Cody Christie

Even though they are a last place team like the Twins, the pesky Seattle Mariners have seemed to have the Twins number in 2012. For the second night in a row, the Twins couldn't get much offense going and it's tough to win games without scoring runs. The good news is that the Twins are getting closer to getting the second pick in next year's draft. Only the Cubs and the Astros have a worse record than the Twins so this recent stretch of poor play has pushed Minnesota ahead of Colorado. I spent the evening taking in some Independent League Baseball as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks returned to Newman Outdoor Field. There was a Bobblelection held as fans had to pick between getting an Obama bobblehead or a Romney bobblehead. The first candidate to run out of bobbleheads would be declared the winner. It turns out that the Fort Myers Miracle are having a similar promotion on Thursday evening at their home game. ROCHESTER 10, BUFFALO 4 The Red Wings used a 5-run top of the ninth inning to separate themselves from the Bisons on Tuesday evening. Buffalo struck early for a couple runs but Rochester slowly pecked away before coming up big in their last at-bat. Rene Rivera and Tsuyoshi Nishioka each drove in three runs. Rivera had a home run and a double to his credit while Nishioka settled for a three hit night. Brian Dozier continues to struggle since his demotion as he went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Chris Parmelee had a hat trick with three strikeouts in the game. Sharion Martis picked up his third win of the year in a very strong outing. Over six innings on the mound, he gave up two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Anthony Slama made things a little more interesting in the ninth by giving up a two-run bomb but he still picked up his 13th save on the year. NEW BRITAIN 4, TRENTON 7 A big 5-run second inning put the Thunder up big and the Rock Cats couldn't recover on this night. Steve Hirschfeld was roughed up for six runs in less than two innings of work. This made it a long night for the bullpen but Edgar Ibarra, Dakota Watts, Aaron Thompson, and Jose Gonzalez managed to make it through the rest of the game by only allowing one more run. The lone run came on a solo home run so it was a pretty good 6.1 innings from the bullpen forces. Josmil Pinto went 3-for-4 on the night with his first double since being promoted from Fort Myers. In the fifth inning, Deibinson Romero hit his 19th home run of the year. Nate Hanson also went 2-for-4 in the loss. FORT MYERS 10, BRADENTON 11 (7 INNINGS) FORT MYERS 4, BRADENTON 2 (7 INNINGS) The first game of the night turned into quite the slugfest as the teams combined for 21 runs on 19 hits. The Miracle entered the last inning down by six runs and they would storm back before falling a run short. Steve Liddle hit his third home run of the season and he had three RBI. Most of the dirty work was done by Angel Morales as he hit a grand slam in the final frame to make things interesting. With his RBI from earlier in the game, he finished with five RBI in the contest. Clint Dempster took the loss after giving up six runs in less than an inning on the mound. Compared to the first game of the night, the second game was a nice, tidy win for the Miracle in their double-header. A couple runs in the third and sixth innings were enough to push the team to a victory. Steve Liddle hit his second home run of the day and his two-run shot turned out to be the difference in the score. Daniel Ortiz was the only member of the Miracle to have more than one hit by going 2-for-4 with his 23rd double. Pat Dean earned his 10th victory by pitching five innings and surrendering two runs with five strikeouts. BELOIT 0, CEDAR RAPIDS 5 The Snappers put seven hits on the board but the pitching staff for the Kernals kept them from scoring a run in this game. Beloit only had one extra base hit in the game, a double off of the bat of Drew Leachman. Jairo Rodriguez went 2-for-3 and he was the lone player with a multi-hit game. The team left nine men on base and they missed the presence of Miguel Sano who was out of the line-up for the second straight night. Matt Tomshaw had an okay outing but he was still saddled with his fifth loss of the year. The team had three errors in the game including two from Adam Pettersen trying to fill in for Sano at third base. This meant that Tomshaw only gave up two earned runs during his five innings pitched. It was the third consecutive start that Tomshaw has lost. ELIZABETHTON 6, PRICETON 4 A solid offensive outing from the young E-Twins helped the team to the victory on Tuesday evening. Top draft pick Byron Buxton went 2-for-4 with two steals and two runs scored out of the lead-off spot. He was backed up by Niko Goodrum as he was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple in the game. Max Kepler continued to show his power stroke by hitting his 10th home run and stealing a base. Hein Robb started the game and gave up two earned runs on seven hits in a little less than five innings. Joshua Burris improved to a perfect 7-0 with the victory on this night out of the bullpen. He threw the last two innings and only allowed one man to reach base. --- Players of the Day for August 28, 2012 Hitter of the Day: Steve Liddle [ATTACH=CONFIG]2172[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day: Shairon Martis [ATTACH=CONFIG]2173[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, August 29th Schedule Rochester: Off Day New Britain @ Trenton: LHP Logan Darnell Fort Myers @ Bradenton: RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit @ Wisconsin: LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton @ Danville: RHP JO Berrios --- If you have any questions or comments on the minor league system, leave them in the comments sections so they can be answered by myself or one of the other readers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2153[/ATTACH] The biggest debate in the baseball world over the course of the last few months has been surrounding the Washington Nationals and their decision to shut-down Stephen Strasburg, one of the best young starting pitchers in the game. He is pitching in his first full season at the big league level and he only pitched at the end of last season since he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Nationals fans see their team in first place and they want Strasburg to help the franchise reach the playoffs for the first time since the team moved to DC. Even with pressure from outside sources, the front office for the team is holding their ground and telling the media that Strasburg will be shut down at some point in the next couple weeks. Almost a decade ago, the Cubs were in a similar position with a young pitcher of their own but their approach to handling their young arm was a little different. As Tom Verducci wrote about in his piece yesterday, the Cubs and their coaching staff seemed to beat Mark Prior into the ground in his first season as a big league pitcher. He had pitched almost 170 innings by the time September rolled around and he would average 125 pitches in his last nine starts of the 2003 season. It was by far his best season as a professional but he would never be the same from that point forward. Some blame his overuse and others look at his poor mechanics but teams have never looked at young pitchers the same way since Prior's breakdown. With his minor league seasons taken into account, Prior had thrown 379 innings by the time of his age 22 season. This number seems to be large for a player and it also includes some of those outings with high pitch counts that aren't common in the present day game. Prior was the number two pick out of college in the 2001 draft and the Twins had the same pick in the draft that took place the year before Prior left college. The Twins took Adam Johnson, a right-handed pitcher, out of Cal State Fullerton. He didn't have quite the pedigree of Prior but he was trying to work his way to the big leagues through the Twins farm system. By the time he reached the end of his age 22 season, he had thrown 357 innings in the minor leagues, a number very close to Prior's total number of innings. Johnson would be out of the Twins organization after the 2004 season as he went on to play in independent leagues, the Mexican League, and eventually he joined the A's farm system. Prior would pitch over 100 innings in 2004 and 2005 but he hasn't pitched at the big league level since 2006. Were the Cubs and Twins following the same plan by pushing their young pitchers too hard? Things have sure changed in recent years for young pitchers. As touched on before, the Nationals have a lot of money and one surgery under their belt with Strasburg. This has caused them to be very cautious when it comes to their precious arm. As the baseball landscape has changed so has the approach to innings limits and pitch counts for different players. Matt Garza was taken by the Twins in the first round of the 2005 draft and the team watched his innings limit more in his younger years. A shift happened in the baseball world and it's hard to get through this time of the year without hearing about minor league pitchers reaching their limit and being shut down for the year or sent to the bullpen. Flash-forward to the present day and it seems as if every player is forced to undergo some kind of operation during their career with Tommy John surgery leading the way. Stephan Strasburg might seem like the case study to follow for teams looking to model their innings limits and pitch counts for a pitcher. The nice things for the Nationals has been to see how fellow starter Jordan Zimmerman has done since his own injury. The team followed a strict pitch count with him during his first full season back in 2011 and now the team has been rewarded with him having his best season as a professional. The limits worked for Zimmerman and the team hopes that the same will hold true for Strasburg. Fans of the Twins minor league system have been following the recovery of former first round pick Kyle Gibson as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery. He is currently pitching with the Rochester Red Wings and it sounds like the team is happy to see him finish the year with that club. From there, he will most likely go to the instructional leagues or to the Arizona Fall League to continue his comeback. The Twins will be in a similar position to the Nationals next season with Gibson as he will be in his first full season since the surgery. There will undoubtedly be an innings limit for the right-handed pitcher in 2013 and he might have to be shut down early much like Strasburg. The Cubs pushed Mark Prior to the limit and the rest is baseball history. Now the world of pitching is all about innings limits, 100 pitch outings, and trying to find the right combination of rest and recovery. Tommy John surgeries seem to be a right of passage to make it to the big leagues and this comes in an era that has seen plenty of perfect games and no hitters. With baseball toughening their stance on PEDs, pitchers seem to have gotten back a little bit more of their edge on the mound and this makes young arms all the more valuable. Baseball will never be the same because of Mark Prior but he can't have imagined that it would be for this reason.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2133[/ATTACH] The buzz around the baseball world this weekend surrounded the blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. In the deal, the Dodgers got Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Besides dumping a ton of salary, the Red Sox got James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Jerry Sands, and Ivan De Jesus. It is pretty amazing to see a deal like this getting done since players need to pass through waivers before being traded at this point in the season. One interesting note for Twins fans that came out after this big deal went down was that the Dodgers turned to Adrian Gonzalez after failing to get Justin Morneau. It was the second time this season that the Dodgers had contacted the Twins about a deal for Morneau The first time was around the trade deadline but the Twins passed at that time and it seems that the team passed on a deal for him once again last week. Morneau struggled on the field at the beginning of 2012 as he adjusted back to being a full time player for the first time in two years. There were plenty of question marks surrounding his health in spring training but he has put many of these issues to rest. After appearing in a combined 150 games in the last two seasons, Morneau has played in 103 contests and he is showing no signs of slowing down. He has hit .322/.368/.517 with 6 home runs and 11 doubles in the second half of the season which is much closer to the old MVP version of the slugging first baseman. There is one season remaining on the big contract that Morneau signed with the Twins back in 2008. The 31-year old outfielder is due $14 million for next season and that is a lot of money for a team that doesn't know if they will be in contention. With his big contract and looming free agency, there will continue to be rumors about the future of Morneau with the Twins. So the question remains, what will the Twins do with Justin Morneau? Since the trade deadline has come and gone, the only way Morneau could be dealt at this point in the season is by being placed on waivers. From the sound of the reports out of Los Angeles, Morneau has already been placed on waivers. If he was claimed by the Dodgers, that means that all of the teams in the American League passed on Morneau and most of the National League followed the same path. With all of that being said, a waiver deal seems unlikely at this point in the season When the offseason rolls around, the Twins could play off of Morneau's positive second half and try to work a trade to another club. Terry Ryan is back in the saddle for a full offseason and a Morneau deal could bring some prized possessions back to the minor leagues of the organization. Allowing teams to see that Morneau is fully healthy for all of 2012 could also go a long way to increasing his value in the trade market. There will be plenty of rumors surrounding Morneau this offseason and the winter meetings will be full of discussion on the slugger. If the front office feels that there aren't any adequate deals for Morneau in the offseason, they could hold on to the first baseman for the beginning of next year. His strong bat fits well into the middle of a line-up and the team might want to get some more value out of their former MVP. He could be a very useful piece if the team finds themselves in contention next year in the AL Central. Chances are that the Twins won't be in contention next season and a trade deadline deal might have to be struck for the star. Fans were unhappy with this year's deadline deal for Francisco Liriano so it might not be in the team's best interest to wait until next July for a trade to get done. There is always the chance that the Twins will hang on to Morneau through all of next season before he becomes a free agent. This would allow the team to consider a contract extension for the player who has only known the Twins organization. He will be 32-years old during the 2013 season and he might want a change of scenery as he starts getting closer to the end of his career. The lure of going to a club with more recent playoff success could be too much to turn down. Money will no doubtably play some kind of role in his choice but the Twins saw Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan leave for greener pastures this past offseason. While the Twins will have to make a decision about Morneau in the coming year, the elephant in the room is Chris Parmelee and his hot swinging bat in the minor leagues. Parmelee has been with the Twins on a few different occasions this season and it has been tough for him to find at-bats with the club at the big league level. If Morneau is still on the roster during next season, it could still be hard for the Twins to find at-bats for Parmelee. For the Twins, Parmelee would be a much cheaper option at first base since he would be making the minimum salary. He will also be 25-years old for the entirety of next season so the Twins need to see if he can handle playing at the big league level. The Twins will have plenty of choice to make in the coming months with a variety of players on the roster but the future of Morneau will be watched closely by all of Twins Territory.

I think Span and Morneau will be dealt but Willingham will stick around. It would be nice to get starting pitching back but it is more important to get good value back. I doubt the Twins will spend big money on a free agent starting pitcher. They haven't done it in the past so it would seem out of character for them to start now. Gardy isn't going anywhere. The Pohlads are too loyal but I could see some changes in the rest of the coaching staff. Dozier is going to get another shot to prove himself as the shortstop in September and in spring training.

Plouffe was a first round pick so the expectations have been high for him since the beginning. He also showed some promise during his time in the minor leagues. Valencia was a 19th round pick and he had some good seasons in the low minors that helped to get hopes up surrounding his future. But his slugging dropped significantly the higher he moved up the ladder.

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Happy Friday to everyone in Twins Territory! As a professional educator by day, I saw my summer come to an end yesterday with the start of another school year. It feels good to get back into the swing of things even though it's still hot and sticky outside. The Minnesota State Fair started yesterday and attending the State Fair is one of the things that I will miss most about living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. The food, the fun, and the festivities of the State Fair are one of the great ways to put a close to the summer months. It has been a rough West Coast road trip for the Twins and it doesn't look to be getting any easier with a four game series versus the Texas Rangers this weekend. The Twins were swept by the last place Mariners of the weekend and they were only able to get one victory in Oakland. It could be a long weekend in Texas before the Twins head back to Minnesota for a four game series with Seattle, the team that just swept them. Let's not get down in the dumps on a Friday by looking back at the last dismal week for the Twins. There's no better way to spend part of your Friday than reading this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." At the beginning of spring training, it seemed like the Twins starting rotation could have a chance to keep them in contention but that plan went horribly wrong. There are still plenty of reasons to watch the Twins in the last few weeks of the season. Twins supplemental round draft pick JO Berrios has been making some noise on the field and he is hoping to make a difference in his homeland. Independent leagues can provide some solid minor league players to add depth to an organization. Is Ron Gardenhire's future in doubt? Sam Deduno has been a surprise so far for the Twins but it's hard to figure out how he is being successful. Who should be in the starting rotation for the Twins in September? Top prospect Miguel Sano and the rest of the Snappers got all dressed up for a recent game. It has been frustrating to watch the way that the Twins and their medical staff deal with injury situations. The latest installment includes Denard Span missing 10 days and we found out he's claustrophobic. Speaking of the medical staff messing up, Carl Pavano was given a new diagnosis this week and his season is done. The most exciting news of the week might be that RHP Kyle Gibson is returning to Rochester on his way back from Tommy John surgery. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydTPhBBulCc/UDbTQUlXUbI/AAAAAAAADKc/PgELAr5wpbc/s320/KyleGibson.jpg Umpires get a lot of grief sometimes but this story is one of the most amazing of the week. Johan Santana tossed the first no-hitter in Mets history but he was shutdown earlier this week and won't pitch again in 2012. But his no-hitter was worth it, right? For the first time in 15 years, Orioles fans have the opportunity to purchase postseason tickets and it's always good news when Lew Ford has a shot at October baseball. In other Orioles news, former Twins slugger Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and ready for a rehab stint. One of my favorite shows on TV is Pawn Stars and this original Willie Mays uniform was worth a lot of money to the shop. Fans in Seattle showed up to honor their King after his perfect game last week. The Cleveland Indians should be in the midst of quite a run in the AL Central but multiple injuries over the last half of a decade to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner have stopped that from happening. This was suppose to be the year that the Royals made some noise in the American League but that hasn't happened in 2012. Former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett signed a 2-year, $11 million contract with the Padres before last season and he was released earlier this week. Michael Cuddyer's first year in Colorado hasn't gone exactly as planned. Gary Gaetti will get to manage Roger Clemens this weekend in a independent minor league baseball game. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Mounting losses mean improving draft stock Tuesday: The Year in Twins Trading Cards: 2012 edition Wednesday: Thoughts on Blackburn, Nishioka moves Thursday: What could have been for Rene Tosoni Video of the Week: If you frequently visitor and reader of my post, you know that I enjoy the minor leagues and prospects in general. Cincinnati Reds farm hand Billy Hamilton stole his way into the record books this week by breaking Vince Coleman's record of 145 steals in 1983. Hamilton got his 146th steal and the speedster even made it third base for the record.

Happy Friday to everyone in Twins Territory! As a professional educator by day, I saw my summer come to an end yesterday with the start of another school year. It feels good to get back into the swing of things even though it's still hot and sticky outside. The Minnesota State Fair started yesterday and attending the State Fair is one of the things that I will miss most about living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. The food, the fun, and the festivities of the State Fair are one of the great ways to put a close to the summer months. It has been a rough West Coast road trip for the Twins and it doesn't look to be getting any easier with a four game series versus the Texas Rangers this weekend. The Twins were swept by the last place Mariners of the weekend and they were only able to get one victory in Oakland. It could be a long weekend in Texas before the Twins head back to Minnesota for a four game series with Seattle, the team that just swept them. Let's not get down in the dumps on a Friday by looking back at the last dismal week for the Twins. There's no better way to spend part of your Friday than reading this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." At the beginning of spring training, it seemed like the Twins starting rotation could have a chance to keep them in contention but that plan went horribly wrong. There are still plenty of reasons to watch the Twins in the last few weeks of the season. Twins supplemental round draft pick JO Berrios has been making some noise on the field and he is hoping to make a difference in his homeland. Independent leagues can provide some solid minor league players to add depth to an organization. Is Ron Gardenhire's future in doubt? Sam Deduno has been a surprise so far for the Twins but it's hard to figure out how he is being successful. Who should be in the starting rotation for the Twins in September? Top prospect Miguel Sano and the rest of the Snappers got all dressed up for a recent game. It has been frustrating to watch the way that the Twins and their medical staff deal with injury situations. The latest installment includes Denard Span missing 10 days and we found out he's claustrophobic. Speaking of the medical staff messing up, Carl Pavano was given a new diagnosis this week and his season is done. The most exciting news of the week might be that RHP Kyle Gibson is returning to Rochester on his way back from Tommy John surgery. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydTPhBBulCc/UDbTQUlXUbI/AAAAAAAADKc/PgELAr5wpbc/s320/KyleGibson.jpg Umpires get a lot of grief sometimes but this story is one of the most amazing of the week. Johan Santana tossed the first no-hitter in Mets history but he was shutdown earlier this week and won't pitch again in 2012. But his no-hitter was worth it, right? For the first time in 15 years, Orioles fans have the opportunity to purchase postseason tickets and it's always good news when Lew Ford has a shot at October baseball. In other Orioles news, former Twins slugger Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and ready for a rehab stint. One of my favorite shows on TV is Pawn Stars and this original Willie Mays uniform was worth a lot of money to the shop. Fans in Seattle showed up to honor their King after his perfect game last week. The Cleveland Indians should be in the midst of quite a run in the AL Central but multiple injuries over the last half of a decade to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner have stopped that from happening. This was suppose to be the year that the Royals made some noise in the American League but that hasn't happened in 2012. Former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett signed a 2-year, $11 million contract with the Padres before last season and he was released earlier this week. Michael Cuddyer's first year in Colorado hasn't gone exactly as planned. Gary Gaetti will get to manage Roger Clemens this weekend in a independent minor league baseball game. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Mounting losses mean improving draft stock Tuesday: The Year in Twins Trading Cards: 2012 edition Wednesday: Thoughts on Blackburn, Nishioka moves Thursday: What could have been for Rene Tosoni Video of the Week: If you frequently visitor and reader of my post, you know that I enjoy the minor leagues and prospects in general. Cincinnati Reds farm hand Billy Hamilton stole his way into the record books this week by breaking Vince Coleman's record of 145 steals in 1983. Hamilton got his 146th steal and the speedster even made it third base for the record.

It would be great to see Gibson find success at Triple-A before the end of the year. Hopefully, he will continue to improve his pitch counts and be ready for the start of spring training or maybe a trip to the Arizona Fall League.

I like the Avengers idea. Who would be Iron Man? And someone would most likely be put in a Black Widow costume even though it is a girl character.

Can they send the medical staff on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues? Won't happen but something needs to change.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OKqtytPyMi0/UDWCPR_ky7I/AAAAAAAADKM/tkqELruXtnM/s320/ReneTosoni.jpg At this point last season, Rene Tosoni was on the Twins MLB roster and he was playing on an almost daily basis for the club. Granted that team was on it's way to one of the worst finishes in franchise history but he was still an everyday player for a big league squad. He was 25-years old at the time and he was living his dream after reaching the big leagues in his fifth season as a professional. Things were looking up for Mr. Tosoni but things have gone in the complete opposite direction for him in 2012 as the team announced that he had been removed from the 40-man roster for the club. It has been a disastrous season for Tosoni so far this year as he has battle through multiple injures and poor play on the field. After appearing in 60 games with the Twins in 2011, Tosoni struggled at Triple-A to start the 2012 campaign by hitting .167/.267/.197 with two extra-base hits in 21 games. The organization demoted him to New Britain and his season hasn't improved much from there. With a combined 564 plate appearances between the MLB and Triple-A level, things should have gone better for Tosoni with the Rock Cats but he has struggled to the tune of batting .220/.293/.317 with 12 extra-base hits in 50 games. To say that it has been a rough year for him is a major understatement. Tosoni was taken by the Twins as a 36th round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of British Columbia but he wouldn't appear in a game until 2007. He was a draft and follow player that went to a Junior College in Canada. As a very late round pick, the Twins couldn't have been expecting a ton from Tosoni during his professional career but he showed promise in the first few seasons with the organization. He was 20-years old by the time he started in rookie ball but he hit .300/.402/.425 in his first professional season. A broken leg would shorten the next year for Tosoni but his batting numbers went up slightly by hitting .315/.417/.445 with almost all of his games played for Fort Myers. Before the 2009 season, Tosoni had only hit five home runs in his two seasons of play. By the end of the 2009 season, he would clobber three times that amount. He showed the ability to drive the ball with 25 doubles and four triples in his first full season as a professional. His batting average took a dip to .271 but he was still getting on base at a .360 clip and the extra power was great to see from the 22-year old. During the All-Star Break, he was named to the MLB Future's Game and he was named the MVP of that contest. He would go to the Arizona Fall League during the offseason to compete with the top prospects in the game. The future couldn't have been brighter and it was looking more and more like the outfielder could have a future with the Twins. The 2010 season might have been where things started to go bad for Mr. Tosoni. He had a sore shoulder to start the year and he eventually was forced to have surgery on his labrum. Following his breakout season in 2009, the Twins wanted to see more out of Tosoni but he only appeared in 52 games. In limited action, he hit .270/.369/.422 with 16 extra-base hits over 185 at-bats with New Britain. When the Twins called him up during the next season, he wasn't hitting the ball all that well with Rochester but the plague of injuries meant the team wanted a look at him. Tosoni showed some ability to knock the ball out of the park but he only batted .203 over the course of his 189 plate appearances at the big league level. After passing through waivers, it looks as if Tosoni will stay in the Twins organization. His future looked bright a few short seasons ago but that's how fast a player's stock can fall. It has been tough for him to stay healthy in his professional career and this has cost him at-bats in multiple seasons. The last two seasons have been horrendous for him in the minor leagues and it's tough to know what the future will hold for him. Twins fans and the front office of the organization are left wondering what could have been for this 26-year old outfielder.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OKqtytPyMi0/UDWCPR_ky7I/AAAAAAAADKM/tkqELruXtnM/s320/ReneTosoni.jpg At this point last season, Rene Tosoni was on the Twins MLB roster and he was playing on an almost daily basis for the club. Granted that team was on it's way to one of the worst finishes in franchise history but he was still an everyday player for a big league squad. He was 25-years old at the time and he was living his dream after reaching the big leagues in his fifth season as a professional. Things were looking up for Mr. Tosoni but things have gone in the complete opposite direction for him in 2012 as the team announced that he had been removed from the 40-man roster for the club. It has been a disastrous season for Tosoni so far this year as he has battle through multiple injures and poor play on the field. After appearing in 60 games with the Twins in 2011, Tosoni struggled at Triple-A to start the 2012 campaign by hitting .167/.267/.197 with two extra-base hits in 21 games. The organization demoted him to New Britain and his season hasn't improved much from there. With a combined 564 plate appearances between the MLB and Triple-A level, things should have gone better for Tosoni with the Rock Cats but he has struggled to the tune of batting .220/.293/.317 with 12 extra-base hits in 50 games. To say that it has been a rough year for him is a major understatement. Tosoni was taken by the Twins as a 36th round pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft out of British Columbia but he wouldn't appear in a game until 2007. He was a draft and follow player that went to a Junior College in Canada. As a very late round pick, the Twins couldn't have been expecting a ton from Tosoni during his professional career but he showed promise in the first few seasons with the organization. He was 20-years old by the time he started in rookie ball but he hit .300/.402/.425 in his first professional season. A broken leg would shorten the next year for Tosoni but his batting numbers went up slightly by hitting .315/.417/.445 with almost all of his games played for Fort Myers. Before the 2009 season, Tosoni had only hit five home runs in his two seasons of play. By the end of the 2009 season, he would clobber three times that amount. He showed the ability to drive the ball with 25 doubles and four triples in his first full season as a professional. His batting average took a dip to .271 but he was still getting on base at a .360 clip and the extra power was great to see from the 22-year old. During the All-Star Break, he was named to the MLB Future's Game and he was named the MVP of that contest. He would go to the Arizona Fall League during the offseason to compete with the top prospects in the game. The future couldn't have been brighter and it was looking more and more like the outfielder could have a future with the Twins. The 2010 season might have been where things started to go bad for Mr. Tosoni. He had a sore shoulder to start the year and he eventually was forced to have surgery on his labrum. Following his breakout season in 2009, the Twins wanted to see more out of Tosoni but he only appeared in 52 games. In limited action, he hit .270/.369/.422 with 16 extra-base hits over 185 at-bats with New Britain. When the Twins called him up during the next season, he wasn't hitting the ball all that well with Rochester but the plague of injuries meant the team wanted a look at him. Tosoni showed some ability to knock the ball out of the park but he only batted .203 over the course of his 189 plate appearances at the big league level. After passing through waivers, it looks as if Tosoni will stay in the Twins organization. His future looked bright a few short seasons ago but that's how fast a player's stock can fall. It has been tough for him to stay healthy in his professional career and this has cost him at-bats in multiple seasons. The last two seasons have been horrendous for him in the minor leagues and it's tough to know what the future will hold for him. Twins fans and the front office of the organization are left wondering what could have been for this 26-year old outfielder.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2079[/ATTACH] 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. 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 card for 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 set but 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" set when 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

When I saw this in one of my blog feeds, I thought it was just speculation. Turns out it's true!! Guess it caught me a little off guard. I thought that the Twins would stick with Blackburn because he is owed so much next season. Glad that they made the right moves with both of these players at this point in their careers.

MVP: Andrew McCutchen Cy Young: Johnny Cueto Rookie of the Year: Todd Frazier Manager of the Year: Davey Johnson

MVP: Mike Trout Cy Young: David Price Rookie of the Year: Mike Trout Manager of the Year: Buck Showalter