Jeremy Nygaard

I can confirm the Twins made a bid on Verkerk. He's weighing his options: sign to play pro ball or continue playing for the Dutch National team in the Euro Championships. (Not sure he could do both... working on it.)

Not yet.

I think that is part posturing and part hope they can sign Mayky Perez. I can see a situation where they do spend it all, but I expect to see them move some of it after the marker has been a little more defined. Just my two cents.

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The story on the farm today was... RAIN. Rainouts, specifically. ROCHESTER RED WINGS, NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS, FORT MYERS MIRACLE and GCL TWINS were all postponed. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4654[/ATTACH] CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, PEORIA CHIEFS 3 Box Score Mike Pelfrey packed his family up in the Cities yesterday and made the trek down to Cedar Rapids for a rehab start today. In six frames, he allowed two runs (one home run) and struck out six. He reportedly feels better and should be back in the Twins rotation on Saturday. Mason Melotakis, who would have started today, picked up a three-inning save. Melotakis allowed four hits and a run. He struck out two. Even with the absence of Byron Buxton reaching eight games (and counting), the Kernels have continued their dominance in the second half. Today marked consecutive victory number eleven. The bats were led by Max Kepler, who tripled and homered, who drove in two and scored twice. Niko Goodrum also tripled. Jonathan Murphy, who joined the Kernels when Jeremias Pineda was placed on the DL, was 0-for-2, but contributed an outfield assist. Jose Berrios will stand atop the mound at Pohlman Field tomorrow in Beloit at 7:00 pm. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 8, KINGSPORT METS 4 Box Score E-Town improved to 10-2 with their victory tonight. Zach Granite, batting leadoff, drew four walks, resulting in three runs scored and two stolen bases. Mitch Garver, who was a cheap senior-sign this year, has hit the ball extremely well (a question coming into the draft) and added two more tonight (his fourth multi-hit game out of seven). Dereck Rodriguez doubled. The team as a whole combined to draw 11 walks. Tanner Mendonca made his second start for the defending Appy League Champs. Mendonca struck out six in three innings. He allowed four hits and two runs, but didn't walk anyone. Tim Shibuya came in as a reliever again and pitched three strong innings to pick up his third win. When there is a need in Cedar Rapids, you have to believe Shibuya will move up. Brian Gilbert struck out the side in his inning of relief. E-Town takes on Johnson City tomorrow at 7 pm ET. Leave your questions and/or comment below. The International signing period opens tomorrow... check the site for updates.

Other names mentioned by BA: Dominican 3B Roni Tapia Venezuelan OF Edgar Herrera Australian LHP Lachlan Wells

As it is every July 2nd, teams begin to announce deals with "International Free Agents". This year is no different and the Twins made an early splash, signing Dominican 1B/OF Lewin Diaz for $1.x million. Diaz actually played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last August, going 1-for-3 against many players who are older and were drafted in last month's draft. As the DH, he batted 7th in a lineup that included new Twin Brian Navaretto. Diaz checked into the game at 6' 3", 195 pounds. Baseball Factory said this about him: Over the last 11 months, however, opinions of Diaz, who was once considered one of the top prospect in this year's market have begin to differ. So what's changed? The now 16-year-old began to fill out. He's now an inch taller (6' 4") and heavier (210). After being considered an "OF", he's now considered a "1B/OF" with the likelihood being that his future home is first base. Diaz has an above-average arm, so there is some feeling that the Twins will allow him the chance to play right field (you know, because they don't have any outfield prospects). The Twins have been enamored with Diaz for quite some time and, scouts believe, paid considerably more for his services than any other team would have. Baseball America had this nugget in their June 26 notebook: With the 4th-highest pool allotment, though, the Twins have that luxury available to get the guy they wanted. The joke many Twins fans will make is that despite Diaz showing huge power in BP, he "turns into a singles hitter in games." Scouting comparisons have included David Ortiz and Ryan Howard, both similar in body-type and left-handed power bats. As with every 16-year-old IFA signing, Diaz is ineligible to play this season. The Twins may be aggressive with him - as they were last year with Amaurys Minier - and have him participate in Fall Instructs. That would likely lead the way towards skipping the DSL and making his pro debut next June in the GCL.

As it is every July 2nd, teams begin to announce deals with "International Free Agents". This year is no different and the Twins made an early splash, signing Dominican 1B/OF Lewin Diaz for $1.x million. Diaz actually played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last August, going 1-for-3 against many players who are older and were drafted in last month's draft. As the DH, he batted 7th in a lineup that included new Twin Brian Navaretto. Diaz checked into the game at 6' 3", 195 pounds. Baseball Factory said this about him: Over the last 11 months, however, opinions of Diaz, who was once considered one of the top prospect in this year's market have begin to differ. So what's changed? The now 16-year-old began to fill out. He's now an inch taller (6' 4") and heavier (210). After being considered an "OF", he's now considered a "1B/OF" with the likelihood being that his future home is first base. Diaz has an above-average arm, so there is some feeling that the Twins will allow him the chance to play right field (you know, because they don't have any outfield prospects). The Twins have been enamored with Diaz for quite some time and, scouts believe, paid considerably more for his services than any other team would have. Baseball America had this nugget in their June 26 notebook: With the 4th-highest pool allotment, though, the Twins have that luxury available to get the guy they wanted. The joke many Twins fans will make is that despite Diaz showing huge power in BP, he "turns into a singles hitter in games." Scouting comparisons have included David Ortiz and Ryan Howard, both similar in body-type and left-handed power bats. As with every 16-year-old IFA signing, Diaz is ineligible to play this season. The Twins may be aggressive with him - as they were last year with Amaurys Minier - and have him participate in Fall Instructs. That would likely lead the way towards skipping the DSL and making his pro debut next June in the GCL.

OF Jonathan Murphy heads from Fort Myers to Cedar Rapids, where he will take the roster spot of OF Jeremias Pineda, who was DL'd with a hamstring strain. This leaves the Fort Myers roster one short, no word on a corresponding move. It makes sense for Murphy to head to Cedar Rapids where at-bats might be easier to come by. The promotion of Buxton and the return of Lance Ray was going to make it tougher for Murphy to get into the batters box.

Thanks for the update A.J. Good luck on the rest of the season!

I've heard Houston's Chris Carter's name thrown out there, but more as a right-handed power bat. I'm sure there are more names out there...

Here's the latest on Diaz, who is old enough that he wouldn't be subjected to the new international pool rules anyway.

Yes. Davies for sure. Too much Gibsmas nog.

Who's the backup now? Same situation. Thomas will play everyday. If he gets hurt, Hicks will be up the next day.

RP AJ Achter has been moved up to Rochester. C/OF Dan Rohlfing down to New Britain.

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Am I making things up, or did I see July 10 somewhere?

If I had to guess today, the Twins will sign Diaz for $1.2m and Tseng for $700,000. Perez is kind of a wild card and I would love to see the Twins get involved. Perez just pitched at the Dome in the PG Showcase and looked really good. I think the Twins will bid high on him - and I hope they get him - but if they don't get him, they could turn some of that money into prospects via trade. They are going to sign a handful of cheaper guys, like they always do, but Perez would give them a big name. Here's the Perfect Game recap of the two innings of work Perez got in with the Class of 2014:

Merry Gibsmas! Kyle Gibson made his Major League debut this afternoon in front of a nearly-packed house. If you're waiting to get home to watch Gibson's start on DVR, I won't ruin it for you. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 1 Box Score Offensively, the Red Wings just didn't get it done. Doug Bernier and Jeff Clement both doubled and, throw in a Bernier single, that's all the hits they accounted for today. Aaron Hicks struck out twice in an 0-for-4 day. He played all nine innings and will soon be activated from the disabled list. Where will he go then? It's being discussed in this thread. As you'd expect in any game where a team only scored one run, the pitching was very good. Pedro Hernandez pitched a complete game for the Wings. In eight innings of work, Pedro allowed only five hits and two walks. He struck out three and gave up the only run in the game. His 96-pitch effort still is labeled with a "loss", but it definitely wasn't Hernandez who lost this game. It will be interesting to see what plays out with the Red Wings and Twins pitching staffs. Hernandez has been a fully-capable fill-in and has pitched well even though he's been flipping between a bullpen and starting role. By no means is Hernandez a long-term answer in the rotation, but he's definitely a guy that should be able to be counted on as a LOOGY or as a long-lefty out of the bullpen. Liam Hendriks starts at Syracuse at 4pm tomorrow afternoon. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 5, READING FIGHTIN PHILS 0 Box Score There were no Miguel Sano fireworks tonight. Though there was a double off Philly's Jesse Biddle. Sano struck out twice too. Baseball Prospectus' Jason Parks was in attendance all weekend. He tweeted numerous times about Sano. Most tweets included either #rig or #want, two of Parks' "catch-tags". In a nutshell, Parks loves Sano's power. He loves his arm. He thinks he's a good overall hitter. He thinks he's fast for a big man. And he was very impressed with Sano's defense at 3B. After hearing his perspective, Sano will stick at 3B without a doubt. (That's "flashing all five tools at times in games" if you're scoring at home.) Parks earlier this week called Buxton the top prospect in the game. I guess the Twins view top prospects in the same way Taylor Swift does. #want Nate Hanson, Josmil Pinto, Kyle Knudson and Angel Morales all had two-hit games. Pinto drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario got the night off and A.J. Pettersen filled in a shortstop, walking twice and getting a hit. The story of the night, however, was the pitching performance of Pat Dean. Before tonight, Dean was 3-8 and somewhere in the realm of "lousy" on the season. Tonight, he was the exact opposite. He struck out five in a complete-game, five-hit, two-walk shutout. He did it in exactly 100 pitches. Dean is a lefty - and breathing - so he'll be given every opportunity, but it's refreshing for him to throw a gem tonight. Matt Summers will make his second start for the Rock Cats tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 pm. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 12, ST. LUCIE METS 2 Box Scores Jhon Goncalves had a pretty memorial game for the Miracle today. He was 4-for-4 with three doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. He reached base by walk in his other plate appearance and also stole a base. (Maybe he wasn't ready to just hand over center field to some 19-year-old punk...?) [ATTACH=CONFIG]4625[/ATTACH] Goncalves scores a run against St. Lucie in 2010. Speaking of, Byron Buxton singled twice to raise his average to .222. He struck out once but drove in and scored a run. Aderlin Mejia, Matt Koch, Stephen Wickens and Levi Michael all had two-hit games too. Keeping in line with pitching gems today, Matt Tomshaw pitched eight innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out the side in the ninth. CEDER RAPIDS KERNELS 2, PEORIA CHIEFS 1 (10 innings) Box Score Brett Lee got a no-decision, but might have had the best start in the system today. He went eight innings and struck out nine. He didn't walk a batter, but allowed four hits. The lone run allowed was unearned, the result of an error by Jorge Polanco. Caleb Brewster pitched two innings and got the win, striking out and walking three. ABW2, who has cooled off since a great first month, was good today going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two walks. Max Kepler doubled in a run. The Kernels won, in extra innings, after Adam Walker singled and stole second. Kepler walked to make it first and second. Tyler Grimes sacrificed the runners over. Michael Quesada came up and a pitching change was made. The new pitcher, Zach Russell, came in and promptly threw a wild pitch. Game over. Kernels improve to 100-0 in the 2nd half of the season. (Ok, sorry... it's 9-0.) Tim Atherton will make his first start of the year tomorrow at 2:05 pm. Mike Pelfrey will be pitching for the Kernels on Monday. Yahtzee! ELIZABETHTON TWINS 4, KINGSPORT METS 5 Box Score E-town dropped their second game of the year (8-2) after scoring the game's first runs (4) in the top of the 8th. Kelvin Ortiz doubled in two runs and Bryan Haar came up a home-run short of the cycle. Zach Granite stole two bases. Hein Robb struck out four in three innings. Carson Goldsmith followed that up with two strikeouts in a inning. Andre Martinez allowed two runs in the eighth. Dallas Gallant cleaned up that mess, stranding both of Martinez's guys. However, Gallant got himself into his own mess in the ninth, which Luis Nunez couldn't get out of. With two outs in the ninth, Nunez allowed a walk-off hit. E-town will try to get back in the left-hand column tomorrow at 5 pm. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 4 Box Score Another good start wasted. Kyle Davis, rehabbing from a shoulder injury, pitched five innings of shutout baseball. He struck out seven. Fernando Romero blew the save giving up three runs (two earned) in two innings. Markus Solbach gets handed the loss. The winning run scored on an error by the shortstop. Solbach didn't do himself any favors by balking and walking a batter after allowing the winning run to reach base with a single. Zach Larson (double), Lance Ray and Jorge Fernandez (two doubles) all had two-hit games. Amaurys Minier was 1-for-3 with an RBI (and no strikeouts). The GCL will rest on the Seventh Day. Comment or questions? Leave them below!

I'll take a shot at those questions. 1) I think that remains up in the air. If Sano continues to adjust to AA pitching and show improvement defensively, a September call-up isn't completely out of the question. I would say its unlikely, but possible. With Plouffe around, there is a good chance that Sano isn't the starter on Opening Day. But that doesn't mean he won't shortly after. Hopefully the Twins decide to sign him to an Evan Longoria-type deal shortly after that. 2) No. Not strongly considered their best prospect currently.

The A's added Michael Ynoa last offseason. I don't believe he had even thrown a pitch in full-season ball. There are certain guys you add simply because you can't take the chance of losing them. Kepler is that guy. He will poster boy for Euros signing with the Twins.