Seth Stohs

The Twins got a great mound performance from Samuel Deduno who picked up his first MLB win, giving up just one run in 6.1 innings. He got plenty of run support on this day. Ryan Doumit was 3-4 hit two home runs, one from each side of the plate. He drove in four runs. Brian Dozier drove in two more runs with a double off the wall. The Twins bullpen struggled but hung on for a 7-5 win. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the Sunday games in the minor leagues.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester finally has a ten-home run hitter. The Snappers had a newcomer arrive on Sunday and he helped the team put on quite a power display. But there was a lot of power shown throughout the system. GAME 1 – ROCHESTER 5, DURHAM 1 Jeff Manship improved to 6-1 with another strong performance. He gave up one run on three hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four. Luis Perdomo pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He gave up one hit and a walk. Clete Thomas won the Rochester Race to Ten Home Runs! He went 1-2 with a walk and the home run. Sean Burroughs went 2-3. Pedro Florimon hit his 13th double. GAME 2 – ROCHESTER 3, DURHAM 4 Luke French started game two for the Red Wings. The lefty gave up three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked three and struck out four. Dan Sattler came in and got the next four batters out, two of them on strikeouts. Lester Oliveros came in and pitched a scoreless sixth innings, but he gave up the winning run in the seventh. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 2-3 and drove in the team’s first run. Sean Burroughs was also 2-3. In the 5th inning, Clete Thomas and Danny Valencia had back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at three. NEW BRITAIN 8, HARRISBURG 4 The bats showed up for the Rock Cats in this game and Steve Hirschfeld pitched well yet again in this Rock Cats win. Nate Hanson led the offense by going 3-5 with his third home run and four RBI. Deibinson Romero was 2-4 with a walk, his 14th home run and three RBI. Chris Colabello went 2-4 with a walk and his 29th double. Aaron Hicks was 0-2, but he walked three times and stole his 22nd base. Hirschfeld won for the 7th time this season. He worked the first six innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out four. David Bromberg gave up one run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out three. Bruce Pugh got his fifth save by getting the final four outs. FT. MYERS 2, LAKELAND 4 Madison Boer falls to 4-9 after this game, but he pitched quite well. The Eden Prairie native gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits in six innings. He walked one, hit one and struck out six. Cole Nelson came in and gave up two runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter in one inning. Ricky Bowen then pitched a scoreless inning. Josmil Pinto had another very good game. He went 3-4. Jhon Goncalves went 2-3. Danny Santana hit a two-run homer in the 8th inning that cut the deficit in half. It was his fifth home run of the year. The Miracle had 11 hits in this game, but left too many on base. BELOIT 7, GREAT LAKES 10 It was a big day for the Snappers offense. There was a big return and a huge power display, but it wasn’t enough on this day. Kennys Vargas was having a very strong season last year at Elizabethton when it suddenly came to an end at the hands of a 50 Game Suspension for Performance Enhancing Drugs. He served about 18 games last year, so he had to serve another 32 games in 2012. Unfortunately, he needed to serve those games with the team he was with when he got the suspension. That means that his suspension couldn’t continue until the Elizabethton season started in late June. Instead of returning to the E-Twins at the end of the 50 games, the Twins had him go directly to Beloit. In his first game in almost a year, Vargas went 2-4 with a walk. In his first at bat, he hit a solo home run. In his second at bat, he hit a two-run home run. Not a bad return. Vargas wasn’t the only Snappers hitter who displayed power in this game. Steve Liddle hit his third home run. Wang-Wei Lin hit his second homer of the year. Nate Roberts was 4-4 with his eighth double and his fourth home run. He was also hit by a pitch. Tyler Jones started for the Snappers. The right-hander went just three innings and gave up seven runs on eight hits. He walked two and struck out three. Ryan O’Rourke replaced him in the fourth inning and after allowing the inherited runners to score, he threw three shutout frames and struck out three. Mason Melotakis gets the loss because he gave up an unearned run on one hit and one walk in two innings. Corey Williams pitched the ninth inning and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. ELIZABETHTON 5, JOHNSON CITY 6 Max Kepler continues to rake. On this day, he was 2-4 with his fifth double and fourth home run (all in the last week). Bo Altobelli went 2-3 with a walk and his second double. Travis Harrison added his fifth double. Hein Robb started for the E-Twins. He gave up four runs (2 earned) on four hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out three. Brett Lee gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits over the next two innings. Luis Nunez walked one over the next two innings without giving up a run. GCL TWINS No game scheduled. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, July 22, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Jeff Manship Hitter of the Day – Nate Roberts --- A Look Ahead – Monday, July 23, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Durham – RHP Liam Hendriks New Britain vs Binghampton – TBD Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs Great Lakes – TBD Elizabethton @ Kingsport – RHP Angel Mata 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!

Last night in the 8th inning, Denard Span came out of the game because he was feeling dizzy. He wasn’t feeling well. Seeing Darin Mastroianni in the lineup set off a firestorm on Twitter. A night earlier, Trevor Plouffe was abruptly replaced by Brian Dozier as a pinch hitter. The question there was whether he was sick or injured. With Span, there was a far different discussion for one big reason. Rather than thinking that maybe Span wasn’t feeling well in the nearly-100 degree weather, the question jumped to “Has Span been traded?” Was he going to the Yankees, or the Rangers, or the Reds, or the Nationals? What would the Twins be getting in return? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The trade deadline is in nine days. Denard Span and Francisco Liriano are the two names most frequently mentioned in trade rumors. The Twins are far out of playoff contention, and that means that they will be (and should be) in sell mode. That means that any veteran on the roster could be dealt, and that it could happen at any time, even during a game. The sad thing is that once people found out that he left the game because he felt dizzy, there were a few who thought, “Great! That will minimize what the Twins can get for Span!” Stay Classy! It’s sometimes important to take a step back at the trade deadline and realize that all these rumors and then any actual trades affect and stress players in ways that go far beyond the baseball field. Span came to the Twins when he signed in August of 2002 as the team’s #1 draft pick (20th overall). He gave up a college football scholarship to play with the Twins. He debuted with the Twins in 2008 and has been the team’s leadoff hitter ever since. Liriano came to the Twins following the 2003 season in one of Terry Ryan’s best trades. Liriano was traded to the Twins, along with Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser, in the AJ Pierzynski trade. He debuted with the Twins in September of 2005. Johan Santana won the AL Cy Young Award in 2006, but for a two month period, Liriano was the best pitcher in baseball. Unfortunately, he tore his UCL and had Tommy John surgery. It took until 2010 for Liriano to regain any semblance of his form. However, 2011 and the first two months of 2012 were very frustrating for the left-hander. However, in the last two months since rejoining the rotation, he has been one of baseball’s pitchers. A year ago, Denard Span was on the Disabled List with his concussion yet he still was involved in several trade rumors. Span did not want to get traded, and he really struggled with the rumors and the process. Although he has seen teammates come and go, Span has been in this organization for a decade. There is a comfort factor. There are relationships with teammates and coaches. Span has developed a great fan following due to his play on the field and his work in the community and his willingness to interact with fans at the ballpark and on Twitter. Although he lives in Tampa during the offseason, Span also knows that part of who he is is a Minnesota Twin. The life of a professional athlete may not be as great as we all assume in a number of ways. Yes, the money and the travel and the fame and those types of things are great. However, when a player is drafted, he has no choice in where he plays. In the minor leagues, players get paid very minimally and travel on buses. Once they hit the big leagues, they have almost no say in their income until they have almost three years of service time. They have no say in where they play for the first six years of their career. If they become a free agent, they finally have the power to choose where they will play based on factors from contract offered to cities in which they want to live. However, until a player has 10-5 rights (10 years of MLB service time, and the past five with the same team), he can be traded at any time whether he wants to be or not. Baseball is a business. It is a business that pays its performers very well. It provides them with many other perks, as well. But I also think that sometimes fans forget that these are people too. People with feelings. Some players outwardly handle rumors better than others. As a Twins fan, I like the fact that Francisco Liriano is saying that he wants to stay with the Twins. I have no problem with Denard Span being affected by the thought of leaving the organization that he has been with for a decade. Don’t get me wrong… It is Terry Ryan’s job as GM to not let that sentiment and emotion go into his decision-making as he is determining what needs to be done for the betterment of the Twins organization. I don’t want Denard Span to be traded either, but I also understand the he is the kind of player that can actually bring back some players that the organization needs to replenish its farm system. Hopefully, that will bring the Twins back to contention more quickly. In the same way, Terry Ryan needs to make a decision regarding Josh Willingham. How much return is enough to make up for the hit the team could take for trading a guy they just signed to a multi-year contract. By all reports, Willingham is a great guy and he and his family have really fit in with the Twins and in the community. Regarding Jamey Carroll, Ryan must determine the value of freeing up the Carroll's contract versus what Carroll can bring as a mentor to the Twins infield next year, which could have Brian Dozier and Pedro Florimon in the middle? Like Span, Glen Perkins has the type of contract (and talent) that could make him very valuable to a contender. However, he is from here. His wife is from here and they live in Minnesota year-round. It would affect a lot of lives to deal Perkins. Yes, that is the business side of it, but the personal side makes it tough to do. Justin Morneau has the kind of contract that would be great to get off the books: $14 million for 2013. Morneau and his wife just had their second baby. She is from Minnesota and they have made Minnesota one of their homes. Morneau has done a lot for the Twins organization over the last 8-9 years, including winning an MVP, hitting a lot of home runs, driving in a bunch of runs, becoming a very good first baseman and much more. Loyalty comes into play when the thought of trading Justin Morneau comes up. The July trade deadline is a lot of fun for fans. It’s fun to read the rumors. It’s fun to think about what prospects the Twins could receive in return for various players. It’s exciting. From a team perspective, they need to do what is right short-term and long-term for the organization. For the players, it has to be difficult from so many standpoints. Loyalty. Being happy and comfortable in an environment. Family and Friends. Winning opportunity. Not the least of which is trying to feel like more than a trade chip to be dealt.