Steve Lein

He is awesome at making these plays, but I think he has a long ways to go on being graceful at the wall, particularly after he makes the catch. You almost never see him have a "soft landing." Maybe that's because unless he goes that hard he's not going to make the play, but Torii Hunter almost always came down from plays at the wall in a smooth manner. They should get him working with him on those plays.

He wouldn't have even registered on my radar for being sent there and I have expressed similar feelings on it, but we don't know all the things that went in the decision to add him. Seth makes a good one, others could be that nobody else wanted to go, or they had other plans. Maybe something like this for instance: If they were looking at middle infielders to send, Jermaine Palacios and Nick Gordon would have been good choices. Gordon was already there last year so maybe he didn't want to go again. Palacios might want to play back home in Venezuela instead... After that the depth chart for middle infielders actually gets to Miller pretty quick.

Today starts the 2017 Arizona Fall League season. Each week throughout the Fall League, Steve Lein will post an update on each of the Twins prospects there. As I watch my dad post picture after picture of himself trudging through the northern woods for grouse and sitting on the island of our northern lake waiting for ducks with the family lab Sage by his side, I’m reminded of how much I love the Fall season. These are things I grew up doing with him, my brother, and our dogs, and has instilled a lifelong appreciation of this time of year and the colors that come with it. It is my favorite time of the year. But October also holds a different feeling for a lot of sports fans, myself included, as it also means it is time for the MLB playoffs and the race for the pennant for their favorite team. While the Minnesota Twins finally made it back to the postseason this year, their early exit was a hard one to take until you realized what it meant for the future. That it is very bright for a young hitting core of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler. All of these players spent some of their minor league development time playing baseball in the offseason. While Sano and Polanco spent this time in their home country of the Dominican Republic where they grew up not too far away from each other, Buxton, Rosario and Kepler all spent time in the Arizona Fall League, which kicks off today around 2:35PM CST.For anyone who doesn’t know, the AFL is a short season league where every team in Major League Baseball sends some of their top prospects in October and is often used as a proving ground for these players who are looking to take the final steps to their MLB dreams. Many of the top prospects in baseball are sent here to make a case for an early call-up next year, but there are also many experienced MiLB-ers on the doorstep who are evaluated whether or not to be placed their team's 40-man roster. These minor league games in October can determine a lot going into the next MLB season for these players, and that’s why I love these games. Each MLB team typically sends seven players to the AFL, and they are split up among six teams. This year the Twins are again represented on the Surprise Saguaros roster with pitchers Ryan Eades, Tyler Jay, Tom Hackimer and Andrew Vasquez and position players Sean Miller, Chris Paul and LaMonte Wade. They will join prospects from the rosters of the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers. It will be the first trip to the league for all of the Twins players, and each them will be looking to accomplish something different with their time there. Of players sent to the AFL last fall for Minnesota, three made their MLB debut during the 2017 season. They were catcher Mitch Garver and pitchers Randy Rosario and John Curtiss. So as you can see, a lot of these guys have potential to impact the majors in the following season. Each week I’ll be recapping the action for all of the Twins representatives during their time in the desert of Arizona, so who are these guys? What have they done and what will I be watching for in the AFL games this year? Let’s take a look! 2017 Minnesota Twins Prospects in the AFL: — The most interesting name may be that of pitcher Tyler Jay. With high expectations coming into the 2016 season after being drafted number six overall the year before, Jay has had trouble staying healthy. That was the case again in 2017 as he pitched just 11.2 innings on the season, essentially losing an entire year of development. In thirteen starts with the Fort Myers Miracle in 2016, Jay did flash a lot of the stuff that made him an attractive pick at the top end of the first round. He went 5-5 with a 3.10 ERA and struck out 8.8/9IP with a 1.22 WHIP. He was even bumped up to the Chattanooga Lookouts roster early in July of that season, but he didn’t finish that month or his season due to a neck injury. Because he has missed so much time, many of the same questions I had when writing his draft preview two years ago remain. We also aren’t quite sure if the Twins new brass thinks he could still be a starting pitcher since before the 2017 season started they moved him into the bullpen with the Lookouts. The main thing I believe Jay will be doing in the AFL is getting some of those missed innings under his belt. It also will intrigue me to see if he makes any starts as typically each team sends at least one starter, but none of the others prospects sent quite fit that role. If Jay can show that his plus-stuff still plays up against the elite competition of the AFL after being out so long, I can envision a scenario where he starts in AAA next season, a phone call away from the majors. — All LaMonte Wade has done since joining the Twins organization as a ninth-round draft pick in 2015, is get on base. Across four levels so far in his career, he has a .404 on-base percentage and has drawn more walks than strikeouts. Even more amazing from a comparison standpoint, is the number of walks he has drawn is significantly higher than Joe Mauer did in his MiLB career before debuting (177 in 273 games vs. 129 in 277 games). What Wade hasn’t done so far in his career, is hit for much power but there is some in there. He had 22 doubles, three triples, and seven home runs with Chattanooga this season, and his 67 RBI and .397 OBP ranked second on the team to only team MVP Jonathan Rodriguez. As the year progressed he went from hitting in the middle of the Lookouts lineup to batting in the top third, finishing the year as their number three hitter. He doesn’t have the “wow” tool or tools that many top prospects do, but can do a bit of everything and is not a slouch in any regard. He also doesn’t struggle against same-sided pitchers, as his career OPS vs. left-handers is actually higher than against righties. Wade gets high marks from scouts for his baseball acumen, work ethic, and makeup that they say allows him to outplay his scouting report. There is not much more development needed here as Wade has excelled at every stop, so the AFL will be a good point to judge just how big of an impact he might be able to make in the majors if needed next season. He remind sme a lot of Denard Span at the top of a lineup and we may get to see soon if that is indeed his ceiling. — Infielder Chris Paul was a force in the Fort Myers Miracle lineup this year when he was on the field, where he slashed .328/.380/.471 in 61 games. His issue as he heads to the AFL is that it was just for 61 games as he dealt with a wrist injury. Drafted in the sixth round of the 2015 draft from California-Berkeley, Paul was a senior sign and will turn 25 on Thursday so he has been older than his competition to this point. He played primarily third base this year with Fort Myers, but has played in all the corner spots of the field in as he looks for the role best suited for him. In the AFL the Twins likely will want to see some power from him and perhaps a bit more clarity of what role he might be able to fill in the coming season. He will likely start the 2018 season in Chattanooga, with perhaps his position determined by his AFL performance. — Reliever Andrew Vasquez goes to the AFL out of the single-A levels and spent most of his time at Low-A which makes his selection intriguing as he’s not as far along as most other prospects who go there. In Vasquez’s case, it is likely deserved as he flat out dominated the Midwest League in 2017. He checked in at number five on Twins Daily’s Relief Pitcher of the Year Award, due to his 1.55 ERA and 85 K’s in 58.0IP on the season. That mark was good for a 13.2K/9 rate, which is elite territory. At 6-foot-6 and left-handed, he looks intimidating, but it’s not a big fastball that he uses to dominate hitters, or anything with velocity for that matter. It’s his big curveball that should probably be classified as a “bugs bunny” type, as it is known to come in below 70MPH. Player’s know it’s coming, but they still can’t hit it and it allows his below 90’s fastball to play up while they sit on it. He is also nearly unhittable against same-sided hitters, as he didn’t allow a single extra-base-hit to them during the 2017 season. It will be really interesting to see how his curveball-centric approach plays against the elite competition of the AFL, and I’ll be watching to see if right-handers are able to figure him out enough to limit his upside. — Pitcher Ryan Eades was drafted in the second round of the 2013 draft out of LSU as a guy who held a lot of projection and showed elite “stuff” at times in his collegiate career. He always got mentions about how his stats didn’t live up to his arsenal. As a pro so far in his career, you might say the same thing has held true. He was used primarily as a starter in his first three seasons, spending an entire season at each rung of the ladder until he plateaued during the 2016 with Chattanooga. Late in the year they made the switch to the bullpen where he struggled to keep runs off the board, but he did boost his strikeout rate. In the 2017 season he started off in the bullpen, but whenever a need arose he stepped in as a starter was actually pretty effective at times. He even made a couple of appearances with Rochester in early June where he allowed just one run on six hits in eight innings, while striking out nine. When he was sent back to the Lookouts, he maintained around a mid-3.00’s ERA through the end of the season, finishing with a mark of 3.63 in AA. In front of Jay, Eades is the most likely nominee to get starts in the AFL from the Twins representatives, and the likely outcome from his performances is whether he gets another shot as a starter, or moves to the bullpen full time in 2018. — The name Tom Hackimer probably isn’t a well-known one for Twins prospect followers quite yet, but that could be changing very soon. Drafted in the fourth round of the 2016 draft out of St. Johns, he is a pure reliever prospect who is performing at a level near the top amongst his peers. He began the 2017 season in Cedar Rapids, and was outstanding as evidenced by his 0.58 WHIP. He appeared in 16 games, pitching 24.0 innings with a 28/3 K/BB ratio and pick up the Save in 6 games. After his promotion to Fort Myers, he pitched another 37.1 innings with 43 K’s against 19 walks. He finished the season with a 1.76 ERA and 0.85 WHIP across the two levels. Like Trevor Hildenberger who made a big impact with the Twins this season, Hackimer is a sidewinder who comes at hitters from a drastically different angle. This also allows him to be deadly on right-handed hitters, who managed just a .352 OPS against him in 2017. Like with Vasquez in the AFL, I’m going to be watching if left-handed hitters can negate his effectiveness moving forward, but with a good showing he should be in Chattanooga to start the 2018 season. — Infielder Sean Miller came to the Minnesota Twins organization out of the 2015 draft in the 10th round. He has been what you might call a utility player so far in his career, as he has played all over the infield and even got a few games in the outfield with Fort Myers in 2017. After being drafted, he spent a couple of weeks in Elizabethton before moving up to Cedar Rapids to finish the season. He hit .284 in 26 games with the Kernels that season and remained there for the first 90 games of 2016 before being bumped up to the Miracle to finish the year. He spent all of the 2017 campaign with Fort Myers, playing 122 games in the middle of the infield as a steady glove presence with some speed. He hit .262/.299/.322 on the year with 51 runs scored and 38 RBI. The AFL may be a big challenge for Miller but I’m sure that is appealing to him and guys like him are fun to root for and learn about on their journey to the majors. Good luck to all of the players in the AFL for the Twins this season, and I’m looking forward to following along with everyone at Twins Daily! Please feel free to ask any questions about the AFL and discuss this week’s performances! Click here to view the article

My opinion was they had to bring Erv back out for the 2nd inning. Needed to see if he could settle down as they weren't going to win a bullpen game. First inning was a roller coaster! I'd seen everything after that before, unfortunately. But this season was a blast! Very proud of those guys and the future is bright!!!

I've been all over the AFL back since back well before TD, I'm well aware of the other reasons But this list doesn't match up much like that to me. I find most fit into one of 3 categories. Last year for instance, had Gonsalves, Gordon, and Garver fitting the "top prospects" category. Then Randy Rosario and John Curtiss fitting what I call the "see what they got for next year in MLB" guys. Finally, Tanner English "needed at-bats" and Melotakis "needed innings." I saw all the reasons there. For 2017, Jay needs innings (Category 3), it's a good point for Wade to polish off some development (category 2), then I don't read many reasons on the others that I consider all that valid. I know Paul didn't play the whole season but he's also 25 in a month and in A-ball. Hackimer is another A-ball guy. Eades hasn't lived up to anything to this point, Sean Miller is...an infielder, and Vasquez is still more than a year away. I think there were several others guys who could have got a lot more out of it. That's really all I'm saying. Whether or not any are healthy or whatever else, I don't know so I don't consider that in this evaluation.

Berardino gave a pretty good idea of how here. But also to quote myself from the AFL thread: "Haven't seen this announced or confirmed, but Ryan Eades, Sean Miller, and Andrew Vasquez are currently showing on the Saguaros roster page, so I think the Twins representatives are set. Honest opinion is I am a little disappointed with overall names. There's been some big time guys for the Twins there in recent years, and not really any this year unless you include Tyler Jay. Last year had Gonsalves, Gordon, and Garver for instance. 2015's squad had 3 guys currently on the Twins roster. Brent Rooker was my first choice, but can understand if he's played enough already this year. Thought Kohl Stewart would have been a great choice, might have been good for Gordon to go again, Luke Bard would be intriguing - will be fun to follow again though!"

1. I don't think we're "sleeping" on him. Certainly had a great year and even improved on his numbers in AA than he had at any other stop, but I don't think he'd crack a Top 20 list. 2. Right now, I'm more interested in if they're going to send him to the Arizona Fall League. If they do and he does well, I'd say the likelihood of Chattanooga is pretty high. If they don't, there's still a chance but I'd think he's in Fort Myers with potential for a move after a month or two. Depending on his performance, of course. (FYI - I really want him in the AFL ) Edit: Though now that I look, the Surprise roster has 7 Twins on it already, so not likely. Hadn't heard the last 3 announced: Ryan Eades, Andrew Vasquez, Sean Miller. Overall opinion of Falvine's first AFL roster: They could have done better. Couple interesting pitchers though.

Also not a prospect ranking for me.

This is an interesting stat to me, and I think it might show something different than the idea he is prone to pop-ups. I would tend to believe this also means he's fouling off a ton of pitches, thus working pitchers which leads to all those walks. When you foul a pitch off, people often say you "just missed," when in actuality an infield pop-up a lot of the time is closer to "just missing" than fouling one straight back. Can be seen as indicator of better bat control than a lot of guys to me.

I actually did for mainly that reason (he was #8 on my list) and the fact he has already spent multiple years in AA - but that's still a great season. And if you're curious his highest OPS in AA before this year was .769. He improved a great deal.

He was new to the organization this year and had only played 44 games in AAA with the Cardinals. They put him in the right spot. Good argument could be made he should have been promoted to AAA, but the Red Wings had a lot of guys playing 1B already.

I think he profiles as a good leadoff hitter, or excellent guy at #2 in the lineup - if you have a position for him to play (not much room in the Twins OF). Not much power, but he's increased his XBH total every year. Extremely professional approach as he's actually drawn a lot more walks than Joe Mauer ever did in the minors (in fewer games played). I think this idea is a bit of a misnomer. You think pitchers are afraid of Robbie Grossman? I don't. Wade also backs it up with a high average. And Wade isn't old by any means - he was still technically below league average age and 69% (nice) of his plate appearances were against older pitchers.

When your organization has as much success as the Minnesota Twins affiliates had during the 2017 season, there’s a good chance there were a lot of strong offensive performers at every level. That was certainly the case when going through the candidates for this award, as several names who had big seasons couldn’t crack the list. Especially amazing when researching this, was the lineup of the 2017 Southern League Co-Champion Chattanooga Lookouts. Names from their roster litter the Southern League leader board for just about every offensive category. But when it came down to it, there was one guy who stood out on almost everyone’s ballot, and he’s no stranger to this award having won it once already in his MiLB career.Seven Twins Daily Minor League writers were asked to vote for the various awards. For the hitter of the year, we each voted for eight players. The player who was voted as #1 received eight points, #2 received seven points and so on with the #8 vote receiving one point. Results were tabulated and can be found below. Short profiles of our top nine are to follow, but first, some players worthy of honorable mention. These players also received votes. Honorable Mention Wander Javier – Elizabethton Twins – 41 games, 47-157 – .299/.383/.471 (.855) – 13 2B’s, 3B, 4 HRs, 34 R’s, 22 RBI, 4 SB. Was #4 in our Short Season Hitter of the Year rankings and displayed the plethora of tools that made him an attractive big money international signing in his first year in the states.Max Murphy – Fort Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts – 130 games, 144-506 – .285/.361/.401, (.762) – 29 2B’s, 6 3B’s, 6 HRs, 80 R’s, 62 RBI, 9 SB. Played 78 games with the Miracle to start his season, slashing .307/.390/.430 before being promoted to Chattanooga for his final 52 games.Daniel Palka – Rochester Red Wings – 84 games, 96-350 – .274/.329/.431 (.759) – 13 2B’s, 3 3B’s, 11 HR, 47 R’s, 42 RBI. Also played in six games with the GCL Twins while rehabbing, and had another home run in those 20 plate appearances. Missed time with an injury, otherwise he might have earned a spot on the Twins September roster.Nick Gordon – Chattanooga Lookouts – 122 games, 140-519 – .270/.341/.408 (.749) – 29 2B’s, 8 3B’s, 9 HRs, 80 R’s, 66 RBI, 13 SB. Was a tale of two seasons for Gordon, as he was scorching hot in the first half of the season (.880 OPS), but wasn’t able to keep that up in the second half (.609 OPS). Despite all that, he ranked third in the Southern League in hits and runs scored, fourth in total bases, and led the circuit in triples.Chris Paul – Fort Myers Miracle – 61 games, 80-238 – .328/.380/.471 (.851) – 18 2B’s, 2 3B’s, 4 HR, 35 R’s, 32 RBI. Missed the months of June and July and the first week of August with a broken hamate bone. In the month of May before that injury, he slashed an impressive .383/.459/.585 (1.044) in 26 games.Minor League Hitter of the Year Here are the top nine vote getters for Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year. 9. Travis Blankenhorn – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 118 games, 110-438 – .251/.343/.441 (.784) – 22 2B’s, 11 3B’s, 13 HRs, 68 R’s, 69 RBI, 13 SBs. Blankenhorn spent the entirety of the 2017 season in Cedar Rapids after amassing a .774 OPS in 25 games with the team in 2016 as a 19 year old. He largely repeated that performance with a .784 mark this season, but got there a different way. His average fell by .035 points, but he increased his slugging percentage by .023 because he racked up 46 extra-base hits to lead the Kernels (tied with Lewin Diaz). That total included double digits in every category (22 2Bs, 11 3Bs, 13 HRs) which is very hard to do. He also led the team with 69 RBI. If you’re into advanced hitting statistics, his weighted runs created (wRC) mark of 72 ranked eighth in the Midwest League on the season and he created 21% more runs than the league average hitter (wRC+, per Fangraphs). Just shy of 15% of his plate appearances in 2017 came against pitchers who were younger than he is and he was selected as a Midwest League All-Star. 8. Lewin Diaz – Cedar Rapids Kernels – 122 games, 136-466 – .292/.329/.444 (.773) – 33 2B’s, 1 3B, 12 HRs, 47 R’s, 68 RBI. Diaz was 20 years old for the entirety of the 2017 season with the Kernels, and 90% of his plate appearances were against pitchers older than he is. What did he do against that competition? He led the Midwest League in doubles with 33. In 2016 he hit .310 with Elizabethton, and didn’t slow down much in Cedar Rapids with a mark of .292, placing him sixth in the circuit. He also led the Kernels with 207 total bases. While the batting average was great for Diaz and he struck out just 80 times in 122 games, he will continue to need to work on his patience as he drew just 25 walks as primarily the #3 hitter in the lineup. Diaz also represented Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League All-Star Game. 7. T.J. White – Chattanooga Lookouts – 96 games, 101-366 – .276/.358/.484 (.842) – 26 2B’s, 4 3B’s, 14 HR’s, 44 R’s, 65 RBI. After missing the opening month of the season with an injury, White proved to be a steady presence in the Lookouts lineup from May 15th onward. His OPS was .912 in the month of June, and 1.010 in August. When patrolling Fangraphs, you’ll find that his wRC+ mark of 144 ranked fifth in the Southern League and trailed only another hitter on this list for the Lookouts team lead. If you’re looking for a “clutch” hitter, White also came through big in that category this year, as his .325/.429/.571 mark with two outs and runners in scoring position was stellar. 6. Brent Rooker – Elizabethton Twins/Fort Myers Miracle – 62 games, 64-228 – .281/.364/.566 (.930) – 11 2B’s, 18 HR’s, 42 R’s, 52 RBI. On the surface Rooker’s numbers are especially eye-popping considering he was just drafted at #35 overall in the 2017 MLB draft on June 12th. In an organizational sense, his 18 HRs on the season ranked second in all of the minors for the Twins despite him playing in only half the games. When you have some #FunWithNumbers after he was promoted to Fort Myers, his 11 home runs in 40 games rivals the pace that Miguel Sano put up with the Miracle in 2013 before he was promoted to Chattanooga. There was some strikeout to his game in his first taste of the pros (26.5% of his plate appearances), but it wasn’t an egregious rate and he also showed an ability to draw a walk (11.3% mark). After being a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award as best college player and his initial success as a pro, Rooker is an intriguing name for me to be added to the Twins stable of players being sent to the Arizona Fall League. The only question might be whether the Twins think he’s all ready played enough baseball this year. 5. Jermaine Palacios – Cedar Rapids Kernels/Fort Myers Miracle – 124 games, 149-504 – .296/.333/.454 (.788) – 21 2B’s, 10 3B’s, 13 HRs, 82 R’s, 67 RBI, 20 SBs. Palacios spent all of his 2016 season with Cedar Rapids, and wasn’t able to match the immense potential he showed in his first season in the States, when he hit .370 in the rookie leagues. He made up for that in 2017 with the Kernels by batting .320/.362/.544 before being promoted to Fort Myers. Like Blankenhorn, he also racked up double-digits in all extra-base hit categories on the season. He wasn’t as successful in the Florida State League (.662 OPS vs .907 OPS), but it’s hard to ignore season-long totals like his as a middle-infield prospect. For his output in the MWL before being promoted, he too, was selected as an All-Star for the Kernels. 4. LaMonte Wade – Chattanooga Lookouts – 117 games, 124-424 – .292/.397/.408 (.805) – 22 2B’s, 3 3B’s, 7 HRs, 74 R’s, 67 RBI, 9 SBs. All Wade has done since becoming a professional is get on base. In fact, he’s walked more than he has struck out in his career (177 vs. 151) and in each of his first three seasons. 2017 was no different, as his .397 on-base percentage and 76 walks ranked third in the Southern League. He also ranked seventh in RBI with 67 on the year alongside a host of other Lookouts players. He also set a career high in extra-base hits with 32 on the season. Wade spent a majority of the season batting #3 in the lineup of the best offense in the Southern League and was especially deadly with runners in scoring position (.955 OPS) and late in close games (1.092 OPS). For his efforts in 2017, Wade was selected as a Southern League All-Star at the midseason break. 3. Zack Granite – Rochester Red Wings – 76 games, 103-303 – .340/.394/.479 (.872) – 17 2B’s, 5 3B’s, 5 HR’s, 48 R’s, 30 RBI, 18 SB’s. Granite followed a breakout 2016 season in which he hit .295/.347/.382 for Chattanooga with an even better 2017 that led to his promotion to the Twins in early July. After having his average fall to .237 on May 31st, Granite went on one of the hottest streaks you will ever see in the month of June. He slashed an otherworldly .470/.527/.667 and raised his average on the season to a high of .371 on June 27th before his promotion. Another impressive stat is he struck out just 36 times in 76 games, a rate of only 11.8% of his plate appearances. His 144 wRC+ ranked sixth in the International League (44% more runs created than average hitter) and he found himself on the ballots of both the midseason and postseason All-Star teams. In his time with the Twins, he’s also shown fans what he is capable of as an outfielder, displaying range more than adequate to back up Byron Buxton in center field. 2. Jonathan Rodriguez – Chattanooga Lookouts – 124 games, 137-452 – .303/.408/.518 (.926) – 31 2B’s, 22 HR’s, 89 R’s, 78 RBI. The 28-year-old first baseman came to the Twins organization in 2017 after spending the first eight years of his career in the St. Louis Cardinals system. He was quite the addition to an already potent Chattanooga Lookouts lineup. He took home the Lookouts Triple Crown as well as leading them in doubles, average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. In the Southern League, he tied for the league lead in average (.309), led in on-base percentage (.414), slugging (.525), and OPS (.939). His 21 home runs ranked second and his 31 doubles ranked third. You really don’t have to go far down the list in many categories to find his name. Although he did not play in the Southern League All-Star Game at midseason after getting off to a slow start in April, he was named as the postseason All-Star at DH. Rodriguez always seemed to come up in the minor league reports as the season wore on, and it was because he kept delivering big time hits. In the second half of the Southern League season he crushed to the tune of a .346/.449/.632 slash line, good for a 1.081 OPS. He was the most valuable hitter in the International League by the measures of wRC, wRC+, weighted runs above average (wRAA), and weighted on-base average (wOBA) per Fangraphs. His wRC+ mark of 173 meant he created an astonishing 73% more runs than the average hitter on the season. In many years it would be hard for anyone to best what Rodriguez accomplished this year, but that just makes this awards winner even more impressive. Hitter of the Year Mitch Garver – Rochester Red Wings – 88 games, 93-320 – .291/.387/.541 (.928) – 29 2B’s, 17 HRs, 56 R’s, 45 RBI. The 2017 award marks the second time Garver has taken home Twins Daily’s metaphorical hardware, as he also won the voting in 2014 while playing for Cedar Rapids. Drafted in the ninth round of the 2013 draft as a fourth-year senior, Garver’s age (26) may be a barrier for some in considering him as a prospect, but it’s hard to argue with the development path he undertook in making his MLB debut on August 19th. He was on the raw side of the catcher position when he was drafted, but has developed those skills along with his bat as he’s moved up the ladder. He spent all of his time in the minors this year with the Rochester Red Wings, playing primarily catcher but also got time in left field (14 games) and at first base (five games) as the organization made it a priority to add versatility to his game. The reason being, they’re going to have to find a place for his bat. In that sense, Garver was as consistent as you could possibly be, amassing a .928 OPS in the first half of the International League season, then a .927 mark afterward before his call-up to the Twins. For his exploits on the season, Garver was named the IL’s postseason All-Star at catcher. His on-base percentage (.387) and slugging percentage (.541) marks ranked second in the league, while he also shows up on the leader board for doubles and home runs despite having about 100+ fewer at-bats than those around him. His .291 batting average also ranked in the top five among his peers. Also impressive for Garver when you dig into his numbers, were his lack of platoon splits as he hit .304/.427/.557 against lefties and .286/.373/.535 against right-handers. With two outs his OPS was over 1.000. When you venture over to Fangraphs his 166 wRC+ ranked third in the International League, behind only the league MVP Rhys Hoskins (who if you haven’t noticed, has 17 HRs in just 33 MLB games thus far to start his career) and Yandy Diaz, who both also made their MLB debuts this season. It’s quite easy to see how exceptional Garver was during the 2017 season at the highest rung of the minor league ladder, and it made him an almost unanimous selection in the award’s voting. But perhaps the greatest reward of all for him after his stellar season is that now all he has left to look forward to is making his impact in the major leagues instead of the minors. Congratulations Mitch! The Ballots In an attempt to be transparent, here are the votes from our Twins Daily minor league writers: Seth Stohs – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) Jonathan Rodriguez, 3) Zack Granite, 4) LaMonte Wade, 5) Jermaine Palacios, 6) T.J. White, 7) Travis Blankenhorn, 8) Lewin DiazJeremy Nygaard – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) LaMonte Wade, 3) Jonathan Rodriguez, 4) Brent Rooker, 5) Jermaine Palacios, 6) Zack Granite, 7) Travis Blankenhorn, 8) Lewin DiazCody Christie – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) Jonathan Rodriguez, 3) Zack Granite, 4) Brent Rooker, 5) Jermaine Palacios, 6) Chris Paul, 7) T.J. White, 8) Max MurphyTom Froemming – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) Brent Rooker, 3) Zack Granite, 4) Jonathan Rodriguez, 5) LaMonte Wade, 6) T.J. White, 7) Jermaine Palacios, 8) Travis BlankenhornSteve Lein – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) Zack Granite, 3) Jermaine Palacios, 4) LaMonte Wade, 5) T.J. White, 6) Nick Gordon, 7) Brent Rooker, 8) Jonathan RodriguezEric Pleiss – 1) Jonathan Rodriguez, 2) Mitch Garver, 3) T.J. White, 4) Lewin Diaz, 5) Jermaine Palacios, 6) LaMonte Wade, 7) Zack Granite, 8) Wander JavierTed Schwerzler – 1) Mitch Garver, 2) Zack Granite, 3) Jonathan Rodriguez, 4) Travis Blankenhorn, 5) Lewin Diaz, 6) LaMonte Wade, 7) Daniel Palka, 8) Jermaine PalaciosFeel free to discuss. What do you think? Do you agree with our rankings? How would your ballot look? Click here to view the article

Part of my reasoning for him at #1, is he was Maddux-like. In the one particular stretch of 8 starts that was cited often in the MiLB reports (30+ straight scoreless innings as part of it), he was 5-1, and allowed only 4 earned runs in 53.1 IP (0.68 ERA), with a 32/6 K/BB ratio (5.33:1). But don't get me wrong, this was a hard exercise to finalize. I had Slegers, Beeker, and Gonsalves at #1 at some point through the process. 24 years old in Midwest League as a 33rd round college draft choice last year is not a large concern for me when it comes to formulating this award. Was hard to leave a lot of guys off. Thorpe was good, Rodriguez was good, Tyler Wells was good. I just couldn't get them in when I looked at the full portfolio. I think I gave Nik Turley the MiLB pitcher of the day award at least 3 times, and some of those games were in the teens for K's. He left a big impression, had to get him in there (Jeremy liked him a lot!).

I made it a point to mention him in the explanation of my vote that I provided, but sorry, 14.2 innings in the system isn't enough to get my vote. This is a Twins organizational award, not a Diamondbacks one. Bard didn't make my list because K's aren't everything. His total was awesome, but his ERA and WHIP say he wasn't better at keeping runners off the bases or from scoring than anybody else in the Top 5. He wasn't particularly close in the scope of relievers if you ask me, either. He did have a very stellar season though, I'm not taking that away from him - he was in consideration. I wouldn't put it past him to prove you right on the BABIP and peripherals things in the future either, but this vote wasn't about that for me. It was about who got the job done the best.

I don't think Baddoo's in the top 100 conversation, usually rookie level numbers have little effect on that. Perform in Cedar Rapids though, and he'll start earning more time/looks from evaluators and you never know. Lots of Rooker votes in the poll, and I agree that he's deserving (I think he's going to be recognized more than expected next week in our Award series), but this is Baddoo's award. I think the .504 OBP ends that conversation on its own. That's incredible!

Santana or Berrios would be my choices. But they have to get there first, so I don't necessarily think you swap the rotation at this point to put one of them in line for it. That's what you do when you know you'll be there. (and since I now see the full article, I realize you've made that point as well).

The Salary thing is easy: You don't "re-sign" him. I'm certain that rule only applies to contracts replacing a currently valid one, i.e.: an extension (if that is even is a rule? I don't see that anywhere). If he goes to FA his minimum salary is not going to be $18.4MIL that a team could offer him - the market dictates everything there.

If I'm making the decisions, I'm definitely adding Thorpe.

That's because there is nothing like Townball here in Minnesota

There were just two playoff games in the system on Tuesday night, and both were affected in different ways by rain. In the Appalachian League Elizabethton’s series' deciding game three with Greeneville was postponed, pushing the rubber match back another day. Fort Myers and the Florida State League had the added worry of impending weather that led to an announcement affecting their playoffs.In the actual game that was played on Tuesday, a late season addition to their roster and standout did all he could for Fort Myers, but was it enough? TRANSACTIONS With the Rochester Red Wings missing out on the International League wild card due to the tiebreaker, a few familiar reinforcements were brought up for the major league club. In 40-man moves, JT Chargois was recalled and placed on 60-day DL to clear a spot for reliever Michael Tonkin, who has been inconsistent with the Twins but nothing short of extraordinary with the Red Wings (2.41 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 180 K’s in 160.1 career Triple-A innings; 1.73 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 61 K’s in 41.2 IP this year). Robbie Grossman was also brought back up with Dietrich Enns being optioned to AA Chattanooga. For the Lookouts Nelson Molina, Keaton Steele and Joe Cronin were assigned to Fort Myers, with reliever Alex Muren moving up from the Miracle for their playoff series starting tomorrow. In the Florida State League, Eduardo Del Rosario was placed on the 7-day disabled list with a left oblique strain and infielder Ariel Montesino was sent down to Cedar Rapids. In a somewhat surprising move given he was a big-bonus-baby, infielder Amaurys Minier was released from the Kernels. MIRACLE MATTERS Palm Beach 3, Fort Myers 2 Box Score In interesting, and maybe somewhat surprising (or unsurprising given all the weather havoc lately) news before their game was started, it was announced that the Florida State League would not play their Championship Series due to the impending risk of Hurricane Irma bearing down on the panhandle. What that means for the Fort Myers Miracle, is that if they can win their Division Series with Palm Beach, they will be crowned as co-FSL Champions. Tonight’s opening game was also delayed by some rain at the start time, but they were able to get it in. With that, onto game one of their playoff series! The Fort Myers offense took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when Brandon Lopez delivered a one-out triple for their first hit of the game. Brent Rooker was up next and drove him in with a single and the early 1-0 lead. Left-hander Lewis Thorpe got the nod for the Miracle and held the Cardinals scoreless for the first two innings, striking out two along the way. In the third inning Thorpe wasn’t able to work around a one-out triple, and the Cardinals got on the board to tie it at one. Thorpe worked two more scoreless innings to finish his day with the game tied. In five innings he allowed the one run on six hits and two walks while striking out five. Thorpe did run up his pitch count with 91 pitches (56 for strikes) in his five innings, perhaps making manager Doug Mientkiewicz quicker to go to his bullpen, but a solid start kept his team in it. Regular season stud Andrew Vasquez came on for the sixth inning and walked the first man he faced, putting the go-ahead run on. A fielder’s choice grounder, single, and strikeout led to runners on first and second and Mientkiewicz went to Tyler Jay to try to get the final out of the inning. On a 3-1 count, the Cardinals Thomas Spitz sent a deep fly ball to center field that Tanner English couldn’t quite catch up to, and it ended up driving in two for a 3-1 Palm Beach lead. Miracle play-by-play guy Spencer Siegel remarked on the broadcast that it would have been a long fly out on several other nights, but the lack of wind in Fort Myers was a curse on this one. Spitz finished the game 3-4 to lead the Palm Beach attack. Jay got the final out of the inning with a K, and remained in the game for the next two innings. He kept the score at 3-1 in that time, allowing two hits and a walk and racking up three K’s. In the bottom of the eighth the Miracle started a rally with singles from Sean Miller and Lopez to start the inning. This brought up Rooker with a chance to take the lead with a single swing of the bat, as he’s been known to do in his short time with Fort Myers. He didn’t quite do that, but did deliver a sac fly to close the lead to one run. Zander Wiel then drew a walk to put the tying runner in scoring position, but Mitchell Kranson and Jermaine Palacios both went down on strikes to end the threat. Sam Clay came on for the ninth and delivered a one-two-three inning to bring the Miracle up to bat down just one in the opening game of the series. Chris Paul was the leadoff man in the bottom of the ninth but grounded out for the first out, and a Jaylin Davis fly ball was run down by the center fielder for out number two and brought up number nine hitter English as their last hope. He delivered with a two-out double to make it interesting for leadoff man Miller, but his looping line drive to left didn’t loop quite enough and found the glove of the defender to end the game. The Miracle go down 1-0 in the three-game series, which will be condensed with a do-or-die double-header starting at 4:00PM CST Wednesday afternoon. Of note in the game, is all three runs for the Cardinals were scored with two outs and the Miracle were unable to take advantage of their opportunities. They were just 1-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Lopez (2-4, R, 3B) and English (2-4, 2 2B’s) each had two hits for the Miracle, and Rooker had both RBI. E-TWINS E-NOTES Greeneville @ Elizabethton – Postponed (Rain) Unfortunately for the E-Twins, rains on the East coast again played havoc with their scheduled game on Tuesday. They lost game one 3-2 on Sunday afternoon after Saturday’s postponement, then evened the best of three series with a 14-7 win on Monday. They’ll look to advance to the Appalachian League Championship Series with a victory Wednesday night. Right-hander Edward Colina gets the starting nod for Elizabethton in the deciding game. Both the Chattanooga Lookouts and Cedar Rapids Kernels will start their playoff series on Wednesday in what will be a fun day in the system. Stay tuned here at Twins Daily for all the action! WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Montgomery @ Chattanooga (6:15PM CST), Game 1 of 5 game series – RHP Zack Littell (19-1, 2.12 ERA on season) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach (4:00PM CST), Game 2 of 3 game series – RHP Sean Poppen (9-4, 3.17 ERA on season) Fort Myers @ Palm Beach, Game 3 (if necessary) – TBD Kane County @ Cedar Rapids (6:35PM CST), Game 1 of 3 game series – RHP Tyler Wells (5-5, 3.03 ERA on season) Greeneville @ Elizabethton (6:00PM CST), Game 3 of 3 game series – RHP Edwar Colina (3-5, 3.34 ERA on season) Please feel free to ask questions and discuss the Miracle’s loss on Tuesday as they look to take the doubleheader tomorrow for all the Florida State League marbles! Click here to view the article

Where'd you play townball, Matt? Class B and C state tournaments just wrapped up at three stadiums part of the league (Crow River Valley; Norwood, Green Isle, Hamburg) I spent 13 years playing in.