Jeremy Nygaard

I read some Berrios comments somewhere afterwards and it basically seemed like he lost confidence and it snowballed. I'm not worried about him at all as a starter. But he would make an intriguing bullpen candidate, if needed. He has struck Cano out coming out of the pen (WBC).

The Twins completed the sweep on the Orioles today and now have a two-and-a-half-game cushion in the wild card standings. They still trail the Royals by four-and-a-half games in the American League Central. You can learn all about the recently-drafted future-Twins in the Twins Draftbook, available for $2.99. It includes profiles on all 40 drafted players, including Zander Wiel, who will be official soon, pending a physical, and Puerto Rican LHP Jovani Moran, who signed today and received a bonus above slot.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Buffalo 5 Box Score The Red Wings jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the second inning when both Wilkin Ramirez and Carlos Paulino had RBI singles. Jose Berrios had a really impressive first five shutout innings, including eight strikeouts. The wheels fell off in the sixth, though. Berrios threw 19 pitches to five different batters. All five batters reached. All five batters scored. In the first five innings, Berrios allowed only four runners to reach base. So even though the line isn’t pretty, it wasn’t nearly as bad as his line looks. Regardless of how it looked though, a 2-0 lead soon became a 5-2 deficit. The Red Wings answered back in the sixth when Danny Ortiz doubled in Reynaldo Rodriguez to make the score 5-3. Rodriguez turned around in the seventh and drove in Jorge Polanco to make it 5-4. It would remain that way until the bottom of the ninth. Polanco doubled to start off the inning. A James Beresford walk and Oswaldo Arcia bloop single loaded the bases. Jose Martinez drew a walk to tie the game before Ortiz hit a well-placed two-hopper to the first baseman who couldn’t record an out. The Red Wings win in walk-off fashion. The bullpen trio of Mark Hamburger, Caleb Thielbar and Michael Tonkin combined to pitch four scoreless innings. Tonkin struck out two and earned the win. Both Ortiz and Polanco had three hits and they each doubled. Rodriguez had a double among his two hits. Polanco also committed his fifth error for the Red Wings. It’s only his fifth AAA game. The Red Wings are 46-40. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 6, Jacksonville 1 (7 innings - rain shortened) Box Score The Lookouts took a rain-shortened victory from Jacksonville on Wednesday. After opening the game with a single, Levi Michael scored the game’s first run on an Aderling Mejia single. The Lookouts added three more runs in the second inning. Kennys Vargas led off the inning with a double and he advanced on a wild pitch. After a Mike Gonzales walk, Niko Goodrum drove Vargas in with a double. A two-base error off the bat of Levi Michael allowed both Gonzales and Goodrum to score. Two more runs crossed the plate in the fourth. Gonzales and Goodrum singled to start off the inning. Gonzales scored on an RBI groundout by Michael and Goodrum scored on Max Kepler’s 22nd double. David Hurlbut cruised through 6.2 innings before the game was delayed and then called for rain. Hurlbut allowed a first-inning run, striking out four, walking one and giving up seven hits. Max Kepler left the game after tweaking his shoulder, according to Darren Wolfson. Doogie says that Kepler is day-to-day. Interestingly enough, Kepler was replaced in right field by relief pitcher Tim Shibuya, who threw out a runner at second in the sixth inning. After a very slow start to the second half, the Lookouts have won two of three. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 3, Jupiter 2 Box Score Chih-Wei Hu allowed one run on five hits in seven innings to earn the win. He struck out four. Nick Burdi picked up his second Miracle save with two innings of two-hit ball. He struck out two and allowed an unearned run to score. The Miracle scored one run in three separate innings: a first-inning Mitch Garver sac fly scored Zach Granite. An Engelb Vielma single in the third scored Zach Granite. And in the eighth inning, Vielma scored on a wild pitch. Ryan Walker had three singles and Marcus Knecht added a triple. Fort Myers improves to 48-36 on the season and 10-4 in the second half. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Beloit 1 Box Score Felix Jorge was the man on Wednesday. He pitched eight innings of six-hit, one-walk, shutout baseball, striking out seven. He picked up his fourth win and his ERA dropped to 2.00. Brandon Bixler pitched the ninth inning and allowed a run. The offense had two crooked-number innings: A three-run second and a five-run fifth. In the third inning, T.J. White drew a two-out walk to advance Jorge Fernandez to second. Fernandez reached on a fielder’s choice after Brett Doe had reached on an error. After Fernandez stole third base, Brian Navarreto singled him in. Rafael Valera then doubled to score White and Navarreto. In the fifth inning, Valera, Zack Larson and Nick Gordon had back-to-back-to-back singles. Edgar Corcino scored them with a grand slam. Max Murphy was hit by a pitch and later scored on a White single. Corcino led the offense with three hits. Larson, Gordon and Valera all had two. Gordon also committed his 12th error on the season. Cedar Rapids improves to 50-34 overall and 9-5 in the second half. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 2, Kingsport 8 Box Score Miles Nordgren got the start and left in good shape, allowing only an unearned run over five innings. He struck out three, allowing four hits and a walk. Anthony Mciver blew the “save” and took the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) in two innings. Josh Guyer also allowed four runs, but he only recorded three outs. E-town scored both of their runs in the sixth inning. Manuel Guzman hit a home run. Sean Miller followed that by drawing a walk and he was doubled home by LaMonte Wade. Wade also had a single, as did Brad Hartong, and that accounted for all four hits the team had. Wade committed his second error and Guzman his fourth. Elizabethton drops to 7-8. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 3, GCL Orioles 6 Box Score The GCL Twins jumped out to an early lead on Wednesday, but fell late to the GCL Orioles. The Twins affiliate scored two early in the second inning. Bryant (aka John) Hayman led off the inning with a double and Jermaine Palacios followed with a one-out walk. Both scored on a single by Robert Molina, helped by a fielding error on the play. One more run was added in the eighth inning when Jorge Andrade drove in Roberto Gonzalez. Palacios paced the offense with two of its six hits. Hayman’s double was the only extra-base hit. After a strong performances on Tuesday, Trey Cabbage and Travis Blankenhorn combined to go 0-8 with five strikeouts. Lachlan Wells started and allowed two runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out four in five innings. Stephen Pryor made his first multi-inning rehab appearance took the loss. He gave up three hits and two runs in two innings. Chris Mazza, also rehabbing, allowed two runs on four hits in one inning of work. The loss drops the GCL Twins to 9-6. 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 – Danny Ortiz, Rochester THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Buffalo (6:05 CST) – RHP Tyler Duffey Chattanooga vs Mississippi (6:15 CST) – RHP Alex Wimmers Ft. Myers at Jupiter (11:05 CST) – RHP Ryan Eades Cedar Rapids at Beloit (7:00 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Elizabethton at Kingsport (6:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles (11:00 CST) - TBS Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

Suspended players are placed on the "restricted list" which don't count towards the 40-man roster. I think he'd stay on the 40-man for the playoffs, though. He is just ineligible to be added to the playoff roster.

He probably deserved it. But I waited over an hour for the E-town game to finish. By the time I was ready for them to finish it in 9 innings and hit submit, Minier hadn't even entered the game yet. At that point, I wasn't going to make the changes - even though they probably would have only taken a couple of minutes.

Toronto just traded two prospects to the Dodgers for between $1-2m in cap space. One of the prospects is of similar age, level, production, upside as Felix Jorge. The other is a second baseman who isn't listed in BA's Handbook..

The Twins are in the area where they'll need to pay tax on the overage. It would surprise me if they didn't add to their pool (they can add almost $2m). I'd be more shocked if they went further over, and getting penalties that limit his much they can sign (or eventually lose picks in a world draft).

The Twins made a splash early in the International Free Agency signing period by signing 16-year-old shortstop Wander Javier from the Dominican Republic for $4 million. MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez was the first to report it this morning.Whenever you're talking about anyone in the International market, there are two kickers: 1) It's all about projection. We are - at the very least - five or six years from seeing these guys play at the highest level. 2) Scouting reports are very hard to come by, so we rely heavily on what Ben Badler and Kiley McDaniel tell us. The first mention of the Javier-Twins connection came from McDaniel on March 2. In that article, McDaniel called Javier a 50 runner, but mentioned his "easy [arm] actions [at short} and an above average arm with an ability to stick at the position." He also said the Javier "flashes average raw power." Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com wrote the following about Javier in mid-May. Javier has a good build for a shortstop, and he has the defensive actions that will allow him to stay at there — at least at the beginning of his professional career. Some scouts project that his body will force him to move from shortstop to third base, but there’s also chance he stays at his original position. Javier is a strong teenager. He has plus raw power and plus arm strength, and he’s shown the ability to hit in games. It’s his hit tool that has some scouts thinking that Javier will be a middle-of-the-order type of player. Overall, he presents an interesting package of tools to scouts, but many evaluators want to see him display those talents more consistently. Other scouts believe he is the best all-around player in the class. Baseball America recently ranked Javier as the #9 most-talented player in the class and credits him with having the best infield arm and mentions him among best defensive infielders. He's also considered one of the most exciting players in the class. Baseball America has also said the following things about Javier over the last few weeks: "Want tools? Javier has them." "His speed and arm strength are both plus tools." "Javier has strong, quick wrists to whip the bat through the zone, driving the ball with good exit speed during BP that leads some scouts to project him to develop future plus power." "The widespread question on Javier is whether he will be able to make the adjustments to have better results at the plate." "It’s hard to find shortstops in the draft with tools like Javier’s, which is why some teams are drawn to his high ceiling, even with the bat risk." I was able to track down one trained eye who has seen Javier and he called Javier "one of the best amateurs [he's] ever seen." He lauded Javier's polish, calling him a "good player, but also has tools and projectability". He believes that Javier will be a shortstop long-term which "increases his value." So what do you think? Four million dollars well spent? Click here to view the article

The Twins lost a pitching duel to Johnny Cueto on Wednesday and sent Kennys Vargas to Chattanooga after the game. There was no corresponding move announced by the club, but indications are that Miguel Sano (!) will be joining the Twins in Kansas City. The Kernels also made a move, activating Randy Rosario from the DL and sending Keaton Steele to the DL with shoulder impingement. Rosario underwent Tommy John surgery last April and has been rehabbing in the GCL. Today it was announced that the Twins signed sixth-round pick OF Chris Paul to a $50K deal. That comes in way under slot. You can learn more about Paul in the Twins Draftbook, which is available for only $2.99. The Paul bonus was reported in there a week ago.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8, Pawtucket 4 Box Score The Red Wings scored eight runs on 17 hits. The offense was led by Oswaldo Arcia’s 4-for-5 night that included a home run and three RBIs. Aaron Hicks had three singles and Reynaldo Rodriguez added three hits of his own, including a double, a stolen base and three RBI. Pat Dean picked up his sixth win of the year, going 5.1 innings. He allowed three runs (two earned) on three walks and five hits. He struck out three. Cole Johnson (two innings) and Ryan O’Rourke (two outs) combined to pitch 2.2 hitless and scoreless innings. Mark Hamburger allowed a couple of hard hit balls including a long double, but got out of the inning surrendering only one run. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga vs Birmingham Wednesday’s game was postponed due to wet grounds. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Thursday. Vargas will see plenty of time at first base. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 6, Palm Beach 2 Box Score The Miracle used a six-hit, four-run third inning to propel themselves to victory on Wednesday night. After Engelb Vielma doubled to lead off the inning, Alex Swim and Marcus Knecht singled. After a Mitch Garver strikeout, Aderling Mejia, Bryan Haar and Chad Christensen singled and that gave the Miracle a five-run lead. They tacked on a sixth run in the ninth inning. Swim led the offense with three hits and three RBI. Vielma and Mejia added two hits apiece. Aaron Slegers pitched a phenomenal game. He went seven innings allowing two runs on seven hits and zero walks. He struck out seven. Reports from the game is that Slegers was sitting 90-92 and had a nasty slider working for him. Brian Gilbert pitched a scoreless eighth inning before turning it over to first-round pick Tyler Jay. Jay sent the Cardinals down in 1-2-3 order, coaxing a ground out back to the pitcher and a fly out before ending the game with a swinging strikeout. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 3, Wisconsin 2 Box Score The Kernels had a strong start from Felix Jorge and brought a 2-0 lead into the eighth inning before coughing it up. Luckily they were able to score a run in the top of the ninth and held on for a 3-2 win. Jorge pitched six innings on 86 pitches (62 strikes), allowing four hits and a walk. He struck out three and sports a 2.20 ERA on the season. Michael Theofanopoulos allowed two runs in his second inning of work. He gave up two hits and walked two. He struck out four. Trevor Hildenburger retired the side in the ninth for the save. Offensively, Alex Real led the team with three hits. His final hit came in the ninth inning before he was lifted for a pinch-runner, Tanner English. English scored on a Rafael Valera single to left field. There probably would have been a close play at home if not for a misplay by the left fielder. Max Murphy added an RBI triple. Nick Gordon had a first-inning single, but backed that up with three straight strikeouts. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 7, Bristol 4 (13 innings) Box Score The E-Twins got a strong start from Miles Nordgren. Nordgren allowed eight hits and three walks, but only two runs. He struck out six. Logan Lombana pitched two scoreless. Anthony McIver added a scoreless inning before falling apart in the ninth inning. He ended up allowing three runs on five hits. Daniel Kihle was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Ariel Montesino was 2-for-4 with a double, walk and a run scored. Leadoff hitter Manuel Guzman drove in two with a single and also stole a base. In the ninth inning, Tyler Kuresa opened up the frame with a walk. (He was lifted for pinch-runner Austin Diemer.) Rainis Silva followed with a double that moved Diemer to third base. After a Kamran Young groundout, Amaurys Minier came through with a pinch-hit single to score Diemer and tie the game. He advanced to second on the throw and the E-Twins had runners on second and third with one out. Pinch-hitter Nelson Molina hit a ground ball to the second baseman who started a play that saw Minier thrown out at third while the runner at third did not score. After a Montesino walk, Manuel Guzman grounded out for the final out of the inning. Kuo Hua Lo pitched four innings of near-perfect baseball, striking out six while only allowing a walk and a hit. It all came to an end in the 13th inning, Silva and Kamran Young opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Minier walked it off with a 3-run blast. His second since joining the E-Twins five days ago. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 8, GCL Rays 10 Box Score The rookie-league affiliate was able to bust out offensively and take a big lead, unfortuately the bullpen was unable to protect the big lead and the GCL Twins dropped to 5-4 on the year. Trey Cabbage drove in his first two runs of the game during a five-run second inning. Cabbage’s single followed a walk and a error. Three more singles - one each by Robert Molina, Roberto Gonzalez and Luis Martinez - led to the final three runs. Cabbage came back up in the third inning with runners on and drove in another run. Robert Molina followed that hit with an RBI single for himself. Cabbage rounded out the scoring in the eighth inning when he reached on an error. He finished his day 2-for-5 with four RBI, a strikeout and a run scored. Jermaine Palacios and Molina also had two hits. The team combined for 11 hits - all singles. Eduardo Del Rosario got the start and gave up five runs (four earned) in four innings. He allowed six hits and a walk. He struck out five. Hector Lujan struck out two. Brandon Poulson walked one and struck out one. Max Cordy, making his pro debut, also walked one and struck out one. They all pitched one inning. Rich Condeelis pitched to four batters in the eighth inning. All four reached and all four scored. Condeelis took the loss. Yorman Landa came in to pick up Condeelis’s mess - with the bases loaded - and allowed all three runners to cross the plate. Landa was charged with a blown save. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Oswaldo Arcia, Rochester (Runner-Up - Amaurys Minier, Elizabethton) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – RHP Greg Peavey Chattanooga vs Birmingham (4:15 CST) – LHP David Hurlbut Chattanooga vs Birmingham (Game 2) – RHP Alex Wimmers Ft. Myers at Palm Beach (5:35 CST) – RHP Chih-Wei Hu Cedar Rapids at Burlington (6:35 CST) – RHP Ethan Mildren Elizabethton at Greeneville (6:00 CST) - RHP Andro Cutura GCL Twins vs GCL Rays (11:00 CST) - LHP Lachlan Wells Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

Thanks Seth. "Labor of Love" right? Just like the Handbook.

Meyer recalled. Just announced.

MLB teams were frustrated with Illinois and their coaches. It was nearly impossible to guarantee yourself the chance to see Jay. While working on the draftbook, I actually had a conversation with someone in the organization about using your best pitcher as Jay was used in Illinois. We decided it was somewhere between the best idea in the world and the worst idea in the world. Almost ALWAYS having your best pitcher available on any given night... there's certainly both sides to that argument. The way arms fall off now, though, it might not be the best way to protect them. At least, that's the argument I take.

He was released among a group of people that were let go. I haven't seen it here and I think we were waiting on verification from the Twins before we posted it, which we hadn't gotten immediately. I think there is a definite squeeze in the low minors. The draft was fruitful - I think they'll sign around 27 guys - so there will be a group let go that might surprise some people, Barrie included.

Yes, he would need to stay there, but the Twins always seem to have 5-7 outrightable dudes on their 40-man.

The Twins took the deciding game of their three-game set against the White Sox, beating Chris Sale again. For you prospect lovers, Byron Buxton went 0-4 with four strikeouts. Also on Wednesday, the first-ever Twins Draftbook was made available. There are write-ups on all forty draft picks. You purchasing it for a couple of bucks (just $2.99!!) helps me validate to my wife that all the time I put into it was worth it.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Pawtucket 3 (11 innings) Box Score Taylor Rogers gave up only one run in his first six innings, but left in trouble in the seventh. He gave up five hits, two runs and struck out three in 6.1 innings. Alex Meyer relieved Rogers with runners on second and third and one out. He induced a weak ground ball to third base, but Rusney Castillo was able to beat the tag to score and give the PawSox a 2-1 lead. Meyer then got a called third strike and help from Wilkin Ramirez on a diving catch. The broadcast didn’t have a gun, but Meyer’s stuff looked crisp. Could he be making his Twins debut this weekend? A.J. Achter pitched a clean eighth, striking out two. The offense did nothing for the first eight innings. Through 26 outs, the team only had two hits. In fact, they didn’t get their third hit until they were down to their final strike. But then Reynaldo Rodriguez, Danny Ortiz and Jose Ramirez all singled and the game was tied at two. The next two innings were pretty anti-climactic. The excitement picked back up in the bottom of the 11th. After a leadoff single, a bunt single and a groundout, there was one out and runners on the corners. The PawSox pulled off the safety squeeze and Lester Oliveros couldn’t get the ball home in time. Pawtucket wins in walk-off fashion. Caleb Thielbar took the loss. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Southern League All-Star Break Chattanooga gets back to it on Thursday. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 3 (11 innings) Box Score The Miracle won in wild walk-off fashion on Wednesday afternoon. That’s wild pitch walk-off fashion as an errant pitch to Ryan Walker allowed Zach Granite, who doubled to lead off the inning as a pinch-hitter, to score. Seven Miracle batters contributed one hit each to the cause. Chad Christensen’s two-run double in the sixth was their most damaging hit of the day. Bryan Haar also drove in a run. Stephen Gonsalves started today and only gave up three hits in five innings. Unfortunately, he walked four and allowed two runs to score. He struck out two. After Todd Van Steensel gave up a run in his inning of work, the bullpen went into shutdown mode. Matt Summers, Alex Muren and Brian Gilbert combined to pitch five innings of three-hit, three-strikeout, shutout baseball. KERNELS NUGGETS Midwest League All-Star Break The Kernels get Brandon Bixler back from the disabled list and Luke Westphal from Fort Myers to fill out their roster. E-TOWN E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Bluefield 5 Box Score Alexis Tapia, who pitched for Fort Myers earlier this season, made his Appy League debut. He had quite a performance. In five innings, he gave up six hits and a walk. He struck out five and only gave up one unearned run. Sam Clay struck out six in 2.2 innings, but allowed two runs. After Onesimo Hernandez struck out a batter to end the eighth inning, Tyler Stirewalt was asked to close the game. He recorded two outs, allowing two hits, walking three and giving up the tying and the winning run. It was Stirewalt’s first appearance after Tommy John surgery. Austin Diemer led the offense (again) with two hits and stole a base. LaMonte Wade tripled for the second time in two games and Tyler Kuresa doubled. Rainis Silva, who’s had the reputation of being a good defensive catcher had three more passed balls tonight and now has seven through two games. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 8, GCL Orioles 5 (11 innings) Box Score Robert Molina signed with the Twins for $300,000 last summer from Venezuela and made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League. He didn’t hit any home runs. He decided that Wednesday would be the day he would hit his first professional home run and he did it in grand fashion: A three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Amaurys Minier had two hits as he continues to rehab a wrist injury before heading to Elizabethton. He was replaced at first base by Travis Blankenhorn. In his four innings, Blankenhorn, doubled, was intentionally walked, stole a base and scored a run. Roberto Gonzalez added two singles. John Hayman tripled. Trey Cabbage was 0-4 with an RBI, walk and two strikeouts in his pro debut. Eduardo Del Rosario got the start and pitched into the fifth. His final line - 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 5 K - wasn’t helped by the fact that Brandon Poulson allowed both of his inherited runners to score. Poulson walked three and struck out three. In addition to the two inherited runners he allowed to score, he was charged with two other runs as well. Andrew Vasquez struck out two before turning the ball over to Matz Schutte. Schutte, from the Netherlands, struck out two and allowed only two hits in four innings of work. Yorman Landa, who is rehabbing from Cedar Rapids, pitched a scoreless inning and got the victory. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Matz Schutte, GCL Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Travis Blankenhorn, GCL (There are no available picture of either… hence the Alex Meyer photo.) THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Pawtucket (6:05 CST) – RHP Ervin Santana Chattanooga at Montgomery (7:05 CST) – TBD Ft. Myers at Charlotte (6:00 CST) – RHP Aaron Slegers Cedar Rapids vs Quad Cities (6:35 CST) – RHP Felix Jorge Elizabethton at Bluefield (6:05 CST) - TBD GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 CST) - TBD Feel free to leave any questions or comments below! Click here to view the article

There isn’t much out there about first-round pick - and TwinsDaily Top Midseason Prospect #5 - Tyler Jay that hasn’t already been written on this website. First, there was Steve Lein’s Draft Preview. Then there was Cody’s article after Jay was drafted sixth overall. Shortly after Jay was drafted, John, Seth and I talked about him on KFAN. And before Jay was signed and introduced, Nick laid out the plans for him. Jay will be the only member of the 2015 draft class in the Top 10, but for in-depth bios on all 40 draft picks, check out the Twins Draftbook.Age: 21 (DOB: 4/19/1994) 2015 Stats (Illinois): 66.2 IP, 5-2, 1.08 ERA, 0.74 WHIP, 76/7 K/BB ETA: 2016 2015 Preseason Ranking: NA What’s To Like Where do you want to start? How about striking out over a batter an inning? Or barely walking anyone? Statistically, it’s all to like. But let’s get behind those stats and look at the stuff. Jay has what Keith Law calls “plus-plus control.” He throws his fastball in the mid-90s and has both a wipeout slider and a power curve ball. His change-up is his worst pitch, but has shown flashes of brilliance. All told, there’s nothing not to like about Jay’s left arm and what he can do with a baseball. That repertoire has been dominant in the bullpen - both in college and for Team USA - but you don’t invest the sixth overall pick and nearly four million dollars into a relief pitcher. What’s Left To Work On It’s not so much that Jay has things “left to work on,” but more so that Jay has a few things he’ll need to prove. First, Jay does not have a typical pitcher-build. He’s only 6’ 1”. He’ll need to prove that he can get downhill plane on his fastball. Second, for Jay to reach his ceiling as a top-of-the-rotation starter, he’ll need to prove first that he’s a starter. He hasn’t done that much in college and the game he did start against Vanderbilt was the least successful outing of his college career. Typically the transition from a starter to a reliever is difficult. Pitchers don’t know how to prepare themselves to be ready to pitch every day. For Jay it’s going to the be opposite, learning how to pitch every five days. Of course, this year the plan is for Jay to work exclusively out of the bullpen, with the transition happening this fall and next spring. What's Next Tyler Jay agreed to terms with the Twins and signed quickly for $3,889,500, exactly slot for pick #6. In his press conference, Terry Ryan talked about how he would be used in a relief role and would start out with the Fort Myers Miracle (High A-ball). Jay’s name was included in the initial GCL Twins roster on Monday, but was officially promoted to Fort Myers on Tuesday. The next step for Tyler Jay: his professional debut. So what happens after that debut? "We don't want to get too carried away with innings," Terry Ryan told the media at Jay’s press conference. "I'm not going to give you a number. We're certainly going to monitor it. Because I know that I'm going to hear from you guys if I give you a number and he goes 1/3 over it. I'm going to keep it at that. We'll monitor his innings." There have been many Brandon Finnegan comparisons. For those unaware, Finnegan went from pitching for TCU last spring to pitching for the Royals in the World Series. That would be the ultimate fast-track. Could Jay help the Twins down the stretch if necessary? Sure. Would that change their long-term plan for him? Absolutely not. Would there be implications service time-wise and with his options? Minimal. If he’s up for September and the playoffs, he’d get 30 days of service - and we already know he’d start next year in the minors to stretch out - so his free agency wouldn’t be affected. If he’s in the minors, he’d be on an optional assignment. That also wouldn’t matter because, in the event his three options are used in the next three years, he’d qualify for the special fourth option because he wouldn’t have five years in yet as a professional. Regardless of what happens for the rest of this season, the Twins finally have a left-handed pitcher who isn’t too far from helping the major league club. TD Top Prospect #10 - Alex Meyer TD Top Prospect #9 - Max Kepler TD Top Prospect #8 - Eddie Rosario TD Top Prospect #7 - Nick Gordon TD Top Prospect #6 - Stephen Gonsalves Click here to view the article

Rich Condeelis and Lean Marrero were assigned to the GCL Twins today. Neither have been officially announced by the Twins, but both were covered in the Draftbook.

If you’re anything like me, you bought a copy of the original Seth Stohs Twins Prospect Handbook in 2009– you remember, the one with the hideous red cover– and it started some sort of an information addiction. Then you turned around and bought the square edition in 2010 and wondered why it didn’t fit in this “collection” that you just started. ----- DRAFTBOOK AVAILABLE NOW FOR ONLY $2.99 ----- Since then, you’ve done the same thing each and every holiday season, building this collection and randomly looking back to see names you’ve long since forgotten. Fortunately, I was asked to come on board a few years ago to help Seth with what had become an enormous project. What was once a job that outgrew one guy soon seemed like a boatload of work for three guys. But it was just so much fun. At one point while compiling the 2015 Prospect Handboo I started to mess around with some formatting things. You know, trying to make it a little more pleasing to the eye. I realized quickly that making modifications to such a huge project mid-project was a silly idea. But I kept the file that I had started and made up a fake profile for Kolby Allard, who, at the time, was one of the top prep pitchers in the nation. Lightbulb. ----- DRAFTBOOK AVAILABLE NOW ----- I got to thinking about our Handbook and how we wrote up nearly 200 prospects, but when June rolls around and the short seasons get ready to begin, our Prospect Handbook doesn’t serve the purpose that we intended it to do when we wrote it: To give you the most informative, in-depth breakdown of all the prospects in the system. We fall two teams short of doing that. While it would be impossible to give you accurate information about the players that are graduating from the DSL and starting their careers in the GCL, we certainly could fill your plates with our breakdown of the recent draft picks. The Twins typically sign 22-27 of them. And then it became a question of when. When would be the best time to present this flood of information? At first, I settled on the July signing deadline. We’d all know who signed, where they’re playing and what they’re about. But by then, it’s too late. As the “arrival” time kept getting earlier and earlier, it was obvious: This supplement to the Prospect Handbook—known simply as the 2015 Twins Draftbook—needed to come out as soon as humanly possible after the draft came to a conclusion. And it needed to include all the draft picks. Because, well… we include everyone from the GCL and up in the Prospect Handbook, so we need to include all 40 draft picks. ----- DRAFTBOOK AVAILABLE NOW FOR ONLY $2.99 ----- So that’s what this is. Information overload on 40 guys. Some won’t sign with the Twins. Some won’t be in the organization for long. But all deserve a chance to earn you as a fan. And some, who don’t sign, will get drafted again– maybe by the Twins– and this is your chance to get a head start. You may be asking yourself, “Can’t you just dump this information on Twins Daily?” The simple answer, “Sure. I could.” But then it gets lost with all the articles, updates and other things that are uploaded every day. These players that were drafted deserve something of their own. And this is it. We hope you enjoy. Here it is, the first-ever Twins Draftbook. We've also slashed prices on the 2015 Prospect Handbook and the e-book. Click here to view the article

I'd agree that he needs to perform and break free of that shadow. But, yeah... that's still the lead on him. But I'm not worried about him (yet).

Nick Gordon joined the organization a year ago as their first-round pick. As Parker pointed out earlier this year, the Twins have gotten a lack of production from their shortstops - 28th of the 30 teams - over the last dozen years. The hope in drafting Gordon was that taking the best available player would also fill an area of great need. Gordon used his professional debut at short-season Elizabethton to propel himself up the rankings, checking in on MLB’s prospect ranking as the fifth-rated shortstop prospect in all of baseball. Two of the four rated higher than him (Correa and Lindor) are currently in the big leagues. So is Gordon still a Top 3 shortstop?Age: 19 (DOB: 10/24/1995) 2015 Stats (Cedar Rapids): .250/.325/.301 (.626) with 8-2B, 8-3B, 0-HR, 15-SB. ETA: 2018 2015 Preseason Ranking: #6 This is what Seth wrote about Gordon in January. It couldn’t be more accurate. But Gordon did suffer a broken finger late in the year and missed offseason instructional league. He reported to spring training with full health and was assigned his initial full-season assignment, heading north to cold-weather Cedar Rapids. What’s To Like It’s been mentioned plenty, but Gordon has major league-ability in his genes. His dad, Tom, played for every team in his 30 year career. (Yes, that is hyperbole.) And his older half-brother, Dee, is an All-Star second baseman who currently is the only player in MLB with more than 100 hits. (He has 101. Jason Kipnis is next with 91.) “You value the gene,” said Mike Radcliff, the Twins’ Vice President of Player Personnel, last July. “When you come from a major league gene, that’s what it is all about. There’s a great value at the beginning of their careers and a feeling that they won’t be overmatched.” Yet both dad and brother would tell you that Nick is the most athletic of the trio. So there is still plenty to project of the young 19-year-old, who is acclimating himself to a full year’s worth of playing baseball. But what does he do on the field? As the 5th-youngest primary shortstop in the 16-team Midwest League, Gordon ranks seventh in range factor (with 4.07 putouts/game) and second in fielding percentage (.960). The combination of those numbers means when he’s getting to the ball, he’s making a play. His 10 errors shouldn’t be alarming, as it is in the middle of pack in his league. Can he grow in that position? Absolutely. But it’s a fine start. What’s Left To Work On After he was drafted, Twins scouting director Deron Johnson said the organization liked Gordon’s “ability to play shortstop. We think he’s offensive. He’s got a really good swing. I think he’s going to have power down the road. He’s going to stay at shortstop, in my mind. He’s got great work ethic. Great kid. Big league bloodlines with his brother and his dad. We expect big things from him.” So far, though, while Gordon has held his own defensively, he hasn’t quieted some of the questions about him, specifically his bat. The Twins thought Gordon was offensive. His OPS so far is only .626 as he’s hit for literally zero power (two April triples among his ten extra base hit. No home runs.) Gordon has really struggled against left-handed pitchers. His slash line is .196/.274/.214 (.488) and he’s struck out 19 times in 56 at-bats. Of his 11 hits, 10 are singles and he’s drawn only one walk. Hopefully, part of the batting troubles can be attributed to the early-season weather in Iowa. June has been much kinder to Gordon. In 15 games, he’s hitting .310/.385/.362 (.747). So the Twins hope that as we hit the hot summer months, Gordon can continue to heat up. What's Next Gordon needs to figure out low A-ball. He’s still a work in progress as a defender - and going in the right direction - but offensively he’ll need to get a lot better. Aaron Hicks was the last high-profile draft pick to repeat low A. (At the time, I read an article about the low success rate of players who have to repeat the level, though I’m unable to find it now. The memory of reading that article is vivid every time I watch Aaron Hicks struggle.) Gordon still has plenty of time to prove that he will be able to move forward to Fort Myers next year. But as you can obviously see from his preseason rank (#6) to his current rank (#7), his prospect arrow isn’t pointing up right now. TD Top Prospect #10 - Alex Meyer TD Top Prospect #9 - Max Kepler TD Top Prospect #8 - Eddie Rosario Click here to view the article