Jeremy Nygaard

The Twins were awarded a pick in the Competitive Balance Lottery on Wednesday afternoon. They were eligible for a pick in the B Round (after the second round) because they received revenue sharing money last season. So as of Wednesday afternoon, the Twins were in line for four of the top 74 picks in the 2016 draft: #21 (Round 1), #59 (Round 2), #72 (awarded Wednesday) and #74 (compensation for not signing Kyle Cody). The first three picks can change throughout the rest of the season and free agency. The Twins are locked in to pick #74 regardless. After the Kernels game, Trevor Hildenberger was promoted to Fort Myers. This was called a “short-term” move because of the Miracle’s marathon affair on Tuesday night, but he has definitely earned the shot to move up. Zach Tillery will take his place on the Kernels active roster.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Gwinnett 2 Box Score Despite finding themselves in an early hole, the Red Wings used a big fifth inning and added an insurance run later to cruise to victory. Pat Dean scattered eight hits and two walks over seven innings. He allowed two runs in picking up his seventh win of the season. He struck out one before turning the ball over to Michael Tonkin, who earned a two-inning save. He walked one, gave up two hits and struck out two. Tonkin hasn’t allowed an earned run in AAA since June 28th (eight appearances) and has seen his ERA drop to 1.30. His 37:5 K:BB ratio in 27.2 innings is equally impressive. Unfortunately, Tonkin has not done much to impress during his three brief cameos with the Twins in 2015. Chris Herrmann started getting back on track with the bat on Tuesday when he had two hits, his first hits in a week. On Wednesday, Herrmann had two more hits and an RBI. Eric Farris added a double, but in a five-hit game for the Wings, there wasn’t much offense to speak of. The three-run fifth started with a Danny Ortiz walk. He advanced to second on one of Herrmann’s singles. Farris followed that with a double to score Ortiz. Doug Bernier plated Herrmann on a sac fly and Argenis Diaz singled Farris in to close the scoring. The following inning James Beresford scored after singling and advancing on a error, eventually coming around on Herrmann’s second hit. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 8, Tennessee 7 Box Score There wasn’t a lot of pretty to talk to about this game. Except for one inning. One really big inning. Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lookouts exploded for seven runs. Aderling Mejia coaxed a one-out walk and advanced to second on a Shannon Wilkerson single. Levi Michael walked to load the bases and Heiker Meneses was hit by a pitch to score the team’s second run. Max Kepler followed with a bases clearing double and the game was 7-5. Kepler scored on Kennys Vargas’s single and two more runs scored on Adam Brett Walker’s 26th home run. Wilkerson’s three hits paced the team and he also stole his first base with the team. In addition to his hit-by-pitch, Meneses also had two singles. Walker had two hits. Michael added a double. Brett Lee got a no-decision after pitching five innings and giving up six runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out three. Matt Summers was credited with the win. He struck out four and allowed three hits and two walk (which only led to one run) in 2.2 innings. Alex Muren got his third save, striking out one and retiring four, total. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 6 Box Score The Miracle pitching staff got a much-needed long start after last night’s extra-inning game. Ryan Eades threw 97 pitches in six innings, giving up six runs on nine hits and three walks. He struck out three and got the loss. Trevor Hildenberger made his High-A debut. He allowed two hits in two innings, striking out two. Combined, he’s allowed four earned runs in 47 innings (0.76 ERA). He has 61 strikeouts (11.7 K/9) and allowed 26 hits and 5 walks (0.66 WHIP). Video game numbers. The offense was led by two-hit nights from Engelb Vielma, who doubled, and Chad Christensen. Ryan Walker had the team’s only RBI with a hit and a walk, and Logan Wade also added a hit and walk. Jason Kanzler tripled. Walker (4) and Christensen (18) each stole a base. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Wisconsin 4 Box Score The Kernels used a five-run third inning and hung on by a narrow margin to improve to 56-41 overall and 15-12 in the second half. Sean Miller led off the third inning with a single. Tanner English backed that up with a single of his own. After a Nick Gordon walk, Edgar Corcino cleared the bases with a triple to center field. Later that inning Tyler Kuresa singled in Corcino and advanced to third on a Pat Kelly double. Alex Real drove in Kuresa with an RBI groundout. Corcino and Miller led the offense with two hits each. Miller also stole his first base as a pro. Ethan Mildren picked up the win with 5.1 innings pitched. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out three. Yorman Landa cleaned up the sixth inning mess and completed two more innings, striking out two and walking one. The ninth got a little messy for Cameron Booser. Booser didn’t allow any hits, but two walks and two wild pitches scored a run and had the tying run on third base. Booser coaxed a pop out and then got his second strikeout of the inning to preserve the win. It was his ninth save of the year. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 0, Princeton 3 Box Score E-town out-hit Princeton, but Princeton did more with their seven hits than the E-Twins did with their eight. E-town failed to a score a single run despite eight hits. Chris Paul and A.J. Murray each had two hits. The team was 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position. Miles Nordgren took the loss despite pitching well. He lasted 6.2 innings allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out three. Logan Lombana pitched 2.1 shutout innings. He allowed one hit and one walk. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 0, GCL Orioles 12 Box Score It was two-and-a-half hours of not pretty for the GCL Twins on Wednesday afternoon. The notables: Offensively, the team mustered four hits. Two of those hits were singles off the bat of Jermaine Palacios. Palacios is in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak. He’s had multiple hits in ten of those games and is currently hitting .434. Lewin Diaz doubled and walked. Rowan Ebersohn got a hit in his only at-bat as a late-inning replacement. John Curtiss pitched two innings in a rehab appearance. He gave up one run on three hits and a walk. Five other pitchers made appearances today. It’s not pretty, so please be cautious while viewing. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Yorman Landa, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Max Kepler, Chattanooga THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Gwinnett (10:05 CST) – RHP Jose Berrios Chattanooga vs Tennessee (6:15 CST) – RHP D.J. Baxendale Ft. Myers at Tampa (6:00 CST) – LHP Mat Batts Cedar Rapids vs Wisconsin (6:35 CST) – RHP Zach Tillery Elizabethton vs Princeton (6:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 CST) - TBD Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

Nothing I said suggests the deal is close. Just that they had talked. They haven't talked in a couple of days, to my knowledge. My honest belief is that the GMs could (not "will") arrive on parameters and still face the biggest hurdle in getting it done - ownership. Even if it doesn't happen before the deadline, which admittedly is a small shot, I would imagine talks will resume in December, when both teams have a clearer picture of who they are.

That's fair. And I'd hope those conversations are happening too.

They didn't ask for them together, to my knowledge. But even if they did, you can't ever make a reasonable trade request to start the conversation. That risks the other teams simply saying "yes" and you wishing you asked for more. The Twins asked for Eduardo Rodriguez when the Orioles claimed Josh Willingham. The Orioles said no. The Twins didn't feel motivated to take less. The Rockies asking for Gibson-plus or Sano, while chipping in cash, isn't a bad place to start. Plus, the Rockies have more to offer - namely bullpen guys - so having an ongoing dialogue is pretty valuable too.

I'm not looking to further my journalistic career. There's no "scoop" here. We all come here for the same reason. Plus, it MLBTR posted a link every time two teams had a conversation... we'd stop going to that site.

I would really encourage you - if you have the ability - to read Bowden's piece. It discusses in depth the ebbs and flows to making a deal. Asking for Sano, from what I was told, left the Twins FO "not happy" and ended dialogue. But that shows a willingness on Colorado's end to at least talk about moving him. Eventually someone calls back. (Which happened.) There are a lot of contract things that would make a deal for Tulo hard to pull off - a $2 million trade-kicker, a clause that says he can only be traded once in this contract. The Twins should counter with asking the Rockies to kick in way more money than they'd ever feel comfortable with. Because that at least sets the boundaries. I just said on Twitter I'd put the odds of the Twins acquiring Tulo in the next days at 3%. But the bigger picture - that part that should make us happy as Twins fans - is a willingness to kick really big tires. The likelihood is that this deal doesn't happen. But I'm not backing off anything I wrote.

First and foremost, there are literally hundreds of thousands of trade conversations that happen between teams throughout the season and especially as the end of July rolls around. If the Twins weren’t talking to every team about ways to improve their team, that would be extremely disappointing.Jim Bowden posted a piece called Anatomy of a Trade (Insider required) yesterday at ESPN and - to everyone’s surprise - it was fantastic. It discusses how trades come together and he goes through a hypothetical trade that takes place… and how it progresses over the course of nearly 40 days. This hypothetical trade ends with both teams coming to an agreement at the deadline. But you must keep in mind that for every one that goes through, there are probably hundreds that never grow legs and die. One conversation that I can confirm has happened - and continues to happen - is between the Twins and the Colorado Rockies. It’s still in the infant stages. In fact, the idea sprouted after an All-Star break where the Twins All-Star second baseman, Brian Dozier, and the Rockies All-Star shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki, “bonded.” As Bowden suggests in his piece, the first call is made and the initial offer is “usually lopsided and downright embarrassing.” I don’t know who made the first offer, but the Rockies’ top target is Kyle Gibson. They’ve also asked for Miguel Sano. The Twins target? Troy Tulowitzki. Where do negotiations go from here? If the Rockies insist on a top arm, there are really only a couple of options. Besides Gibson, you’d have to imagine that Jose Berrios will be brought up. And possibly Trevor May and/or Alex Meyer to a lesser extent. But as far the “headliner” goes, only Gibson and Berrios could really fit in that category. With ten days to go, this discussion could really morph in a lot of different directions. In the right deal, the Rockies would be willing to send some cash. (Seth covered Tulowitzki’s contract really well in this piece posted early today, so I don’t feel the need to re-hash it.) In any deal where money is sent, the Rockies would ask for a better return. Would the Twins have interest in acquiring other pieces from the Rockies? Both LaTroy Hawkins and John Axford could be valuable additions to the Twins bullpen. The Twins have also asked about Rockies catcher Nick Hundley, who is under contract through next season and having his best offensive season since 2011. If you’re wondering how the Rockies could deal the face of their franchise, it seems like they might be ready to move on from the duo of Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, with star 3B Nolan Arenado and All-Star 2B D.J. LaMahieu taking over. Moving Tulo, CarGo and potentially Charlie Blackmon could add a lot of valuable pieces to a franchise who has struggled almost as badly as the Twins have over the past five seasons. None of that means that a deal is going to happen. Not with the Twins or with anyone else. All things have to line up perfectly for a deal to get done. As one source familiar with the talks told me, if the Twins make it through their gauntlet-of-a-week this week, “talks will get serious and move fast.” Whether you like Tulowitzki or not, the Twins are having conversations with the intent of getting better this year. Click here to view the article

I don't even know if I'd pursue Cozart at that time. He might not be ready for Spring Training. LINK

It's not on him, but it didn't help his case that both Jones and Burdi got sent down to FM. I would guess Burdi should go back soon and then he'll get his shot.

A couple of the Twins top pitching prospects were on the hill Saturday and there were some big offensive outputs as well. The Twins were playing a late game in Oakland. But all in all it was a pretty quiet day in the Twins world otherwise. Let's check the farm.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Lehigh Valley 4 Box Score Jose Berrios made his third start in AAA this season on Saturday, hoping for results better than his previous two starts, both of which saw Berrios fail to make it out of the sixth inning. Well, it happened. Berrios allowed a solo opposite-field home run to Jordan Danks and a triple to Chase d’Arnaud, who scored on a sacrifice fly. In addition to that, Berrios only allowed one other hit, a hit batter and a sixth-inning walk. He made it through seven innings (on 101 pitches) and struck out nine. Berrios appeared to change his approach to help him make it deeper. In his second start, he threw a number of curveballs early in the game. On Saturday, Berrios worked off his fastball early, using his slider and change-up to keep hitters off balance. He started to show the curveball in the sixth inning, when he was facing the lineup for the third time. Alex Meyer took the loss, allowing a two-run home run. He struck out two in the eighth inning. Caleb Thielbar struck out two while facing the minimum in the ninth. Offensively, Danny Ortiz provided both runs with one swing of the bad, a two-run blast to tie the game in the fourth inning. But the team as a whole batted 0-11 with runners in scoring position, so there was plenty of opportunities to add more runs. Eric Farris had two hits. James Beresford had a double. Since homering off Aaron Nola, Oswaldo Arcia entered the game with six consecutive strikeouts. He broke that streak with a weak groundball to the second baseman. He singled later to center for his first hit since Thursday. Jorge Polanco committed his 7th AAA error - a throwing error. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 5, Biloxi 3 Box Score The Lookouts didn’t provide much offense - only six hits - and made multiple outs on the basepaths, but did enough to secure the victory. Kennys Vargas led the way with two solo home runs - one from each side of the plate - in the sixth and ninth innings. Max Kepler doubled in Niko Goodrum in the first inning. Adam Brett Walker drove in Kepler and Vargas scored on a Stuart Turner sac fly in the fourth. Goodrum committed two errors at third base. Jason Wheeler started the game and lasted 6.2 innings. He allowed two runs on seven hits. He walked one and tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts. (He’s done it once in each of his four professional seasons.) Jake Reed struck out one in recording four outs. D.J. Johnson came in to get the save and walked the first batter. After striking out the next batter - who got ejected for arguing the call - Johnson gave up a single and then hit a batter to load the bases with one out. With the winning runner at the plate, the ball was batted toward the gap between Heiker Meneses and Goodrum. Meneses made a good play to force out the runner at third. A runner scores. Two outs. Johnson coaxed a pop out to short right field to end the game and secure the victory. The Lookouts improve to 7-14 in the second half. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Brevard County 7 Box Score The Miracle scored four first inning runs and led until late, when Brevard County scored four late-inning runs to complete the comeback and hand Fort Myers a heartbreaking loss. By the time Kohl Stewart stepped on the mound, he already had a four-run lead, thanks to a walk, a couple singles and an error. Brett Doe drove in a run, Ryan Walker singled in two runs and Jason Kanzler rounded out the scoring with a sac fly. Kohl Stewart only gave up five hits in six innings, but walked four. Three runners crossed the plates, though only two were earned. He struck out four. Zach Granite drove in Chad Christensen in both the second and fourth inning to round out the Miracle scoring. The lead was handed to Corey Williams would sent Brevard County down 1-2-3 in the seventh but gave up two runs in the eighth on two hits. He gave way to Dallas Gallant who struggled with control and had two wild pitches and a walk. He left with two outs after giving up a single to the tying run. Zack Jones gave up a hit and a walk to load the bases. He hit the next batter to tie the game. And then promptly hit the next batter to give Brevard County a walk-off win. Granite, Doe and Walker all had two hit games. Walker added a triple. The Miracle head back home with a 51-42 overall record. They are 12-10 in the second half. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Quad Cities 2 Box Score The Kernels scored first and last and that was enough to get the win on Saturday night. Nick Gordon’s third inning triple scored Brian Navarreto and extended his hitting streak to 17 games. Tanner English knocked in the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth to seal the win. Sam Gibbons struck out four in five scoreless innings. He allowed five hits and walked one. Hard-throwing Yorman Landa walked three and allowed two hits which pushed two runs across. He struck out four. Alphabet Soup closed out the game and got credit with the win and save. Michael Theofanopoulos got three fly balls in a perfect eighth inning and Trevor Hildenberger finished it off. Navarreto had two hits and scored twice. Edgar Corcino also singled twice. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 15, Burlington 10 Box Score Some late inning fireworks helped the E-Twins climb back to one game under .500. Elizabethton jumped to a big lead with six second-inning runs. Amaurys Minier (single) and A.J. Murray (walk) advanced on a wild pitch and were joined on base by Travis Blankenhorn on an infield hit. Alex Perez cleared the bases with a double. After a Manuel Guzman walk, Kamran Young cleared the bases again with a three-run home run. They added a run in the third-, fourth-, and sixth-inning, but still found themselves down 10-9 when they came to bat in the ninth. Austin Diemer drove in two runs with a double and after another run scored on an error, LaMonte Wade added some insurance in the form of a three-run home run. All told, ten different batters scored, led by Young’s three runs. Rainis Silva had three hits including a double and Perez was a home run short of the cycle. Travis Blankenhorn had an RBI double. The pitching lines weren’t as pretty. Sam Clay lasted 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out one. Nate Gerken (1.2 IP) and Onesimo Hernandez (0.2 IP) both gave up multiple runs. C.K. Irby earned the win with 2.1 innings of shutout ball. Kuo Hua Lo closed the game with a scoreless inning. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 7 Box Score The Red Sox jumped out to quick lead on starter Jose Martinez, scoring three runs in the first and adding another in the fifth off of Martinez, who finished five innings. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two, taking the loss. The Twins scored their runs in the third and fourth innings. The rehabbing D.J. Hicks doubled in Luis Martinez, who was hit by a pitch, in the third. The hot-hitting Jermaine Palacios doubled in the fourth and later scored on an RBI groundout by Robert Molina. After a 1-for-19 start, Palacios is 30-for-55 (.545) over his last 14 games. He’s still skinny (listed at 145 lbs), but is OPSing 1.044 on the season. Not a lot of pop (nine extra base hits), but an OBP of .476 certainly helps. Only 18 and playing shortstop, Palacios, who committed his fourth error today, is one to watch over the next couple of years. With no primary shortstops on the E-town roster - they’ve been rotating guys - it will be interesting to see if he gets a shot in the Appy League this season. Miguel Gonzalez, who signed for $650,000 in July of 2011, pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two. His third shot at the GCL has gone really well so far, Gonzalez has made seven appearances and pitched 16.1 innings, allowing only six hits and a two walks. No runs. He’s struck out 20. Things have not gone as smoothly for Rich Condeelis, a 36th-rounder in the 2015 draft from Pitt. For the third time in five games, Condeelis has allowed multiple runs. This time the damage was three runs on four hits and a walk. Also of note on Saturday, both Trey Cabbage and Lewin Diaz went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Their batting averages drop to .257 and .213, respectively. The loss drops the club to 13-9. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Jose Berrios, Rochester Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Kamran Young, Elizabethton SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (12:35 CST) – LHP Taylor Rogers Chattanooga at Biloxi (5:10 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Ft. Myers vs Jupiter (3:05 CST) – LHP Stephen Gonsavles Cedar Rapids at Quad Cities (5:15 CST) – LHP Luke Westphal Elizabethton at Burlington (5:00 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

I can only speculate what happened, because I don't know the specifics (and I honestly don't want to). But as you look around the league all of Kirby, Buehler and Betts ended up getting less because of things that showed up in their physicals. I believe Cody wasn't taking a penny less than the ~$800K that he was originally going to sign for. The Twins weren't going to give him that, but still made a very substantial offer. When it was obvious they were going to have a few hundred extra thousand to spend (since Cody wasn't going to require it all), they engaged some kids and were fairly certain they'd be able to give them each close to $250k. It's just too bad because all of those other guys mentioned above realized that not signing was a really big risk.

Not that simple. Getting Cody done would have provided savings to sign one or - more likely - two other guys.

Apparently I'm getting into Fantasy Football mode. Yes, Smith is Swim. It was Johnson who tweeted 98 mph, so I'm assuming he's using the stats available in the booth, not the stadium gun.

Two more days until the Twins get back in action on Friday. Most affiliates were back on the field on Wednesday, with the exception being the Red Wings. The Triple-A All-Star Game was held on Wednesday night. Lots of moves on Wednesday: The Lookouts released both 1B Mike Gonzales and RP Scott Atchison. While Atchison didn’t have an opt-out in his contract, he didn’t expect to still be in the minors, so he asked for and was granted his release. The Miracle received C Brett Doe from the Kernels. The Kernels activated P Chris Mazza and P Yorman Landa, put C Jorge Fernandez on the DL and received 1B Tyler Kuresa from E-Town. P Carlos Aponte and 16-year-old P Brusdar Graterol were both promoted from the DSL to the GCL. Fernandez will miss the rest of the season after breaking his hand punching a wall according to Kernels beat writer Jeff Johnson.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester off day AAA All-Star Game Box Score Rochester had three representatives play for the International League All-Stars. James Beresford started at second base and batted second. He nearly homered in his first at-bat, but instead settled for a triple and scored the game’s first run. He got another hit and finished 2-3. Taylor Rogers pitched the fourth inning and allowed a walk in a scoreless frame. A.J. Achter retired the one batter he faced and, because of the IL All-Stars comeback, earned the win. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Biloxi 5 (11 innings) Box Score The Lookouts gave up a bunch of runs early, but came back in a back-and-forth game that ended after 11 innings. Alex Wimmers allowed three first-inning runs (on two home runs), but that was it over his five innings. He allowed eight hits and a walk. He struck out two. After D.J. Johnson pitched a scoreless sixth, Brandon Peterson allowed two runs in two innings of work. Jake Reed followed with two innings of scoreless ball to earn the win. J.T. Chargois closed it out for the save in the 11th inning. The Lookouts scored three runs in the third inning. It started with a throwing error that allowed Levi Michael to reach base. He advanced on a Shannon Wilkerson single and scored on a Stephen Wickens double. After Travis Harrison walked, Kennys Vargas came to the plate with the bases loaded. An error by the third baseman allowed Wilkerson to score. Marcus Knecht had a two-out single that scored Wickens, but Harrison was thrown out at home to the end the inning. Vargas was replaced by Niko Goodrum in the fifth inning after grounding into a double play. Smart money is not on a promotion, but instead on Big Spoon not running it out and feeling Dougie Baseball’s wrath. Chattanooga added another run in the seventh on a solo home run by Levi Michael. Their fifth run came in the eighth inning when Niko Goodrum singled, stole second then stole third and then scored on a ABW2 sac fly. That’s how you #manufactureruns. There was a weird moment in the 10th inning when a power surge knocked out a bank of lights, caused the radio broadcast to go out for a few innings and the entire stadium to flicker. The umpires and managers decided to play on. In the 11th, Goodrum again reached base on a walk and advanced on a Walker fly ball. This time, though, he was be thrown out at 3rd base when Knecht hit it to the shortstop. Knecht advanced to third on a Stuart Turner single and scored the eventual winning run on a passed ball. Chattanooga, which has already qualified for the playoffs, is currently in last place in the Southern League North and is 5-13 after Wednesday night’s win. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 1, Brevard County 3 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu pitched six one-run innings, allowing seven hits while striking out three. He gave way to the bullpen in a tie game. Zach Jones, making his first high-A appearance after being activated and sent down by Chattanooga, struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning. Tyler Jay got his first professional decision. But it wasn’t what he wanted. And it wasn’t pretty. He gave up three hits and walked a batter. Two runs crossed the plate and Jay’s ERA has risen to 8.10. It was 77 degrees at today’s game, so let’s blame it on the heat. He’s a cold-weather guy… Alex Swim, professional hitter, went 3-4 with a double. He accounted for half of the team’s hits. Zach Granite drove in the team’s only run. Fort Myers is 12-8 in the second half, one game behind Palm Beach, but in a three-way tie for second place. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 5, Burlington 2 Box Score The Kernels got strong efforts from their pitching staff and the offense was able to muster enough juice late in the game to improve to 12-8 in the second half of the season. Felix Jorge wasn’t his best, but was still plenty good enough. His four walks were a season high. In fact, he had only walked three batters once in his previous 14 starts. He three strikeouts matched his second lowest output of the season. His three hits allowed in six innings, though, were enough to keep Cedar Rapids in a good position to win Wednesday’s ball game. Jorge gave way to Yorman Landa. Landa was making his first appearance back with the Kernels after rehabbing a lat strain with the GCL affiliate. He struck out the side in the seventh, touching 98 mph on the gun. Michael Theofanopoulos and Trevor Hildenberger held Burlington scoreless over the final two frames. Hildenberger now sports a fancy 0.82 ERA, 0.64 WHIP and a 12.06 K/9. Know of any teams that could use bullpen help? Offensively, Rafael Valera was the star. He drove in Edgar Corcino in the first inning and then drove in two more runs in the seventh inning. He finished 4-4 with three RBI. Nick Gordon had two hits, a stolen base and an RBI. He extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Corcino added two hits, two runs and a stolen base. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Danville 3 Box Score The E-Twins were able to come back from an early deficit to reach .500 again, 20 games into the season. Despite giving up eight hits, starter Alexis Tapia was able to get through five innings surrendering only three runs (two earned). He walked one and only struck out two. It was enough to get the E-Twins to the strong bullpen trio of Tyler Stirewalt (one hit, two walks and a strikeout in 1.1 innings), C.K. Irby (strikeout in 1.2 perfect innings) and Kuo Hua Lo (hit and strikeout in the final inning) and give the team a chance to win. E-Town was able to come back in the third and fourth innings before taking their first lead in the fifth inning. Danville tied it up in the bottom of the fifth and Elizabethton scored the winning run in the top of the ninth. In the third, a LaMonte Wade single drove in Kamran Young who had tripled. In the fourth, A.J Murray led the inning off with a walk. He advanced on a Rainis Silva single before scoring on a wild pitch. Manuel Guzman scored the go-ahead run in the fifth after reaching base on a single. He advanced to third on a Young single and came home on Wade’s sacrifice fly. LaMonte Wade drove in Guzman again in the ninth with a double after Guzman walked to lead off the inning. The same two teams play again tomorrow night. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins vs GCL Rays Postponed The 12-8 Gulf Coast League affiliate had their game postponed until tomorrow due to rain. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Rafael Valera, Cedar Rapids THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – TBA Chattanooga at Biloxi (7:10 CST) – LHP Brett Lee Ft. Myers at Brevard County (5:35 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Cedar Rapids vs Burlington (6:35 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Elizabethton at Danville (6:00 CST) - RHP Miles Nordgren GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (9:00 CST, Game 1) - TBA GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (Game 2) - TBA Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

Here is the list of unsigned guys. Paul and Wiel are both done, as is Cordy, who's playing. Everyone else is a done deal. That means 27 out of 40 signed. I remember reading that number was going to be closer to 20, which I always suggested was extremely low. IF Cody signs (28), I have no doubt one, possibly two more get done... which would bring the total to 30, which even I would have doubted. P Kyle Cody P Kyle Wilson P Cody Eastman P Blake Cederlind RF Tyler Williams LP Dalton Sawyer RF Jonathan Engelmann CF Greg Popylisen LF Tristan Pompey C Collin Theroux P Jake Irvin CF Alex McKenna LP Daniel Tillo

If you go into the forums, there is a section dedicated to the draft. There is a thread in there that had it.

Wiel is in Fort Myers "getting back into the swing of things." I'd expect him to be added to their roster any day now.

Without knowing exactly what was found, I would *guess* there are really only two areas that are really big deals in a physical. I don't think I need to spell them out for you to figure them out. (It's one of those two.) Tough to give him a deadline. If he says, "No deal", there isn't substantial money to spend.

Over the past handful of years the signing deadline has come and gone with very little drama as far as the Twins are concerned. In fact, since the draft rules changed, only the 2012 deal with Zack Larson for $190,000 as a 20th round pick been an overslot, deadline deal.This year, as the deadline of 4 pm Friday approaches, the Twins are facing some drama. Their second choice, Kyle Cody, selected in Comp Round B with the 73rd overall pick - a pick worth $839,700 - remains unsigned. Cody, who is compared frequently to Mike Pelfrey, entered the season as a potential first-round pick, but some mid-year struggles caused him to drop down some teams' draft boards. Even with the struggles and subsequent drop down boards, both Cody and the Twins seemed destined to find common ground and get his professional career underway. Rumors had him accepting less than slot value as long as everything went smoothly in his physical. Well, something didn't. Though Cody isn't physically injured, whatever turned up caused the team to drop their offer. It's unknown what the current offer is, but one thing is sure: It's not the three-quarters-million-plus that he would have likely gotten before. This isn't without precedence: 2012 6th rounder Andre Martinez originally came to terms with the Twins for $260,000 - $60,000 over slot - before his physical showed something amiss with his left shoulder. Martinez and the Twins eventually signed for $80,000. Most of the savings then went to sign the aforementioned Larson. Martinez hasn't resurfaced since being released after one appearance for the AZL White Sox in 2014. His Twins career ended in 2013. Both Cody and the Twins are in a difficult situation. Cody could return to Kentucky and pitch his senior season. He would re-enter the 2016 draft with little leverage as well as having the whatever-is-wrong-with-him now black cloud hanging over his head. That is, as long as nothing else happens between now and then. The Twins are in a better place, but still handcuffed to the bonus pool. If Cody goes unsigned, those dollars are lost but they'll be awarded the 74th pick in the 2016 draft. If he signs for less, they can re-invest that money into later draft picks... but only until Friday afternoon. It seems as though the Twins are still hopeful a deal will still be reached, which appears to be the best-case scenario for all parties involved, though it's an unfortunate development for Kyle Cody. The Twins remain engaged in talks with a handful of their other selections as well. Prep pitchers Kyle Wilson and Colton Eastman, as well as prep outfielder Jonathan Engelmann, haven't all completely ruled out turning professional. Currently, the Twins sit $77,600 under slot, which means they could pay any of of the non-Top 10-round picks up to $177,600 without incurring any fines. However, none of the prep trio mentioned above are expected to sign for less than a few hundred thousand dollars. Dollars that aren't available unless Cody signs for less than slot. With only about 72 hours left until the deadline, drama remains. And for a Twins fan under these rules, that's different. --- Don't forget, you can read up on all 40 draft picks by downloading the TwinsDraftbook, available in PDF form on Lulu.com for only $2.99 Feed your addiction. And my family. Click here to view the article

I manage to do that nearly every week.