Seth Stohs

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The Twins lost big to the Rangers, again. Maybe you’ve read this story before. The Twins starting pitcher (Brian Duensing on this day) puts the Twins way behind early in the game, and the offense isn’t able to catch up. Justin Morneau went 4-4 and homered for the 202nd time in his career to pass Gary Gaetti for 6th on the Twins all-time list. Pedro Florimon was 2-3 with a walk. Jamey Carroll went 2-4 with his 15th double. Joe Mauer doubled for the 26th time this year. The Twins lost for the fifth straight game, and for the 14th time in their last 16 games. Aside from the Beloit Snappers, it was not a great night for the Twins organization. Rochester, New Britain, Ft. Myers and Elizabethton lost. The GCL Twins played their final regular season game of the season. Had they won, they would have been in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost too. That means that most of the players from that team will be able to leave Ft. Myers before Tropical Storm Isaac arrives on Sunday night. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday night: ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 5 The story on this night was Kyle Gibson. He was making his first start for the Red Wings since last July and undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. In the first inning, Gibson struck out the first two batters he faced. He then gave up a seeing-eye single before striking out the third batter of the inning. In the second inning, he had strikeout, got the second out on a soft-line drive to second base, and got the third batter out on another strikeout. Unfortunately, Gibson struggled in the third frame. He gave up four runs on five hits before his evening was done. He threw 47 pitches, 32 for strikes. More important, his fastball was sitting before 90 and 93 mph with movement. His slider was very sharp, and he showed a very good changeup. Deolis Guerra threw the next three innings. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out four. Daniel Turpen went the final two innings. He gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out four. Wilkin Ramirez remains one fire. He went 3-4 with his 13th double and seventh stolen base. Matt Carson was 2-4 with his 24th double. Brian Dinkelman went 2-4. Danny Lehmann was 1-2 with a walk. Brian Dozier’s struggles with the bat continued. He is 0-20 in his last five game, and since his return to the Red Wings, he has just three hits in 41 at bats. NEW BRITAIN 2, NEW HAMPSHIRE 4 The Rock Cats fell for the third straight game to New Hampshire. BJ Hermsen started for the Rock Cats. Big leaguer, Adam Lind, was the first batter he faced, and he hit a home run. Lind was 2-2 with a walk in the game. Hermsen went six innings and gave up four runs (3 earned) on six hits. He walked three and struck out four. Aaron Thompson struckout one in his inning. Dakota Watts walked one in his relief inning. Deibinson Romero went 2-3 with a walk. Dan Rohlfing was 2-4 with his first triple. Nate Hanson got the Rock Cats on the scoreboard in the second inning when his 14th double drove in Josmil Pinto. Chris Colabello doubled for the 37th time this season. FT. MYERS 2, PALM BEACH 4 Palm Beach scored one in the 2nd inning, one in the 3rd inning and one in the 4th inning, and that was enough on this night. Cole Nelson got the start. The lefty gave up the three runs on nine hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out four. Ricky Bowen gave up three hits and a walk in two scoreless innings. He struckout three. Nelvin Fuentes struckout three over the next two innings. He gave up no runs on one hit and one walk. Michael Tonkin gave up one run on one hit in the ninth inning. He struckout two. Lance Ray went 1-2 with three walks and his 21st double. Levi Michael went 2-3 with a walk. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-4. Danny Santana went 2-5. Steve Liddle hit his second homer. Remember that the Miracle’s game on Sunday was moved up due to tropical storm Isaac. BELOIT 13, CEDAR RAPIDS 2 Miguel Sano got the night off. Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas combined to go 0-10 with five strikeouts. So, of course the Snappers scored 13 runs in Cedar Rapids. Nate Roberts went 3-6. JD Williams went 2-5 with a walk and his sixth homer. Drew Leachman went 2-5 with a walk and his fourth home run. Matt Koch went 1-3 with two walks and his 20th double. Tyler Grimes was 1-3 with two walks and his fifth home run. Stephen Wickens went 1-3 with three walks. Cole Johnson made the start. He went five innings and gave up two runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out one. Corey Williams struck out three and walked one over the next three innings. DJ Baxendale gave up two hits but no runs in his inning of work. ELIZABETHTON 1, PULASKI 4 The E-Twins had a rare game in which they didn’t get much offense. Travis Harrison went 2-3 with a walk and his fifth home run. The team had just four more hits. Ricardo Arevalo started and gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks in five innings. He struckout just one. Travis Huber walked two in his scoreless inning of work. Andrew Ferriera walked the one batter he faced. Tyler Herr came on and gave up two hits and two walks but no runs in his two innings. GCL TWINS 1 , GCL RED SOX 4 After winning on Friday night, the GCL Twins had a chance to make the playoffs with a win on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Twins came up just short. On the positive side, many of the players will be able to leave Ft. Myers before Tropical Storm Isaac gets there. Felix Jorge started and gave up three runs in the first four innings. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out six. Kuo Hua Lo walked two and struck out one over the next two innings. Hung-Yi Chen gave up one run on two hits in his inning. Alex Muren then struck out one in a scoreless inning. Aderlin Mejia finished a terrific season with another good game. He was 2-3 with a walk and his 12th and 13th doubles. Bryan Haar was also 2-3. Jeremias Pineda went 1-3 with a walk and his 23rd stolen base. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, August 25, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Corey Williams [ATTACH=CONFIG]2129[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Wilkin Ramirez [ATTACH=CONFIG]2130[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Sunday, August 26, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo (DH) – RHP Esmerling Vasquez, TBD New Britain @ New Hampshire – LHP Andrew Albers Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – RHP Matt Summers Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs Princeton – RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins – Season Over --- 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!

Well, if Mandelaro approves of Glynn... When Glynn was hired, it was known that he was a very good person and wonderful with the media. I don't know if "wonderful with the media" is one of the top criteria I'd be looking for. What I do like about Glynn, however, is his background as an advanced scout, and his ability to watch other players and know if they're ready to help a big league club. That's why I think he's great for Rochester, and who knows, maybe with the Twins. Seems like a perfect bench coach. And, Glynn fits my "no retreads" criteria!

That would be interesting... Because it would be the one choice that I think might make me consider not being a Twins fan anymore.

As of right now, I'd say Dave Martinez... 1.) comes from the Joe Maddon school in Tampa, but he's coached and been very well respected since his playing days. 2.) He had a long and solid, productive career despite rarely being a full-time player. Like Gardy, he understands how difficult this game is and that players make mistakes and errors and such. 3.) I want a first-time manager because I don't like retreads.

I still believe that the manager has very little to do with the Twins' record this year. At this point, I would not be terribly disappointed with a change at the top. I don't think it will make the team better. I don't care who the manager of this team is right now, the record would not be any better. I don't think that a turn-around would help push the timeline of a rebuild any quicker. It would be change for change's sake, and maybe that 's OK. I definitely would not advocate firing the manager, but I also would not be against it either.

Listening to Josh Whetzel. FB is between 90 and 93 with movement. He's also saying that the slider is the best he's seen. Very sharp, late movement. And, he's thrown a few changeups as well. The first inning single was not hit hard. The line out was a very soft liner. Fans can listen live here: http://www.whtk.com/main.html

I'm sure we all can find examples of players who moved too slowly in our minds or too quickly in our minds. In general, I don't care as long as the prospects are moving appropriately. The Twins certainly aren't holding back Oswaldo Arcia, are they? Aaron Hicks. Does anyone think he's been moved too slowly?? What about his performance until this year says he should have been moved more quickly. I know lots wanted Sano promoted to FM earlier, but I think it's fair to say that spending the full season in Beloit is what's best for him. Brian Dozier went from an 8th round draft pick to the Twins starting lineup in less than 3 years. He was pushed pretty quickly, and yet, we could all agree that he could have used a couple more months. Chris Parmelee certainly wasn't hurt by getting to stay with the New Britain Rock Cats until they missed the playoffs. Aside from Anthony Slama, there just isn't one right now that I think it's where it is best for him.

As JC mentioned, we don't really know anything other than the Dodgers wanted Morneau. I don't blame Ryan for not dealing him for nothing at the July deadline. As for August, we don't know if he would have cleared waivers all the way to the Dodgers. And if he did, maybe again, the Dodgers may have been trying to get him for nothing. I'm all for dealing Morneau for a decent pitching prospect, handing the reigns over the Chris Parmelee and using that $14 million on two free agent pitchers.

The Red Sox just traded about $250 million worth of contracts (Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett) to the Dodgers for a handful of players. If the Red Sox were to continue this 'selling off' plan, would it make sense for the Twins to make a phone call? Consider that the Twins would have the #1 waiver claim, something could happen. Would the Twins consider: Jon Lester: $11.625 million in 2013, $13 million club option for 2014 (with a $0.25 buyout). Clay Buchholz: $5.5 million in 2013, $7.7 million in 2014, $12 million in 2015, a $13 million option (with a $0.245 buyout) for 2016, and a $13.5 million option (with $0.5 million buyout) in 2017. Dustin Pedroia - $10 million in 2013, $10 million in 2014, $11 million option (with $0.5 million buyout) for 2015. I wonder what the Red Sox would want in return?

Big picture, none of the stats mean anything regarding his future, but you can't help but wonder what those numbers could have been if he would have stayed healthy. He'll go to Instructional League, then most likely go to E-Town next year.

I would assume that a few players will move up. Beloit could use an OF. Possible Kepler would move up to Beloit now, but I would think he would play in the Appy League playoffs, then move up to Beloit. Pinedas or Rodriguez could also get some playing time for Ft. Myers as well. A catcher could move up to Ft. Myers to take Pinto's spot.

Actually, Robertson was supposed to pitch for Elizabethton that year but Beloit had some injuries and promotions that year so Robertson was pushed ahead. That's why he only made 16 starts.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2126[/ATTACH]In recent weeks, we have noticed an increase in the number of Blogs written by Twins Daily readers, and we want to make sure to give notice to those. Obviously, the front page often gets most of the attention, and the Forums follow with the discussion. But we want to encourage people to check out the Blogs page as well because there is often great content. And, if you are at all interested in expressing your opinions in a blog or writing a story on a player, a team, or a trip to see a Twins or Twins minor league game, consider starting your own blog here at Twins Daily. It’s free. Today, I wanted to highlight some of the terrific blogs that have been written in recent days. Be sure to check them out, and again, don’t forget to make checking out the Blogs page a regular part of your Twins Daily visit. --- Sbknudson wrote a terrific blog on The Right Way to Retaliate. Obviously this is a nice blog in response to what happened on Thursday night in Texas. Brad Swanson looked at Twins Hitters who could contribute to playoff teams in the future. He is looking to 2014 and beyond, so he considers hitters on the current roster who could contribute to the Twins or another organization. Twins Best Friend wrote a blog called Back to the Twins Future. He gives his thoughts on a potential 2015 Twins lineup. A couple of blogs look not-quite-as-far into the Twins future. ShawnWahl wrote An early blueprint for 2013. This has been one of the most popular blogs written and commented on at Twins Daily. If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to do so. Similarly, J-Dog Dungan wrote a blog called My beliefs about what the Twins should look like in 2013. Pitching is a key. We all know that. Check out who he has in his 2013 Twins starting rotation. Not all blogs need to be long. AllhopeisgoneMNTwins found a chat by ESPN.com’s Keith Law, and one of the questions he answer was about his thoughts on Scott Diamond. Law’s response may not have been what Twins fans would have hoped for, and that showed in the comments. I think it is fair to say that Freightmaster was impressed by the A’s Brett Anderson. He also asks why the Twins announcers continue to talk about the Twins turning things around and winning. Bark’s Lounge wrote an article called Evolution and the Australian Baseball Player. I know we get a good mount of readers from Australia, and it’d be great to get their thoughts on comments on this one. What if the Twins would have drafted Mike Trout instead of Kyle Gibson in that 2009 draft? Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but what do you think would have happened? To think, those quality blog topics were all posted by members of the Twins Daily community over the last two or three days. I definitely encourage people to check out the Blogs page every day after reading the front page articles and providing good feedback to those who took the time to blog. And again, if you’re interested in putting some of your thoughts and opinions into blog form, consider starting your own blog too.

Do ya'll remember that Joe Mauer made his big league debut at age 20? I mean, seriously, your negativity is ridiculous and unfounded. If Trout would have put up the numbers he did in the Twins system, he would be up by now too. Back to the discussion in the blog, though... it's a great question. If the Twins would have passed on Gibson to draft Trout, many Twins fans would have called them cheap. Having used 1st round picks in 2008 (Hicks), 2007 (Revere) and 2006 (Parmelee, and Benson in second round), Twins fans would have hated the Trout pick. Which, of course, should not factor into the Twins decision.

I agree that it's a myth that the Twins move prospects slowly. They have certain strategies, and those strategies have proven successfully. They keep high school/Dominican players in Beloit (generally) a full year. They did that with Mauer and REvere, and those guys still went from high school to the majors in 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 years, which is pushing quickly! Top college pitchers taken can move up quite quickly. Duensing went from Beloit to New Britain in his first full season. Gibson went from Ft. Myers to Rochester. Garza went from Ft. Myers to the Twins. Comparing Kershaw and Robertson isn't really fair, is it? They were such different pitchers in the Midwest League, no comparison. Kershaw threw hard and had just nasty stuff. Robertson, despite great numbers, didn't throw hard, and his delivery was always in question. Also, he's become a reliever. Are there cases of guys that I think should be moved up? Of course, always. But not exceedingly.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2122[/ATTACH] The Twins/Rangers game in Arlington was over pretty quickly. Samuel Deduno gave up one run in the first inning and five runs in the second. Somehow, he got through five innings and gave up seven runs on 11 hits. He walked the first batter he faced and that was the lone walk of the night. Kyle Waldrop came in and gave up just one run over three innings. But this game was about the Rangers. The Twins had just three hits. Adrian Beltre alone had four hits, a single, double, triple and home run. It was the 6th cycle against the Twins. Matt Harrison, the talented left-hander improved to 15-7 with a strong performance. It wasn’t until Trevor Plouffe hit a single with two outs in the 7th innings that the Twins had their first hit. Harrison completed eight innings of dominance. Fortunately, there were some pretty impressive performances by Twins minor leaguers. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday night: ROCHESTER 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 8 PJ Walters made another rehab start and this one didn’t go so well. The right-hander gave up seven runs on ten hits in just three innings. He walked one and struck out three. Jeff Manship came on and threw three shutout innings. He gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out one. Bobby Lanigan pitched the final three innings. He gave up one run on two hits (a solo home runs and a walk. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-3 with his 14th double and the lone RBI. The team had just three hits. Tom Brunansky and Wilkin Ramirez were both ejected in the 7th inning. NEW BRITAIN 2, NEW HAMPSHIRE 5 The Rock Cats really needed to win this series against the cellar-dwellers from New Hampshire, but they’ve lost the first two games. The team got plenty of hits but not enough runs. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his second home run since his promotion. Aaron Hicks was 2-4 with a walk and his 30th stolen base. Rene Tosoni and Chris Colabello were each 2-4. Chris Herrmann was 2-5. Logan Darnell started and gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out three. Jose Gonzalez worked two scoreless innings. He gave up no hits, walked two and struck one out. Bruce Pugh gave up a hit and a walk but no runs in his inning. Earlier in the day, Aaron Hicks, Chris Colabello and Deibinson Romero were named to the Eastern League postseason All-Star team. FT. MYERS 8, PALM BEACH 1 Madison Boer had a terrific game. The right-hander from Eden Prairie gave up one run on four hits in seven innings. He walked none and struckout five. AJ Achter and Miguel Munoz each struck out two batters in a scoreless inning. Danny Ortiz went 3-4 with a walk and his 21st double. Angel Morales was 3-3 with a walk and his eighth stolen base. Danny Santana went 2-5 with his ninth triple and three RBI. Kyle Knudson was 2-4 with a walk. BELOIT 8, PEORIA 2 The Snappers got good pitching and plenty of hitting in this big win. Nate Roberts continued to get on base. He went 2-3 with a walk, his 16th double and his third triple. Eddie Rosario went 4-5 with his 27th and 28th doubles, his 11th home run and three RBI. Stephen Wickens went 1-2 with two walks and 10th double. Steven Gruver gave up two runs on three hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out four. Corey Kimes gave up just one hit over three scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out three. Tim Atherton went one scoreless inning. He gave up a hit and a walk and struck out one. ELIZABETHTON 7, PULASKI 5 The E-Twins got back into the win column on Friday night. Max Kepler went 3-5 with his 15th and 16th doubles, his ninth home run and three RBI. Byron Buxton went 2-5 with his fourth double, first home run and two RBI. Jorge Polanco went 2-3 with a walk and his 15th double. Romy Jimenez hit his eighth home run. Lefty Brett Lee started but gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out two. Luis Nunez went 2.1 scoreless innings despite giving up a hit and two walks. Kaleb Merck struckout two in 1.2 scoreless innings. JT Chargois walked one but picked up his fifth save. GCL TWINS 4, GCL RED SOX 1 The GCL Twins played their second-to-last game on Friday and got a win. Gonzalo Sanudo started and gave up just one run on five hits and a walk in four innings. He struck out three. Josue Montanez improved to 2-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.36 after giving up just one hit in 2.1 innings. Melciades de la Cruz struckout four over the final 2.2 innings for his sixth save. John Murphy went 3-4 with his second homer and three RBI. Jeremias Pineda hit his first home run. Bryan Haar hit his ninth double. Dereck Rodriguez hit his eighth double. Jose Ramirez hit his third double. --- Players of the Day for Friday, August 24, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Eddie Rosario [ATTACH=CONFIG]2121[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Madison Boer [ATTACH=CONFIG]2120[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, August 25, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo – RHP Kyle Gibson New Britain @ New Hampshire – RHP BJ Hermsen Ft. Myers vs Palm Beach – LHP Cole Nelson Beloit @ Cedar Rapids – RHP Cole Johnson Elizabethton @ Pulaski – RHP Ricardo Arevalo GCL Twins @ GCL Red Sox – TBD (Final game of Regular Season) --- 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!