Jeremy Nygaard

One note about Carson: He didn't spend enough time on an optional assignment for this to count as an option year.

Transactions and salaries updated: Span, Carson, Parmelee and Gray in the big leagues. Aderlin Mejia was moved to Fort Myers.

I couldn't agree more.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?988-Thursday-s-Minor-League-Round-up

The Twins lost to the Mariners this afternoon and Denard Span was placed on the disabled list. Placing Span on the DL was a curious move, since rosters expand in a couple of days, and there are rumblings that he may be shut down for the rest of the year. If you've noticed that the "Rosters & Payroll" page hasn't been updated in a couple of days, I apologize. Hopefully by Monday it will be back up-to-date. Let’s take a look around today’s action: ELIZABETHTON 2, DANVILLE 9 (SEMIFINAL GAME 2 – SERIES TIED) Box score The E-Twins jumped out early tonight against Danville, leading 2-0 heading into the top of the fourth inning. Brett Lee, who only walked 12 batters all season, walked three batters with two outs and the flood gates opened. Chris Mazza replaced Lee and allowed a double. A throwing error by Niko Goodrum allowed the seventh, and final, run of the inning to score. Lee, who had a rough outing last Friday night as well, allowed six runs over 3 2/3 innings. Chris Mazza struck out four and allowed an unearned run (in 2 1/3 innings). Ricardo Arevalo struck out four in two scoreless frames. Goodrum’s second throwing error of the night resulted in two more unearned runs, these on Luis Nunez’s record. The Elizabethton batters managed only five hits: a single by Byron Buxton, a home run by Max Kepler, a single by Adam Walker, a double by Travis Harrison and a single by Candido Pimentel. Danville and Elizabethton will face-off tomorrow night for a spot in the Appy League finals. ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 10 Box score The winning streak is over. But even though the season won’t end with a playoff appearance, I think we’d all consider this season a success. Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Ray Chang (who Denard Span may still not be able to tell apart) each had two hits. Chang had a double, as did Brian Dinkelman. Eduardo Escobar added a triple. P.J. Walters threw 93 pitches in a five-inning rehab start. He gave up four earned runs and struck out five. Deolis Guerra allowed a run in two innings. Bobby Lanigan gave up five runs in two innings. A few of these guys may be joining the big club soon. Matt Carson, who didn’t play today, will join the Twins tomorrow. NEW BRITAIN 5, TRENTON 3 Box score Aaron Hicks hit his 13th – and final? – AA home run tonight. Will we see him in the Twins outfield on Saturday? Oswaldo Arcia, now batting .324, had two hits and two runs. Will we get a chance to see him too? Chris Colabello drove in his 96th run of the year. B.J. Hermsen (probably) cemented his spot on the 40-man roster with a six-inning, three-run performance. He’s now thrown a career-high 161 innings. That is probably the reason he won’t be a September call-up or participate in the Arizona Fall League. Hermsen, who doesn’t have great strikeout numbers, will be in the mix for a rotation spot next spring, though he will probably spend more time in the minors. Blake Martin and Dakota Watts combined to pitch three scoreless innings. FT. MYERS 8, CHARLOTTE 7 (10 INNINGS) Box score Kyle Knudson’s one-out walk-off single in the 10th was the highlight of tonight’s high-scoring affair. Danny Santana and Danny Rams each hit home runs. Danny Ortiz added two hits. Steven Liddle had a double. Madison Boer pitched the first six innings and allowed seven runs on nine hits. He struck out four and didn’t walk any. Nelvin Fuentes allowed only one hit over four scoreless innings to pick up the win. Fuentes, who seems to be injured just as often as healthy, had a very good 2012. BELOIT 9, WISCONSIN 2 Box score Congrats to Miguel Sano and Corey Williams who were named post-season MWL All-Stars. Sano missed his third straight game due to what is believed to be a minor ankle injury. It sounds as though he will be back for the playoffs. Eddie Rosario and Tyler Grimes provided plenty of offense in his absence. Rosario doubled twice and now has 30. Grimes homered and doubled. He is still batting below .200, but he does offer the occasional pop. It should also be noted that he didn’t have any errors. Kennys Vargas and “Our Favorite” AJ Pettersen had multi-hit games. Cole Johnson scattered seven hits over four innings, only allowing one run. Taylor Rogers picked up the win striking out six in 2 2/3 innings. DJ Baxendale and Mason Melotakis each struck out two. This Snappers bullpen is definitely ready for the postseason! --- Players of the Day for Thursday, August 30, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Nelvin Fuentes [ATTACH=CONFIG]2201[/ATTACH] Flickrhivemind.com Hitters of the Day – Tyler Grimes [ATTACH=CONFIG]2202[/ATTACH] Beloitdailynews.com --- A Look Ahead – Friday, August 31, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Buffalo – RHP Kyle Gibson (0-1, 12.00) New Britain vsNew Hampshire – TBA Fort Myers vs Charlotte – TBA Beloit at Wisconsin – LHP Jason Wheeler (14-6, 3.44) Elizabethton vs Danville – RHP Hudson Boyd --- If you have any questions on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Comments also welcome.

Tosoni was tough to figure. He was a draft and follow and then didnt debut until the next year. I wouldnt believe that any of that would affect how much service tim he actually had though, he still needs six fulll seasons.

I will message Brock about that... Updates reflect the roster change. Salary update (change due to rounding). Also, you can see a little of what I'm going to do stats-wise on the GCL pitchers. It is: WHIP; G/GS; IP (*denotes career high)

In what amounted to essentially a one-game playoff this morning/afternoon against the GCL Red Sox, the Twins affiliate came up short, 4-1. Their season is over. There was mention when the Twins acquired Jeremias Pineda that he will be pushed next year. I wonder if there is a chance he, or others, will head to E-town or Beloit.

At the bottom of each table do you have a scroll bar?

There were a few reasons Trout dropped so far. First, he's from Millville, NJ, not exactly a prospect hotbed. Another thing that compounded that was that the Spring of 2009 in the northeast was exceptionally wet, which resulted in a number of rainouts. (In fact, I believe I read that there was no state tournament that year because of the amount of rain.) In addition to teams having trouble scouting him, he also had a fairly hefty price tag. So even the teams that believed in him couldn't give him a solid grade and for the rumored $3m that he wanted, he was a risk. I didn't do nearly the draft research in 2009 that I do now, but I usually tried to learn about the guys the Twins might possibly target. I liked Trout, he fit the Twins mold, but I didn't feel they were a great match because of the asking price. Granted, he signed for slot (or near-slot) money, it was a moot point for me when Gibson was still on the board.

With the Twins being so bad again - and with the amount of guys being promoted from AAA over the last two years - I think we'll see the organization add a dozen or so six-year free-agents that know they'll get an opportunity to play in the majors. The team has done a good job the last two offseasons in this department and I'd expect that trend to continue. That will bulk up both the bullpen and AAA's rotation and lineup.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?957-Thursday-s-Minor-League-Round-up

Scott Diamond had a rough first inning (33 pitches) before getting through a scoreless second. After Joe Mauer was plunked by Roy Oswalt, Diamond threw over Josh Hamilton’s head and was immediately ejected. Ron Gardenhire was also ejected. This put the Twins in a bad place. Anthony Swarzak got through the fifth and also gave up a few runs. Jeff Gray struck out two in two scoreless innings. Jared Burton came into a tie game in the 8th and promptly gave up the lead… and then the wheels fell off. Before the game, Josh Willingham was scratched with a stiff neck. The good news of the day was that Denard Span was back in the lineup. And he had a really good game. Down on the farm Pedro Hernandez has been placed on the D.L. with a lat strain. Taking his place will be Kyle Gibson, who will start Saturday. It is great news for Gibson; while it sounds like Hernandez will be shut down for the remainder of the season. Let’s take a look around today’s action: ROCHESTER 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 3 Box score Clete Thomas’s RBI single in the 8th proved to be the winning run for a team desperately in need of runs and wins. Chris Parmelee had two hits, including his 17th home run. Wilkin Ramirez added his 12th home run immediately following Parmelee’s. Tsuyoshi Nishioka added a single. Shairon Martis made it into the eighth and recorded on out before being lifted. His final line was six hits, a walk, a run and four strikeouts. Luis Perdomo, who blew the save, ended up getting credit for a win by retiring five batters, three by strikeout. He gave up a home run. Playoff update: With 11 games left, the Red Wings have closed to four games back in the Wild Card standings. While being that far back is not insurmountable, the bigger hurdle is that they see three teams in between them and the Wild Card leader. Even finishing 8-3 or 9-2 might not be enough (and that point is moot if the offense can’t score any runs). NEW BRITAIN 6, NEW HAMPSHIRE 9 Box score It was a tough loss for the Rockcats. The bats were alive, but they came up short. Steven Hirschfeld got roughed up over 4 1/3 innings. He gave up eight hits and seven runs. He walked two and struck out four. David Bromberg struck out four in 2 2/3 innings. Edgar Ibarra gave up a run in an inning. Chris Herrmann led the offense from the leadoff position. He homered and drove in three runs. He added a single. Chris Colabello, Nate Hanson and James Beresford all doubled. Oswaldo Arcia went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. Playoff update: The Rockcats trail Trenton by six games and now trail Reading for the Wild Card spot by one game. New Britain has games remaining against only New Hampshire (last place) and Trenton (first place). All of Reading’s 11 remaining games come against sub-.500 teams, though their final four games are against Portland, the hottest team in the Eastern League. FT. MYERS 7, BRADENTON 3 Box score The Miracle jumped out to a three-run first and never looked back. Both Daniel Santana and Levi Michael had three hits. Santana had a double. Michael also walked and stole a base. Danny Ortiz added two hits, one double. Overall, it was a good offensive attack. Pat Dean pitched five innings. He struck out three, walked two and given up three runs on six hits. Clint Dempster gave up two hits in two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke struck out three in two scoreless innings. Playoff update: Officially, Fort Myers is still alive for a playoff spot, but the stars would have to align perfectly… and even then it would be tough for them to make the playoffs. BELOIT 1, PEORIA 6 Box score The Snappers never really came out of their shells for today’s game. Eddie Rosario (double) and singles by Kennys Vargas, Wang-Wei Lin and Jairo Rodriguez accounted for all of the offense. Matt Tomshaw held his own tonight. He made it to the seventh inning, allowing seven hits and four runs (three earned), walking one and striking out five. Mason Melotakis struck out three, recording five outs. Zach Jones allowed two runs (one earned) in one inning. Playoff update: The Snappers secured a playoff spot thanks to finishing second in their division in the first half of the season. They will go on the road for game 1 and host games 2 and 3 (likely against Clinton). They have split the season series against the Lumberjacks 7-7. They swept them in a four game set at home, but were later swept in a 3-game home series. Clinton has been playing great baseball in the second half of the season. ELIZABETHTON 6, PULASKI 4 Box score J.O. Berrios is human. He allowed five hits and two runs in five innings. He even allowed a home run. He still struck out six. Tyler Duffey struck out two in two scoreless innings. Chris Mazza allowed two runs in two innings. Max Kepler went 3-for-5 with a triple. Adam Walker went 2-for-5 with a triple. D.J. Hicks had a double and two RBI. Jorge Polanco drove in two runs, despite having no hits. Playoff update: E-town has clinched a playoff berth. They will start their playoffs next Wednesday night and (hopefully) you’ll get to read about them reaching the Appy League Championship series next Thursday in my write-up. GCL TWINS 4, GCL ORIOLES 0 Box score A shutout win keeps the GCL-based team in the playoff hunt. Randy Rosario pitched his best game as a professional, throwing seven innings, striking out nine. Austin Malinowski completed the shutout striking out three in two innings. The bats got off to a hot start in the first inning: Both John Murphy and Aderlin Mejia hit their first home runs of the season – and their professional careers – back-to-back. Joel Licon drove Mejia home with a sac fly in the 6th to add an (unnecessary) insurance run. Jeremias Pineda, Bryan Haar (double) and Jose Ramirez added hits. Playoff update: The GCL team hasn’t been mathematically eliminated from the Wild Card race, but the easier path for them is to win their division. They currently trail Boston, who won today in convincing fashion, by one game. Each team has two games left… against each other. Their playoffs literally start tomorrow, with a sweep the Twins advance. With a split: Hello, off-season. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, August 16, 2012 Hitters of the Day – Levi Michael [ATTACH=CONFIG]2111[/ATTACH] naplesnews.com Pitcher of the Day – Randy Rosario (A Google image search provided no pictures. Even a search for myself provided three pictures before the Rocketpig logo and a fourth before the first shirtless picture of Ron Jeremy.) --- A Look Ahead – Friday, August 17, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Lehigh Valley – RHP P.J. Walter (3-1, 2.68) New Britain at New Hampshire – LHP Logan Darnell (9-11, 5.08) Fort Myers vs Palm Beach – TBA Beloit vs Peoria – TBA Elizabethton vs Pulaski – LHP Brett Lee (4-0, 2.04) GCL Twins vs GCL Red Sox – TBA --- If you have any questions on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Comments also welcome.

Kyle Gibson has been moved to Rochester's rotation.

BA just released a top 50 for 2013. The top 3 guys are pitchers. The next 3 are hitters. Three of the next five are pitchers. Later on is Karsten Whitson, who will be a top 5 pick if he has a healthy season. The Twins would pick fourth if the season ended today and are closer to picking third, than fifth. No matter how you shake it, it's going to be tough to call them taking a pitcher a "flyer". I don't think it's that the pitchers, specifically, are weak. I think it's, similar to last year, that the overall draft isn't great.

The Twins made the right call on Buxton and Berrios (even though I thought they'd take Mitch Brown). I thought Berrios had done enough to sneak into the first round, so I was glad to see the Twins take him. Bard didn't excite me at the time and doesn't excite me now. Truth be told, though, when the Twins were on the clock at #42, there wasn't a lot in terms of college pitchers that did excite me. Pierce Johnson, who went right after Bard, would have pleased more fans, because he projected as a starter, but Bard's ceiling is higher. Melotakis signed for below slot, though at the time he was drafted I was hoping for Mitch Brown. As for the run on college relievers, I wasn't for it, though they did pick up a half-dozen guys with minimal wear on their arms. If a couple pan out plus Buxton and Berrios, we'll say it was an extremely productive draft.

Thanks guys. There is a link to it on the top blue ribbon on the front page (Roster and Payroll). Bard's inability to stay healthy (so far) makes me wonder if the Twins will even try him in the rotation next spring. (They probably will and should... but jeepers.)

Josmil Pinto was promoted to New Britain. Not only was this done to give the offense a boost for their final playoff push, but also to expose Pinto to better competition as the Twins decide whether or not to add him to their 40-man roster. (I've changed Pinto to a 40-man add, though I am not sure he will be yet.) The move gives NB 26 players, but Joe Benson will be undergoing knee surgery and will placed on the 7-day DL. Christian Powell was moved to E-town's temporary inactive list. I anticipate Kyle Gibson moving up the ranks. I think the plan was to get him to Rochester - and it certainly could still be - but his destination might be New Britain as well. His next appearance should be happening tomorrow. Tonight's minor league round-up will include playoff updates for all the affiliates. The table will begin looking different as seasons start to end. I plan on adding some stats (OPS season/career for hitters; and games started/games/innings for pitchers). There will also be a shuffle as I anticipate moving all the players on the 40-man together, putting the MiL FAs together (wiping out Rochester's roster completely - as it's normally a combination of the two) and moving other guys to their likely destination for next year. After that you'll see a table for ST invites (which will be speculation-based for a while, as I need a place to put the Blackies and Nishis of the world).

"To be eligible for the Arizona Fall League, players on Minor League disabled lists must be activated at least 45 days before the conclusion of their respective seasons." Gibson was officially activated on August 13, which is far from 45 days before the end of the season. He was rehabbing outside of the 45-day window, but according to how the rules read, he'd be ineligible. Guessing that the rules would be bent to include guys like Gibson (i.e. former 1st round pick and top 100 prospect).

After the Hicks injury, manager Jeff Smith said he'll "be fine." I would hope he's back in the lineup soon. Still digging on Hernandez.

You guys have fun. I'll be slaving over a minor league report. Truthfully, though, high school football kicks off in Wisconsin tomorrow night, so tonight is one last game-plan walk-through, one in which the QB coach is required (I think?) to attend. On another note, will those with pseudonyms use their real name when introducing themselves or will they stick to their pen names?