Seth Stohs

I'd say that the Twins did very, very well with their minor league free agents this year. They clearly had a plan of adding some arms who have had some upper-level success. He picked out a couple of position players that have helped.. Some won't work, and frankly, too many have contributed this year, but that's not a bad thing at all.

He just hit his fifth home run for Elizabethton tonight... More and more, I'm thinking there is a chance he could be there by playoff time.

Someone should lose their job over a sprained thumb??

Agreed, but it's not like the Twins acquired Hurley and/or Martis with any intention of them pitching in the big leagues. Maybe one of them will get an opportunity at some point, but their primary purpose is to fill out the Rochester rotation.

Correct. It also depends on the rest of the roster situation. I mean, it's not like the Twins pinch hit terribly often.

Doesn't it depend on what they get back for them? I mean, Johnson is good, but he's hurt often, certainly not a guarantee... what if you can get a great package for him? Hanley - I like him, but he's a headcase, apparently, and might cause other issues. His performance isn't all that great either. I think he can be great again, but wonder if that can happen in Miami. So again, whatcould they get for him in return? Might be worthwhile to at least investigate that. I also agree that Ozzie might be a big part of the issue.

I agree with Vodka Dave... 7 or 8 days should be the cut-off for the DL. If the assumption is that the player will be out less than a week, I woudln't DL that person. If they're going to be out longer than a week, DL him right away. But at one week, a move needs to be made. I'd bring up Valencia... Florimon and Burroughs aren't on the 40 man. If they would then DFA Burroughs again, he would become a free agent and woudln't go back to Rochester.

Agreed. For the Twins, it's about getting rid of the contract. For the Nats, it's depth as both of their Middle Infielders are not at 100% Low A pitcher works for me.

Doesn't it tell them... get better and we'll move you up instead of signing veterans... but right now, we have to do whatever we have to do. Also, Andrew Albers is hurt. Bromberg just came back.

The Twins have signed pitcher Eric Hurley and he will start for the Rochester Red Wings. Brendan Wise goes to the DL. Hurley was a first-round pick of the Rangers in 2004. He got to the big leagues in July of 2008 with the Rangers. He fought some injuries and missed all of 2009 and 2010. CAme back in 2011 and pitched at AA with the Rangers. This year, he was pitching in Salt Lake, the Angels AAA affiliate. He got promoted to the big league club on July 7. Unfortunately, he didn't get into a game before the Angels DFAd him and released him. Frankly, I don't think any of the New Britain pitchers should be up in Rochester, so this move makes sense to me. If he does well, great. If not, it's a no-cost, little reward thing.

Jose Gonzalez moving up to New Britain. Steve Liddle moving back up to Ft. Myers.

Generally speaking, you get a LOT more in return by trading players individually. If they can get the above deal from Cincinnati, great (they couldn't). Liriano is maybe a step below Sanchez... but Span is light-years ahead of Infante.

They'd already promoted 2nd rounder Mason Melotakis to Beloit, along with 4th rounder Zach Jones. My guess is that Chargois (and maybe Duffey) will join them before the Midwest League playoffs.

Neither had pitched above A ball when the Twins acquired them. Without looking, they may not have pitched above Low A.

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One week from today, a lot of questions will be answered. One week from today is the non-waiver trade deadline. The Twins clearly need to be sellers at this point. They are 40-56 record, 16 games under .500 and 12 games behind the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. They are nowhere near the Wild Card race. So with one week to go, what do we know? We have to watch what is going on around the rest of baseball to get a sense for what could be going on with the Twins. Some trades are starting to happen and they may (or may not) affect what happens going forward. For instance, the New York Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for two minor league relievers. The 38 year old Ichiro is a singles hitter boasted 200 hit seasons and an OPS+ over 100 (100 is considered average) for the first ten years of his MLB career. Last year, his OPS+ was just 88. This year, that number is just 83. Who knows? Being traded to a contender may spark Ichiro into playing like he did for the first decade. However, the Ichiro Suzuki trade does not give us any indication of what the Twins could get for OF Denard Span. Due to age, salary and years, Span has much, much more value than Ichiro. That said, the Yankees were a team that needed an outfielder, and Span made a lot of sense there. At least for now, this trade does mean there is one less team who will be calling on Span. Last season, the Tigers added Doug Fister at the trade deadline, and he really helped the Tigers make their playoff run. Yesterday, the Tigers made another huge splash by acquiring right-hander Anibal Sanchez from the Miami Marlins. They likely had to take on the contract of infielder Omar Infante as well. Sanchez is vastly underrated and maybe not a commonly known name yet, but he is a very good pitcher. To be sure, his resume looks a lot better as he is traded than Doug Fister did a year ago. But the Tigers gave up a lot to get Sanchez. First, they traded 20-year-old future ace Jacob Turner, who has made starts with the Tigers already. Turner came into the season as Baseball America's 22nd ranked prospect. The Tigers also traded AA catching prospect Rob Brantly and Brian Flynn, a 6-8, 22-year-old pitcher who recently was promoted to AA. They didn't have to trade top prospect Nick Castellanos, but Turner and Brantly were both top 5 Tigers prospects by most accounts. The Cubs were also busy yesterday as there were rumors on deals for both Ryan Dempster and Matt Garza. The Cubs have agreed to trade Dempster to the Atlanta Braves in a deal that would likely include RHP Randall Delgado. Delgado has been starting for the Braves and came into the season as the #46 prospect according to Baseball America. At this point, Dempster is yet to approve the trade (he has 10-5 rights), but again, this gives us another data point. There were a lot of rumors of the Cubs and Dodgers discussing a Matt Garza trade in which the Cubs would receive RHP Zach Lee in return. 20 year old Lee was the Dodgers first round pick in 2010 and was recently promoted to AA. He came into the season as the #62 ranked prospect according to Baseball America. It is looking more and more like Cole Hamels will resign with the Phillies, but Zach Greinke is likely to be traded. What could the Twins get in exchange for lefty Francisco Liriano who, despite last night's clunker, has been one of baseball's best starting pitchers. Based on the package received for Sanchez, and the rumors floating around deals with Dempster and Garza, it is fair for Twins fans to be excited about what the Twins could get in return for Liriano. It appears that the going rate is a pitching prospect who ranks somewhere in the 30-60 range (likely a team's #1 or #2 prospect), along with a second prospect who ranks in that team's Top 10, and maybe even one more player who ranks outside the top ten but still has potential. And if the Twins get an offer like that, they would have to take it! Finally, the San Diego Padres agreed to a three year, $30 million contract extension with Carlos Quentin. Quentin was frequently rumored to be available and due to his small contract for this season, he was the top right-handed power bat available. As he is no longer available, that makes Twins LF Josh Willingham more and more valuable. The Twins have come out and said that he is not currently available. However, due to a very good contract that goes beyond this season (2 more years at just $14 million), the TWins could get a big haul for their big slugger. The Twins are said to be asking "for a ton" for Denard Span. If, er, when teams call on Josh Willingham, the Twins should be asking for two tons, and I would not be surprised if there were a team or two willing to give up that much. The Twins should need to be overwhelmed by an offer to trade The Hammer, but it is also very possible that they will be. So again, there is just one more week before the non-waiver trade deadline. As we know, there can still be deals in August. They're just more difficult to complete. The Twins should be quite active, and they have three players that they should be able to get a good return for. There are other players that could be dealt too. Deals could happen at any time, but paying attention to what is going on throughout baseball may give you perspective on what it could mean for the Twins. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1646[/ATTACH]

Phentermine.

I would say it's highly unlikely that Sano gets promoted to Ft. Myers for a month to end this season for a couple of reasons. 1.) It wouldn't help his strikeout situation, unless you just think that a new environment will be a cure-all. 2.) Beloit is in the playoffs at the end of the season, and Sano should play in that. Rosario too. 3.) The defense needs so much work. 4.) and probably most importantly, I will be going to Beloit for games Aug 2-5, so I don't want him to move up until at least August 6th... That's only a little selfish, right?

Thank you! I made that change... very different. Ha!

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?828-Monday-Night-in-the-Minors

In what may have been his final start with the Twins, starter Francisco Liriano threw his first clunker in over two months. The lefty gave up home runs to Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn and Alex Rios and could not complete three innings. The Twins got plenty of base runners. Denard Span had three hits, and Brian Dozier had two. The Twins grounded into five double plays in the game though which ended several scoring opportunities. Brian Duensing and Alex Burnett were very good in relief. Ryan Doumit did his best to keep up with Beloit's Kennys Vargas tonight. The big question now is whether tonight's pitching performance by Liriano affected the return they could get for him. We shall find out. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Monday games in the minor leagues. Liam Hendriks was back on the mound for Rochester. Two players made their returns with the GCL Twins this morning. And yes, Kennys Vargas is mentioned again. ROCHESTER 0, DURHAM 4 For the first time this year, Liam Hendriks gets “credited” with a Loss for the Red Wings. Yet, he pitched pretty well. The Aussie right-hander gave up two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked three and struckout six batters. Caleb Theilbar came in and gave up two runs on three hits (including a home run) in an inning. Kyle Waldrop threw a scoreless inning in relief. The Red Wings showed very little offense. They had just six hits in the game and Ray Chang had two of them. Clete Thomas and Pedro Florimon each hit a double. Thomas stole a base, and he also threw out a runner at home. NEW BRITAIN 1, BINGHAMTON 8 Aaron Thompson started for the Rock Cats. The lefty gave up four runs (2 earned) on eight hits (two home runs) and a walk in five innings. Edgar Ibarra came in and gave up three runs on two hits (both home runs) and a walk. He struck out three. Dakota Watts was charged with an unearned run on one walk in 1.2 innings. The Rock Cats managed just four hits in the game. Oswaldo Arcia was 2-4. FT. MYERS 5, CHARLOTTE 4 Jhon Goncalves has only been back in the Florida State League, but his speed helped the Miracle to a win on Monday night. The outfielder was 3-4 after singling to lead off the bottom of the ninth. He advanced to third after a sacrifice bunt and a ground out. With two outs, and two strikes on Danny Ortiz, the pitcher threw a high fastball that bounced off the catcher’s glove, allowing Goncalves to sprint home from third base with the winning run. Anderson Hidalgo was also 3-4. He hit his eighth double, his third home run and drove in two runs. Pat Dean started. He gave up four runs on 10 hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out three. AJ Achter came on and threw two scoreless innings for his first Miracle win. BELOIT 3, GREAT LAKES 0 Matt Tomshaw returned to the starting rotation and threw very well. The lefty worked the first four innings, giving up just two hits. He walked none and struck out six. Cole Johnson worked the next three scoreless innings. He gave up three walks, walked none and struck out one. Zach Jones recorded his first save, striking out four in two innings. Nate Roberts continues to lead the way for the Snappers out of the leadoff spot. He went 2-4 with his first triple and 14th stolen base. Kennys Vargas hit his third home run (in his second game) and later he was intentionally walked. Miguel Sano had a rough one. He went 0-4 with four walks. ELIZABETHTON 3, JOHNSON CITY 0 Angel Mata started for the E-Twins and he threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out nine. Christian Powell came in and threw two scoreless innings. He gave up three hits but walked none and struck out three. He was credited with his first professional win. Tyler Duffey struckout two in a scoreless eighth inning. As he did in college, he handed the ball over to JT Chargois who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save. Travis Harrison went 2-3 with a walk. (and yes, his 17th error of the short season) Jorge Polanco and Jhonathan Arias each doubled. Max Kepler and Niko Goodrum combined to go 0-8 with five walks, but each stole his fourth base of the year. GAME 1 – GCL TWINS 1, GCL ORIOLES 4 There were a couple of returns in this game. Alex Wimmers made a start for the first time since his April debut with the New Britain Rock Cats. He has been rehabbing a partially torn UCL. On this day, he gave up three runs on four hits and a walk and recorded just two outs. Kuo Hua Lo came on and struck out two over 4.1 one-hit innings. Alex Muren came in and gave up one run on two hits and a walk in two innings. Byron Buxton returned to the GCL team in this game. He was the team’s DH and hit third. His hamstring was tested. He was 1-2 with a walk and a triple. Kelvin Ortiz walked twice and stole his fifth base. Aderlin Mejia went 1-2 with a walk. GAME 1 – GCL TWINS 1, GCL ORIOLES 2 After managing just five hits in game one, the Twins had just one hit, a Logan Wade single, in game two. Yorman Landa started and threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked two and struck out two. Melciades de la Cruz then gave up two runs on two hits, two walks and a hit batter in his inning to take the loss. --- Players of the Day for Monday, July 23, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Angel Mata [ATTACH=CONFIG]1639[/ATTACH] Hitter of the Day – Anderson Hidalgo [ATTACH=CONFIG]1640[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, July 24, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse – RHP Shairon Martis New Britain vs Binghampton – LHP Blake Martin Ft. Myers @ Charlotte – RHP Matt Summers Beloit – No Game Scheduled Elizabethton @ Kingsport – LHP Corey Kimes GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles (DH) – 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!