Seth Stohs

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1441-Spring-Training-Organizational-Depth-Chart-The-Catchers

Last week, we began to look at the Minnesota Twins organizational depth by looking at all of the outfielders and then all of the infielders in the in the system. Today, we return and take a look at all of the catchers. As with all spring trainings, a lot of catchers are needed just to catch bullpens and to allow players to gradually work up to squatting for nine innings. As we have done in the previous articles, we will consider which players may fill the rosters of the Twins minor league affiliates. Of course, this is all just an educated guess. As I’ve said, any of this could be altered by an unexpected free agent signing or a trade. For instance, if the Twins sign a big bat for their bench, the odds of a third catcher with the big league roster drops significantly. Sadly, not all of these players will remain in the organization beyond spring training. Some may wind up on the Disabled List. Others may find themselves looking for another job in baseball, or maybe not in baseball. Hopefully this list will remind you of which players are in the organization. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3447[/ATTACH] So let’s get to it. Here are the Catchers in the Minnesota Twins organization: Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit (DH), Drew Butera In 2012, Manager Ron Gardenhire seemed to find the perfect mix among his catchers. Joe Mauer started 72 games behind the plate, 30 games at first base and DHed most of the other games on his way to career highs in games played and plate appearances. Ryan Doumit was the team’s primary DH, but he also started 52 games behind the plate as well as played some in the outfield. Having them in the lineup most days meant that Drew Butera was rarely a starter, just 27 games all season. Although Joe Mauer will want to catch some more in 2012, hopefully they will be able to maintain a similar balance and keep his bat in the lineup most days. Doumit also was able to stay healthy which will be important to the 2013 Twins. Butera remains the team’s third catcher, although it is possible he will being 2013 in Rochester, as he did a year ago. Rochester Red Wings Chris Herrmann, Eric Fryer, Danny Lehmann Chris Herrmann debuted with the Twins in mid-September after thinking his season was complete. He was able to record his first Major League hit, but he has had a rough spring training and will begin his first season in Triple A. The hope would be that he’ll hit a little bit and continue to improve his defense. He should also play some in the outfield and take over the third catcher role for the Twins by mid-season. Fryer is a 27-year-old backstop who has eight big league hits over the past two seasons. Lehmann is generally considered the top defensive catcher in the Twins system. He’s Butera without quite the arm. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3448[/ATTACH] New Britain Rock Cats Josmil Pinto, Dan Rohlfing Rohlfing has had a very nice showing in big league camp this year. Of his four hits, two are doubles and one is a home run. He is an athletic catcher who plays left field well. He has also done well in his time at first base in the past week of spring training. Pinto had a breakout season in Ft. Myers in 2012 and ended it with a nice showing in his brief time with New Britain. For his efforts, the Twins re-signed him as a minor league free agent and then added him to the 40 man roster. Ft. Myers Miracle Kyle Knudson, Matt Koch, Jairo Rodriguez Kyle Knudson was invited to spring training after splitting 2012 between Beloit and Ft. Myers. For the first time since signing with the Twins after being drafted out of the University of Minnesota, he is healthy. Matt Koch started out the 2012 strong with the Beloit Snappers. He did a nice job behind the plate and also was the team’s DH sometimes. Jairo Rodriguez was the #2 catcher most of the year in Beloit a season ago. Cedar Rapids Kernels Jhonatan Arias, Tyler Grimes, Bo Altobelli, Bryan Santy Arias played primarily for Beloit in 2011, but he returned to Elizabethton in 2012 and finally put up some good offensive numbers. Grimes is likely to spend his third straight year (including his drafted year) in the Midwest League. However, he transitioned to catcher during the instructional league after the 2012 season and will continue to play there in 2013. Altobelli and Santy were both late round 2012 draft picks from colleges. Extended Spring Training/Short-Season Kelly Cross, Brian Compton, Jorge Fernandez, Joel Polanco, Michael Quesada (Suspended) Kelly Cross will be entering his fourth season in the organization. He spent two years in the GCL, and did move up to Elizabethton and played a little last year. He will have to take some major strides in 2013. Jorge Fernandez was a Twins draft pick in 2012 out of Puerto Rico. He has a chance to be solid, but patience will be needed. Brian Compton was signed a year ago for depth in the GCL and likely remains through EST for the same. Polanco is a 20-year-old who spent the last two seasons in the Dominican Summer League. Last year, he hit .254/.369/.381 (.749) with 15 doubles. He also threw out 56% of would-be base stealers. Quesada was drafted in 2010, and in 2012 made his first appearances in Elizabethton. Unfortunately, he received a 50 game suspension and he will need to serve that into the Elizabethton season, which will start in late June. TOP PROSPECTS 1.) Chris Herrmann, 2.) Dan Rohlfing, 3.) Jorge Fernandez, SUMMARY Fortunately the Twins have Joe Mauer locked up for the next half-dozen years. Ryan Doumit is likely to be around for two more seasons. Chris Herrmann is close and can fill a utility/catcher role for several years. Beyond that, there is not much in terms of upside catching prospects in the Twins system. If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the Comments Section!

Meyer is a starting pitcher. He's going to start at AA. He needs to build up some innings and to do that, needs to go down and start playing in minor league games to do that.

During the game, it was announced on the radio that Trevor Plouffe was scratched with a calf strain, and that he was day-to-day. Following the game, Gardy announced that he is out at least a week, and if it were the regular season, Plouffe would be put on the Disabled List. This isn't a negative on the training staff. Likely there was an initial report that was enough to take him out of the lineup. Then he was evaluated and they determined the extent. But, this is an unfortunate setback for Plouffe who was hitting well since his return from another "minor injury."

Talked to Stuifbergen this morning. He was impressed by that Japan team. Said it was the best he's played against. He admitted he actually felt pretty good today and that he had his good stuff. He said he made three mistakes, one was a crushed single, and the other two were crushed home runs.

1.) As long as Chris Parmelee is healthy, he will be the team's starting RF when the season opens. 2.) They'll send down a bunch of the 40 man roster guys that won't be making the team. That would be Hermsen, May, Pinto, Arcia, Santana, Thielbar, Tonkin, 3.) As for non-roster guys that will be sent to minor league camp, I think it's more about guys that have no shot and aren't at a position of need. Also, starting pitchers that need to start getting stretched out. Remember that unlike 40 man roster players, these guys can still play in Twins spring games after their demotion. I would say guys like Augenstein, E Vasquez... could also officially send down the injured guys like Oliveros and Blackburn. They could do the same with Harden and Perez, although they likely won't send them to minor league camp. 4.) As for Benson, he is a possibility, but I think they need to make more decisions on him, so I expect he'll stick around long enough to have something positive happen.

Yeah, I remember looking at Rich Becker's numbers a couple of years ago and thought that he would be much more appreciated now than he was in the mid-to-late '90s. He was a walk machine. He also struckout a ton. And, to answer the question, will all toolsy outfielders in the Twins system be compared to Torii Hunter? Yes, of course. In the same way that all strike-throwing pitchers who top out at 91 yet put up good numbers will be compared to Brad Radke. But, I would say that in terms of prospect status, Hicks and for sure Buxton are much more highly thought of prospects.

Regarding Dozier in the televised game. That first at bat was certainly not good... But in the second at bat, he took some pitches and drilled an RBI single up the middle. In his third at bat, he took some pitches and worked a walk. Parker wrote an article a month or so ago about the mechanics of his swing, and even in the strikeout, the swing was good... It may come down entirely to pitch selection. And, Florimon is what he is. Incremental improvement is still improvement. IF he can play the kind of SS defense that people are convinced he can, there is a ton of value in that . He's also the #9 hitter... Optimism is a good thing. Hope is a good thing. As I had in my projections, I don't think that Florimon will be on the roster terribly long, maybe a couple of months, before Escobar takes over at short. But, I have no problem with giving Florimon's glove an opportunity. Jamey Carroll is always around.

Gardy likes to talk in spring about the guys he is impressed with and how he'll go tell Ryan that he'd really like to see them on the big league roster and fight for them. But he's also not dumb. He's smart enough to know that the Twins may promote guys directly from AA, but not guys with a half-season of Hi-A ball. Meyer will move fast. Hendriks will likely be on the roster, but it's good to have guys like De Vries (who also may make the Opening Day roster) and Deduno at AAA for depth for the big league rotation. But frankly, no one is going to be holding Meyer back. It feels like he's the kind of guy that will get called up right from AA potentialy.

Of course, that's subject to change after Bard gets healthy and starts the 2013 season. Just like Brown may become a better pitcher long-term than Berrios. Won't really know for another 6-8 years.

Strange response... 1.) Who cares about his overall numbers. Scouts certainly aren't looking at those very much. How about 5 walks and 45 strikeouts in 31 innings this year? Shows a pretty good trajectory. 2.) The Twins aren't going to take anyone just because they're local. If it makes sense, they do. They took Mauer because they believed he was the best player in the 2001 draft. The took Glen Perkins in 2004 because they felt he was the best available at that pick (around 22, I believe). They didn't take Mitch Brown last year. No one is suggesting they take him because he's from Minnesota, especially not at 4.

World Baseball Classic: Most Recent | CAN@MEX: Cruz gestures after Robinson's bunt - Video The above link shows Luis Cruz, upset because the batter before Tosoni (Chris Robinson) bunted in the 9th inning with a 9-3 lead, telling the pitcher to hit Tosoni in the ribs. Pretty clear. As the Mexico manager said, he must not have done a good job of telling his team the rules of the tournament which has run differential as a tie-breaker, so the bunt was not out of line.

Tosoni had absolutely no fault in this brawl. He just happened to be the guy up to bat when 3B Luis Cruz (4 seasons of big league time) told RHP Arturo Leon to hit Tosoni in the ribs (there is video showing this is as well). 8 players were ejected. Tosoni was one of them just because he was the hitter... Twins farm hand Andrew Albers (who gave up two runs in 3 innings in the game) was also ejected. It was an impressive brawl. [video=youtube;eAtGT-fFvr0]

New Britain has been in playoff contention until the final day of each of the last two seasons. Ft. Myers has been horrible the last two years. That said, I'd definitely assume they'll start Meyer (and May and Hermsen in New Britain).

Just like they did last year? They may take him, but I Don't think it's a given... but I think you make a good point.

In all likelihood, it's likely that Windle has already been drafted when the Twins pick in the 2nd round. Lots of season left and many more scouts will see him, but this would sure be a nice 2nd round pick.

I think May, Meyer and Hermsen all start in AA this season.

Wouldn't it be funny if Mauer, Morneau and Perkins are back in Twins camp before Butera and Colabello. As a Twins fans, I would be quite happy!

I think the only reason they didn't was because Mazzilli chose not to sign. (9th round pick)

Yeah, late last night Deolis tweeted that he was very disappointed in not being able to play for his country in the WBC. Too bad. He had a tremendous winter in the VWL!

lightfoot - People have said that Sano is 6-4 and 240... sounds about right... he doesn't have much body fat at all. Vargas is probably 6-6 and was at 272 in Instructs last fall (according to Baseball America). But he played in Puerto Rico and both have been in Ft. Myers since mid-January, so I can't speak to either with certainty.

So, if Gibson isn't showing he's one of the top 5 starters, which he isn't right now... where should they have him "waste" those innings? In Extended Spring?

Fun read... Good to hear Niko is getting bigger and stronger. I don't expect a lot of power, but hopefully he can add some doubles, triples. Have heard rumblings that he could move over to 3B some this year, though, he's such a good athlete, could play anywhere. Good to hear about Kepler's speed. No question, he's got the ability to play CF. He did it last year at Elizabethton, well, until Buxton got there. he's a terrific athlete.