Jeremy Nygaard

The Twins were beaten up pretty soundly by the juggernaut that is the Oakland Athletics. We should have known we were going to be in for a rough weekend when the Twins couldn’t squeeze a win out of their best pitching performance in almost five years. (It was nice to know you, Frankie.) Personally, I’m still holding onto Liriano, trying to sign him to an extension or offering him arbitration and taking the draft picks if he leaves, but that’s for another place on the website. (Semi-Segway to the round-up…) During the game “Richard” asked TK about players in the minors. Kelly had some great perspective on guys. The player he talked most about was Evan Bigley, an OF currently at New Britain. Bigley was a 10th round pick in 2008 out of Dallas Baptist. As a college guy from that draft, he was first eligible for the Rule V draft last year. If the Twins were to move some outfielders, it will be interesting to see if having TK as a big supporter in the system would be enough to get him added to the 40-man roster this winter. You can find more on when guys are Rule V and MiL FA eligible here. TK also mentioned that he really liked Hicks, Sano (Molitor is helping him with his defense) and Rosario (who is in Fort Myers working his way back). Bremer talked a little about Benson’s disappointing year and TK said he believes Benson is heading back to New Britain tomorrow. He didn’t want to comment on pitchers because that’s not his specialty. Also, (not that you care) I’ve decided to publish a Top 50 (tentatively) Twins Prospect List. I feel like after paying pretty close attention to the Farm System over the last half-dozen years I’m finally informed enough to form an opinion. I tell you not because it’s the news you’ve all been waiting for, but because if I say I’m going to do something IN TYPE, I feel like I need to do it. I will be publicizing it on August 1st, after the Twins have added a handful of stud prospects. (Yeah, right…) And now, ladies and gentlemen, today’s round-up: ROCHESTER 8, TOLEDO 7 Box score Tsuyoshi Nishioka is the hero… though I’m unclear exactly what happened. Nishi came up in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run on second. This is play summary: Nishi singles to center field. Sean Burroughs scores. Nishi scores. Throwing error by catcher. One out. WTF?! RocRedWings go silent on Twitter. Somewhere a black White supremacist’s head explodes. (Chappelle reference.) EDIT: I found out what happened - after Nishi singled, he tried to advance on the throw home. The catcher threw the ball into center field and Nishi channeled his "inner-Carlos Gomez" by running all the way home for the winning run. Phew... Here’s what we do know: Clete Thomas drove in three runs. Matt Carson and Chris Parmelee had two hits. Parmelee and J.R. Towles had doubles. Esmerling Vasquez went three innings allowing two runs on three hits. Brendan Wise allowed three runs (two unearned) in two innings on four hits. Dan Sattler allowed a run on two hits and struck out two. Bobby Lanigan got the win for two innings of one unearned run ball, two strikeouts, a walk and a hit. Earlier in the day, RP Luis Perdomo was named Twins minor league player of the week. The Wings completed a four-game sweep winning all four games in the “come-from-behind” variety. Don’t look now… but the Wings are barreling down on .500. NEW BRITAIN 1, TRENTON 3 Box score It was a quiet first seven innings for the Rock Cats offense. They entered the 8th inning with only two hits (a single by Chris Colabello and a double by Danny Lehmann). They put together a semi-rally in the 8th getting singles from Nate Hanson and Aaron Hicks, but a strikeout by Chris Herrmann ended the threat. Oswaldo Arcia, who struck out to open the ninth, went 0-for-4, dropping his average at New Britain to .302. After that, though, the Rock Cats went walk (Colabello), single (Evan Bigley), single (Deibinson Romero), scoring Colabello. Nate Hanson advanced both runners on a groundout. With the tying runner on second and two out, James Beresford struck out swinging to end the game. B.J. Hermsen’s performance was aided by groundball double plays in the 1st and 5th innings. He ended with six innings pitched, allowing three runs, six hits and three walks. He struck out two and gave up two home runs. Edgar Ibarra relieved Hermsen with one out and one on in the seventh. He pitched two innings, striking out two. Marty Popham pitched the nine and hit his first batter, but got a groundball in between two strikeouts to make it out of the inning allowing no runs or hits. FT. MYERS 5, DUNEDIN 2 Box score The Miracle got one hit off Dunedin starter Jesse Hernandez. It was a Rene Tosoni home run, so the value of the hit was maximized, but it only left three innings for Fort Myers to erase a one-run lead. They didn’t need all three innings. And they erased the lead and then some. Tom Stuifbergen continues to work himself back onto the prospect radar. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits, but no walks and only two runs. He struck out three. He worked into the sixth and kept his team in the game; know of any teams that need that from their starting pitchers? Jose Gonzalez saw eight batters in relief and mowed them all down. He struck out three. (Does anyone remember when the Twins used to have “Snapper mow-em-down innings”? Ah, the old days…) Michael Tonkin pitched the ninth, striking out one and walking one. He earned the save. The story of the game was the Miracle 8th inning: Andy Leer strikes out. Danny Santana doubles. Levi Michael draws a walk. Rene Tosoni singles to load the bases. Joe Benson singles. Two runs score. Kyle Knudson walks to load the bases. Lance Ray singles to score two more runs, but is thrown out at second (which is ok, cause it probably allowed the runner at home to score). Danny Rams strikes out. Besides the 8th and the aforementioned Tosoni home run, Lance Ray added a single in the seventh. The win snapped a three-game losing streak. BELOIT 5, LAKE COUNTY 8 Box score Ryan O’Rourke made a seven out sport-start (in place of Steven Gruver) and had a rough night, allowing seven hits and runs, three home runs. He struck out two. Cole Johnson allowed three hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Gruver allowed two hits and two walks in two innings. He gave up one run, struck out one and so threw a wild pitch. Dallas Gallant allowed a hit in an inning where he struck out one batter. Gruver started the first 16 games he pitched in, but has pitched out of the bullpen three times now in the last week. I am not sure whether this is in an attempt to limit his innings (he’s thrown 81 2/3 innings this year after throwing a combined 127 last year) or if he’s being shifted to the bullpen. Gruver’s at his best when his fastball is in the high-80s and he’s pounding the bottom of the zone. The Snappers bats managed three extra base hits (doubles by Steven Liddle, Jonathan Goncalves and J.D. Williams), but managed only six total. Luckily, they were able to translate those six hits (and two Lake County errors) into five runs. Miguel Sano Watch: 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored. The Snappers have one more game at Lake County before getting a day off on Wednesday. They will return home – along with play-by-play gal Chrissy Scaffidi – to open a series against the Lansing Lugnuts. Let’s hope that the Snappers can join Chrissy as coming home as “winners”. (If that doesn’t make sense to you, get on Twitter.) ELIZABETHTON vs BLUEFIELD – POSTPONED, Rain GCL TWINS – DAY OFF --- Players of the Day for Sunday, July 15, 2012 Hitters of the Day – Tsuyoshi “Walk-off” Nishioka [ATTACH=CONFIG]1558[/ATTACH] (mlb.com) Pitcher of the Day – Jose Gonzalez [ATTACH=CONFIG]1559[/ATTACH] (http://www.knuckleballsblog.com) --- A Look Ahead – Monday, July 16, 2012 Schedule Rochester at Norfolk – TBA New Britain vs New Hampshire (two games) – LHP Logan Darnell (8-6, 4.13) and RHP Steven Hirschfeld (5-4, 3.06) Ft. Myers vs Dunedin – TBA Beloit at Lake County – RHP Tyler Jones (1-3, 3.28) Elizabethton vs Bluefield – TBA GCL Twins at GCL Orioles – 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.

I think it would be a better indicator that the Twins are willing to not give Liddle a ton of at-bats. The outfield - even minus Benson - is still crowded. I would guess Morales slides to CF, Ortiz continues to get lots of at bats, Rams, Tosoni and Ray can split the other at bats. I want Roberts to play everyday - something he's still not doing in Beloit. But this is probably a discussion for another thread (that will start when Benson gets promoted tomorrow and a corresponding move is made).

Possibly, but I would be surprised if it went down that way. Steven Liddle would be most likely to head from Beloit to Fort Myers. I've also learned it's darn near impossible to predict these waves, so I try not to...

I heard TK say that as well (and more featured in tonight's Minor League Roundup), but find it interesting in that NB's currently got a full roster, so there must be more moves as well. (DL'ing someone would be easy... wondering if its the end of the line for someone.)

As of about 45 seconds ago, I am officially in.

I would offer to pay the buyout if my C prospect can become a B- prospect. I think Segura is more likely to end up at 2B. Which would be a welcome addition as soon as the middle of next year. Keeps the seat warm for Rosario a little longer.

In the interviews after the draft, the talk was about the lack of "power" in the system, both bats and arms. So that's what they were looking to add. And they did. We won't know what they plan on doing until next spring. Berrios, for example, will definitely be a starter and he's currently GCL's closer, just because he has innings on his arm this year already. I would guess Bard, Melotakis and Jones will get a shot to start. Chargois, in my opinion, fits much better as a bullpen guy.

Gallo was too expensive for the Twins to draft at #32. If they knew they'd have to pay Bux $6m, there was no way to fit Gallo in their budget. The deal that Capps is currently playing under was this past offseason, under Terry Ryan. EDIT: I just looked it up, the Rangers drafted five college seniors and a JUCO guy and signed them collectively for $938,600 under slot. Gallo was signed for $925,200 over slot.

If the Twins could get Jean Segura for Liriano straight up, I would consider that a steal. But as someone in the "offer Liriano arbitration unless you get an offer you can't refuse" camp, I would really want to at least get an arm back. Here's my "If I were Terry Ryan" offer to the Angels: Francisco Liriano and James Beresford for Jean Segura and a PTBNL who would turn into Austin Wood (on Aug. 15), a hard-throwing RHP who would join the Beloit rotation. I would also tell Frankie that I'll keep a bucket of Bazooka and his #47 jersey available because I want to sign him in free agency. Segura would rank between #3-#6 in the Twins organization (Rosario, Arcia, Benson group) and Wood rank in the 25ish range. As for Capps... ah... that would depend on how much of the buyout the Angels would want me to pay.

Bard was added to the GCL roster recently. Ability-wise, he should be in E-town, but staying in Fort Myers with the injury makes complete sense.

Nope. Teams can't carry any unused bonus over (yet). I think it's possible that the "draft pool" will be re-evaluated and at some point it will be possible. Possibly a 3- to 5-year rolling "draft pool". I agree to an extent with Sickles - and said it yesterday as well - that I wish there would have been a Plan B if Mazzilli wasn't going to take the money (and the overage). Maybe that was Zach Larson, maybe others said no. Unfortunately, as Seth said, we don't know how negotiations went with any of those guys. Knab said last week he was going to school. Maybe the Twins came in with a better offer that was shot down. In the Twins defense, the Twins have thrown big money at middle-round picks in the past. Some have said yes (Tonkin, Malinowski, Higginbotham), some have turned down huge money (Ramsey) and returned to school. Others have been taken knowing the price tag was excessive (Nick Burdi) and probably was always only a Plan B. The way this year's draft was going to play out was completely unpredictable. I'm on the record saying that I am disappointed by the draft, but I'm not ready to call it en epic failure. The organization added a handful of flame-throwers, something that was previously non-existent. They may all be out of baseball in two years, or maybe three of them become shutdown relievers. Maybe one develops into a frontline starter. The Twins took (a league-high) 23 of BA's top 500 prospects. They did fail to sign seven of them, and that hurts a little. Of the top 500 prospects, though, 401 of them signed. On average, that's 13 players per team, the Twins got 16 of them... including the best one in the draft.

28 if Leverett was signed and released- thrylos theory. 27 if Leverett contract was voided after failed physical, my theory.

Very true. That should have been the expectation though. Because their pool was so large, it didn't surprise me they didn't spend it all. The Yankees spending so little is a bigger surprise. Yeah, or probably over... I was just really hoping that there would be a Plan B lined up... a guy like James Marvel or Timmy Robinson. Josh Bell proved it last year, everybody had a price!

Yeah, I saw that... I'm waiting on confirmation that Leverett is, in fact, 27. Then I saw this picture... and, well... another "Twins pitcher" under the knife for a UCL tear. (Thrylos 1, Jeremy 0.) I wonder how that works: Signing bonus, injury settlement, etc. Do the Twins pay for the surgery? Why would they release him? Why didn't they find this injury BEFORE he used the injured arm to sign a contract? The other article called it "career-threatening". I wish I had a source that could answer all these questions! More stuff on Leverett: According to this link, he had a bone spur in his elbow that "cut his UCL like a rope." "I will begin my rehab process in Statesboro and finish up my degree this fall. The plan is just to rehab, basically, for the next year. I’ll be around Statesboro rehabbing and trying to get back to full strength. The Twins told me if they see I’m back at full strength that they will look to re-sign me. So that’s the plan as of now." Leverett said GSU will pay for his surgery.

Of the 30 teams in the MLB, the Twins had the 2nd most money left unspent in their bonus pool. That shouldn't surprise anyone. For one, it's the Twins and for two, they had the most money to spend. The team that left the most money unspent...? The Yankees. They spent only about $3.8m out of their $4.2m allotment. How crazy is that?!

If you're not following it on the draft signings thread, here's what you missed today. LJ Mazzilli didn't sign. Neither did Erich Knab. Zach Larson signed for 190K. (90K counts against cap.) The soap opera that is Andre Martinez took another turn. He signed for 80K. His physical turned up some shoulder issues. That's why he was signed, then "unsigned". Jarrett Leverett may or may not have actually signed, a UCL tear turned up in his physical, so he's not with the organization... whether that's because he was signed/released or just not signed after a failed physical is up to your interpretation. It appears that the Twins left $298,500 unspent in their draft pool, meaning they spent a tick under $12 million. In all honesty, if you would have told me that Twins were going to spend $12 million on this draft, I would have told you they would acquire more talent than they actually did. I am a big fan of Buxton and Berrios though and if a couple of the bullpen arms can develop and Walker's power develops, this could be a very successful draft.

We'll agree to disagree (again!) I would argue that his deal wasn't official until he passed his physical, which he didn't. Impossible to say exactly what happened.

From Jim Callis: #Twins got 6th-rder Andre Martinez for $80k. Originally agreed on $260k, but physical exam raised questions about his shoulder. #mlbdraft

Re: Leverett LINK My guess is that he'll re-surface next July in the organization.

Yeah. He was reportedly signed early, but just yesterday (or the day before), Callis reported an "unsigning". He rarely jumps the gun on these things, so when I read that the logical explanation was that he agreed to sign and failed a physical. I'm curious what happened in the last 48 hours to cause all the the (mis)reporting.

I agree with 26, but Leverett doesn't appear to have signed (yet) and after a full 360, Andre Martinez, apparently, did.

The tables have turned back around... and Martinez did sign according to BA. I'll file this one under "WTF?"

After the pursuit of Mazzilli and Knab came up fruitless, it's not a shocker that the team spent some of their banked money on the prep outfielder from Florida. The fact that two top 10 round guys went unsigned is very surprising. (The last three drafts have seen all single-digit draftees sign.) At this point, the Twins left $178.5K unspent... it wouldn't surprise me if we learn of another late round pick being bought out of a commitment.

Mazzilli did not sign.