Jeremy Nygaard

This article was orignially posted at ManCenter.com ------ Initially my plan was to continue the series with a preview of the Midwest. While the Twins do a pretty good job of locating and selecting talent from this area, it doesn't appear that there are a ton of top prospects from the area. So I'm pushing that preview back. Instead I'm going to highlight a place that has been a great place to infuse talent into the Twins system: Puerto Rico. In 2007, the Twins jumped on "toolsy OF" Angel Morales, though his hit tool was questioned. He appeared to be CF-ready and the Twins plucked him in Round 3, after being projected to go between Rounds 2-4. The next year, 2008, the Twins took Danny Ortiz in the 4th round. (Round 3-5 projection.) Ortiz was an advanced hitter with defensive questions. He was recently promoted to Ft. Myers, but has never been considered one of the Twins top prospects. (I think he's a good "sleeper" prospect though.) The Twins missed out in 2009, but got back into it in 2010 with Eddie Rosario in the 4th round. Rosario was an also an advanced hitter, but profiled similar to Ortiz. He exceeded expectations both offensively and defensively and was recently moved to 2B and ranks as one of the top prospects in the system. Why is this important? Because the Twins have done a great job of locating - and getting - the talent on this island. We should expect to see something similar in 2012. Carlos Correa, SS - Tall, skinny and projects to hit for power, Correa will probably settle at 3B. If he was plugged into the Twins system, he would have to play his way off SS and would have a higher ceiling than everyone not named Miguel Sano. He remains the least-discussed candidate to go 2nd overall. Jesmuel Valentin-Diaz, SS - Son of former major-league Jose Valentin. Switch-hitter who should be able to stay at SS. Could (and should) be a target for the Twins in the sandwich or 2nd round (especially if they take a P at #2). Could fall due to signability issues. The Twins haven't experienced the same success (or had the same volume), when it comes to pitchers, but a few stand out. Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP - Berrios has become the #1 pitching prospect on the island. Every time he pitches, his stock rises. He is in the mid-90s, deceptive, and already has a solid curveball and change-up. It wouldn't shock me if he ends up in the middle of the 1st round. Edwin Diaz, RHP - Already 6-3, but a very skinny 170. His smooth delivery is producing fastballs in the mid-90s. It's worth noting that while the hitters have committed to college, neither of the pitchers have (which could be a factor when it comes to signing). While these are the four most notable names from Puerto Rico that Twins have also taken players later in the draft. Baseball America had a write up on the Excellence Tournament that is currently going on in Puerto Rico and, to no one's surprise, these four players are mentioned prominently.

This article was orignially posted at ManCenter.com ------ Initially my plan was to continue the series with a preview of the Midwest. While the Twins do a pretty good job of locating and selecting talent from this area, it doesn't appear that there are a ton of top prospects from the area. So I'm pushing that preview back. Instead I'm going to highlight a place that has been a great place to infuse talent into the Twins system: Puerto Rico. In 2007, the Twins jumped on "toolsy OF" Angel Morales, though his hit tool was questioned. He appeared to be CF-ready and the Twins plucked him in Round 3, after being projected to go between Rounds 2-4. The next year, 2008, the Twins took Danny Ortiz in the 4th round. (Round 3-5 projection.) Ortiz was an advanced hitter with defensive questions. He was recently promoted to Ft. Myers, but has never been considered one of the Twins top prospects. (I think he's a good "sleeper" prospect though.) The Twins missed out in 2009, but got back into it in 2010 with Eddie Rosario in the 4th round. Rosario was an also an advanced hitter, but profiled similar to Ortiz. He exceeded expectations both offensively and defensively and was recently moved to 2B and ranks as one of the top prospects in the system. Why is this important? Because the Twins have done a great job of locating - and getting - the talent on this island. We should expect to see something similar in 2012. Carlos Correa, SS - Tall, skinny and projects to hit for power, Correa will probably settle at 3B. If he was plugged into the Twins system, he would have to play his way off SS and would have a higher ceiling than everyone not named Miguel Sano. He remains the least-discussed candidate to go 2nd overall. Jesmuel Valentin-Diaz, SS - Son of former major-league Jose Valentin. Switch-hitter who should be able to stay at SS. Could (and should) be a target for the Twins in the sandwich or 2nd round (especially if they take a P at #2). Could fall due to signability issues. The Twins haven't experienced the same success (or had the same volume), when it comes to pitchers, but a few stand out. Jose Orlando Berrios, RHP - Berrios has become the #1 pitching prospect on the island. Every time he pitches, his stock rises. He is in the mid-90s, deceptive, and already has a solid curveball and change-up. It wouldn't shock me if he ends up in the middle of the 1st round. Edwin Diaz, RHP - Already 6-3, but a very skinny 170. His smooth delivery is producing fastballs in the mid-90s. It's worth noting that while the hitters have committed to college, neither of the pitchers have (which could be a factor when it comes to signing). While these are the four most notable names from Puerto Rico that Twins have also taken players later in the draft. Baseball America had a write up on the Excellence Tournament that is currently going on in Puerto Rico and, to no one's surprise, these four players are mentioned prominently.

Did I read or dream the quote about Diamond's start being short tonight in case he was needed next week at Target Field? I must have read it, because my dreams raring make sense (or come true). (I read it here: LINK)

Good read. I found the "autograph-seeking" part to be interesting. I talked to a guy at Pohlman Field last weekend that goes to nearly every game and stands with the crowd to get autographs. He said Sano has "run from the locker room to the field" every day so he doesn't have to sign and that Rosario will sign "only 2" every time. The day I was there was cold and miserable, so the seekers were the guy I was talking to and me (who wasn't really seeking). Sano came out, saw the two of us not move and walked to the field. The guy I was talking to was shocked. So while it appeared to be alright at Cedar Rapids, I would warn against expecting the same in Beloit. (Of course, I also saw a player tweet about it actually feeling like baseball weather (i.e. not freezing) in Cedar Rapids, so maybe that plays a part too.)

I agree that he should stay at 3B as long as possible. I think the next spot is RF, he moves ok and has a cannon. If that doesn't work, he'll end up at 1B... and then possibly DH. The whole story sounds very similar to the career path of Miguel Cabrera.

Jim Callis ‏ @jimcallisBA RHP T.J. Oakes could go around 5th rd. Solid three-P mix, knows how to P.

Corey Williams earned a 2-inning save tonight in the Snappers win. That's his 4th (organizational lead-tying) save. I'm not going to post the whole chart, but highlight some stats that stick out. (Remember, this is a 12-inning sample.) .200 opponent batting average 1.08 WHIP 11.25 combined K/9 14.54 K/9 vs LH batters All of his non-K outs against lefties have come by groundball. Pretty impressive numbers!

Very interesting article in the newest BA about the possibility of a Triple-A shuffle. I'll give you the brief version. A chart shows the following: Only four International League teams have expiring contracts. (The PCL has 10.) Buffalo - currently NY Mets (could be Toronto) - mentions a change and Rochester hints at it. In the PCL, Fresno, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Oklahoma City are candidates to change affiliation. Tucson appears up in the air. The rest are listed as "unlikely to change". If Toronto leaves for Buffalo, that leaves Las Vegas and Rochester for the Mets and Twins. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to do that math. However, in the article, the IL president is quoted as saying about Rochester, "There is always a possibility of something happening there, but the relationship between the business side of Rochester and the Twins is so good." If the AAA team isn't going to be in Iowa, Wisconsin or Minnesota, it doesn't matter to me. I just though you may find this interesting.

Mike Stanton, Bryce Harper and Miguel Sano, the three most powerful prospects over the last three years are not locks to hit 40 HRs. So if Buxton - who isn't even a power guy - was a lock to hit 40 HRs, he'd definitely go 1st overall. The draft isn't going to help with this problem. If Giolito enrolls in a 4-year school, he isn't gong to be eligibile for the draft for three more years. (Like Gerrit Cole, 1st round to the NYY three years ago, 1-1 this past year.) I think it's pretty obvious the Twins aren't one or two or three players away. And with baseball being a crapshoot anyway, the only way to go is to find a balance between BPA and ceiling and go with the best guy. If it's Buxton, he's probably five years away anyway. By the time he's ready, Hicks might be a year or two from free agency.

You're killing me, Seth!

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?492-Monday-s-Minor-League-Round-up

The Twins are taking a trip to the west coast to play the hapless Angels. Joe Mauer is getting a day off to rest his knee, which he fouled a ball off of yesterday. Today will be Mauer’s first day off this season. Yes, you read that right. One additional note: If you thought “Promotion Weekend” had drawn to a close, you thought wrong. LSP Luke French, who had been nothing short of dominant at New Britain, has been promoted to Rochester. Moving on, let’s look at the Twins minor league scores and highlights from the last day of a forgetful April: ROCHESTER vs BUFFALO Monday’s game was postponed due to rain. NEW BRITAIN 1, HARRISBURG 0 (12 INNINGS) The first 11 innings went scoreless before the Rock Cats plated a runner in the top of 12. Obviously when you go 12 innings without giving up a run, you’ve done something right. David Bromberg started, went five innings and gave up only one hit, one walk and struck out eight. Bobby Lanigan, Lester Oliveros and Luis Perdomo combined to get the next twenty outs, striking out eight while only giving up one hit. Caleb Thielbar, making his AA debut, walked the first batter he faced before ending the game (and earning the save) on a shallow pop out to right field. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s 12 IP, 2 H, 2 BB and 16 Ks. Wow! Chris Herrmann, Aaron Hicks and Pedro Florimon all registered multi-hit games. All had two hits, all were singles. Florimon scored the game’s one and only run on a wild pitch in the top of the twelfth inning. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 1, ST. LUCIE 2 The Miracle lost a tough game, but what could be more significant, lost a player as starter Adrian Salcedo took a one-hopper off the face while pitching to the game’s second batter. He left the game, but there was no immediate word about the significance of the injury. Nelvin Fuentes made his high-A debut before anyone hoped he would, relieving Salcedo with one out in the first. He definitely held his own, pitching almost four innings and only allowing three hits and one run. Miguel Munoz took the loss despite pitching really well too. He went three innings, striking out two. He allowed only one run too, though it was a home run and the deciding run. Matt Hauser pitched the final two frames, striking out three, giving up a hit and hitting a batter. It should also be noted that St. Lucie was able to successfully double-steal with Hauser on the mound. The bats didn’t do much. The team only had five hits, but three of those came off the bat of rehabbing OF Wilkin Ramirez. Angel Morales and Daniel Rohlfing accounted for the other two. Morales also struck out three times. Josmil Pinto picked up two walks. When Danny Ortiz makes his way into the lineup – probably pushing Ramirez back to Rochester – we will most likely see an outfield of Ortiz, Morales and Oswaldo Arcia. BELOIT 7, DAYTON 0 The story of the game was LSP Jason Wheeler. The big-bodied 2011-draftee retired the last 14 batters he faced. He completed six innings of two-hit baseball, allowing one walk, while registering seven strikeouts. Wheeler might have entered the spring as a forgotten high pick, but he’s quickly making us take note. Matthew Tomshaw, Clinton Dempster and Bart Carter each notched a scoreless inning in relief to preserve the shutout. The bats were hot even though the weather wasn’t. Every starter except leadoff hitter Wang-Wei Lin registered a hit as the Snappers had 11 total. Rory Rhodes, who went 2-4, was the only one to have an extra base hit. He also led the team with three runs batted in. Miguel Sano went 2-3 with 2 RBI, a walk and a strikeout. Jhon Goncalves was the only other Snapper with multiple hits. He went 2-4. --- Players of the Day for Monday, April 30, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Rory Rhodes [ATTACH=CONFIG]817[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Jason Wheeler (in a close 1-0 vote over the entire Rock Cats staff). [ATTACH=CONFIG]818[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Empire State – RHP Cole DeVries (0-1, 2.91) New Britain @ Harrisburg – RHP B.J. Hermsen (AA debut) appears to be the likely starter. Ft. Myers @ Palm Beach – RHP Marty Popham (2-0, 3.92) Beloit - OFF DAY ---

You can view the top of the 9th inning of Sunday's game here. I was trying to watch the game outside of the viewfinder, so you're not going to see the best quality video, but enough to get the point across. [video=youtube_share;BRW80SiP6U8]http-~~-//youtu.be/BRW80SiP6U8 [TABLE=width: 252] [/TD] RH bat LH bat OPP BA[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]0.231 [/TD] by RH/LH 0.231 0.231 OPP OBP [TD=colspan: 2, align: center]0.318 [/TD] by RH/LH 0.286 0.375 OPP SLG[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]0.410 [/TD] by RH/LH 0.346 0.538 OPP OPS[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]0.728 [/TD] by RH/LH 0.632 0.913 BABIP[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]0.320 [/TD] by RH/LH 0.316 0.333 WHIP[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]1.20 [/TD] by RH/LH 1.05 1.50 K/9[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]11.70 [/TD] by RH/LH 9.45 16.20 DICE[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]3.20 [/TD] by RH/LH 1.80 6.00 GO/FO [TD=colspan: 2, align: center]1.83 [/TD] by RH/LH 1.17 4.00 <-no flyouts ERA[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]4.50 [TD][/TD] [/TABLE]

The newest ESPN Insider draft article suggests that Appel is back in the #1 conversation. Expect this to change a few dozen more times before the draft.

Great story. Can you confirm or deny the story that Rosario moved out of his initial host home because they led him to believe that wild deer may attack him? If true, please share!

Took a one-hopper to the grill.

I think Lin - and really Pettersen and Bryant - provides some maturity and flexibility in the lineup. All three are guys that play hard, give good at-bats and (although I didn't see Pettersen in the field) are solid defenders. Lin didn't do anything great, but he played left and center and took a lot of pitches. We won't see any on Top 30 prospect lists, but those types of players are invaluable to the organization. I saw Hicks his first and second year in Beloit and I thought he looked more advanced both times than Sano. This weekend, I was really hoping that I'd see a guy that didn't belong... but I didn't. The Twins will do what's best for him and it will be a couple of years before he's truly in the conversation.

Thanks guys. I was pretty pumped. The break in videos was due to the radio guy talking so loud, so we actually talked to him for 10 minutes or so. He was telling us about how he was supposed to be on SportsNation after the YouTube play, but was drugged so heavily from pain meds that he fell asleep and missed five phone calls. He then showed us his enormous scar, which my brother had to take a picture of... He was a cool guy. It sounds like he wants to stay in the bullpen... I have the full inning he pitched on video and I'll upload it tonight, so you can judge for yourself if you like him in relief. You'll see him make a pretty good defensive play against the first guy he faced too.

Thanks guys! I have the interview up on my adapt-a-prospect page.

Random thought based on two games... HITTERS *Miguel Sano has a long way to do. His bat's not ready. His glove's not ready. His head's not ready. Physically, he's a beast. He got one hit (a sharp grounder that slid under the third baseman's glove) in seven at bats. He struck out twice and looked susceptible to any ball that doesn't spin straight. He has time - and should be allowed it - to get that part of his game figured out. He did hit two flyballs that looked pretty routine, but ended up caught on the warning track. With the wind blowing in. Hard. Defensively, he shows flashes but also made a few routine mistakes - dropping a ball in a rundown, throwing to the wrong base to set up the rundown, failing to field a pretty routine grounder. He did some things well though too: fielding a weak roller to nail the runner at first, showing off his cannon arm. *Eddie Rosario was 2-8 with a 2B and a 3B. He made a boneheaded move on the triple when the ball skipped past the 3B and was thrown out easily at home, for the first out of the inning. He gets his bat through the zone in a hurry. Defensively, he was solid. He made a good turn on a double-play. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's been playing there his whole life. *JD Williams is fast. He DH'd and pinch ran, so I didn't get to see him in the field. But it was obvious the two times he reached base - an easy stolen base and, today before scoring the winning run, beating the throw to 3rd on a nearly-botched sacrifice. He's not Billy Hamilton-fast, but he's in the same category as Ben Revere. *Daniel Ortiz is a good hitter. His opposite field home run was impressive. *Tyler Grimes is a mess at shortstop. I hope he figures it out, his arm is stronger than Sano's. *AJ Pettersen reminds me of Nick Punto. He battled in all of his at-bats and always seems to come out ahead. He's not a big guy, but I'm not going to count him out. *Matt Koch hit the ball more squarely than any other Snapper this weekend. He only played Saturday, but the crack of the bat on the ball makes you look up if you're not paying attention. PITCHERS *Steven Gruver had a rough outing on Saturday. He didn't make it out of the 2nd and it looked like he was serving up batting practice. He seems to have a hard time consistently keeping the ball down. *AJ Achter looked good in relief. He abandoned runners and struck a few out. I wouldn't be surprised if he was back in the rotation sometime this year, but again, he's excelled in relief, so maybe he stays there. *Tim Shibuya was phenomenal. He pounded the lower half of the zone getting called strikes, but also missing bats. He seemed to tire towards the end of his outing, but he struck out 11 and was basically unhittable for five innings. If he continues to pitch like this, I would imagine he'll head to Fort Myers shortly. *Michael Tonkin was better than his stats show. He broke the only two bats I saw broken on consecutive batters. One reaching on a bleeding grounder and the other hitting a ball to Sano that he just failed to field. So while the "blown save" and 3 hits doesn't look great, he'll continue to be a go-to-guy in the bullpen. *Corey Williams came in a earned the win with a solid night. The lone hit he allowed actually hit Adam Bryant in the glove. He did fire a very wild pitch to the backstop. (I'll have more on him in the Adopt-A-Prospect forum later.) OTHER TID-BITS *Tom Kelly and Jim Rantz were sitting behind the plate. I don't know how Kelly sits still in the booth, he paced back and forth all game. He was mostly encouraging the hitters and pitchers, but got on Sano a little bit when he was misaligned and showed his frustration on Rosario's baserunning gaffe. *Big thanks to Chrissy Scaffidi for helping me set up an interview with Corey Williams. I know she's busy with the Snappers and their site, but maybe we can talk her into contributing more to this site. *If you head down, pick a time when it's not so stinking cold. It wasn't only cold, but windy too. But it was still fun to watch some future Twins.

Random thought based on two games... HITTERS *Miguel Sano has a long way to do. His bat's not ready. His glove's not ready. His head's not ready. Physically, he's a beast. He got one hit (a sharp grounder that slid under the third baseman's glove) in seven at bats. He struck out twice and looked susceptible to any ball that doesn't spin straight. He has time - and should be allowed it - to get that part of his game figured out. He did hit two flyballs that looked pretty routine, but ended up caught on the warning track. With the wind blowing in. Hard. Defensively, he shows flashes but also made a few routine mistakes - dropping a ball in a rundown, throwing to the wrong base to set up the rundown, failing to field a pretty routine grounder. He did some things well though too: fielding a weak roller to nail the runner at first, showing off his cannon arm. *Eddie Rosario was 2-8 with a 2B and a 3B. He made a boneheaded move on the triple when the ball skipped past the 3B and was thrown out easily at home, for the first out of the inning. He gets his bat through the zone in a hurry. Defensively, he was solid. He made a good turn on a double-play. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's been playing there his whole life. *JD Williams is fast. He DH'd and pinch ran, so I didn't get to see him in the field. But it was obvious the two times he reached base - an easy stolen base and, today before scoring the winning run, beating the throw to 3rd on a nearly-botched sacrifice. He's not Billy Hamilton-fast, but he's in the same category as Ben Revere. *Daniel Ortiz is a good hitter. His opposite field home run was impressive. *Tyler Grimes is a mess at shortstop. I hope he figures it out, his arm is stronger than Sano's. *AJ Pettersen reminds me of Nick Punto. He battled in all of his at-bats and always seems to come out ahead. He's not a big guy, but I'm not going to count him out. *Matt Koch hit the ball more squarely than any other Snapper this weekend. He only played Saturday, but the crack of the bat on the ball makes you look up if you're not paying attention. PITCHERS *Steven Gruver had a rough outing on Saturday. He didn't make it out of the 2nd and it looked like he was serving up batting practice. He seems to have a hard time consistently keeping the ball down. *AJ Achter looked good in relief. He abandoned runners and struck a few out. I wouldn't be surprised if he was back in the rotation sometime this year, but again, he's excelled in relief, so maybe he stays there. *Tim Shibuya was phenomenal. He pounded the lower half of the zone getting called strikes, but also missing bats. He seemed to tire towards the end of his outing, but he struck out 11 and was basically unhittable for five innings. If he continues to pitch like this, I would imagine he'll head to Fort Myers shortly. *Michael Tonkin was better than his stats show. He broke the only two bats I saw broken on consecutive batters. One reaching on a bleeding grounder and the other hitting a ball to Sano that he just failed to field. So while the "blown save" and 3 hits doesn't look great, he'll continue to be a go-to-guy in the bullpen. *Corey Williams came in a earned the win with a solid night. The lone hit he allowed actually hit Adam Bryant in the glove. He did fire a very wild pitch to the backstop. (I'll have more on him in the Adopt-A-Prospect forum later.) OTHER TID-BITS *Tom Kelly and Jim Rantz were sitting behind the plate. I don't know how Kelly sits still in the booth, he paced back and forth all game. He was mostly encouraging the hitters and pitchers, but got on Sano a little bit when he was misaligned and showed his frustration on Rosario's baserunning gaffe. *Big thanks to Chrissy Scaffidi for helping me set up an interview with Corey Williams. I know she's busy with the Snappers and their site, but maybe we can talk her into contributing more to this site. *If you head down, pick a time when it's not so stinking cold. It wasn't only cold, but windy too. But it was still fun to watch some future Twins.

Watched the Snappers lose to Dayton 7-3, but got a chance to talk with Corey Williams after the game. [video=youtube_share;xZS9G6xcsFo]http://youtu.be/xZS9G6xcsFo [video=youtube_share;EcPbK6iq4co]http://youtu.be/EcPbK6iq4co Big thanks to Corey Williams, my drunk brother cameraman, my other drunk brother's creepy hand in the background and the biggest thanks to Chrissy Scaffidi for helping me set this up.