Jeremy Nygaard

You beat me to it. Interesting that Perez was activated. All indications are that he's a ways away yet. Fastball is only in the mid-80s.

I wouldn't worry about the position issue at all. Romero just reported to the States, Sobolewski hasn't hit and Plouffe is in the doghouse. There really aren't any 3B prospects at AA and AAA, so between those two levels and hi-A, I'm sure that they could find plenty of innings to play both at 3B. I could handle Stewart, Manaea, Meadows or Bryant at this point and not think the Twins "reached" at #3. The Twins believe Sano has a better shot to stick at 3B than Bryant. I'm not as sold on Shipley or Frazier. I sent the BA link to Jack Powell. He's a great guy. If you didn't pick up the Seth Stohs and Co. Prospect Handbook, you still can. There is an interview I did with Jack in it. As the draft creeps closer, my excitement level continues to rise. (Can you tell?!)

I'm starting to get the impression that Bryant's bat is going to carry him right to Coors Field. I think I read that he's out-homered 205 Division 1 teams by himself. Bryant and Sano in the same lineup would make all of the seats in left field the places to be... I think you could make the argument that it would be the most powerful duo in the AL Central... and that's quite a comparison.

I usually include the Twins update just because that's what I'm watching when I'm writing the report. I would have no issue keeping the minor league report Twins-less, its just always been what I start with. Maybe I'll kick it off with a bad joke next Monday... but still a catchy picture. Appreciate the feedback.

Well done, cmb0252!

I agree. I'm curious to see what becomes of their middle infield.

So the summary with the article is ok? I can make sure from now on to keep it out of the first 10 words so it doesn't pop up on the slider. Can't guarantee that I can hide it from the summary. I think the culprit was the catchy picture. You saw it and had to read what it was about.

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The Twins blew a three-run lead thanks to one swing of Prince Fielder's bat and lost another one-run game. (The third time that's happened in the past five days.) Congratulations to Adam Walker, who was named MWL Player of the Week. The Milwaukee native went 8-for-21 (.381) with five home runs and 16 RBI. His OPS for the week was 1.238. It was quite an adventurous day on the farm today. You should continue reading, but not before I warn you: The Twins are a few years away from being a monster. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3925[/ATTACH] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 4, BUFFALO BISONS 3 Box Score After seeing their four-game winning streak snapped yesterday, the Red Wings got a new streak started today. The bats were alive, as all nine starters contributed hits. Doug Bernier, Ray Olmedo and Chris Herrmann, the 8-9-1 batters, all had two-hit games. Evan Bigley, Nate Hanson and Joe Benson all had two-base knocks. Benson stole his 4th base of the season and extended his hit streak to six games. After Hanson's 8th-inning double, Eric Farris pinch-ran and scored the game's winning run on a Brandon Boggs single. Virgil Vasquez had a strong start, pitching seven innings, allowing only seven baserunners (six hits, one walk). He struck out five and allowed three runs. Luis Perdomo was credited with the win, striking out one in 1.1 innings. Caleb Thielbar recorded the final two outs for the save. Thielbar now has 23 Ks in 17 IP (12.2 K/9). The Red Wings have now improved to 10-15. They play tomorrow at 11:35 AM on MLB Network. Andrew Albers (0-0, 4.58) gets the start in the final game of this four-game wraparound Buffalo series. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 16, HARRISBURG SENATORS 8 Box Score Trevor May got the starting nod and had his most disappointing start of the young season. The knock on May has been his lack of control. That was on full display tonight. May lasted only four innings. He gave up eight runs on nine hits and three walks. Despite being one of the only "strikeout pitchers" in the organization, May only struck out one batter in tonight's contest. The bullpen trio of Black Martin, Bruce Pugh and Edgar Ibarra pitched five innings of shutout, three-hit baseball. The bats were the story tonight. (I won't be able to cover it all, so please check out the box score.) After May had spotted the Senators five runs, the Rock Cats came out assaulting the baseball in the fourth. Fifteen batters came to the plate, ten crossed the plate. The seventh was more of the same. Ten batters batted and six runs scored. Danny Ortiz went 4-for-5 including a double and three RBI. Both Antoan Richardson and Josmil Pinto had two doubles and two RBI. James Beresford drove in four. The top pitching prospect in the organization, Alex Meyer (2-0, 1.64) takes the hill tomorrow at 6:35 ET. FT MYERS MIRACLE 5, CLEARWATER THRASHERS 4 Box Score It took three runs in the top of the ninth for the Miracle to come back and win their 20th game of the season. They are the first team in affiliated baseball to reach that milestone. Kudos to Doug Mientkiewicz and everyone else involved. After Levi Michael's two-run 6th-inning home run, the Miracle still needed a little bit of luck to pull out the come-from-behind victory. Down to their last out - and with the tying runner on second - Matt Koch reached on an error. This allowed Stephen Wickens the opportunity to triple in the tying and winning runs. Miguel Sano went 2-for-4 with two doubles and is now batting .366. Tom Stuifbergen, whose start was pushed back due to illness, pitched 2.2 innings and struck out one. He allowed a hit. He was removed due to cramping which he attributed to the dehydration he suffered from being sick earlier in the week. Nelvin Fuentes, did a fantastic job pitching 3.1 innings of no-hit ball and striking out five. Dakota Watts blew a save opportunity by giving up three runs on four hits in an inning. Zack Jones pitched two innings and gave up a home run, but got the win. D.J. Baxendale (3-0, 1.54) takes on Clearwater tomorrow night at 7 ET. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 9, LANSING LUGNUTS 1 Box Score The Kernels, trying not to be outdone by their big brother in Fort Myers, won their 8th straight game today. Jose Berrios had another very good game to earn his second win in two starts. He went 6.2 innings and allowed two hits and a run. He struck out eight and walked zero. His fastball sat at 92-94, peaking at 95. Josh Burris struck out three in his 2.1 inning debut. Overshadowed as just "another international signee" in 2009 (when Sano signed) and currently in the shadow of Buxton in Cedar Rapids, we've got a breakout candidate in Cedar Rapids' Jorge Polanco. Polanco, who has mainly been playing second base this season, was tonight's designated hitter and went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI. He's now batting .353, with an OPS of .890. Both Buxton and Walker added triples. Travis Harrison hit his 3rd (but really his 4th- see my report on Saturday's game) home run of the season. DJ Hicks added a two-run double, his eighth. Buxton stole his 9th base of the season. Matt Tomshaw (0-0, 9.00) returns to the mound at 12:05 pm tomorrow. As always, if you have questions/comments, please let me know. Thanks!

I think because Arcia was originally optioned on March 16th, his 20-day option counts and his service time doesn't kick in until he was called up. That should delay his service clock enough to put him shy of the 172 days to get him a full service year. (I may be wrong... depending on when the "optional assignment" technically begins... is it the date of assignment, the day the major leagues begin or the day the minor leagues begin... I've seen it explained a few different ways.)

The Rochester game on MLB Network isn't until Tuesday morning.

Gonzales left the game on the 23rd after injuring his hand/wrist during a 2nd-inning at-bat. (Ironically, wasn't "hit by pitch".) After it happened, someone with the Miracle tweeted that it looked like he'd miss some time. Lance Ray played the entire game on the 23rd and hasn't played since. I've heard it was a back injury, but don't know about a timetable for his return.

Apparently on the way to the airport, Mazza hurt his arm, so he's now on the 7-day DL. (The first part is completely sarcastic, bad information evidently.)

I get feeling bad for Harrison. He hit a home run. But after watching the video, I'm more pumped about that group of guys. It's one thing to win on a walk-off homer and have everyone wait to jump up and down at home plate. It's another thing to win on a walk-off homer and have the entire dugout take off to mob the guy before he hits second base. Yeah, maybe they don't entirely understand, but to me, that just shows a group of guys that really like to play together and win together.

Kernels walk-off win - Travis Harrison - YouTube Video from Harrison's "single".

To be completely honest, I think comparing anybody from the 2012 draft to anyone prior is apples and oranges. The signing deadline was moved up, guys signed quicker, guys played more. If the rules hadn't changed, there is no way Buxton would be in Cedar Rapids right now. He probably wouldn't have taken a single professional at-bat in 2012. As for Buxton's timeline, he'll earn a mid-season promotion to Fort Myers and finish the year there. I think he'll be in New Britain Opening Day 2014 assuming he doesn't completely implode. At that point (or maybe closer to the summer), I think he's on the Twins radar. And for the sake of saying, I think Sano moves up to New Britain mid-season. Gets a big-league invite next spring and is a poor month of Trevor Plouffe away from being the everyday 3B. All of that dependent on being able to stay at 3B, which I think he will. Rosario and Meyer are probably on similar timelines.

It appears to be a false-alarm on Luke Bard. He was apparently at the Fort Myers Everblades hockey game tonight, which puts him in... Fort Myers.

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Jeffrey Johnson, who writes for Source Media Group in Cedar Rapids, reported today that Burris officially joined the team and that Chris Mazza was sent back to EST. Mazza started out the year as the Kernels closer. It turns out the 23.5-year-old can't get lefties out. I'm not sure what the plan is for Mazza, but interesting to say the least.

Lots of drama today. Fortunately, the drama all ended in celebration. (Even for the Minnesota Wild.) The Twins got back to .500 this afternoon after beating the Rangers 7-2. Pedro Hernandez provided a very strong shutout effort (5 IP, 5 H, BB, 3 K). The bullpen continued to shine, preserving the shutout while the offense added a handful of insurance runs. Glen Perkins pitched a very low-leverage ninth. He walked the first two batters before getting the next two guys out. He then gave up a (misjudged by Hicks) double and two runs, before striking out the game's final batter. Josh Willingham's 6th inning home run gave him his 25th Target Field Home Run, eclipsing Jim Thome's mark by one and setting a new Target Field record. Let's take a look around the farm: ROCHESTER RED WINGS 1, BUFFALO BISONS 0 Box Score The spotlight shone on Kyle Gibson today. Gibson, who recorded his first AAA victory since May 29, 2011, pitched 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out seven. He walked two and allowed two hits. Caleb Thielbar struck out three of the four batters he faced. Tim Wood made yet another impressive rehab appearance. He retired all three batters he faced on 11 pitches, recording his first AAA save of the season. During the AAA-portion of his rehab, opposing hitters are 1-for-16 against Wood in the five innings he has pitched. The offense only managed four hits: Evan Bigley and Joe Benson had consecutive singles in the 3rd inning, but were stranded. Bigley had a leadoff double in the 5th, moved on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on an Eric Farris sacrifice fly. Nate Hanson added a leadoff single in the 7th before being forced out at second to end the inning. Fortunately, that little bit of offense was enough to get the win. The victory gives the Red Wings their first four-game winning streak since the four-game period from July 29 to August 5, 2012. Liam Hendriks (0-1, 4.63) will be on the mound tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 ET looking to help the Red Wings win their second game in this four-game wraparound series. At 9-14, the Red Wings have climbed out of the cellar. In addition to that, De Vries, Wood and Deduno (whether it's those three or someone else) will benefit the Red Wings as they return to health. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 4, RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS 2 Box Score Despite being out-hit (13-9) and committing three errors, the Rock Cats escaped with a victory. After a 2nd inning James Beresford double scored Danny Ortiz to give the Rock Cats a 1-0 lead, they added to that lead in the 3rd on a Josmil Pinto 3-run home run. Those four runs proved to be enough for victory. B.J. Hermsen made his second start of the year. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing nine hits and a run. He walked one and struck out two. Not his most effective outing, but he did throw 92 pitches, so that's a good sign. Jose Gonzalez (who got the win) was able to get it to the 8th. Edgar Ibarra made a mess and Michael Tonkin cleaned it up for the save. Pat Dean (0-2, 4.35) up next for the Rock Cats tomorrow at 1:35 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 2, CHARLOTTE STONE CRABS 1 Box Score Walk-offs are exciting when you're the winning team. A walk-off walk is less exciting, but, hey, it's still exciting. Much like the Rock Cats, the Miracle managed minimal offense. Three hits to be exact. (Yeah, A.J.'s hit-streak is over.) Drew Leachman singled in the 5th, but was caught stealing third to end the inning. Matt Koch singled to lead off the 8th, was replaced by Stephen Wickens as a pinch-runner and scored on Angel Morales' double. So there are your three hits. But wait there's more... (the recap from milb.com) Fort Myers Bottom of the 9th Pitching Change: Jacob Partridge replaces Lenny Linsky. Miguel Sano walks. Drew Leachman flies out to left fielder Jeff Malm. Kennys Vargas walks. Miguel Sano to 2nd. Kyle Knudson walks. Miguel Sano to 3rd. Kennys Vargas to 2nd. Andy Leer strikes out swinging. Angel Morales walks. Miguel Sano scores. Kennys Vargas to 3rd. Kyle Knudson to 2nd. So there you have it. Literally, a walk-around-the-bases walkoff. The pitchers got it done. Matt Summers went seven strong innings. He struck out three and gave up a run on five hits. No walks. Taylor Rogers gave up a hit in an inning pitched. Cole Johnson gets the win for his scoreless inning pitched. The Miracle have now improved to 18-4. Tomorrow's scheduled starter, Taylor Rogers, pitched an inning tonight. I believe Tom Stuifbergen missed a start due to illness, so he may be the guy that takes the ball tomorrow at 1 ET. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3905[/ATTACH] (Rinaldi Photos) CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 8, GREAT LAKES LOONS 7 Box Score Walk-offs are exciting when you're the winning team. The walk-off in this game is of the most-exciting variety. Let's get you up to speed... Mason Melotakis had a rough five innings. He allowed five hits and gave out four free passes. He struck out seven and left the game down 4-3. Manuel Soliman went 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out four. In the 8th inning, Tim Atherton comes in to a 7-4 game. He gets the Kernels out of the inning and also retires the side in the 9th. Turning the page to offense... Byron Buxton walked and scored on a Jorge Polanco double. In the 4th, Tyler Grimes doubled Adam Walked home (who had walked) and a Buxton sacrifice fly drove Grimes in. In the 9th inning, down three, Niko Goodrum walked. DJ Hicks hit a groundball that the Loon shortstop booted. Up walks Adam Walker, the tying run, trying to extend his home-run-streak to four games. And he did. Walker now leads the MWL with six home runs and 25 RBI. I wrote this about him in the Prospect Handbook: He is proving it every night. Atherton continued on the mound, finishing with five Ks in 3.1 inning. David Hurlbut got a flyball out to finish the top half of the 11th. The excitement picked up in the bottom half. Goodrum led off the inning with a single. Polanco bunted him over before Hicks hit a single that advanced Goodrum to third. Adam Walker came up again, but was intentionally walked to load the bases. Mauer decided to go to the bench and have Travis Harrison hit for Tyler Grimes. Hit he did. Harrison turned a pitch around and it cleared the fence. The Kernels win by WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM! Right? Well, after further review, the players went nuts and Hicks and Walker never advanced. Goodrum scored the winning run and, officially, Harrison gets an RBI single. Exciting, yes; but less exciting than a walk-off grand slam... or even a solo grand slam. Here's a good write-up on Adam Walker after last night's game. Josh Burris joined the Kernels. Chris Mazza headed back to EST. That opens up a spot on the roster. Luke Bard tweeted about his flight, but the destination is unknown. Could he be flying into Cedar Rapids or the Cities? Tyler Duffey (2-1, 2.29) will be on mound at 2:05 CT tomorrow