Jeremy Nygaard

Even though we’ve suffered through a painfully uneventful first half of November, there is still a lot left to do before the end of the month. The Twins will have to have their 40-man roster set in advance of the Rule 5 draft by Tuesday. At this point, there are really only two slam-dunk additions and they are OF Aaron Hicks and SP Kyle Gibson. After those two the picture becomes much less clear.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In the history of the Rule 5 draft, the vast majority of players taken are pitchers. After that you’ll get a spattering of utility infielders and outfielders, usually guys that can serve a purpose as a pinch-runner. The Twins will consider adding players such as SS/2B Danny Santana, SP B.J. Hermsen, RP Michael Tonkin and SP Adrian Salcedo. There are obviously others in the discussion, but those, in my mind anyway, are the four guys most likely to be added in the upcoming days. Danny Santana split time with Levi Michael in the middle infield for the Miracle this year. His prospect status is on the rise after Baseball America included him in their Twins Top 10. My belief is that the Twins will add him, though the re-signing of James Beresford and addition of Jason Christian – both guys who will fit on the ladder near Santana – could be viewed as insurance policies “just in-case” Santana isn’t protected and lost. At the end of the day, though, the Twins have been extra protective of their international infielders. Both Deibinson Romero and Estarlin DeLosSantos were added unnecessarily in the last handful of years, spent a year on the 40-man roster, removed a year later and remained in the organization. B.J. Hermsen is a somewhat local product who has advanced through the organization to become the answer to the question “After Gibson, who is the best starting pitching prospect that could help the Twins?” That’s more an indictment of the system than a complement to Hermsen. While Hermsen fits the Twins mold as a strike-throwing, big-bodied, innings-eating prospect, his addition to the 40-man roster isn’t guaranteed. In fact, I would be more surprised if the Twins protected him than exposed him. His saving grace might be that he is exactly what the Twins look for in a pitcher, they lack depth in the upper levels and have more spots available than normal. When it’s all said and done, it will be extremely hard for a team to draft Hermsen and keep him on their roster. His role would be a low-leverage, long-innings guy for a year before being optioned down to continue his development. That’s a lot of work for a guy whose ceiling is that of a #4 or #5 starter. Michael Tonkin, in my opinion, needs to be considered ahead of Hermsen for the simple fact that a team could take him and stash him. Though he doesn’t have any experience about the A-level, he is currently pitching in the Arizona Fall League. This is essentially an audition to be added to the 40-man, not only for the Twins but all the other teams. His strikeout rate in the AFL (4.5 K/9) hasn’t mimicked what it was with the Snappers and Miracle (12.6 K/9), but his WHIP is lower. I think the Twins will feel he did enough over the past month to warrant concern of losing him and add him. Adrian Salcedo started 2012 in the same company of Gibson and Hicks. But instead of cementing his name on the 40-man roster, he spent 2012 dealing with injuries. In his 30 innings of work this year, his walk rate (4.7 BB/9) was 2 ½ times higher than it’s ever been in his career. No team will invest a 25-man roster spot on him, so that makes the decision extremely easy. Adding Hicks, Gibson, Santana and Tonkin would give the team 36 players on their 40-man, which will allow them to be aggressive in the free agent market (hopefully) but still be able to make a selection or two in the draft. *** The other thing that continues to happen is the Twins agreeing to minor league deals with, not only their own players, but players from around the league. It’s impossible to know exactly what the Twins are thinking and who they are considering, but I’m going to list ten guys that I think would be worth considering with an emphasis being placed on two positions that lack depth: Pitchers and Third basemen. Josh Bell, 3B, Diamondbacks – The power-hitting switch-hitter was a former top prospect in the Dodgers organization before being traded to the Orioles and bouncing around the last few years. With last year’s AAA and hi-A 3B leaving the organization, there is definitely an opening for someone that could push Trevor Plouffe a little bit. Andrew Brackman, P, Reds – A former 1st round pick, Brackman had a very good 2010. He struggled in his AAA-debut in 2011 and his subsequent move to the bullpen. He started five games in AAA in 2012 and was brutal. Despite being nearly 27, he’s still relatively new to pitching and at 6-10, there still may be room to project. Adrian Cardenas, 2B, Cubs – It wasn’t long ago that Cardenas was BA’s High School Player of the Year. Even more recently he was a Top 100 prospect. For a team that gave both Ray Chang and Michael Hollimon a two-year trial, they could do worse than to see if Cardenas, who has hit over .300 the last three years (in AA and AAA), could help the organization. Josh Fields, 3B, Dodgers – Fields finished 7th in AL ROY voting in 2007 as a member of the White Sox. He’s bounced around, including a stint in Japan in 2011. He spent 2012 in AAA and had an OPS of almost 900. This almost-30-year-old could add depth and competition to the organization. Drew Naylor, P, Phillies – Though he never was considered a great prospect, Naylor began coming into his own in 2010. He then missed all of 2011 recovering from Tommy John surgery. In his first year back he wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible either while making his way back to AA. His 2012 was cut short due to a shoulder injury. The Aussie is a big guy (6’ 4, 235) who will still need time to recover but could still potentially have a shot at cracking the big leagues by 2013 (at age 27). Naylor hopes to prove he’s recovered by playing this winter with the Brisbane Bandits in the Australian Baseball League, though he’s yet to pitch. The Twins should be watching closely once he does. (My minor-league free agent "personal cheeseball.") (signed by Rangers) Yonata Ortega, RP, Diamondbacks – Ortega has always walked a lot of guys, but he has a high-90s fastball. If he didn’t walk so many, he could probably compete for a spot in a major-league bullpen. Of course, there is a reason he’s a minor-league free agent. (re-signed by Cubs) Blake Parker, P, Cubs – Parker had an excellent minor-league track record and used that to make it to the big leagues in 2012. His problem was the elbow discomfort that ensued. He missed the majority of the 2012 season and was outrighted off the roster before electing free agency. Parker has the stuff to get strikeouts (though he walks more than you’d prefer) and could make a contribution in a major-league bullpen this year. Ryan Rowland-Smith, LP, Cubs – “Hyphen” hasn’t seen the Bigs since being bludgeoned in 2010. The next year in the minors wasn’t any better. But the Twins do a better job than anyone scouting Down Under, so if this Aussie has anything to offer, the Twins would know. (EDIT: Ryan Rowland-Smith was selected by the Twins in the 2004 Rule 5 draft, but was returned to the Mariners during Spring Training.) Matt Tuiasosopo, 3B, Mets – While it’s very true that Tuiasosopo can’t hit; he’s a very athletic, competitive player that could provide leadership (and depth) at a position that needs it. The only defensive position he didn’t play in 2012 was catcher, so there’s that too. Nick Weglarz, OF, Indians – With the Twins losing Rene Tosoni, Matt Carson and Clete Thomas, they’ll have to replace the outfield production somehow. Weglarz has had a couple injury-filled seasons and can be a productive hitter and corner outfielder if he regains his health and is given an opportunity. Download attachment: whats-next.jpg (image from cyberbrethren.com) Click here to view the article

As happens every July 2nd, teams begin to announce deals with "International Free Agents". This year is no different and the Twins made an early splash, signing Dominican 1B/OF Lewin Diaz as well as four others, according to Doogie Wolfson. (Seth has learned that they have reached agreements with several players, including Diaz, but it is still pending a physical and MLB approval) Diaz actually played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last August, going 1-for-3 against many players who are older and were drafted in last month's draft. As the DH, he batted 7th in a lineup that included new Twin Brian Navaretto. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Diaz checked into the game at 6' 3", 195 pounds. Baseball Factory said this about him: Download attachment: 7812730344_0da9bbba2d.jpg (Rinaldi Photos) Over the last 11 months, however, opinions of Diaz, who was once considered one of the top prospect in this year's market have begin to differ. So what's changed? The now 16-year-old began to fill out. He's now an inch taller (6' 4") and heavier (210). After being considered an "OF", he's now considered a "1B/OF" with the likelihood being that his future home is first base. Diaz has an above-average arm, so there is some feeling that the Twins will allow him the chance to play right field (you know, because they don't have any outfield prospects). The Twins have been enamored with Diaz for quite some time and, scouts believe, paid considerably more for his services than any other team would have. Baseball America had this nugget in their June 26 notebook: With the 4th-highest pool allotment, though, the Twins have that luxury available to get the guy they wanted. The joke many Twins fans will make is that despite Diaz showing huge power in BP, he "turns into a singles hitter in games." Scouting comparisons have included David Ortiz and Ryan Howard, both similar in body-type and left-handed power bats. As with every 16-year-old IFA signing, Diaz is ineligible to play this season. The Twins may be aggressive with him - as they were last year with Amaurys Minier - and have him participate in Fall Instructs. That would likely lead the way towards skipping the DSL and making his pro debut next June in the GCL. More to come... Click here to view the article

The Twins remain in the 7th slot for the 2014 MLB Draft if the season ended today. It will be an interesting six weeks as only four games separate the 4th pick from the 15th pick. The Twins are currently 1.5 games ahead of the Cubs (who would pick 4th) and only 2.5 games behind Colorado (who would pick 15th). The Red Wings announced this morning that OF Antoan Richardson would be activated and UTIL Brian Dinkelman would be placed on the DL with a quad strain.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] This afternoon, the Kernels announced that 2B Jorge Polanco was placed on the DL with a strained hamstring. The assumption is that this opens up a spot for the team to activate Jose Berrios to start Thursday's game. Let's look at the action on the field. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 1, LOUISVILLE BATS 0 Box Score Logan Darnell stepped up and made his best start in AAA. He completed eight strong, shutout innings. He struck out six and only allowed five hits and a walk. (Could he be next year's Andrew Albers?) Download attachment: darnell.jpg Michael Tonkin earned the save with a 1-2-3, two-strikeout 9th inning. Obviously in a 1-0 win, there wasn't a lot of offense. The lone run scored on a James Beresford RBI single that plated Chris Colabello. Darrin Mastroianni and Eric Farris added hits for the Red Wings. Liam Hendriks starts tomorrow's tilt at 7:05 ET. The Red Wings need to keep their foot on the gas as they compete in a the tightest division in the league; only three games separate them from being out of the playoffs completely. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 5, BINGHAMTON METS 3 Box Score A couple big swings and another good pitching performance was enough to seal the deal for the RockCats today. Both Reynaldo Rodriguez and Nate Hanson connected on the two-run HRs in the 5th inning to give New Britain all the offense they'd need. Five of the other starters - including Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario - were able to contribute hits today as well. It should be noted that Rosario, battling a mini-slump, was dropped to sixth in the order. D.J. Baxendale hasn't had the same success in AA that he had in Fort Myers but we got to see a glimpse of that pitcher today as he struck out eight batters in six innings. He allowed six hits and a walk that resulted in three runs, but improved his AA record to 5-6. Despite his performance as a RockCat being less dominating, I still believe that Baxendale can become a Scott Baker-ish contributor to the rotation in 2015. The bullpen trio of Matt Hauser, Dan Sattler and Dakota Watts kept the door closed as they only allowed two hits combined while striking out three. While tomorrow's scheduled starter for the 7:05 ET game is TBD, it would appear to be B.J. Hermsen's spot. Hermsen has really struggled in AA this year - in both a starting and relieving role, so who makes this start is anyone's guess. (UPDATE - Terry Ryan said on Sunday morning that Pedro Hernandez would be starting for the Rock Cats.) FORT MYERS MIRACLE vs BRADENTON MARAUDERS Box Score This game was suspended in the 3rd inning with Bradenton leading 2-0. David Hurlbut had got touched up early, but had already struck out four batters. In true Byron Buxton form, he had already recorded a single and a stolen base before the rain came. This game will be completed on August 29. The Miracle are off tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, PEORIA CHIEFS 1 Box Score Josue Montanez only gave up one run over 7.2 innings, but the Kernels were also aided by four Peoria errors. Montanez didn't give up a run until the 8th inning and then had to be relieved by Brian Gilbert to retire the side. Montanez finished with four strikeouts, a walk and seven hits allowed. Gilbert picked up the save by collecting the last four outs. It was Gilbert's fourth save since his promotion. The Kernels are very high on Gilbert, it will be interesting to see if he is given an opportunity to start next season. Michael Gonzales has now hit safely in all three games since his return from the disabled list. Tonight's hit was a home run that led off the scoring. The Kernels picked up two insurance runs in the seven thanks to a hit batter and two fielding errors. Joel Licon and Jonathan Murphy both had hits that scored runners (though Licon didn't get credit for an RBI). Tim Shibuya will start tomorrow at 6:30 CT for the Kernels. Shibuya has had a trying time since being named the Appy League Pitcher of the Year in 2011. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 5, GREENEVILLE ASTROS 2 (8 Innings) Box Score The draft pick that has stolen the show - at least in the early results - was on the mound for the E-Twins today. That guy, of course, being Stephen Gonsalves. Gonsalves pitched four shutout innings today and struck out five. It wasn't all great though: two walks, a wild pitch, a balk, a throwing error and three hits allowed. That being said, he's exceeding early expectations. Ryan Eades, the Twins top college draft choice, struggled throwing it over the plate. In two innings, he walked four and hit a batter. Austin Malinowski picked up the win for this late-game work, but mostly for being the pitcher of record when the E-Twins ripped off four 7th-inning runs to take the lead. Unlike previous versions of this team, this year's squad is winning (when they do) by stringing hits together and not hitting a lot of home runs. Tanner Vavra had two hits, including a double, driving in two. Zach Granite also had two RBI and Bryan Haar added a double. Hein Robb in tomorrow's (7pm ET) scheduled starter. GCL TWINS - Day off It sounds as though Alex Meyer will be pitching in this game and potentially moving up the ladder if all goes well. The goal is to get him back to New Britain before the end of the regular season before sending him to the Arizona Fall League. Click here to view the article

First off, huge props to everybody involved in the investigation in Boston. An unfortunate event followed by an around-the-clock story, ending with very few fatalities. Those in Boston and the surrounding areas will finally be able to sleep relatively peacefully tonight. Back to baseball.. The Twins are postponed again, making today their third consecutive off-day. Now I can understand postponing a baseball game for snow or sleet, but tonight’s forecast is “chilling and windy”. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That’s a little ridiculous, in my opinion. It sounds like somebody in Chicago needs to clean the sand out of their you-know-whats. On a happier note, Joe Mauer turns 30 day. Aaron Gleeman turned 30 earlier this year and started watching Dawson’s Creek last night. If this is what happens at 30, Joe Mauer is going to be a waste of a lot of money for the next six years. I am less looking forward than ever before to turning 30 next month. One great note: Miguel Sano was named #1 on Baseball America’s Hot Sheet for this past week. He had an OPS of 1.221. There is currently some debate about when Sano needs to be added to the 40-man roster. Although Sano signed before the Rule 5 draft in 2009, he won’t need to be added in the typical five-year window (this November) because he signed after the conclusion of the 2009 minor league season (by a day or two). As a result, the Twins have an extra evaluation year and will not be required to add him to the 40-man roster until November of 2014. Byron Buxton was an Honorable Mention (called “In the Team Photo”). Buck had an OPS of 1.056, but was caught stealing three times. (A 50% steal rate is far below acceptable for those with 80 speed.) Tim Wood’s rehab stint from a rotator cuff strain was transferred from Fort Myers to Rochester. It was initially reported that Wood was going on a 30-day rehab assignment, so it appears that he’ll be spending the next three weeks or so in Rochester’s bullpen before the Twins have to make a roster decision. Wood, who played in the Pittsburgh organization last year, was named Baseball America’s International League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2012. B.J. Hermsen is on his way to New Britain to join the RockCats. He’s missed the first couple weeks of the season with an oblique (abdominal muscle) injury. The “Voice of the Kernels” Morgan Hawk tweeted this afternoon that Jose Berrios will be making his season debut on Monday. So what happened on the field tonight? Let’s check it out… Fort Myers Miracle 14, St. Lucie Mets 2 Box Score Two days after losing its first game of the season, the Miracle have extended their second winning streak of the season to two games. The same day that Miguel Sano made headlines for his impressive stat line over the last week (he went hitless tonight with two Ks), his sidekick Eddie Rosario stole the spotlight. Rosario went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI to improve his batting average to .387. Download attachment: Rosario.jpg For the second straight day, TwinsDaily’s A.J. Pettersen had three hits (including a leadoff home run tonight). He’s now batting a robust .366. He also drove in two runs. Michael Gonzales homered twice while Matt Koch and Kennys Vargas also homered. D.J. Baxendale lowered his ERA to 1.04 with seven innings of one-run work. He struck out four, walked none and allowed four hits. Chad Rogers allowed a run in the 8th inning. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless 9th inning. Tom Stuifbergen (1-0, 2.41) pitches for the Miracle tomorrow. Cedar Rapids Kernels 1, Peoria Chiefs 4 Box Score The Kernels dropped to 9-5 with their second straight loss. They are now a full-game behind the Carlos Correa-led Quad Cities River Bandits in the Western Division of the Midwest League. The Kernels lone run came on a Byron Buxton opposite-field RBI triple to score Jairo Rodriguez to give the Kernels a 1-0 lead in the 4th. Hudson Boyd lost his first game of the season (now 1-1). He lasted into the fifth inning, recording one out before being lifted. He allowed four runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out three. He tweeted after the game about pitching in the snow and his disdain for it (#NeverAgain). The reality, for Boyd, is that if he never pitches in snow again, his career will probably be qualified as a disappointment, given the likelihood of late spring and early fall snow in New Britain, Rochester and Minneapolis. Tim Atherton allowed an inherited runner to score and recorded four outs. David Hurlbut, who appears to be the odd-man out of the rotation (in favor of Berrios) finished the game with two scoreless innings. The Kernels had a chance in the ninth inning. DJ Hicks (single) and Travis Harrison (double) both reached base. Drew Leachman, representing the tying run, grounded out to the first baseman, stranding the two runners. Mason Melotakis (1-1, 2.89) will take the ball tomorrow for the Kernels at 1pm. New Britain Rock Cats 1, Portland Sea Dogs 12 Box Score One night after dropping twenty-one hits and seventeen runs on Portland, while holding the Sea Dogs to one run on three hits, the roles were reversed tonight. In tonight’s game, Portland scored 12 runs on fifteen hits. New Britain, on the other hand, mustered only a single run on five hits. To make matters even weirder, the Rock Cats were shut down by Matt Barnes (6 IP, 5 H, 1R, 7 K, 1BB). The same Barnes who, only five days ago, got beat up by the Rock Cats to the tune of five runs in 2.1 IP. This baseball, it’s a funny game. Both Blake Martin and Marty Popham were beaten up pretty badly tonight. Martin yielded 4 earned runs and 4 walks in 4 innings and Popham gave up six earned runs and and 2 walks while recording only one out. Danny Ortiz hit a solo home run. Logan Darnell (1-0, 1.17) will face Portland tomorrow afternoon at 1pm ET. Rochester Red Wings vs Pawtucket Red Sox – Postponed. The two teams will play a double-header on Sunday, beginning at 12:05. If you have any questions or comments, please post below. Or if you’re bored, engage me on Twitter @jeremynygaard. Draft Board v.3 coming this weekend! Click here to view the article

Originally posted at www.ManCenter.com ----- June 4th marks the 1st round of the MLB Amateur Draft. LSU So P Kevin Gausman figures to be one of the first names called. We had a chance to catch up with him today to talk draft, the season and donuts. Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions and letting us get to know a little bit more about you. Obviously, the MLB draft is different from other sports in that it happens while many guys are still in-season. How much thought have you given next month’s draft? Kevin Gausman: I try not to think about the draft, it is exciting, but I still have all my goals with LSU to achieve first and that is where my priority is.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] You’re having a great season (8-1, 2.95) and you pitched quite a game yesterday (9 IP, 5 H, BB, 11 K) against Vanderbilt. Reports are that you threw 126 pitches. How has your workload been this year and how is your velocity both at the beginning and end of a long outing like this? KG: I’ve already thrown more innings then I did all of last year so I would say my workload is pretty big for a starter in college. My velo has stayed mostly consistent. Early on in games I can reach upper 90's, but then I settle into more of a mid-90's pitcher as the game progresses. What other pitches do you throw? KG: I throw five pitches. I throw a four-seam fastball and a one-seam sinking fastball. A split-change-up, curve and a slider. In college there are lots of scouts checking out lots of guys. Have there been any teams that seem to be paying more attention to you than other teams? Specifically, have you had any contact with the Minnesota Twins? KG: I think because college baseball has so many very talented players that teams spread out and pick when they are going to see certain players. I don’t know who has been at my games and which teams have been there the most, but I have had a visit with the Twins Area Scout in this area. This isn’t the first time you’ve gone through the process, having gotten selected by the Dodgers in the 6th round of the 2010 draft. Now though, the CBA – specifically the draft rules around signing players – has changed to the point where it’s going to be much harder to project how signable guys are, simply because teams aren’t going to have a lot of flexibility in what they can offer guys. You also have a little extra leverage because you’re a draft-eligible sophomore; how is all of that going to play into your signability? KG: Obviously signability is huge to organizations, but right now I’m just focused on my task at hand and working towards bringing this team to Omaha and having the chance at a National Championship. I will think more about that after this season is over. You have a superstition of eating powdered donuts in between innings. Is continuing that superstition going to be a factor when it comes down to signing on the dotted line? KG: My superstition will have nothing to do with me signing or not signing. It is simply something I feel that works for me so that is why I continue to do it. Last question, assuming the Twins – or whichever team is fortunate enough to select you – get you signed. What kind of goals do you have in regards to advancing through the minor leagues and making it to The Show? KG: I have huge goals for myself. Obviously I would love to move as fast as I can through the minors and play in the big leagues, but I know that that is a little far-fetched. I will continue to work as hard as I can towards achieving my goals, but ultimately your movement through the minors is decided by the organization. Again, thanks a ton for doing this. Best of luck for the remainder of the season for both you and your team in your pursuit of the College World Series! Download attachment: gausman.jpg Click here to view the article

I know the picture doesn't fit, but for what might be the last time, let's give #33 another cover photo. This from a happier time. Let's hope there is more champagne in Morneau's near future... and also that none of the corks hit him in the head. If you want to weigh in on the trade and it's reactions. Go here. Tonight was a very significant night for the Rochester Red Wings. It's also a big night for Josmil Pinto, as he is with the Twins and will make his big-league debut soon.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Download attachment: Justin Morneau.jpg Let's look at how the four minor league teams did tonight: ROCHESTER RED WINGS 6, BUFFALO BISONS 5 Box Score The Red Wings did nearly everything possible to blow this game late, but instead held on to win (and eliminate Buffalo from Wild Card contention). The Red Wings currently find themselves a half-game behind Norfolk, who is playing here. If Norfolk loses, the Red Wings pull into a tie for the Wild Card, but have the tiebreaker. If Norfolk wins, the Red Wings will have to make that one-game disadvantage up in the next two days. P.J. Walters gave up two runs early, but settled down and made it six innings. Aaron Thompson gave up an unearned run and Shairon Martis allowed the Bisons to battle back (and get the go-ahead run in scoring position with two outs) before Michael Tonking recorded the final out. Aaron Hicks was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a stolen base. Eric Fryer homered and Eduardo Escobar, Chris Parmelee and James Beresford all added doubles. Pat Dean looks to keep the Red Wings in the hunt tomorrow night at 6:05 ET. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 4, READING PHILLIES 5 Box Score Reading scored a 9th inning run to win a game that no one actually knew was going on. So you better read about it here... Trevor May pitched and was solid. He struck out 10 in seven innings, scattering four runs on six hits and a walk. Matt Hauser gave up the run to pick up the loss. Miguel Sano was busy. He tripled, was hit by a pitch, grounded into a double play and committed an error. Eddie Rosario got two hits, including a double. Angel Morales hit his 5th AA home run. Stuart Turner made his AA debut and collected two singles. Kyle Davies pitches tomorrow at 6:35 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 2, BRADENTON MARAUDERS 3 Box Score The Miracle's bullpen blew a save, allowing three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. David Hurlbut scattered nine hits over 7.1 innings, but only allowed two runners (inherited by Tyler Jones) to score. He struck out six. Tyler Jones finished the inning, but not before allowing a run of his own to score as well. he took the loss. Byron Buxton had a hit and scored a run out of the 3-hole. Kennys Vargas had the only extra base hit for the team (his 33rd double). Tomorrow afternoon (12:05 ET) is the Miracle's regular-season finale. Their playoffs start Tuesday. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, CLINTON LUMBERKINGS 0 Box Score Lots of offense from the Kernels tonight, led by leadoff hitter Jonathan Murphy. Murphy had two hits, including a triple and scored two runs. Tyler Grimes, Mike Gonzales and Bo Altobelli all had two-hit games and an RBI as well. Gonzaelez hit a long home run. After returning to the lineup with a bang last night, Niko Goodrum took today's game off. Tim Shibuya went the distance today. He struck out six. He allowed four hits and only walked one. The Kernels have set their playoff rotation and it looks like this: Brett Lee in Game 1, Tim Shibuya in Game 2, and Tim Atherton in Game 3. It was believed that Jose Berrios would be one of the guys in the rotation, but it was reported earlier today that he wouldn't be included. Nothing specific to report, as it appears that Berrios is completely healthy, but has worn down later in the year. The Kernels have two more games at Clinton before starting their playoffs. Tim Atherton starts tomorrow at 2:00 CT. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. Click here to view the article

The Twins don’t appear to be playing real inspired (or inspiring) baseball, so let’s get right into the farm. A few transactions to sort through: The Red Wings released 1B Aaron Bates and recently-signed INF Joe Thurston. It was announced that OF Wilkin Ramirez (who has been tearing up AA) and RP Lester Oliveros have been promoted from New Britain to Rochester. 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka - you may have heard of him - is expected to be activated before tomorrow’s game. The addition of Nishi, as well as Matt Maloney, pushes 1B/DH Matt Rizzotti from Rochester to New Britain. There is no word on any other corresponding moves to fill the other hole in New Britain (and it would be purely speculation to point out that neither Miracle OF Oswaldo Arcia nor INF Levi Michael were in the lineup tonight). Let’s take a spin around the farm:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 4, SYRACUSE 6 For the second straight Monday, the Red Wings faced a pitcher that has experienced major league success. This time around they got to see former Yankee hurler Chien Ming-Wang. The current National is rehabbing his left hamstring. He did pretty well scattering eleven hits and four runs over eight innings and change. Danny Valencia started off his return to AAA hitless in ten at-bats before doubling down the left-field line to lead off the 7th inning. He later scored after a Sean Burroughs single and a Ray Chang sacrifice fly. Valencia finished the day 1 for 4, upping his average to .086. All other Red Wing starters got hits too. Ben Revere, who had been hitting .440 over his last six games, went 1 for 5 and is currently hitting .306. Revere, however, hasn’t taken a walk in his last six games. Pedro Florimon stole two more bases and now has ten (in eleven chances) total this year. Burroughs collected three hits today and is up to .333 through eight AAA games. JR Towles is batting better now that he is getting regular at-bats. Towles gathered two hits today. Since Drew Butera’s promotion, Towles is batting .308 and has improved his season line from .111 to .208. Cole DeVries took his fourth loss of the year. He went 6 1/3 innings allowing nine hits and six runs (four earned). He also struck out two. Brendan Wise came in with a runner on in the 7th. He allowed his inherited runner to score, three hits and struck out one. Not-quite-former-Wing Steve Pearce was named International League Player of the Week with a 400/464/920 slash. He currently leads the league in batting (.361) and doubles (12). He’s also third in OBP (.444) and fourth in runs (26). Another “wish we could have signed you when we drafted you” case that doesn’t turn out great for the Twins (or the Red Wings). NEW BRITAIN IDLE Scheduled day off FT. MYERS 1, CHARLOTTE 13 The Miracle got drilled tonight. They were only able to scratch out five hits, scoring one run. Daniel Ortiz and Jairo Perez both tripled. Daniel Santana, Anderson Hidalgo and Michael Gonzales all singled. Madison Boer continued to struggle in the Florida State League. He didn’t make it out of the fifth inning tonight, allowing 10 hits, seven runs (all earned), walking two and striking out three. He currently has an ERA of 14.25 and a WHIP of 2.75. Hopefully the 2011 2nd round pick out of Eden Prairie can figure it out soon. Jose Gonzalez, not only didn’t fare any better, but actually did much worse, giving up six earned runs on four hits (two home runs), while only getting four outs. His ERA ballooned from sub-4 to 6.43. Matt Hauser got the last out of the sixth. Kyle Waldrop made his second rehab appearance tonight. He struck out one and gave up one hit in one inning. It should be noted that his other two outs came by fly out and ground out. Waldrop relies on a heavy sinker to get a lot of ground ball outs. Expect him to be optioned to Rochester as soon as he is healthy. Manager Jake Mauer proved that there is some fire in the family, getting tossed in the 6th after P Jose Gonzalez was warned for hitting a Charlotte batter. OF Lance Ray overcame a rough April and was named Florida State League Player of the Week (May 7-13). Hitting .421 (with an OPS of 1.331) over the last six games, Ray has improved his batting average from .209 to .248. He remains an under-rated prospect in the system. Though he didn’t get any hits tonight, he did drive in the lone run. BELOIT 5, CLINTON 2 Steven Gruver has mixed some solid starts with some short starts. This was definitely more of a solid start. Gruver scattered six hits over 6 1/3 innings, allowing two earned runs, a walk and striking out four. Bart Carter and Clint Dempster got the last eight outs without allowing any runs. Carter gave up one hit, striking out two in 1 2/3 innings. Dempster picked up the save, striking out one in an inning. Wang Wei-Lin had two doubles, a run and an RBI to lead the Snapper offense. Adam Bryant and Jhon Goncalves each added two hits. Überprospect Miguel Sano was 1 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Eddie Rosario hit his 3rd home run of the season (and second in five games). --- Players of the Day for Monday, May 14, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Sean Burroughs Download attachment: burroughs.jpg Pitcher of the Day – Steven Gruver Download attachment: gruver.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Louisville – LHP Luke French (0-0, 6.55) New Britain vs New Hampshire - Game 1 - RHP Steve Hirschfeld (2-3, 3.10) New Britain vs New Hampshire - Game 2 – LHP Logan Darnell (3-2, 5.40) Ft. Myers vs Charlotte – RHP Miguel Munoz (1-1, 2.77) Beloit vs Clinton – RHP Tim Shibuya (1-1, 2.83) --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Click here to view the article

The story on the farm today was... RAIN. Rainouts, specifically. Download attachment: rain.jpg ROCHESTER RED WINGS, NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS, FORT MYERS MIRACLE and GCL TWINS were all postponed. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, PEORIA CHIEFS 3 Box Score Mike Pelfrey packed up his family in the Cities yesterday and made the trek down to Cedar Rapids for a rehab start today. In six frames, he allowed two runs (one home run) and struck out six. He reportedly feels better and should be back in the Twins rotation on Saturday.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Mason Melotakis, who would have started today, picked up a three-inning save. Melotakis allowed four hits and a run. He struck out two. Even with the absence of Byron Buxton reaching eight games (and counting), the Kernels have continued their dominance in the second half. Today marked consecutive victory number eleven. The bats were led by Max Kepler, who tripled and homered, drove in two and scored twice. Niko Goodrum also tripled. Jonathan Murphy, who joined the Kernels when Jeremias Pineda was placed on the DL, was 0-for-2, but contributed an outfield assist. Jose Berrios will stand atop the mound at Pohlman Field tomorrow in Beloit at 7:00 pm. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 8, KINGSPORT METS 4 Box Score E-Town improved to 10-2 with their victory tonight. Zach Granite, batting leadoff, drew four walks, resulting in three runs scored and two stolen bases. Mitch Garver, who was a cheap senior-sign this year, has hit the ball extremely well (a question coming into the draft) and added two singles more tonight (his fourth multi-hit game out of seven), raising his average to .357. Dereck Rodriguez doubled. The team as a whole combined to draw 11 walks. Tanner Mendonca made his second start for the defending Appy League Champs. Mendonca struck out six in three innings. He allowed four hits and two runs, but didn't walk anyone. Tim Shibuya came in as a reliever again and pitched three strong innings to pick up his third win. When there is a need in Cedar Rapids, you have to believe Shibuya will move up. Brian Gilbert struck out the side in his inning of relief. E-Town takes on Johnson City tomorrow at 7 pm ET. Leave your questions and/or comment below. ~~~ The International signing period opens tomorrow... check the site for updates. ~~~ Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join us tonight at 8:30 to talk Twins Baseball. Seth is back home, so he should be less tired (in theory). Ask us lots of Twins and Twins minor league questions. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BZrKkh0o4XU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> The show is also available on the too. You can view and all other episodes on our YouTube channel, download our shows on iTunes, or listen to them on our webpage. Click here to view the article

The baseball games tonight give us a chance to clear our minds from the devastating news out of Boston. For those of you living in the nightmare, I think I can speak for everybody at TwinsDaily - creators, writers and readers - that our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. For as exciting (or depressing) as baseball can be, it's still just a game. But in tonight's game, Twins fans were excited to see Oswaldo Arcia make his major league debut. He didn't disappoint, ripping the second pitch he saw down the right-field line and alertly took second base on Josh Hamilton's error.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In the 5th, he took a Michael Roth pitch deep to left-center, only to have Mike Trout and his super-powers catch it on the warning track. He also dropped a routine flyball, but, hey, it was his first game. The Twins, who ended their losing streak thanks to a great outing from Kevin Correia tonight, will have an interesting decision to make when the roster needs tinkering again. Download attachment: Joe Benson.jpg Let's look at what happened on the farm tonight: Fort Myers Miracle 4, Palm Beach Cardinals 1 Box Score The Miracle extended their season-opening winning streak to 11 games. I'm starting to get the feeling that Doug Mientkiewicz is the greatest manager in the history of baseball... or he at least has to have the best winning percentage. Tonight's win was brought to you buy The Bottom of the Order. Lance Ray, Jonathan Goncalves, Kyle Knudson and Stephen Wickens combined to go 9-for-12 with all four runs, three RBI, and a triple (Goncalves). And, of course, a courtesy Miguel Sano mention: 1-for-3 with a walk and strikeout... and his third error of the season. Tom Stuifbergen was great - 7.2 innings, four hits, one run and three strikeouts. Corey Williams came in with the tying runner on in the eighth, got the out and then recorded three more for his fourth save of the season. One Miracle player, who shall remain nameless, told me after win #10 that the "scary thing is... the team could play better." It's going to continue to be an exciting season. Jason Wheeler (1-0, 5.63) gets the afternoon start for the Miracle tomorrow. New Britain RockCats 5, New Hampshire FisherCats 3 Box Score The RockCats got a phenomenal start from southpaw Logan Darnell, helping the team climb back over .500 after losing their last two. Darnell went 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight and only giving up a lone run to pick up his first win of the year. Aaron Thompson made his season debut getting four outs (two on strikeouts) before Bobby Lanigan got roughed up a little in the ninth (allowed two runs and the tying runner to get to the plate). Michael Tonkin came in, threw one pitch and got the game's final out on a grounder to the second baseman James Beresford. The bats were alive... and full of singles. Only one (Reynaldo Rodriguez, double) of the 11 hits went for extra bases. Luckily, six of those hits came in the sixth inning where the RockCats scored all five of their runs. Danny Santana, Nate Hanson, Jason Christian and James Beresford all had two hits. Trevor May (0-1, 3.00) will make the start tomorrow night. Rochester Red Wings 1, Scranton/WB RailRiders 10 Box Score Rochester dropped to 2-9, which is the franchise's worst start in at least the last 45 years. P.J. Walters made it through six innings. He struck out five, but also gave up 13 hits (!) and five earned runs. Michael O'Connor was the only reliever to pitch an inning without giving up a run. Bruce Pugh gave up four runs. Daniel Turpen gave up one. Joe Benson was the offense's headliner with three hits and a stolen base. The team scattered ten hits, but were a Twins-like 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. One the season, the Red Wings are 15-for-91 (.164) with RISP. Not quite Hicksian, but disgustingly bad for sure. Kyle Gibson (0-1, 5.79) will hope to get the team's third win tomorrow. Cedar Rapids Kernels 2, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 14 Box Score Well, the ugly stick hit the Kernels tonight on their return to Cedar Rapids. Of note, Oswaldo Arcia's brother, Orlando, who plays for Wisconsin went 0-for-6 as the only Timber Rattler without a hit. Byron Buxton went 1-for-2 (.441) with his 4th stolen base of the year. Adam Walker, who hit 14 home runs last year for Elizabethton, hit his 1st of the year. Dalton (D.J.) Hicks, who earlier in the day was named Midwest Player of the Week, homered for his third time of the year. David Hurlbut took the loss, giving up three runs in five innings. Matt Tomshaw gave up six earned runs and got four outs. Josue Montanez got five outs and gave up five unearned runs. The Kernels will play a doubleheader tomorrow and it appears that Taylor Rogers (0-0, 0.00) and Brett Lee (1-0, 0.00 in two bullpen appearances) will get the starting nods. If you have any questions, comments or anything else you want to get off of your chest, you can leave a comment below or tweet me @jeremynygaard. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: mlb_draft.jpg The draft is now only six weeks away. Some things are starting to come into focus; other things are as cloudy as ever. A quick reminder: The Twins first pick (fourth overall) has a draft slot value of just around $4.5 million. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The strategy that the Twins select the Best Player Available early in the draft remains true. The Twins will follow that strategy yet again this year. Though it should be pointed out – as I do each month – that the Twins very rarely deviate from the norm: In the last 20 years, the Twins have had 24 1st round draft picks (not counting supplemental picks). Of those 24 picks, 11 have been prep position players and eight have been college pitchers. The other two groups: college position players (4) and prep pitchers (1) have been much less represented. In the eyes of those in the front office, when the draft board is stacked, an emphasis is placed on two groups: prep position players and college pitchers. So while there may always be a debate about who is the BPA, the Twins will likely error on the side of one of those groups. Easy enough to follow, right? Typically, yes. This year, I don’t believe so. I recently inquired about Kohl Stewart, a prep pitcher from Texas. The response I got from a Twins source read as follows: The answer is four. The first two have not been good. The last two, Jameson Taillon and Dylan Bundy, however, have been excellent. In addition to that, another prepster, Jose Fernandez, has made his big-league debut despite being drafted after some college pitchers who are still in the minors. The second part of the text is what took me a little bit by surprise. The piecing together of this draft board just got more difficult… JEREMY’S SMALL BOARD (Keep in mind, please, that this is not a “mock draft”. This is not a reflection of my top players. This is my attempt at stacking a “Twins Draft Board”, based on a number of things.) 1) Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma (previous: 4) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: I don’t think the Twins have a discernible difference between the top two prospects on the board. And because of that, if given the choice between the two, it would be much easier to draft Gray. Gray turned down $500,000 a few years ago, and despite having the leverage to return to school for another year, Gray doesn’t have an agent (yet) that is out trying to break records and make points. (Chance Gray drops to Twins: .01%) 2) Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford (previous: 1) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: Appel could be in an Opening Day rotation as soon as 2014. If he lasted until the Twins picked at #4, he would help form quite the two-headed monster with Alex Meyer. Of course, the questions with Appel will always be attached to his price tag and his advisor, Scott Boras. There is some growing thought that getting anything over the $3.8 million that he turned down last year would prove Boras’ point and make Appel a winner. I still think that the Twins would have to borrow against the rest of their draft to get him under contract. But that is a risk I’d be willing to take, if given the opportunity. (Chance Appel drops to Twins: 5%) 3) Kohl Stewart, RHP, Texas HS (previous: NR) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: Let me preface this by saying that there is a big gap after Gray and Appel. You could probably list six to eight names here and have an argument. When it comes down to it, the “upside” is what leads Stewart to this position. Equipped with a mid-90s fastball and wipeout slider, Stewart has top-of-the-rotation stuff. The Twins – and every other team in baseball – will need to do their homework, though. Stewart is also a stud QB (and committed to Texas A&M) who’s price tag may determine where he gets drafted. There have already been reports that the Astros are sniffing around the local (to Houston) product with thoughts of popping him 1-1, much the same as they did last year in drafting Carlos Correa. (Chance Stewart drops to Twins: 85%) 4) Austin Meadows, OF, Georgia HS (previous: 8) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: While I prefer the flair of Clint Frazier, the Twins apparently have Meadows, the “more complete package”, rated higher. Meadows is younger (still 17) and, in comparing the two, has favor in all the “Twins Typical” categories: better defender, better baseball-feel, better hit-instincts, better base-runner. The feel I get about Meadows is that he would fit perfectly (eventually) in left field. A .300-type hitter with power and speed might make Twins fans go crazy for the simple fact that he is what he is: ANOTHER TOOLSY OUTFIELDER! (Chance Meadows drops to Twins: 65%) 5) Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State (previous: 2) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: I’ve been a fan of Manaea since he dominated the Cape Cod League last summer. In his last four starts on that circuit, Manaea went 30 innings, allowed seven hits and one walk – that’s a WHIP of .267 – and struck out 47 (for a K/9 of 14.1). He was dialed up and dialed in, throwing in the high-90s. He hasn’t been the same guy since. In fact, if it weren’t for last summer, Manaea would be a “projectable lefty” going in the second half of the first round. Manaea really seems to labor when there are runners on base and, despite having the advantage of being a lefty, has a non-existent pickoff move. He’s much further away from the big leagues than either Gray or Appel, but that Cape Cod success carries a lot of weight with the Twins brass. Personally, I feel this is a “can’t-go-wrong” pick for the Twins and their fans, even though plenty of question marks surround him. (Chance Manaea drops to Twins: 60%) 6) Colin Moran, 3B, North Carolina (previous: NR) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: Moran is arguably the top collegiate bat in all the draft. He shares a quality with the Twins most recently drafted collegiate hitter, Levi Michael, in that they both attended North Carolina. I have Moran ranked higher than Kris Bryant, because the likelihood (at least in the Twins eyes) is that, presumably, Moran has a better chance to stick at third. (If they wanted to draft a first baseman fourth overall, they’ll take California prep 1B Dominic Smith – which they won’t do.) (Chance Moran drops to Twins: 80%) 7) Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas (previous: 7) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: It’s plenty ironic that the prospect who has seen his stock fluctuate the most is the only player on this board who sits in the same position as he sat last month. Stanek still possesses both a very good fastball and slider, but hasn’t had the results (up until recently) to back up the hype. He’s had short outings where he’s thrown far too many pitches. And then he goes and blows away LSU, a team that may have the most potent offense in the NCAA. Although drafting Stanek would be an upset, it could pay huge dividends down the road. (Chance Stanek drops to Twins: 99%) 8) Kris Bryant, 3B, San Diego (previous: NR) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: Bryant ranks near the top of all power hitters in this draft. If he were in the Twins system, only Sano would have more raw power. Like Sano, there are many questions about where Bryant plays defensively. He won’t get a ringing endorsement from scouts that he can stay at 3B or handle RF, making him a 1B. Power was an emphasis last year – and may be again this year – and that could help the big right-hander’s chances of getting drafted by the Twins. (Chance Bryant drops to Twins: 65%) 9) Clint Frazier, OF, Georgia HS (previous: 3) WHY HE'S ON THE BOARD: Frazier may very well be gone by the time the Twins draft. Scouts are split on him and Meadows and both have a chance to go Colorado. It comes down to preference and the Twins prefer Meadows. (Chance Frazier drops to Twins: 65%) Other notes: OF Ryan Boldt, Red Wing HS, has been dealing with the same weather as the rest of us in the Midwest. He’s been holding workouts in the hockey rink. He did enough last summer, though, to prove that he’s a 1st rounder. While it would be neat for the Twins to draft him, they won’t be able to. P Logan Shore, Blaine HS, is the top prep pitcher in the state. He’s signed to play next year at Florida and may prove to be a difficult sign, unless he goes in the first couple of rounds. A guy that I mentioned as someone I liked in the last update, Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Tennessee HS, underwent Tommy John surgery earlier this month. He will miss the remainder of his senior season and enroll in Vanderbilt in the fall. While it’s doubtful that he will sign, it wouldn’t shock me if a team took a flyer on him at some point in the draft as a Plan D fallback option. A name to remember is Daniel Palka, OF/1B, Georgia Tech. The Twins don’t typically draft a lot of first baseman, but they always seem to draft one. Palka has big-time power from the left-side of the plate. Another player with questions defensively, Palka is holding his own in the outfield, but will settle at first base. Palka would be a cheaper alternative to taking Moran or Bryant fourth overall. There will probably be one more installment in mid-to-late May before making minor changes up until the draft on June 6. Feel free to discuss. You can follow me on Twitter (@jeremynygaard) for draft updates. Click here to view the article

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

It was a relatively slow day in the world of Twins Baseball with only two of the five ball clubs active, though that didn't keep us from hearing some pretty newsworthy things. Twins first round draft pick Kohl Stewart is en route to the Twin Cities. In fact, at 9:28 pm, he tweeted a photo of Target Field from the Twins dugout. He's obviously not yet signed, sealed and delivered. But he's well on the way. I'm holding out hope that the deal gets done by tomorrow afternoon and he throws out the first pitch tomorrow night. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Top 10 Twins' prospect Max Kepler will be joining the Cedar Rapids Kernels after the All-Star break. The speculation on ensuing moves is near endless. My take: Buxton goes to Fort Myers with D.J. Hicks. Rory Rhodes joins Cedar Rapids. Kennys Vargas takes a step up to New Britain, which could easily clear a roster spot or two. There will be many more moves, but that could be how a few dominoes fall when Kepler moves up. Hein Robb was sent from Cedar Rapids to Elizabethton to make room for Kepler. The Roster & Payroll page shows up-to-date rosters from the top of the organization to the bottom. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 10, SCRANTON/WB RAIL RIDERS 1 (Game 1) Box Score After an extremely slow start to the season, the Red Wings closed to within one game of .500 (35-36). Vance Worley pitched a seven-inning complete game for the win. He struck out two and gave up nine hits. The top of the order certainly delivered for Rochester, as well. Antoan Richardson was 2-for-2 with a double. He also walked three times. It's an impressive feat for a guy with no home runs to have an OPS of .871. It does make it a little easier when you get on base almost half of the time you come to the plate. At a minimum, Richardson's presence is going to make it that much easier to expose Clete Thomas to waivers when that time comes... because we all know that time will come. At the other end of the spectrum, is Richardson competing with Hicks (and Mastroianni?) for the center field job in 2014? (Come on, like we can't at least pretend that Hicks could use some AAA seasoning.) Chris Herrmann was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs batted in. Chris Colabello added two more hits to raise his average to .372 (!). Deibinson Romero added two hits as well. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 3, SCRANTON/WB RAIL RIDERS 5 (Game 2) Box Score Virgil Vasquez spotted the Rail Riders three runs in the second inning (on a three-run home run) and that was more than the Wings could come back from, falling short in their quest to reach .500. Vasquez allowed six hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out one. Shairon Martis allowed two runs in two innings. The bats weren't as good in Game 2. Antoan Richardson eclipsed the .300-mark, going 1-for-3 with a triple (his fifth in only 120 at-bats) and two RBI. James Beresford was the only Red Wing with a muli-hit game. Chris Herrmann doubled. LP Andrew Albers (who looks shockingly like Justin Morneau) will be on the hill tomorrow. The southpaw is 5-2 with a 3.01 ERA. Terry Ryan is on record saying that Albers - and not Kyle Gibson - is the next pitcher in line to start for the Twins. He's originally from Canada (the Twins love Canadians), then playing for Kentucky - the Twins also love Wildcats - of course, he's next in line. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 6, PALM BEACH CARDINALS 5 Box Score The Miracle started off their second half with a bang. After scoring four seventh-inning runs to give themselves a 5-3 lead, Zack Jones allowed two inherited runners to score for his second blown save of the season. Andy Leer started the bottom of the ninth with a single and Candido Pimentel made his Miracle debut, as a pinch-runner. After a Levi Michael walk advanced Pimentel to second, Aderlin Mejia attempted a sacrifice bunt to move Pimentel to third. Only a sacrifice it was not. The third baseman threw the ball past the first baseman allowing Pimentel to score the game-winning run in walk-off fashion. Not a bad way to finish your first game in Fort Myers, eh? Aderlin Mejia is putting himself on the prospect map. In what had been assumed to be a short stay with the Miralce, Mejia is proving that he belongs. Batting leadoff and playing shortstop, Mejia went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Over his last four games, Mejia is 9-for-15 (.600) with 6 RBI. People were worried about the Miralce offense with Sano and Rosario gone... Mejia is filling those shoes admirably. Download attachment: wickens.jpg Also picking up the slack was Stephen Wickens. Wickens went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. Jairo Rodriguez went 3-for-4. Manuel Soliman allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked two. The choice to start Soliman is intriguing, to say the least. Coming off the All-Star break, they obviously have a rested rotation and none of the five starters appears headed to New Britain. (Three have come up from Cedar Rapids since the beginning of the year, the two who started in Fort Myers both have WHIPs over 1.30 and K/9s under 6.5.) If the Miracle were in need of a starter, Adrian Salcedo would seem to be a much more obvious option. Salcedo pitched in relief tonight, allowing two hits in two innings. He struck out two. Salcedo continues to show near-impeccable control. In 29 innings this year, he's struck out 33 and only walked five. Chad Rodgers left with runners on base before giving way to Jones. Jones struck out three in getting five outs and picking up the win. Fort Myers' starter for tomorrow night's game is TBD. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS - off today. Back at it tomorrow night with a starter TBD. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - All-Star Game tomorrow with many Kernels scheduled to play. If you questions or comments, please comment below. 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Another slow day around baseball. The Twins activated RP Matt Capps and optioned Kyle Waldrop back to Rochester. The Wings currently have six pitchers on the disabled list, so getting another arm is probably pretty welcome. The Twins reached agreements with 23rd round pick P Travis Huber from Nebraska and 28th round pick P Carson Goldsmith. It was also announced that 6th rounder Andre Martinez (P) will not actually sign after it was reported he agreed to a deal that would pay him $60K over slot.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Without knowing the details of this particular case, it should be mentioned that in the past – at least to my knowledge – when signed guys get “unsigned” it’s normally is because of a failed physical. We’ll keep you posted if any other details come out in this case. Tomorrow afternoon at 4pm CT marks the signing deadline (for all non-college seniors). Expect there to be another 3-5 guys that come to terms. Some names to keep in mind as the deadline approaches: L.J. Mazzilli, 2B, Connecticut, Round 9 – Sounds as though the two parties are not close. Erich Knab, P, S. Carolina HS, Round 13 – Probably will take over the 100K, but there is money there. Jarret Leverett, OF, Ga. Southern, Round 15 – College senior will sign at some point if he wants to play professionally. Zach Larson, OF, Florida HS, Round 20 – Considered signable. There are other late-round names that dropped due to signability concerns. They may become options if the Twins pony up all their unspent allowance. A spin around a quiet Thursday: ROCHESTER 4, TOLEDO 3 Box score The Red Wings have closed to within four games of .500. They are now 44-48 and after today, have had 21 different pitchers pick up a win this season. Tonight’s win was credited to Dan Sattler. Sattler gave up two earned runs in two innings allowing a walk and a home run while striking out three. He relieved Jeff Manship, who went five innings allowing eight hits, two walks and an unearned run. He also struck out three. Luis Perdomo picked up his sixth save on the year (with four coming for the Red Wings in July). He struck out two in one inning. Since his promotion to Rochester, he has pitched in seven games (10 2/3 innings) and has only allowed five hits (no walks) and struck out 13. That’s a WHIP of 0.47 and a K/9 of 10.97. Granted this is a very small sample size, but it’s a “lights out” sample size. The Wings had a hard time getting started against former Twin-draftee Andy Oliver. They didn’t get their first hit of the game until a Nishi single in the bottom of the fifth. Fortunately, when he came back out in the 6th, the Red Wings jumped all over him. They were able to plate four runs. Danny Valencia singled in two runs and Tsuyoshi Nishioka doubled in two later that inning. Matt Carson was the only other player to register a hit. According to the team’s post-game press release Danny Valencia has 6 RBI in his last six games. He has 12 in his last 13 games. With Trevor Plouffe firmly entrenched as the Twins third baseman, could Valencia have trade value? NEW BRITAIN 6, TRENTON 7 Box score A tough loss for the Rock Cats tonight. Oswaldo Arcia continues to swing a hot bat. He had a triple and a home run (off Dellin Betances), scoring two runs and knocking in three. Five other Rockcats contributed singles. Chris Colabello and Nate Hanson both drove in a run. Defensively, Evan Bigley threw out two runners at home. Aaron Thompson scattered ten hits over five innings. He allowed five runs (four earned), walked two and struck out two. Marty Popham pitched two innings, giving up three hits and two runs (one earned), walking one and striking out two. Edgar Ibarra and Bruce Pugh each pitched one inning, each allowed two hits and each struck out two. FT. MYERS 3, CLEARWATER 4 (12 innings) Box score The Miracle started the night against a rehabbing Roy Halladay for three innings and ended the night allowing a walk-off hit in the twelfth inning. Though Madison Boer allowed 10 hits, there is a lot about his recent performances to be encouraged about. He struck out five in 6 1/3 innings and only walked one. He allowed three runs. This is his fourth straight start where he has made it six or more innings. In those four games, he’s pitched 25 1/3 innings. He has allowed 33 hits, but only five walks. He’s struck out 14. Considering he’s only allowed two home runs, you’d hope that as he progresses, the defenses behind him will improve and more of these batted balls will find gloves instead of holes. Jose Gonzalez pitched out of trouble twice, getting five outs and allowing only one hit. He inherited two runners and stranded them both. A.J. Achter pitched three innings of one-hit, two-strikeout ball. Ricky Bowen got two outs before allowing the walk-off hit. He gave up two hits, a walk and struck out one. Joe Benson, continuing his rehab, batted clean-up and arguably had his best hitting day of the year. He went 3-for-5, finishing only a triple short of the cycle. He drove in two and scored two. He walked once and stole a base as well. Danny Santana and Kyle Knudson each added two hits. Santana had a double and a stolen base. Beyond that, there were a lot of 1-for-5s or 1-for-6s. BELOIT 6, FORT WAYNE 2 Box score The Tincaps tried unsuccessfully to pitch around the top of the Snappers order. (Nine walks to the top five batters.) Jonathan Goncalves, batting in the 6-hole, collected three hits (including a double) and drove in two runs. Stephen Wickens and A.J. Pettersen both had doubles. Miguel Sano had a sacrifice fly to knock in his 62nd run. He trails Evan Bigley (New Britain) by two for the organizational lead. Jason Wheeler pitched eight strong innings. He allowed only two runs on five hits (one home run) and a walk. He struck out five. He improved to 10-4. Only Scott Diamond has more wins on the year. And no one in the organization has as many wins for one team. Clint Dempster struck out two in a one-hit ninth. ELIZABETHTON 12, GREENEVILLE 1 Box score Before you attribute the offensive success to a hitter-friendly league, let me remind you that Greeneville was held to one run on two hits. Hein Robb dominated for four innings. He allowed a walk and struck out four, but left with a no-hitter intact. Tyler Herr improved to 3-0, pitching two innings and allowing a hit and run. Zach Jones (K), Luis Nunez (BB, 3 K) and Mason Melotakis (H, 2 K) each pitched one inning. All nine hitters recorded hits and all but Rory Rhodes scored at least one run. Niko Goodrum had two hits (a double) and drove in three runs. Travis Harrison’s lone hit was a triple. Candido Pimentel had three singles. GCL TWINS 6, GCL ORIOLES 5 Box score Rene Tosoni went 2-for-4 with a double in a rehab start. Aderlin Mejia and Joel Licon both added two hits including a double each. John Murphy and Jacob Younis each had two singles. Murphy also stole two bases and now has nine on the young season. Sam Gibbons pitched three innings, allowing seven hits, but only three runs (two earned). He struck out three. Gerardo Ramirez allowed a hit and a walk and struck out four in three innings. Melciades DeLaCruz allowed two runs on three hits in two innings. Chris Mazza continues to pitch well, picking up his first save, giving up only a hit in one inning. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, July 12, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Hein Robb Download attachment: robb.jpg (Facebook) Hitters of the Day – Joe Benson Download attachment: benson.jpg (www.fsn.com) --- A Look Ahead – Friday, July 13, 2012 Schedule Rochester vs Toledo – RHP Liam Hendriks (6-0, 1.69) New Britain vs Trenton – RHP Shairon Martis (0-1, 8.25) Ft. Myers at Clearwater – LHP Pat Dean (6-5, 4.02) Beloit at Kane County – RHP Matt Summers (8-4, 3.58) Elizabethton at Greeneville – NO STARTER ANNOUNCED GCL Twins at GCL Rays – NO STARTER ANNOUNCED --- If you have any questions on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Comments also welcome. Click here to view the article

One of my favorite days of the year is the day I open my mailbox and see a cardboard box just big enough to hold the Baseball America Prospect Handbook. The first thing I do is read each of the 30 capsules about the Twins prospects. Then I proceed to read each of the other 870 reports in the book, usually a few times. This year they added a new feature: the BA Grade along with the Risk Factor. Essentially, it makes it possible to compare all 900 prospects. If you want a general idea of where Miguel Sano would rank in the Rangers system, you take his grade (70/high) and find where that would fit (below all the other 70s – only Profar at #1 – and higher than all the other “high risks” – Leonys Martin at #4). He would slot in somewhere between Profar and Martin, most likely in between Martin Perez (65/medium) and Mike Olt (60/medium).[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] They have an in-depth explanation of the BA Grades as well as the Risk Factors, but I’m going to tell you how I interpret it and how I use it to rank the Twins prospects. (Note these are my grades and risks, not BA’s.) All players are ranked on the 20-80 scale. This number would indicate a player’s ceiling. 80 – Once-in-a-Lifetime prospects. These are your Bryce Harpers, Josh Hamiltons, Ken Griffey Jrs… and not much in between. 75 – These are your franchise players and Ace starters. They’re out there… and the Twins have one (Joe Mauer) and traded one (Johan Santana), though Santana wouldn’t rank here anymore. 70 – The guys you expect to hear named to the All-Star game every year. When Justin Morneau was in his prime, he fits here. Staff aces, but not necessarily true “aces”. 65 – These would be your top-of-the-rotation starters and borderline all-stars. When Michael Cuddyer was keeping the Twins together last year, I would place him here; most of the time though, he’s a… 60 – “First-division regulars” (Denard Span), “middle-of-the-rotation starters” (lacks a second plus-pitch), or stud closers. 55 – Guys that look like they could be first-division regulars but lack a tool or two (Ben Revere) or a pitcher that doesn’t have it together all the time. 50 – This is where most players fit – second-division regulars, 8th inning set-up guys or your best #4 pitchers. 45 – These would be platoon or utility guys (Jamey Carroll) or #4/5 starters (who can eat innings), middle relievers. 40 – This is where your #5 starters go, back-up position players or relief specialists. 35 – Long-relief/low-leverage relief pitchers or situation position players (defensive replacement, pinch runner, pinch hitter). 30 – AAA players and I hope not to rank any guys here. As far as the Risk Factor goes, it’s pretty simple. “Safe” means the player is at their ceiling and ready to contribute. “Low” means that the big leagues is in their future and they’re very close to their ceiling. “Medium” means that the tools are there, but this is an achievable gap between tools and MLB skills. “High” means there is still lots of projection. “Extreme” means professional baseball is new or there is a significant injury to overcome. Similar to how things are in the Prospect Handbook, not all players with the same number are ranked together. Likewise, players with the same risk aren’t necessarily ranked together. BA’s preseason #2 Twins prospect, Joe Benson, is a 55/medium. Max Kepler, also a 55, is ranked #20 due his risk being “extreme”. Their ceiling is similar, but their “floors” are much different. Kepler is also ranked below a number of players with a lower ceiling. Why? Because their risk factor is much less. The numbers mentioned above are purely for the purpose of examples. My rankings/grades may be much different, but at least you get the idea. I am not including players that won’t be considered a prospect at year’s end (or that I don’t think will), such as Chris Parmelee, Liam Hendriks, Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar. I’ve also included, in parenthesis, my pre-season ranking, if they were in the Top 10. Only Liam Hendriks, who ranked #6 on my preseason list, has graduated off. This is a Top 50 and I waited until after the deadline to include players that were acquired… but I wanted Albers at 50, so it’s going to be a Top 50 plus 1 to include Pedro Hernandez #41-50 50. Andrew Albers, LP, 35/Medium, 10/6/85 49. Josh Burris, P, 45/Extreme, 11/28/91 48. Caleb Thielbar, LRP, 40/Medium, 1/31/87 47. Evan Bigley, OF, 40/Medium, 3/9/87 46. Deolis Guerra, RP, 40/High, 4/17/89 45. Austin Malinowski, LSP, 45/Extreme, 11/30/92 44. Romy Jimenez, OF, 45/Extreme, 5/14/91 43. Jorge Polanco, SS, 45/Extreme, 7/5/93 42. Angel Mata, SP, 45/Extreme, 12/3/92 41. Nate Roberts, OF, 45/High, 2/25/89 Of note: If Polanco shows he can hit, he will move back up prospect lists thanks to his defensive prowess. Jimenez has had a great month or so, but hasn't played much otherwise. Roberts has a knack for getting on base, but will have to stay healthy to show other tools are playable. #31-40 40. Tyler Duffey, P, 45/High, 12/27/90 39. Javier Pimentel, SS, 50/Extreme, 3/13/94 38. Miguel Gonzalez, P, 50/Extreme, 10/12/94 37. Angel Morales, OF, 45/High, 11/24/89 36. Michael Tonkin, RP, 45/High, 11/19/89 35. Daniel Ortiz, OF, 45/High, 1/5/90 34. D.J. Baxendale, SP, 45/High, 12/8/90 33. Daniel Santana, SS, 45/High, 11/7/90 32. Carlos Gutierrez, RP, 45/High, 9/22/86 31. J.D. Williams, OF, 50/Extreme, 11/20/91 Of note: Morales and Gutierrez, both top-10 prospects once, need to get healthy and prove they belong. J.D. Williams, who is one of the fastest players in the system, needs to show he’s a baseball player, not just fast. Baxendale is a starting pitcher to keep your eye on. #21-30 30. Zach Jones, P, 45/High, 12/4/90 29. J.T. Chargois, RP, 45/High, 12/3/90 28. Pedro Florimon, SS, 45/Medium, 12/10/86 x. Pedro Hernandez, LP, 45/Medium, 4/12/89 27. Dereck Rodriguez, OF, 50/Extreme, 6/5/92 26. Amaurys Minier, SS, 50/Extreme, 1/30/96 25. Kennys Vargas, 1B, 50/Extreme, 8/1/90 24. Alex Wimmers, P, 50/High, 11/1/88 23. Adam Walker, OF, 50/High, 10/18/91 22 (7). Adrian Salcedo, P, 50/High, 4/24/91 21. Mason Melotakis, LP, 50/High, 6/28/91 Of note: All of these names are intriguing. The pitchers – especially Jones, Chargois and Melotakis who could be huge movers with more experience – all have potential. Minier will debut next year. Vargas has lots of raw power. #11-20 20. Madison Boer, P, 50/High, 11/9/89 Struggling in the hi-A rotation, may have to go to bullpen to succeed. 19. Corey Williams, LRP, 50/High, 7/4/90 Lefty has struggled with consistency, can still fill a back-of-bullpen role. 18. Luke Bard, P, 50/High, 11/13/90 Recently promoted to E-Town, should get a chance to start. 17. Levi Michael, SS, 50/High, 2/9/91 Young for his level, Michael hasn’t hit. 16. Chris Herrmann, C/OF, 45/Medium, 11/24/87 Versatile defender has shown he can hit a little bit. 15. Jason Wheeler, P, 50/High, 10/27/90 Big-body who has thrown a ton of innings. 14. Matt Summers, P, 50/High, 8/17/89 Now only focused on pitching, watching his profile rise. 13. Hudson Boyd, P, 55/Extreme, 10/18/92 Has pitched well over his short professional career. 12. B.J. Hermsen, P, 45/Medium, 12/1/89 Not what you’d expect from his frame, but throws strikes and gets outs. 11 (9). Niko Goodrum, SS, 55/Extreme, 2/28/92 Great athlete getting another shot in Appy League. #1-10 10 (8). Joe Benson, OF, 50/Medium, 3/5/88 Down year, but glove still profiles as plus. 9. Max Kepler, OF, 55/High, 2/10/93 Filling out, could make lots of noise in next couple of years. 8 (4). Kyle Gibson, P, 55/Medium, 10/23/87 Coming back from TJ surgery; hopes to fill a rotation spot when healthy. 7 (10). Travis Harrison, 3B, 60/Extreme, 10/17/92 Big power from right side of plate; struggles defensively and may move to 1B. 6 (3). Aaron Hicks, OF, 55/Medium, 10/2/89 Switch-hitting starting to take (finally); super arm/defender in CF. 5. J.O. Berrios, P, 60/Extreme, 5/27/94 Excelling in GCL; dominant stuff. 4 (5). Eddie Rosario, 2B, 65/High, 9/28/91 Learning 2B, but real offensive threat with “quick-through-the-zone” bat. 3 (2). Oswaldo Arcia, OF, 60/Medium, 5/9/91 Pure hitter that is better in the OF than he looks. 2. Byron Buxton, OF, 70/Extreme, 12/18/93 Fast, super athlete, cannon arm, who needs to hit. If he hits with power, look out. 1 (1). Miguel Sano, 3B, 70/High, 5/11/93 Strikeout/defensive questions remain. No question about raw power – best in minor leagues. What do you think? Who is too high? Who is too low? Who did I forget entirely? My next addition will come out sometime after the calendar turns. Download attachment: ByronBuxton.jpg Click here to view the article

Last night, word came out that Carl Pavano was going to undergo an MRI and it appears likely that he will end up on the disabled list. All indications are that Jeff Manship will be starting in Pavano’s spot on Wednesday. No word on whether Manship will be rocking a mustache or not. On Sunday evening, ESPN’s Jim Bowden broke (?) the news that the Astros will indeed be selecting Stanford RHP Mark Appel - confirming what many already believed - with the #1 overall pick tomorrow night. After a sigh of relief (for me personally), we can now wonder what the Twins will do with #2. The latest indications are the Twins are deciding between OF Byron Buxton and SS Carlos Correa, with P Kevin Gausman a wild card. The next 24 hours will be interesting. With that, let’s take a spin around the farm:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER vs COLUMBUS Suspended while tied 1-1. Today’s game was suspended in the bottom of five due to rain. This came after three rain delays. What we saw so far: Nick Blackburn pitched two scoreless innings before leaving a run on (who scored) for Kyle Waldrop. Blackburn allowed two hits and a walk. He didn’t strike any out. Waldrop made his 2012 Red Wings debut and allowed two hits and two walks, though he did retire all five of his outs by way of the groundball. Deolis Guerra pitched a scoreless fifth, striking out two. Rochester has already drawn five walks and Florimon, Burroughs, Parmelee (double) and Valencia all have hits. Valencia drove in Parmelee for their lone run thus far. Burroughs is on first with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Wilkin Ramirez left the game during the top of the third inning. Details unknown. NEW BRITAIN 1, HARRISBURG 6 Box score Aaron Thompson, fresh off his 50-game suspension, made his Rockcats debut and struggled. Meanwhile, the rest of the team totaled almost as many errors (2) as hits (3). Thompson gave up nine hits and three runs in only four innings. Bruce Pugh struck out three in two scoreless innings in his return/2012 debut for the Rockcats. Daniel Turpen also struck out three in two innings, though he allowed three (unearned) runs on three hits. Caleb Thielbar struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Rene Tosoni and Evan Bigley both had doubles. Nathan Hanson added a single to account for the third of the Rockcats hits. Chris Herrmann’s RBI groundout in the bottom of the first led to the team’s only run. FT. MYERS 4, DAYTONA 0 Box score The Miracle got off to a quick start thanks to the bat of Oswaldo Arcia who hit his 7th home run in the first inning with Daniel Ortiz on base. Arcia has been on fire over his last ten games (with an OPS of nearly 1.500) and a second half promotion to New Britain is likely (and a September call-up possible). Josmil Pinto added two hits (one double) and an RBI. Levi Michael had a hit and a run scored. The story of the game, though, was Madison Boer, who appeared to channel his inner-Francisco Liriano, throwing five innings of one-hit ball, walking two and striking out five. It was far-and-away his best outing in Fort Myers, as he was the losing pitcher in all of his first six starts. Nelvin Fuentes and Matthew Hauser held Daytona hitless over the final four innings to preserve the one-hitter. BELOIT 1, WISCONSIN 6 Box score The Snappers entered today tied for first in the MWL Western Division. They leave today trailing by a game. Eddie Rosario was 3-for-4 with his 7th home run and 18th double. Kyle Knudson added two more doubles. Drew Leachman had a triple. Unfortunately, the only run-producing hit was Rosario’s solo shot. Miguel Sano – after taking some hitting advice from Seth – went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Tyler Jones pitched well. He scattered three hits over six innings, allowing only two runs (one earned), walking one and striking out five. A.J. Achter allowed a run in two innings. Clint Dempster pitched a scoreless ninth. --- Players of the Day for Sunday, June 3, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Madison Boer Download attachment: boer.jpg (photo from tricitybaseball.org) Hitters of the Day – Coverboy Eddie Rosario Download attachment: rosario.jpg --- A Look Ahead – Monday, June 4, 2012 (DRAFT DAY!) Schedule Rochester vs Columbus – RHP Liam Hendriks (3-0, 2.93) New Britain - IDLE Ft. Myers vs Daytona – RHP Miguel Munoz (1-3, 4.20) Beloit vs Wisconsin – RHP Tim Shibuya (2-3, 5.17) --- If you have any questions on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Comments also welcome. Click here to view the article

IT’S LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AWAY! Are you excited? This is version 4.0 of my “small board” as I am about to go on KFAN with John and Aaron to talk about… you guessed it… the MLB Draft. A quick reminder: The Twins first pick (fourth overall) has a draft slot value of around $4.5 million. Download attachment: draft13.jpg JEREMY’S SMALL BOARD Keep in mind, please, that this is not a “mock draft”. This is not a reflection of my top players. This is my attempt at stacking a “Twins Draft Board”, based on a number of things. Also, it should be pointed out that the Twins very rarely deviate from their norm: in the last 20 years,[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] the Twins have had 24 1st round draft picks (not counting supplemental picks). Of those 24 picks, 11 have been prep position players and eight have been college pitchers. The other two groups: college position players (4) and prep pitchers (1) have been much less represented. 1) Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford (previous: 2) THE LATEST: If I had the first pick, I’d take Appel. If Appel drops to #4, the Twins will take him. But I don’t… and he won’t. I’m not sure that Houston has the cajones to make this pick, but I know the Cubs do. 2) Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma (previous: 1) THE LATEST: Houston will have to weigh the pros and cons of taking Gray over Appel and trying to save a little bit of money. They just might be able to do it, even though the Astros are flirting with a lot of people right now. Unlike collegians, the Astros management won’t leave this party alone. I think they go with Gray, ultimately. 3) Kris Bryant, 3B, San Diego (previous: 8) THE LATEST: I’ll come out and tell you that I’m not as sold on Bryant as many, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t take him at #3. He’s got legitimate power. He’s improved his overall hit tools as well. There’s just something that makes me leery; but you can’t ignore what he’s done this year, even though his defensive home remains in question. 4) Kohl Stewart, RHP, Texas HS (previous: 3) THE LATEST: Probably the first place you saw Stewart tied to the Twins was here. Now you’re seeing it everywhere. But like all drafts, things change. Stewart will probably be the top name on the Twins board when their pick comes up. Stewart has been throwing out the “I’m going to Texas A&M” line lately. He isn’t. But he’s going to use it to get the most money possible. My sense is that the Red Sox are going to get creative and make Stewart an offer that the Twins won’t match. 5) Braden Shipley, P, Nevada (previous: NR) THE LATEST: Shipley hit a bit of a rough patch earlier this season, but got it back together to pitch his best game of the year last week. He’s been compared a lot to Kyle Zimmer, who went 5th to the Royals last year and signed for $3 million. Shipley is a great athlete and has a plus changeup to go with a mid-90s fastball. Shipley is a name tied to many teams in the top 10 and as someone who might take a discount. Why not the Twins? 6) Reese McGuire, C, Washington HS (previous: NR) THE LATEST: McGuire comes in a high-defensive, questionable-offensive package. The Twins have been tied to him and, even though he could easily head to San Diego, there are many who believe he would cut a deal if selected in the top 5-7 picks. Though I don’t think the Twins go that route, it is a card they’ll have in their pocket. 7) Clint Frazier, OF, Georgia HS (previous: 9) THE LATEST: Both Frazier and Meadows have seen their stock drop as of late. The Twins are said to prefer Frazier to Meadows, but not nearly enough to pop him at #4. 8) Colin Moran, 3B, North Carolina (previous: 6) THE LATEST: Moran, allegedly, is in the mix at #1. Only he isn’t. He’ll go to the Indians at #5, in all likelihood. 9) Ryne Stanek, RHP, Arkansas (previous: 7) THE LATEST: Stanek still has time to move up the board. He’s someone the Twins would typically consider. The fact of the matter is, though, Shipley has had better results with similar upside. 10) Trey Ball (previous: NR) THE LATEST: Ball is a hard-throwing, athletic lefty. The Twins are going to kick the tires on him and, if he’s interested in making a deal like McGuire is rumored to be considering, you might start to hear more steam on this. Ball is a guy who fits in the 8-11 range talent-wise, but could offer a huge reward based on upside. Feel free to discuss. You can follow me on Twitter (@jeremynygaard) for draft updates. Click here to view the article

Lots of drama today. Fortunately, the drama all ended in celebration. (Even for the Minnesota Wild.) The Twins got back to .500 this afternoon after beating the Rangers 7-2. Pedro Hernandez provided a very strong shutout-type effort (5 IP, 5 H, BB, 3 K). The bullpen continued to shine, preserving the shutout while the offense added a handful of insurance runs. Glen Perkins pitched a very low-leverage ninth. He walked the first two batters before getting the next two guys out. He then gave up a (misjudged by Hicks) double and two runs, before striking out the game's final batter. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Josh Willingham's 6th inning home run gave him his 25th Target Field homer, eclipsing Jim Thome's mark by one and setting a new Target Field record. Let's take a look around the farm: ROCHESTER RED WINGS 1, BUFFALO BISONS 0 Box Score The spotlight shone on Kyle Gibson today. Gibson, who recorded his first AAA victory since May 29, 2011, pitched 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out seven. He walked two and allowed two hits. Caleb Thielbar struck out three of the four batters he faced. Tim Wood made yet another impressive rehab appearance. He retired all three batters he faced on 11 pitches, recording his first AAA save of the season. During the AAA portion of his rehab, opposing hitters are 1-for-16 against him in the five innings he has pitched. The offense managed only four hits: Evan Bigley and Joe Benson had consecutive singles in the 3rd inning, but were stranded. Bigley had a leadoff double in the 5th, moved ahead on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on an Eric Farris sacrifice fly. Nate Hanson added a leadoff single in the 7th before being forced out at second to end the inning. That little bit of offense was enough to get the win. The victory gives the Red Wings their first four-game winning streak since the four-game period from July 29 to August 5, 2012. Liam Hendriks (0-1, 4.63) will be on the mound tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 ET looking to help the Red Wings win their second game in this four-game wrap-around series. At 9-14, the Red Wings have climbed out of the cellar. In addition, De Vries, Wood and Deduno (whether it's those three or someone else) will likely benefit the Red Wings as they return to full health. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 4, RICHMOND FLYING SQUIRRELS 2 Box Score Despite being out-hit (13-9) and committing three errors, the Rock Cats escaped with a victory. After a 2nd inning James Beresford double scored Danny Ortiz to give the Rock Cats a 1-0 lead, they added to that lead in the 3rd on a Josmil Pinto 3-run home run. Those four runs proved to be enough for the victory. B.J. Hermsen made his second start of the year. He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing nine hits and a run. He walked one and struck out two. Not his most effective outing, but he did throw 92 pitches, so that's a good sign. Jose Gonzalez (who got the win) was able to get it to the 8th. Edgar Ibarra made a mess and Michael Tonkin cleaned it up for the save. Pat Dean (0-2, 4.35) up next for the Rock Cats tomorrow at 1:35 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 2, CHARLOTTE STONE CRABS 1 Box Score Walk-offs are exciting when you're the winning team. A walk-off walk is less exciting, but, hey, it's still exciting. Much like the Rock Cats, the Miracle managed only minimal offense. Three hits to be exact. (Yeah, A.J.'s hit-streak is over.) Drew Leachman singled in the 5th, but was caught attempting to steal third, end ing the inning. Matt Koch singled to lead off the 8th, was replaced by Stephen Wickens as a pinch-runner and scored on Angel Morales' double. So there are your three hits. But wait there's more... (the recap from milb.com) Fort Myers Bottom of the 9th Pitching Change: Jacob Partridge replaces Lenny Linsky.Miguel Sano walks.Drew Leachman flies out to left fielder Jeff Malm.Kennys Vargas walks. Miguel Sano to 2nd.Kyle Knudson walks. Miguel Sano to 3rd. Kennys Vargas to 2nd.Andy Leer strikes out swinging.Angel Morales walks. Miguel Sano scores. Kennys Vargas to 3rd. Kyle Knudson to 2nd. So there you have it. Literally, a walk-around-the-bases walkoff. The pitchers got it done. Matt Summers went seven strong innings. He struck out three and gave up a run on five hits. No walks. Taylor Rogers gave up a hit in the inning he pitched. Cole Johnson got the win for his scoreless inning. The Miracle have now improved to 18-4. Tomorrow's scheduled starter, Taylor Rogers, pitched an inning tonight. I believe Tom Stuifbergen missed a start due to illness, so he may be the guy that takes the ball tomorrow at 1:00 ET. Download attachment: celebrate.jpg (Rinaldi Photos) CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 8, GREAT LAKES LOONS 7 Box Score Walk-offs are exciting when you're the winning team. The walk-off in this game is of the most-exciting variety. Let's get you up to speed... Mason Melotakis had a rough five innings. He allowed five hits and gave out four free passes. He struck out seven and left the game down 4-3. Manuel Soliman went 2.1 innings, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk. He struck out four. In the 8th inning, Tim Atherton came in to the 7-4 game. He got the Kernels out of the inning and also retired the side in the 9th. Turning the page to offense... Byron Buxton walked and scored on a Jorge Polanco double. In the 4th, Tyler Grimes doubled Adam Walked home (who had walked) and a Buxton sacrifice fly drove Grimes in. In the 9th inning, down three, Niko Goodrum walked. DJ Hicks hit a groundball that the Loon shortstop booted. Up walked Adam Walker, the tying run, trying to extend his home-run-streak to four games. And he did. Walker now leads the MWL with six home runs and 25 RBI. I wrote this about him in the Prospect Handbook: Recently, he has been proving it every night. Atherton continued on the mound, finishing with five K's in 3.1 inning. David Hurlbut got a flyball out to finish the top of the 11th. The excitement picked up in the bottom half. Goodrum led off the inning with a single. Polanco bunted him over before Hicks hit a single that advanced Goodrum to third. Adam Walker came up again but was intentionally walked to load the bases. Mauer decided to go to the bench and have Travis Harrison hit for Tyler Grimes. Hit he did. Harrison turned on a pitch and it cleared the fence. The Kernels won by WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM! Right? Well, after further review, the players went nuts and Hicks and Walker never crossed the plate. Goodrum scored the winning run and, officially, Harrison gets an RBI single. Exciting, yes; but less exciting than a walk-off grand slam... or even a solo grand slam. Here's a good write-up on Adam Walker after last night's game. Josh Burris joined the Kernels. Chris Mazza headed back to EST. That opens up a spot on the roster. Luke Bard tweeted about his flight, but the destination is unknown. Could he be flying into Cedar Rapids or the Cities? Tyler Duffey (2-1, 2.29) will be on mound tomorrow at 2:00 CT Click here to view the article

Today's baseball news was focused primarily on 12 players who received 50-game PED suspensions and one other who received a 211-game suspension and has decided to appeal. I haven't turned on ESPN, but I'm sure you could get a more in-depth run-down on these 13 players within 30 seconds on turning it on. Fortunately, no Twins were involved. Former Twin Danny Valencia was investigated and cleared. It turns out he had higher-than-normal amount of "swag", but nothing illegal from Biogenesis. Let's take a spin around today's farm action:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 4, DURHAM BULLS 2 Box Score While the obvious headline coming into the game was the fact that every member of the Twins Opening Day starting outfield (Willingham, Hicks, Parmelee) is in the Red Wings lineup, it was a pitcher who stole the show. Pat Dean, who made his AAA debut after struggling in New Britain - he leads the Eastern League in hits allowed- had a fantastic showing. After allowing two two-out walks in the first inning, Dean sailed through five innings of hitless baseball. He exited after pitching seven innings of two-hit, three-walk shutout baseball. Striking out four, Dean has probably assured himself of another week in AAA, this coming not more than a few weeks after I speculated about his grip on a spot in the AA rotation. Great for Pat and great for the Red Wings, who continue their pursuit of an International League playoff spot. Download attachment: dean.jpg www.mycitizensnews.com The bullpen made the game interesting. Michael Tonkin retired the side in the eighth before running into trouble in the ninth. He left two on for Edgar Ibarra, who allowed them both to score before turning the game over to Shairon Martis with two on and one out. Martis allowed a runner to reach after failing to make a catch. With the bases loaded, he struck out a batter on a full count before recording the third out on a fielder's choice. Josh Willingham was 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout in his rehab debut. He DH'ed. Aaron Hicks was 0-for-4 with two Ks. Chris Parmelee had two doubles. Both Jeff Clement and Josmil Pinto had three hits. After going 0-for-4 in his AAA debut, Pinto has transitioned well, batting 8-for-14 (.571) since. Scott Diamond makes his first start for Rochester this season tomorrow night at 7:05 pm. The Red Wings are currently two games up in the IL North and 2.5 games up in the Wild Card race. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS - Off Day D.J. Baxendale takes the ball at Akron tomorrow at 7:05 ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 5, TAMPA YANKEES 6 Box Score The Miracle did nearly everything they could to get a win tonight, but blew a save in the bottom of the 9th to lose to the Tampa Yankees. Darrin Mastroianni playing well in his rehab, reached base twice tonight by walk and, despite going 0-for-3, stole a base too. Mastroianni played right field along- side Byron Buxton and J.D. Williams. Easily the fastest outfield collection in the Twins minor league system, you might be hard pressed to find a faster outfield anywhere in baseball. Buxton had a hit, a walk and stole his 8th High-A base. Willams also stole a base following a walk. Stephen Wickens had two hits and a stolen base. Dougie Baseball apparently likes to give the green light on the basepaths. Matt Koch and Levi Michael both doubled. Jason Wheeler struck out three over five innings. Steven Gruver and Corey Williams bridged the gap to Adrian Salcedo, who gave up a two-run walk-off home run in the 9th inning. Why Salcedo you ask? Excellent question. The Miracle have a day off tomorrow. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 2, QUAD CITIES RIVER BANDITS 6 Box Score Not a lot to write about tonight. Adam Brett Walker doubled and homered to drive in both runs Kernels runs. Christian Powell allowed five runs (four earned) over five innings while striking out four. Hudson Boyd (2 IP) and Alex Muren (1 IP) each struck out one over three combined scoreless innings. Brian Gilbert allowed a run in his inning of work. If you're looking at making a weekday trip to Cedar Rapids, tomorrow is the day. Josue Montanez will face off with #1 pick Mark Appel at 6:35 CT. ELIZABETHTON TWINS - Off Day Josh Burris and Yorman Landa will start tomorrow in a doubleheader that begins at 6 ET. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RAYS 0 Box Score Rehabbing Cole De Vries pitched three perfect innings, striking out four. Sam Gibbons struck out four over the next four innings. He allowed two hits. Zach Hayden struck out two in one inning. Lester Oliveros, also rehabbing, allowed two hits in his inning of work. Zach Larson (RBI) and Brian Navaretto (double) both had two-hit games. Engelb Vielma drove in a run and stole his sixth base of the season. At 20-19, the GCL team has pulled within one game of the lead in a tight GCL South race. Tomorrow will be a rematch of the same two teams and Noon ET. Leave your questions and/or comments! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic.jpg Join Seth and I tonight at 8:30 as we're joined by ESPN1500's Brandon Warne. We'll recap the flurry of activity we've seen since last Tuesday night as well as wrap up what's been going on in the catching market over the last couple of days. I'm sure we'll also talk about starting pitching and deviate from the plan that we have. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] If you have any questions you would like for us to answer, please feel free to leave them in the comments below, or ask them in the chat screen during the live show. If we have time, we'll talk about the Twins Hall of Fame ballot and maybe even MLB's ballot that was released early last week. Click here to view the article

I’ve never told anyone this story… Mostly because I just made it up... And also because if I didn’t make it up, you still wouldn’t believe it… --- I had never been more excited to attend a baseball game than I was to attend Game 1 of the 2010 American League Division Series against the Yankees.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It was the first playoff game to ever happen at Target Field and my seats were great. I remember that funny feeling – nothing like Game 163 – when things were happening, either good or bad, and the crowd just seemed disinterested. It was really weird… and part of me figured it was a lot of people that were there because it was the first playoff game, not because they really wanted to be there. Corporate big-wigs sitting in their over-priced padded seats for the first time since April, probably. As I took the walk back to my car, knowing that a three-game sweep was inevitable, I noticed a glimmer in the parking ramp stairwell. It was a lamp. Not a lamp that the Amish use to guide their buggies around my neighborhood; no, it was a lamp that looked a lot like the one in Aladdin. So I picked it up and rubbed it. And sure enough, out came a genie. It wasn’t the blue genie that you’re all picturing. It wasn’t like that at all. The genie was darker, pudgier and had a funny eye. “Holy smokes! You’re Kirby Puckett!” I was sure of it. The genie replied that he wasn’t, he was just a genie… but he talked real fast and laughed real deep and we both knew: he was Kirby Puckett. He told me he was going to grant me three wishes, but he needed to warn me: No matter what I wished for, the next three seasons were going end with 90 or more losses. I immediately realized that prolonged losing might mean trading away Joe Mauer. So without thinking, I used my first wish. “I wish for Joe Mauer to spend his entire career with the Twins.” Kirby the Genie shook his head, “Alright.” I thought more about the upcoming seasons. How hard was it going to be to make it through the next three years? “I wish that the Twins will have a Top 3 farm system going into 2014.” I knew that couldn’t happen overnight and, even with three great drafts that alone wouldn’t lead to a contending team in 2014. So I used wish number three. “I wish the Twins would have the space and the willingness to spend big when they get back to the point where they can compete.” Kirby winked, laughed and told me he’d grant my wishes. And with that, he was gone. ___ Well, here we are. We’ve suffered through the three straight losing seasons. We’ve got Baby Jesus for life. We’ve got a Top 3 if not the Top 1 farm system. And we’ve got the means to spend now, adding pieces for 2014, but keeping our eyes on 2015 and 2016. I’m going to make five moves this offseason: 1) Sign Phil Hughes. While he’s not the #1 fans are hoping for (who is?), leaving Yankee Stadium and coming to Target Field is going to steer his career down a whole different path. Plus, he’s on the right side of 30. I’ll give him 3 years and up to $33 million. I’m going to give him $3 million just for signing, $9 million per year and have a buyout of $3 million on a fourth year at $13 million. I agree, it’s excessive… but it’s a willingness to spend, just like I wished. Download attachment: hughes.jpg 2) Trade for Chad Billingsley. This is another move that comes with risk. Billingsley did, in fact, miss 2013 recovering from Tommy John surgery and there is no guarantee that he’ll even be ready when April rolls around. Oh, and he is the final year of a 3-yr/$35 million contract. But here’s the deal: The Twins have shown interest in Billingsley before and, even though they’re strapped with cash, Billingsley is on the outside-looking-in when it comes to L.A.’s rotation. And the kicker, there is some belief the Dodgers weren’t happy when Billingsley decided to try the rehab and PRP therapy in lieu of surgery, which happened anyway. I’ll offer a mid-level prospect (Matt Summers, maybe?) and in return the Dodgers pick up $6 million of this year’s contract, that leaves the Twins paying the other $6 million and the last $1 million installment of the buyout. They also get the chance to pay him $11 million for 2015 or cut him loose. (That’s the $14 million minus the $3 million of the buyout that was paid already.) A risky move for 2014 that could potentially be a huge steal for 2015. 3) Trade Oswaldo Arcia to the Rangers. With Nelson Cruz on his way out and David Murphy a free agent, there is a corner outfield spot available. The Rangers have also said they’ll explore moving Elvis Andrus or Ian Kinsler to make room for Jurickson Profar. If the Twins could package Arcia in a deal to get Andrus without giving up the farm, I’d do it… I just don’t see that happening. More likely, I see the Twins sending Arcia to the Rangers in exchange for a couple minor-league arms: RHP Luke Jackson, who would start in AA, and Victor Payano, a 6-6 lefty who was in high-A last year but is still very projectable. Jackson is a hard-thrower who misses bats but walks a bunch, too. There might have to be a little more going back to Texas, but that’s the price of business. So why trade Arcia, you wonder? Well, I’ll start the year with an outfield of Willingham-Presley-Parmelee/Doumit, which, admittedly, isn’t pretty. (Would it be that much prettier with Arcia out there?) But eventually Hicks comes back up and isn’t terrible. And after the All-Star break, Buxton comes up. I’d also move Eddie Rosario back to the OF and picture late 2014 with an outfield of Rosario-Buxton-Hicks. 4) Sign A.J. Pierzynski. I want to let Pinto get some more AAA at-bats under his belt. I don’t know what it will cost to get A.J., but if I could get him for a year at $8 million, I could handle that. 5) Get lucky on the scrap heap. I’m looking at you, Johan. Maybe it’s a $3 million, incentive-laiden deal with a team option of 2015. Even if Santana passes, there are a number of names that could be interesting as reclamation projects: Roberto Hernandez/Fausto Carmona, Ryan Vogelsong and Edinson Volquez are just a few names that could fit with small guarantees and big incentives. Download attachment: blueprint.JPG This puts the Opening Day payroll at a very manageable $92,805,000. It also puts the team in position to spend going into 2015 as well, with less than $37 million committed to Mauer, Perkins and Hughes, the only three guys under contract. Click here to view the article

At the time of the 2012 draft, a lot was made of the fact the Twins took a number of hard-throwing college relievers. Shortly after that, we found out the plan was to convert these pitchers into starters. As we approach the stretch-run, some of these “new” starting pitchers are heading into unchartered waters when it comes to innings. My curiosity got the best of me and I did a little research. Download attachment: Tyler Duffey 2.jpg [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]First, I looked at the 2011 draft class and all of those pitchers that became full-season starting pitchers in 2012. There were five: Madison Boer, Matthew Summers, Steven Gruver, Jason Wheeler and Tim Shibuya. In their finals years of college and first taste of pro ball, these five averaged 135.2 combined innings pitched. The outliers were Jason Wheeler, who didn’t pitch professionally, at 103 innings and Tim Shibuya, who pitched 73 2/3 innings for Elizabethton and totaled 184 combined. The other three all fell plus or minus 10 of the average. Let’s fast forward to their first full-seasons in pro ball: Tim Shibuya had shoulder issues which limited him to only 74 innings. (Could that have been a result of the heavy workload the previous year?) Steven Gruver shifted into a swing role and saw his innings drop by 10%. Matt Summers saw his workload increase by 8% and Madison Boer saw his increase by 11%. Jason Wheeler, who, again, didn’t pitch professionally in 2011, saw his innings increase by 52%. But if you figure that he would have gotten around the average of the other guys in E-Town (not considering the overworked Shibuya), it would have put his increase at around 20%. I also wanted to consider the most recent college-reliever-to-full-season-starter that I could remember: Carlos Gutierrez. Gutierrez pitched a combined 65 2/3 innings in 2008 before seeing his innings increase to 107 (+62%) in 2009 and 126 (+18%) in 2010 before, you guessed it, experiencing arm issues and a move back to the bullpen. Gutierrez was also a first-round pick and a more costly investment. You would think the Twins would have been a little more patient with an arm that had already underwent Tommy John surgery as a collegiate. Now let’s consider last year’s crop. There are four pitchers that fit the criteria: Mason Melotakis, Tyler Duffey, D.J. Baxendale and Taylor Rogers. The average of these four was much different: only 108.7 innings which includes Rogers, who pitched 152 2/3 combined innings, a total that is higher than every non-Shibuyan pitcher mentioned. Baxendale and Rogers average innings were actually around 140, which is close to the previous year’s study. So the assumption is that their increase would probably go up somewhere between 10% and 20%. That would put Baxendale at between 140 and 150 innings. (He’s at 101 2/3 as of today.) It would put Taylor Rogers somewhere between 170 and 180 innings. He’s only pitched 89 1/3 so far this year after spending some time on the disabled list. (Hmmm... see previous paragraph). The two that really stand out to me are Mason Melotakis and Tyler Duffery. Mason Melotakis has had a pretty good season starting for Cedar Rapids. But he’s eclipsed last season’s total (86) already and the team still has nearly 40 games to play (plus the playoffs). If Melotakis starts every sixth game for the rest of the season and pitches five innings each start, he’s looking at around 120 innings (which is a 40% increase). Not quite in the Gutierrez range, but definitely a large increase. Tyler Duffey, on the other hand, has already exceeded his total from last year by 52%. If Duffey were shut down today, his workload would be eerily similar to what the Twins did to Carlos Gutierrez. He has adjusted to High-A ball quite well after his promotion from Cedar Rapids, and the Miracle have qualified for the playoffs too. Continuing to trot him out there every five days could lead to issues down the line. How many more innings can you justify putting on his young arm? All pitchers are different. Some arms are simply more resilient, but when you have a guy who has exceeded expectations like Duffey has, when is it time to go all Stephen Strasburg on him and shut him down? If Duffey were to get to 120 innings in 2013 and increase to 150 in 2014, you can take the reins off of him in 2015. Maybe that’s being too cautious. If that’s even a real thing with pitchers today. What are your thoughts, should innings matter? How should the Twins be handling their pitchers at the lower levels? Click here to view the article

It was another fantastic day in Twins Territory. I’m obviously talking about today’s weather in comparison to the weather we had over the past six months. Oh, you came to read about baseball? Well, in that case, just be happy that you have a job that required you to work this afternoon. If you happened to watch the game, I’m sorry. The A’s completed their three-game sweep in convincing fashion. And Mike Pelfrey needed 104 pitches to get through five innings. No, you’re not coming down with the flu. We all taste vomit in the backs of our mouths right now.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On the other hand, the season is still early and – as I said on Tuesday night’s Twins Hangout – it literally can’t get worse. I mean, technically, it could get a little worse. But that’s just not likely to happen. So we’ll all watch tomorrow night. And we’ll all pretend that we didn’t feel a little bit excited when the Twins were tied for an AL Wild Card spot only four days ago. But let’s think about happier times. Like the future! And let’s talk about those Future Twins. Download attachment: eades.jpg "How do you feel about winters in Minnesota, Ryan?" "You're joking right?" RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 2 Box Score After losing their first two games at Buffalo, the Red Wings have now extended their winning streak to four games. Ah, the much-anticipated debut of Eduardo Nunez. Nunez started at third base and batted sixth. While he did go 2-for-3, he did commit a fielding error and was removed in what appeared to be a defensive replacement-type move later in the game. If you’re scoring at home, most future starting shortstops aren’t replaced for defensive purposes late in AAA games. (Which is why Nunez doesn’t fit into that category in the first place.) Offensively, the Red Wings were paced by Deibinson Romero (3-for-4, BB, 2B, RBI) and Wilkin Ramirez (2-for-2, R, 2 BB, 2 2B). Eric Fryer also had two hits, including a double, while driving in two runs. Logan Darnell pitched a gem, but exited too early to get credit for the win. In four innings (and 70 pitches), Darnell allowed only one hit and one unearned run. He walked three and struck out five. Because it was his season debut after a long layoff, he was on a strict pitch limit. Edgar Ibarra struck out three in two scoreless innings to earn the win. Brooks Raley gave up a run on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. He also struck out three. Michael Tonkin closed it down with a four-out save. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain 4, Portland 6 Box Score New Britain drops to 3-4 after their comeback fell short. Daniel Ortiz grounded out to end the game with runners on the corners. Kennys Vargas had his second consecutive multi-hit game and second consecutive game with an extra base hit. Tonight, it was a double. He added an RBI, but also struck out twice. Nate Hanson and Aderling Mejia (who committed his fourth error) both added two-hit games as well. Corey Wimberly stole two bases. D.J. Baxendale battled through six innings and 93 pitches. His final line included five earned runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out four. Virgil Vasquez, who earlier in the day was activated off Rochester’s DL, pitched an inning in relief and gave up a run. Adrian Salcedo pitched the final scoreless frame, striking out one. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Charlotte 1 Box Score The Miracle improved to 6-1 on the season and all Dougie Baseball does is win, win, win, no matter what. There was something that jumped out of the box score. It’s probably unique to tonight’s writer, but it’s a crazy stat that has to be talked about. I’m talking about Adam Walker getting caught stealing. Yes, you’re not reading about the home run that Walker hit tonight. You’re reading about him stealing. Or more accurately not stealing. Here’s what’s crazy about it. As a collegiate, Adam “Forrest” Walker was successful 40 times in 41 tries. So far as a pro, he was 14-for-14. So tonight’s “CS” was only the second time he’s been caught in 56 attempts since leaving the state of Wisconsin after high school. Maybe he just thought he'd run until he stopped feeling like running. And tonight, he didn't feel like running. But enough of that, Walker did hit another home run (his 3rd). Levi Michael, Dalton Hicks and Stuart Turner all doubled. Jorge Polanco had two singles. Max Kepler… well, he went 0-for-3. Niko Goodrum continues his hot start (1-for-3, RBI), but also committed a fielding error at 3rd, his second of the year. Tyler Duffey improved to 2-0. He went six innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits and two walks. He struck out four and lowered his ERA to 2.25. David Hurlbut pitched two scoreless frames. Madison Boer pitched around a walk to pick up his first save of the season. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 11, Great Lakes 2 Box Score The Kernels jumped out to a quick start (3 runs in the first two innings) and continued to score runs (including 4 in the fourth and 3 in the ninth inning) to cruise to an 11-2 victory and put together their first multi-game winning streak of the season. The lineup – which included three players playing a position for the first time this year – collected 11 hits, including five extra-base hits and was led by Jason Kanzler, who was making his first appearance of the season. Batting leadoff, Kanzler, who joined the Kernels from EST after starting CF Zack Granite was placed on the 7-day DL with a left rotator cuff strain, went 3-for-5 with a double and a walk, scoring two runs and driving in three. He also stole his first base of the season. In a balanced lineup, where only Bo Altobelli failed to get a hit, Logan Wade (single, triple, two RBI) was the only player besides Kanzler to produce a multi-hit game. Mitch Garver, Chad Christensen and Tanner Vavra added doubles. Engelb Vielma stole his first base of the young season. While the offense certainly came to play today, so did starting pitcher Ryan Eades. A 2nd rounder from LSU, Eades made his second appearance of the year. (He took a loss in his first start.) Today, he was very impressive. Throwing seven(!) innings, Eades only allowed six hits. He struck out five, walking none. And the lone run he allowed, well, that was unearned. An ERA that entered the day at 5.79, exited at 2.31. (Call him up! Right?) “Life Ain’t Easy for a Boy Named” Josue Montanez pitched a perfect eighth inning before giving way to Brandon Peterson. Peterson allowed his first three batters to reach base (giving up a run), but finished off the game by striking out the last two batters. While MiLB.com lists Ethan Mildren as tomorrow’s starter (so that’s what you see below), the Kernels post-game release had tomorrow’s starter listed as “Do I Make You" Randy Rosario (0-1, 7.36) the probable pitcher. Either way, somebody will pitch. And that somebody might be able to do back flips from a standing position. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day: Ryan Eades, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day: Deibinson Romero, Rochester FRIDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS New Britain @ Portland (5:00 CST) – Taylor Rogers (0-1, 15.75) Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (5:30 CST) – Brett Lee (1-0, 3.18) Cedar Rapids @ Lansing (6:05 CST) – Ethan Mildren (1st appearance) Rochester @ Lehigh Valley (6:05 CST) – Alex “There’s Hope for the Future” Meyer (0-0, 3.60) Click here to view the article

Samuel Deduno and his effective wildness (101 pitches, 50 strikes) held the Red Sox scoreless over six innings. The bullpen finished it out and the Twins offense provided 5 runs to complete their first shutout of the Red Sox in Fenway in almost 16 years. In what had been speculated for months and basically confirmed by Terry Ryan on Sunday, 2010 1st round pick, Alex Wimmers, had surgery today to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, better known as “Tommy John Surgery”. Ironically, Kyle Gibson, who had the surgery himself about eleven months ago is working his way back and is throwing it in the mid-90s. True, both players lost a year of development, but elbow surgery isn’t the “kiss of death” that it used to be.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As I promised a few weeks ago, I posted my edition of the Top 50 Prospects in the Twins system. There is a lot of good debate that follows it up. I would encourage you to use what you've read on these daily updates to form your own Top Howevermanyyou'recomfortabledoing List. I'm excited to be joining Seth and Travis tomorrow and Saturday in Beloit. Hopefully we'll have something insightful to offer you after the weekend is over. And now, Thursday’s action: ROCHESTER 4, TOLEDO 1 Box score Liam Hendriks continues to tease with his dominance in AAA. Seven innings, seven strikeouts, no walks, four hits, one run. His last outing – which was brutal – was quickly forgotten with this phenomenal start. Kyle Waldrop picked up his fourth save by pitching two scoreless innings. Chris Parmelee continues to mash. After hitting a home run tonight, he has six in his last seven games. Evan Bigley hit his first AAA home run. Rene Rivera added a triple. All other starters added a hit except for newcomer Eduardo Escobar, who followed up a 3-hit game by going 0-for-5. Pedro Hernandez, the other half of the Liriano trade, will be making his Wings debut on Monday. NEW BRITAIN 3 , BOWIE 5 Box score All of the Rock Cats offense came from three bats: Chris Colabello, Deibinson Romero and Dan Rohlfing. Colabello, who also doubled, and Romero, who had three hits and a walk, hit back-to-back home runs in the 4th inning. Rohlfing went 2-for-4 with a double. The “Big 3” of Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and Oswaldo Arcia combined to go 0-for-12 with 5 strikeouts. Steven Hirschfeld went five innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits. He walked four and struck out two. The bullpen of Matt Hauser (2 IP) and Dakota Watts (1 IP) each allowed two hits. Hauser allowed a run, walked one batter and also struck one out. FT. MYERS 2, DAYTONA 8 Box score Josmil Pinto’s solo HR in the second inning tied the game. That was tonight’s highlight. Lance Ray had a double. Anderson Hidalgo and Andy Leer added singles. Pat Dean gave up three longballs over five innings. He didn’t strike out any. A walk and seven hits resulted in six runs. Nelvin Fuentes continued his streak of giving up runs while striking out a lot of batters. Tonight it was two runs, three strikeouts, two innings. Ricky Bowen struck out one in an inning. BELOIT 5, KANE COUNTY 7 Box score It definitely wasn’t “Pretty at Pohlman Field” night in Beloit. And that has very little to do with the fact Seth was in attendance. The Snappers did make a charge in the end, but it was too little, too late. Tyler Jones struggled through four innings. He allowed eight hits, a walk and threw a wild pitch. He allowed six runs (five earned) while only striking out one. He was replaced by Steven Gruver, who had another strong relief performance allowing only one hit in three innings. Corey Williams allowed a run on three hits in two innings. Down six entering the home half of the ninth, the Snappers loaded the bases with walk, walk, single and no outs. After Wang-Wei Lin struck out for the first out, Eddie Rosario singled in two runs. Miguel Sano walked and Kennys Vargas followed that up with a two-run single. The tying runner is on first with one out. Unfortunately, Drew Leachman and then Stephen Wickens flew out to end the game. Rosario (one double) and Vargas both had two hits and drove in two runs. Sano had a double as well. The team batted 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position. ELIZABETHTON 5, BURLINGTON 15 Box score “The South has always been dirty, but this is getting ugly.” – Bubba Sparxxx Looking closely at this game, the song “Ugly” started playing in my head. It’s not a good song; and this wasn’t a good game. I won’t be offended if you choose to not read this recap. Hudson Boyd, who, coincidentally, has a similar body build to Bubba Sparxxx, had his second consecutive bad outing. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings, surrendering nine hits, three runs and two walks. He struck out two, but also allowed two home runs, including one to Byron Buxton-ish super-athlete Bubba Starling. Kaleb Merck, who called draft day a “terrible day”, probably has worse things to say about today’s outing. He got three outs, but not before giving up five runs (all earned). Andrew Ferreira struck out three in 1 2/3 innings and didn’t allow any runs. Travis Huber, however, allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings. As if that wasn’t quite enough, Travis Huber surrendered another run while pitching 1 1/3 innings. 15 runs on 27 hits. “Ugly, ugly, ugly… uh oh” The batters weren’t their typical selves, not that it would have mattered. Niko Goodrum had three hits. Jhonatan Arias had a two hits (one double). Josh Hendricks had a double and Max Kepler drove in two. And, in one last example of ugly, all of the Burlington batters had multiple hits. The 8- and 9- hitters each had four. GCL TWINS 0, GCL ORIOLES 8 Box score There’s really not much good to say about this game today, so there isn’t going to be much said at all. Javier Pimentel and B.K. Santy each had doubles. Jose Ramirez and Kelvin Ortiz added singles. Byron Buxton went 0-for-4 and committed an error in the 7th that helped lead to four unearned runs. Sam Gibbons had three strong innings. He allowed a run, striking out three. Hung Yi Chen struck out two over two. Markus Solbach allowed five runs (one earned) in two innings. Carson Goldsmith allowed two runs in two innings. --- Players of the Day for Thursday, August 2, 2012 Hitters of the Day – Deibinson Romero Download attachment: DRomeroST11.jpg www.knuckleballs.com Pitcher of the Day – Liam Hendriks Download attachment: hendriks.jpg www.thelcn.com --- A Look Ahead – Friday, August 3, 2012 Schedule Rochester at Toledo – RHP Shairon Martis (1-1, 7.88) New Britain vs Altoona – LHP Aaron Thompson (3-6, 5.81) Ft. Myers at St. Lucie – RHP Matt Summers (1-1, 3.60) Beloit vs Kane County – LHP Matt Tomshaw (2-2, 3.73) Elizabethton at Bristol – RHP Angel Mata (3-1, 2.29) GCL Twins vs GCL Orioles – TBA --- If you have any questions on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and we’ll try to answer them! Comments also welcome. Click here to view the article

Trade Deadline Overview: San Francisco Giants Buyers or Sellers The Giants have won two of the last three World Series, but now find themselves with one of the worst records in the National League and nearly ten games out in the Wild Card Race. Sellers, right? Not so fast. Playing in the National League West, the Giants are only a handful of games out in the division race.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Though they do trail the Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Rockies, the silver-lining is that the Giants are coming off of a season where they had a dominant second-half to the season (48-28). No team this year can match that winning percentage (.632). All told, the Giants aren’t playing great baseball, but might not be far from it. Another Division Championship is well within their reach. Right now, the Giants are undecided about what they’re going to do. The next couple of weeks may prove me wrong, but they should approach this deadline as buyers. Download attachment: san-francisco-giants.jpg What They Need The Giants lost starting CF Angel Pagan to a hamstring injury and his return is – at a minimum – still over a month away. The Giants have signed OF Jeff Francoeur and plan to work him into their outfield rotation. Obviously, Hunter Pence is going to continue to play RF every day, but the outfield production as a whole has been subpar. Another position in the lineup that could use a tune-up is first base. Brandon Belt has strung together a good couple of months since a really slow start, but Belt has always had a short leash and seems to constantly be skating on thin ice. There have been rumors that the Giants are looking to improve their bullpen. They seem set with lefty relievers (including former Twin Jose Mijares), but may have interest in adding another right-hander. What Might Work For as up-and-down as Brandon Belt has been, Justin Morneau wouldn’t be a clear upgrade. Buster Posey is Belt’s primary backup (or at least, Posey plays 1B when he isn’t catching). Would the Giants have interest in Ryan Doumit? That would allow Posey to not catch as much. The knock on Doumit’s defense/pitch-framing might prove costly, though, if he’s put on the market (especially in the DH-free N.L.). Besides closer Sergio Romo, the Giants only have one right-handed reliever who has appeared in more than 30 games. (Conversely, the Twins have four.) Casey Fien could make sense for the Giants. The cost would probably be minimal and he would provide a right arm that could step up in the 6th or 7th inning. Sleeper Targets Martin Agosta – RHP – Low A – 22 years old The Giants have a number of quality arms. Agosta isn’t one of the premium ones, but he’s not far off. A 2nd-round pick out of St. Mary’s in 2012, Agosta is dealing with the stigma of being a short, right-handed pitcher (6’ 1”). He’s striking guys out (11.1 K/9), but can’t shake the stereotype that he may be best suited for the bullpen. In part because of his size, in part due to his lack of a changeup. He does throw a slider and a cutter, so there’s still a chance. Adalberto Mejia – LHP – High A – 20 years old Mejia proved to be pretty advanced after signing out of the Dominican Republic in 2011. He made his full-season debut in 2012 and struggled in his first go-around as a starter, but after being shifted to the bullpen, came on as a starter later in the year. Mejia barely touches 90, but has a good slider and a changeup. Mejia has been in the starting rotation all year in High-A and has put up decent numbers: 8.1 K/9, 1.12 WHIP, 4 HR (in 45 IP). Angel Villalona – 1B – AA – 22 years old Villalona might be a name you recognize. It’s either because you remember him being a Top 50 prospect before the 2008 and 2009 season or because you heard the story about him being investigated on a murder charge and missing the next two seasons because of that and visa issues. Obviously, there are some flaws with Villalona, but if you’re looking for someone that might turn out better than expected, why not? Dream Target Kyle Crick – RHP – High A –20 years old Crick ranks #49 in Baseball America’s recently released Midseason Top 50. He’s a big-time power arm that missed some time earlier this year with an oblique injury, but still has a ceiling as a front-of-the-rotation starter. Crick was the 49th overall pick in the 2011 draft and has only allowed two home runs in nearly 150 professional innings. Equally impressive, in those 148 innings, Crick has struck out 180 batters. Of course, after dealing prospect Zach Wheeler to the Mets for a rental, Carlos Beltran, in 2011, there is a slim-to-none chance that the Giants will repeat that mistake. In fact, there’s now something in the league known as the “Zach Wheeler Syndrome,” which is when a team will hold out until the last minute and make a panic trade. Click here to view the article