Seth Stohs

Come on over today! Jim Crikket's making the drive from Cedar Rapids. Jeremy Nygaard is here. It's a good time!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/non-tender-candidate-alexi-casilla.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter MLB Trade Rumors runs a series where they look into players who will potentially be non-tendered. Today, that profile is the Twins Alexi Casilla.

That's awesome!! Please be sure to stop by and say hi!

Notes from Day 1 in Beloit - http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?875-Notes-from-Day-1-in-Beloit

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?875-Notes-from-Day-1-in-Beloit

If I’m being honest, the Snappers game tonight was pretty bad for the hometown nine, at least for eight-and-a-half innings. However, in the bottom of the 9th, the Snappers bats woke up. The team had scored just one run in the first eight innings. The ninth frame started with walks to the eight and nine hitters. JD Williams singled to right field to load the bases. Wang-Wei Lin struck out. Eddie Rosario worked the count to 3-1 before drilling a two-run single of the middle. Miguel Sano came up and worked a walk to again load the bases. Kennys Vargas came up representing the game-tying run. On the first pitch, he uncoiled a huge swing but missed. The second pitch was offspeed and on the outside corner, and he drove a two-run single to the left centerfield gap. AJ Pettersen pinch-run for Vargas, but Drew Leachman and Stephen Wickens both popped out to end the comeback and end the game. Day 1 of the Beloit Trip was a long one, and yet a lot of fun. Travis and I left my sister’s place by about 6:50, even ten minutes ahead of schedule. In doing so, we were able to drive Highway 494 and get to 94 and out of the Twin Cities Metro area with little traffic. As we did a year ago, we got to Menomonie, where we at some breakfast at Perkins. We continued at a nice, leisurely pace until arriving at our hotel in Beloit around 1:30. We got checked in to our hotel room and were able to rest up a little before going to the ball field. I say this all the time, but those of you in the Twin Cities, Beloit is really just a five-and-a-half hour drive. I lived in Bloomington for three years and it wasn’t until the last year there that I realized what a nice trip it was. Hey, if you don’t have any plans for the weekend yet, come to Beloit for games on Saturday night at 7 and then on Sunday at 2. If you’d rather not work on Friday afternoon anyway, take a half-day off and get to Friday night’s game too! Upon arriving at Pohlmann Field, we were met by Snappers Director of Media and Public Relations Chrissy Scaffidi, who let us in and then chatted with us. She was immensely helpful. We actually got there even a little bit before batting practice started. Tommy Watkins was getting things ready for BP. When he saw me, he immediately asked how the trip was. When he was set up, he came over and chatted with us for a good ten minutes about all kinds of things. The man is hilarious. Talked about the immergence of Kennys Vargas and how much he has done in his first nine games. I joked, “Yeah, and he finally hit a single last night to go with his six home runs, a triple and two doubles.” “We got the ball for him after that!” The pitchers came out next and they were working through a pretty strenuous stretching, running and throwing program. Some of the hitters came out to work on bunting for ten minutes before BP. Stephen Wickens and AJ Pettersen seemingly rolled the ball down the base lines, bunting the ball with perfection. I noted at that time that I might be the only person who could enjoy just sitting and watching bunting practice. So, when it was time to watch actual batting practice, it was great. The first group contained JD Williams, Wang-Wei Lin, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano, the first four hitters in the lineup. Tommy Watkins really asked them to focus on hitting line drives the first several rounds. All four hit lots of liners. Some say that when certain batters hit, the ball makes a different sound. Many laugh at that notion. But when Miguel Sano connects, it appears that he gets the good part of the bat on the ball and really hits it solidly. He hit line drive after line drive, using the whole field. Rosario also had a tremendous round, but he seems most comfortable letting the ball get a little bit deeper and ripping line drives to the opposite field. Now, in later rounds, Watkins encouraged the batters to let it fly. Sano hit a couple over the scoreboard in left center. Rosario hit a couple of opposite field homers and one to dead center and pulled a couple. For a guy who is not terribly big, he has just tremendous bat speed. I pointed out on Twitter that it was a joy to watch Sano and Rosario take BP. We had the opportunity to talk with AJ Pettersen when he came out for BP, just for a minute. He was carrying a big catcher’s bag. As he had written recently, when he is not in the lineup, he enjoys catching bullpens. In the regular game, he was down in the bullpen, wearing the gear and warming up the pitchers until he was used as a pinch-runner in the ninth inning. If you get to Pohlman Field, and you need more than just a snack to tide you over, I encourage you to go down the right field line. There, you can get all the normal hot dogs and hamburgers and that kind of stuff. However, last night, I was encourage to get a True Wisconsin Cheeseburger, so I did, and it was quite good. It is a regular cheeseburger, but above the burger and cheese, there are cheese curds and it is dripped in nacho cheese. It’s a lot, but it is quite good. Friday night, I may go for the Snappy Burger, which as I understand it is a hamburger with a sliced-in-half brat on top of it. I don’t know. I like hamburgers and I like brats, so it would seem to make sense that I would like the Snappy Burger! And then it was time for the game to start. We sat in the box seats which are literally right at field level. In fact, where I sat was right behind home plate, even with the inside corner of the plate. Alright, here are just some random observations from the evening. Some were posted on Twitter and I’ll elaborate. Others never made it to Twitters, so I guess they should be considered Twins Daily exclusives! The Times... Are they, huh, changin'? It was kind of an awkward thing, but one overriding theme from the evening was the state of the relationship between the Twins and Beloit. It was strange because so many people wanted to talk about it. Clearly it is a huge topics. I would venture to guess that no fewer than eight people there asked me about it. The Snappers are run by a Board of Directors who are most likely in frequent communication with the people in the Twins front office that would be involved in that decision. Nobody that I talked to wants to see the Twins leave Beloit. One person talked about the player accessibility at the stadium and said that it what it should be like throughout the minor leagues. One fan said that it was disappointing five or six years ago when the Brewers decided to move from Beloit to Appleton and for fans to get used to the Twins. (but fans didn’t even show up to watch the local Brewers squad.) But they said that the Twins draft and sign such high quality people who do a lot in the community and do a great job interacting with fans, that those who do frequent games just love the Twins organization. However, the other theme from this discussion was the due to lack of attendance and the need for a new stadium, they would completely understand if the Twins decided to move elsewhere. One person commented that if the Twins move to Cedar Rapids, it will be the worst-kept secret in minor league baseball. That was certainly something I heard from a couple of people. One wise person later told me that according to MLB rules, if an MLB team or a MILB team intends to move, they can not comment until September 1. The Twins re-upped with New Britain. Meanwhile, Rochester and Beloit are both teams whose contact with the Twins are up at the end of the season. Seemingly, the longer this plays out, the more likely it is that those teams could move. Obviously for me, if the Twins move out of Beloit, it would be somewhat disappointing. This is my fourth trip over the past three seasons to see Snappers play. I have really enjoyed the atmosphere, but also been able to meet several Snappers fans and the people in their front office are great. Like stated above though, I would understand if the Twins decided to leave Beloit. Alright, on to some quick hitters: · Kennys Vargas and Miguel Sano walked onto the field for batting practice together. It was incredible. Vargas made Sano look short and skinny! Late in the game, Travis asked me, “Do you know who else has Vargas’s body type?” Immediately, I responded, “David Ortiz.” We laughed at thinking the same thing, but it is true. · Since returning to the Snappers, Rosario has had two three hit games and last night he had two hits including a double. He is not wearing any special face protection following his surgery. What could it be? Maybe it’s just being back and seeing pitches well? Or, maybe it’s the cool Mohawk that he is sporting! · Speaking of facial hair, there are a couple of really bad mustaches on the Snappers roster. So bad, in fact, that it kind of looks cool. Nate Roberts has the best one. I’ll have to see if I can get a picture! · The Kane County manager is former Twins outfielder/DH Brian Buchanan. Their pitching coach is another former big leaguer, and a former Gophers pitcher, Jim Brower. · Of course, while watching the Snappers game, I have to keep tabs on the Twins game. It was fun to read on Twitter how Sam Deduno was pitching (wild but effective… or effectively wild). Late in the game, Brian Dozier hit a two-run homer to give the Twins the 5-0 lead that would be the final score. I talk about how two years ago when I went to Beloit, Mike Trout was playing for Cedar Rapids. I almost forgot the Brian Dozier was playing for Beloit. Yes, I realize that Trout was 18 and that Dozier was 22or 23, but the fact remains that both players flew through the minor leagues and less than two years later were playing in the big leagues. Trout debuted at 19. Dozier debuted at 24. · This is a very small sample thing, but Miguel Sano has only had two or three errors in the last month. I saw him commit two of three errors in the two games I saw him play at the beginning of June. This is just an observation, but watching him at third base as the pitch is being delivered, he looks so much more focused and prepared to make plays. I think he only had two or three opportunities last night to make plays, and he made them, but the pre-pitch preparation was encouraging. Alright, that’s it for Day 1 in Beloit. Day 2 has started with waking up, which is a good thing. It sounds as though Twins Daily contributor Jeremy Nygaard will be here for tonight’s game. Also Jim Crikket is saying he’ll be here on Saturday. If anyone else is interest, there will be tickets available, so come on down to Beloit. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with thoughts from Day 2! If you’d like to follow my four days in Beloit, there are a few ways to do that. I do hope to blog a little bit each day. I also have set up a forum page where I may occasionally update on the goings on, and you can ask questions and such. Obviously you can do the same in the comments below. But you’ll also want to either follow me on Twitter, or just bookmark my Twitter feed for more updates. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1755[/ATTACH]

It was really hot, but honestly, once the sun went down, it was really comfortable last night. By the way, I'll be posting a Day 1 blog shortly. Fun ninth inning last night. And several observations from BP and such.

Now that the trade deadline has come and passed, it's time to wonder about waivers. Now, when a player is DFAd, he is taken off the 40 man roster, and can be claimed by any team who would get him right away. Or, of course, they could work out a trade. In August, players can be put on Revocable Waivers. Remember that for a 40 man roster player to be traded after July 31, he has to clear waivers. This is what that refers to. Teams put most of their players on waivers in an attempt for them to clear waivers. IF they clear waivers, they are still on the 40 man roster and can be traded. If they are claimed, the Twins have a couple of choices. First, they could let the claiming team have him and his remaining contract. Second, they get 48 hours to work out a trade with the team that claimed said player. Third, the team could pull the player back from waivers. Example - If the Twins put Joe Mauer on waivers now and the Seattle Mariners claimed him... the Twins could 1.) let the Mariners have him and the 7 years and $150+ million that he's owned, 2.) they could try to work out a trade with each other, or 3.) the Twins could (and would) pull him back. Now, at that point, the Twins could put the player back on waivers... However, this time, if this player is claimed, they can not pull him back. With those rules in play, and knowing that most players get put on waivers once, it will be interesting to see who gets claimed. Would Joe Mauer get claimed by a team, assuming that the Twins would pull him back, but be willing to take on the contract if he weren't? It's actually a very interesting part of the business side of the game... Would get claimed - Span, Revere, Willingham, Plouffe, Mauer, Morneau, Parmelee, Dozier, Doumit, Burton, Perkins, Diamond, Burnett... It should be an interesting month!

John, the goal was to leave at 7, and we left by 6:50!! Leisurely drive over though, so that's good. Even with a few stops, we were here in less than 6 hours. Checked in to the hotel now, and will head over to the ballpark in a couple of hours for batting practice. Looking forward to the four games. HOpefully the weather holds up. It was 91 degrees here. Air conditioning is my friend! Jim Crikket - Come on up! it'd be fun to see you again, and hang out and watch a ball game!

Beat rush hour out of the Twin Cities and already in Menomonie downing some breakfast at Perkins!

Got to the Twin Cities around 8:30 last night. Had a nice dinner with great baseball chat at Park Tavern with Brandon Warne, John Bonnes, Howard Sinker and Phil Miller. Just got about 6 hours of sleep and hope to leave Chanhassen by 7 to miss 494s traffic. Should be in Beloit by early afternoon!

I do think that vargas is a legitimate prospect. incredible power from both sides of the plate. it's unfortunate that helost that time, especially since the suspension didn't continue this year until the stime lostort season began. that's development time lost.

I'm just leaving work now. Everything is packed... just have to drop a few things off... I'll be picking up Travis Aune of Travis Twins Talk fame in our hometown, and then driving to the cities, where I'll hopefully be meeting John and others for some dinner tonight... Then tomorrow, Travis and I will be heading to Beloit for games on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I know that the talented Jeremy Nygaard will also be in Beloit for the games on Friday and Saturday. Hopefully we can put together some good information for Twins Daily. I figured starting at thread would be good. Maybe some of you will be in Beloit this weekend. Let me know and be sure to say hi. Maybe some of you will want me to ask certain questions to certain players. Feel free to leave them here. I'll also just update the Twins Daily readers with occasional updates here, so be sure to check back from time to time!! Really looking forward to this!

I do, but that doesn't mean much... I think that with his talent, they should be patient if they need to be. But I think that the new rules which gets players signed sooner and playing earlier in the summer is a good one. Buxton signed pretty quickly and despite missing 8-10 days, he's played quite a bit and will go to instructs. I'm sure it'll be a numbers game too, but if he shows he's ready for that level, they're not going to block him.

I was wrong. I asked about Kimes to Beloit, and if there were any other moves. I got the "No" answer, and thought it was regarding Kimes, but it was actually about any other transactions... other than the addition of Rosario back on to the roster.

Yeah, this concept that Terry Ryan (or Mike Radcliff or the Twins scouts) are in over their heads and the game has passed them by is really a weak one. The game is the same. The scouting is the same. What they're looking for is the same. These guys are good, and they get the game and how it works to incredible detail. I have full confidence in Terry Ryan and Mike Radcliff. I don't know if they will be able to bring a World Series title, because that isn't something that's predictable, but I have full confidence that they'll get the Twins back to competing for division titles and into the playoffs, and once in the playoffs, see what happens. I just think that teams are so not willing to deal prospects, even for really good players. Ryan fully understands the need to build from within to sustain success, and so do all the other GMs.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?864-Tuesday-Minor-League-Notebook

It was Revenge of the Former Twins in Tuesday night’s Twins/White Sox game. Francisco Liriano got through six innings and gave up just two runs. Jesse Crain relieved him for a scoreless inning. And, AJ Pierzynski hit the big two-run homer in the top of the ninth off of Jeff Gray, and that was it. The Twins tried to come back, scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth, but Addison Reed closed out the 4-3 win for the White Sox. Denard Span had a four-hit game. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Tuesday games in the minor leagues. ROCHESTER 10, COLUMBUS 8 (12 innings) Chris Parmelee provided the power. Unfortunately, the Red Wings needed extra frames to pick up this win. Eric Hurley started and gave up two runs on six hits and a walk in six innings. He struckout four. Daniel Turpen came in and threw two scoreless innings. He went out for the ninth but was charged with four runs on four this and a hit batter. Lester Oliveros came on to protect a three-run lead in the ninth and gave up a sacrifice fly followed by a two-run homer that tied the game. Deolis Guerra gave up a run on three hits in the 10th. Caleb Thielbar got the final four outs, three of them on strikeouts. Parmelee has been on fire of late. In this game, he was 3-6 with his ninth double and eighth and ninth home runs. He now has five home runs in the last six games. Brian Dinkelman went 3-4 with two walks and his tenth double. Eduardo Escobar was 3-6. Wilkin Ramirez went 2-6 with his ninth double and tenth home run. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was 2-6 with his 13th double. NEW BRITAIN 2, BOWIE 1 Chris Colabello may have committed two errors, but his two run home run in the fourth inning was about it for the Rock Cats offense. In fact, Chris Herrmann was the only other Rock Cat hitter with a hit. BJ Hermsen started for the Rock Cats and gave up only an unearned run in 5.1 innings. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out three. Jose Gonzalez came in and gave up a hit and a walk but got out of the sixth. Bruce Pugh recorded his sixth save with three no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out three. FT. MYERS 4, DAYTONA 5 It was another rough one for Tom Stuifbergen in this game. The Dutch right-hander gave up five runs on ten hits in four innings. He walked one and struckout three. Ryan O’Rourke made his second Miracle appearance and for the second time, he threw two scoreless innings. AJ Achter pitched the final two innings and struck out three. Levi Michael went 3-5. Steve Liddle went 1-3 with two walks. Danny Rams hit his fourth home run. Andy Leer went 0-0 with four walks in the game. BELOIT 9, KANE COUNTY 4 David Hurlbut was great again and the offense exploded, giving the Snappers a nice win to start the homestand. Hurlbut threw seven scoreless innings. He gave up one run in the eighth frame. He left with two outs in the ninth inning and the score 9-2. DJ Baxendale came on and allowed the two inherited runners to score before he got the final out. The Snappers bats got to face Royals top pick, Kyle Zimmer. They scored six runs in the second inning and chased him early. Kennys Vargas continues to rake. In this game, he was 2-3 with two walks and a home run. In nine games with the Snappers since his return, he now has six home runs to go with two doubles and one triple. On Wednesday, the powerful switch-hitter turns 22 years old. In tonight’s game, he added his first single! Stephen Wickens was also 2-3 with two walks. He added his third double. Eddie Rosario made a triumphant return to the Snappers lineup after missing over a month after being hit in the face by a line drive in batting practice. He went 3-5 with his 21st double, which still leads the team by two. Nate Roberts went 2-4 with a walk and his 16th stolen base. Wang-Wei Lin went 2-5 with his 12th double and three RBI. Miguel Sano went 0-1 with three walks. ELIZABETHTON, BRISTOL This game was postponed by rain. GCL TWINS 6, GCL RAYS 1 The Kyle Gibson Watch continues, and on Tuesday, he put in his best rehab performance, both in terms of success and length. Gibson worked the first three innings in this game. He gave up no runs and no hits. He did walk one batter, but he struck out seven. The other two outs came on ground balls. He may make one more GCL appearance before moving up to Ft. Myers. Next on the mound for the GCL Twins was another rehabber. Andrew Albers gave up one hit over two scoreless innings. He struck out two. Gonzalo Sanudo came in and gave up one run on six hits in three innings. He walked none and struck out three. Gerardo Ramirez pitched a perfect ninth. Aderlin Mejia went 2-4. Byron Buxton hit a two run triple, his second three-bagger of the short-season. Bryan Santy was 1-3 with a walk, his second double and two RBI. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 31, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Chris Parmelee [ATTACH=CONFIG]1717[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Kyle Gibson [ATTACH=CONFIG]1718[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Wednesday, August 1, 2012 Schedule Rochester – No Game Scheduled New Britain @ Bowie – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Daytona – RHP Madison Boer Beloit vs Kane County – LHP Taylor Rogers Elizabethton @ Bristol – RHP Ricardo Arevalo GCL Twins vs GCL Rays – 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!

I didn't like to see Gray in that situation and the end-results were not at all surprising, but I didn't have a huge problem with it. Regardless of the words chosen after the game, I agree that Burton, Perkins and Burnett have all been used too much. So for me, it came down to using Gray, Fien or Perdomo. Again, Gray's probably my third choice in that group, but he's been on the roster all year, and I don't have a problem with the manager expecting him to get outs when he puts him in.

It is interesting to note that Josh Whetzel said that Ray Chang pinch hit for Pedro Florimon in the 12th inning this afternoon. Still could be something? Maybe?

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a no-trade clause, so he really doesn't have any say.