Cody Christie

The non-waiver trade deadline is closing in quickly and it is still tough to know what the Twins will do in the coming hours. Is Justin Morneau's Twins career over? Will Glen Perkins still be the guy at the back end of the bullpen? Can the Twins afford to part with Kevin Correia or Mike Pelfrey? There could be a lot of deals in the next couple days or there could be nothing but the sounds of crickets. During the offseason, the Twins made a lot of noise by dealing two of their starting-quality center fielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere. Minnesota wanted to bolster its pitching depth and shopping their team-controlled outfielders seemed likely to bring back the biggest return. From a drafting and scouting perspective, the Twins were taking a different approach to their pitchers -- less pitch to contact and more strikeouts -- and this deal was supposed to be a step in that direction.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] For those that don't remember, here's a timeline of the events that led to both players being traded. The Nationals had been trying to work out a deal to acquire Span for multiple seasons. His concussion issues in 2011 may have held up a deal. On November 29th, the time was right and he was sent to Washington for former first round pick Alex Meyer. A hard throwing right-handed pitcher, Meyer looked to have the potential of a future top of the rotation starter. Within the next week, Terry Ryan went into Dave St. Peter's office and said there might be a chance to move Ben Revere. The Phillies had been interested in the newly-named starting center fielder for the Twins. It turned out to be a deal the Twins couldn't refuse. Revere headed to Philadelphia and in return Vance Worley and Trevor May headed to Minnesota. Worley was a young pitcher with some big league experience and May was a hard throwing minor league pitcher with some up- side. Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com All MLB teams have played over 100 games, which means the schedule is close to 65% complete. Let's look back at the parties involved in these offseason deals and see what the results have been: Download attachment: DenardSpan.jpg Denard Span, CF - Washington Nationals MLB Stat Summary (99 Games): .266/.319/.370, 2 HR, 21 2B, 7 3B, 10 SB, 0.9 WAR Span's career in Washington has not gotten off to a great start. He is a career .282 hitter with a .352 OBP but has struggled to reach those marks this season. The Nationals have even moved him out of the leadoff spot because their team needed some kind of spark. Entering this past weekend, Span had yet to hit a home run in a Nationals uniform. He has now hit long balls in back-to-back games and maybe he can get things going on the offensive side of the ball. Overall, the transition to the National League has been a little rough and the Nats had to have been hoping for more from Span. Ben Revere, CF - Philadelphia Phillies MLB Stat Summary (88 Games): .305/.338/.352, 9 2B, 3 3B, 22 SB, 0.7 WAR Revere is currently on the disabled list after he broke his right foot on a foul ball. This was terrible news for the Phillies since Revere was in the midst of quite the hot streak. Over the previous 15 games before the injury, Revere was hitting .431/.438/.538 with six extra-base hits. He was also in the middle of a 10-game hitting streak. The Phillies were getting some of his best baseball and now he will be on the bench for 6-8 weeks. Vance Worley, RHP - Minnesota Twins/Rochester Red Wings MLB Stat Summary (10 Games): 1-5 record, 7.21 ERA, 48.2 IP, 25 SO, 15 BB, 1.99 WHIP MiLB Stat Summary (9 Games): 6-3 record, 3.88 ERA, 58.0 IP, 34 SO, 17 BB, 1.41 WHIP Worley was supposed to be able to stick in the Twins' rotation for a couple seasons while some of the younger pitching prospects made their way to the big leagues. This hasn't worked out as he struggled mightily with the transition from the National League to the American League. Things have gone better for him in Rochester but this should be expected from someone with over 300 MLB innings. There may be a chance in the second half for Worley to get back to the big leagues but he has been the biggest disappointment of all the trade pieces. Alex Meyer, RHP - New Britain Rock Cats MiLB Stat Summary (11 Games): 3-3 record, 3.69 ERA, 61.0 IP, 73 SO, 27 BB, 1.31 WHIP Meyer was off to a decent start to the year but a shoulder injury ("inflammation") has kept him off the mound since June 1st. The Twins are being extra careful with Meyer since he could be a valuable part of the team's future. In many of the mid-season prospect rankings, Meyer has consistently been in the top-100 for all baseball. A couple weeks ago, it sounded like Meyer was getting close to being back on the mound. The minor league season ends in early September and the Twins are hoping that Meyer will be able to get some more innings under his belt before that time. Trevor May, RHP - New Britain Rock Cats MiLB Stat Summary (20 Games): 6-7 record, 4.07 ERA, 112.2 IP, 113 SO, 50 BB, 1.40 WHIP May has been as advertised from his time in the Phillies organization. There are going to be some strikeouts from this power-throwing right-hander but there are also some control problems. He is averaging 2.5 walks per start and this translates to 4.0 BB/9. That total would match a minor league low for May so he is making strides in the right direction. He has also stayed healthy and on the field and this holds value to the organization. It will be interesting to see how many innings the Twins let May pitch before the end of the year. The last two years he has been around 150 IP. Click here to view the article

One of the benefits of being a bad team for multiple seasons is the Twins have been able to replenish their farm system with high draft picks the last two years. Add these players into a group that already included some top-notch talent and the future of the Twins organization continues to look bright. Download attachment: Cedar_Rapids_Kernels_Hat.jpg Through the offseason there will be plenty of prospect lists released by a variety of media outlets. There are always differences how people view the particular talent in an organization. Does a pitcher with more upside in the lower levels of the minors rate higher than someone at Double-A? Should a slugger with terrible defense rate higher than a light-hitting middle infielder? Those questions and more are all things to consider when compiling a list like the one you see below. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]This is just the first grouping in my top prospect list for this offseason. Check back next week to see how I rank the players nearer the top of the list. 11. Lewis Thorpe- LHP 2013 Team(s): GCL Twins 2013 Stats: 4-1, 2.05 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 44.0 IP, 6 BB, 64 K The 17-year old burst onto the scene this year and surprised many with his performance in the GCL. He was wiping out batters, left and right, and he never faced a batter who was younger than himself. Left-handed hitters struggled by hitting .071/.093/.119. He might be the biggest surprise from last season and he is definitely a name to watch. 12. Travis Harrison- 3B 2013 Team(s): Cedar Rapids Kernels 2013 Stats: .253/.366/.416, 28-2B, 0-3B, 15 HR, 59 RBI Harrison continues to show the power potential the Twins saw in him when they drafted him in the supplemental first round. There are still questions about whether he will be able to stay at third base but his power potential still projects him as a middle of the order bat. He got walked a ton this year and the Twins hope he continues to improve at the plate. 13. Trevor May- RHP 2013 Team(s): New Britain Rock Cats 2013 Stats: 9-9, 4.51 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 151.2 IP, 67 BB, 159 K May joined the Twins last offseason in the Ben Revere trade. Minnesota had May repeat the Double-A level and he led the Rock Cats in many statistical categories. He is an innings eating pitcher, throwing 135 innings or more for the fourth consecutive season. There have been inconsistancies throughout his minor league career and this makes it tough to put him in the top 10 at this point. If he can make some adjustments at Triple-A, he could be one piece of the Twins starting rotation puzzle. 14. Danny Santana- SS 2013 Team(s): New Britain Rock Cats 2013 Stats: .297/.333/.386, 22-2B, 10-3B, 2 HR, 45 RBI, 30 SB Santana continues to be one of the best hitting middle infield prospects in the organization. The Twins continue to trot him out at shortstop to see if he can work through some of his defensive flaws. With Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario locked in at second base, Santana is going to need to improve defensively to stay at shortstop. His batting average was almost 20 points higher than his career mark so the kid is a good and improving hitter. 15. Kennys Vargas- 1B 2013 Team(s): Ft. Myers Miracle 2013 Stats: .267/.344/.468, 33-2B, 1-3B, 11 HR, 93 RBI The Florida State League is supposed to be a tough environment for hitters and Vargas did his best to make that look like a myth. His 33 doubles were near the top of the leader board and his 93 RBI were tops in the league. About a third of his time was spent at DH since he accumulated 11 errors in 758 chances at first. With previous concerns about his weight, it was good to see him play a career high 125 games in 2013. He's got a powerful swing and he should be making his mark in New Britain next year. 16. Niko Goodrum- SS 2013 Team(s): Cedar Rapids Kernels 2013 Stats: .260/.364/.369, 22-2B, 4-3B, 4 HR, 45 RBI, 20 SB Much like Santana, the Twins want Goodrum to try to work out his defensive kinks at shortstop. He played a career high 81 games at the position this year and had 24 errors in 404 chances. In his first year in a full season league, there were up and down moments. In June, he hit over .315 with a .875 OPS but he followed that with a dismal July when he hit under .200 with a .539 OPS. 17. Jorge Felix-RHP 2013 Team(s): Elizabethton Twins 2013 Stats: 2-2, 2.95 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 61.0 IP, 18 BB, 72 K After brief stints in the DOSL and the GCL, Felix made a strong impression in the Appalachian League this year. He raised his SO/9 rate from 8.7 in 2011 to 10.6 in 2013. His 2.7 BB/9 rate was the lowest of his career and he ranked third in the league for strikeouts in fewer innings than both the players in front of him. He's only made it through the rookie leagues but there is plenty of potential in Felix's right arm. 18. Ryan Eades- RHP 2013 Team(s): Elizabethton Twins 2013 Stats: 0-0, 4.60 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 15.2 IP, 12 BB, 13 K This year's second round pick didn't get a lot of time to make his mark, pitching only 15.2 innings over 10 games for the E-Twins. He boasts an impressive college resume at LSU which plays in the tough SEC. He isn't going to strike out a ton of batters (78 K in 100 collegiate innings this spring) but his college experience could make him a fast mover in the years to come. 19. Stephen Gonsalves- LHP 2013 Team(s): GCL Twins, Elizabethton Twins 2013 Stats: 2-1, 0.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 28.1 IP, 11 BB, 39 K Minnesota's fourth round pick from this past June made appearances with both rookie league squads while starting five games in his eight appearances. In limited action, he compiled some very impressive numbers including a 12.4 SO/9 rate. At 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, there is room to add weight and this could make him an even more effective pitcher. 20. Michael Tonkin- RHP 2013 Team(s): New Britain Rock Cats, Rochester Red Wings, Minnesota Twins 2013 MILB Stats: 2-4, 21 S, 3.47 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 57.0 IP, 16 BB, 66 K 2013 MLB Stats: 0-0, 0 S, 0.79 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 11.1 IP, 3 BB, 10 K Since switching to being a full-time bullpen arm in 2012, Tonkin has worked his way from Low-A to the MLB level. He's shown the ability to be a powerful strikeout arm and this might translate to him being an important part of the Twins bullpen. Glen Perkins seems to have the closer role locked up at this point so Tonkin could turn into the set-up man of the future. Click here to view the article

As I put this post together, the Twins are up big on the Chicago White Sox in the eighth inning. Gavin Floyd struggled for the White Sox and the Twins pounced on him for nine runs in the first four innings. Only Ben Revere and Brian Dozier have yet to get involved in the hit parade so it will be interesting to see if they can join the club in the final innings. PJ Walters is in the middle of his third start since being called up by the Twins. There were some bad starts to innings with Walters letting lead off men reach base but he seemed to be able to coax a double play to erase any of those runners. With the announcement that Cole DeVries will be making his MLB debut on Thursday, the Twins will start three pitchers in the White Sox series that were in the rotation at Rochester earlier in the year. There are a lot of players from the minor leagues who have been called on during the early portion of the season so let's see who else is making their mark in the minor leagues.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 1, GWINNETT 3 A couple of runs in the first inning were enough to put the Braves Triple-A affiliate on top for this game with the Red Wings. The Braves put together 12 hits in the contest but left nine men on base during the course of the game. On the other hand, the Red Wings put together five hits and one of those hits was for extra bases. Chris Parmelee hit his first career home run at Triple-A and his first home run of the year in the second inning. Pedro Florimon had two hits for the second consecutive game. The rest of the Red Wings offense struggled at the plate as the team tried to figure out opposing pitcher Julio Teheran, one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. All of the runs for the Braves came during Daryl Thompson's time on the mound. In his 3.1 innings of work, Thompson allowed eight hits and three earned runs with a single strike out. Deolis Guerra, Lester Oliveros, and Casey Fien covered the rest of the game for the Red Wings and they didn't allow another run to score. Oliveros was making his third appearance since being called up from New Britain and he pitched two innings while racking up four strikeouts. NEW BRITAIN 3, BINGHAMTON 0 There were a lot of zeros on the board for both teams on Tuesday night but the Rock Cats were finally able to break through in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the first lead of the game. They chased the starter from the mound and were able to add to their lead with three runs on the board. In one of his best starts of the season, Logan Darnell scattered seven hits over the course of seven innings but he was able to escape trouble. He didn't allow a run to cross the plate and he struck out four while not giving up a walk. After allowing nine combined earned runs in his last two starts, it was nice to see Darnell bounce back with a positive outing that put his team in position to win. Chris Herrmann provided the majority of the offense for the Rock Cats in this game. He put together a 4-for-4 night and he drove in two of New Britain's three runs. Estarlin De Los Santos and James Beresford each had two hits and Evan Bigley started the scoring by hitting his second home run of the year in the seventh inning. FORT MYERS 2, CLEARWATER 1 It was a big day for catchers in the Twins system as Dan Rohlfing joined Herrmann as the offensive hero for his team. The Miracle struggled to score runs for most of this game but Rohlfing was about to put together a 3-for-4 night while driving in both runs for the Miracle. With two doubles in this game, he has five doubles in his last six games. Marty Popham pitched a good game for Fort Myers but he was unable to factor into the final decision. In his six innings on the mound, he saw one run cross the plate and he struck out two. Nelvin Fuentes picked up his first win of the year by tossing two scoreless innings to back-up the strong start from Popham. Daniel Santana and Oswaldo Arcia added two hits apiece to help pace the offense for the Miracle. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael had his first hit in his last four games. Ricky Bowen picked up his fourth save of the year by striking out the side in the ninth inning. BELOIT (Off Day) The Snappers enjoyed an off day on Tuesday before starting a home series against Cedar Rapids. Miguel Sano has only one home run in his last ten games and he is batting .094/.216/.188 during that stretch. It would be nice to see him go on another run as the weather starts to warm up in the Midwest. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Chris Herrmann http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kVanNywXpws/T7w5_bSFthI/AAAAAAAABTA/jYQA2DXZ-Ek/s320/ChrisHerrmann.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Logan Darnell http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zgffM-pKJIg/T7w7E6c4TMI/AAAAAAAABTI/K1z2Lv6c3-o/s1600/LoganDarnell.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 23th Schedule Rochester (Off Day) New Britain vs. Binghamton- RHP David Bromberg Fort Myers vs. Clearwater- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Cedar Rapids- RHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them. Click here to view the article

With last night's loss, the Twins failed to win a series for the first time in 2013. Things didn't go much better tonight for Minnesota as the club fell to the Kansas City Royals. It was the first time the team had been swept in 2013 and the Twins only scored five runs in the series. Miguel Sano hit his first home run of the year on Tuesday evening. He has only been held hitless in one game so far this year and he was hitting .421 entering play today. The Miracle had a 5-0 record entering play tonight and new manager Doug Mientkiewicz has to be pleased with his team performance. How long can they keep it going is another question. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Two of the best pitching prospects in the Twins organization were suppose to be on the mound in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Both Kyle Gibson and Trevor May were scheduled to make their second starts of the season and each man was looking for his first win. Let's see how things went on a wet Wednesday night in the minor leagues. Rochester Red Wings --, Scranton/WB RailRiders -- (Postponed) Kyle Gibson didn't get to take the mound on Wednesday due to inclement weather. The game will be made up on Monday, June 17 as part of a doubleheader at PNC Field. The first game will be scheduled for 5:35 pm (Eastern Time) with the second game following shortly after. Rochester was trying to win back-to-back games for the first time this season. On Tuesday, Chris Colabello cranked a solo home run to break a 1-1 tie in the ninth inning. Anthony Slama closed the door in the ninth inning for his first save of the year and the 101st of his career. The Red Wings will now travel to Pawtucket to open a four-game series with the Red Sox beginning on Thursday night. New Britain Rock Cats 17, Harrisburg Senators 5 Boxscore The Rock Cats found themselves in a tight contest with the Senators before back-to-back four run innings put the club out in front for good. A rain delay wasn't even enough to slow down the Rock Cats offense as the team pounded out 17 hits and 17 runs including 15 runs in the last four innings. Reynaldo Rodriguez and Josmil Pinto each had two home runs. Rodriguez finished the game going 3-for-5 with two bombs, a two-bagger, and four RBI. It was quite the game for Rodriguez considering he didn't have a hit so far this season. Daniel Ortiz, Danny Lehmann, and Nate Hanson joined the mash party as New Britain pounded out seven home runs in the game. Trevor May started for New Britain and gave up two earned runs on four hits including one long ball. It took him 82 pitches to get through four innings so he wasn't exactly being efficient. He struck out seven batters and walked three. May was replaced by Edgar Ibarra who three two perfect innings and struck out four. New Britain starts a four game series at Portland tomorrow night. The club sits one game over .500 and they will try to continue to play winning baseball. Download attachment: Josmil Pinto.JPG Fort Myers Miracle 7, Jupiter Hammerheads 6 (10 innings) Boxscore The Miracle found themselves in an early 4-0 hole and this could have spelled trouble but the team was able to complete the comeback. The win improved the Miracle to 6-0, the club's best start since 2006. In the bottom of the tenth inning with two outs, a pitch hit Kyle Knudson with Jonathan Goncalves already on first base. The next batter was Stephen Wickens and he sent the fans home happy with a line drive single to center field. Miguel Sano went 2-for-5 in the game with his third double of the year. With a double and a triple, Angel Morales had his first multi-hit contest of 2013. Kenny Vargas and Jonathan Goncalves added two hits of their own while Goncalves rocked his first home run. Tom Stuifbergen pitched six innings and only allowed one earned run. Sano had two errors in the first inning and this caused a few unearned runs to score. Corey Williams earned his first blown save and Adrian Salcedo picked up his first win out of the bullpen. He struck out two of the four batters that he faced in the 10th inning. The Miracle will finish out their series with the Hammerheads tomorrow night. The team looks to remain unbeaten on the season before heading out on the road for a weekend series with Charlotte. 
 Cedar Rapids Kernels -- , Wisconsin Timber Rattlers -- (Double Header- Postponed) For the second day in a row, the Kernels game against the Timber Rattlers was postponed. The team was supposed to have a double header today but it was too cold in Wisconsin to be playing baseball. Cedar Rapids was off to a very good start with a 4-1 record so it is disappointing that they haven't been able to play the last couple of days. Hopefully, the team can get in some action tomorrow as they head back to Iowa to play the Clinton LumberKings. Click here to view the article

Since the Twins were playing on the West Coast, their afternoon game with the Angels went into the early evening in the Central time zone. Minnesota won the first two games of the series before things got a little dicey on Wednesday. Jared Weaver looked excellent on the mound but a bad infield fly call might have cost the Twins a chance to sweep the Angels. With Joe Mauer on paternity leave for three days, Drew Butera was called up from Rochester. He has spent the entire season at Rochester where he is hitting .215/.247/.316 in 86 plate appearances.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] For a 29-year old with close to 500 MLB at-bats, these totals aren't very good. To take the place of Butera on Rochester's roster, Jario Rodriguez was moved up from Cedar Rapids. There were plenty of sights and sounds on Wednesday so let's go down on the pond for all of the action. Rochester Red Wings 6, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 2 Box Score A wild bottom of the eighth inning helped Rochester to separate themselves from the IronPigs. Three passed balls and one wild pitch resulted in five runs. July has been a very good month for the Red Wings as they are 14-7 since the calendar turned from June. The club is also a season high four games over the .500 mark. One of the hottest relief pitchers in the Twins system has been Edgar Ibarra. In his last 22 innings between New Britain and Rochester, he has not allowed an earned run. The last earned run he allowed was back on May 21st at the Double-A level. He was credited with his first Triple-A victory in this game after recording the last five outs. PJ Walters went 7.1 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts. Chris Parmelee hit his first home run since being sent back to Rochester. Oswaldo Arcia also helped the offense by going 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. The Red Wings only managed four hits but all of the wild pitching from the IronPigs bullpen helped the team to come out on the right side of this game. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 3 Box Score For the first time in three days, Miguel Sano didn't hit a home run for the Rock Cats. He didn't really get the opportunity to hit as he was out of the line-up for the first time since he left the team for the MLB Futures Game. With their power hitting third baseman out of the line-up, New Britain had a tough time getting the offense off the ground. Josmil Pinto continued his tremendous season with another multi-hit game. He provided the most offensive punch in the line-up by going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Daniel Ortiz and Pinto are tied for the team lead with 23 doubles. Danny Santana went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. On the mound, New Britain only needed one pitcher for the entire game. Virgil Vasquez threw all nine innings while giving up three runs on seven hits. He struck out eight and only walked one. It was his second complete game since joining the Rock Cats and both of them have come against the Sea Dogs. Fort Myers Miracle 3, Brevard County Manatees 2 (11 innings) Box Score It took a couple of big hits from Kennys Vargas and Mike Kvasnicka to help the Miracle to stage a late inning comeback. In the ninth inning with the Miracle down a run, Vargas launched his 15th home run of the season to tie the game. Kvasnicka would rope an RBI single in the top of the 11th inning to plate the winning run. It was his third hit of the night. Adrian Salcedo picked up his fifth win of the season in relief. He had to pitch around an error in the 11th inning. Overall, he threw both extra innings without allowing a hit or a run. Matt Tomshaw had a good start for the Miracle as he tossed seven innings of two-run ball. He struck out six and walked one but he wouldn't figure into the decision. Byron Buxton went 2-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. Buxton was matched in the hits department by Aderlin Mejia. He finished the night 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Dalton Hicks had his first double at the High-A level and his 32nd double for the season. Download attachment: Kennys Vargas.jpg Cedar Rapids Kernels 7, Peoria Chiefs 8 (10 Innings) Box Score Christian Powell ran into some rough moments in the early going of this game. All nine Chiefs batters came to the plate in the first inning but he was able to limit the damage to three runs. He wouldn't make it too deep into the game on the mound. He was pulled after 4.2 innings and giving up five runs on eight hits. His five walks really hurt him. Adam Walker continued his hot hitting as he had three hits for the second consecutive night. He is in the midst of a six game hitting streak and he is batting .340 in his last 10 games. Mike Gonzales hit his first home run for the Kernels and he is 5-for-12 since joining the team. Jorge Polanco had multiple hits for the third straight game including his 25th double. Elizabethton Twins 2, Kingsport Mets 3 Box Score The E-Twins did their best to come back and tie the game in the top of the ninth inning but the Mets found a way to push across a walk-off run in the bottom half of the frame. Mitch Garver had two hits including his 2nd home run of the season. It was the only extra-base hit for the Twins. Stuart Turner and Carlos Avila each had two hits. Josh Burris pitched 2.2 innings as the starter but there were some control issues. He allowed six walks while he did limit the Mets to three hits and one earned run. Brandon Bixler threw the most frames as he went 3.1 innings and didn't allow a run. Ethan Mildren got into trouble in the bottom of the ninth and he given his first professional loss. GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 1 Box Score The GCL Twins used a balanced offensive approach to win a close game with the GCL Orioles. Six of the nine starters for the Twins ended the game with a hit. Joel Polanco knocked in a run with his third double of the year. Jorge Fernandez hit a solo home run in the 7th inning. Overall, the team went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position so there were some opportunities that were missed. The pitching staff for the GCL Twins didn't allow an earned run. Sam Gibbons started the game and pitched four strong innings. He limited the Orioles to two hits and one unearned run. There were some control problems as he walked four men and had a wild pitch. Lewis Thorpe earned his first professional win by throwing two shutout innings and striking out three men. Click here to view the article

It’s shaping up to be a killer couple of days for Cedar Rapids. After the first two games of their four-game set with Peoria got rained out, the Kernels are forced to play double-headers on Tuesday and Wednesday. In their two other double-headers this season, the Kernels have played to an all or nothing result. They have either swept or gotten swept by the opposition. This had left the club with a 2-2 record in double-header action this season. How would they fare tonight? Would they be the sweepers or the swept? Download attachment: JO Berrios 2edit.jpg TRANSACTIONS In the Cedar Rapids game, two Kernels were hurt and put on the Disabled List before game two. Listen to last night's Twins Hangouts to learn who the Kernels have promoted from Extended Spring Training. Also, Seth and Jeremy were joined early in the show by top left-handed pitching prospects, Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6. Columbus 0 (6 innings- Rain) Box Score Rochester decided to have a home run party. The only requirement was that the batter couldn't of hit a home run yet this season at the Triple-A level. Eric Farris, Oswaldo Arcia, Deibinson Romero, and Chris Herrmann each met the criterion. They were all solo home runs except for Arica's two-run shot. After a two-hit effort, Farris now has a team leading 15 multi-hit games in 32 starts this season. Trevor May was pitching against another tough Trevor, Trevor Bauer. May gave up three hits and struck out six over six frames. It was the first time Bauer has lost this season and the win ended Rochester's eight game losing streak. The Red Wings have a season high five-game winning streak at home. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Portland 2 Box Score The Rock Cats turned to Taylor Rogers to continue their recent winning ways. The club had won back-to-back games coming into the night and Rogers did his best to continue the streak. He tossed six innings of one-run ball by striking out seven and walking three. Over his last two starts, he has pitched a minimum of six innings and allowed one earned run or less. It was also his third straight victory. Kennys Vargas and Reynaldo Rodriguez both had multi-hit nights and each scored two runs. It was the eighth double of the season for Vargas. Brandon Waring and Daniel Ortiz each added a double to help the Rock Cat offense. Waring's two-out double knocked in Rodriguez and Vargas and that hit made the difference in the game. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Brevard County 0 Box Score Jose Berrios, one of the Twins top pitching prospects, completed 6.1 innings of shutout ball by limiting Brevard County to three hits. He didn't allow a hit until the fifth and his eight strikeouts were a season high. Berrios might have been able to finish the seventh inning if not for a missed catch error by first baseman Mike Gonzales. Madison Boer and Brandon Peterson helped to complete the shutout by allowing only a hit each. The Miracle didn't need a ton of offense but they scored enough to get a comfortable lead. Travis Harrison is in the midst of a four game hitting streak and he knocked two doubles. Aderlin Mejia and John Murphy each collected two hits including a double apiece. Jorge Polanco scored two runs and he extended his hit streak to 11 consecutive games. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Peoria 3 (Game 1) Box Score The Kernels got out-hit 11 to two but the club held a two run lead heading into the fifth inning, when Peoria got their big inning. After allowing one run in the first, starting pitcher Ethan Mildren settled in before allowing three doubles and three runs in the top of the fifth. His record dropped to 0-2 despite having a 3.10 ERA after allowing two runs or less in every start prior to today. Jason Kanzler provided all the offense for the Kernels. With two outs in the fourth, he cracked his third double of the season to drive in two runs. He also swiped two bases to bring his season total to seven. Overall, there wasn’t a ton of offense to speak of from Cedar Rapids. Note - In the first game, Engelb Vielma hurt his leg (specific injury not yet known) in his first at bat. Later in the game, Tanner Vavra and Jason Kanzler collided going for a pop up. Kanzler was put on the Disabled List with a concussion. Cedar Rapids 4, Peoria 6 (Game 2) Box Score A big five-run third inning doomed the Kernels and starting pitcher Josue Montanez. He was charged with five earned runs on four hits and his ERA is up to 8.74. It's been back-to-back rough starts for Montanez as he allowed eight earned runs in less than two innings in his previous appearance. Bryan Haar clocked his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot. The long ball gave Cedar Rapids an early lead but it wasn't enough. Haar finished the double-header going 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Bo Altobelli added two hits and an RBI in this game. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Jose Berrios, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Bryan Haar, Cedar Rapids Kernels WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ Rochester (6:05 CST)- Scott Diamond Portland @ New Britain (5:35 CST)- Tyler Duffey Fort Myers @ Brevard County (9:35 CST)- David Hulbut Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (5:05 CST)- Kohl Stewart Peoria @ Cedar Rapids (30 min. after Game 1)- Felix Jorge Since the Twins beat the Red Sox on Tuesday night thanks to a walk-off homer from Chris Parmelee, you can get 50% off your online order at PapaJohns.com on Wednesday using the code "TWINSWIN". Click here to view the article

Download attachment: puckett.ws_.cropped.jpg Earlier this week, The Sporting News released their list of the most iconic moment for each MLB team. Certain teams are tied to some of the best moments in the history of the sport while other teams' top moments aren't very memorable outside of their home market. That's the nature of these kinds of lists. For Twins fans, it is pretty easy to put Kirby Puckett's walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series at the top of the list. The '91 World Series might be the best Fall Classic of all time and this was a signature moment that elevated it above the rest of Twins history. There have been other significant moments throughout the history of the franchise. This got me thinking about what other events would end up on the Twins most iconic list. I polled the Twitter universe to see what other ideas people could come up with; there have been plenty of other signature moments in the team's history. How would you rank the following moments in relation to how iconic they were for the Twins? The following are listed in chronological order, starting with the most recent. Click on each link for a video or clip about the moment. Alexi Casilla's Walk-Off Hit, Game 163 (2009): For the younger generation of Twins fans, this is the closest thing to a walk-off World Series moment. It also helps that the game was back and forth with both teams seemingly near a victory. The Twins got to swarm onto the field and celebrate in front of a packed house and it was a great way to say goodbye to the Metrodome in the Twins final season there. This game belonged to Jack Morris but it's hard to call one entire pitching performance an iconic moment. Larkin's hit over the outfielders' heads allowed Dan Gladden to trot home and the Twins to be World Series champions for the second time in five seasons. Morris was one of the first to meet Gladden at home plate and the legacy of this World Series was cemented in time. Before his walk-off heroics later in the evening, Puckett made a defensive play for the ages. His leap up against the Plexiglass outfield wall might have been the highlight of the game if not for his "See You Tomorrow Night" home run. The smaller sized Puckett seemed to defy gravity with his leap to pull in a sure bet extra-base hit. For Braves fans, this moment still burns deep in their souls. It is another story for Twins fans as this moment could have been one of the early turning points in the series. Hrbek might have muscled Gant off the base but the umpires still called him out. In recent years, this moment was immortalized in bobblehead form and it doesn't get much more iconic than that. While the 1991 World Series was full of iconic moments, it is tough to find an iconic moment from the Twins first championship run. Hrbek's grand slam in Game 6 helped Minnesota push the Cardinals to a decisive Game 7. This would lead to Hrbek's leap at first base after collecting the final out of the team's first championship. Both these moments were iconic but the home run was more important to the outcome of the series. The front office for the Twins wasn't expecting more than a few thousand fans to welcome the Twins home after clinching the team's first AL pennant since 1965. By the end of the evening the Metrodome was packed to the brim with fans even having to sit in the stairs to get a view of the team. Members of the 1987 team always talk about this moment and for them it might be the most iconic. Harmon Killebrew's 520 foot HR (1967): A seat still hangs on the wall at the Mall of America to commemorate this Ruthian blast off the bat of Killebrew. As the first face of the franchise, Killebrew never had a championship winning moment. His 1965 team made the World Series but fell short against the Dodgers. Of all of his moments in a Twins uniform, this might be the one that stands the test of time. In only their fifth season since moving to Minnesota, the Twins were in the World Series. Minnesota won the first two games at The Met and Allison's catch helped to keep Game 2 close. His slow dive down the left field line took away what was sure to be an extra base hit. Los Angeles scored only one run in the game and this was one of the first iconic moments in the club's history. CLICK HERE to rank the moments above. Click here to view the article

It has been quite the 12-month span for Twins second baseman Brian Dozier. On August 14th of last season, the Twins had seen enough of him at shortstop with the big league club. They demoted him to Rochester after 340 plate appearances in his rookie campaign. Many thought he would be back as a September call-up but the call never came. Dozier was forced to live with a bad taste in his mouth for the entire offseason.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: joe-mauer-and-brian-dozier.jpg Brian Dozier entered the 2013 season not knowing if he would have a starting job with the Twins. The 26-year old middle infielder was shifting to second base and the club was having a competition in spring training for the starting role. Dozier would beat out other light hitting options like Jamey Carroll and Eduardo Escobar. Dozier had flopped when he had previously been giving a starting job but the Twins were willing to give him a second chance at a new position. April and May weren't outstanding for Dozier. He combined to hit .214/.259/.299 with seven extra-base hits in 168 plate appearances. Unfortunately, he had more strikeouts (35) than hits (33) and he was only able to draw nine walks. It was a rough start to Dozier's sophomore season and the Twins were going to need to see some kind of improvement to keep him in the line-up on a daily basis. Things started to go in the right direction during the month of June. In 26 games, Dozier found his swing by hitting .257/.389/.514 with five home runs and four doubles. He posted a .902 OPS for the month and the Twins were even willing to give him some at-bats in the lead-off spot. His batting average for the season went from .214 to .228 and he raised his OPS from .558 to .673. In recent weeks, Dozier has been on quite the hot streak on the offensive side of the ball. Since July 21st, he is batting .304/.364/.595 with three home runs, two triples, and 10 doubles. In this span of 18 games, the Twins have posted an 11-7 record and Dozier' presence at the top of the line-up has helped the club along the way. Second base is an interesting position for the Twins as the organization starts to look to the future. Dozier seems to be settling into a nice groove at the big league level but he soon might be feeling a little pressure from the minor leagues. Minnesota was unhappy with their lack of talent in the middle infield a couple of seasons ago and the organization decided to move Eddie Rosario, one of the club's best hitting prospects, from the outfield to second base. Rosario has played parts of this season with the Fort Myers Miracle and the New Britain Rock Cats. In 102 games, he has hit .311/.363/.479 with nine home runs, eight triples, and 26 doubles. He has struck out a career high 75 times with 46 of those Ks coming in 50 games at Double-A. Rosario had a huge month of July for the Rock Cats. He batted .353/.394/.549 with three home runs and nine doubles. The Twins will look for Rosario to be the second baseman of the future but how soon will the future arrive at Target Field? Dozier's recent hot streak makes it easier for the Twins to keep Rosario in the minor leagues. Earlier this season it would have been easy to think that Dozier wouldn't have a job for Opening Day 2014 because Rosario would be making his debut. That plan might have changed and this could give Rosario time to master the Triple-A level before being asked to face the pressures of the big leagues. It seems likely that next spring there could be slough of top prospects in the Twins major league camp during spring training. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, and Eddie Rosario could all get a taste of what it's like to be one step closer to the big leagues. Sano and Rosario could be fighting for a starting job or they could be on their way to Rochester. In the end, Rosario is only 21-years old and he will be 22 at the beginning of next season. There isn't exactly a rush to get him to the big leagues and to start his arbitration clock. If Dozier continues to play the way he is, the Twins will be happy to give him at-bats until Rosario is busting down the door to the major leagues. With the Twins recent history of middle infielders, it's certainly better to have multiple solid options at second base than a bunch of question marks. Click here to view the article

Aaron Hicks had to be flying high at the conclusion of spring training this season. He had won the starting center fielder job for the Twins and he would be making his big league debut in front of the Target Field faithful. His 2012 minor league campaign was fantastic as he showed much of the promise the Twins had seen in him when they took him as a first round pick. The future seemed nothing but bright and there were comparisons being made to some of the best outfielders in the game. Those flowery thoughts didn't last long as Hicks struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball. At the end of April, he had a batting line of .113/.229/.127, with a double being his lone extra-base hit. These were tough numbers to swallow, especially with the high expectations coming out of spring training. Switching the calendar to May helped Hicks with his power swing but the other numbers didn't follow suit. After one extra-base hit in the first month, he cracked 10 extra-base hits in the second month of the season including six home runs. This raised his slugging percentage almost 200 points from .127 to .315 and it led some to believe that Hicks might have turned the corner. Throughout his minor league career, he had been praised as being a patient hitter but ML pitchers were able to attack him at the plate. In the first two months of the season, he struck out 49 times and he was able to coax only 17 walks. Combine his low walk total with the fact that he wasn't hitting the ball all that great and red flags were becoming more obvious. June saw Hicks trying to overcome his first extended stay on the DL. He was sent to Triple-A for the first time as part of his rehab and it seemed as though he might have benefitted more by staying at that level. Instead the team brought him back for the start of July and there were a few more baby steps in the right direction. Hicks batted .230/.292/.379 after returning from the DL. His batting average and OBP were the highest marks for any month so there were some positive signs. He was able to steal five bases while being caught only once. On the negative side, he struck out 26 times and was limited to six walks. The Twins decided it was time for Hicks to try to succeed at Triple-A; he was sent down for the remainder of Rochester's season. Things weren't much better for Hicks in limited action in the minors. For the season, he played 22 games with Rochester and posted a batting line of .222/..317/.333 with six extra-base hits but no home runs. He was able to draw 10 walks but he averaged close to a strikeout a game. There was no shining light at the end of the tunnel. Hicks wasn't among the Twins September call-ups and there are plenty of questions surrounding him after his first big league season. Should the Twins give up on Hicks in favor of stud prospect Byron Buxton? What is the future role of Hicks with this team? Will he ever be able to be a consistent hitter at the big league level? Was this a lost season for the former top prospect? Everything seemed bright for Hicks under the color of the Florida sun but things quickly turned cold in the brisk Minnesota spring. It will be an offseason of reflection for Mr. Hicks and hopefully a chance to enter next season with the ability to forget what happened in 2013. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Puckett_Gwynn_Baseball_Card.jpg On Monday, baseball lost another great. Hall of Fame member Tony Gwynn passed away at the age of 54. He lost his battle after dealing with cancer for some time. Gwynn attributed the cancer to his chewing tobacco habit during his playing days. Fans across Twins Territory can feel the pain that Padres fans are dealing with after today's announcement. Former Twins great and Hall of Fame inductee Kirby Puckett also passed away at an early age. It can be tough for a franchise to lose the player most associated with its success. Gwynn never had a heroic World Series moment like Puckett but there were still connections between these star players. Both players were born in 1960. Gwynn was born in Los Angeles, CA and Puckett was born in Chicago, IL. Gwynn debuted in 1982 at age 22. Puckett did not debut until 1984 at the age of 24. Puckett made every All-Star Game from 1986 to 1995. Gwynn was on the NL squad for every one of those games except 1988. Puckett led the AL in hits in 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1992. Gwynn led the NL in hits in 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, and 1997. Puckett won his lone batting title in 1989 when he hit .339. Gwynn won the NL crown that same year with a .336 batting average. Gwynn collected his 2,000 career hit in August 1993. Puckett wasn't far behind, getting his 2,000th in April of the next season. Both men finished their careers with a batting average over .300 (Puckett at .318, Gwynn at .338) Gwynn led the NL in WAR once in 1987. Puckett led the AL in WAR once in 1992. Puckett won Gold Gloves in 1986-1989 and 1991-1992. Gwynn won Gold Gloves in 1986-1987 and 1990-1991. Gwynn won seven Silver Slugger awards and Puckett had six Silver Slugger awards to his credit Both were elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame with over 80% of the vote. Puckett got 82.1% and Gwynn received 97.6% of the vote.Both these players were great hitting outfielders during the same era, Gwynn in the National League and Puckett in the American. They helped make their organizations and leagues better in many ways. Both players were taken too soon. Click here to view the article

One of the questions facing the Minnesota Twins and their fans this offseason is the future of Joe Mauer. The All-Star catcher and face of the franchise didn't play a game after August 19th because of concussion-related symptoms. With the Twins heading for their third straight 90-loss season, there was no need to rush Mauer back to the field. Download attachment: Mauer_Joe_AtThePlate_US_720.jpg When the Twins head to Florida this spring, there will continue to be questions about how much time Mauer should play at catcher. Catchers are in the line of fire when it comes to repeated foul tips and collisions at home. In the past, Mauer has repeated his desire to keep catching but one has to wonder if Minnesota can continue to allow this to happen. Two home plate collisions in the American League Championship Series brought out continued concerns about the men wearing the protective gear. As concern, especially in sports circles, is increasingly raised about concussions and head injuries, reports have some baseball officials believing home plate collisions could be banned this offseason. Moving forward the Twins might be more likely to let Mauer spend time catching if the front office knew the play at the plate was banned. Both of the Twins catchers from the Opening Day roster, Mauer and Ryan Doumit, missed time this season because of concussion issues. Their symptoms were brought on by foul tips to the mask and/or helmet so even cutting out collisions might not be enough to keep Mauer catching. In the last month of the season, the Twins used a combination of Chris Herrmann and Josmil Pinto at catcher. Pinto was impressive, batting .342/.398/.566 with nine extra-base hits. His shoulder had been a concern throughout the minor league season but he fought through this issue to have an impressive September. Herrmann batted .204/.286/.325 with 11 extra-base hits over 157 at-bats this year. If there are any concerns with Mauer's concussion-related issues heading into spring training, the Twins will be forced to make a decision about his catching future. Even if collisions are out of the game, foul tips will continue to impact catchers until face mask and helmet technology can be improved. Minnesota has Mauer under contract until 2018 and they can ill-afford to have him on the disabled list for extended periods of time. Because of baseball's extensive history, it can be tough to change something, like collisions, that have been part of the game for so long. The time is right to ban collisions before another player gets seriously hurt. Catcher can be one of the most important positions on the field and it's time to protect them from future head injuries. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Deduno_Sam_Bench_US_600.jpg Entrenched in the middle of another losing season, it can be tough to look at the Twins roster and find positives. Disappointment abounds, but there is good mixed in with all the bad. Sam Deduno fits here. He was a pleasant surprise for the 2012 Twins team and that still didn't save his spot on the 40-man roster in the offseason. Every MLB team had a chance to claim him and no one took the chance. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Deduno went back into the Twins minor league pool and a successful World Baseball Classic may have given him the confidence he needed to make some adjustments. It has been a new and improved Deduno in 2013. His career walk rate entering this season was 6.1 BB/9; he has cut that number almost in half to 3.3 BB/9 this season. He averaged 1.2 HR/9 by the end of last year and he has reduced that number to 0.5 HR/9. With seven wins to his credit, he already has a career high. Unsurprisingly, decreasing walks and keeping the ball in the park have helped make Deduno a more effective pitcher. One of the things that has helped Deduno most is pitching in the friendly confines of Target Field. So far this season, his ERA at home (2.33) is more than 1.30 runs lower than on the road (3.65) and his 0.963 WHIP at home is outstanding. He has given up one home run at Target Filed compared to three on the road. These numbers are great; we'll jump into them a little deeper. In the past, opponents have put up pretty decent numbers against Deduno. From 2010 to 2012, opposing batters hit .248/.371/.399, which translates to a .770 OPS. This year on the road, the opponent batting average been has worse than that, though the OPS, at .723, is quite better. In eight games this year, the opposition has hit .262/.340/.383 including 14 extra-base hits. When Mr. Deduno has been on the mound at Target Field this year, he's limited the opposing team to a .212/.278/.293 (OPS-.571) batting line. The above numbers have improved for Deduno at Target Field and opponents have also found it more difficult to make hard contact. At home, the opposition has a line drive percentage of 14.4% and that number goes up to 19.1% on the road. He is also getting more ground balls at home, as his ground ball percentage is 64.4% compared to 61.8% on the road. When Deduno is at Target Field, men reach base against him at a lower rate and he is also better at stranding them when they do reach. At home, he has posted an 80.4% left on base percentage. On the road, he has only been able to post a LOB% of 74.9%. Deduno's home numbers would look even better if he hadn't had four HBP. In fact, he hit three men at Target Field in his second start of the season. If those hit bats men are taken out of the equation, Deduno is even more impressive at home. Overall, Deduno has looked greatly improved in front of the hometown crowd but there are plenty of games left in the season. He has started four more games on the road than at home and this difference in sample size could play a role in the numbers described above. Deduno has shown some semblance of being a quality addition to the Twins starting rotation. Not too bad for a guy who no teams wanted to claim when he was made available in the off-season. Click here to view the article

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZX8EGdYn68/T3EvATxuTVI/AAAAAAAABJg/5My-BrqTyAk/s320/Matt+Capps.jpg Original Post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Twins saw their long-time closer Joe Nathan leave the team in free agency this offseason. With his departure to the Texas Rangers, the organization turned to a familiar face to fill the closer role by signing Matt Capps. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Nathan had been one of the best closers in the game and he got a lot of guaranteed money to be the closer for the two-time defending American League champions. The Twins weren't ready to make this kind of offer to Nathan and the team seemed happy to settle for the cheaper option in Capps. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Nathan's first spring with the Rangers has been a nightmare so far as he has struggled in his trips to the mound. In his very small sample size of five innings pitched, he has allowed eight earned runs on eight hits with three of those hits being home runs. His ERA of 14.21 looks more like a football score than a stat line of an elite closer. The 37-year old pitcher's statistics don't worry his pitching coach Mike Maddux as he focuses on Nathan trying to hone all of his pitches before the end of the spring. A lot of veteran pitchers can spend their outings during the spring working on specific pitches and location of those pitches so spring numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. Even with that said, there can't be too many fans of the Rangers who feel a lot of confidence in their newly signed closer. Capps hasn't had a perfect spring but he hasn't done anything to make the team think he can't handle the closing duties. In seven innings pitched, he has given up three earned runs on seven hits with two of those hits being home runs. Capps has also been getting some work in during B games because he was determined to pitch multiple innings at least once this spring. At the beginning of last season, Capps was called on to get outs in more than one inning and his arm didn't like the transition to this role. He had done this extra work in B games before every other season with the exception of last year. By considering all of this information, is there any way that Capps could end up performing better than Nathan during the 2012 season? One of the first things to consider when it comes to projecting the performance of these players is the difference in their ages. Nathan will be 37 for the entirety of the upcoming season and he has dealt with multiple seasons in his career with major injuries. Capps is nine years younger and he has a lot less wear and tear on his arm over the course of his career. Nathan is on the decline of his career and Capps should still be near the prime of his playing days. Another aspect to factor into performance is to reexamine the recent performance of these two players in the regular season. Both Nathan and Capps had some rough patches in the 2010 season and there were a few injuries the duo had to fight through to make it to the mound. Capps was very good in June with an ERA of under one but that was sandwiched between two terrible months in May and July with an ERA of over six. Nathan's second half of the year was much better than the first half and this is what gave Texas the confidence to sign him to a multi-year contract. The Rangers and the Twins play in two vastly different ballparks that play to different strengths of specific players. The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has been known to carry the ball out of the park with it's combination of hot summer weather and hitter friendly dimensions. In the first two years at Target Field, batters have found some difficulty hitting the ball out of the park and there has been discussions about the dimensions be tough for batters. In 13 games and 60 plate appearances, Nathan has given up only one home run and four doubles in Arlington. Capps has a much bigger sample size at Target Field and he has allowed six home runs over 213 plate appearances. With that being said if I were a pitcher, I would much rather be pitching in the friendly confines of Target Field. Besides the Twins and Rangers having very different environments for their home ballparks, these teams are projected to have very different results in the 2012 season. The Rangers should be near the top of the AL West and they will be fighting to represent the AL in the World Series for the third consecutive year. The Twins are trying to rebound from one of the worst seasons in franchise history and many experts aren't picking Minnesota to finish anywhere near the top of the division. This should mean that Nathan will have plenty of more opportunities to rack up saves during the season. Capps might not be in line to have as many saves as Nathan but his other numbers could stack up very close or even better. Overall, the thought of Capps having a bounce back season would be a welcome sign to Twins fans looking for something to peak their interest in 2012. Nathan will still probably have a decent season on a team that should be very good. It would just be fun to see Capps end up with the better numbers at the conclusion of the season. Click here to view the article

Episode 37 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunesor by clicking here. http://assets.podomatic.net/mymedia/thumb/2324540/285%3E_8237541.jpg On Episode 37, Cody and Eric are joined by Baseball Prospectus‘ Jason Parks to talk about the Twins Minor League system. Jason Parks has plenty to say about Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, as well as some of the pitching prospects.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Before Jason Parks comes on to the show, Cody and Eric go through the Twins news, including the pitching performances of Kevin Correia, Mike Pelfrey and Scott Diamond; Joe Mauer’s Fenway expertise, and the explosion that is Oswaldo Arcia. To close out the show the guys name a Listener of the Week, go Down on the Pond with Michael Tonkin, and regardless of what they’re drinking (juice?!) they take a quick tour of the biggest news stories around the league. 80 minutes of fun! <iframe src="http://talk2contact.podomatic.com/embed/frame/posting/2013-05-10T20_18_31-07_00?json_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftalk2contact.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2013-05-10T20_18_31-07_00%3FautoPlay%3Dfalse%26facebook%3Dtrue%26height%3D85%26minicast%3Dfalse%26objembed%3D0%26width%3D440" height="85" width="440" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> You can follow me on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing here at NoDakTwinsFan. You can follow Paul on Twitter (@BaseballPirate) or read his writing at Puckett’s Pond. And of course, you can find Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read my writing at Knuckleballs! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Torii+Hunter+Los+Angeles+.jpg Back in the 1993 when the Twins drafted a high school outfielder from Arkansas, there was plenty of hope surrounding his future. The greatest player in franchise history, Kirby Puckett, was manning the outfield for the current team and this new athletic young man was in line to be his heir apparent. Puckett's career would be cut short in the coming years but Torii Hunter would lead a revitalization of the Twins franchise in the 2000s. Two decades after being drafted, Hunter has found the third team of his career. He left the Twins following the 2007 to continue his career with the Los Angeles Angels. The lure of a large contract and a bigger market was too much to turn down for Hunter at the time. As a 37-year old aging outfielder, he is still getting a big contract but this time he is searching for something more... to cement his legacy. Hunter has found his way back to the American League Central. He signed a 2-year, $26 million contract with the Detroit Tigers so he can win the championship for which he has searched his entire career. Like many players approaching the end of their careers, Hunter wants to go out on top. He is coming off of a rejuvenating season with the Angels and Detroit looks to be the place where he continues his title hunt. The Tigers are coming off of a berth in the World Series but their club was lacking some offensive punch down the stretch. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder had very good years in the middle of Detroit's line-up and Austin Jackson has turned into a very good lead-off man. Hunter will most likely slide into the number two spot in the order behind Jackson and in front of Cabrera and Fielder. In 2012, Hunter put together one of his best offensive seasons. He finished with a batting average over .300 for the first time in his career and he still managed to put up decent power numbers in the middle of the Angels line-up. His offensive WAR was the highest of his career and he combined that with above average defense in a corner outfield spot. Hunter's career offensive numbers continue to pile up as he enters his 17th big league season next year. There are a few offensive milestones he can cross in a Tigers uniform. He is only three home runs away from 300 for his career and he is only 14 hits away from the 2,000 mark. It will be nice for Hunter to reach these milestones in 2013 but the true test of his legacy might be what he can do to add to these totals, as he gets closer to 40 years old. Defense will always be the trademark of Hunter's legacy in the major leagues. "Spider-Man," as he became known for his acrobatic feats, will always be remembered by Twins fans for his ability to rob home runs over the blue plastic wall at the Metrodome. Hunter won Gold Gloves from 2001 to 2009, and that number ranks seventh all-time among outfielders. His never-say-die attitude led to more than one injury when he was tracking down fly balls but his highlight reel catches far outweigh the times he ended up hurt. Like Puckett before him and other aging outfielders, Hunter has been shifted from centerfield to a corner outfield spot. He might be a little slower but he has plenty of years experience to rely on at this point. He knows the routes to the ball off of the bat and he can still provide solid defense as he finishes out his career. The charismatic Hunter will always hold a place in the heart of Twins Territory. Fans might find it a little more difficult to cheer for the outfielder now that he is on a rival AL Central team. He will be trolling the outfield on Opening Day at Target Field for the second year in a row, but alas, it won't be in a Twins uniform. His legacy with the Twins doesn't seem to be in jeopardy but a title with Detroit could be the icing on the cake for his overall legacy. Click here to view the article

In the Twins Daily 2014 Offseason Handbook, the writers' blueprint plans are one of the best parts. There are plenty of ways to go about trying to fix the Twins team but some patience might be required as the club waits for younger pieces to work their way through the minor leagues. Download attachment: blueprint.jpg Here is how I would go about trying to fix the team. Some of these ideas will happen and some won't but that's what makes this fun. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Starting Line-Up C- Josmil Pinto- $0.5 million 1B- Joe Mauer- $23 million 2B- Brian Dozier- $0.5 million 3B- Miguel Sano- $0.5 million SS- Pedro Florimon- $0.5 million LF- Oswaldo Arcia- $0.5 million CF- Aaron Hicks- $0.5 million RF- Trevor Plouffe- $2.0 million DH- Josh Willingham- $7 million ------------------------------------------------- $35.0 million committed to nine hitters Breakdown: Sano has an impressive spring with the major league club and earns the starting third base job. Mauer's concussion concerns are enough to push him to spend more time at first base than catcher for the first time in his career. He could get some playing time behind the plate but the Twins need to protect their most important asset. Willingham's injury concerns last season make it much easier to move him to full-time DH to take some of the wear and tear off his legs. The outfield can be a little shaky with a couple young players. Hicks has the entire offseason to mull over his terrible 2013. This should give him the drive to earn back his starting job in center field. Plouffe shifts to right field with the emergence of Sano. Bench C- Ryan Doumit-$3.5 million IF- Eduardo Escobar- $0.5 million 1B/OF- Chris Parmelee- $0.5 million OF- Darin Mastroianni- $0.5 million ------------------------------------------------- $5.0 million committed to four bench positions Breakdown: Parmelee and Mastroianni will likely get at-bats at first base and in the outfield, respectively, so they will be semi-regular players. It will be a make it or break it year for Parmelee with some young prospects making their way toward Target Field. It would be nice to add some veteran catching depth but I think the Twins will use Pinto, Doumit and a sprinkling of Mauer behind the plate. Escobar is a nice piece to have and he has the ability to fill in at multiple positions. Starting Pitching 1. Josh Johnson- $7 million 2. Phil Hughes- $8 million 3. Kevin Correia- $5.5 million 4. Kyle Gibson- $0.5 million 5. Johan Santana- $1.0 million (+ incentives) Johan insurance: Scott Diamond, Vance Worley, and/or Sam Deduno ($0.5 million each) ------------------------------------------------- $22.0 million committed to top five/ $23.5 million with Johan insurance Breakdown: Target Field would be a perfect place for Johnson to rebuild some value on a short-term deal. Hughes signed to a two-year, $16 million deal to earn his place as a top of the rotation arm. Correia and Gibson can fit nicely in the middle of the rotation with less pressure to perform as top of the rotation guys. Does it make sense to sign a guy like Santana coming off his second shoulder surgery? Probably not but it would still be fun to see him back in a Twins uniform. Also, the team has other guys that could fit into the fifth spot if Johan doesn't work out. Bullpen Righties: Jared Burton, Casey Fien, Anthony Swarzak, Michael Tonkin- $5.5 million Lefties: Caleb Thielbar, Brian Duensing- $2.5 million Closer: Glen Perkins- $3.75 million ------------------------------------------------- $11.75 million committed to seven relievers Breakdown: The bullpen was the best part of the 2013 team so there is no reason to make any drastic changes. It could make sense for the club to non-tender Duensing but the team might like having another lefty to go along with Thielbar. Tonkin has a chance to turn into a late-inning pitcher of the future but the Twins can rely on Burton and Perkins for the time being. If Minnesota can get any trade value for one of their veteran righties, the team could let Duke Welker take over a bullpen spot. Minnesota Twins 2014 Checkbook Starting Line-Up: $35.0 million Bench Players: $5.0 million Starting Pitching: $22.0 million Bullpen: $11.75 million ------------------------------------------------- $73.75 million committed to Opening Day 25-man roster Click here to view the article

Download attachment: BDD_JS_twins_1.29.08_getty.jpg It has been five seasons since Johan Santana last wore the uniform of the Minnesota Twins. In the mean time, he has been dealing with multiple injuries and ineffective pitching performances. He missed all of the 2011 season as he dealt with a shoulder problem and he won't pitch in 2013 because of another shoulder issue. Last season with the Mets, he tossed 117 innings with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP. Not exactly the numbers Twins fans were used to seeing from their former ace pitcher. Santana believes he will be able to pitch next season. In a recent interview with the New York Daily News, his agent said that Santana has been able to do things a lot easier after this surgery compared to his first procedure. He went on to tell one of his agents that he "isn't going out like this." The 34-year-old left handed pitcher will see his six-year, $137.5 million contract expire at the end of the season and this will make him a free agent for really the first time in his career. The Mets don't look to be players for Santana on the free agent market since they have a young rotation of arms as they look to rebuild in the strong NL East. This opens the question about where Santana will head this offseason. Would it make sense for the Minnesota Twins to reunite with their former Cy Young winner? There were good years and bad years for Santana in New York. Over the span of his six-year contract, he posted a 3.18 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP. Over his 717 innings on the mound, he had 607 strikeouts compared to 203 walks. His final record was 46-34 but his numbers don't tell the whole story. He is coming off one of his worst statistical years and his second major operation on his shoulder. One shoulder surgery can be a death sentence for a pitcher and a second surgery leaves more than one question mark. Minnesota has taken on some recent low-risk chances on the free agent market. In 2012, the Twins signed Joel Zumaya to an incentive laden contract with the hopes of him rekindling his career. The same could be said about the contract signed by Rich Harden this offseason. Both players would never make it on the field at the big league level but this might be the type of contract facing Santana this offseason. When looking at the Twins rotation situation for 2014, there hardly seems to be anyone with their name penciled into the rotation. Kevin Correia will likely get a spot since he is signed for $5 million. Others in the mix will be Sam Deduno, Kyle Gibson, Liam Hendriks, Vance Worley, and Andrew Albers. This isn't exactly a star-studded crew and none of these men are likely to be guaranteed spots going into spring training. This could mean that there is room to take a flyer on someone like Santana. One of the reasons Santana originally wanted to leave the Twins was to get to a bigger market. There can be some benefits to being in this type of market. A player has the chance at more endorsement deals and the chance to play in front of a larger audience. He spent six seasons in the Big Apple and had to deal with their media and plenty of scrutiny along the way. Maybe it is time for him to get away from the hustle and bustle. At the beginning of next season, Santana will be 35 years old and it's not really clear how much he has left in his throwing arm. He may never be able to get back on the mound at the big league level. He also has never had the opportunity to get back to the postseason since he left the Twins. A player in his position might want to head to a team with a chance to contend instead of a team rebuilding like Minnesota. Some Twins fans might love to see Santana back in Minnesota because of the many years he spent dominating the American League. This isn't the same Santana though and no one knows what to expect as he rehabs his shoulder for the second time in two years. There are over 2000 big league innings on his left arm and that might be all of the juice he had in the tank. Reuniting with Santana might be fun but it probably isn't in the cards... Click here to view the article

Scott Diamond and Liam Hendriks switched teams for their starts on Tuesday night and both players found success at their different levels. Liam Hendriks had struggled in his outings with the Twins so he was sent back down to Rochester. He didn't make it out of the sixth inning but he only gave up one earned run with eight strikeouts. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Diamond found himself on the mound at Target Field with a team struggling to score runs. He put together an outstanding start as he lasted seven innings and didn't allow a run. There were some excellent defensive plays made behind him especially by newly called-up Brian Dozier. The Twins would go on to win the game by a score of 5-0 and they will look for the series win tomorrow against the Angels. ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 1 As mentioned above, Hendriks was inserted back into the rotation for the Red Wings and he had very little problems with this transition. The only real issue for Hendriks came in the bottom of the sixth when the lead off man got a hit, was bunted to second, and eventually scored on another single. Otherwise, Hendriks faced the minimum in every inning that he pitched to earn his first win of the season. Deolis Guerra continued his impressive season in the minor leagues by pitching 2.1 innings of relief and allowing one hit. In his 9 innings with the Red Wings, he has only allowed six hits and no runs. This comes on the heels of pitching 12.2 innings with New Britain and only allowing 1 earned run. If he keeps this up, he should be in Minnesota sooner rather than later. Ben Revere was the only member of the Red Wings to have more than one hit as he went 2-for-4 with two singles. Pedro Florimon hit his first home run in Rochester in his second game since being called-up. A strong performance from the pitching staff meant the offense didn't need to score a whole lot of runs to get the Red Wings a win. NEW BRITAIN 4, BINGHAMTON 3 The Rock Cats found themselves in an early hole against the Mets but a strong top of the ninth inning turned a 1-3 loss into a 4-3 win for New Britain. Joe Benson was in familiar territory but it was the opposite direction he was hoping to go this year. He struggled to an 0-for-4 day at the plate in his first start since being demoted over the weekend. On the defensive side of the ball, he did have an outfield assist and it is nice to think of Aaron Hicks and Benson covering a lot of ground in the outfield. A walk and an error in the top of the ninth inning helped to spur the comeback for the Rock Cats. Chris Colabello reached on a walk to start the inning but the big hit would come off of the bat of Nate Hanson. His fourth double of the year would score two runs and give New Britain their first and only lead of the day. Evan Bigley and Colabello had the only other extra base hits in the contest with each of them cracking a double. The bullpen was outstanding for New Britain in relief of Andrew Albers. After Albers pitched five innings and gave up three runs, the relief arms would not surrender a run in the last four innings. Blake Martin and Lester Oliveros would combine for two perfect innings in their time on the mound. Daniel Turpen was able to pitch the last two innings and pick up his third win of the year by giving up one hit and no runs. FORT MYERS 4, DUNEDIN 16 There was plenty of offense in this contest but unfortunately for the Miracle, it came at the expense of their pitching staff. Last year's second round draft pick Madison Boer has struggled in his two starts since being promoted from Beloit. On Tuesday night, he only pitched two innings and surrendered nine earned runs with most of the damage coming off of three home runs. His ERA with the Miracle now stands at 14.09 so hopefully all it can do is get lower from this point going forward. The Miracle were able to accumulate 11 hits in the contest but there were no extra-base hits for the team. This made it tough to keep up with the Blue Jays. Daniel Santana raised his batting average to .313 with a 3-for-5 day at the plate. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael had two hits but also had his six error of the year on the defensive side of the ball. Almost all of the runs for the Miracle came in the last inning when the game was already out of hand. Hopefully this late inning offensive surge will carry into their next game so the team can get back to their winning ways. BELOIT 3, KANE COUNTY 4 The Snappers might have lost but Miguel Sano hit a home run for the second night in a row and the fourth time in his last six games. If you hadn't heard, this guy is going to be good. Wang-Wei Lin and Adam Pettersen both had two hits to set the table in front of Sano. Eddie Rosario is in a little bit of a slump as he was held hitless for the third time in the last four games. Matthew Tomshaw took the loss for the Snappers but his outing was not all that bad. He gave up six hits and three earned runs in five innings pitched. David Hurlbut did a fine job of relieving Tomshaw as he threw three shutout innings with the Cougars managing two hits off of him. Fans will continue to keep an eye on Beloit to see what Sano is able to do. It could be more important to see if his home run buddy from last year, Rosario, can get back on track and start hitting the ball over the fence. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, May 8, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Nate Hanson http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HDNNX29Kq6w/T6nmMG5kB_I/AAAAAAAABQQ/eLpKXS22yVs/s320/nate20hanson.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Liam Hendriks http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUmzht_IxWI/T6nnKz-vTgI/AAAAAAAABQY/2Y989e-4E0I/s1600/Hendriks+Rochester.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, May 9th Schedule Rochester @ Pawtucket- RHP Cole DeVries New Britain @ Binghamton- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers @ Dunedin- RHP Jhon Garcia Beloit @ Peoria- LHP Steven Gruver --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: RichHardenTwins.jpg The Twins have multiple pitchers in camp recovering from different surgeries in the last year. Scott Diamond and Vance Worley had bone chips removed from their throwing elbow. Mike Pelfrey and Kyle Gibson are recovering from Tommy John surgery. Another interesting name in camp is Rich Harden and he is trying to overcome some shoulder problems that have haunted him in the past. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Harden is attempting to make his way back to the big leagues after missing all of last season. In 2011, he started 15 games for the Oakland Athletics at the end of the season. He didn't put up outstanding numbers as he threw almost 83 innings and had a 5.12 ERA. The hope was that he could rekindle some of the magic from his early years with Oakland but that wasn't the case. Last season, Harden didn't throw a pitch as he worked to recover from shoulder surgery. The last time he threw over 100 innings was in 2009 with the Chicago Cubs. His best years at the major league level were in 2004-2005. He threw over 300 innings with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Minnesota signed Harden in the middle of December and his name was the most known out of any of the club's offseason signings. In the team's promotional video for the up-coming year, Harden was featured in the same section as Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia. These other two names figure to have more of a role this season so where does Harden fit in? At the beginning of spring training, Harden was throwing off the mound. The team has taken a more cautious approach in recent days as he has only been playing catch. Harden has been throwing from 150 feet so it will be interesting to see when he gets back on the mound. Since Minnesota signed Harden to a minor league deal, there is a good chance that he will open the year in the minors. His deal also includes an opt-out clause but he doesn't have the option to do this until July 31. Usually players have the option to opt-out after a month or so if they aren't added to the MLB roster. The Twins still are unsure of what role they will ask Harden to fill. He has served as a starter and as a relief pitcher so the club can decide between either role. If the front office wants to have less stress on his shoulder, this could come in a relief role. His most successful seasons have been as a starter but his health is still a question mark. It is also tough to figure out a place for Harden on the 25-man roster. The team has plenty of other options for the bullpen and the starting rotation. It might take an injury or two to even give Harden a chance to crack the big league roster. Since some of the other starting pitchers are on their way back from injuries, there could be more than one trip to the DL this year. Harden is going to be an interesting player to keep tabs on this season. He seems destined to start the year in the minor leagues and that might be best for him as he comes back from injury. The team could start him at Double-A or Triple-A and he could be a veteran presence to some of the younger pitchers at those levels. Is Harden ever going to get back to the pitcher he was at the beginning of his career? Probably not…. But the Twins took a low-risk chance on a guy that could make an impact for the team this year. It seems like a good deal to me no matter what his role ends up being. Where do you think Harden should end up? Starter? Bullpen? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: mlb_g_trout_cabrera.jpg Over the weekend, the Twins got a first-hand look at one of the front-runners for the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Miguel Cabrera is trying his best to be the first Triple Crown winner in the American League since Carl Yastrzemski won it back in 1967. There are other deserving candidates in the American League and it looks like the main competition for Cabrera will come in the form of standout rookie Mike Trout. The debate has been swirling over the last couple of weeks as the end of the season is closing in and voters are going to have to decide between the outstanding seasons put together by the top two players in the American League.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It seems to be a debate between fans that like the old-school statistics such as home runs and RBI versus new-school fans that turn to Sabermetrics for much of their statistical analysis. There have been plenty of opinions circling from writers, coaches, and other players. For voters in the Baseball Writers Association of America, the choice will be up to them and there are plenty of things for them to consider before they make their final choice. What weight do the Triple Crown categories hold? For Cabrera, it has been arguably his best offensive season in his outstanding career that has spanned the last decade. He sits at the top of all three Triple Crown categories with a .331 batting average, 42 home runs, and 133 RBI. If Cabrera ends up winning the first Triple Crown since the 1960s, there is a good chance the vote could swing his way. There are still plenty of older voters composing the electorate in the BBWAA and a push by these elder statesmen could put the trophy in the hands of Cabrera. A couple of weeks ago, it looked like Trout was going to run away with the batting title in the American League. The month of September hasn't been the best for the young Trout as he reaches the end of his rookie campaign. His recent late-season slump has dropped him from the top of the leader-board in batting average and it might be hard for him to reclaim the lead. He also isn't sitting high in the other Triple Crown categories because he missed the first month of the year while he was toiling in the minor leagues. Should defensive value be considered? When the Tigers signed Prince Fielder in the offseason, it meant Cabrera would need to move from first base back to his previous position at third base. There were many that thought his transition to third base would make for some terrible defensive line-ups for the Tigers but it hasn't been as bad as some thought it would be. He has 13 errors in 363 chances at third but when you look a little deeper things can get more dicey for his defense. By looking at the defensive runs saved statistic, he has cost the Tigers four runs over the course of the year and this translates to a negative defensive WAR for him. Trout is one of the best defensive players in the game with his ability to take away hits in center field. If you take a look at the numbers, his defensive runs saved total is an eye-popping 25 so far this year. According to Baseball Reference, this translates to a 2.6 WAR on the defensive side of the ball. His ability to take away home runs has been well chronicled in highlight reels across the country. He also plays a premium defensive position so his team can rely on him to track down balls in parks across the country. Does the MVP have to be in the playoffs? When the Tigers made the playoffs last year, their ace pitcher Justin Verlander was named MVP of the American League. There were other candidates for this award but Verlander put together a very good year on a team that would be competing in October. At this point, it seems the Tigers have a shot to make the playoffs out of the AL Central since they trail the White Sox by one game with a week and a half to go in the season. Some of the voters might consider the Tigers getting into the playoffs as their deciding factor in the vote for the MVP award. Jacoby Ellsbury had an outstanding final month of the season last year but his team was in the midst of one of the worst collapses in baseball history. When the last month of the season started, he looked like a clear-cut favorite for the MVP award. His team didn't make the playoffs and he didn't win the hardware so it's possible the same thing will happen to Trout. The Angels are currently 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot so they are left on the outside looking in at the Orioles and the A's playing in the new Wild Card game. His team's poor play in the first month of the year might cost him the MVP and he wasn't even on the team at that point. WAR, What is it good for? According to Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Cabrera is in the midst of one of the best seasons of his professional career. He currently sits at 6.6 rWAR and 6.9 fWAR depending on which site you turn to for your statistical analysis. The only season he had a higher WAR was last year and he would need to put together a decent final week to reach his total from last year. Obviously, his defensive numbers take away from his total WAR so this hurts him in the long run. His totals are still hard to ignore on a team fighting to get into postseason play. Some of the Sabermetric categories are in love with Trout and his magical season. His numbers at the plate combined with outstanding defense and his threatening speed on the base paths have him off the charts. He is the first player to compile a WAR of over 10 since Barry Bonds did it back in his heyday. The last center fielder to reach this mark was Willie Mays so Trout is in some good company with the season he has put together. Will recent play make a difference in the vote? The month of September has been very good for Cabrera as his team gets closer to the playoffs. He is hitting .356 since the calendar turned from August and he has nine home runs during that time. The voters can sometimes have long-term memory loss and they might look with favor at the hot streak by Cabrera over the last month. This could push the vote towards the Tigers slugger. It would be hard for any player to continue to perform at the level Trout was at earlier this year. So it's not too hard to believe he has come back down to earth for the final month of the season. His batting average has dipped to .256 in September but he has still shown good defensive ability and speed on the bases. If he could put together a good last week and a half of the season, voters might remember all of the good things he accomplished in 2012 Who should win versus who will win? In my opinion, the best player in the American League this season has been Mike Trout. His overall season is something baseball hasn't seen in quite awhile and it would be a shame if he wasn't honored for his historic year. His offense, defense, and speed make him one of the most exciting players in the game and he should win the award no matter how his team finishes the year. Cabrera has a shot to win the first Triple Crown in a long time and this might be hard for some of the older voters to ignore. It also helps for the Tigers to be so close to making the playoffs. There seems to be a late-season push for Cabrera to come out on top and it seems more likely for him to end up with his first MVP award in his very good career. Cabrera has been close in the past so it might be his turn to win and Trout could be left to win the award in another season. Click here to view the article

It has been a rough season for some of the top position players in the Twins minor league system. Eddie Rosario is serving a 50-game suspension after he tested positive for marijuana use. Miguel Sano had to undergo Tommy John surgery and the earliest he could be on the field is very late in the summer. To cap it all off, Byron Buxton, the consensus top prospect in all baseball, has played a whopping five games this year because of a wrist injury and its aggravation. Download attachment: Byron Buxton.jpg Byron Buxton Original Outlook (2014): After tearing up both Low-A and High-A last season, Buxton was expected to spend most of the season at Double-A. This would have left him with an outside chance at making his big league debut as a September call-up. Injury Issue: Buxton missed all of the first month of the season with a wrist injury. This forced the Twins to send him back to Fort Myers to work himself back into form after the injury. He played five games and went just 3-for-20 with a double and a home run before he re-injured his wrist sliding into third base. Consequences of Lost Playing Time: One of the things that made Buxton move up the prospect charts so quickly was his achievement at each level for his young age. Last season he was two years younger than the average age of position players in the Midwest League. He dominated the Florida State League and he was almost four years younger than players in that league. There are comparisons between him and Mike Trout and Buxton's numbers are even better at the same point. Every at-bat is important for development and he is losing precious development time. Miguel Sano Original Outlook (2014): After producing some of the best power numbers in the minor leagues, Sano was expected to get the majority of his playing time at Triple-A. This would have left him knocking on the door to the big leagues shortly after the All-Star Game. Injury Issue: Something wasn't right with Sano's elbow for most of the off-season. He wasn't able to fully participate in Winter League action but the Twins wanted him to try to rest his sore elbow. After he reported to big league camp, the reports were mostly positive as he tried to stretch out his arm. It was eventually decided that Tommy John surgery was the only option as he continued to deal with pain. Consequences of Lost Playing Time: Much like Buxton, one of the reasons Sano was so highly touted was his advanced ability at such a young age. When he was playing with New Britain at the end of 2013, he was almost 4.5 years younger than the competition. He has more professional playing time than Buxton and he reached a higher level even though they are close to the same age. Sano's injury is frustrating especially since he was dealing with elbow problems for much of the off-season. He'll try and get back in games at the end of this year and this will push back his debut into 2015. Eddie Rosario Original Outlook (2014): After transitioning to the middle infield and getting some extra at-bats in the Arizona Fall League, Rosario was supposed to end up in Rochester to push for the big leagues. He and Sano have followed much of the same path so a late season call-up was not out of the question. Injury Issue: Rosario reported to Twins camp three weeks after the other minor league players. The only word out from the Twins front office was that he was dealing with "personal issues." After he reported to extended spring training, word came out that his suspension was due to smoking marijuana during the Arizona Fall League. He is also rehabbing a sore elbow. Consequences of Lost Playing Time: While Buxton and Sano are trying to get healthy and back on the field, Rosario is dealing with a different kind of recovery. He made a mistake in the off-season and he is dealing with the consequences. Rosario's suspension will be over at the end of May so he will likely beat the other two players back onto the field. There was an outside chance of him making his debut this year but that likely won't happen because of his lost at-bats. It will also be interesting to see if the Twins continue to use him at second base because of Brian Dozier's emergence. [/hr]Twins held on to beat the Mariners 5-4 last night, and you win today. Get a half-price large or extra-large pizza today (Saturday) from PapaJohns.com when you use the promo code TWINSWIN. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Buxton_Byron_Batting_Rinaldi_686.jpg In Monday’s Twins game, Danny Santana made his rookie debut as a pinch runner in the late innings. He would collect his first MLB hit later in the game. Tonight he got to make his first big league start at shortstop and he batted ninth in the order. He went 0-for-3 but he showed off his strong arm while turning a tough double play. Byron Buxton has been trying to work out the kinks in his swing as he returned from an early season wrist injury. The first few games were rough as he went 0-for-7 with four strikeouts. Understandably, there would be some rust in the early going but could he shake off some of that rust on Tuesday evening? RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 5. Columbus 3 Box Score Rochester jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the pitching staff couldn't hold on and the offense went cold. Oswaldo Arcia had the team's lone extra-base hit as his double helped to give the team an early lead. Deibinson Romero had two hits and he knocked in a couple runs but he also had his seventh fielding error of the season. A night after knocking his second career home run, James Beresford was quiet at the plate as he went 0-for-3 with a walk. Kris Johnson was making his first start back in Rochester since he made a spot start for the Twins at the end of last week. He struck out eight and pitched into the sixth inning before running into some trouble. In the end, he was only charged with one earned run. Matt Guerrier took the loss as he gave up three runs on three hits including a home run. It was the first time Rochester has lost back-to-back games since April 25-26. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 6, Trenton 0 Box Score The month of May has been very kind to the Rock Cats. After finishing the month of April with a 6-16 record, New Britain has won six of their first seven games since the calendar turned. Taylor Rogers certainly helped the club continue their winnings ways. He tossed 6.1 innings of shutout ball by scattering five hits. He struck out five and walked two. His ERA was over 8.00 entering the game but his effort tonight dropped it to under 6.50. Offensively the Rock Cats got help from all parts of their line-up. Daniel Ortiz and Reynaldo Rodriguez each added a couple hits and they combined for three of the team's RBI. Both of the RBI for Ortiz came with two outs and he is up to 11 RBI for the year. Kennys Vargas was also highly involved in the offense as he knocked in two runs and scored two runs. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 4, Bradenton 0 Box Score In only his third game since returning from injury, Byron Buxton snapped back in a big way. He launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the first innings. The Miracle would stay on top the rest of the way. Max Kepler also hit a two-run homer, his second long ball of the year. Levi Michael and Niko Goodrum both had multi-hit nights to help pace the offense. Goodrum also stole his fifth base of the season. The Miracle used four different pitchers for the shutout. Replacing scheduled starter Brett Lee, Steven Gruver pitched the first four frames while striking out two and walking two. Tim Shibuya earned his third victory by tossing the next three innings and only allowing one hit. Brandon Peterson struck out the side in the eighth and Tyler Jones shut the door in the ninth. It was the second straight win for Fort Myers after a four game losing streak to start the month of May. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Quad Cities 10 Box Score Bryan Haar hit his fifth home run of the season and JD Williams reached base safely in all five plate appearances. Williams was credited with a single, a double, two walks, and a hit by pitch. This still wasn't nearly enough as the trailed 8-1 after just two innings. The River Bandits pounced on Josue Montanez early as he was knocked out after only 1.2 frames. He allowed eight earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and three walks. Todd Van Steensel, Christian Powell, and Alex Muren did a good job of stopping the bleeding. The bullpen crew limited Quad Cities to two runs over the last 6.1 innings to keep the game from getting too out of hand. Last year's top pick Kohl Stewart will get the start on the mound tomorrow. He looks to set the pace and get the team headed back in the right direction. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Taylor Rogers, New Britain Rock Cats Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Niko Goodrum, Fort Myers Miracle SUNDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Columbus (5:35 CST)- Trevor May New Britain @ Bowie (5:35 CST)- Tyler Duffey Fort Myers @ Jupiter (5:35 CST)- TBD Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (6:35 CST)- Kohl Stewart Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Albers_Andrews_Portrait_US_720.jpg It's day two of Major League Baseball's Draft and the Twins continued to add new talent to an already strong organization. A variety of pitchers and one college catcher highlight the Twins' second day of making picks. Those players haven't signed yet but there are plenty of other players already in the system and on the field Friday night. Let's see how the organization fared under the Friday Night Lights. Rochester Red Wings 11, Gwinnett Braves 0 Box Score [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Seven runs in the first inning and the Red Wings jumped all over the Braves. Twelve men came to the plate in that frame and Jeff Clement provided the biggest hit with a three-run home run. Doug Bernier and Eric Fryer had doubles to keep the runners moving around the bases. Poor Eric Farris accounted for the first and the last outs of the inning. Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com Clement ended up putting together quite the game. He finished the night 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. Deibinson Romero was 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored. The team went 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position, pounding out 13 hits. Andrew Albers was terrific on the mound. He tossed a complete game shutout to improve his record to 4-2 on the season. He allowed six hits and struck out seven without any walks. Albers hasn't lost a game since May 11th and he has won his last three decisions. His ERA dropped almost half a point from 3.53 to 3.06 with this start. It was the third series win of the season for the Red Wings. The club has won 11 of their last 16 games. It was also the first road series win over a Braves Triple-A affiliate since 1995. Rochester returns home for an 8-game, 9-day homestand beginning on Saturday night. New Britain Rock Cats --, Bowie Bay Sox -- (Postponed--Rain) Tropical Storm Andrea not only impacted the Twins game on Friday, it also forced the cancellation the Rock Cats game. These two clubs will try to play two games on Saturday but one wonders if weather will be a factor for the second day in a row. This month, New Britain has won four of their first five games. Tom Stuifbergen is scheduled to make his first start at the Double-A level, if the clubs can get back on the field. In Fort Myers, Stuifbergen was 2-3 with a 3.65 ERA with 28 strikeouts and two walks. Fort Myers Miracle 5, Bradenton Marauders 6 (10 innings) Box Score The bullpen for the Miracle gave up three runs in the last three innings, allowing a victory slip away. Corey Williams and Zach Jones were the men most responsible for these runs as the Miracle suffered only their 18 loss of the season. Jones gave up a walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth. Matthew Summers started for Fort Myers and tossed five innings before being removed. He gave up three runs, only one of which was earned, as Eddie Rosario and Kennys Vargas were each charged with an error. Summers struck out eight batters but he needed 85 pitches to get through five frames. Vargas tried to make up for his error in the field by going 2-for-4 with his 12th home run of the year. With the 2-run home run, he took over the league lead for RBI. Rosario also hit a homer, his fifth, but it was his only hit in five trips to the plate. Levi Michael had two hits and his sixth stolen base. The Miracle return home with a chance to clinch the Florida State League South Division first half championship on Saturday. It could be a big night tomorrow so stay tuned. Cedar Rapids Kernels 1, Quad Cities River Bandits 6 Box Score The Kernels got on the board first in this game by plating a run in the bottom of the first. Cedar Rapids didn't cross the plate again and the River Bandits walked away with the victory and a series win. It was only the ninth home loss of the year for the Kernels. There wasn't a lot of action on the offensive side for the home nine. Dalton Hicks went 1-for-3 with his 20th double of the year and his 51st RBI. No other Kernels was able to get an extra-base hit. In fact, the club put together only four hits in the game. Byron Buxton went 0-for-4 with a strike out. Christian Powell, a 2012 eighth round pick, made his first start in the Twins organization. Things didn't go exactly as planned for Powell. He gave up six runs on eight hits with five strike outs and one walk. The Kernels bullpen didn't give up a run after Powell exited, but the offense failed to help. Cedar Rapids will get a fresh start on Saturday when Kane County comes to town. The Kernels sit three games ahead of the Beloit Snappers for first place in the Midwest League Western Division. The club will likely need to resume their winning ways to become the first half champions. Click here to view the article

The Twins found themselves in quite the battle at Target Field on Tuesday night with the Phillies in town for some interleague action. There was plenty of offense for both clubs as the Twins scored runs in four of the first five innings of the game. Early home runs were hit by Denard Span and Trevor Plouffe to help the Twins get the lead but it was hardly over from that point. By the time Matt Capps entered in the ninth inning, there were already a combined 31 hits on the board for the Phillies and the Twins. There were big nights at the plate from multiple players including some big 2-out hits from Jamey Carroll to help the Twins to stay on top of the charging Phillies. In the end, the Twins survived by a final score of 11-7. Here's how the rest of the Twins affiliates fared on "Tuesday's Trip through the Minors."[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 0, INDIANAPOLIS 2 The Red Wings managed more hits than the Indians on Tuesday evening but Rochester was never able to come up with the big hit to push some runs across the plate. Three pitchers for Indianapolis combined to shutout Rochester for the second game in a row. Rick VandenHurk started for the Indians and pitched seven strong innings with a runner making it to third base on one occasion. Samuel Deduno pitched the first four innings for the Red Wings without allowing a run but he was removed after only throwing 64 pitches because it was his first start mid-April. Esmerling Vasquez was charged with the two earned runs in 2.2 innings of work for his fourth loss of the year. The problem for Vasquez was he threw more balls than strikes and found himself in bad counts for most of the evening. There were no extra base hits for the Red Wings and the team left six runners on base over the course of the game. Danny Valencia had two hits as the designated hitter and Wilkin Ramirez was also able to get a couple of singles. The only other Red Wings batter with a hit was Tsuyoshi Nishioka. It's been a tough couple of nights for the Red Wings. NEW BRITAIN -, AKRON - Inclement weather forced the Rock Cats to postpone their game with the Akron Aeros. The contest will be made up as part of a double header on Wednesday evening. The Rock Cats have won back to back games but this came on the heels of losing six games in a row. Even with the rough week last week, the Rock Cats are only one game out of first place in the Eastern Division of the Eastern League. Akron is leading the Western Division so it is setting up to be a good double header tomorrow night. FORT MYERS 5, BRADENTON 3 A big first inning put the Miracle up by five runs in this game as they tried to separate themselves from the Marauders. Levi Michael got things started with his third double of the year. Jario Perez singled to drive in Michael and to start the scoring for the Miracle. It has been a rough start to the season for Danny Rams but he capped the scoring in the first by hitting a grand slam, his first home run in 2012. It turned out that those five early runs would be all that the pitching staff of the Miracle would need on this night. Cole Nelson started the game on the mound and ran into a rough spot in the fourth inning that allowed Bradenton to score three runs. Jose Gonzalez and Dakota Watts each pitched two innings of scoreless baseball to preserve the lead. Watts picked up his first save of the year and it was the second hold of the year for Gozalez. No one in the Miracle line-up had more than one hit and only five batters managed to get a hit in this game. The two-out grand slam from Rams in the first inning would be the biggest hit that the team needed on Tuesday. BELOIT 5, PEORIA 4 The Snappers found themselves in a tight battle with the Chiefs as both clubs held the lead at different points in the game. In the second inning, the Snappers were able to score the first run of the game on a single from Adam Pettersen. Peoria would come back to take the lead in the third with three runs of their own.A big bottom of the fourth put the Snappers on top for good as four runs were scored. With his sixth win of the year, Matthew Summers is starting to look more comfortable on the mound for the Snappers. He pitched 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts while allowing three earned runs on five hits. Michael Tonkin had to pitch two innings to earn his fifth save of the year but he struck out all six batters that he faced. Adam Pettersen was the one player to record multiple hits in the game to go along with a couple of RBI. He was also scored a run and was the only member of the Snappers to bat in a run with two outs in an inning. Tyler Grimes and Drew Leachman added the other RBI for Beloit. Miguel Sano was held hitless for the third time in the last four games. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, June 12, 2012 Both photos courtesy of Rinaldi Photos Hitter of the Day- Adam Pettersen http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fijcNhEdlx4/T9f9UgGBjUI/AAAAAAAACB4/nUDGd2-L-HU/s320/AdamPettersen.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Michael Tonkin http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sBvUH8_iUtE/T9gDeobaYxI/AAAAAAAACEk/tdBp-PEfBbc/s320/MichaelTonkin.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, June 13th Schedule Rochester (Off day) New Britain vs Akron (1)- LHP Logan Darnell New Britain vs Akron (2)- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers vs Bradenton- TBD Beloit vs Peoria- TBD --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: 9780306822766_p0_v2_s260x420.JPG The 1991 World Series will always hold a special place in the heart of Twins fans. Kirby Puckett's heroics in Game 6 and the magnificent pitching performance of Jack Morris are legendary moments etched into the minds of a generation of baseball fans. Many consider this World Series as the best of all time and it all comes into focus in the newly released book "Down to the Last Pitch." To get a better understanding of this legendary World Series, author Tim Wendel breaks down every game by using the words and stories from the players who were in the middle of the action. Wendel was a founding editor of USA Today Baseball Weekly and he has authored ten books. His years of being around the game of baseball are evident throughout the book's chapters. This specific World Series will always be marked as a special time in baseball. Changes would hit the game hard in the coming years. Performance enhancing drugs and labor unrest would be baseball's themes for the next decade. "In a lot of ways it will always be a sweet spot in time," said Steve Hirdt of the Elias Sports Bureau. "Not only did this one Series have everything you ever wanted in terms of pressure games and great performances, you also look back on it fondly because of what was to come, the challenges the game would soon face." Each chapter of this 253-page book is dedicated to one game in the Series. However, Wendel doesn't just retell the story of each pitch or each at-bat. He delves into the back-stories of the players on the rosters for the Braves and the Twins. He explores other stories from around the baseball world, like Ricky Henderson's stolen base record, Nolan Ryan's final no-hitter and Pete Rose being banned for life. Baseball is never about one team or one player. It is about the stories and the history that take place on an everyday basis. One of my favorite stories in the book took place in spring training 1991. The author, a man who covered National League baseball until '91, was trying to get to know the teams and players of the American League. He showed up late one evening to the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers and he heard someone taking batting practice. What he ended up finding was Kent Hrbek, Chili Davis and Dan Gladden watching Kirby Puckett taking hacks in the batting cage. Some interesting conversations took place as a strange reporter showed up to their impromptu batting session and it ended with an interesting back-and-forth between the parties involved. Did those extra spring training BP sessions pay off for the Twins? No one may ever know but the team wound up in the middle of a World Series for the ages. Five of the seven games were decided in the home team's last at-bat, four games were decided on the last pitch and three games finished in extra-innings. Wendel's baseball acumen and historical knowledge make this a book for any baseball fan. This isn't just a story of the Twins winning or the Braves losing. It is a snapshot of baseball in the early 1990's, a simpler time when "everyone involved was left with memories of the last fine time in baseball." Click here to view the article