Seth Stohs

Seth chats with Ft. Myers Mighty Mussel broadcaster John Vittas about his career, joining the Twins organization from the Rays, and lots of Twins prospects. View full video

Seth chats with Ft. Myers Mighty Mussel broadcaster John Vittas about his career, joining the Twins organization from the Rays, and lots of Twins prospects. View full video

Tomorrow (Wednesday) on the Videos page, you'll be able to watch the Twins Spotlight interview with Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels broadcaster John Vittas. In the show's second half, we talked a lot about players that spent time there in 2021. Lots on Sabato, Julien, Severino, a bunch of the pitchers, some sleepers and more. He also worked with Joe Ryan and Drew Strotman when he worked for Charlotte and talked glowingly about both of them.

I don't know this, but the fact that there wasn't certainty about what would happen in the DSL as far as games and such may have meant a few more players moved up to FM/FCL sooner... That said, Rodriguez is someone they'll push and make sure to build. He's exciting.

"Perfect?" I definitely wouldn't put him at that level. A nice add? Sure. 2/$40M? Not bad, not great. But Rodon is far from perfect. He's always had stuff, but 1.) is never healthy (including last year), and 2.) had a great four-month stretch. The White Sox didn't even offer him the Qualifying Offer and have little interest in bringing him back. So yeah, he's a nice option and maybe he'll actually even stay healthy. If so, that's great. But it is a huge risk.

I used to spend a lot of time watching Domingo Ayala youtube videos!!

That's been a LONG time in the big leagues... if ever. But in the minors, the manager is usually the 3B coach... 1B coach is now like the 4th coach.

My thoughts on Baldelli and what little we actually know: Pros: Relationships/Communication: These are probably separate things, but I think his strength is his ability to communicate with players, but the biggest part of that is his willingness to listen to the players, to his coaches, and to others. The job he did in 2020 was amazing. Humble: He rarely takes credit for anything and often puts blame on himself when he doesn't need to. Smart: Dude is really, really smart. He understands the analytical side of the game. Between him and the coaches, that is communicated effectively. Pitching: Many will disagree, but I think he does a nice job with both the starters and relievers. For starters, he understands which pitchers are capable of going through the lineup a third time. He understands their individual needs or health concerns. He also knows he's not a pitching guy and does lean on Wes Johnson and Pete Maki for advice. For the bullpen, he understands that you simply can't go to the top guys every time. He gets that back-to-back needs to be understood, and he also understands the big picture of putting guys into situations for now, but also thinking to the future. Alcala and Thielbar were given some tough situations early and struggled, but he allowed them to fail and by season's end, both were reliable. Offense: Again, he doesn't interfere. He just let's the guys play and trusts them. he doesn't try to do too much. He's a former player, a guy who was a top prospect and impact player and a guy who got hurt a lot, struggled and had to leave the game early. He can understand what the players are going through. He's been there. He's well respected by the team, the players. He's good. Cons: The Drew Maggi situation. Not thinking like me 100% of the time... Actually, that's probably a pro for him. Ha!

The Twins announced on Friday morning their official 2022 coaching staff. Former big-league catcher Hank Conger and long-time Twins minor league pitching coach Luis Ramirez are the new additions. Others have changed roles. Find out more here. On Friday morning, reports from Korea were announcing that the Twins were hiring former big-league catcher Hank Conger as a coach. He had been the bench coach for the Lotte Giants in the KBO. The 34-year-old former first-round pick spent parts of seven seasons in the big leagues with the Angels, Astros and Rays. He played in 84 games for the 2007 Cedar Rapids Kernels as well. Conger will be the Twins new first base coach and work with the catchers. Maybe his "How to be a Catcher with Domingo Ayala and Hank Conger" video gives us some idea of his coaching style. Tommy Watkins had been the team's first base coach in recent years. He will move across the diamond and become the team's third base coach and continue to work with the team's outfielders. Tony Diaz will no longer be the third base coach. He will become the team's assistant bench coach and continue to work with the infielders. In addition, Luis Ramirez has been added as the team's assistant pitching coach. Ramirez had been a pitching coach and coordinator in the Twins system for the past 16 seasons after playing pro ball for 15 seasons in the US, Venezuela, Colombia and Taiwan. In 2021, he was a Wichita Wind Surge pitching coach. Last weekend on Twins Spotlight, RHP Ryan Mason discussed Ramirez as his pitching coach. "Luis is a wealth of knowledge, and he is such a great person to be around. He keeps everything light. He is such a good coach, in general. He has such a good feel for keeping people on track and on time, doing your job accordingly, being an adult. He really has a good knack for keeping you in line." Earlier in the offseason, the Twins announced that former Padres manager Jayce Tingler had been added as the team's bench coach. David Popkins was named as a hitting coach, and he will work with long-time Twins coach Rudy Hernandez. Wes Johnson remains the pitching coach, and Pete Maki is now the Bullpen Coach. That is the role he has held the past two seasons. Finally, Nate Dammann remains the Quality Control Coach. View full article

I was in college in 1994. I lived in a dorm with no cable in the rooms and one TV in the building with cable. So, I probably wasn't going to be watching much baseball anyway in that time. I would go to the library every day and read through the box scores (internet was in its infancy). And then there weren't box scores. I watched in the summers when I was back home, but there was other stuff to do too. It truly took moving to a small town, and the '98 home run race to get me back in completely! I do often wonder what I would do without baseball. What if I wouldn't have started blogging in 2003? Would I still be this big of a baseball guy? I don't know. However, so far this has been a week. Nothing is really missing other than rumors until probably late January, but if it's not done by then, we shall see.

On Saturday (12/4/21), Alderson Broaddus University (WV) retired Twins' RHP Randy Dobnak Battler Baseball number in a ceremony. (video by Jessann Thompson, courtesy of Aerial Dobnak) View full video

Seth chats with Twins RH RP prospect Ryan Mason about youth ball, going to Cal-Berkeley, striking out Aaron Judge, getting drafted, and his rise up the Twins organizational ladder. He split 2021 between AA Wichita and AAA St. Paul. View full video

Seth chats with Minnesota Twins right-handed relief pitching prospect Jordan Gore about his first full-season on the mound, and much more. View full video

Probably not since they were young.

The Twins announced today that they have signed right-handed pitcher Dylan Bundy to a one-year contract with an option for 2023. In 2011, Dylan Bundy was the fourth overall draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles from Owasso High School in Oklahoma. Because of his draft status, he immediately became one of the top prospects in baseball. He signed a five-year MLB contract starting in 2012, and received a $4 million signing bonus. He made two late-inning appearances for the Orioles in 2012 and worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings over two games. Unfortunately, at that point injuries derailed his career. He did not return to the big leagues until 2016 when he posted a 4.02 ERA over 109 2/3 innings in 36 games. That season, he split time between the bullpen and rotation. Since 2017, he has been used exclusively as a starter. Now 29, Bundy went 2-9 with a 6.06 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP in 19 starts. In 90 2/3 innings for the Angels, he walked 34 and struck out 84 batters. He ended the season on the 60-Day Injured List with a shoulder injury. It was a tough season following a 2020 season in which he finished ninth in AL Cy Young voting. He went 6-3 with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over 11 starts and 65 2/3 innings. He also struck out 72 batters and walked just 17. He was in a lot of rumors at that season's trade deadline. The Twins certainly are hoping that he returns to that form. Bundy will make $4 million in 2022. The Twins will also have the option of bringing him back in 2023 for $11 million or buying out that option for $1 million. When he was drafted, he was known for his 100 mph fastball. In 2021, his average fastball velocity was 90.8 mph. Of course, in his successful 2020 season, his fastball velocity was 90.2. Bundy also throws a slider about 21% of the time, and it comes in the low 80s. He also throws a slower curve in the mid-70s and a changeup in the low-80s. As a four-pitch pitcher, he remains intriguing. In 2021, he threw each of his pitches at least 13.8% of the time. It will be interesting to see what Wes Johnson and Pete Maki saw in Bundy that they might be able to tinker with to try to bring out his best performance. Bundy slots into the Twins starting rotation with Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan. Others currently in line for a possible rotation spot include Randy Dobnak, Griffin Jax, Lewis Thorpe and prospects such Jordan Balazovic, Jhoan Duran and Josh Winder. View full article

Here is the MiLB.com Twins Minor League All Star article: https://www.milb.com/news/2021-minnesota-twins-organization-all-stars-jose-miranda-louie-varland

Seth chatted with Wind Surge broadcaster Tim Grubbs about his broadcasting career, becoming a Twins affiliate, their incredible stadium, and about some pretty impressive prospects that spent time in Wichita. View full video

The Twins announced that they have claimed right-handed relief pitcher Trevor Megill. In news that will make too many Twins fans happy, outfielder Jake Cave has been outrighted to St. Paul. Later, the Twins announced that Megill had be non-tendered off of the 40-man roster. Dustin Morse tweeted that the Twins have claimed 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Trevor Megill off of waivers from the Cubs. To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder Jake Cave was outrighted to St. Paul. Megill turns 28 next week. In 2021, he pitched in 28 games for the Cubs. He went 1-2 with an 8.37 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. He walked eight and struck out 30 batters. Megill stands 6-8 and 250 pounds. He was originally drafted by the Padres in the seventh-round of the 2015 draft out of Loyola Marymount. A year earlier, the Padres drafted him in the third round but he didn't sign. He was the Cubs Rule 5 pick in December of 2019. He didn't pitch at all in 2020. Megill is blessed with a 96.4 mph average fastball. He also throws a slider in the mid-80s and a curveball in the low-80s. His two breaking balls were each thrown about 16-18% of the time. It wouldn't be surprising if Wes Johnson worked with him and got him to eliminate one of the breaking balls and use the other a lot. The other half of the transaction should relieve some Twins fans angst. Last week, the Twins signed Cave to a non-guaranteed contract. Today, he was removed from the 40-man roster, went unclaimed and was outrighted to St. Paul. According to Darren Wolfson, he had a split contract in which he would make $800,000 in the big leagues and $300,000 at Triple-A. Over his first two seasons with the Twins (2018-19), he played in 163 games and hit .262/.329/.466 (.795) with 27 doubles, four triples, 21 homers and 70 RBI. Unfortunately over the past two seasons, he has played in 118 games and hit .202/.263/.332 (.595) with nine doubles, three triples and seven home runs. UPDATE - Trevor Megill was non-tendered by the Twins on Tuesday night. However, according to Kiley McDaniel, there is a once-a-year loophole that makes it make a little bit more sense. Feel free to share your thoughts on Megill or Cave. View full article