Jeremy Nygaard

Stewart is next in the draft preview series.

Cole Johnson and Kyle Knudson from high-A to AA. Bruce Pugh to AA DL with strained groin.

I'd expect there to be some move at some point.

A million dollar question... Or Butera?

Reese McGuire did catch Kohl Stewart in the Pefect Game All-American Classic and if Stewart was only throwing 80 mph fastballs with 70 mph slurves then I wouldn't Stewart either. McGuire is advanced behind the plate. In all facets of the defensive aspect of the game. Obviously he'll have work to do. There aren't a lot (or any?) amateur catchers that get the "he's going to make pitchers so much better like Yadi does", that's the type of defensive talent McGuire is. Are there questions? Absofreakinlutely. But defensive backstops are guys that Twins value way too high anyway, so when you have one that is a consensus Top 15 talent, I'd be surprised if the Twins brass didn't get a chubby talking about him and consider him at #4.

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We're going to discuss this at 10 pm.

As Seth broke yesterday, the Twins added C Chris Herrmann to their roster after OF Wilkin Ramirez was lost to an alleged concussion. (Which proved to be a real concussion when he blew chunks on the team flight to Milwaukee.) Rochester didn't make a corresponding move when they announced the move this morning, leading me to believe one wouldn't be made before Trevor Plouffe, who is recovering from his own concussion, is activated on Wednesday and Herrmann was sent back down. Tonight, however, Pioneer Press beat writer Mike Berardino tweeted that "it appears C Dan Rohlfing has been promoted to Rochester". That's curious for a few reasons: 1) even without Herrmann, the Red Wings still have Eric Fryer and Daniel Lehmann (and, in a pinch, Jeff Clement. 2) The Rockcats are left with only Josmil Pinto (unless a corresponding move is made). Now there are three catchers currently in Fort Myers, so they could easily move one up. It should also be noted that fan-favorite Drew Butera may be ready to return to catching soon. Long story longer, it seems like a lot of shuffling around for a move that is only likely to last two more days. Or is there more to it? A move that does make sense is happening at the lower levels. After Matthew Tomshaw's promotion to Fort Myers, the need for another pitcher arose in Cedar Rapides. Enter: Hein Robb. Robb pitched in E-Town last year and was on the South African team that appeared in the 2009 WBC. I hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day and I hope you enjoy reading about what happened in the Twins minor leagues today. Rochester Red Wings 5, Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 0 Box Score If you already read this, then my thunder was stolen. If you haven't, I'll give you the short version: Vance Worley returned to AAA today and LiamHendriksed the other team. You know, completely dominated a AAA foe? He pitched a complete game shutout. Scattering five hits and four walks while striking out four. It probably wasn't in Worley's best interest to pitch so well. He's going to need to show consistency over six or seven starts before he returns to Minnesota (where, ironically enough, he was very consistent). Hey Vance, how happy were you when you made it out of the first inning without giving up any runs? Show me a smile if you were real happy. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4191[/ATTACH] Eric Fryer lead the offense with two hits, including a triple, and an RBI. He scored twice. Some other Fryer tidbits courtesy of their post-game release: Fryer has scored runs in six consecutive games (a Red Wings season high). He also has a .329 OBP despite a .172 batting average. Antoan Richardson went 2-for-3 with a walk. He drove in a run and supports a very nice OBP of .435 in his 14 games as a Red Wing. LSP Andrew Albers (2-2, 2.61) will take the ball tomorrow night at Frontier Field against the Iron Pigs. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET. New Britain Rock Cats 3, New Hampshire Fisher Cats 12 Box Score As good as the Vanimal pitched today, top prospect Alex Meyer couldn't match the blows. In five innings of work, Meyer walked four, allowed two hits (one a home run) and four earned runs. He struck out five. The loss drops him to 2-3 and raises his ERA to 3.95. Edgar Ibarra was the most successful pitcher today for the Rock Cats and he allowed three hits and two walks while only recording four outs (but only giving up one run). Bruce Pugh was a disaster. After inheriting two runners and not letting them score he came back for the eighth and, well, struggled. His final line consisted of seven earned runs on four hits and three walks. Minnesota's own Nate Hanson left the game after being hit by a pitch in the arm. But according to his wife, he'll be ok, just sore. Logan Darnell (4-3, 2.47) takes the ball at 6:35 ET. Fort Myers Miracle - DAY OFF The Miracle play Bradenton tomorrow night and their scheduled starter is TBD. Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Burlington Bees 10 (Game 1) Box Score Cedar Rapids Kernels 3, Burlington Bees 6 (Game 2) Box Score The Kernels are in the middle of a tail-spin (hopefully near the end of said tail-spin) and have now lost five straight. Game one was close for four innings, before Brett Lee couldn't get anyone out in the fifth. He left after allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out five. Manuel Soliman got roughed up for four runs (recording four outs). Alex Muren pitched five out of no-hit ball. Byron Buxton went 3-for-3 and stole a base (23). D.J Hicks added two singles and Candido Pimentel also added a single. Game two, was crappy too. Hudson Boyd gave up six runs in the first two innings, but did his team (and bullpen) a favor by getting it together to last through the sixth. David Hurlbut pitched a no-hit ninth. The bats only managed four hits total in this one - Tyler Grimes had a two-run line-drive home run. Hicks had a double. Travis Harrison and Jorge Polanco added single. Mason Melotakis (3-2, 3.89) looks to right the ship tomorrow at 6:35 CT on Perfect Game Field. --- If you're interested in listening to yesterday's Gleeman and the Geek radio show where we talked about the draft, it's always within three clicks of any webpage. I'll be talking more draft with Cody and Eric on the Talk2Contact podcast this weekend and I may be chatting with Fanatic Jack (by phone, me from my chair, him from a ledge) at 10 pm tonight. Listen live here. Questions, comments, hints, allegations or things left unsaid to be discussed below. (Sorry, a little Collective Soul time warp during typing apparently.)

Baxendale moved up to NB. Tomshaw moved up to FM. O'Rourke activated in FM. Hein Robb joining CR. Doubting Rochester makes a move since Herrmann will go back down when Plouffe is ready.

Current developments suggest the Twins have narrowed their focus to Stewart, McGuire and one other unknown player. This assumes 1-3 go as expected.

In the process of digging more up on Ball and Shipley and the Twins interest in them. Every day the interest in McGuire appears more legitimate.

Yes. It could be that simple.

Again, its just a theory. Teams are allowed to be creative. We're getting too hung up on the numbers with Boston. I'm not saying it absolutley will happen. I'm simply suggesting it could. Maybe using the Marlins would have been a better example, though it's unlikely they spend much. They have more money to spend, so, in theory, they could rearrange dollars to spend more than the picks ahead of them. They can't stop teams from picking their guy, but if an advisor knows they stand to make more money by not going they simply ask for more from that team. A guy falls due to his price tag and signs for more than slot later. Did Giolito and the Nats do something last year? Probably different cause he was hurt, but his advisor was probably fully aware the Nats would spend to a certain point, which could have easily been more than the Indians would have been willing to spend had he gone in that spot instead of Naquin. I'm not suggesting anything illegal. I'm simply suggesting teams getting creative. Maybe the Red Sox can't make it work, maybe they don't want to make it work, maybe the Twins love Stewart and will give him full slot, maybe they don't and won't. At the end of the day, though, if the Twins did take him, I'm not suggesting he turns them down and enrolls in school, but he sure will leverage the situation to get the highest number possible.

I agree with that. I would also be shocked if the Twins ever exceed their slot. Without a clear-cut #4, the Twins have a chance to play the game a little bit.

Carlos Salazar was relatively unknown up until about a year ago, had a foot injury and missed exposure time. Has a huge fastball but is still pretty raw. Shows a feel for a breaking ball, but doesn't really have a changeup or other offspeed pitch. Starter vs reliever question. Heard comps to Javy Guerra. High ceiling/low floor, makes him a risk before Round 2.

I'm suggesting that a team could cut a deal with an agent to go later for more money. Nine of the first 15 picks last year signed for under slot. The Twins could offer Stewart, Shipley and McGuire all $3.3m and, if Moran goes 5th as expected, somebody has to say yes or they risk losing money. There's a lot of ways to go about looking at this.

Well you missed a good discussion and I do get what you're saying. Price tags will remain fluid until the night of the draft. It will be interesting to see how the Stewart situation plays out... and lets not forget about the Rockies love-affair with drafting quarterbacks.

The Red Sox have a pool of $6.8m. Not sure how much on their first pick. They could spend $3.6m on first pick if they are ok paying tax and going slot everywhere else. They could take 50 grand from other 9 slots and spend over $4m. The position the Twins are in, with no clear-cut #4, they could probably bank a million without trading off too much talent. Are the #4 (Stewart?) and #6 (Shipley?) that different?

I honestly don't know what it is. Maybe its college bats in general. I do think he'll be, at a minimum, an average major-leaguer. I'm skeptical that his hit tool comes back down to earth as a pro. I could be wrong and if he fell and the Twins took him, I wouldn't be angry. Same as if they passed.

I saw this question posted elsewhere, did some research and answered. I don't remember exactly what I found, but it definitely wasn't as glowing as that report. I think 2nd-3rd round is what I thought.

Nothing illegal about it. Pre-draft deals happen all the time. Say, for example, that the Twins want to spend $4m. The Red Sox could rearrange to have more than that available. (We talked about the Red Sox spending more during the podcastable portion.) There also isn't anything stopping the Twins from telling Gray's advisors they would be willing to go overslot with him and the agent raising the price for the other teams. There's thought right now that Appel has a higher price tag for the Astros than Cubs, so he'll drop to actually get more money from the Cubs. (i.e. Astros say we'll give you $6.5. Boras says we want whole slot. Boras tells Cubs he wants $7m.).

Just a theory... The Red Sox are said to really like him. If the Twins aren't willing to pay full value and the Red Sox say they can come up with more than the Twins are willing to pay, Stewart can absolutely leverage the system. That's not to say that the Twins still couldn't take him. Its in his best interest to make as much money as possible.

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