Seth Stohs

1.) Yes, I still feel that way. I've never said Hughes is a great defensive player, but he's solid enough. Last night's error was just an error. Errors happen. Casilla is probably better defensviely, but I don't think it's a huge differnce. 2.) I also don't disagree that his spot on the roster (hitter-wise) may be the most up for grabs. I mean, Plouffe is pretty safe and out of options. Burroughs provides little, but is also out of options and left-handed. Revere plays good D, has speed, left-handed, Gardy likes him. But, of the four, he's the only one with options remaining.

Twins Lineup Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer C Justin Morneau DH Josh Willingham LF Ryan Doumit RF Danny Valencia 3B Chris Parmelee 1B Alexi Casilla 2B SP: Nick Blackburn Rangers Lineup Ian Kinsler 2B Elvis Andrus SS Josh Hamilton CF Adrian Beltre DH Michael Young 3B Nelson Cruz RF Daniel Murphy LF Mike Napoli C Brandon Snyder 1B SP: Yu Darvish

But what will the team's needs be in 3 years when these guys approach the big leagues... (granted, guys who throw hard or or left-handed will always be valuable.)

Yeah, so many people think that taking college pitchers means that they get to the big leagues quicker... and of course that is generally true. Hunt obviously had the extreme control problems. Gutierrez has his own control problems and his inability to develop a second pitch has made that worse. Arcia was bothered by a leg injury in spring training. It's flared up again. He came out of the game a few nights ago in the 12th inning. He's only expected to miss a few games, but it's been 2 more.

I didn't like when players held out until the last minute and essentially lost that half-season of development. Hopefully the changes make that less likely. Appel seems to be a guy who could, if he signed right away, could go to Ft Myers and even get to New Britain. He could get a big league non-roster invite to camp and compete with the likes of Hendriks, Diamond, Wimmers and Gibson for a couple of rotation spots. If he waits to sign until late and doesn't play this year, he will likely start next year in Ft. Myers and see how it goes. Then again, with his college coach leaving him out there last night for about 150 pitches, I get really scared of those types of pitchers. Ben McDonald, Mark Prior. So many examples of guys who got beat up in college. That's part of the crap shoot. Those guys could, rarely, turn into Justin Verlander... or they could be Mark Prior...

That's crazy, huh? Should be some prize, huh?

That is correct. I edited. I had one of the scores flip-flopped. Thank you!

Last year, Hughes had a UZR above 0... No one is going to claim he's a great 2B, but he's just fine there. yes, he had an error tonight, but all players have errors. It happens. Plouffe and Hughes need to continue hitting well against Lefties. They'll hit alright in the right situations.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?432-Friday-Night-Lights

The Twins two-game winning streak came to an end on Friday night with a 4-1 loss at the hands of lefty Matt Harrison and the Texas Rangers. Anthony Swarzak gave up four runs in seven innings. He was seeing-eye-singled to death in the 4th when the Rangers started swinging at Swarzak’s first pitch and scored three times. Ian Kinsler added a little insurance with a solo home in the 7th. For the first time this season, the Twins scored first in this game. Josh Willingham scored on a screaming liner to left off the bat of Danny Valencia. Ryan Doumit had two hits in the game. Josh Willingham had a single, a walk and was hit by a pitch. Jared Burton and Matt Maloney each threw a strong inning in relief. The Twins will get to see Yu Darvish on Saturday at noon. Nick Blackburn will be making his second start of the homestand. Liam Hendriks will pitch on Sunday. There were plenty of highlights in the Twins minor league system on Friday night despite going just 1-3 on the night. Here is a look at the night in the minors. ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 4 Cole DeVries was terrific in his second start of the season. The right-hander from Eden Prairie gave up only an unearned run over the first five innings. He gave up just one hit, walked two and struckout four. Carlos Gutierrez came in and walked the first batter he faced and then hit the second batter. After a line out, a passed ball and a wild pitch, he gave up a three-run homer to mega-prospect Will Middlebrooks. Gutierrez then left the game alongside a trainer. Casey Fien came in and gave up just one hit in 2.1 scoreless innings. In the ninth, Brendan Wise gave up three hits and got two outs. Tyler Robertson came in with the bases loaded and struckout the next two batters to leave the score 4-3 going to the bottom of the 9th. Unfortunately, the Red Wings were unable to score. Michael Hollimon led the offense. He went 2-4 with his first double and his first home run of the young season. When Brian Dozier hit a double in his first at bat, it extended his hit streak to eight games. INJURY NOTES – Rene Tosoni was put on the 7-day Disabled List on Friday night. Another transaction is expected on Saturday (my guess is that Wilkin Ramirez will come off the DL). I will update this place when I learn more about Carlos Gutierrez. NEW BRITAIN 6, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 The Rock Cats got a good start, good bullpen work and plenty of offense to beat New Hampshire on Friday night. Steve Hirschfeld made his second start of the young season. He threw five shutout innings and gave up just four hits and two walks. He struckout four. Luis Perdomo gave up one run on four hits over the next two innings. He struckout two. Lester Oliveros struckout two in his scoreless frame, and Daniel Turpen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. Chris Herrmann went 3-5 with his second and third doubles. Chris Colabello was 2-3 with his first double, first homer and four RBI. Aaron Hicks was 1-3 with a walk. Pedro Florimon was 2-4. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 2, BRADENTON 3 (10 innings) For the third time in just over a week, the Miracle went to extra innings. In this game, they were on the losing end. This game was about the pitching matchup. The Miracle sent BJ Hermsen to the mound against the Pirates’ Jameson Taillon. Taillon gave up just one run in five innings. Hermsen was even better. He threw six shutout innings, allowing just two hits. He walked three and struckout three. He left with a one run lead. Matt Hauser came in and pitched a scoreless seventh. Unfortunately, he gave up a two-run homer in the 8th that put the Miracle down a run. Caleb Thielbar got out of the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth. Offensively, the Miracle had just four hits. Angel Morales was 2-4 and drove in the first run of the game. Jairo Perez hit his second double. Lance Ray’s second home run gave the Miracle a 2-1 lead. It was 2-2 going to the tenth. Thielbar remained in the game. He gave up a double. The next batter bunted, but Thielbar threw the ball away for an error which ended the game. Fun Note – Hermsen has now thrown 11 innings this season without allowing a run. BELOIT 2, CLINTON 5 The Snappers made their fair share of errors, but they used some Clinton walks and poor defense to take a lead in the 8th and held on. Tim Shibuya was very good in his second start as well. He gave up two unearned runs on three hits in five innings. He walked two and struckout four. Matthew Tomshaw struckout two in two scoreless innings. Then Corey Williams duplicated Tomshaw with two strikeouts in two scoreless innings. Danny Ortiz led the offense going 3-5. Jairo Rodriguez went 1-3 with a walk, a double and two RBI. Jhonathan Goncalves was 1-3 with two walks and a stolen base. Tyler Grimes hit his fourth double. Not-So-Fun Note - The uber-talented Beloit infield of the Snappers (Rhodes, Rosario, Grimes and Sano) each committed an error in this game. --- Players of the Day for Friday, April 13, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Chris Herrmann [ATTACH=CONFIG]622[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – BJ Hermsen [ATTACH=CONFIG]623[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Saturday, April 14, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Lehigh Valley – RHP Sam Deduno New Britain @ New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell Ft. Myers vs. Bradenton – RHP Adrian Salcedo (vs Gerrit Cole) Beloit @ Clinton – LHP Jason Wheeler --- 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 like Appel, I like Zunino, I like Buxton, I like a lot of them... but I'm not going to pretend I know who the right person to draft is. I'd be good with whoever the Twins take with the #2 pick because at that spot, they're taking a consensus top pick that all other teams would have been happy to draft.

You mean immediately on August 16th, knowing that he and most of the draft picks will sign at the very last minute.

Here's the video... http://i.imgur.com/noRJf.gif

There are only 5-6 mlb teams that have an academy in VZ. The Chavez regime has chased teams out. It doesn't stop the Twins from signing players from there though. They still have scouts there. And they have the Dominican academy. And last year they signed the #1 player out of Panama. I'd say they're doing well in Latin America.

Santana and Hunter each signed four year extensions before they could become free agents and each got too much the next time around. I used to hear rumblings about the Twins on this topic, but following the minors and the majors, I dont' think it can be said at all.

He was scheduled to throw off a mound for the first time June 7th or something like that.

Twins Lineup: Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer 1B Justin Morneau DH Josh Willingham LF Ryan Doumit C Danny Valencia 3B Trevor Plouffe RF Luke Hughes 2B SP: Anthony Swarzak Rangers SP: LHP Matt Harrison

In 2014, Hendriks will likely still be making something like $600,000. Won't jump in salary until 2015 season.

He has struggled as a left-handed hitter.

Rochester OF... it's a temporary thing. Tosoni lacerated a finger on a play at the plate. Likely out a week. Dinkelman has been out for 2 days with a right-hand injury... considered day-to-day. So, they're in a bind. I would have thought Bates could have played OF too though. Also, Wilkin Ramirez is already on the DL.

Re: Benson, no surprised that he's struggling early. He'll be alright though. He had an 0-4 two days ago and people said he could have hit any of the balls harder in those at bats. Worry not a bout him. Re: Tosoni, he'll likely be out a week yet. I don't have a problem with one of the three catchers playing a different position.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?431-Thursday-Night-Lights

After starting the season 0-4, the Twins won their last two games and scored a combined 16 runs, games started by Jered Weaver and Dan Haren. It was a full night in the Twins minor league system as well. For much more information on many Twins minor leaguers, be sure to listen to last night’s Twins Minor League Weekly podcast. ROCHESTER 1, PAWTUCKET 10 This was a very close game most of the way, but it got out of hand in a hurry. Daryl Thompson started and gave up two runs on three hits and three walks in four innings. Jeff Manship came in and threw two scoreless before giving up one run in the 7th. He was replaced by Tyler Robertson who gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in one inning. Brendan Wise came in and gave up five runs on four hits and a walk. Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless ninth. Rene Rivera hit his second home run. Matt Rizzotti added a double. Brian Dozier and Tsuyoshi Nishioka were 1-4 with a walk. Fun Note – In this game, Drew Butera played in left field. The night before, JR Towles was in left field. Rene Tosoni is likely out another week with his lacerated finger. NEW BRITAIN 5, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 Jason Marquis would appear to be ready to re-join the Twins next week and make his first start for the team. In his second start at New Britain, the righty gave up two runs on five hits in eight innings. He walked none and struck out seven. 57 of the 89 pitches he threw were strikes. Deolis Guerra came in and gave up one run on a hit and a walk in the 9th. He recorded his first save of the year and struckout two. Aaron Hicks is on a good streak now. He went 2-3 in this game with a sacrifice fly, his second double and his third home run. Each came as a left-handed batter. Deibinson Romero was 2-4 with his first two home runs of the season. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 1, BRADENTON 0 There was a pitcher’s duel in Bradenton on this night. Pat Dean started and in 5.2 scoreless innings, he gave up six hits and walked two. Ricky Bowen came in and struckout two over 1.2 innings. Edgar Ibarra got the final five outs, three on strikeouts to record his first save of the season. As you would expect, there wasn’t much offense for the Miracle. Angel Morales was 2-4. Levi Michael went 1-3 with a walk. The game’s lone run came on a Josmil Pinto sacrifice fly. BELOIT 2, CLINTON 5 Lefty Steven Gruver had a rough start for the Snappers. In three innings, he gave up five runs (4 earned) on seven hits and two walks. AJ Achter struckout four in three scoreless innings. Michael Tonkin and Bart Carter each threw a scoreless inning as well. Adam Bryant was 2-4. Miguel Sano was 0-1 but walked three times. Jhonathan Goncalves knocked a double. --- Players of the Day for Wednesday, April 12, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Deibinson Romero [ATTACH=CONFIG]617[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Pat Dean [ATTACH=CONFIG]616[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Friday, April 13, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs. Pawtucket – 6:05 (CST) – RHP Cole DeVries New Britain vs Harrisburg – 4:05 (CST) – RHP Steve Hirschfeld Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – 5:30 (CST) – RHP BJ Hermsen (vs Jameson Taillon) Beloit @ Kane County – 6:30 (CST) – RHP Tim Shibuya --- 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!