Achter gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in his 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Aaron Thompson came on and gave up two hits but no runs in 1.1 innings. Ft. Myers Miracle 5, St. Lucie Mets 6 Box Score So close! On Saturday night, Ft. Myers was inches away from a Miracle win in Port St. Lucie. Down 6-2 going into the ninth frame, Eddie Rosario singled. Then three straight Miracle hitters drew walks, which cut the lead to 6-3. Another reliever came on and gave up a single to Kennys Vargas to cut the lead to 6-4. The eight and ninth hitters, Lance Ray and Andy Leer, struck out. That brought up AJ Pettersen. Pettersen hit a hard ground ball off of a diving first baseman. A single run scored. Pinch runner Stephen Wickens attempted to score from second on the play but was thrown out at the plate. The Miracle were that close to keeping the game going, but unfortunately, they fall to 14-2 with the 6-5 loss. Tom Stuifbergen started and gave up just one run through the first six innings. In the bottom of the 7th, a one-out single was followed by a controversial hit batter. The Miracle believed that the ball hit the batter’s bat. The umpire disagreed. Runners on first and second. With the lead runner attempting to steal third, the next batter grounded to third base, but Miguel Sano committed his fourth error of the year loading the bases. TJ Rivera then hit a bases-clearing double that broke open the game. That was the end of the line for Stuifbergen. He went 6.1 innings and gave up five runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked none and struck out five. Adrian Salcedo came in and gave up a run on three hits in 1.2 innings. Miguel Sano went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth double. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3814[/ATTACH] photo courtesy of Cedar Rapids Kernels Facebook page. Be sure to "Like" it. Cedar Rapids Kernels 11, Peoria Chiefs 2 Box Score If you can put up crooked numbers on the scoreboard, it’s always a good thing. The Red Wings scored six runs in the first inning and another five runs in the fourth inning to jump out to a huge lead. They ended the game with two straight numbers. The Kernels collected 17 hits in the game. Drew Leachman led the offense with a 4-5 day. He was playing for just the fourth time on the season and came into the game hitting .142 (2-14). He now is hitting .316 after missing almost two weeks with a shoulder injury. Niko Goodrum went 2-4 with two walks and had two RBI. Romy Jimenez went 2-4 with his second double and four RBI. He had a bases-clearing double in the first inning. Jhonatan Arias went 2-5, his first two hits of the season. Travis Harrison was 2-4 with a walk. Adam Walker was 2-4. Jorge Polanco was 2-6. Byron Buxton’s batting average dropped to .420 with an 0-4 game. He did, however, walk twice in the long first inning. Lefty Mason Melotakis started, lasted only 3.1 innings, due in part to giving up four walks and four hits, and so did not qualify for the win, in spite of the run support. Steve Gruver came on for an “easy” “Win” and pitched well. The southpaw gave up one run on four hits in 4.2 innings. He walked none and struck out four. Tyler Jones pitched the ninth inning and gave up a hit, but no runs. Please feel free to comment or ask questions below.

That was fun!! I have about 50,000 cards, most between 1986 and 1992.

Remains the problem... Interesting stuff!