Clear Lake Twinsfan

Nice to see Misael Urbina batting leadoff for the FCL Twins yesterday. Hopefully he can get into playing shape quickly and then finish the year strong with the Mighty Mussels. I'd like to see Urbina, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kala'i Rosario manning the outfield together in Cedar Rapids next season.

Not to take anything away from Samuel Perez's performance in extra innings, but I think that I'd have to give Pitcher of the Day to Cade Povich. It was his birthday after all.

Glad to hear that Lewis Thorpe's rehab start went well. I hope that he makes it back to St. Paul soon, and then back to the Twins for a good look this season. In this "reset" of a season, he is one of the guys that I think the Twins need to determine if they believe that he can be a contributor next year. Also glad to hear that Royce Lewis' rehab is progressing. Seth, I was wondering if you had any updates on the injury status of the other top prospects. Specifically, do you think that either of Jhoan Duran or Matt Canterino will be back on the mound this season? Might either or both of them be candidates for the Arizona Fall League to make up for the missed time? I"m also curious about Alerick Soularie, last year's second round draft pick. He has been on the IL all season, and I've seen "foot injury" as the description. Any word on whether or not we'll see him on the field over the next couple of months?

Honorable mention pitcher of the day to Cedar Rapids' Tyler Beck who matched Ober's 4 innings pitched with a line of 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts.

One unique aspect of the traditional prospect for veteran trade that we typically see at the trade deadline, as I understand the rules for this year, is that only prospects included on the team's 60 player pool are eligible to be traded. I wonder if this might lead to some prospects being included in the pool as potential trade capital.

Thanks for the update on the minor league camp. I always enjoy spending some time over there. Unfortunately, this year I’m not going to be able to make it down to spring training. I was wondering if you could post a copy of the daily workout groups for those of us not there. Thanks.

While Caleb Hamilton of the Kernels has gotten some recognition for playing all around the field, he has also done well at the plate. Yesterday he had two singles and a walk in four plate appearances. The walk was his 14th of the season, and he only has 70 at bats! While all the small sample size warnings apply (he has appeared in the fewest games and has the fewest at bats of any Kernel's hitter) he currently leads the team with a .419 on base % and a .961 OPS. He is definitely taking advantage of the opportunities that he is being given.

What were the corresponding moves that opened up the spots for Kennedy and Granite to be added to the Miracle roster?

What about Sam Clay? He pitched OK with Cedar Rapids at the start of last year but then struggled when he was promoted to Fort Myers.

My first reaction was why are we signing 32 year old Edward Mujica rather than promoting someone like Zack Jones and giving him a chance to show what he can do at AAA; then I looked more closely at the minor league rosters and noticed how short of pitchers we are right now. Throughout the organization, we are down 9 pitchers from the active rosters in late July. Here is who has gone on the DL during that time: Trevor May 8/10, Buddy Boshers 8/11, Tommy Milone 8/12, Logan Darnell 7/25, Marcus Walden 8/8, Trevor Hildenberger 7/30, Tyler Jay 8/1, Mason Melotakis 8/18, Yorman Landa 7/25, Luke Westfall 8/4, Cody Stashak 8/15, and Colton Davis 8/9. In addition, we released Brian Gilbert on 8/3 and Kuo Ho Lo 8/4, and have traded away Ricky Nolasco and Sean Burnett. (I didn't include Alex Meyer since he was already on the DL at the time that he was traded.) That puts us down 16 active pitchers since 7/25. Coming back from the DL during that time were Aaron Slegers on 7/26 and Luke Westfall on 8/15. Logan Lombana was also reinstated from his suspension on 8/5, and of course we received Adalberto Mejia, Pat Light, Hector Santiago and Alan Busenitz in trades at the deadline. That is seven pitchers added, which leaves us at nine down. Edward Mujica has yet to be added to the Rochester roster so currently Rochester, Chattanooga, and Fort Myers each have less than 25 players on their active rosters. I think that Chattanooga has played short handed almost the entire month of August. Currently we have 11 active pitchers at AAA and AA, 12 at Fort Myers, 13 at Cedar Rapids and Elizabethton, and 15 at the GCL. (Looking back, I see that it is not uncommon for Elizabethton to carry 15 active pitchers.) I guess all of this is just a long way of coming to the conclusion that maybe we do need to sign 32 year old Edward Mujica to finish out the minor league season.

Has Randy Rosario been moved to the bullpen in an effort to control his innings this season or is he now being viewed more as a reliever than a starter?

There are a few surprises for me. Chris Cavaness and Bryant Hayman were both undrafted college kids last year who are making the jump to Cedar Rapids. I thought that Brian Olson (34th round pick last year) might make this roster after hitting well at both rookie levels last year. In the outfield, I thought that Daniel Kihle, Brad Hartong, or Austin Diemer would be ahead of Cavaness. Congrats to both of those guys for earning their roster spots. Even though he didn't hit all that well at Elizabethton last year, I had assumed that Alex Perez would make this roster in the infield ahead of the youngster Arraez. I expected Arraez to jump one level to Elizabethton this year. Randy LeBlanc pitched well out of the bullpen for the Kernels last year before getting a few starts late in the season. I was expecting him to start this year in the Miracle bullpen. I wonder if he is just holding the spot until Romero is ready to go, or if the Twins see him as a starter long term. I also thought that Miles Nordgren would land somewhere on this staff after pitching well at Elizabethton last year.

I realize that this list is only "old friends" who are free agents, but I'd like to throw out the name of another "old friend" for consideration: Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer is under contract with the Mets for one more year at $12.5 million but appears to have been relegated to a bench role with them for next year. If you believe that Buxton will start the season at AAA and that Arcia will get another shot at right field to start the season, Cuddyer could provide a right handed alternative to Arcia. He could also back up Mauer at first base, see some time at DH, and serve as a bat off of the bench. I think that Cuddyer was considered a positive influence in the clubhouse while with the Twins, so he could help to fill the leadership void left by Hunter's retirement (although I don't know how he is as a dancer). Presumably the Mets would have to be willing to pick up a portion of his contract and not expect much in the way of a prospect in return for this to work.

One name missing from Seth's list of Twins veterans who could be dealt in August is Kevin Jepson. Would he clear waivers? Would he bring a return comparable to or better than what we gave up to get him?

5 for 6 days don't come around too often. Kepler.