Jeremy Nygaard

Well, obviously no one clicked the link where I said I'd take back Albert Callaspo's crappy ability and contract along with good prospects for Trevor Plouffe. Sano wouldn't have to come up. Plouffe is one of the few "trending up" assets the Twins have and long-term, he's replaceable. Now I'm not sure what the Twins could get for Plouffe. Obviously, there would have to be some value to take a bad contract back, which the Twins could do. (I also think there'd be value in having a mentor for some of the young Spanish-speaking guys like Sano, Florimon, Rosario, Arcia, Escobar, etc -- Ramirez was... but who knows where he/his head is at today.) Plouffe is heading into a winter where he'll face the 1st of 4 years of arbitration. At some point during those years, he'll be a luxury and much more expensive than the guy replacing him. Could the Twins get two of Yency Almonte, Victor Alcantara and Arjenis Fernandez (all high-ceiling low-A ball-type guys)? I'd think they could... and that would be enough for me to at least get the big-wig scouts together and have a conversation. I'm not giving him away, but...

I'm with you. In fact, if the Twins did end up in a position to draft Carlos Rodon, the organization from the very top to the very bottom would probably be completely overhauled. Some readers might love that idea; personally, I wouldn't. Someone is (or more likely may people are) responsible for a farm system that ranks near the top of all of baseball. It would be nice if those not-talked-about people got to see the fruits of their labor. And a new GM likely means a complete overhaul of the scouting staff.

I'm not going to argue that there aren't other options, but if you took Swarzak's 2011 - when he started 11 games - and stuck those numbers into the current rotation... he would be an upgrade over the most of the current staff.

...or Swarzak gets another shot in the rotation. Hard to say at this point.

Tonkin will join the Twins on Thursday in New York. He will be taking the roster spot of Caleb Thielbar. Thielbar will be placed on the 3-day bereavement list to attend his grandmother's funeral. Tonkin was told he has the chance to stick with the team for longer than the three days.

This Callan Pearce definitely plays baseball. Alydemis Diaz was punished by MLB for using a fake age. If he went with his normal age, he would have counted against spending pools, so he tried being older (think: Beras, Jairo). He can't sign until next February - and he will be 23 - so he won't count against the pool anyway. I completely anticipate the Rangers signing him (illegally) then "proving" that he is 23, having the rest of the league throw fits and MLB approving the contract anyway.

The "Breakthrough Prospects" list is premium content. I'm not sure what you can see if you're not a subscriber. It appeared to me that it was premium. Though it doesn't call those ten the "next ten" it does talk about how a number of last year's "breakthrough prospects" went on to make their Top 100 (or Top 50) Winter List. Unless they have brutal second halves, I would assume that Rosario and Berrios will be cracking the Top 100 and possibly higher. As far as the Blackburn thing goes... I think it goes without saying...

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Monday morning got out to a quick - and good - start when Baseball America released their mid-season Top 50. Byron Buxton was ranked the #1 prospect in all of baseball. Miguel Sano, despite being in a little bit of a funk, checked in only two spots later at #3. It was also nice to see the injured Alex Meyer at #32. Narrowly missing the Top 50 were P Jose Berrios (who pitched for Cedar Rapids today) and New Britain 2B Eddie Rosario. That list is behind the paywall, so no quotes to read. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 3, SCRANTON/WB RAILRIDERS 6 Box Score Andrew Albers certainly didn't step up and grab a rotation spot (if one's available). Albers used 98 pitches to get through five innings. On nine hits, he allowed five runs. He walked two and struck out five. Chirs Herrmann hit his first AAA home run. Antoan Richardson had two hits, including a triple. Eric Farris was 3-for-4 with a double. Deibinson had two hits (a double) and an RBI. Pedro Hernandez is tomorrow's scheduled starter, though P.J. Walters is set to join the team tomorrow as well. It will be interesting to see what transpires. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 2, PORTLAND SEA DOGS 1 Box Score It was quite a performance for Rock Cats' starter Virgil Vasquez. Vasquez cruised through eight shutout, one-hit innings this afternoon before allowing three singles and a run in the 9th. He only walked one, while striking out nine. Vasquez, who has bounced between New Britain and Rochester, got his first AA win and dropped his AA ERA to 3.04. Vasquez threw 112 pitches. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4741[/ATTACH] Danny Ortiz and Jordan Parraz accounted for all the Rock Cats runs on two swings of the bat. In addition to their solo home runs, both men added singles. Nate Hanson and Josmil Pinto doubled. Miguel Sano went 0-for-4 with a K. Manager Jeff Smith was ejected after arguing Sano's 1st inning strikeout. Sano is now batting .195 in his stint with New Britain. The Rock Cats will attempt to get back to .500 on Thursday. The Eastern League All-Star game with be hosted by the Rock Cats on Wednesday night. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 3, ST. LUCIE METS 5 Box Score After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead, the bullpen counted clean up Jason Wheeler's mess and fell to the Mets. Jason Wheeler lasted 6.1 innings but it was the error to start the inning and what happened after he left that was too much to overcome. Wheeler allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits. He walked three and struck out four. Wheeler left the bases loaded for Nelvin Fuentes, who allowed two to score on a single. Zack Jones allowed a run in an inning of work. Aderlin Mejia and Matt Koch both had two hits. Kennys Vargas drove in two runs. Byron Buxton, batting in the 3-hole, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Jhon Goncalves, who spent some time in New Britain before being sent back to Fort Myers, needs to go back up. He's been the hottest hitter in the Twins system over the last handful of weeks (.412/.512/.647 over his last ten games). Tonight he was 1-for-2 with two walks. He stole a base and, though he committed an error in the outfield, also had two assists - one at home and one at second. Goncalves is not a prospect, but a valuable organizational-type guy. ACongratulations to P Matt Summers and OF Mike Kvasnicka, who earlier in the day were named FSL Pitcher and Hitter of the Week. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, CLINTON LUMBERKINGS 3 Box Score The Kernels came from behind to win this one, and despite only getting four hits, they used the help of nine walks to earn the victory. D.J. Hicks drove in two run on two hits, including a double. Jose Berrios wasn't sharp and only lasted four innings. Tonight, he walked four, hit a batter and allowed seven hits. He only had one strikeout and gave up three runs. He did pick two runners off of first base though. The bullpen combo of Steven Gruver and Tyler Jones was fantastic. Over five innings, they allowed only two hits and combined to strike out seven. Gruver got the win and Jones the save. Christian Powell makes the 6:35 pm start tomorrow night. ELIZABETHTON SWEPT BY BURLINGTON ROYALS (4-1 and 2-0) Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score Despite being swept in a two-game set, the E-Town pitchers pitched very solidly. Hein Robb wasn't great in Game 1. He went 4.2 innings giving up four runs. He only struck out one. Brandon Bixler struck out three to get four outs and Dallas Gallant pitched a hitless final frame. In Game 2, the starting pitcher was Randy Rosario, who is making his case to move up prospect lists. He struck out five in five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) to score on three hits and two walks. C.K. Irby made his pro debut and struck out two in an innings. Andrew Ferreira struck out the side in the 7th. Offensively, in two games, there isn't much to speak of. Eight hits TOTAL, including a lone double by Romy Jimenez, led to only one run on the day. It's really not worth talking about, writing about or reading about. It wasn't pretty. GCL TWINS 11, GCL RAYS 4 Box Score The GCL Twins used a 16-hit, 11-run attack to improve to 9-6 on the year. The offensive charge was led by Zach Larson (3-for-4, 2B, R, SB, 4 RBI), Jonatan Hinojosa (3-for-4, 2 3B, 3 R, 4 RBI) and Jorge Hernandez (3-for-5, 2 R). Amaurys Minier, who has been up-and-down all season, was up today. He hit two solo home runs and drew a walk. He did commit his 3rd error today, though. Fan favorite Nick Blackburn made another rehab start today. He lasted five innings, striking out five. He allowed two runs on six hits. Jared Wilson struck out five in two innings, but also allowed two runs. He's credited with a blown save and a win. Chih-Wei Hu allowed two hits with a strikeout in two innings. Any questions or comments? Please leave below.

What I've been told about him dropping had to do with "not having a chance" to see the curveball come around due to the missed month. I think that lines up pretty well with what Papa said.

Thanks for the clarification. After he signed, the text I got was that other scouts were "stunned" he signed so early, when they Twins weren't concerned about getting it done. I thought he was a steal on draft day and pairing him with Stewart is only going to help both of them. Excited to have him in the system and excited to hear from his dad. Keep us posted!

Not exactly how he told it to the media after being drafted. His words, paraphrased, were that he went to get his roommate out of a room where people were smoking weed. After he got back to Cali, he lied to the Dean about it and that's why he was suspended.

Well, he was touching 100... before the Twins asked him to slow it down so people could hit it... and that's what hurt his shoulder. I'm kidding, of course. I guess I never heard he was hitting 100 either, but yeah, he's up there.

Rosario and Berrios are two of the 10 "near misses". That makes five of the top 60. Stewart should be included in their Top 100 next winter as well.

Since Pinto had some shoulder soreness and couldn't catch, Rohlfing went down to be the primary catcher. He had been sharing C/OF duties with Herrmann in AAA, where Dinkelman and Farris were already playing out of position in the OF. So long story short, organizationally, not a shortage... but in Rochester, yes.

Before we start patting the Cubs front office of the back, lets remember that they are paying Scott Baker $5.5m to *hopefully* pitch in September. You win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, the Twins have been losing a lot... and at bad times. It's also hard to blame a single person in such involved process. If you're suggesting to blow it up from top to bottom, though, I won't argue.

I know, mate, but that Thorpedo hasn't won an Olympic Medal since 2004... so that copyright has expired.

David Hurlbut activated by the Kernels, who released C Jhonatan Arias to make room.

Shoulder inflammation.

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Back to write-up for tonight: ROCHESTER RED WINGS 3, PAWTUCKET RED SOX 2 (10 innings) Box Score Another night with very little offense, but, more importantly, another win for the Red Wings. Tonight's win was their 5th consecutive and, impressively, gets them over .500 on the season. I remember there being lots of panic and disappointment when they started the season 2-11. People questioning why Rochester re-upped with the Twins. People saying the Twins wouldn't support them now that they got them signed for two more seasons. To you people, well... you can finish that sentence for yourselves. Tonight's win came courtesy of a walk-off error. Eric Farris hit a routine groundball to the second baseman, who booted it. Brian Dinkelman scored. Game over. There wasn't many offense highlights to speak of... Ray Olmedo had the team's only extra-base hit (of five hits): a double. Eric Farris stole two bases. Logan Darnell made his second AAA start. The southpaw went seven innings, striking out four. He scattered five hits and two walks, only allowing one run. Luis Perdomo recorded four outs and was credited with the win, despite giving up the go-ahead run in the top half of the 10th inning. Cole De Vries was placed on the DL before the game with a right elbow strain. Vance Worley will pitch tomorrow at 1:05 ET. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 9, PORTLAND SEA DOGS 4 Box Score The Rock Cats have climbed back to one game within .500 and are in the Eastern League playoff mix (currently only two games behind Portland for the Wild Card spot). The biggest hit of the game was delivered in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Danny Santana lined a ball off of pitcher Matt Barnes' hand and forced him to leave the game. That set the tone early as the Rock Cats clawed their way to a 9-0 lead before giving up four runs late. The top four batters in the order combined to go 8-for-19. All four batters - Santana, Eddie Rosario, Nate Hanson and Josmil Pinto, had two hits and each doubled. Rosario and Pinto homered. It was Rosario's 1st in AA; Pinto's 13th. Miguel Sano went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. D.J. Baxendale made his AA return and was excellent. He was clearly on a pitch-limit (he threw 55), but you wouldn't know it based on the fact that he completed five innings. He only allowed three hits and struck out one. This was the pitcher the Rock Cats expected to get, not the one they saw before getting shut down with a shoulder issue. B.J. Hermsen gave up four runs (three earned) in two innings. Last year's organizational pitcher of the year will probably find himself left off the 40-man roster this winter. Edgar Ibarra finished the game off. He allowed a hit in two innings. Ibarra was named a replacement for the Eastern League All-Star Game (presumably for A.J. Achter, who was promoted to AAA). The Rock Cats have not named their starter for tomorrow's 1:00 pm ET game, but it would appear to be Tom Stuifbergen's day. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 3, ST. LUCIE METS 6 Box Score The Miracle dropped the game and dropped to only 25 games over .500 on the season. Levi Michael led the offensive charge tonight. He homered, singled and walked in four plate appearances. Since missing time following an on-field collision, Michael has returned to collect four multi-hit games in the six he's played. Obviously people have been disappointed in the former first-round pick who has battled injuries and put up suspect numbers in a year-plus at Fort Myers. But if you squint hard enough I think you can see a Nick Punto/Brian Dozier love-child in there, and that guy - as messy as it sounds - can be a productive player at the Major League level. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4717[/ATTACH] Byron Buxton went 1-for-5 and watched his batting average drop 25 points (from .400 to .375). Manuel Soliman took his turn in the rotation (which still confuses me) and went 4.1 innings. He had a WHIP of nearly 3 (9 hits, 3 walks) and didn't strike any out on the way to giving up 5 runs. Chad Rogers allowed a homer in 2.2 innings and Adrian Salcedo gave up a hit in an otherwise quiet inning. Matt Summer will make the 1 pm ET start tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, CLINTON LUMBERKINGS 6 (11 innings) Box Score The Kernels were aided by a mistake-prone Clinton defense, but the offense only mustered seven hits. Two singles by J.D. Williams and D.J. Hicks and three singles by Joel Licon provided all the offense. Travis Harrison committed his 18th error of the season. Tim Atherton held his own, striking out five in five innings. He allowed two runs on five hits and a walk. Caleb Brewer was a mess. Madison Boer kept the Kernels in the game. Alex Muren got one out before giving up the walk-off winner. (I would think Boer has earned his chance to move back up to Fort Myers.) Lefty Mason Melotakis, fresh off his first save of the season last Monday, will start the 2 pm game. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 3, BLUEFIELD BLUE JAYS 0 Box Score It looks like the Twins just had a thing with shutting the Blue Jays out today. E-Town scored their three runs on 13 hits. Javier Pimentel (2-for-4) doubled and drove in a run. Kelvin Ortiz (3-for-5) doubled. Mitch Garver (1-for-4) tripled. Romy Jimenez and Zach Granite both had two hit games. The team was a collective 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Frustrating. The pitching made up for it, though. Yorman Landa struck out three in five innings and now has an ERA of 0.60. Tim Shibuya and Brian Gilbert combined to complete the shutout. GCL TWINS 8, GCL RED SOX 2 (Completion of 7/5 game: BOX SCORE) Stephen Gonsalves made his professional debut yesterday, but we'll cover it today. He gave up two hits, two walks and struck out three in two innings. Adonis Pacheco was 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Brian Navaretto had two hits, including a double. Amaurys Minier continued his hot-and-cold season going 0-for-5 with 2 Ks and a throwing error. GCL TWINS 6, GCL RED SOX 5 (8 INNINGS, scheduled for seven: BOX SCORE) Adonis Pacheco, who was hot in game one, stayed hot. He went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. His third the most important, coming as the result of a walk-off home run. Engelb Vielman, who has been the primary SS, is now hitting over .300. He went 3-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI. Evan Bigley had two doubles in rehab (can you say ready?) and Will Hurt added two singles. Speaking of Hurt, he got off to a historically poor star last year, getting his first hit in game 10 and starting his career 1-for-33. Nelson Molina, this year's 11th round pick, is giving Hurt a run for his money. Through 8 games, Molina is 0-for-23. Fortunately for Molina, he has only struck out four times. The report I got was that he's hitting the ball hard but "right at guys". That would make sense with a BABIP of .000. That's a number that's got to improve. Lewis Thorpe struck out six in three innings, but gave up two runs on five hits. "The Thorpedo" (as I'll call him) has struck out a ton of batters (20 in 13 innings), but has given up 12 hits. He's only give up two walks, which is extremely encouraging. A guy to watch for sure. The GCL affiliate is off tomorrow.