Cody Christie

The Twins won both ends of a double header against Kansas City on Saturday but there was plenty of exciting action across the minor leagues. Let's check out how the Twins farm system fared as their seasons are coming to a close. ELIZABETHTON 2, BURLINGTON 3 In what looks like it will be a great Appalachian League Championship Series, the E-Twins lost an important first game to the Burlington Royals by a score of 3-2 in extra-innings. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Angel Matta started the game for the Twins and pitched five strong innings while allowing one run on six hits with six strikeouts. His only trouble came in the bottom of the second when he allowed the first three batters to reach on singles. He got out of the jam by allowing a single run so it was a good job of sidestepping danger. There were a lot of zeros put on the board until the top of the sixth when the E-Twins were finally able to get on the board. Adam Walker started the inning by belting a solo-home run to tie the game. The next batter was DJ Hicks and he decided back-to-back home runs were in order. For the first time in the series, Elizabethton had a lead at 2-1. Unfortunately, it wouldn't last for the rest of the game. Tyler Herr was called on to relieve Mata on the mound and he was doing fine for the first couple of innings. Even the start of the eighth inning looked to be going well as Herr struck out the first two batters that he faced. Mark Threlkeld was the third batter of the inning for Burlington and he sent one over the fence to tie the game in the late innings, a devastating shot for the young E-Twins. In extra-innings, the E-Twins had their chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th when Romy Jimenez doubled with one out in the frame. There was a wild pitch with Travis Harrison batting to advance Jimenez to third. Harrison would walk but the next two batters would fail to knock in the runner. In the 11th inning, Byron Buxton would reach third with two outs but he was left there. A couple of golden opportunities missed by Elizabethton. The bottom of the 12th saw Burlington lead off with a single by Terrance Gore. He would make it to third on a sacrifice bunt to Travis Harrison at third base. The next batter was Bubba Starling and last year's first round pick for the Royals knocked a sacrifice fly to end the game. ROCHESTER 8, SYRACUSE 4 A back and forth contest between the Red Wings and the Chiefs saw Rochester get back to the .500 mark for the season at 71-71. The Red Wings took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning and the offense went cold for a few frames. Syracuse scored a couple in the third and added another in the fifth to push their lead to 3-1. A big 3-run seventh inning put the Red Wings on top but it would only last until the eighth. Jeff Manship started for Rochester pitched 5.2 innings by allowing one run on five hits. Caleb Thielbar was moving along at a decent clip before running into some trouble in the bottom of the eighth. With a runner on base, the Red Wings turned to closer Anthony Slama who gave up a triple and saw the lead disappear. Brian Dozier had a big night by going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Wilkin Ramirez was able to knock in a couple of runs with his single in the seventh inning. Clete Thomas went 3-for-5 and he knocked in a couple runs of his own. Thomas even scored on his triple after a bad play by the center fielder. Brian Dinkelman and Rene Rivera added doubles in the ninth to push the lead for Rochester. NEW BRITAIN 7, NEW HAMPSHIRE 3 New Britain got down early in this game but had some big at-bats in the later innings to put them on top for good. A four-run sixth inning and a three-run seventh inning were more than enough to cover up the two early runs given up by Luke French. For the second outing in a row, French would be strong on the mound by tossing 7.2 innings and allowing two runs on four hits. The top of the order did a lot of damage for the Rock Cats. Aaron Hicks and Chris Herrmann put up big numbers out of the one and two spots in the batting order. Hicks had two triples and a couple runs scored as the lead-off hitter. He also set the team record for runs scored in a season (97) and triples in a season (11). Chris Colabello tied the Rock Cats season record with 97 RBI. Josmil Pinto, Deibinson Romero, and Herrmann all had multiple RBI performances to help push the Rock Cats to the victory. FORT MYERS 1, CHARLOTTE 4 The Miracle had a tough time getting on the board in this contest against the Stone Crabs. Charlotte starting pitcher Eliazer Suero threw seven innings of two hit ball to keep the damage to a minimum for the Miracle. Fort Myers pieced together a game by having three pitchers throw three innings apiece. Miguel Munoz started the game and only gave up a hit before Ryan O'Rourke took over. O'Rourke allowed two runs but only one of them was earned. Ricky Bowen allowed a couple runs on four hits during his three innings of work. When a team gets handled by the opposing pitcher, there isn't much to talk about on the offensive side of the ball. Angel Morales had the only extra-base hit of the night for the Miracle. It was his fifth triple of the year. Daniel Santana went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Levi Michael was 1-for-3 with a walk. Michael also added his 16th error of the season and this one came on a throw at second base. BELOIT 6, QUAD CITIES 5 With Miguel Sano out of the line-up, Eddie Rosario reminded fans why he should be considered among the best prospects in the organization. In the middle of the batting order, Rosario had a big night with his 31st and 32nd doubles of the season. Kennys Vargas knocked in a couple runs batting behind Rosario. Matthew Koch added a couple hits of his own at the bottom of the order. This was more than enough for Tyler Jones as he threw seven innings by allowing a single run on four hits with nine strikeouts. Jones seems to be ending the year on a strong note as he has tossed seven innings or more in each of his last two appearances. During that time, he has only allowed three earned runs. Quad City made things interesting by scoring four in the ninth but it wasn't enough. --- Players of the Day for September 1, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Aaron Hicks Download attachment: AaronHicks.jpg Pitcher of the Day- Tyler Jones Download attachment: TylerJones.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Sunday, September 2nd Schedule Game 2 of the Appalachian League Championship Series Elizabethton vs. Burlington- LHP Hein Robb Rochester @ Syracuse- TBA New Britain vs. New Hampshire- RHP Steve Hirschfeld Fort Myers @ Charlotte- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Quad City- LHP Matt Tomshaw Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Gardenhire_Ron_Pensive_600.jpg At the end of last season, things must have been a little tense around the Ron Gardenhire household. The Twins were coming off back-to-back 90-loss seasons and Gardenhire had only one season left on his current contract. Some change was inevitable. Almost all of the Minnesota Twins manager's coaching staff were reassigned or not hired back. The sporting world can be cruel when a team isn't performing well on the field. Since the Pohlads took over ownership of the club, fans have not seen this kind of shake-up. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It was an unprecedented move to clear out the coaching staff and Gardenhire and only Rick Anderson were left standing at the end of the firing frenzy. There have only been two managers and three general managers of the club since the late 1980's. No other club can match that consistency at the top of the organization. This separates the Twins from most of the rest of the sporting world. There may have been some reasons to fire Gardenhire over the last two years but he survived and the Twins have surprised so far this year. Gardenhire still has his job but it is hard not to look at him as a lame duck. His contract is up at the end of the 2013 season and it's not as if the Twins were supposed to be making a playoff push. The roster of players assembled looked headed for another dismal season and that likely would have resulted in the termination of Gardenhire's tenure in Minnesota. Things haven't been as bad as expected in Twins Territory this season. So far, the team has hovered around the .500 mark. They find themselves in the middle of the pack in the AL Central. This is a bit of a surprise and fans of the team have to be a bit impressed with some of the performances put together by the club this year. A new era is starting in Minnesota and the Twins might want Gardenhire around for this new rebuild. The minor leagues are stocked with some great talent, reminiscent of when Gardenhire took over as manager back in 2002. Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia have already broken into the big leagues. Star pitching prospects Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer, and Trevor May might not be too far behind. Last week, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan told Yahoo! Sports, "I expect Ron to be on this job for a long time. I don't consider it a lame duck at all." It wouldn't have looked right for the club to hand Gardenhire an extension after two of the worst seasons in Twins history. There needs to be some accountability, even with the consistency model the franchise has used over the last couple of decades. Ryan would go on to say, "We're trying to be stable and have continuity, and almost all the people we've had for years are still here. But there does come a point where change is necessary. I hope that's not now." The future can be uncertain and Gardenhire won't manage this team forever. Fans can see things starting to get back on track so maybe there won't be calls for Gardy's head on a platter. Tom Kelly made it through some rough years in the Metrodome and it looks like Gardenhire might follow that same path at Target Field. I mean what would the Twins baseball world be like without Ronald Clyde Gardenhire? Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Hendricks_Liam.jpg The Minnesota Twins weren't the only team impacted by the weather on Wednesday evening. Minnesota's affiliate's game in Cedar Rapids was also postponed due to inclement weather. But three other affiliates took the field for Wednesday action. The Miracle were going for lucky win 13 to start their season. Rochester has been struggling and the call-up of Oswaldo Arcia is going to hurt their offense. New Britain played an afternoon game and they found themselves in another tight contest. Let's see how the teams and players fared in "Wednesday's Minor League Wrap-Up." [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 0, Scranton W/B RailRiders 7 Boxscore It was a rough night for the Red Wings as the team was shut out for the second consecutive night. The loss marked the seventh in a row for Rochester as the team hasn't recorded a win since last Tuesday. Going back to last season, the RailRiders have won 10 of the last 13 games between these two clubs. Liam Hendriks made his first start at Triple-A this season after starting the season with the big league club. He gave up a run in each of the first three innings to put Rochester in an early hole. For the game he tossed six innings, gave up nine hits and four earned runs. Anthony Slama got back on the mound after being slammed around in both of his last two outings. In those appearances, combined, he recorded only three outs and gave up seven earned runs. After walking multiple batters in those rough outings, he had a clean ninth inning with no walks and a strikeout. There wasn't much to write home about on the offensive side. Jeff Clement and Brandon Boggs were the only men to record more than one hit. Boggs added his second double of the year. Evan Bigley made his 2013 debut with the Red Wings as a pinch hitter and he flied out in the ninth. Rochester had only four plate appearances with runners in scoring position. The team failed in all of those attempts. Overall, the team left eight runners on base. The team starts a four game series with Pawtucket tomorrow night and the club will look to get back on track. New Britain Rock Cats 2, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 3 (11 Innings) Boxscore The Rock Cats seem have a flair for the dramatic this season. After winning in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday, New Britain found themselves in the middle of another tight contest this afternoon. The team was held scoreless and was behind by two until the bottom of the ninth. They needed two runs to make things interesting. Back to back one out singles by Josmil Pinto and Daniel Ortiz had the team in good shape. A throwing error on the hit from Ortiz put two runners in scoring position. Curt Smith came through with a grounder up the middle to cut the score to 2-1. James Beresford was the next batter and he cracked a sac fly to center to knot the game at 2. The Fisher Cats then mounted their own rally in the top of the 11th inning to score the go-ahead run. Two singles and a balk by Aaron Thompson allowed the winning run to score. It was the first loss of the year for Thompson in his second appearance with the club. Pat Dean pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He was being very democratic by not striking out a batter and letting the defense do their work behind him. He also didn't issue any walks and it was the first time he made it into the fifth inning this year. New Britain managed seven hits in the game. Smith and Ortiz were both 2-for-5 and they were the lone members of the Rock Cats to collect more than one hit. The team was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the club left seven men on base. Fort Myers Miracle 2, Palm Beach Cardinals 5 Boxscore The hunt for win number 13 turned out to be unlucky for the Miracle. After finding a way to win their first 12 games of the year, Fort Myers suffered their first loss on Wednesday night. The Miracle found themselves with an early 2-0 lead but the offense of the Cardinals proved to be too much. Even in the ninth inning the club tried to hold on to their perfect season. Trailing by three runs entering the bottom of the final frame, Fort Myers would load the bases on singles from Michael Gonzalez, Kyle Knudson, and Kennys Vargas. Another single from Adam Pettersen scored a run. Unfortunately, Angel Morales then grounded into a double play. This left Eddie Rosario on deck and Miguel Sano in the hole. Sano played the hero on Tuesday with a grand slam to give the Miracle the lead. He struggled in this game going 0-for-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Even with the bad day he is still hitting .380 on the season. Rosario has also helped the offense and he went 1-for-4 with his seventh RBI of the year. The bottom of the line-up did most of the damage for the Miracle. Hitters five through eight all had multiple hits. Extra base hits were tough to come by though as Michael Koch had the lone two-bagger in the game. Matthew Summers started for the Miracle and pitched 5.2 innings. During this outing he gave up three runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out one to record his first loss of the year. Adrian Salcedo did well in relief by striking out three of the four batters he faced. Fort Myers will look to start a new winning streak as the team travels to Port St. Lucie for a three game set. Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers -- (Postponed) The only thing slowing down Byron Buxton this spring has been the bad weather. Cedar Rapids had their game cancelled on Wednesday due to inclement weather. Since the Kernels and the Timber Rattlers don't play again in the first half of the MWL season, the game will not be made up. Cedar Rapids will now head out on the road for six games in Peoria and Burlington. Their next home action will be Thursday, April 25th when they open a six game home stand against Great Lakes and Lansing. With a 9-3 record the Kernels find themselves on top of the Western Division of the MWL. They are looking to keep the good juices flowing as they take a two game winning streak into their road trip. The addition of J.O. Berrios, the 32nd pick in last year's draft, should be a boost to the pitching staff. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Blackburn_nick_pitching_us_orig.jpg Two of the Twins minor league affiliates celebrated Independence Day early with offensive explosions. The Red Wings and the Miracle had men up and down their line-ups knock in runs to help their clubs emerge victorious. There was some minor league news to report on Wednesday afternoon. Catcher Danny Lehmann was released by the club after spending time on the disabled list this season. He had only played 18 games this season and he was a career .229/.317/.301 hitter. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It was also announced that Chris Colabello and Andrew Albers will represent the Red Wings at the Triple-A All-Star Game. Colabello was the overall leader in the online fan balloting and he will start at first base for the International League squad. Rochester Red Wings 11, Buffalo Bisons 1 Box Scores The Red Wings had some fireworks on the field the day before the Fourth of July. Brian Dinkelman, Chris Colabello, and Deibinson Romero all hit home runs. Every batter in the Rochester line-up recorded a hit and some had six chances at the plate. Doug Bernier had the most hits as he went 3-for-6. Chris Herrmann had a very good game by collecting two hits in four trips to the plate. He had his ninth double and his third triple. Colabello continued his remarkable season by knocking his 21st home run. In one of his best pitching performances of the year, Andrew Albers tossed seven strong frames. He allowed one solo home run but that was the only run scored against him. The Bisons had five hits and Albers struck out six. New Britain Rock Cats 1, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6 Box Score The struggles continued for Miguel Sano at the Double-A level. He went 0-for-4 on this night, striking out three times. The defensive side of the ball wasn't much better as he committed his sixth error since his promotion. It wasn't only Sano who was unproductive on Wednesday night; the rest of the offense struggled as well. Danny Santana was the lone Rock Cats with two hits. Nate Hanson hit his 14th double of the season and scored a run. Daniel Ortiz continued his powerful season by knocking his 22nd double. The team went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and there were nine runners left on base. Virgil Vasquez was making his second start at Double-A since being demoted from Rochester. He tossed six innings and gave up four earned runs. AJ Achter did a good job in relief by tossing a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout. Fort Myers Miracle 11, Bradenton Marauders 5 Box Score The Miracle pounded out 21 hits and the club had no problem coming out victorious. Fort Myers scored three runs in the sixth inning and they topped that in the seventh with six runs. It's hard to know where to start with the offensive explosion. Byron Buxton went 3-for-5 with a double but he did strikeout two times. The three hit game raised his batting average to .400 since being promoted to Fort Myers. Every batter in the Miracle line-up had a double except for Kennys Vargas. Jhon Goncalves, Mike Kvasnicka, and Candido Pimentel all went 3-for-5. On the mound,Taylor Rogers benefited from the offensive explosion. He pitched into the seventh inning and limited the Marauders to three runs on nine hits. He struck out three and gave up one walk. Corey Williams recorded the final four outs of the game and collected three strikeouts. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Beloit Snappers 8 Box Score Beloit, the former Twins affiliate, has become a tough team for the current Twins affiliate to beat. Cedar Rapids fell again to the Snappers and there wasn't much offense for the Kernels. Beloit scored runs in five different innings to come out with an easy win. Max Kepler continued his hot start by going 2-for-4 with an RBI. JD Williams had the only extra base hit with his 11th double of the year. Jorge Polanco scored a run and had two hits. The club went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position so offensive opportunities were missed. Christian Powell started and pitched 5.2 innings. He gave up 10 hits and six earned runs. Allowing two home runs didn't help him on the way to his second loss of the year. Hudson Boyd and Caleb Brewer gave up one earned run on four hits in the last 2.1 innings. They combined to strike out three. Elizabethton Twins --, Johnson City Cardinals -- Inclement weather might have been the only thing that could have stopped the E-Twins from winning. Their game with the Johnson City Cardinals got postponed due to some weather issues- rain. The club has a 10-2 record and they will look to continue their winnings ways over the holiday weekend. GCL Twins 8, GCL Rays 2 (6 Innings-Rain) Box Score Nick Blackburn returned to the mound for the first time and got some decent results. He threw four innings and scattered seven hits. The Rays scored both their runs off Blackburn and he had one strikeout. Leonel Zazueta pitched the fifth inning and he struck out two. Joel Polanco lead the offense with a 2-for-3 day. He hit his first double of the season and knocked in two runs. Amaurys Minier was 1-4 and knocked in three runs to help stretch the lead. Adonis Pacheco added his second double of the season. Click here to view the article

"My big fish must be somewhere."--- Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea Marlin fishing can be an adventure. These beasts of the ocean can weight upwards of 1,000 pounds and it can take quite the fight to get them into a boat. Fishing for these animals can take a lot of time and patience. It also takes the right tools and skills to reel in one of these giant fish. Over the weekend, a story came out in the Boston Globe that discussed the possibility of the Twins making a play for Giancarlo Stanton, the 23-year old slugging outfielder from the Miami Marlins. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The Twins farm system has plenty of depth at multiple levels and they have the resources to trade away a few prospects to land the budding superstar. The article does go on to say, "The Red Sox might be in a better position than the Twins because the Twins have to rely on their top players to come up and man several positions." One baseball executive said, "The Red Sox have veteran players so their need to keep their best guys isn't as severe. So if they can trade them off for a young player like Stanton, they wouldn't have to fear about thinning out as a result." Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com Stanton is in the middle of his fourth MLB season and his 162 game average for home runs is 39. For his career, he is a .265/.350/.536 hitter and he has hit over 30 home runs in each of the last two seasons. During the 2013 season, Stanton has career lows in batting average and slugging percentage. This could provide the opportunity for the Twins to buy low on a player that is under team control for multiple seasons. At the trade deadline, there was plenty of talk about Stanton being dealt from a struggling Marlins ballclub. Word around baseball was the Marlins were turning down any suitors that came calling for Mr. Stanton. Miami doesn't have to rush to move him because he is still pre-arbitration eligible. He will be arbitration eligible in 2014 and the earliest he could reach free agency is 2017. There are plenty of resources in the Twins system that could land them a top player like Stanton. Byron Buxton is considered by many to be the top prospect in all of baseball. Third baseman Miguel Sano might be the best power hitter to come through the minor leagues since Stanton. The article also mentions other young players like Kyle Gibson, Alex Meyer, Eddie Rosario, Travis Harrison, and Daniel Santana. The Twins organization has invested over $9 million in signing bonuses to Buxton and Sano. One would think that these players would be untouchable but it could take a player of their caliber to make this deal happen. It's hard to know which player the Twins would be more willing to trade. Most likely both players are untouchable because they are part of the long-term rebuilding process for the organization. Could the Twins put together a package of players that doesn't include Buxton or Sano and still get a deal done? It seems likely that the Marlins would want some young pitching in return for Stanton. The Twins made moves last offseason to add some depth to the starting pitchers in their system. Meyer and Trevor May have done decently since coming to the organization but it might be a step backwards to include them in another offseason trade. Recent draft picks like Kohl Stewart and Jose Berrios are both young and they have plenty of upside. Minnesota's starting pitching has been one of the biggest issues in recent years. Flaws with the pitching staff could be the main reason for back-to-back 90 loss seasons. It seems more likely for the Twins to deal away from their minor league positional player depth than from their up-and-coming starting pitchers. What would it take to get Stanton? It sounds like the Marlins would have to be overwhelmed to even consider dealing him. If the Twins would be willing to part with Sano and a couple other position players, the deal could get done. That still might not be enough for Miami and the Twins are in the middle of a rebuild. Stanton might be worth five extra wins a season but that might not be enough to turn the franchise around. Especially since the Twins have so many holes at different positions. If the Marlins are willing to part with Stanton, the Twins have the goods to get the deal done. The question remains... Would the Twins be willing to thin out their system for a player like Stanton even if he is the biggest fish on the market? Now it's your turn to take on the role of Twins GM Terry Ryan. If you were sitting in his spot, what players would you consider dealing for Stanton? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. Click here to view the article

Over the next couple of days I will be looking at a few different topics as it relates to the Twins getting back to their winning ways. It has been a tough couple of seasons for Twins fans but it looks like there is hope for the future. This might not come in 2013 but it is only the first step in the process. "The Road to Rebuild" series will look at some of the key figures or events that will be critical for the long-term success of the organization. There are plenty of things that need to go right and these are just a handful of those topics. The first article in the series looks at a young man that was on the fast track for the big leagues before an arm injury forced him to the sidelines. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]---------- Download attachment: Kyle+Gibson+2011+XM+Star+Futures+Game.jpg During the next couple of seasons, there is going to need to be more than one thing that breaks in favor of the Twins for the team to get back to the top of the AL Central. There will be plenty of young talent ready to emerge for the club but this will mean that some things need to go right in the minor leagues. For Minnesota, the road to rebuild has already started and there will be plenty of other important steps along the way. Kyle Gibson could be one of the key pieces for the Twins on their road back to the top. The former first round pick back in 2009 will undoubtedly make his MLB debut this year after missing most of last season due to Tommy John surgery. Reports from the Arizona Fall League have his slider looking sharper and there seems to be a little more life on his pitches. This is great news for the Twins. The Twins hope their rotation of the future will include Gibson and recent acquisitions Alex Meyer and Trevor May. It will be a year or two before Meyer and May make it to the big leagues. This leaves Gibson as the first cog in the rotation of the future. He should have the most big league service time under his belt and this could help him to be a leader to these other young pitchers. When Minnesota looks ahead, the front office probably isn't considering Gibson a front of the rotation starter. His track record in the minor leagues didn't put him on the path for that elite level. But the team might not need him to get to this point; he still could be a very good number two or number three pitcher. If he can reach this level, he could be in the middle of the Twins rotation for the better part of the next decade. Gibson has a fastball that can hit in the mid-90s but it usually rests in the 91-92 range. His plus slider will be a pitch that could be fun to watch for Twins fans. The other above average pitch in his arsenal is a change up. Between the end of last season and the AFL, Gibson got plenty of work in so there shouldn't be any restrictions on the type of pitches that he throws. The plan for Gibson in 2013 is still up in the air. Since it will be his first full season since surgery, there will most likely be an innings limit placed on the right-hander. The other thing yet to be decided is where the 25-year old will start the season. He could be asked to begin in Rochester so he can be a starter and the team can have better control over his innings. The other option is to have him start the year in the bullpen for the Twins. In an interview conducted by Seth Stohs of Twins Daily, Ron Gardenhire had good things to say about Gibson and the coming year. Gardenhire said, "The first thing is to get him out on the field and get him going through the same thing as everybody else. I'm sure he can't wait to do that. And get right into the middle of the program. HE's ready to do that with no restrictions. Get back on the programs and do all the drills. I'm sure he's fired up about getting back in there. I'm excited to see the young man. He's a very talented young man." If Twins fans think Gibson is going to win multiple Cy Young awards and be a perennial 20-game winner, this might be setting the expectations a little too high. It does seem that at minimum he should be a strong middle of the rotation pitcher with the potential to do some very good things along the way. The road to rebuild is going to be an extended process and Gibson is a key figure. The Twins need some of their young starting pitching to succeed and Gibson will be the first of that young core to make his debut. Eyes across Twins Territory will be keeping their focus on Gibson and it will be up to him to perform at the big league level. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Links_Chain.jpg The Twins keep finding ways to surprise as the team still sits around the .500 mark and it is close to a month and a half into the season. For now, enjoy some of the best Twins and MLB coverage from around the web. There are some good interviews, Puckett stories, sports video games, and a whole lot more! The anniversary of Kirby Puckett's big league debut was on Thursday. Do you want to know what Puckett's original scouting report looked like?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] So far this year, Vance Worley has been unlucky so don't lose faith yet... Scott Diamond did an interview with FanGraphs that you should check out. Later in the week, FanGraphs published an interview with Glen PerkinsAaron Hicks was in a little hot water this week after a play on the defensive side of the ball. Trevor Plouffe invited Watertown police officers to Thursday's Twins vs Red Sox game. A match-up between the last year's first two draft picks was put on hold. According to the Twins Minor League Director, there could easily be six to eight guys that make the majors from Cedar Rapids. This year's Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook has been discounted and I was a co-author so pick up a copy. The rise of Josmil Pinto is something to keep an eye on. In this video, Miguel Sano talks about his favorite thing to do in baseball. Who is going to be the odd man out when Darin Mastroanni is healthy? Carlos Santana became a fan of Sam Deduno during this year's WBC. There are two big name pitchers to watch at the top of this year's draft board. Baseball America released their first mock draftand the fourth pick could be a tough spot for the Twins. The Twins have apparently narrowed their possible draft picks to a few names. ESPN spent the week ranking the top 25 sports video games of all-time. Which one have you played the most? Carlos Gomez was always good on defense but now he has figured out the offensive side of the ball. It turns out Gomez was the prize of the Johan Santana trade. Sometimes there is value in really beat-up baseball cards. Nationals fans revolted against a new ticket policy and it worked. Here is a cool interactive graphic to compare the salaries of all 30 MLB clubs. You've been waiting for it... "The History of Baseball Stadium Nachos" Matt Kemp did something very cool for a fan this week. It turns out that baseball is big in Manipur, IndiaMy Weekly Rundown Sunday: Talk to Contact: Episode 36Tuesday: Which Team's Aces Did the Twins Miss? Wednesday: Twins behind in the golden age of leadoff hitters Twins Minor League Report (5/8): Gibson Shows He's ReadyVideo of the Week: The Twins are usually creative with their advertisements and the club has even won some awards for their advertising campaigns. A commercial was released this week and the stars of the show are all bobbleheads. It is a very unique ad and it showcases one of the things that fans love about going to Twins games. Here is a list of ten awesome details about the commercial and the video to go along with it. Click here to view the article

It wasn't that long ago that Oswaldo Arcia was a member of the Twins' minor leagues. Today, batting in the seventh spot, he made his biggest mark at the big league level by driving in three runs with his first major league home run. His long ball turned out to be the difference in the team winning, by a score of 4-3 over the Marlins, in the first game of their day-night doubleheader. He was moved up to the third spot in the batting order for the second game of the doubleheader so it was an exciting day for the budding star. There were some other exciting moments across the Twins farm system on Tuesday so let's check out what happened down on the farm.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Miguel Sano.jpg Rochester Red Wings 7, Syracuse Chiefs 8 (13 innings) Box Score Rochester staked themselves to an early lead but the bullpen faltered in the late innings to send this contest to an exciting finish. The Red Wings got three home runs from Clete Thomas, Eric Farris, and Nate Hanson. It was the Triple-A debut for Hanson and he certainly made his mark. He finished 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Farris and Thomas both racked up three hits in the game. Virgil Vasquez started the night on the mound for Rochester but he would be long gone before this one was decided. He tossed 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits. It was his second consecutive start throwing five innings and allowing two runs or less. As the game went to extra innings, it looked like the Red Wings were close to winning. The team scored a run on a throwing error in the top of the 11th inning. This run would be answered by the Chiefs in the bottom half of the frame and the game continued on into the night. Rochester tried to mount another rally in the 13th inning. The team loaded the bases with one out. Farris grounded into an ill-timed double play and another scoring opportunity was lost. Michael O'Connor came out for his second inning of relief work in the bottom of the 13th. Syracuse started the inning with three straight bunt attempts. The first one was good for a single, the second caused an fielding error by Ray Olmedo, and the third put two runners in scoring position. The next batter would single to end the game. With the loss, Rochester still has but one victory on the road this year. The Red Wings have three more games in their series with Syracuse before heading home this weekend to face Buffalo. The club will need to figure some way to win on the road. New Britain Rock Cats --, New Hampshire Fisher Cats -- (Postponed) The Rock Cats were trying to end a three game skid on Tuesday evening. Mother Nature had other plans. Their game with the Fisher Cats was pushed to Wednesday night as part of a double-header. Thursday's game is scheduled for 10:35 AM so the teams will play three games in less than 24 hours. Trevor May was scheduled to make his first start in over a week. With cold weather and early season pitch counts, May hasn't made it through more than 5.1 innings in any of his starts. He also hasn't faced Syracuse yet this year so maybe he is in line for a good start. New Britain heads home for a seven-game home stand. The action starts this weekend with a three game set against Richmond. At the beginning of next week, the team has an important four-game series with Harrisburg. Fort Myers Miracle 5, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 Box Score The Palm Beach Cardinals are getting really sick of seeing Miguel Sano trot around the bases. He hit a grand slam against them last week in Fort Myers. Some fireworks flew on Sunday when a Palm Beach pitcher threw at Sano and he responded by cracking the ball over the fence. Tuesday brought another game and another Sano home run. It was a solo shot, Sano's 7th of the year. He was involved in another scoring play in his next at-bat. The Miracle had already scored twice in the inning on singles by Vargas and Morales, a walk to Pettersen, an Eddie Rosario single and a Lance Ray sacrifice fly. Sano would get his second RBI of the game with a single to center field. The club would score four runs in the inning to push their lead to 5-0. Taylor Rogers made his first start of the year after being called up from Cedar Rapids. He performed well by limiting the Cardinals to four hits and no runs. He struck out four batters and walked two. Zach Jones gave up the lone run to the Cards. Nelvin Fuentes and Corey Williams each had a perfect inning of relief. Fort Myers got back on the winning track after losses in their last three games. The club still has the best record in the Florida State League. The Miracle have a scheduled off-day tomorrow before playing three games against Charlotte Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Burlington Bees -- (Postponed) Rain washed out the final game of the series between the Kernels and the Bees. The game will be made up later in the first half as part of a doubleheader in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels are on a bit of a roll with wins in their last three games, including the first two games of the series against the Bees. Byron Buxton still has a batting average over .400 and his OPS of 1.128 is off the charts. He is making his first full professional season look easy. The team has a scheduled off day on Wednesday before returning home for a three-game series vs. Great Lakes. The six-game home stand will conclude with a three-game set against Lansing. Click here to view the article

The Twins finished off their road trip with two wins in Milwaukee over the last couple days. Now the border battle moved to Target Field for a couple of games. Trevor Plouffe was reinstated from the 7-day concussion disabled list but he was a late scratch with some left calf tightness. This meant Chris Colabello was sent back to Rochester. Maybe it was because the rookie wore the wrong jersey on Tuesday night. This leaves the Twins with three catchers on their roster including Chris Herrmann. Here's a look into Wednesday night's minor league action.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com Rochester Red Wings 8, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7 (Completion of 5/28 Game) Box Score Weather got in the way for these two clubs on Tuesday evening. This meant their game got suspended in the top of the fifth inning with one out. The IronPigs were leading 6-5 at the time of the suspension. There was still plenty of time for a Rochester comeback. Andrew Albers started the game on Tuesday and he pitched 4.1 innings before the rains came. It was his worst start of the season as he allowed five earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. The six runs allowed by Albers were a career high. When play resumed, Luis Perdomo took over the pitching duties. He got the final two outs of the fifth inning and went on to pitch another two frames. Perdomo allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts. Tyler Robertson got out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the eighth with a pop out and a strikeout. At the plate, Jeff Clement had himself quite the game. He hit a solo home run in Tuesday's portion of the game and he hit another solo shot in Wednesday's portion. Brian Dinkelman had his first triple of the season. The hit moved him into third place on the Red Wings all-time hits list in the Twins era. The biggest hit of the game was a two-run single off the bat of Ray Olmedo to give Rochester the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Rochester Red Wings 8, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 7 (7 innings) Box Score Three home runs were just enough for Rochester in this game. Doug Bernier, Clete Thomas, and Dan Rohlfing all hit home runs and the Red Wings had another comeback victory up their sleeves. The win clinched a series victory for Rochester and the club can go for the sweep tomorrow morning. Pedro Hernandez made his second start since being sent down by the Twins and things didn't go so great. He was roughed up over 3.1 innings to the tune of six runs and nine hits. Only three of the runs were earned but he only struck out one batter and walked two men. Daniel Turpen and Shairon Martis did a fine job in relief of Hernandez. Turpen earned his second victory of the year by throwing 1.2 innings. The only blemish on his night was a solo home run. Martis earned his first save of the year and his first save since the 2005 Arizona Fall League. Danny Lehmann went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Clete Thomas finished the night with a double, a home run, and three RBI. Oswaldo Arcia didn't join the hit parade as he went 0-for-3 with a strike out. He has yet to record a hit since being sent down. New Britain Rock Cats 5, Richmond Flying Squirrels 10 Box Score There was a whole lot of offense going on in New Britain on Wednesday night. The Rock Cats ended up on the wrong end of a shoot out and there were some rough moments on the mound and in the field. New Britain had four errors in the game but the defense also turned three double plays. DJ Baxendale got called up from Fort Myers to make his first Double-A start. He had been terrific in the Florida State League with a 1.10 ERA and a perfect 7-0 record. Things didn't go so great for him on this night. He surrendered seven earned runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings. Reynaldo Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a double. Danny Santana and Jordan Parraz both went 2-for-4 and Parraz added his third double of the year. Chris Pettit had his first multi-hit game since joining the Rock Cats seven days ago. He went 2-5 out of the leadoff spot with his second double. New Britain sits five games under .500 and the team will look to salvage the last game of the series tomorrow morning. Pat Dean is scheduled to start and he is looking to repeat a solid outing in his last start. Fort Myers Miracle 10, Bradenton Marauders 3 Box Score Matt Tomshaw, Eddie Rosario, and Kennys Vargas worked together to put on quite the show for the Miracle. The win marked the fourth in the last five games for Fort Myers. It also clinched a series win and the Miracle have not lost a series in the month of May. Tomshaw was terrific on the mound. He gave up two hits and one earned run on a solo home run. Over six innings, he struck out four and only walked one batter. It was his first start since being called up from Cedar Rapids and it couldn't have gone much better for the lefty. Download attachment: Matt Tomshaw.jpg As good as Tomshaw was on the mound, Rosario and Vargas were just as good at the plate. Rosario finished the night 3-for-5 with a home run and a double. Vargas was 2-for-3 with a home run and a double. Both players knocked in two runners with two outs in an inning. It was the 37th win of the year for Fort Myers and the team will go for the series sweep on Thursday evening. After that, the club will head to Palm Beach to play the Cardinals in a three-game weekend series. Cedar Rapids Kernels --, Clinton LumberKings -- (Postponed) The game between the Kernels and the LumberKings was postponed on Wednesday evening. A double-header will be played on Thursday starting at 4:00 pm. Thursdays games will both be scheduled for seven innings. Cedar Rapids has only won one game in the last week. This has shrunk their lead in the Western Division of the Midwest League to one game. The club boasts an 18-7 record at home but the club is only one game over .500 on the road (13- Click here to view the article

The Twins concluded their three-game series with the White Sox by playing a little Wednesday afternoon baseball. With how bad the White Sox looked in recent weeks, it seemed like the Twins should be able to earn a series win. That didn't happen as the Sox took the final two games of the three-game set. Joe Mauer has been on fire lately and his recent hot streak has him in some rarefied air. He took over the active career leader board for batting average. Albert Pujols (.323 BA) had been on the top of the list followed by Ichiro Suzuki (.321 BA). Those two players are on the decline and Mauer looks to be in the prime of his career. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On the most recent edition of the "Talk to Contact" podcast, we had Baseball Prospectus' Jason Parks on the show to talk about some of the big names in the Twins farm system. It is a great interview and you should make sure to download the episode if you haven't heard it yet. There were plenty of games today down on the farm. Here's a look into the Twins farm system... Rochester Red Wings 7, Durham Bulls 10 Box Score Cole De Vries continued his rehab trail with a start in Rochester on Wednesday night. His previous two starts had been with the Fort Myers Miracle and the New Britain Rock Cats. With a Triple-A start under his belt, his rehab time could be coming to an end. His performance on Wednesday would play a pivotal role in the team's decision. I wrote about De Vries and contemplated his place with the Twins now that he is healthy. For De Vries, his start with Rochester didn't go perfectly. He got knocked around over four innings for a total of 11 hits and six earned runs. The fifth inning was where most of the trouble happened for De Vries. He had allowed three runs in the first four frames before not recording an out in a three-run top of the fifth. Rochester's offense faired pretty well against one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. Jake Odorizzi made it through 5.1 innings but he surrendered six earned runs and three long balls. Chris Colabello had a monster game as he went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double. His five RBI were great but it wasn't nearly enough to keep pace with the Bulls. Eric Farris extended his hit streak to nine games with a single in the bottom of the fourth. Download attachment: Colabello1.jpg The loss puts the Red Wings ten games under .500 for the first time this season and for the first time since May 28, 2012. The club has also lost six of their last seven contests. There are two more games left in the series with the Bulls and the Red Wings have to find a way to get back to playing winning baseball. New Britain Rock Cats 3, Bowie Baysox 10 Box Score Pat Dean is going to want to forget about the bottom of the second inning on Wednesday night. The Baysox gave him a rude awakening and knocked him out of the game early. The first batter of the frame hit one over the fence and it didn't get much better from there. He would give up six more hits including another home run and he would be charged with seven earned runs in a little over an inning of work. Danny Santana was the only Rock Cats hitter with two hits. He is in the midst of an eight game hit streak and he has six multi-hit games during that stretch. Over the last ten games, he is hitting .425/.465/.550 with three doubles and a triple. Daniel Ortiz had his 12th double of the year and his 23rd RBI. New Britain's bullpen was counted on to eat up a lot of innings tonight. Blake Martin threw two hitless innings and struck out two batters. Aaron Thompson continued his impressive work with one hit and two strikeouts in an inning of work. His ERA dropped to 0.61 for the year and he has only given up one earned run in his last ten outings. The Rock Cats sit one game over .500 but the club has lost their last three games. Tomorrow night marks the last game in their series with Bowie before the club returns home for a weeklong home stand. By only trailing Portland by three games in the standings, the next week could be important. Fort Myers Miracle 4, Dunedin Blue Jays 5 Box Score The Miracle jumped out to an early lead in this contest but the offense slowed down for six innings before waking up in the bottom of the ninth. Dunedin held a slim 3-2 lead before tacking on a couple of insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning. Fort Myers scored two runs of their own in the ninth without recording an out. With Angel Morales at second and Eddie Rosario at first, Andy Leer attempted a bunt and the pitcher was able to get the lead runner at third. Levi Michael was the next batter and he struck out. Aderling Meijia was walked to load the bases but Stephen Wickens struck out looking to end the game. There were plenty of opportunities for the Miracle but the team left seven runners on base. The club also went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position including a couple of untimely double plays off the bats of Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas. Sano went 0-for-3 and he only has one home run in his last ten games. Vargas went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Even though Leer couldn't get a successful bunt down in the ninth, he hit his third home run of the season earlier in the game. Rosario didn't start the game but he was used as a pinch hitter in the critical ninth inning. He almost hit a game tying home run but it went foul. He settled for a single to keep the inning alive. Kyle Davies started the game for the Miracle. The seven-year MLB veteran was making a rehab start with the club. Minnesota signed him as a free agent in February and this was his first appearance with the organization. He tossed five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. It was only the tenth loss of the year for the Miracle and the club will finish their four-game series with Dunedin on Thursday night. From there, the club will head on a seven-game road trip that includes stops in Charlotte and Lakeland. Cedar Rapids Kernels 6, Burlington Bees 5 (7 innings) Box Score In the first game of a double-header, the Kernels used a couple of late inning runs to slide by the Bees. Cedar Rapids had nine hits in the game and over half of those hits were for extra-bases. The team went 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position and they needed every one of those runs in this game. Jorge Polanco paced the offense with a 2-for-3 night. Both of his hits were for extra bases including his fifth triple and tenth double of the year. Dalton Hicks had a big two-out double in the fifth inning to tie the game. Byron Buxton reached base in two of his three plate appearances. He finished the game going 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Jeremias Pineda would come in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the 6th and wreak havoc on the bases. He stole second base, advanced to third on a ground out, and then scored what turned out to be the winning run on a wild pitch. Hudson Boyd started the game and allowed five runs on five hits over five innings. He struck out four batters and walked three men. Josue Montanez would earn his first win of the year in only his third appearance with the Kernels. He tossed two scoreless innings by allowing one hit and striking out two. Cedar Rapids Kernels 4, Burlington Bees 6 (7 innings) Box Score The Kernels and the Bees had to play two on Wednesday to make-up a game from April 23rd. After powering their way to a win in the first game, the Kernels bats fell a little flat in the second game until the last inning. Cedar Rapids scored two in the bottom of the ninth but the team still fell short. Steven Gruver pitched three innings in a spot start for him. He gave up three earned runs on three hits but he struggled with command and walked four batters. Alex Muren made his second appearance with the Kernels and pitched three innings while allowing two earned runs. Josh Burris pitched the final frame and gave up a run. It was the fourth consecutive outing that he gave up at least one run and his ERA sits above 12. Byron Buxton played DH in the second game of the double header. He would strike out twice in the game but he notched his 10th double of the year. Tyler Grimes added a 2-run home run but the team only managed a total of three hits. The club struck out 13 times and left six runners on base. Cedar Rapids will play the final game of their series with Burlington tomorrow night. Over the weekend, the club will play four games with Kane County. The Cougars are a .500 club and they will be looking to make an impression on the current leaders of the Midwest League, the Kernels. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: PInto_Josmil_Stretching_US_600.jpg The Twins continue to play out the rest of the 2013 season without their $23 million man, Joe Mauer. There is plenty of concern surrounding Mauer's concussion-related injury. As Twins fans are well aware from incidents with Denard Span and Justin Morneau, head injuries can be tough to resolve. This leaves Minnesota with an interesting situation behind the plate as the team looks to the future. No one knows when Mauer will be back on the field and if he will ever be able to suit up behind the plate. The Twins have been auditioning a variety of players this September in hopes of shedding some light on the situation. Will one of these new players be the Twins full-time backstop by the start of next year or will Mauer be able to solve the puzzle of his brain injury? Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com Here's the breakdown of the men fighting for catching time in 2014. It is a mix of young and old as the Twins begin to shift their roster to a more youthful core of players. Joe Mauer 2013 (113 G, 73 G started at C): .324/.404/.476, 11 HR, 35 2B, 62 R Concerns over Mauer's injury will be one of the biggest story lines entering spring training next year. The 2013 season is only the second time since 2007 where he has failed to play over 135 games. Justin Morneau is gone and this leaves a hole at first base. Mauer's power numbers don't exactly fit with the typical first baseman mold but the Twins need him to fit somewhere. Depending on how the offseason progresses, fans have to hope that Mauer will be able to do some catching, play some time at first and even get into the line-up as a DH. This might be a wild dream at this point but there are multiple months until Opening Day 2014. Ryan Doumit 2013 (124 G, 41 GS at C): .239/.310/.386, 13 HR, 24 2B, 43 R With Mauer out of the line-up, one figured Doumit would get more time at catcher. This hasn't been the case and Doumit had his own concussion-related DL stint earlier this season. Minnesota loved the production Doumit provided in 2012 and the team signed him to an extension. His offensive production dropped this season and there's a chance the team could try to deal him in the offseason. He will be 33 years old next season and in the last year of his contract. His does represent the lone veteran presence behind Mauer so this could give the Twins a reason to keep him around. Chris Herrmann 2013: (49 G, 22 GS at C): .218/.302/.361, 4 HR, 7 2B, 14 R Herrmann can't be a free agent until after the 2019 season and the Twins have been willing to use him in multiple defensive positions. His numbers dropped across the board as he struggled at the plate in Rochester and Minnesota. There were some good signs from him during 2012 at Double-A. One has to hope for that version of Herrmann to appear at the big league level, especially if Mauer is no longer able to catch. If he is able to make the right adjustments, Herrmann could end up taking over the role vacated by Doumit after next season. Otherwise, he is an adequate back-up catcher to keep on the bench. Josmil Pinto 2013: (11 G, 9 GS at C): .405/.463/.703, 2 HR, 5 2B, 6 R In his first taste of the big leagues, Pinto has made a quick impression on Twins Territory. The kid can hit the ball and he has continued to show this ability as he has moved through the upper levels of the Twins farm system. In the past, there have been some questions about his catching ability and this year there were concerns about his shoulder. He was able to throw out 29% of base stealers between New Britain and Rochester this season. At the big league level, he has caught three out of seven potential runners. Fans that continue to watch the Twins in September will keep their eye on Pinto because he might be getting a lot more time behind the plate next year. Fans might be worried about Mauer's future so it's good to have a plan in place. Pinto has been impressive but it has been a small sample size and it's tough to get too excited before seeing a full season of play from him. It would be great for both men to be able to spend some time behind the plate next season but for now the future is a little cloudy. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: 2012-topps-baseball-card-display.jpg Most baseball fans can remember a time when they sat down to sort through shoe boxes full of cardboard with the faces of their favorite players on the front. I grew up in a small town in North Dakota without cable so one of the easiest ways for me follow my favorite players was to collect their trading cards. The hobby has changed a lot since the late 80s and early 90s but some fans still flock to get their hands on the latest edition of Topps Baseball Cards. The year on the field hasn't been that great for the Twins but there have been some unique and popular card that feature members of the Twins. Here is a rundown of all of the releases so far with a few of the best cards to feature the Twins in 2012.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] 2012 Topps Series 1 Baseball Release Date: January 28, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 62 Ben Revere 81 Liam Hendriks - RC 95 Chris Parmelee - RC 97 Jim Thome - Checklist 111 Kevin Slowey 164 Carl Pavano 179 Denard Span 230 Justin Morneau 235 Joe Benson - RC 249 Trevor Plouffe 276 Scott Baker 292 Ben Revere - Topps All-Star Rookie 303 Danny Valencia 316 Nick Blackburn Unique Cards: Tsuyoshi Nishioka had a short print variation card with him and Butera messing around on the bench. The hardest Twins card to get in the set was a 1/1 card featuring a cut signature of Harmon Killebrew. My favorite photo of the year for a Twins card came in this set (see awards at the bottom). 2012 Topps Tribute Baseball Release Date: March 9, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 43 Harmon Killebrew 51 Joe Mauer Unique Cards: This set is all about the autographed and relic cards. Mauer was the only Twins player featured in the autographed card section. As usual, there is a relic card of Mauer but there were also relic cards of Twins Hall-of-Famers Harmon Killebrew and Bert Blyleven. There were some unique cards that featured players debut digits from their first year. David Ortiz and Rod Carew were part of this set. 2012 Topps Heritage Baseball Release Date: March 14, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 26 Scott Baker 40 Chris Parmelee - RC 80 Jamey Carroll 89 Liam Hendriks - RC 95 2012 Rookie Stars - Joe Benson/Chambers/Brown/Taylor 125 Ron Gardenhire - Manager. 135 2012 Rookie Stars - Chris Parmelee/Lombardozz/ Florimon/Pacheco 159 Ryan Doumit 162 Twins - Team Card 186 Joe Mauer 191 2012 Rookie Stars - Liam Hendricks/Liddi/Moore/Schwinden 198 Joe Benson - RC 269 Justin Morneau 281 Jason Marquis 314 Alexi Casilla333 2012 Rookie Stars - Joe Benson/Hendricks/Parmelee/Waldrop Unique Cards: Everybody loves stickers and you can get a Joe Mauer Stick-Ons card from Heritage. It doesn't stop there with Mauer as he is also featured in their Clubhouse Collection Relic Cards. 2012 Topps Museum Release Date: April 6, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 18 Joe Mauer Unique Cards: Harmon Killebrew had a "Canvas Collection" short print cardfor collectors to hunt out. Joe Mauer's duel autograph card with Johnny Bench was one of the nicest cards in the set. As with most sets, Mauer gets all of the autograph/relic card love. 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen Release Date: April 18, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 73 Ben Revere 119 Justin Morneau 121 Scott Baker 140 Joe Mauer Unique Cards: Joe Benson didn't have a base card in the set but he had autographed cards to be found. Ben Revere's amazing catch at Target Field in 2011 was one the set's "Glove Stories." Joe Mauer had an exchange card that got the holder an autographed relic card of the Twins backstop. Cards with Indian Head pennies were inserted into the set and Mauer was the Twins representative on this insert. One of my favorite Twins cards of the year was in this set (see awards at the bottom). 2012 Bowman Baseball Release Date: May 4, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 65 Ben Revere 73 Justin Morneau 87 Joe Mauer 208 Liam Hendriks - RC 215 Joe Benson - RC 219 Chris Parmelee - RC Prospect Cards (Regular & Chrome): Eddie Rosario, Michael Gonzalez, Levi Michael Unique Cards: Autograph cards of Eddie Rosario were doing very well in the secondary market. Miguel Sano was featured in their "Bowman's Best Prospects" insert series. Some of the coolest cards in the set had a silver ice finish to them. 2012 Topps Archives Baseball Release Date: May 23, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 90 Joe Mauer 175 Justin Morneau Reprint Cards: Rod Carew (2 different), Harmon Killebrew Unique Cards: Former fan favorite Chili Davis had an autograph card in the setbut it wasn't in a Twins uniform. Bert Blyleven and Paul Molitor have framed mini autographed cards featuring 1983's design. The deckled edge cards of Mauer and Killebrew are among my favorites from the set. 2012 Topps Series 2 Baseball Release Date: June 6, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 337 Glen Perkins 389 Alexi Casilla 411 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 501 Matt Capps 512 Josh Willingham 517 Francisco Liriano 529 Luke Hughes 535 Joe Mauer 655 Ryan Doumit Unique Cards: Topps must really like Nishioka because he had cards in Series 1 and Series 2 but he also got a silk insert card. It's funny to think that Liam Hendriks can be part of the "Golden Moments" setwhen he doesn't have a big league win to his name. There's a ring implanted into this Harmon Killebrew card. 2012 Topps Tier 1 Baseball Release Date: June 20, 2012 No Base Cards in this set. Only relics and autographs. Unique Cards: This entire set is made up of unique cards. Joe Mauer had a "Prestigious Patch" card that was a 1/1 insert. One of the most unique cards is featured in the award section at the bottom of this post. There were also multiple relic and autograph cards from Mauer in this set. Ben Revere had multiple cards featured in their "On the Rise" Autograph cards. 2012 Allen & Ginter Baseball Release Date: July 11, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 78 Joe Mauer 125 Ben Revere 138 Josh Willingham 144 Joe Benson - RC 147 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 239 Liam Hendriks - RC 265 Chris Parmelee - RC 297 Justin Morneau Unique Cards: There were low numbered silk/cloth cards of Mauer and Morneau inserted into packs. Mauer's sweet signature could be found in a few different varieties in the set. In a set like Allen & Ginter, there are plenty of unique cards but most of them are not related to baseball. 2012 Bowman Platinum Baseball Release Date: July 25, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 2 Liam Hendriks - RC 3 Joe Mauer 84 Justin Morneau Prospect Cards (Regular & Chrome): Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Brian Dozier Unique Cards: Rosario, Levi Michael, and Oswaldo Arcia all had autographed cards included in this product. There were also low numbered (out of /25) black autograph cards of Michael and Rosario. Sano's low numbered autos are going for a lot on eBay. 2012 Topps Finest Baseball Release Date: August 8, 2012 Twins Base Set Cards: 77 Liam Hendriks - RC 83 Joe Mauer 88 Chris Parmelee - RC 96 Joe Benson - RC Unique Cards: Benson and Brian Dozier have autographed rookie cards in the set. Liam Hendriks has some very cool autograph/jersey cards that can be found in this product. There are a few different versions of Joe Mauer autographs in the set with the few on eBay going for over $200. 2012 Twins Trading Card Awards Photo of the Year: Topps Series 1 Baseball #62 Ben Revere http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5s2OJCEHuYE/UDKwywnsyLI/AAAAAAAADJc/UaoiCeIu-Z0/s320/2012-topps-62-ben-revere.jpg Favorite Card of the Year: Harmon Killebrew/Joe Mauer Gypsy Queen Autograph Relic Insert http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ib_X-OiXh38/UDKxTbccxBI/AAAAAAAADJk/wdnZthfihoo/s320/2012-gypsy-dual-auto-relic-killebrew-mauer.jpg Unique Card of the Year: Joe Mauer Bat Knob Tier One 1/1 http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AZJln676mr8/UDKxvkDIuVI/AAAAAAAADJs/R-AVk27duoE/s320/mauerbatknob.JPG Click here to view the article

Download attachment: ben_revere_catch.jpg Another week and another center fielder has been traded away by the Minnesota Twins. Without looking too far into the trade, let's take a look back at Ben Revere's short career with the Twins. The former first round pick quickly became a fan favorite for his all-or-nothing defensive ability and his speed on the bases. His smile was infectious and he seemed to be a great all around person. There were plenty of good moments for Revere in a Twins uniform but two specific incidents will stick in the mind's of Twins fans for the foreseeable future. The Catch It was named the best defensive play in 2011 because of the athleticism that it took to complete the play. Revere had to track down the ball over his shoulder and make a tough catch against the wall. The play was shown over and over again in highlight reels. It also made a long run in the top spot of SportsCenter's "Top Plays." It left Vladimir Guerrero, the batter, shaking his head. Reminiscent of Willie Mays and his famous over the shoulder grab, Revere added a little more difficulty to his catch by banging into the outfield fence. He even had to look up at his glove to make sure the ball was still in the webbing. Dick Bremer called it "one of the greatest catches you will see all year long." It might be one of the best catches in the history of the Twins. CLICK HERE for Video Clip The Somersault Download attachment: revere.jpg Even as a fan in the stands on this night, it was hard to believe what just happened. Revere knocks a ball down to the fence down the right field line and then he was off to the races. Jeff Francoeur was the outfielder for the Royals and he tried to get the ball back in as quickly as he could. It looked like it would be an easy triple for the speedy Revere.... but things got interesting after second base.Revere stumbled on his way to third and he started to fall forward. Instead of falling flat on his face, Revere gracefully (or not so gracefully depending on how you look at it) started a somersault before continuing on his path to third base. By the end of the play, Revere was in a pile at third asking for time to catch his breath. CLICK HERE for Video Clip It's sad to see both Span and Revere sent to other clubs but these were the right moves for the direction of the organization. The Twins were desperate for pitching and they had extra outfielders in the organization. The club got one major league ready arm and two very good prospects for the future. The Twins might not contend in 2013 but the future is looking much brighter after these two deals. Click here to view the article

Twins players will have will have plenty of things to reflect on this coming offseason. When a team has multiple 90-loss seasons in a row, changes are likely and some of those situations have started to play themselves out. Minnesota needs pitchers to stand out in the final games of the season as the team tries to figure out the future. Download attachment: Hendricks_Liam.jpg Liam Hendriks is one player on shaky ground for 2014. The team rushed him to the big leagues as a 22-year old and struggles have followed him since. Next season, he will be 25 and there is a chance the Twins remove him from the 40-man rosters, as Nick Nelson wrote here at Twins Daily, Hendriks might have run out of chances. ~~~ Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com ~~~ Minnesota needs some semblance of a starting rotation for next season and there aren't any sure bets on the free agent market. This might leave a window open for Hendriks to get one more shot in 2014. It might not be a good chance but it could be a chance. The Twins have jerked him back and forth between the minor leagues and the big leagues over the past three seasons. With the Twins, he has never started more than eight games consecutively and that was at the end of last season. It is a challenge to figure out big league hitters when a pitcher isn't given the opportunity to start consecutive games. His pitches are already bottom-of-the- rotation material and moving him up and down hasn't helped. In 2011 at Double-A and 2012 at Triple-A, Hendriks was a very effective pitcher. He posted ERAs of under 3.00 and he averaged over six innings per appearance. Strikeouts have never been his specialty; he is most effective when he limits walks and induces ground balls. This hasn't happened at the major league level but he has shown these skills in the minors. Another reason to keep Hendriks around is the fact he won't be arbitration- eligible until the 2016 season and he can't reach free agency until 2019. This means he will be a relatively cheap player on the roster and the Twins can use the money they save on him to spend on other pieces of the roster. Even in their recent down years, the Twins have found effective relief pitchers in various ways. One way has been to shift starters into the bullpen. Minnesota has seen successful transitions from Glen Perkins and Anthony Swarzak and this could be a path to follow with Hendriks. At the end of 2013 Minnesota has already used him as a long-relief man and it could be a sign of things to come. Is Hendriks going to be a key piece to the potential Twins turnaround? Likely not but it still doesn't mean it is time to give up on him. It would have been nice for Hendriks to get more opportunities at the big league level. The team has never given him a consistent shot at sticking in the rotation and most of this has been because of his ineffective pitching. Hendriks might not be the answer to all the Twins pitching problems but he deserves another chance to make it work in some kind of role for 2014. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Buxton_Byron_Batting_Rinaldi_686.jpg We are only a couple days away from getting an influx of talent into the Twins' minor league system. The MLB First Year Player Draft will start on Thursday night and the Twins have the fourth overall selection. It will be the second year in a row that the Twins are picking in the top five. Last year's first round selection, Byron Buxton, has been a great addition to the organization. By the end of this year, he could be the top ranked prospect in all of baseball. Last week, Seth Stohs moved him ahead of Miguel Sano as the Twins number one prospect.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Let's take a look at how the current crop of minor league players fared on Wednesday before some new players join their ranks in the coming weeks. Rochester Red Wings 4, Gwinnett Braves 2 (Rain Shortened- 8 innings) Box Score Through the first eight innings, the Red Wings were out-hit by the Braves but they still held a 4-2 advantage. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, the skies opened up and a rain delay ensued. Before the rains fell, Cole De Vries put together a very good start. He tossed seven strong innings by scattering nine hits and allowing two runs. He struck out two and walked one. This was the best start of the season for De Vries after some rough starts as he is coming back from an injury. Oswaldo Arcia had two hits for the second time in the last three games. His fourth double of the season scored the team's third run of the game. Chris Colabello knocked in his team leading 41st RBI of the year. The Red Wings left 11 men on base but that didn't affect the outcome tonight. The Red Wings have two more games in Gwinnett before heading home for an eight game home stand. With the win, Rochester moves to within four games of the .500 mark. An 8-2 record in their last ten games has put the Red Wings back into contention. New Britain Rock Cats 2, Richmond Flying Squirrels 3 Box Score Pat Dean did his best to keep the Rock Cats in the game but in the end it wasn't enough. An error by third baseman Mark Sobolewski cost the team an unearned run and that wound up being be the difference in the game. Over 6.2 innings, Dean allowed only two earned runs on seven hits. It was his third straight strong game and it was his first loss during that stretch. With this start, his ERA dropped below 5.00 for the first time since some awful starts in the middle of May Josmil Pinto continued his hot hitting by going 2-for-3 with his tenth home run of the year. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .355/.459/.581 with two home runs and a double. Reynaldo Rodriguez wasn't in the original line-up but he replaced Daniel Ortiz in left field in the bottom of the second inning. Rodriguez proceeded to go 2-for-2 with his 16th double of the year. The loss put the Rock Cats three games under .500 for the. Tonight's game was the first of a six-game road trip that will see the team play three games in Richmond and three in Bowie. New Britain had played to a .500 record on the road so they will look to get back to .500 with a win Thursday night. Fort Myers Miracle --, Brevard County Manatees -- (Postponed) The game between Fort Myers and Brevard County was postponed due to rain. The teams will make-up the game as part of a double header on Thursday evening. Game one is scheduled to begin at 5:05 eastern with the second starting 30 minutes after the completion of the first. The Miracle lost the first two games of this series with the Manatees so the club will be looking to bounce back. The team hasn't lost a series since mid-May. To keep that streak intact the Miracle will have to sweep this doubleheader. Cedar Rapids Kernels 14, Quad City River Bandits 5 Box Score One inning explained a lot for the Kernels on Wednesday night. In their half of the fourth frame, the Kernels exploded on the offensive side of the ball. They put 10 runs on the board, powered by 12 hits. 15 hitters came to bat and the club had nine straight hits to open the frame. Byron Buxton returned to action after not playing in a game in June because of a bruised thumb. He looked like he hadn't missed a beat as he got hits in his first five at-bats before being retired for the first time. On the night, he was 5-for-6 with two triples, a double, and three runs scored. Buxton wasn't the only offensive star for the Kernels. Jorge Polanco had four hits including two doubles and Dalton Hicks knocked in four with his two doubles. Catcher Michael Quesada added three hits of his own. Hein Robb made his second start of the season and he pitched into the fourth inning. He gave up five runs on four hits with four walks and five strikeouts. Alex Muren did a very good job in relief. He threw 3.2 innings of scoreless ball and gave up only two hits. The Kernels continue their series versus Quad Cities on Thursday night. The club will be looking to win their second series in the month of June before playing a three-game set against Kane County over the weekend. Click here to view the article

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are in the midst of their All-Star break so they were again out of action Wednesday night. This didn't stop the Twins from announcing that one of their top prospects, Max Kepler, would be joining that club. He had been at extended spring training working to recover from an elbow injury. The power hitting outfielder will take over a corner outfield spot since Byron Buxton is manning center field in Cedar Rapids. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Liam Hendriks was also reinstated from the disabled list and this meant another move had to be made. Right-handed pitcher Virgil Vasquez was sent from Rochester to New Britain as the corresponding move. It has been a rough season so far for Hendriks and it would be nice to see him put together some strong starts in the second half of the year. Here's a look at Wednesday night's action in the Twins farm system. Rochester Red Wings 7, Scranton/WB RailRiders 10 Box Score Liam Hendriks returned to the mound Wednesday after missing over a month with right elbow inflammation. In his first start since May 9th there was certainly rust to work through. Over four innings, he surrendered seven runs on nine hits including two home runs. Of his 77 pitches, 47 were for strikes but he limited his walks to two. The bottom four hitters in the Red Wings line-up each had an RBI. Doug Bernier went 3-for-5 with four RBI and a triple. Dan Rohlfing, James Beresford, and Drew Butera all knocked in a run. Jeff Clement and Chris Herrmann each added a double. Download attachment: Doug Bernier.jpg The Red Wings had plenty of opportunities with runners in scoring position. Over the course of the night, Rochester went 5-for-15 with men in scoring position. The club also left 11 runners on base. Antoan Richardson stole his 14th base since joining Rochester and he now has 27 steals between Double-A and Triple-A. Rochester started the year 2-11; hot play in recent weeks has gotten the Red Wings closer to the .500 mark (36-38). The team has won six of their last eight games and they are within striking distance of a wild card spot. A win tomorrow splits the two-game set with Scranton/WB. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Erie SeaWolves 2 Box Score After starting his Double-A career 1-for-17 with a single, Miguel Sano finally notched his first home runs since being called up to New Britain. His long ball broke a scoreless tie to put the Rock Cats ahead in the top of the seventh inning. Sano's home run wasn't enough though, as the SeaWolves scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning and they held on for the win. It was another tough luck loss for Pat Dean as he suffered his third consecutive defeat. In two of the three outings, he's surrendered two runs or fewer and pitched into the seventh inning. The Rock Cats offense hasn't offered much support when he has taken the mound. Matt Hauser did a fantastic job in relief of Dean. He recorded the last four outs of the game on four strikeouts. Since his promotion to New Britain, in five relief appearances and 7.1 innings, his ERA stands at 1.23. Following the previous night's four hit game, Danny Santana had a couple hits and his fifth double of the year. Eddie Rosario went 1-for-3 and has hit safely in five of his six games since joining New Britain. Daniel Ortiz was the only other player to record a hit. Fort Myers Miracle 5, Palm Beach Cardinals 8 Box Score Jason Wheeler failed to pitch through the fifth inning for the first time since May 21 and the Miracle weren't able to dig themselves out of an early hole. It marked only the second time this season Wheeler was saddled with a loss. He threw 4.1 innings, gave up eight runs and got knocked around for seven hits. The Miracle bullpen did a fairly good job in relief. Nelvin Fuentes, Jose Gonzalez, and Corey Williams pitched 4.2 innings and allowed two base runners while striking out seven. Fuentes entered in a tough spot with the bases loaded and he allowed all the inherited runners to score. From there, he was able to settle down and the zeros started to pile up. Kennys Vargas continued his power hitting ways with a double and two RBI. He finished the night 2-for-4 and he has had multiple hits in his last two games. Candido Pimentel and Mike Kvasnicka added a hit apiece. Stephen Wickens went 2-for-3 as he continues to get closer to a .250 batting average. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Blackburn_nick_pitching_us_orig.jpg The second half of the minor league season is well under way. Some of the Twins affiliates are trying to find their way into the playoff race. It will be an interesting couple of months leading up to the playoffs. Let's see how Nick Blackburn did in his first start back at Triple-A. Plus there were some fireworks from Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton on this night. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Rochester Red Wings 1, Lehigh Valley IronPigs 8 Box Score Earlier on Tuesday, a roster move had to be made to fit Blackburn into the rotation for Rochester. His promotion from Double-A meant another pitcher had to go the opposite direction. LHP Blake Martin made the trek from the International League back to the Eastern League. In 12 games and 15.2 innings he had a 4.02 ERA, 15 strikeouts and WHIP of 1.53. Blackburn made his 2013 debut at Triple-A; the start was rocky, to say the least. He gave up six earned runs on 10 hits and barely made it through five innings. It was the most runs he has ever allowed in his 32 starts for the Red Wings. It was the first time the IronPigs won at Frontier Field since August of last year. An eighth inning double by Chris Parmelee drove in the lone run of the game. Parmelee went 2-for-3 with that double, a single and an RBI. Oswaldo Arcia had been ripping the cover off the ball since being demoted before the All-Star break. He had gone 7-for-11 with two home runs but he was pulled in the second inning after going 0-1 with a strike out. New Britain Rock Cats 7, Portland Sea Dogs 8 Box Score The Rock Cats got out to an early 5-0 lead after multiple run innings in the first and second. Portland came back with a big five-run top of the fourth to tie the game. This turned into a battle of the bullpens and, well, the Dogs had more bark than the Cats. Miguel Sano continued his hot streak as he hit a home run for the second consecutive night. He has homered in four of his last six games and is up to ten in the 37 games he has played for New Britain. He smacked a double in the earlier innings to help him finish 2-for-4 with two RBI. Josmil Pinto added his 14th home run of the season, a two-run shot. Former MLB pitcher Kyle Davies made his Rock Cats debut on the mound. He got knocked around for nine hits and five earned runs in 3.1 innings. On a more positive note, he did strike out six batters and he did not walk anyone. Fort Myers Miracle 4, Brevard County Manatees 10 Box Score Byron Buxton hit a home run, legged out a triple and scored three runs but it still wasn't enough. It was the first over-the-wall home run for Buxton at this level. Overall, Buxton went 3-for-4 and he added his fourth stolen base at this level. Dalton Hicks, Matt Koch, and Stephen Wickens all had two-hit games but none were for extra-bases. Miracle starter Taylor Rogers had a tough time getting out of the middle innings. The Manatees plated six runs, total, in the fourth and fifth frames. He went five innings and gave up six runs on eight hits with three strikeouts. Steven Gruver tossed two scoreless innings. Chad Rodgers got pounded for four runs in his one inning of relief work. Elizabethton Twins 4, Kingsport Mets 5 Box Score The E-Twins did their best to come back in this game, scoring four runs in the eighth inning to take a one run lead. Unfortunately, the Mets had different plans as they stormed back to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth and come out victorious. Romy Jimenez and Javier Pimentel both went 2-for-4 with a double. It was the seventh double of the year for Pimentel. Zach Granite also had two hits and an RBI. Starter Felix Jorge went five innings and gave up three runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Brandon Peterson was saddled with the loss after giving up both runs in the bottom of the ninth. GCL Twins 1, GCL Rays 3 Box Score Four defensive errors didn't help the GCL Twins; only one earned run was scored by the Rays. Jonatan Hinojosa had two fielding errors at shortstop, second baseman Will Hurt had a throwing error and first baseman Chad Christensen was charged with an error on a pickoff attempt. Defensive mistakes will often haunt a team. Hurt tried to make up for his throwing error with a good day at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Amaurys Minier had the only extra-base hit, his fourth double of the season. Damian Defrank started the game and scattered three hits over four shutout innings. He struck out four and walked one. Stephen Gonsalves also pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief. Click here to view the article

On Friday night, the Twins watched Carl Pavano struggle through another rough outing as he tries to find a way to fight through the shoulder problems that have plagued him in 2012. In less than five innings of work, Pavano gave up two home runs including a grand slam. By the time he left the mound, the Twins were in a 7-0 hole and it can be a challenge to come back from that big of a hole. The three-game winning streak for the Twins came to an end on Friday night so let's look around the minor leagues to find some standout performances. Since there was not a minor league recap written last night for the Twins Daily site, you will find short summaries of the Thursday night games including the pitcher and hitter of the night. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER -, COLUMBUS - The Red Wings were washed out on Tuesday night and their game with Columbus will have to be made up as part of a double header on Saturday. Both games will be scheduled for seven innings. Thursday Night Notes: Rochester lost 5-1 on Thursday evening versus the Charlotte Knights. The only member of the Red Wings with more than one hit was Chris Parmelee who has been on quite the run since being demoted to Rochester. Matt Maloney started for Rochester and he allowed two earned runs in 4.2 inning on the hill. NEW BRITAIN 10, HARRISBURG 3 On Friday night, the Rock Cats exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to separate themselves from the Senators. Matt Rizzotti had one of the big hits in the inning by smacking a double with two outs to drive in two runs. He would add a second double later in the contest to help keep the offense moving in the right direction. In his first big game since being demoted from Rochester, Rene Tosoni had three hits and two RBI in support of the Rock Cats win. Evan Bigley added two RBI of his own with his fifth home run of the year in the seventh inning. By the end of the game, Chris Herrmann would be the only member of New Britain that failed to record a hit but he reached base with a walk. Steve Hirschfeld started for New Britain and pitched himself out of some jams over the course of seven innings. In the end he surrendered nine hits but he was able to escape with minimum damage as only two runs crossed the plate. Bobby Lanigan and Blake Martin covered the last two innings to help the Rock Cats to their 31st victory of the season. Thursday Night Notes: After the Rock Cats jumped out to a 6-1 lead, the team had to hang on to win by a final score of 6-5 versus New Hampshire. Chris Colabello had a tremendous night at the plate with a double, a home run, and six runs batted in. Andrew Albers picked up his second win of the year by throwing six innings and only allowing one earned run. FORT MYERS 7, DAYTON 16 In direct contrast to the big second inning by the Rock Cats, the Miracle surrendered a big frame in the second inning of their game with the Cubs. Dayton pumped across six runs in the top of the frame and five of those runs were charged to Marty Popham, the starter for Fort Myers. The game would only get worse from there as the Cubs piled on the runs in the top of the fifth inning. Levi Michael hit his third triple of the year as he tries to dig himself out an early season slump. Daniel Ortiz racked up three extra-base hits with two doubles and a triple in the game and he finished with three RBI. In the fourth inning, Josmil Pinto hit his fifth home run of the year but it would not be enough on this night. Two errors in the game by Fort Myers lead to five unearned runs for Dayton. Even with the unearned runs, it was an ugly night on the mound for Miracle pitchers. In his first start since May 22, Popham would finish by giving up nine earned runs on 10 hits. Jose Gonzalez had a tough time in relief of Popham as he surrendered five runs in 1.2 innings.Dakota Watts stopped some of the bleeding by pitching the last three innings and only giving up one run on a solo home run. Thursday Night Notes: Every batter in the Miracle line-up had a hit except for Anderson Hidalgo but it still wasn't enough to beat the Marauders. One of the problems was Fort Myers managed one extra-base hit and that came off of the bat of Andy Leer. Matthew Hauser was saddled with his first loss of the year after giving up a run in 2.1 innings. The final tally was Bradenton 2 to 1 in 10 innings. BELOIT 11, QUAD CITIES 5 Seth Stohs and a group of other Twins fans made the trip on the Territory Train this weekend to catch two games with the Beloit Snappers. They were treated to a powerful offensive outing from the Snappers with 12 total hits and 11 runs on the board for Beloit. The biggest offensive night was put together by JaDamion Williams who finished 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, and four runs batted in. Drew Leachman matched William's three hits and knocked in two runners of his own. Matthew Koch hit a 2-run shot in the fifth inning to cap a wild offensive night. The Snappers only used two pitchers in the game with Jason Wheeler starting the game and going five frames. Besides giving up five runs, he was still able to secure his seventh win of the year. David Hurlbut earned his first save of the year by pitching four scoreless innings to end the game. The River Bandits failed to get past second base after Hurlbut entered the contest. Thursday Night Notes: Eddie Rosario and Matthew Koch each had a home run to pace the Snappers offense in a night where five players had runs batted in. Miguel Sano hit his eleventh double and knocked in his 41st RBI of the campaign. Steven Gruver allowed a solo shot in the first inning but then he settled down and finished with 8.1 innings and the win. --- Players of the Day for Friday, June 1, 2012 (Thursday night too) Pitcher of the Day- Steve Hirschfeld (Steven Gruver) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5gU7yiFgke8/T8l4rDdkZaI/AAAAAAAABug/evuFE-rlcGA/s400/Slide1.jpg Hitter of the Day- JaDamion Williams (Chris Colabello) http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uRMZiraunNs/T8l4xJhWAkI/AAAAAAAABuo/hFsX4oMXVIE/s400/Slide2.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Saturday, June 2nd Schedule Rochester vs Columbus (Game 1)- LHP Luke French Rochester vs Columbus (Game 2)- TBA New Britain vs Harrisburg- LHP Logan Darnell Fort Myers vs Dayton- LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs Wisconsin- RHP Matthew 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

Download attachment: Gibson_Kyle_600-321.jpg The middle of June has come and gone and there is no sign of Kyle Gibson in the Twin Cities. Teams like the Rays and the Mets are calling up top prospects like Wil Myers and Zack Wheeler because the deadline has passed for players to qualify for Super Two status. This means the Rays and Mets can control these high level players for a big chunk of the next decade. Gibson has a different story than other players. The former first round pick entered the Twins system with three years of college experience. In 2010, his allowed him to move through the organization at a fast pace. An elbow injury and Tommy John surgery were what slowed him on his way to the major leagues. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Originally posted at http://www.NoDakTwinsFan.com Now, Gibson has worked his way back to the form he showed before the injury. Over his last 10 games, he has a 6-2 record with a 2.89 ERA. In 65.1 innings, he has 54 strikeouts and 20 walks. He also has two complete game shutouts during that stretch and that's more than he's had in any professional season. It sure seems like Gibson is ready, so what's the hold-up? At the beginning of June, the reasoning used by Twins general manager Terry Ryan was the team was looking for more "consistency." In each of his three starts since that interview, Gibson has pitched at least six innings and has given up three earned runs or fewer, while striking out a total of 14 batters. By looking back even further, Gibson hasn't been pulled from a game before the sixth inning since the middle of May. The consistency is there but Gibson isn't getting the call. One of the problems for Gibson is the improved performance of the Twins starting rotation. In May, the Twins staff had the third worst ERA (5.06) in all baseball. They ranked last in strikeouts and opponents had a higher batting average against the Twins than any other team. This led to some changes, like Deduno’s and Walters' call-ups and Vance Worley's demotion. Since the calendar switched to June, the Twins pitching numbers have been greatly improved. Minnesota ranks seventh in team ERA this month. The club's WHIP and hits allowed are in the middle of the pack. During the team's last 18 games, they have gone 11-7 and the starters have helped keep the team in games. So far in June, here is what the starting rotation has done: 1. Sam Deduno (3 Starts): 2.00 ERA, 18 IP, 1.28 WHIP 2. Kevin Correia (3 Starts): 4.00 ERA, 18 IP, 1.50 WHIP 3. Scott Diamond (3 Starts): 5.51 ERA, 16.1 IP, 1.47 WHIP 4. PJ Walters (3 Starts): 2.41 ERA, 18.2 IP, 1.55 WHIP 5. Mike Pelfrey (2 Starts): 4.05 ERA, 13.1 IP, 1.05 WHIP The Twins have said that Gibson will be on an innings limit, expected to be in the range of 130-140 innings. He currently sits at 85.2 innings; his next start will likely push him over the 90 innings mark. This would leave him with less than 50 available innings this season. All the Twins moves this season should be focused on the future. It might have been good for Gibson to get more experience at the Triple-A level and his performance this spring proved that he needed to work on some things. It is just tough to know how much longer the Twins can wait to call him up. As the starters continue to pitch well, Gibson gets one step closer to reaching his innings limit with each start in Rochester. If the Twins don't call him up before his limit, the club will be losing an opportunity for him to gain some big league experience. Rookies usually have some ups and downs and it would be nice to get some of those out of the way in 2013. Gibson is part of the plan for the future but it's hard to see what the club's plan is for the present. The 25-year old has been through a lot in his professional career and it’s time to take the training wheels off and see if he can ride with the big kids at the major league level. Click here to view the article

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get out the brooms because the Twins just got done sweeping the A's in a series at Target Field. It wasn't the prettiest of sweeps but a walk-off home run from Josh Willingham and an interesting outing from Francisco Liriano put the cap on the three game set. The A's aren't exactly the cream of the crop in the American League but at this point the Twins are just trying to play better baseball. The Twins head to Cleveland for a weekend series with the Tribe but many Twins fans have turned their attention to the MLB Draft that will take place at the beginning of next week. A franchise can be altered by the selection made by their front office and the scouting department. The number two selection in the draft will belong to the Twins and the team needs to hit a home run with this pick.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Throughout the week, I've been been putting up posts related to the MLB Draft and I will continue to put together all of this information in a "2012 MLB Draft Primer" for the beginning of next week. Until then, enjoy these great links from throughout the week. It seems, for better or worse, that the Twins are going to be depending a lot on Brian Dozier at shortstop in the future. This reliance on Dozier could be tough with teams adjusting their approach with the young rookie. With the draft on Monday, it is important to reexamine the top prospects in the minor league system of the Twins. It might be too early to start all of the trade speculation with the trade deadline still a couple months away. That being said, Justin Morneau could be one of the players that exits the team when the July trade deadline rolls around. Liriano's contract is over at the end of the season and there is a good chance he will be on the trading block. A couple of days ago Liriano had a good start but what does that mean for the future?There have been plenty of throwback uniforms in baseball this year and the Twins will join the party with their Minneapolis Millers jerseys. With 30% of the Twins schedule behind them, there have been some interesting offensive numbers so far in 2012. For only the second time in the history of Target Field, there was a walk-off home run. There was a special surprise waiting for Willingham at the end of the day.http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J4z8Mj_BI3I/T8gxUISIicI/AAAAAAAABkI/gTJIpN6cWVk/s320/WillinghamShower.jpg This list looks at the all-time draft roster for the history of the Twins. PJ Walters honors his daughter's memory before every game with a touching gesture. Former Twins player Jason Kubel is going to be a dad again. The Twins broadcast team isn't great but Hawk Harrelson is terrible. Sometimes the number two pick in the draft doesn't always produce a great player. After getting hit hard as a member of the Twins rotation, Jason Marquis is forced to prove himself at Double-A for the Padres. One of the most talked about stories of the week revolved around a former Twins prospect and his growth in the steroids era. Torii Hunter was finally able to return to the Angels after dealing with a terrible family situation.My Weekly Rundown Tuesday: Tuesday Morning TidbitsTuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: 2011 Twins MLB Draft Capsule 2010 Twins MLB Draft Capsule 2009 Twins MLB Draft Capsule Thursday: 2008 Twins MLB Draft Capsule 2007 Twins MLB Draft Capsule Minnesota Twins Top 10 ProspectsVideo of the Week: One of the best moments of the year for the Twins happened earlier this week and this video celebrates Willingham's blast in very retro fashion. A shout out is in order to That's Twins Baseball for putting together this wonderful clip. Click here to view the article

"You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains."- Ebby Calvin LaLoosh, Bull Durham The rain came a tumbling down at Target Field on Saturday afternoon and the contest between the Twins and Royals was postponed because of the weather. By mid-afternoon, the skies had cleared up but the game had already been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on June 30.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Even with the rainout at Target Field, there was still plenty of minor league action across the Twins system on Saturday. Here is a look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from Saturday: ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 4 By the bottom of the third inning, the Red Wings found themselves in a 3-0 hole to the Bisons. PJ Walters started the game for Rochester and last five innings while surrendering the first three runs to Buffalo. In the sixth inning, Deolis Guerra made his first appearance at the Triple-A level since 2010 and he was solid. Guerra pitched three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out two. Esmerling Vasquez took the loss for Rochester in an interesting bottom of the ninth. He hit the lead off batter to start the frame and this was followed by a sacrifice bunt for the first out of the inning. The next batter was intentionally walked to set-up the double play but the problem was Vasquez walked the following batter to fill the bases. The fifth batter of the inning was struck out so the bases were loaded with two down before Vinny Rottino got a single to center field. Joe Benson was a big part of the comeback effort for Rochester with a 2-run home run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to one run. For the day, Benson went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double to raise his batting average to .187. Brian Dozier went 2-for-4 on the day with his ninth RBI of the year but he also had a throwing error in the fourth inning. Darin Mastroianni continued his hot streak with a triple in the contest as he is hitting .395 in his last ten contests. NEW BRITAIN 3, RICHMOND 5 No one in the Rock Cats batting order had more than one hit as the team lost for the third game in a row. Aaron Hicks followed up his big game at the plate on Friday night with a 1-for3 outing on Saturday. The only extra-base hit for New Britain came from Evan Bigley as he slapped a double in the sixth inning to bring the Rock Cats within a run. But this late inning rally would prove to be ill fated when Richmond scored an insurance run in the bottom half of the sixth. Steve Hirschfeld tossed six innings and gave up ten hits and five runs to the Flying Squirrels. It was Hirschfeld's second loss in his last two outings after winning his first two decisions of the year. Brett Jacobson looked good in relief by throwing the last two innings for the Rock Cats and not allowing a single hit. FORT MYERS 0, ST. LUCIE 4 There were a lot of hits in this game for both teams but the Miracle and the Mets both struggled to push them across the plate. In the game, the Miracle put together seven hits but failed to score a run and got shutout for the second time this year. The big boppers in for the Miracle were both able to put together a couple of hits. Angel Morales and Oswaldo Arcia each went 2-for-4 with a double. Both doubles went wasted as they were left stranded in scoring position. Jhon Garcia started the year as a relief pitcher but he was shifted to the starting rotation at the beginning of the week. In both starts he has gone five innings and allowed only one earned run. The Miracle have been unable to pull out the win for him in either of these trips to the mound. Matthew Hauser looked good in a little over two innings out of the bullpen. He only gave up one hit with one unearned run and three strikeouts. It was his third consecutive outing without giving up a run. BELOIT 3, DAYTON 7 All of the runs in this game were scored in the second inning and unfortunately for the Snappers, they came up on the short of the scoring spree. Steven Gruver started for Beloit and he never made it out of the second inning. Only three of the seven runs scored off of Gruver were earned but he allowed six hits and two walks. A.J. Achter did a good job of cleaning up the mess and he posted 4.1 innings pitched with no runs allowed and only three hits. Most of the offense came from the bottom portion of the line-up as the seven, eight, and nine batters each had an RBI. Matthew Koch was included in this group and he was the only Snappers batter to have more than one hit in the contest. Koch finished the day at 2-for-4 with a double. The other extra base hit for the Snappers came off of the bat of Eddie Rosario. It was Rosario's eighth double of the year and he leads the team in this category. Miguel Sano had a rough day by going 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts. He also had his fifth error of the season at third base. As a team, the Snappers were 1-13 with runners in scoring position so the opportunities were there but a comeback wasn't in the cards on this day. --- Players of the Day for Saturday Hitter of the Day- Joe Benson http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-65oIeqGONR4/T5ysWLi5sZI/AAAAAAAABOI/QwGPQTR8wZQ/s1600/JoeBenson.jpg Pitcher of the Day- A.J. Achter http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MyLdV8HSrLA/T5ysbLky_0I/AAAAAAAABOQ/_K1T9lbKH10/s200/ph_592091.jpg --- A Look Ahead - Sunday, April 29, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Buffalo - RHP Daryl Thompson New Britain @ Richmond - TBA Ft. Myers vs St. Lucie - RHP BJ Hermsen Beloit vs. Dayton - RHP Tim Shibuya --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and Seth or I will try and answer them! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Butera_Drew_Throwing_US_720.jpg At the beginning of spring, there was a question about what the Twins would do with the men behind the plate. Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit were locks to make the roster. Minnesota carried three catchers for most of 2012 so one assumed that a third catcher would be on the roster in 2013. Instead, Mauer and Doumit began the season as the only members of the Twins catching core. Middle infielder Eduardo Escobar was the emergency-only back-up. Drew Butera and Chris Herrmann were in the running for the third catcher role but both players started the season in Rochester.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It was a short run for Butera at Rochester. In his first at-bat, a pitch hit him on his hand; his pinky finger was broken and he hasn't been back on the field since. At 29 years old, Butera isn't exactly up-and-coming. He has over 500 plate appearances at the big league level and fans know what to expect from him. The front office has made some interesting choices with Butera so far this year. He could have been dropped from the 40-man roster on multiple occasions. The Twins have five catchers on their 40-man roster and Butera's .183/.232/.265 career MLB batting line is far below replacement level. His time might be running out in Minnesota, especially with other players' performances. Herrmann is getting his second taste of the big leagues after being a September call-up last season. His brief MLB stint last year didn't generate many memories but he is back now with more positive results. On Sunday afternoon, he hit his first career home run as part of his first multi-hit game. The ability of Herrmann to play multiple positions also makes him an intriguing roster option. On Sunday, he was starting in left field and this is a tendency that has continued from the minors. Over the course of his five seasons in the Twins system, he has played 169 games in left field and 220 games as catcher. When other members of the Twins roster begin to get healthy, it could get tough for the Twins to send him back down to Rochester. He is 25 years old and he has only 43 games of Triple-A experience. As the long 162-game schedule continues, the Twins are going to want a third catcher and it's looking more and more as though that will be Herrmann. Josmil Pinto is the other catcher on the Twins 40-man roster. He has played this year's entire schedule for Double-A New Britain. After a very strong season for Fort Myers last year, Pinto is putting together what might be his best year as a professional. Through 55 games, he is batting .332/.426/.535 with nine home runs, 12 doubles, and 42 RBI. New Britain has used him as a catcher and a DH this year but he is still very good behind the plate. He has thrown out 31% of base stealers. Pinto has also done a good job with some of the best young pitchers in the organization. New Britain pitchers Trevor May, Alex Meyer, and Logan Darnell could be on the same path as Pinto to the big leagues. Mauer and Doumit will likely continue to get most of the time behind the plate in the next two seasons. Herrmann can be a solid third catcher and part-time outfielder for the present and he is a viable option to take over the role of primary back-up when Doumit's contract expires. And if Pinto keeps playing like this, it will be hard to keep him out of the big leagues for very much longer. The present members of the Twins catching core continue to make their mark on the club. Players like Herrmann and Pinto make it fun to look at who might be future longer-term fixtures. Looking ahead, the Twins' catching roster looks to be in good shape. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Willingham.jpg Despite the Minnesota Twins' up and down start this year, it is most likely that the team will be sellers at the trade deadline. There will be plenty of talk about Justin Morneau being dealt in the coming months since his contract is up at the end of the year. Another name which will draw much speculation is Josh Willingham. Willingham is coming off his best season and there might be more than one team looking to add a powerful corner bat for the stretch run. In a story published this weekend, the Boston Globe talked about the possibility of a Willingham trade.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] According to one National League GM, "He's a powerful right-handed bat that any contender could stick right in the middle of their lineup and get outstanding production." He went on to say, "You'd have to give something up, but he'd be worth the expenditure. He can really hit." ESPN's Rumor Central mentioned the Pirates as a possible trade fit. They need an upgrade in their outfield and they have some players in the minor leagues that could be attractive to the Twins. It also helps that Willingham has a very club friendly contract. He is in the second year of a three-year, $21 million deal which any team could afford. Another wrinkle to the Willingham trade rumors is the ascension of stud prospect Oswaldo Arcia. It has been a whirlwind couple of days for Arcia. He made his MLB debut on Monday, he played for Rochester on Tuesday, and he got called back up to the big leagues after that game. Darin Mastroianni's injury will mean a longer look at Arcia this time around. Arcia won't turn 22 until next month, becoming the youngest position player to debut with the Twins since 20-year-old Joe Mauer. He was killing the ball at Triple-A and he certainly deserved this call-up. In ten games for Rochester, he was hitting .394/.474/.727 with three home runs, two doubles and eight runs scored. If Arcia had kept putting up those types of numbers it would have been hard to keep him at Triple-A. The problem for the Twins is finding him a place in the line-up. Arcia is used as a corner outfielder or designated hitter. The Twins have plenty of these types of players with Willingham, Chris Parmelee, and Ryan Doumit. For Arcia to stick with the Twins, they likely will need to make a trade. Morneau could be dealt creating a spot (first base) for Parmelee to move to. Willingham could also be traded to open an opening in the outfield. Both of these men could be traded before July and then there would be plenty of playing time for Mr. Arcia. His career is moving rapidly. He started the 2012 season at the High-A level so he played only 69 games at Double-A before getting the bump to Rochester this spring. He had a total of nine Triple-A games under his belt before he made his MLB debut. There should be tempered expectations for Arcia in the Majors, as we have seen how much Aaron Hicks has struggled. The Twins need Arcia to be a cornerstone of the franchise as the team tries to get back to winning baseball. This will be the first taste of what is to come. With (well-paid) players blocking Arcia's path, he most likely will get more playing time at Triple-A. If the Twins are looking to be sellers at the trade deadline a deal including Willingham could pave the way for Arcia settling in to a long-term spot on the roster. Willingham has done some great things in his Twins tenure but Arcia is the wave of the future. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hand-cursor-clicking-a-link1.jpg It was a rough week for the Twins- the losing streak stands at ten. The club hasn't won a game since May 13th. Two fifths of the starting rotation was replaced, including sending Vance Worley, the opening day starter, to Rochester. Even on a night where Josh Willingham hits two home runs, the club still could not find a way to win. Minnesota does have two of the best teams in all the minor leagues and two of the best players and the fourth pick in the MLB draft. And they've had some great links. Lots and lots of great links. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It was a busy week at NoDak Twins Fan. Make sure to check out all of my posts and some of the other great work from around the web. Oswaldo Arcia hasn't been playing and some recent struggles are to blame for his benching.Maybe it is just a case of an adjustment period for Arcia. I've liked Travis Harrison since the Twins took him in the draft. This Q&A will help you to get to know him a little better. Much like the MLB club, the Twins Double-A affiliate has fallen on some hard times. This link is worth a click just to see the picture. World Baseball Classic hero Sam Deduno is back in the rotation for the Twins. There will be walks, a few strikeouts, and hopefully some good defense behind him. The Twins have been telling the media that Kyle Gibson is staying in the minor leagues to find consistency but is the same standard being held for other pitchers? Is there a possibility that Aaron Hicks is improving? This Twins fan is keeping a close eye on his alcohol intake. Is it one of the best uses of a stadium promo ever? What happened to Vance Worley? According to Baseball America, the Twins have the top prospect tandem. The Twins Memorial Day jersey's look pretty cool. The Twitter feeds for the Twins and the Braves had quite the battle this week. Chris Colabello might be baseball's ultimate underdog. In 1997, the Twins drafted some very familiar names. If you were wondering, the Twins rotation has gotten worse. I was watching Seinfeld earlier this week and the kid behind the counter at the movie store was wearing a familiar baseball cap. MLB.com has quite the sense of humor when it comes to their error pages. The University of Cincinnati's baseball team has taken photobombing to an entirely new level. An employee at a Houston Astros game did something really gross this week. A rookie catcher for the Braves made a big mistake in a game against the Twins. Nick Punto is still making web gem gold in LA. A former member of the Twins organization is trying to revive his career after some drug problems. Nick Blackburn was very close to the devastating tornado in Oklahoma this week. The Royals broadcast sure screwed up a graphic this week. See if you can find all of the errors. The Orioles welcomed Kevin Gausman to the majors with lots of donuts. What if baseball had five bases? I had a dream this week that Francisco Liriano was 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA. Oh wait...My Weekly Rundown Monday: Talk to Contact: Episode 38Who is Caleb Thielbar? Tuesday: Soul Patrol: Back with a Vengeance Wednesday: Who is Chris Colabello? Twins Minor League Report (5/22): O-fer Kind of Night Thursday: Twins MLB Draft Profile: Clint Frazier, OFVideo of the Week: Byron Buxton is already getting local sports media attention and he's still multiple levels away from the big leagues. His tremendous start in Cedar Rapids makes it look like the Twins made the right decision with the second overall pick in last year's draft. His interview skills might need a little improvement but his play on the baseball field is superior to the competition. Click here to view the article