Seth Stohs

From a tweet from Jim Callis of Baseball America: Hearing #Twins will grab him in sandwich rd. @njrowan: Terry Ryan among about 20 scouts at Century HS to watch Mitch Brown pitch. #MLBDraft

He's very consistent in his answer, so I'm still not certain what will happen

Yeah, I normally prefer prospects to play in AAA, but clearly they needed to go out and get these veterans because the prospects are now where they should be... AA. Benson's on the DL too, so that may have factored in. Also, the Twins kind of have 6 OF, so it's possible Mastroianni could be sent back down too (or Revere).

In a move that has me more than a little surprised, the Twins decided to send OF Rene Tosoni back to AA to make room at Rochester for Michael Hollimon (who is coming off of the DL). Tosoni had missed nearly a month with a lacerated finger, suffered in the season's third game on a play at the plate. He struggled in his comeback. He had just six hits in his first 61 at bats. Then last night, he went 5-5 for the Red Wings. Today, he is being shipped to New Britain.

I jokingly thought that guys that haven't played yet would move up more than guys who are playing... it ends up being kind of true. Very disappointing year so far for Twins prospects. These EST guys all have a very good upside, and like I said, they could move up or down quickly. I had Lance Ray lower, but 16 HR last year in the MWL and already 16 extra base hits this year in the FSL... the BA is so low... he's a tough one to rank for me.

I think that's the plan, at least from what I've heard. As soon as he's ready, they'll insert him into the rotation.

Great to see Doumit in the lineup! Hopefully his calf is alright!!! I definitely like the lineup 1-7 and 9!

Fair question: For me, it's first and foremost about getting Twins minor leaguers recognized. You're right, that 49 vs 50 is not a huge difference. But I will say that the difference between #1 and #2 is pretty big, and the difference, for me, between say 8 and 12 is pretty big. I look at ceiling first. What could this guy be? A future Hall of Famer? A long-time starter and All-Star? A cup-of-coffee guy? Or a guy who could top out at Hi-A ball? You also have to consider likelihood of reaching that ceiling? What level they're at, their age, their build or tools, maybe a little look at the stats to see if the tools are showing up at all yet. And, then it's just my opinion... If 50 of us put together our own lists, we might get 50 different responses/lists. So, yes, it should primarily be looked at as fun and informational.

Depends on how you look at it... There are a couple of the EST pitchers that I have no idea why they're there. The other side of the coin is... who at Beloit would you like to see given up on, released, etc.?

Span - matches up very well with Texas. they need a CF and a leadoff hitter. they have a lot of pitching prospects. Morneau, if he can be healthy for the next 6-7 weeks - fits well in Texas or Toronto.

He might, but he's 27 and has had success in AAA. The team is rebuilding and they have to make decisions on a lot of players, DeVries is one of them. So is Slama. So is Manship. I don't think I've ever had DeVries in a top 50, so my expectations are definitely not high. I don't expect greatness, but no need to be upset about this decision. Hendriks need to eat some AAA innings and they need to do what is best for him long-term.

According to the official Twins Twitter feed: #Twins designate RHP Jason Marquis for assignment and will select the contract of RHP Cole DeVries from AAA Rochester for tonight's game. Very exciting for the Eden Prairie native and former Gopher who signed as a free agent after the 2006 season! Good for him!

For those of you fortunate to have the day off today or who have MLB Network, the Rochester Red Wings will play the Gwinnett Braves today at 10:05 a.m. on MLB Network. Julio Teheran, a top 5 prospect in all of baseball, will take the mound for the Braves against Daryl Thompson and the Red Wings. here are the lineups: Gwinnett Braves (26-19) 30 Luis Durango (S) CF 9 Felix Pie (L) RF 32 Stefan Gartrell LF 20 Ernesto Mejia DH 33 Christian Marrero (L) 1B 8 Joey Terdoslavich (S) 3B 25 Jose Yepez C 11 Josh Wilson SS 5 Lance Zawadzki (S) 2B 27 Julio Teheran RHP Rochester Red Wings (19-25) 33 Clete Thomas (L) CF 11 Pedro Florimon (S) SS 19 Wilkin Ramirez RF 27 Chris Parmelee (L) 1B 7 Matt Carson DH 20 Sean Burroughs (L) 3B 9 Rene Tosoni (L) LF 1 Tsuyoshi Nishioka (S) 2B 13 Rene Rivera C 30 Daryl Thompson RHP

Brandon Inge and Johnny Bench have made that transition from C to 3B. Inge did it well. Ripken, Zimmerman, Rolen, these are tall, strong guys who played 3B, but they were all SS growing up, infielders, so they had been fielding ground balls their whole life. Mauer was a tremendous athlete in high school, and still remains a good athlete, but I really think people need to temper their thoughts on how easy they seem to think that such a transition would be. I'm not against trying it, but it needs to make sense and they can't just throw him out there.

Bark's - Do you really think anyone thinks that he will hit .360 or will become the Twins closer? Enjoy the moment. He's playing pretty well right now. Even when he's getting out, he's hitting the ball hard. That's all. No one is making an more of it than that.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?567-Minnesota-Twins-Top-50-Prospects-(Part-1-41-50)

It’s that time of year. The Major League Baseball first-year players’ draft starting in two weeks. That means that we need to get our pre-draft Top 50 Twins Prospects list out. I’ve always done this before the draft to take a look at where the organization is. Over the next week, we’ll look at my choices for the Top 50 Twins Prospects. People talk a lot about the Twins farm system being weak. Well, I do need to acknowledge that in the past I generally had no idea coming up with the top 30. This time around, I was struggling after the top 8 or 9. Take that for what it’s worth, which may be nothing. Today, we’ll look at my choices for 41 through 50. There may be an assumption that these ten are not worth knowing or learning about, but I disagree. First, I always believe that minor leaguers deserve to be recognized. Second, as you look through these ten players, you will see a couple of types. There are a couple of potentially dominant bullpen arms working through injuries. There are also a lot of very young, new-to-the-organization types of players who will pay in the short seasons. Some have very good potential but there just isn’t enough data points yet to rank them any higher. By season’s end, they could move up twenty spots… or disappear from the list. It’s the beauty of following the minor leagues. Let’s get started. Here are my choices for Twins Prospects 41-50: #50 – Trent Higginbotham, RHP Higginbotham was the Twins 26th round draft pick in 2011 out of high school in Alabama. He signed on the last possible day for a well-above-slot $195,000. The right-hander is 6-2 and 195 and has a very projectable frame with room to grow. He turned 20 years old last week and already boasts a fastball that touches 94 mph. He also throws a curveball and a changeup. I would guess that he will pitch in Elizabethton starting in June, but it is possible that he will start in the GCL. #49 – Tyler Jones, RHP Jones is a Milwaukee native who was a top prep baseball player during his high school career during which he was a part of two state titles. He went to Madison Arch Tech Junior College where he helped them to the World Series in 2010. In 2011, he pitched for LSU before the Twins made him their 11th round pick. He signed later in the season and pitched seven innings for Elizabethton, which is where he’ll likely return in 2012. Jones is already 22 years old and will turn 23 in September. He is 6-4 and 205 pounds. He throws a 2-seam and a 4-seam fastball and sits 91-94. He has touched 96 mph. His slider is his out-pitch, and he is working on a changeup. #48 – Hung-yi Chen, RHP Chen was signed by the Twins in June of 2010 from Taiwan. The 20 year old has a 5-10 stocky frame. He throws 87-91 mph with a fastball. He also throws a sinker, a slider and a fork ball. Last year in the GCL, he was 0-4 with a 4.33 ERA. In 35.1 innings, he walked just five and struck out 38. He may head back to the GCL for 2012. Although he is able to get hitters out, he will need to add some velocity. #47 – Kenny Vargas, 1B 22 year old Vargas was signed as a free agent in 2009 from Puerto Rico. The powerful switch-hitter is listed at 6-5 and 215 pounds, however, he has fought his weight for years. Last year in Elizabethon, he was off to a great start. He hit .322/.377/.489 with 11 doubles, six home runs and 35 RBI. Unfortunately, that’s when his season ended. He was suspended fifty games for using a banned substance (ironically from a weight-loss supplement). He served 18 games of his suspension in 2011. Unfortunately, the rules of such suspensions say that they need to be served with the same team. That’s why the remaining 32 games of his suspension cannot start until the Elizabethton season starts. When his suspension ends, will he stay in Elizabethton or move up to Beloit? #46 – Angel Mata, RHP Mata signed with the Twins in January 2010 out of Venezuela. In 2011, he went 0-1 with a 1.46 ERA in 12 games with the GCL Twins. In 37 innings, he gave up just 23 hits. He walked 19 and struck out 30 while opponents hit just .184 off of him. He is 6-2 and 190 pounds with room to grow. He will be 19 years old throughout the 2012 season. #45 – James Beresford, SS/2B Beresford signed with the Twins in August of 2005 out of Australia. He has consistently and gradually worked his way up the Twins farm system. He was the Beloit Snappers team MVP in 2009 and 2010. He was solid in Ft. Myers last year. He was pushed up to AA New Britain this season and he is holding his own. He is hitting .267/.350/.286 with two doubles. Beresford has been a mainstay for Australia’s international teams (playing in WBCs and World Cup events). As you have always heard, Beresford needs to add weight and be able to hit more extra base hits if he wants to be a big league regular. In my opinion, he could be a major league utility infielder today because of his terrific middle infield defense. #44 – Carlos Gutierrez, RHP The Twins second first-round draft pick in 2008 had a terrific spring training, but he has had shoulder issues since the season started. He missed significant time in 2011 with injury as well. In 62.1 innings in 2011, he struck out 57, but he walked 31. In spring, we saw that his 96 mph fastball is not easy to hit. However, I don’t believe that we saw him throw a secondary pitch for a strike. If he can figure out a second pitch, he could be a quality late-inning reliever. If not, he may be a back-of-the-bullpen option. The 25-year-old will need to get healthy for us to really find out. #43 – Austin Malinowski, LHP Malinowski was the Twins 16th round pick last year. He was Mr. Baseball last year in Minnesota while pitching for Centennial High School in Circle Pines. Days before the signing deadline, it appeared Malinowski was heading to the University of Arizona on a scholarship. Instead, he and the Twins agreed on a deal. The 6-4 left-hander is long and lanky. He has a very projectable frame and should add velocity. He already has good secondary pitches. He will not turn 20 years old until the end of November. He will likely pitch for the GCL Twins in 2012. [ATTACH=CONFIG]1010[/ATTACH] #42 – Dakota Watts, RHP Watts was the Twins 16th round pick in 2009 out of Cal State-Stanislaus. In 2011, he split the season between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He walked 33 in 65 innings. He went to the Arizona Fall League after the season and in 14 innings, he gave up 15 hits, walked ten and struck out nine. At 6-5, Watts throws hard. Unfortunately, he is yet to pitch in 2012 due to some shoulder tendonitis. It appears he is close to returning and his velocity is back up into the mid-90s. There are also reports that he has now added a split-finger pitch to his repertoire. It all comes down to strike-throwing with him. That will determine whether he’s a late-inning bullpen guy, or if he even gets beyond AA. #41 – Lance Ray, OF/1B Ray was the Twins 8th round pick in 2010 out of the University of Kentucky. Last year in Beloit, he hit .253/.335/.432 with 34 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 74 RBI. At just 6-1 and 195 pounds, he doesn’t profile as a power hitter. That said, he has a very nice swing and great power to all fields. Defensively, he is average. He has OK range and a decent, accurate arm. He is playing with the Ft. Myers Miracle. He has had a rough week since being the Florida State League’s hitter of the week two weeks ago. Although he is hitting just .213/.297/.404, he already has 11 doubles and five home runs on the season. So, there you have my choices for Twins prospects 41-50. In the next day or two, I’ll be back with my next installment which will be prospects 31-40). If you have any questions or comments on any of these prospects, please feel free to ask.

The reason that most people don't think that Miguel Sano will be able to stay at 3B is becasue he will become to big and tall... Joe Mauer is already tall. I could be wrong, but I think that Mauer at 3B would be a mess. It's 100% completely different than playing 1B. I could be wrong, bu I'd want him to spend an offseason playing nothing but 3B and spend all of spring training playing there before throwing him out there.

Left-handed pitcher. 27 years old. 11.8 K/9 in parts of four AAA seasons. St. Paul native. Should the Twins consider claiming him? He has options, I believe. That's a lot of Ks... oh, 6.3 BB/9 too. Ick. But, why not??

I'd be for either Slama or DeVries coming up. Neither is about 'upside,' but both are long-time org guys who 1.) deserve a shot, and 2.) in a losing season, why not see what they've got. DeVries is two years younger than Slama. Slama - deserves it, should have given more opportunities over past two years. I have no problem with him coming up. DeVries - he's pitched well this year. When Walters/Diamond were promoted, DeVries was pitching equally well. He had a bad start and a half after that that dropped his ERA. On Saturday night, he threw 8 shutout innings and really dominated. He went out for the ninth and ended up getting charged for 4 runs in that inning. Hendriks -certainly the highest upside, but best for him is to be allowed to develop more. Oliveros - 15.2 consecutive scoreless innings between NB and ROCH. Guerra - one bad outing all year.

The following was a tweet from Jon Morosi in the last five minutes: Source: #Twins to designate Jason Marquis for assignment. Has 8.47 ERA in Minnesota but good track record in National League. Only 33. Let the speculation begin: I'd project that Cole DeVries will take Marquis's 40 man roster spot and his spot in the starting rotation. Could be Liam Hendriks as well. Could be Anthony Swarzak to start with Anthony Slama taking Marquis's 40 man spot and a bullpen spot.

SpiritofVodkaDave is correct. He has one year worth of arbitration remaining. Twins have control until after 2014.

Wow, Baseball America ranks Brown #44, so that could be supplemental first-round range too. He's 6-0 with a 0.38 ERA and 75 Ks this year.