Jeremy Nygaard

The second round opened with the Twins selecting LHRP Mason Melotakis out of Northwestern State. Unlike Bard before him, who will get a chance to be a starter, Melotakis will most likely start in the bullpen. He sold himself with an excellent performance in the Cape Cod League. Melotakis is a mid-90s power arm that will probably pitch some rookie-ball innings and then join the Beloit bullpen this summer. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Nine picks later (and with Mitchell Brown still available!), the Twins took another college relief pitcher, J.T. Chargois (from Rice). Chargois compares similarly to Melotakis, throwing in the mid-90s and can run it up to the high-90s, though he has had some control issues. Chargois, however, has not had the opportunity to focus strictly on pitching, as he's played a lot of first base. I thought Chargois had a chance to go a little higher, so it will be interesting to see his bonus amount. There is a chance that he could join the Fort Myers bullpen, but it's more likely that his final destination in 2012 is Beloit. Chargois has a chance to join the Twins bullpen by 2014. The Twins deviated from their path to take a right-handed power bat in Adam Brett Walker out of Jacksonville. While he has drawn comps to Giancarlo Stanton, I would compare him to Josh Willingham. He is currently listed as a RF, but his future is going to either be at 1B or LF. The interesting fact about Walker is that he grew up in Wisconsin and his dad played professional football for the Minnesota Vikings. I see Walker as a guy that could sign quickly and report to low-A ball to play in front of family and friends. Back to college relievers, the Twins selected Zachary Jones out of San Jose State. Jones will more than likely spend his summer in Elizabethton's bullpen throwing a mid-to-high-90s fastball and a pretty good slider. Look for the Twins to draft T.J. Oakes, a catcher, some high school arms and a middle infielder yet in the first ten rounds. Download attachment: MasonMelotakis.jpg ----- UPDATE 2:17 p.m. The Twins added another right-handed pitcher from Rice in the 5th round - Tyler Duffey. Duffey currently shares the closer distinction with 2nd round pick J.T. Chargois. While Chargois was the higher-rated prospect, Duffey had the better numbers. Duffey, however, is not the power-pitcher that Chargois is, but will probably be given a chance to start given his ability to throw a low-90s fastball, a slider and a change-up. If the change-up doesn't come around, he'll be shifted back to the bullpen; if it does, we could be looking at an Anthony Swarzak-type pitcher. Upon signing, Duffey will probably head to Elizabethton. The Twins went the prep route in Round 6 to draft LHP Andre Martinez out of Archbishop McCarthy HS in Florida. An FSU commit, we're looking at the first draftee that has a signability question. Martinez projects as a starter with a deceptive delivery. If the Twins pay overslot to sign him, he would start his career with the GCL Twins. The Twins have to start adding some infielders at some point, right? EVENING UPDATE The Twins took their first non-pitcher or outfielder in the 7th Round when they selected Puerto Rican catcher Jorge Fernandez. Although it's not uncommon for the team to select guys off of the island, they took a guy with a lot of projection instead of their typical "Puerto Rican bat tool". Fernandez is long and skinny and a long ways away, but it sounds as though they're going to give him every opportunity to catch. Look for the Twins to get Fernandez in camp soon, so he can get as much instruction as possible while playing for the GCL Twins. P Christian Powell, drafted in the 8th Round from the College of Charleston, definitely looks the part of a pitcher. He is a big body who will be given every opportunity to start. He needs to learn how to pitch, but if he does, he could be a steal at this point. Upon signing, Powell will most likely start for the E-Twins. 2B L.J. Mazzilli, son of Lee Mazzilli, was drafted out of UConn in Round 9. Mazzilli has a great bat and I was surprised he was still on the board. Though I don't necessarily see where he fits in the organization (Beloit would be the most logical choice), adding a right-handed bat at a position without great depth isn't a bad idea. The Twins rounded out their "valued" slots by taking a typical pitch-to-contact pitcher D.J. Baxendale out of Arkansas. Baxendale had an up-and-down year and may be a tough guy to sign. His younger brother, Blake, is heading to Arkansas next year to catch. Baxendale's ceiling is at the end of a rotation and he could find himself in the bullpen, despite not having an overpowering fastball. The Twins took LP Taylor Rogers in the 11th round out of Kentucky. They've gone to the left-handed well in Kentucky a few times with similar-type pitchers - Logan Darnell and Andrew Albers - and I'm sure they're looking for similar results. He will go to the Appy League if he can come to terms with the Twins. The Twins drafted P Alex Muren out of CS-Northridge in the 12th round. He is a good sleeper prospect who still lacks the feel for pitching, but he could make for a decent prospect in time. P Erich Knab, a prep righty, was drafted in the 13th round. He's committed to a junior college, so there is a good chance the Twins can get him signed. He has a high ceiling, most likely as a power-reliever, but he will more than likely, if signed, start his pro career in the GCL Twins rotation. 14th round pick, OF Jake Proctor, is part of the new breed of Twins prospect. Injured during this past season, Proctor is a right-handed hitter with raw power. That's right, like Travis Harrison last year and Adam Brett Walker earlier today, Proctor offers a bat that could someday play well in Target Field. Proctor has a year of eligibility left and could stand to improve his draft-stock with a healthy year of baseball. The Twins concluded their day by taking someone that I'd been waiting all day for them to take: a college senior. LP Jarret Leverett figures to add organizational depth as a cheap, left-handed relief pitcher. Out of Georgia Southern's bullpen this year, he struck out over a hitter per inning. So after 18 picks, the Twins have added 13 pitchers (four lefties). Only five prepsters were selected, which is similar to their numbers last year. Click here to view the article

The Twins were off Monday. They're in Miami, trick. But there was plenty going on in the minor leagues with both games and transactions. The transactions are all noted below, but essentially the promotion of Kyle Gibson had a trickle-down effect from AA to AAA (Logan Darnell), HighA to AA (Matt Summers) and Byron Buxton filling the Miracle roster spot. Esmerling Vasquez was released from the Red Wings' disabled list. (Noteworthy mostly because it got me my first mention on MLB Trade Rumors.) [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 2, LOUISVILLE BATS 4 Box Score So after clawing and scratching and kicking their way back to .500, the Red Wings lose tonight and drop one game below the mark. The offense mustered only eight hits, including an Antoan Richardson double. Jeff Clement drove in both runs with a 2nd-inning single. Liam Hendriks struck out five in six innings. He allowed ten hits and four runs (three earned). Shairon Martis pitched two scoreless innings. Chris Herrmann started the game behind the plate and was replaced by Drew Butera for no good (known) reason. It may be nothing. It may be injury. It may foreshadow a move being made by the parent club. Speculate amongst yourselves. Congrats to Vance Worley, who was named International League Pitcher of the Week. Filling Kyle Gibson's roster spot will be LHP Logan Darnell, who has spent a long time in New Britain. Darnell was recently named the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 6, ALTOONA CURVE 4 Box Score (game 1) On the strength of one crooked number inning - a six-run second inning - the RockCats were able to win the first game of today's doubleheader. The highlight of that inning was a three-RBI triple by 2B Eddie Rosario. Rosario added a single to go 2-for-3 and entered game two with a .279 batting average. Miguel Sano went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, his 3rd AA error and now sits at .158. Also struggling since his promotion, Angel Morales went 0-for-2 and is now batting a Hicksian .086. Nate Hanson has had a fantastic June. He doubled and is now batting .302. Pat Dean recorded two outs in the fifth before he was relieved. He allowed 11 hits and four runs. He didn't walk or strike out anyone. A.J Achter and Edgar Ibarra got the win and save, respectively, going the last 2 1/3 innings, each striking out two. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 0, ALTOONA CURVE 2 Box Score (game 2) Well, the offense in game 2 was brutal. It's probably a good thing it only lasted seven innings. Batting leadoff, Eddie Rosario had a hit and a walk. (He was also picked off first base... Spanam Style, and had a fielding error.) Danny Ortiz had a single. That's it. Miguel Sano was 0-for-2 and grounded into a double-play. Yeah, this baseball thing is hard. There were some that clamored for Sano to get a few at-bats when Plouffe went down. I think you're witnessing the reason why that was never going to happen. Pitching-wise, B.J. Hermsen did okay in a spot start. In three innings, he gave up only a run on four hits and a walk. He struck out one. Daniel Turpen allowed an unearned run in two innings. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Summers has been promoted from Fort Myers to take Darnell Logan's spot in the rotation. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 2, PALM BEACH CARDINALS 4 Box Score The Miracle could have used Buxton a day earlier than Tuesday. The offense didn't supply a lot of offense in today's game. In the two-run third inning, Andy Leer (single) and Aderlin Mejia (RBI triple) accounted for half the team's hits. Stephen Wickens drove in the other run on a groudout. Mejia and Wickens added the other two hits. Matt Tomshaw pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three runs. He struck out five while giving up nine hits and two walks. Adrian Salcedo threw the other 1.1 innings. He gave up a run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out two. Byron Buxton will make his much-anticipated high-A debut tomorrow at 7:00PM ET. The Miracle had been on a six-man rotation after the addition of Manuel Soliman, so they will not need to add another pitcher at this time. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - IDLE The Kernels were given the day off. The people of Cedar Rapids were also told to stay home from work today to mourn the loss of the greatest player they've ever welcomed to Veterans Memorial Stadium. There has been no corresponding move made yet, though one possibility is the addition of RHP Dallas Gallant. Gallant struck out 14 in 10.2 IP for the Beloit Snappers last year before missing the first part of this year recovering from a nerve relocation procedure. He is currently working out of Elizabethton's bullpen. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 7, GREENEVILLE ASTROS 2 Box Score The defending Appy League champs got their 4th win in the first five games of this young season. Tonight's win can be credited a lot to the left arm of young Randy Rosario. Five shutout, two-hit innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Also impressive is the six groundouts to only three flyouts he induced. Rosario has been very good in other short-season leagues and could really show up on the prospect radars with a good showing this season. (Some of you are already high on him... I'm talking of national radars. He wasn't a Top 30 in BA.) After a strong one-inning debut on Friday, Andre Martinez struggled in his two-inning outing tonight. He allowed two runs, including a home run, and struck out one. Kuo Hua Lo backed up a strong three-inning performance on Friday with three strikeouts over two innings tonight. The bats were also active. They connected a bunch (14 hits) and also missed a bunch (13 strikeouts). Five players - Tanner Vavra, Dereck Rodriguez, Stuart Turner, Romy Jimenez and Bo Altobelli - had two-hit games. Rodriguez had two doubles and drove in two runs to highlight the offense. As you know, Dereck Rodriguez is the son of future Hall-of-Famer Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. The whole family is shown below. (Photo from the Washington Post.) Download attachment: drod.jpg The E-Twins will need to improve on their batting with runners in scoring position. They went 3-for-20 tonight... and that's not gonna hack it. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RAYS 5 Box Score Well, it turns out Amaurys Minier is (at least part) human. He struck out three times in four at-bats. He also drew a walk. The lineup as a whole struck out 13 times. Brian Navaretto had a good day at the plate (2-for-4) but a poor day behind it (a passed ball and a throwing error). Jason Kanzler has continued to struggle to hit, but showed his defensive prowess with an outfield assist. Chad Christensen had two hits and an RBI. Zach Larson drove in the other run. Sam Gibbons struck out three in four innings, allowing an earned and unearned run on three hits. Miguel Gonzalez struck out two and allowed a run on three hits. Both Madison Boer and Bruce Pugh made rehab appearances. Boer struck out three, but allowed two unearned runs in two innings. Pugh walked two in his one inning. Please post questions and/or comments below. Click here to view the article

As Twins fans have endured three straight 90-plus loss seasons, it’s been obvious that one of – and probably the biggest – roots of the problem is the lack of quality starters. Essentially, the Twins have employed a collection of #4 starters and have failed to draft or sign frontline starters. We saw the late 2012 trades to acquire Alex Meyer and Trevor May followed by the drafting of Texas prep hurler Kohl Stewart as signs that the Twins recognized this issue and have started to correct it. Download attachment: JacksonII.jpg Yet in the back of every fan’s mind is the idea that the Twins can never have enough “toolsy” players in their system. (They might be right)... and that the Twins love to draft those players right out of high school. (Because they do!) So when the clock starts ticking on the Twins, which direction do they go? Well, that’s not for us to decide. But if they choose to go the way of the “tools”, you better know about this guy. Who is this guy? Alex Jackson has been on the prospect map since 2010, when he started at Rancho Bernardo (Escondido, CA) HS as a freshman. That’s no small feat at a school that has produced Cole Hamels and Hank Blalock, among others. He smashed 17 home runs as a sophomore and was the most impressive player at the 2012 Area Code Games… as an underclassman. His star started rising when he was only 15 years old and it continues to go up. Jackson, who has played catcher through high school, has two plus tools: power and arm strength. Though there are college guys with more present-day power, no one offers more raw power than the 6’ 2”, 215-lb Jackson. His arm strength is equally impressive: he was clocked at 91 mph from behind home plate at the 2013 Perfect Game National Showcase, setting a Perfect Game record. Why the Twins will pick him The Twins would pick Jackson – just like they’d pick anyone – because he’s the top guy on their board when they come to the podium. But why he’d be the top guy on their board is much more important. His right-handed power would play perfectly at Target Field. His likely ability to be able to stick behind home plate long-term in a system that lacks a single top-flight catching prospect would be an added benefit. In a draft that lacks a lot of hitting quality, Jackson is the cock of the walk. None of this even mentions his character. Last summer, Jackson was one of three high schoolers who helped raise over $10,000 for a local children’s hospital. Why the Twins will not pick him As the introduction stated, the Twins “organizational need” is pitchers. And paragraphs later was an allusion to the need in the organization for catchers. Truth is, Jackson isn’t a pitcher and there’s a pretty good chance he’s not going to be a catcher either. With a bat that is considered the highest-ceiling in the draft, there is a very good chance the first thing Jackson does after signing his first professional contract is hang up the catchers’ gear. Jackson has the ideal power/arm strength combination to make a smooth move to right field, where his bat could sooner reach The Show. There’s also belief that if he’s athletic enough to catch professionally – and he is, with work – there is little doubt he wouldn’t be athletic enough to play third base. In any scenario, the value is in the bat. The Oregon-commit is being advised by Scott Boras. That’s not to say the Twins should avoid drafting him solely for this reason; however, Boras does a great job getting his clients as much money as possible… and the #5 spot in the draft is not getting him as much money as possible. (Long explanation longer: Expect Jackson to be off the board when the Twins select.) It should be noted that Scott Boras pushed for the Nationals to move Bryce Harper to the outfield, and though that wouldn’t necessarily be a fair comparison, Jackson could simply be next in line to make the same change, much like Wil Myers did more recently. And the end of the day, there are not many reasons to argue against the Twins selecting Alex Jackson, besides the fact that he’s viewed by many to be too talented to be on the board when the Twins pick. ---- Follow me on Twitter at @jeremynygaard for much more draft coverage this week. Special thanks to Justin Rinaldi for his picture of Alex Jackson featured in this article. Click here to view the article

Join Seth and I tonight at 8:30 for this week's episode of #HangoutandTalkTwins. We hope to be joined by MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. View live here: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7WG1oxXe2Fk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg We plan to cover the Diamond Awards, Twins Fest, Winter Meltdown and more. I'll also let you know what kind of progress I made in my attempt to #GetSethDrunk. Don't forget: You can follow us on Twitter at @twinshangouts. If you have any questions, please leave them below! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join Seth and Jeremy tonight at 8:30 right here to view the latest Twins Hangouts episode. Tonight's show will focus more on the minor league side of things. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tQ5qOU7SSMQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Please leave questions (or comments) below! You can watch live on the page as well. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Berrios_Jose_Landscape.jpg It's April 22 and we're experiencing another snowstorm. The Twins were postponed and will play a split-doubleheader tomorrow (hopefully; I wouldn't bet on it). And despite having a day-off Wednesday, there won't be a game because the Marlins have 20 straight days with games beginning Thursday, so they can't play Wednesday. Only three affiliates were in action today, let's see how they did: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Cedar Rapids Kernels 8, Burlington Bees 4 Box Score Jose Berrios made his highly-anticipated full-season debut tonight. Berrios joined the team after spending some time stretching out in Fort Myers after being used sparingly by the Puerto Rican National Team in the World Baseball Classic (where he struck out Robinson Cano). Had Berrios been on the Opening Day roster, he would have been the 9th-youngest player (and 4th-youngest pitcher) in the Midwest League. He had a solid performance, but appeared to have some nerves early. He gave up runs in each of his first two innings and misplayed a bunt (that was generously ruled a hit) before settling down. He had a final line of five innings, seven hits, two walks, five strikeouts and the aforementioned runs. Reports from the field had him sitting in the low-90s, but touching as high as 96. JD Williams led the offense with two doubles and a home run. He also drew a walk, scored twice and drove in three runs. Oh, and he stole a base too. He calls himself part of the "Soul Patrol" with Byron Buxton and Niko Goodrum, but he might be rejoining Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario if he keeps it up. Adam Walker had a triple and showed off his big-time power with a long home run. Byron Buxton went 1-for-4 with a stolen base. When he was 0-for-3 tonight, his average dropped to .392. The single got it back up to .404. Manuel Soliman walked three in two scoreless innings. Chris Mazza had to be relieved after giving up two runs and leaving the bases loaded in the 9th. Tim Atherton relieved him and closed the game with three strikeouts with the bases loaded. LP Brett Lee (0-0, 0.00), who has been quite impressive in his eight innings of limited work, takes the mound tomorrow at 11:30 am. (The forecast isn't good, so make sure you check the weather before you drive from the Cities.) Congrats to Taylor Rogers on his promotion to Fort Myers. Rochester Red Wings 2, Pawtucket Red Sox 8 Box Score Liam Hendriks again failed to channel his AAA dominance of a year ago, instead showing glimpses of his major league-self. In particular, it took Hendriks 97 pitches (63 strikes) to pitch 5.2 innings. His line was not bad though: eight hits, a walk, two runs and five strikeouts. While his demotion was somewhat puzzling at the time, he has been able to make two starts for Rochester. Meanwhile Pedro Hernandez (and basically the entire staff) hasn’t pitched at all due to the ridiculous weather we’ve been having in the Upper Midwest. The first wave of the bullpen did a great job keeping the Red Wings in the game. Mike O’Connor and Tim Wood combined for 2.1 scoreless innings. And then Manager Glynn turned a tied ball game over to Anthony Slama. For all of you who supported the #FreeSlama campaign, you may get your wish soon. Tonight’s one-out effort included three hits, two walks and five runs. He’s now dropped to 0-4 with an ERA of 18.47. It was reported, postgame, that Slama was suffering from a stiff back. Daniel Turpen got the final two outs and allowed another run, but the damage was already done. The Red Wings offense managed only seven hits. A double by Chris Herrmann and two singles by Evan Bigley were the offensive highlights. Bigley (who just joined Rochester) is batting .400. Chris Colabello (.333) and Clete Thomas (.326) are the only regulars batting over .200. Scary, and sad. While there is no scheduled starter listed at this time, it would appear to be Virgil Vasquez’s turn in the rotation. Vasquez (2-1, 4.80) has pitched pretty well in his three starts to date. Fort Myers Miracle 4, Palm Beach Cardinals 7 Box Score A day after losing to Palm Beach in extra innings, the Miracle drop their third straight. Tonight’s loss was the result of a blown save in the 7th inning. Starting pitcher Matt Summers allowed ten hits in four innings. Those hits, and a walk, resulted in three runs. He struck out three. Cole Johnson pitched two scoreless innings. Chad Rogers, who came out to open the seventh innings, only recorded two outs, but allowed four runs (one earned). Adrian Salcedo struck out three among his four outs. Miguel Sano kept it simple today. He singled twice and stole a base (his first of the year). Kyle Knudson added two hits. Kennys Vargas had a double. Eddie Rosario added a triple. AJ Pettersen, now batting .352 and playing SS almost every day, has extended his hitting streak to seven games. Tomorrow’s scheduled starter, Madison Boer, was placed on the 7-day DL with a broken hand. RP Ryan O’Rourke was also placed on the 7-day DL. The Miracle will play at 6:35 pm ET with newly-promoted Taylor Rogers getting the start. New Britain Rock Cats had an off-day today. Trevor May (0-1, 3.14) will be back on the mound tomorrow at New Hampshire at 6:35 pm ET. May, who is rivaling teammate Alex Meyer to be the organizational strikeout king, will look to limit his free passes. He has already issued 10 walks in 14.1 innings. He’s also allowed three home runs in three starts. RP Marty Popham was released to make room for SP B.J. Hermsen prior to yesterday’s game. If you have any questions or comments, please post below. You can also find me on Twitter @jeremynygaard. Click here to view the article

As Spring Training approaches, we’ve hashed and re-hashed Prospect Lists. We’ve dissected the signing of Kevin Correia many times over. We’ve projected lineups of every affiliate. There are few things more informative than talking with those that are behind the information. So today let’s do something else. Let’s talk scouting with West Coast Scouting Supervisor Sean Johnson. ---- First off, huge thanks to Sean! As baseball is starting to get rolling, he took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions and shed some light on our favorite franchise.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Sean had great things to say about the organization “from the top down” and exudes the “Twins Way positivity”. My original plan was the use quotes to formulate an article, but when you find all the quotes are worth using, it’s going to be presented in a Q and A fashion. I apologize for the lengthiness, but it’s should make for a great read. (www.texastech.com) ---- Jeremy Nygaard: It’s great to catch you: A guy on the “front lines”. What’s the scouting life like? After seeing Trouble with the Curve, is that realistic? Sean Johnson: It’s not as gloomy as Clint Eastwood’s character. It’s not that bad. The time on the road is extensive in the spring. Guys are away from their family and friends. From now until draft day, you go where the players are. There’s not a lot of off days. I’m bouncing all over the country. It’s real hectic. I spend most of my time in California. If there’s a guy you have to see, it’s his last high-school start and his team isn’t going to make the playoffs, you have to make a decision. Deron [Johnson, the Twins Director of Scouting] might have to be in Seattle or might have to be in Miami for one last look before the draft. You have to be flexible. JN: You’re listed in the Media Guide as the “West Coast Scouting Supervisor”. Do the Twins have “crosscheckers”? SJ: Yeah, we have four regional supervisors. We have two “National Crosscheckers” that don’t supervise any areas. Tim O’Neil is dedicated to the amateur world year-round. Earl Frishman does national work too, but also spring training and pro scouting in the summer. Most teams have “crosscheckers”. Some have “scouting supervisors”. The only difference is that [as a supervisor] I’m directly in charge of the scouts on the west coast. We get to hire, or if a guy gets promoted. I talk to my guys on the west coast almost every day in the spring. We’re connected. We compile the information to get to Deron or Mike [Radcliff, Vice President, Player Personnel] and I get it to them. I basically see each one of my area scout’s best players, typically the guys that go in the top five or ten rounds. I see as many as I can and try to put them in some kind of an order. So take the catcher in Southern California versus the catcher in, say, Denver. Which one do I think is better? Or do I think that someone else might need to come and see? JN: How do you stack a draft board when not everybody is familiar with all the guys? SJ: We rely on the area scouts and their conviction levels in the lower rounds to help us figure out who to select. We don’t have enough time in the spring to get lots of looks at every player we turn in. JN: So when the draft rolls around, are you in the Cities for that? SJ: Yeah, we’ll come in and have about seven full days of preparation. From 9 am until we are done. We used to go crazy, get in at nine and leave at 11 pm. The way we set it up is that we have them ordered by the grades we’ve given them walking in the room. Now we can get it done in time to go grab a nice dinner and go get some sleep. JN: How many guys are there? SJ: The draft room usually has about 10 guys. Most teams don’t bring everybody in. The room in Target Field is much nicer than the room in the Metrodome. We were in a poorly vented room downstairs. Down in the dungeon, we’d have fans we’d have to bring in and coolers with ice for our drinks. It was really blue-collar. But it was what it was and we made it work. Since moving to Target Field it’s like we moved to Taj Mahal. We have a room with a projector. We can watch film. We have a place to make coffee and can bring some food in. It’s got air-conditioning. It’s not the biggest room in the world either, but it’s adequate. So we’ll have about ten of our scouts and Terry Ryan is there for the whole thing. JN: How has draft changed? A handful of years ago it was on ESPN2 in the middle of the day. Now it’s an event… SJ: Things haven’t really changed. Obviously we’re happy it’s becoming an event. It will never be as big as the NFL draft. Those guys are already famous. That’s what will prevent our draft from becoming extremely popular. No one knows who these guys are. We took Aaron Hicks. No one knew who he was. We’re projecting on a 17 or 18-year-old kid. Hopefully he’s good. Check in in five years and see how he’s doing. It’s a totally different dynamic. It’s great for our sport, but it doesn’t really change our approach. The draft used to go much faster. Last year it was more fun because we had more picks. Now there is more time in between picks. It used to be just one big conference call. It wasn’t on TV. It seemed like it was really fast. My first draft was 2002 and I couldn’t believe how fast it went. Now there’s a minute between picks, which gives you a little bit of time to collect your thoughts in case a guy you wanted gets picked. There’s a little more strategy to it, which is good. JN: Later in the draft it seems so rapid-fire. Does it happen very often where a guy you’re looking to take gets picked or is it that the draft pool is so large that the odds or your guy going is pretty small? SJ: It happens a lot more in the first ten rounds. Everybody has the same 90 or 100 guys at the top because their tools are much more evident. Those guys stand out, everyone has scouted them. They’re a little more famous. But once you get a little later – to the 3rd or the 4th round – you can see a guy taken that you didn’t like at all and he goes in the 3rd round. There could be a guy that goes that you’ve never heard of. That’s happens more on Day 2 and 3. Later though guys get picked off less than you’d think. At that point teams like different guys, scouts turn different guys in. You’re going to have 1500 players get drafted. Our scouts don’t turn all those guys in. Some teams will take guys [they have connections to] later. Maybe the Tigers take Ty Cobb’s great-great-grandson. We don’t have any of those “favor picks” as we call them. So-and-so’s whoever… we don’t typically do that. JN: How many guys do you typically have on your draft board? SJ: We usually turn in around 900 guys. We’ll have about 900 tags in our room - which is overwhelming. We’re only going to get 40 of them. JN: Up until last year – before the CBA changes – you had a pretty good idea about what teams might take a guy that slips. Last year, the Astros save money right away and take expensive guys later. The Blue Jays take expensive guys early and draft college seniors later. The Twins did what the Twins do. Take a guy, pay him near slot. Is there a lot of strategy? SJ: We contemplated doing all that stuff. It was the first year; there was a lot of feeling out. We didn’t know what other teams were going to do. We knew someone would re-arrange their money to squeeze out one more guy. First, you have to analyze the draft crop and see what the strengths are. Obviously we thought about all the scenarios, but you don’t want to save money up for a guy who might not be there. We really like Buxton. We saved some money here and there, but we always just tried to take the next best guy. Next year we have one of the biggest pools. We had a huge pool last year. We can explore. If we don’t like any of the guys that want a certain amount of money, we have options. There’s not clear cut group of four or five guys. It’s wide open. JN: But it’s still early… SJ: I mean, Bryce Harper isn’t going to come out of nowhere in March. We’ve seen all the guys. The high-school crop of pitching is down. Most of the better arms are college guys this year. There are not a lot of great bats in this draft. It’s a shallow draft this year. High-school right-handed pitching is way down. There’s some high-school catching, there’s some high-school left-handers. There’s some power armed college-armed at the top… Look at Dylan Bundy’s year. It would be Bundy and everybody else in this draft. Archie Bradley and everybody else, Rendon… JN: How about Appel? Do you treat him differently? SJ: Well he’s not going to come at a discount. His advisors aren’t going to let him take a discount. They think he’s the best guy in the draft and he will get a chance to prove it. He might be. I wouldn’t plan on him taking a discount, no. JN: Didn’t he want the full pick value for #1 no matter where he went last year? SJ: I can’t answer that. I don’t think anybody can answer that. JN: When he didn’t go first overall, was that a big shock to you in the Twins draft room? SJ: We knew from talking to other people that Houston was taking the temperature of a lot of guys, all who went in the Top 10. They weren’t dead-set on him, we could tell that. He seemed like the right fit, Houston-kid, it all made sense. But you never know. It was all tight-lipped and all hush-hush. But no, it wasn’t a shock. We knew there was a chance he wouldn’t sign, or be hesitant, if the money wasn’t right. Houston did a great job, we commend them. They got a great player - we like Correa too - and loaded up with Rio Ruiz and Lance McCullers. If you can squeak another player out of the draft… if you get two big-league players out of the draft, that’s a good draft. JN: Tell me about Zack Jones. SJ: Elliott Strankman, my area scout, really liked him. He saw him pitch a lot and everyone that saw him believed he would have one of the best fastballs in that draft. He was on a bad team at San Jose State and they started him. He’s a high-wired, amped-up guy who throws it hard and tries to strike people out. It’s going to come down to him developing a breaking ball, which we think he will add over time. We like his athleticism; he played shortstop back in the day. He’s got good life on his fastball throwing it 95 or 96. When we got him, we were pumped; we were high-fiving in the Draft room. To get to the big leagues, he’s going to have to have a secondary pitch to finish hitters off. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw it if that’s all you have. JN: A lot of the college relievers will get a chance to start, will Jones? SJ: No, he’s locked in the bullpen. JN: With a chance to move quick? SJ: Absolutely. We’ll keep challenging him. Our hope is that he’ll start in Fort Myers. Mason Melotakis and Tyler Duffey, those guys are going to be starters this year. JN: Speaking of that, are assignments determined in Spring Training? Or are they decided ahead of time? How does that work out? SJ: There are group of guys that put their heads together. There is some Spring Training element to it, when a guy shows up he needs to look like he can play. The rule of thumb is that you want to start a guy at a level he can handle and survive and succeed and build confidence at that level. And when he does, he’s ready for the next level. It’s one step at a time with us. No one is entitled by any means. There’s a lot that goes into it. More than people think. JN: Any feelings on other guys? SJ: I saw Buxton in Elizabethton. The sky’s the limit with that guy. He’s a gifted player. We really like Berrios. He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s got a live arm and great feel. JN: How about Travis Harrison? SJ: I saw him this summer. He’s in really good shape. The power hasn’t come yet, but he can really hit. We’re counting on him. Where he’s going to end defensively, I don’t know. He’d tell you he’s a good hitter, not a slugger. He can go foul line to foul line. He’s hitting for a good average and taking good at-bats, a lot like Aaron Hicks was. Guys change a lot from 18 to 23. JN: He’s going to stay at third for now? SJ: I think that’s the plan. We hope he’ll start at Cedar Rapids. JN: It seems like the farm system has more “prospects” in it. That’s a testament to you guys doing a great job. SJ: We think we’re going in the right direction, but we’re not satisfied. We need to have another good draft next year. We feel good about last year’s draft. But that’s over with. Time to knock it out of the park again! JN: When does the page turn on the draft? As soon as the previous draft is over? SJ: It’s faster than that actually. We had one year where we took the tables down in the draft room and talked about our picks and literally 40 minutes later we’re in the press box watching the next crop of guys play for four days. It was a very quick turnaround. ---- Sean and I talked about other baseball-related happenings before our conversation took an interesting turn when we started talking about the Prospect Handbook. SJ: We follow the site. We get on there every now and then. Before it was TwinsDaily, when it was Seth’s deal, we go on there to see what you guys are saying. The thing with scouting is that you can get out of touch with reality. What we think and what other people think and the other 29 teams in the league think about our players. Most of the guys you get in the draft, you like those guys more than the other teams, that’s how you got them. It’s good to get that perspective: Are we really getting the right guy, or do we just think we are? We talked some about prospect rankings and how some publications form their opinions and how a lot of the publications and people involved are very informed. Sean put it all into perspective. SJ: I looked at Baseball America’s Top 30; I thought they did a good job. But who cares what order they’re in? They’re all prospects. Either they’re gonna make it or they’re not. And a tip for anyone who aspires to be a scout someday: SJ: Focus on what a guy can do, not what he can’t. We’ll spend the rest of his career telling him what he can’t do. View full article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Seth and Jeremy return Tuesday night at 9pm to wrap up the happenings in Twins Territory. We connected Monday night to make sure we could hear each other (we could) and to make sure that our internet was working (it was), so hopefully we have more success than last week. The Twins have given us lots to discuss, and Seth was in Cedar Rapids for three Kernels game. Be sure to get your questions in and listen live or later! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Miss an episode? Well, they're all available on our webpage and iTunes. The script from the show: Seth and Jeremy are back in your ears after a one-week hiatus from providing you the audio of our video hangout. If you'd like to listen to Episode 30, you can view at at TwinsDaily.com On our 7/1 show we talked about Jorge Polanco and his promotion (:03) and Aaron Hicks and his demotion (:09). We covered all the other transactions the Twins made as well (:15). Seth briefed us on his weekend in Cedar Rapids (:20) and that's well worth the listen. Of course, you can read up on his trip at TwinsDaily as well. We covered the rest of the action in Kernels Land (:27) too before switching great to the Twins (:37). After a 15-minute discussion on the parent club, we switched gears and talked the rest of the minor league. Finally we talked about the International Free Agency period (1:26) that opens today before getting to viewer questions (1:38). Enjoy the discussions, thanks for the questions and we'll see you next Tuesday! [/hr]Twins beat the Royals on Tuesday so on Wednesday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join us again tonight (Tuesday) as Seth and I discuss the last week in the Twins baseball. We'll be going live at 9pm, shortly before the Twins and Angels kick off their series. We'll be taking questions, so please leave below. Topics you'd like us to discuss? Let us know! Last week we went two hours and 42 minutes. This week we promise to keep it shorter and sweeter. Or will we? [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

The Twins just beat the White Sox 4-1. Ben Revere had a four-hit night. Frankie Liriano found his mojo and went seven strong, striking out five. (I've officially declared on Twitter that unless the Twins are blown away by a trade offer, I want them to keep Liriano and offer him arbitration.) Glared Berkins (or do you prefer Jaren Purton?) slammed the door. Sadly, Ozzie Guillen wasn’t in the opposing dugout to enjoy watching the Twins do what the Twins do. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Yesterday, it was announced that the Twins would promote LHRP Tyler Robertson. Robertson becomes the 7th player selected by the Twins in the 2007 to make the major leagues (in a Twins uniform). He was their third round selection following Chris Parmelee and Joe Benson. Congratulations to Tyler! The organization felt a trickle-down effect after the promotion of Robertson and the subsequent placing of P Matt Maloney on the 7-day DL. The Red Wings press release cited Maloney’s “strained left (throwing) elbow”. Taking one of these empty spots is P Luis Perdomo, on his way up from New Britain. While Perdomo doesn’t have a lot of starting experience (only three starts ever), he does have big league experience and did pitch five innings in relief Saturday. So Perdomo could be given a chance to start. On his way from Fort Myers to New Britain is RP Dakota Watts. Watts has essentially split the last two years between high-A and AA, so the hard-thrower will not be a new face in the Rockcats clubhouse. He has been dominant in limited innings so far for the Miracle in 2011. Finally, A.J. Achter will be heading to the Miracle bullpen to replace Watts. Achter was the Twins 46th round draft pick in 2010, so the fact that he is continuing to climb the ladder exceeds the typical standard for a 46th round (which don’t even exist anymore!) draft pick. No word yet on who the Snappers will be getting to replace Achter (but it would be irresponsible for me not to suggest that the Twins have signed many recent draft picks who have lots of relief experience). A spin around a busy Monday: ROCHESTER 4, CHARLOTTE 2 Box score Despite what you believe about the Red Wings, they completed their third season series tonight and they didn’t lose any of the three series. The Red Wings were 6-2 against Louisville, 4-4 against Gwinnett and, after tonight’s win, 5-3 against Charlotte. Cole De Vries, in what many believe was a tune-up before a call-up, went eight solid innings. He gave up six hits, two walks, two runs and struck out four. Kyle Waldrop went 1-2-3 in the 9th, striking out one, to pick up his second save on the year. It was a good thing that De Vries was as good as he was, because the bats weren’t very effective tonight. Luckily, in an inning where they were able to collect two hits, they were aided by a hit by pitch, an error and a passed ball on a strike out. Those three runs in the 5th were enough to get the win. J.R. Towles was the lone hitter with multiple hits. NEW BRITAIN 6, RICHMOND 2 Box score The Rockcats snapped a seven-game losing streak last Thursday… and they haven’t lost sense. Today’s win over Richmond not only completed a four-game sweep, but also extended their winning streak to five games. After the Rockcats made their last out in the eighth inning (the game was shortened, presumably due to weather; EDIT: apparently, the wind blew the fence over. GAME OFF!), Andrew from TwinsFanFromAfar was overheard saying, “We’re going streaking! We’re going up the quad and to the gymnasium.” No word yet on whether he made it, or if his wife intercepted him on the way home. Brett Jacobson started for the Rockcats and had a head-scratcher of a game. He gave up a double to start the game, but got an assist for Arcia for an out at third. He then mixed in walks and a wild pitch to fill the bases. And then he got a double play. In the second, he walked two more and got another outfield assist for a double-play. How about the third? Hit-by-pitch, followed by a… you guessed it: another double-play! In the fifth inning, Jacobson walked to more and was relieved by Edgar Ibarra. Facing his first batter, Ibarra coaxed a ground-ball double play. Jacobson’s final line: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 7 BB, 1 WP, 1 HBP, 1 K. 81 pitches, 32 strikes. ZERO RUNS. (As Seth would say, “This is why I love baseball. You think you’ve seen it all… and then something new happens!”) Evan Bigley continues to be the story in New Britain. Last week’s Eastern League player of the week came out today and hit his 10th home run of the year – a 3-run, 2-out blast. Chris “Don’t call me Pee-Wee” Herrmann, Oswaldo Arcia, Estarlin DeLosSantos and Shawn Roof all added two hits. FT. MYERS 3, TAMPA 9 Box score As Tropical Storm Debby continues to R. Kelly all over the state of Florida, the Miracle were (luckily) able to get only one game in today. Tom Stuifbergen went four innings and was far from his World Cup form: 4 IP, 9 hits, 6 runs, 1 K. The positive is that he was able to make and finish his start without injury. Matt Hauser relieved Stuif and continued the run-fest, yielding 3 runs on 4 hits. He struck out four, while walking one. Michael Tonkin struck out two (and hit one) in an inning. Miguel Munoz struck out one and allowed a hit in one inning. The bats played like they didn’t expect to have to show up at the ballpark today. Danny Ortiz was the sole Miracle hitter with more than one hit. (He had two singles.) Daniel Santana had a double. Angel Morales had a three-run home run, which is a promising sign for the once highly-rated prospect. He is in the midst of a bad season, and an even worse month of June. BELOIT 4, KANE COUNTY 2 Box score The Snappers are now 3-1 on the 2nd-half-opening-road-trip. Tonight’s win (again) should be credited to a stellar pitching performance. Jason Wheeler didn’t turn in his best performance of the year judging by his line: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 3 K. But looking closer, after laboring through the first inning – where he walked the first two batters he faced, had an error behind him and hit a batter – resulting in two unearned runs, he came back and did a solid job getting through five innings before turning it over to the bullpen. Tim Atherton, who’s ERA is now 0.51, made it through 2 1/3 innings, allowing only one hit, but walked three while striking out three. Corey Williams picked up a five-out save, striking out three. The bats did just enough to get the team a win. J.D. Williams can become a significant offensive catalyst. He stole two bases tonight, including home. His problem is his inability to get on base. He hasn’t taken a walk in his last ten games. And his OBP is currently .311. I would love to see the Twins take an even-slower-than-normally-slow approach with Williams. He could be huge for this organization someday. Miguel Sano hit his 15th double tonight, but also committed his 27th error. He is on a four-game hitting streak and has hits in six of his last seven games, but is only batting .188 in his last ten games. I expect Sano to turn it around offensively and also settle down defensively over the next couple of weeks, now that people aren’t calling for his promotion every day. (Yeah, I get that he doesn’t understand English all that well, but I’m sure he was hearing the talk.) Drew Leachman added two hits and Tyler Grimes had a double. ELIZABETHTON 9, BRISTOL 1 Box score My first impression after looking at the box score: No triples! In fact, all 12 of the E-Twins hits were singles. But the bats – particularly at the bottom of the order – did get it done. Travis Harrison had three hits and a walk. Michael Quesada had two hits and four RBI. Jhonathan Arias, Romy Jimenez and Rory Rhodes all had two hits. Max Kepler had a hit and a walk. Niko Goodrum struck out three times. Goodrum (5) and Harrison (6) both committed errors. Ricardo Arevalo made his second start of the year and still has a 0.00 ERA. After 9 1/3 IP, he has an 11/3 K/BB ratio. Today’s start lasted 4 1/3 IP, allowing five hits and two walks. He struck out seven and surrendered an unearned run. He did have two wild pitches. Tyler Herr struck out four in 2 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, but abandoned both inherited runners. Zach Jones (BB, K) and Dallas Gallant (2 K) both pitched an inning. Gallant, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, is a prospect to watch. GCL TWINS, GCL ORIOLES postponed due to weather. --- Players of the Day for Monday, June 25, 2012 Pitcher of the Day – Cole DeVries Download attachment: DeVries.jpg Hitters of the Day – Michael Quesada Download attachment: quesada.jpeg (arizonawildcats.com) --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, June 26, 2012 Schedule Rochester at Lehigh Valley – RHP Brendan Wise (is replacing Maloney in the rotation. He hasn’t made a start since May 27. Wise is 2-1 with a 4.43 ERA. Of his 42 2/3 innings pitched, 36 2/3 have come in relief.) New Britain vs Trenton – LHP Aaron Thompson (1-2, 5.57) *based on current rotation Ft. Myers vs Tampa – RHP Madison Boer (3-6, 8.41) Beloit at Kane County – RHP Matt Summers (6-4, 4.09) Elizabethton vs Bristol – LHP Corey Kimes (0-0, 4.50) *based on current rotation GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (two games scheduled) – NO STARTERS 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

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join Seth and I tonight at 8:30 (central time) - along with special guest Brandon Warne - to talk about the recent happenings in Twins Territory. Please feel free to ask questions below. We will be sure to answer them. Download this episode - and all other episodes - on iTunes. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/aMJNvJIhUbQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] YouTube page . Everyone has reported to spring training. Minor leaguers report next week. All is good in the world... right? Please leave your questions and/or comments below. We try to block out 15 minutes at the end to answer questions, so feel free to leave them here. Click here to view the article

Monday morning got out to a quick - and good - start when Baseball America released their mid-season Top 50. Byron Buxton was ranked the #1 prospect in all baseball. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Miguel Sano, despite being in a little bit of a funk, checked in only two spots later at #3. It was also nice to see the injured Alex Meyer at #32. Narrowly missing the Top 50 were P Jose Berrios (who pitched for Cedar Rapids today) and New Britain 2B Eddie Rosario. That list is behind the paywall, so no quotes to read. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 3, SCRANTON/WB RAILRIDERS 6 Box Score Andrew Albers certainly didn't step up and grab a rotation spot (if one's available). Albers used 98 pitches to get through five innings. On nine hits, he allowed five runs. He walked two and struck out five. Chris Herrmann hit his first AAA home run. Antoan Richardson had two hits, including a triple. Eric Farris was 3-for-4 with a double. Deibinson Romero had two hits (with a double) and an RBI. Pedro Hernandez is tomorrow's scheduled starter, though P.J. Walters is set to join the team tomorrow as well. It will be interesting to see what transpires. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 2, PORTLAND SEA DOGS 1 Box Score It was quite a performance for Rock Cats' starter Virgil Vasquez. Vasquez cruised through eight shutout, one-hit innings this afternoon before allowing three singles and a run in the 9th. He walked one, while striking out nine. Vasquez, who has bounced between New Britain and Rochester, got his first AA win and dropped his AA ERA to 3.04. Vasquez threw 112 pitches. Download attachment: virgil.jpg Danny Ortiz and Jordan Parraz accounted for the Rock Cats runs on two swings of the bat. In addition to their solo home runs, both added singles. Nate Hanson and Josmil Pinto doubled. Miguel Sano went 0-for-4 with a K. Manager Jeff Smith was ejected after arguing Sano's 1st inning strikeout. Sano is now batting .195 in his stint with New Britain. The Rock Cats will attempt to get back to .500 on Thursday. The Eastern League All-Star game with be hosted by the Rock Cats Wednesday night. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 3, ST. LUCIE METS 5 Box Score After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead, the bullpen failed to clean up Jason Wheeler's bases-loaded mess and fell to the Mets. Jason Wheeler lasted 6.1 innings, with the Miracle ahead 3-2, but it was the error by third baseman Andy Leer to start the inning and what happened after Wheeler left that was too much for the Miracle to overcome. Wheeler allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits. He walked three and struck out four and took the loss. Wheeler left for Nelvin Fuentes, who allowed two to score on a single. Zack Jones allowed a run in an inning of work. Aderlin Mejia and Matt Koch both had two hits. Kennys Vargas drove in two runs. Byron Buxton, batting in the 3-hole, went 0-for-3 with a walk. Jhon Goncalves, who spent some time in New Britain before being sent back to Fort Myers, needs to go back up. He's been the hottest hitter in the Twins system over the last handful of weeks (.412/.512/.647 over his last ten games). Tonight he was 1-for-2 with two walks. He stole a base and, though he committed an error in the outfield, also had two assists - one at home and one at second. Goncalves is not a prospect, but a valuable organizational-type guy. Congratulations to P Matt Summers and OF Mike Kvasnicka, who earlier in the day were named FSL Pitcher and Hitter of the Week. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 5, CLINTON LUMBERKINGS 3 Box Score The Kernels came from behind to win this one, and despite getting only four hits, they used nine walks to help earn the victory. D.J. Hicks drove in two runs on two hits, including a double. J.D. Williams drew two walks and scored twice. Jose Berrios wasn't sharp and lasted only four innings. Tonight, he walked four, hit a batter and allowed seven hits. He had one strikeout and gave up three runs. He did pick two runners off first base though. The bullpen combo of Steven Gruver and Tyler Jones was fantastic. Over five innings, they allowed only two hits and combined to strike out seven. Gruver got the win and Jones the save. Christian Powell makes the 6:35 pm start tomorrow night. ELIZABETHTON SWEPT BY BURLINGTON ROYALS (4-1 and 2-0) Game 1 Box Score Game 2 Box Score Despite being swept in a two-game set, the E-Town pitchers were fairly solid. Hein Robb wasn't great in Game 1. He went 4.2 innings giving up four runs. He only struck out one. Brandon Bixler struck out three to get four outs and Dallas Gallant pitched a hitless final frame. In Game 2, the starting pitcher was Randy Rosario,who is making his case to move up prospect lists. He struck out five in five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks. C.K. Irby made his pro debut and struck out two in an inning. Andrew Ferreira struck out the side in the 7th. Offensively, in the two games, there isn't much to speak of. There were eight hits TOTAL, including the sole extra-base hit, a double by Romy Jimenez, which led to the only run of the day. It's really not worth talking about, writing about or reading about. It wasn't pretty. GCL TWINS 11, GCL RAYS 4 Box Score The GCL Twins used a 16-hit, 11-run attack to improve to 9-6 on the year. The offensive charge was led by Zach Larson (3-for-4, 2B, R, SB, 4 RBI), Jonatan Hinojosa (3-for-4, 2 3B, 3 R, 4 RBI) and Jorge Hernandez (3-for-5, 2 R). Amaurys Minier, who has been up-and-down all season, was up today. He hit two solo home runs and drew a walk. He did commit his 3rd error today though. Fan favorite Nick Blackburn made another rehab start today. He lasted five innings, striking out five. He allowed two runs on six hits. Jared Wilson struck out five in two innings, but also allowed two runs. He's credited with a blown save and a win. Chih-Wei Hu allowed two hits with a strikeout in two innings. Any questions or comments? Please leave below. Click here to view the article

I was having many of the same questions, but I think Brock has now fixed them.

Download attachment: mlb-draft.jpg The people have spoken. If it's mock drafts you want... well, that's what you're going to get. 1. Houston - Carlos Rodon, LHP, NC State - The Astros have employed two very different strategies the last two years: They drafted Carlos Correa who wasn't perceived to be the top prospect to save money to draft guys who dropped later. Last year they took the #1 talent in Mark Appel. If they choose to go with the talent - which they should because the drop off to get savings is significant - Rodon is the answer. [/hr]Every weekday for the next three weeks, Twins Daily will be previewing the June draft. [/hr]2. Miami - Brady Aiken, LHP, California prep - Aiken is a fine consolation prize for a team which had hoped to draft Rodon. Aiken is the safer of the two high school picks and could ascend through the minors much like Dylan Bundy did recently. 3. Chicago White Sox - Tyler Kolek, RHP, Texas prep - This pick was a slam-dunk before Jeff Hoffman got hurt. Now the White Sox are left to choose between Kolek and Alex Jackson. For now, it's Kolek. 4. Chicago Cubs - Jeff Hoffman, RHP, East Carolina - Stay with me here. The Cubs desperately want a pitcher. But why a pitcher that's out for a year? Hoffman still might be the guy that provides front-of-the-rotation ability the soonest (and by that I mean 2017). Tyler Beede might enter the discussion, based on the history he has with their minor league pitching coordinator. 5. Minnesota - Alex Jackson, C/OF, California prep - The Twins stay true to their board and take Jackson. For the record, I currently have their board as 1) Rodon 2) Aiken 3) Jackson 4) Kolek 5) Gordon. Jackson will likely tie up the entire slot ($3.851m). I would also anticipate the Twins having Jackson continue to catch a few times a week while also playing RF in Cedar Rapids next year. 6. Seattle - Aaron Nola, RHP, LSU - Nola's not going to be a front-end guy, but he'll move quickly. So give him a year or so and he'll make a nice #3 behind King Felix and Taijuan Walker. 7. Philadelphia - Nick Gordon, SS, Florida prep - While it seems silly to take a prep shortstop in consecutive drafts (especially after hitting on J.P. Crawford last year), Gordon is the exact type of player (see: crazy athletic) that the Phillies love. 8. Colorado - Kyle Freeland, LHP, Evansville - Freeland could be in play at #7 - the Phillies did draft him out of high school. Freeland grew up in Denver, so no doubt there is some familiarity both ways. 9. Toronto - Trea Turner, SS, NC State - Turner seems like a relatively safe pick here for a team that comes back on the board at #11. 10. New York Mets - Sean Newcomb, LHP, Hartford - Newcomb has solidified his spot in the Top 15 and the Mets are in need of a pitcher. But, they also need hitting and that could lead them to Michael Conforto or Bradley Zimmer. 11. Toronto - Touki Toussaint, RHP, Florida prep - Touki might not be the easiest guy to sign, but when you flash $3m at him. I bet he takes it. 12. Milwaukee - Grant Holmes, RHP, South Carolina prep - The Crew could go many directions, but Holmes is the choice over Beede and Finnegan. 13. San Diego - Michael Conforto, OF, Oregon State - The Padres would likely prefer a player with a higher-ceiling, but getting a guy who has been rumored as high as #6 is not a bad second choice. 14. San Francisco - Tyler Beede, RHP, Vanderbilt - It would be such a Giants thing to do to get a polarizing figure like Beede and turn him into Cy Young. 15. LA Angels - Max Pentecost, C, Kennesaw State - This might turn out to be the steal of the draft. 16. Arizona - Brandon Finnegan, LHP, TCU - How far does the short lefty drop? For today, it's to Arizona. 17. Kansas City - Bradley Zimmer, OF, San Francisco - Zimmer could go higher (or lower) but going to KC would be cute for the Zimmer parents. 18. Washington - Erick Fedde, RHP, UNLV - The Nats go ahead and snap up an injured pitcher because they have stock in cadaver ligament companies or because they are good at rehabbing pitchers back to health. 19. Cincinnati - Sean Reid-Foley, RHP, Florida prep 20. Tampa Bay - Kyle Schwarber, C, Indiana 21. Cleveland - Nick Burdi, RHP, Louisville 22. LA Dodgers - Derek Hill, OF, California prep 23. Detroit - Michael Chavis, 3B, Georgia prep 24. Pittsburgh - AJ Reed, 1B, Kentucky 25. Oakland - Monte Harrison, OF, Missouri prep 26. Boston - Derek Fisher, OF, Virginia 27. St. Louis - Kodi Medeiros, LHP, Hawaii prep Next Thursday, I will project the Top 34 picks. And the morning of the draft, I will go through the top 46. If you'd like a taste of other mock drafts, check out Baseball America, Scout.com, MLB.com and ESPN. If you do compare my final mocks to those that are more prominent, please come up with a scoring system so you can tell me how I rank when it's all said and done. Rip apart, discuss, debate... or do all of them. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join Seth and me tonight as we discuss the last week of action in Twins Territory. We'll be sure to discuss the latest roster moves as well as the recent decision by Aaron Hicks to give up switch-hitting. What's this latest losing streak mean? We'll talk about that too. We're always looking for more topics, so please feel free to leave us some questions below. They can be about the Twins, their minor leagues, the upcoming draft, Twins Hangouts getting some air-time. Oh, and be sure to wish Jeremy a Happy Birthday. We may also see if there's any other news Jeremy has for us. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

For those of you that read this regularly - and clamored for Andrew Albers to get his chance - you were probably pretty excited to see him as good as he was tonight for the Twins. Staff Ace? If a guy that doesn't hit 90 and is the definition of "pitching-to-contact" isn't exactly what the Twins are looking for in a Staff Ace, well... Today was also a big day for current minor leaguers recognized around baseball. Let's take a spin around the minor leagues.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER RED WINGS 9, NORFOLK TIDES 4 (14 innings) Box Score Rochester scored five runs in the 14th inning to put this game away. Chris Parmelee only had one hit (a double) but drove in three and walked four times. Jermaine Mitchell was 5-for-7 with a triple and a home run. Eric Fryer and Eduardo Escobar each had four hits. Logan Darnell pitched five innings (three runs, seven Ks) before turning it over to the bullpen. Edgar Ibarra pitched 1.1 scoreless innings (that's 11.1 scoreless to start his AAA career). A.J. Achter pitched the final three innings and picked up his first AAA win. Earlier in the day, Pat Dean was named International League Pitcher of the Week. The Red Wings are currently 3 games up on Buffalo. Wednesday marks the start of a series against Buffalo at 7:05 ET. The starting pitcher is TBD. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS - Day off Though the team had an off day, there was still RockCat news: Miguel Sano was named Eastern League Hitter of the Week. The RockCats are currently six games out of the playoffs. DJ Baxendale and BJ Hermsen will start tomorrow's doubleheader. The first game is set to being at 5:05 ET. FORT MYERS MIRALCE 3, JUPITER HAMMERHEADS 3 Box Score Despite out-hitting Jupiter (14-5), the Miracle failed to score when it counted (2-for-9 with RISP) and failed to hold onto a lead when it counted (three 8th inning runs allowed). Kennys Vargas hit his 18th HR on the year, among three hits. Byron Buxton also had three hits and a stolen base. He was also caught stealing. Jason Wheeler struck out 10 in seven innings of two-hit ball. Tyler Duffey was responsible for the three unearned runs scoring. Zack Jones couldn't abandon the inherited runners and ended up blowing his 4th save of the season. Tomorrow's starter at St. Lucie at 6:30 ET is TBD. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 3, KANE COUNTY COUGARS 4 Box Score Jorge Polanco had a double and was the only player with a multi-hit game. He also singled. Max Kepler and Adam Brett Walker were each credited with an RBI. Josue Montanez struck out three over seven innings. Dallas Gallant pitched a scoreless inning before Madison Boer surrendered two runs in 2/3 of an inning to blow his first save. The rest of the starting rotation is TBD. Jose Berrios was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Midwest League. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 7, DANVILLE BRAVES 4 Box Score This was the completion of the game started 7/22. Josh Burris allowed one run over the final four innings. He struck out four. Romy Jimenez had a three-run double in today's action. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 2, DANVILLE BRAVES 1 Box Score In today's regularly scheduled game, the E-Twins escaped with a one-run win. Zach Granite, Stuart Turner and Romy Jimenez all had two hits. Stephen Gonsalves made his E-town debut tonight and said it best himself: Download attachment: gonsalves.JPG Luke Bard pitched one inning. He walked a batter, but didn't allow anyone to score. Hein Robb was named the Pitcher of the Week in the Appy League and will pitch at Danville tomorrow night at 7pm ET. GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 6 Box Score Engelb Vielma had two hits and walked three times. Will Hurt also had two hits. Both players stole a base. Nelson Molina was 1-for-1 after entering the game as a pinch runner and has improved his batting average all the way up to .090. Amaurys Miner had a double and an error. Jorge Fernandez hit a home run. Lewis Thorpe wasn't as sharp as he has been lately. He allowed three runs in four innings - two walks, three runs, three strikeouts. These two teams will have a re-match tomorrow. If you have any questions or comments, please leave below. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Join Seth and Jeremy tonight at 8:30 on another edition of Hangout and Talk Twins. We've been asked by those in the Twitterverse to discuss the 25-man possibilities as well as the options that the Twins have with their open 40-man roster spot. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4Fk-gUM7KF8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> You can also view our page. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Of course, it's also the middle of the season where all publications are dropping their Top Prospects Lists, so we'll discuss that too. Leave us your questions here or on Twitter and we'll answer them during the show. To watch live, continue... Please leave your questions here! Click here to view the article

It's always exciting - at least for me - to get to see guys play long before they are major leaguers. Whether it's watching Brian Dozier play for the Beloit Snappers or sit in the Metrodome during a blizzard watching a Tom Windle/Sean Manaea match-up, I enjoy it. I'm no scout, but trying to project how these guys will be against the greatest baseball players in the world is an exercise I enjoy doing. Yesterday, then, would classify as a highlight of my baseball-watching experience. No major leaguers, yet a lot of future All-Stars present. Download attachment: futures.jpg Seth and I were able to catch the U.S. team take batting practice. Baseball-wide, there are a lot of impressive bats that are about to join The Show. But I'm going to keep this entry focused on the three Twins who participated: Jose Berrios, Kennys Vargas and Alex Meyer. JOSE BERRIOS Berrios got the start for the World Team and pitched only the first inning. Baseball America's Josh Norris had him clocked as high as 98 (though I only saw him clocked at 94, 95). He was able to get four swings-and-misses (three on four-seamers, one on a 86 mph change-up) in 12 pitches. Ironically, those four swings-and-misses were the most a Twins starter has had in a single inning at Target Field all year. (I don't know if that is really true. I hope it isn't... but it certainly sounds like it should be.) Berrios has become a near-consensus Top-30 prospect in all baseball, but there are still questions. ESPN's Keith Law sees less in him. Literally. He questions his ability to get downward plane and didn't like his curveball on Sunday. Berrios said after the game that his goal is to make it to Target Field by September. While lofty, it's not impossible... it's not probable either. He threw 103 2/3 regular season innings last year. He's at 101 1/3 already this year. So expect the organization to ramp down his innings as he continues to get accustomed to AA life. Not MLB life. At least not in 2014. KENNYS VARGAS Vargas started at first base and batted cleanup. He struck out in his first and third at-bats. His initial at-bat came right-handed with the next three all coming from the left side of the plate. Vargas' second at-bat was pulled down the right-field line for a double... barely. A good throw would have gotten him out, but the off-line throw allowed him to slide in safely. His final at-bat was a routine groundball to the second baseman. Vargas hit some long home runs during batting practice (before it was open to the public), but game situations continue to expose his long swing that doesn't cover the whole plate. But when he connects, he certainly puts a charge into it. Considering that Vargas is on the 40-man, he could get a September call-up. Long-term, though, there are a lot of questions. Defensively, he's a designated hitter even though he approached the Twins about playing some outfield (and they told him to lose weight). Vargas still doesn't make my Twins Top 10, but his production in AA has him trending the right way. ALEX MEYER Meyer was credited with having the best fastball by Baseball America. And that's all he threw. Four four-seam fastballs. 97, 97, 98, 97. Of course, three of those pitches were put into play. (Cue the pitch-to-contact jokes now.) All three were struck pretty solidly, but it's also a pretty small sample size. There's an outside chance Meyer joins the Twins yet this year, though there is a better chance that we see the Twins start to limit his innings. But of course, it's only just begun. Tonight we'll get to see Brian Dozier in the Home Run Derby. Tomorrow, Glen Perkins and Kurt Suzuki represent the Twins in the All-Star Game. Click here to view the article

The Twins opened up their annual Fenway Series on Monday night with Kevin Correia looking to defend his spot in the rotation. Saturday's injuries to Trevor Plouffe (who went on the disabled list with a rib cage muscle injury) and Eduardo Nunez (who's day-to-day with a hamstring issue) led to Sunday's recall of Pedro Florimon. The Deduno Rotation Watch continues but, as you'll read later, we can eliminate one possibility. Download attachment: top-prospects-10-trevor-may.jpg [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The Twins also announced the signing of 17 additional draft picks (which brings the total to 24). One of the 16 unsigned players is 2nd round pick Nick Burdi, whose college career (hopefully) came to an end today. He allowed an unearned run in one inning pitched. Louisville lost to Texas 4-1. Burdi can now negotiate with the Twins. Texas closer/draftee John Curtiss will see his career continue. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 6, Pawtucket 1 Box Score The day belonged to Trevor May. Most Twins fans hoped that May would be making only a brief tune-up on his way to joining the parent club; instead, he exited with one out in the ninth after losing his shutout. Entering the ninth, May had only allowed two hits on 11 strikeouts. He issued his only two walks of the game in the ninth and also allowed a hit before giving way to the bullpen. He threw 120 pitches on the way to picking up his 7th win of the season. The offense was led by the combo of Deibinson Romero and Josmil Pinto. Pinto paced the lineup with three hits, including a double. Romero had two extra-base hits: a double and a home run. The 8- and 9-hitters, Doug Bernier and Chris Rahl, each had two RBI. The Red Wings improve their record to 40-30, which has them in a tie with Syracuse for the IL North lead. UPDATE: Per our Rochester reporter, C.J. Fee, Sean Gilmartin will be promoted from New Britain to Rochester and make the start tomorrow night. The rest of the rotation will be pushed back. The action around Thursday's original starter, Logan Darnell, and Thursday's new starter, Alex Meyer, should get the speculation wheels turning. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain had a scheduled day off. They start a series in Harrisburg tomorrow with Tyler Duffey on the bump. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 2 Box Score Very quietly, Jason Wheeler is having a heckuva season. He struck out 10 in six innings tonight, allowing only two runs on five hits and two walks. His ERA sits at 2.51 and no one will be mad (besides his manager and teammates) if this was his last start for the Miracle. Brandon Peterson pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out two and Tim Shibuya picked up a two-inning save, striking out three. Of course, after lighting the FSL All-Star Game on fire, Adam Walke returned to his team and was the only hitter in the lineup who failed to get a hit. Jorge Polanco had two hits, including a triple and a walk. Stephen Wickens drove in two. Dalton Hicks had a two-run home run. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids is enjoying their All-Star break before starting their second half on Thursday. The Midwest League All-Star Game is on Tuesday night. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Trevor May, Rochester Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Josmil Pinto, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Pawtucket @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) New Britain @ Harrisburg (6:00 CST) – Tyler Duffey (Listen) Bradenton @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids – All Star Break (Listen) - Kohl Stewart should make an appearance. Please leave questions/comments below. Click here to view the article

The Twins took a break from their schedule on Monday. They open a six-game home stand on Tuesday by welcoming the Boston Red Sox for three games. Download attachment: Mejia_AderlinSwinging_Seth_Orig.jpg If you missed any of the recent transactions, you can view them here. Moving on to the farm… [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Red Wings Report ROCHESTER 1, TOLEDO 2 Box Score When the Red Wings left Rochester after last Sunday's game, they were riding high: Winners of their last three and five of their last six. They were about to embark on a eight-games-in-eight-days road trip. Instead of leaning on hot hitters and shut down pitching, the Red Wings instead come home with their tail fully between their legs... and also without a handful of players now playing for the parent club. Outscored 45-11 over these eight games, including today - all of which were losses - the Red Wings are now 16-20. Today's game started at 10:35 locally on the East Coast and involved a 44-minute delay. The result was still the same: an eighth straight loss, though the one-run deficit was the closest of the road trip. The offense provided four extra base hits: all doubles (Oswaldo Arcia, Eric Farris, Wilkin Ramirez, Eric Fryer) and got the lone run on an Arcia sacrifice fly that scored Fryer. This run ended a scoreless drought that lasted 18 innings and also tied to game in the top of the eighth inning. The only other notable offense game from Farris (a single, the only other hit of the game) and stolen bases by both Farris and Pedro Florimon, who didn't start after committing three errors in his first three games back in AAA. With runners in scoring position, the Red Wings went 0-for-9. Kris Johnson provided the Red Wings with a pretty decent start. He only allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings. Not as solidly, though, he allowed six hits and four walks. He struck out five and now has an ERA of 2.45, which should place him in the Top 15 of the International League once he qualifies (which he now should). Ryan Pressly put in a solid 2 2/3 innings of one-hit ball and struck out three. Aaron Thompson came in for the bottom of the ninth. He proceeded to give up a leadoff double and commit a throwing error on the ensuing sacrifice bunt attempt. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Thompson got a shallow fly to left field for the first out. He was less fortunate with the next batter, who hit a walk-off single to center to end the game. The Red Wings will be back home tomorrow looking to right their ship. Rock Cats Review New Britain enjoyed an off day on Monday. Miracle Matters FORT MYERS 8, BREVARD COUNTY 2 Box Score Matt Tomshaw threw six innings of shutout baseball to pick up his second win and the team’s 21st win of the season on Monday night. Tomshaw allowed five hits and two walks, to go along with two strikeouts, to drop his ERA to 2.31. Mason Melotakis allowed a two-run home run and also struck out two in two innings. Brian Gilbert made his return from the DL and struck out two in a not-so-easy-inning where he allowed two hits and hit a batter. Offensively, the combo of Jonathan Murphy and Aderling Mejia led the charge. With three hits apiece, the two had over half of the team’s 11 hits and drove in exactly half of the eight runs that were scored. In addition to Mejia’s first home run of the season, Stuart Turner also added his first of the year. Tyler Grimes and Murphy added doubles, while Murphy also stole a base. The Miracle improved to 21-16 and trail St. Lucie by only one game. Kernels Nuggets The Kernels scheduled doubleheader was washed out. The games will be made up as doubleheaders on both Tuesday and Wednesday. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Aderling Mejia, Fort Myers PITCHER: Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers TUESDAY’S PROBABLES: Rochester vs Columbus (6:05 PM Central) – Trevor May (Listen) New Britain vs Portland (5:35 PM Central) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Fort Myers @ Brevard County (5:35 PM Central) – Jose Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (5:05 PM Central) – Ethan Mildren and Josue Montanez (Listen) Click here to view the article

Merry Gibsmas! Kyle Gibson made his Major League debut this afternoon in front of a nearly-packed house. If you're waiting to get home to watch Gibson's start on DVR, I won't ruin it for you. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 1 Box Score Offensively, the Red Wings just didn't get it done. Doug Bernier and Jeff Clement both doubled and, throw in a Bernier single, that's all the hits they accounted for today. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Aaron Hicks struck out twice in an 0-for-4 day. He played all nine innings and will soon be activated from the disabled list. Where will he go then? It's being discussed in this thread. As you'd expect in any game where a team only scored one run, the pitching was very good. Pedro Hernandez pitched a complete game for the Wings. In eight innings of work, Pedro allowed only five hits and two walks. He struck out three and gave up the only run in the game. His 96-pitch effort is labeled with a "loss", but it definitely wasn't Hernandez who lost this game. It will be interesting to see what plays out with the Red Wings and Twins pitching staffs. Hernandez has been a fully-capable fill-in and has pitched well even though he's been flipping between a bullpen and starting role. By no means is Hernandez a long-term answer in the rotation, but he's definitely a guy who could be counted on as a LOOGY or as a long-lefty out of the bullpen. Liam Hendriks starts at Syracuse at 4pm tomorrow afternoon. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 5, READING FIGHTIN PHILS 0 Box Score There were no Miguel Sano fireworks tonight. Though there was a Sano double off Philly's Jesse Biddle. Sano struck out twice too. Baseball Prospectus' Jason Parks was in attendance all weekend. He tweeted numerous times about Sano. Most tweets included either #rig or #want, two of Parks' "catch-tags". In a nutshell, Parks loves Sano's power. He loves his arm. He thinks he's a good overall hitter. He thinks he's fast for a big man. And he was very impressed with Sano's defense at 3B. After hearing his perspective, Sano will stick at 3B without a doubt. (That's "flashing all five tools at times in games" if you're scoring at home.) Parks earlier this week called Buxton the top prospect in the game. I guess the Twins view top prospects in the same way Taylor Swift does. #want Nate Hanson, Josmil Pinto, Kyle Knudson and Angel Morales all had two-hit games in this game. Pinto drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario got the night off and A.J. Pettersen filled in a shortstop, walking twice and getting a hit. The story of the night, however, was the pitching performance of Pat Dean. Before tonight, Dean was 3-8 and somewhere in the realm of "lousy" on the season. Tonight, he was the exact opposite. He struck out five in a complete-game, five-hit, two-walk shutout. He did it in exactly 100 pitches. Dean is a lefty - and breathing - so he'll be given every opportunity; it's refreshing to see him throw a gem tonight. Matt Summers will make his second start for the Rock Cats tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 pm. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 12, ST. LUCIE METS 2 Box Scores Jhon Goncalves had a pretty memorable game for the Miracle today. He was 4-for-4 with three doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. He reached base via a walk in his other plate appearance and also stole a base. (Maybe he wasn't ready to just hand over center field to some 19-year-old punk...?) Download attachment: goncalves.jpg Goncalves scores a run against St. Lucie in 2010. Speaking of same, Byron Buxton singled twice to raise his average to .222; he struck out once and both drove in and scored a run. Aderlin Mejia, Matt Koch, Stephen Wickens and Levi Michael also had two-hit games. Keeping in line with pitching gems today, Matt Tomshaw pitched eight innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out the side in the ninth. CEDER RAPIDS KERNELS 2, PEORIA CHIEFS 1 (10 innings) Box Score Brett Lee got a no-decision, but might have had the best start in the system today. He went eight innings and struck out nine. He didn't walk a batter, but allowed four hits. The lone run allowed was unearned, the result of an error by Jorge Polanco. Caleb Brewster pitched two innings and got the win, striking out and walking three. ABW2, who has cooled off since a great first month, was good today going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two walks. Max Kepler doubled in a run. The Kernels won, in extra innings, after Adam Walker singled and stole second. Kepler walked to make it first and second. Tyler Grimes sacrificed the runners over. Michael Quesada came up and a pitching change was made. The new pitcher, Zach Russell, came in and promptly threw a wild pitch. Game over. Kernels improve to 100-0 in the 2nd half of the season. (Ok, sorry... it's 9-0.) Tim Atherton will make his first start of the year for the Kernels tomorrow at 2:05 pm. Mike Pelfrey will be pitching for the Kernels on Monday. Yahtzee! ELIZABETHTON TWINS 4, KINGSPORT METS 5 Box Score E-town dropped their second game of the year (8-2) after scoring the game's first runs (4) in the top of the 8th. Kelvin Ortiz doubled in two runs and Bryan Haar came up a home-run short of the cycle. Zach Granite stole two bases. Hein Robb struck out four in three innings. Carson Goldsmith followed that up with two strikeouts in a inning. Andre Martinez allowed two runs in the eighth. Dallas Gallant cleaned up that mess, stranding both of Martinez's guys. However, Gallant got himself into his own mess in the ninth, which Luis Nunez couldn't get out of. With two outs in the ninth, Nunez allowed a walk-off hit. E-town will try to get back in the left-hand column tomorrow at 5 pm. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 4 Box Score Another good start wasted. Kyle Davis, rehabbing from a shoulder injury, pitched five innings of shutout baseball. He struck out seven. Fernando Romero blew the save, giving up three runs (two earned) in two innings. Markus Solbach gets handed the loss. The winning run scored on an error by the shortstop. Solbach didn't do himself any favors by balking and walking a batter after allowing the winning run to reach base with a single. Zach Larson (double), Lance Ray and Jorge Fernandez (two doubles) all had two-hit games. Amaurys Minier was 1-for-3 with an RBI (and no strikeouts). The GCL will rest on the Seventh Day. Comment or questions? Leave them below! Click here to view the article

Download attachment: mlb-draft.jpg This is the first in a series of weekly installments leading up to the June 5th through 7th draft. The focus is intended to be very Twins-specific. --- As we are all well aware, the Twins have been very active in drafting players out of their own backyard. While this includes Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins, it's also happened 10 times in the last five drafts. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] That is only the players drafted directly from the state and doesn't count players such as Madison Boer and Brandon Peterson, two players who played in the state as preps before moving out of state to play collegiately. All told, the Twins still seem smitten by the talent that's developed in-state and while they don't necessarily take these players early in the draft, they still seem to take them. The point of the following list is to make you aware of some players who are competing locally who are considered draft prospects for the 2014 draft. The Twins may select one, three, five or none of them. But it's fun to know about them nonetheless. There are no Ryan Boldts or Logan Shores in this draft. Or even Mitch Browns. But there still a handful of preps to keep your eyes on as the early June draft approaches. Sam Hentges (LHP, Mounds View HS) is a big-bodied (6-6, 240) lefty who is committed to going to Arkansas next fall. Though Hentges doesn't possess the blazing fastball you might expect from such a big guy (mid-80s who occasionally hit 88 last fall), he does have good mechanics and good control. He's also developing a decent curveball. Hentges also handles the bat well (as a first baseman), so it wouldn't be at all surprising to see him take his two-way ability to Fayetteville for three seasons. The #1-ranked prep in the state according to Perfect Game, Hentges could slip into the back half of the Top 10 rounds if he shows a willingness to sign, though the likelihood is he won't sign and that will push where he gets drafted into the 20-30 round range (much like it did to Shore last year). Nick Rooney (OF, Minnetonka HS) checks in as Perfect Game's #2 prospect in the state. Rooney was Minnetonka's starting quarterback on the football team and is known for his confident - we'll call it - flair. Rooney, who isn't committed anywhere in either football or baseball, shows up to school each day decked out in a suit and tie. Not overly big (6-1, 185) or fast, Rooney gets the most out of what he has and will be someone to keep an eye on this spring. It wouldn't be surprising to see him take his two-sport ability to St. Cloud State, where both his parents attended and his dad played football. Connor Herd (LHP, Holy Family (Victoria) Catholic HS) is a long, projectable (6-4, 180) lefty who is committed to Mercer. Some other preps to keep an eye on in the state of Minnesota are: C Toby Hanson (Delano HS committed to Minnesota), LHP Dalton Lehnen (Lakeville HS committed to Cincinnati) and RHP Michael Baumann (Mahtomedi HS committed to Jacksonville). The player who may be the best "local prep" out of this class, though, falls just on the other side of the Mississippi from Winona. Jeren Kendall (OF, Holmen (WI) HS) is the son of former Phillies farmhand Jeremey Kendall. The Minnesota tie - if proximity isn't good enough - is that his dad was drafted out of Winona State. Though his mom attended school there too, it's not going to be enough to keep him (near) home. If he forgoes signing - which he's recently said he isn't even thinking about - he'll spend the next three seasons at Vanderbilt, a school which traditionally gets most of its commits to sign. Kendall is already showing sub-4.0 second speed from home to first and that speed plays up on the basepaths and in center field. That just leaves his bat to question and even that has shown a lot of improvement. Kendall currently isn't showing up in National Top 50s, but once his season gets going, we could see a guy who starts to get Top 2 Round consideration. Do the Twins need another center fielder? Well, if they make their first two picks count with impact arms, Kendall could be a steal in Round 3 regardless of what's already on the Twins' shelves. There is also one more very intriguing name. And it's intriguing because his grandfather was one of, if not the greatest Minnesota Twin ever: Harmon Killebrew. Grant Hockin (RHP, Pomona, CA) is a 6-3, 195 righty with good baseball in his genes. He's not overpowering, but he throws four solid pitches that he commands well. Doesn't this just sound like something the Twins need to do? Already 18, Hockin is committed to UCLA. Let's just make him a Twin right now. There are also some college guys with Minnesota pasts to know about as the draft comes around: Pat Kelly (2B, Nebraska by way of Red Wing HS) was probably the lead recruiter when it came to getting Ryan Boldt to Lincoln. But Kelly's not a bad ballplayer himself. He just returned to his home state and helped the Cornhuskers sweep the Gophers. While he didn't do a ton offensively over the course of the series, he's still batting over .300 as the cleanup hitter. Kelly might be best off returning for his senior year of college, but could easily be someone that piques the Twins interest on the 3rd day of the draft. Ben Meyer (RHP, Minnesota by way of Totino-Grace HS) is a tall, skinny (6-5, 180) pitcher who is probably the only draft-eligible Gopher to make a positive impression on area scouts. LHP Dalton Sawyer (Waconia HS) is only a sophomore, but he will be sure to draw attention next season. --- If you have any questions or comment, please feel free to leave them below. I'll also take suggestions on where you'd like to see this series go next. ~~~ Thanks to the Twins win over the Royals on Sunday, it means that on Monday you can get 50% off a Large or Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com. Click here to view the article

The Twins and Brewers started a four-game home-and-home set Monday night. Between this series and the upcoming draft, there should be plenty of newsworthy topics. But the newsiest news was dropped after the Kernels game when Jake Mauer informed the media that pitchers Derrick Penilla and Felix Jorge were being sent back to extended spring training. He couldn't confirm who would be taking their places, but floated pitchers Lewis Thorpe and Fernando Romero as possibilities. Download attachment: Lewis_Thorpe_j7nwlrpo_qjlwqra0.jpg TwinsDaily was able to confirm these corresponding moves. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Before moving on to the farm report, please remember that Seth and I will be joined by Eric Pleiss Tuesday night on our weekly Hangout. We'll also have a special 6-7 pm draft night Hangout on Thursday night that includes the Geek himself, John Bonnes. And then of course, we'll be taking it to KFAN at 9pm Thursday night for a live show from the big stage. There will be plenty of draft talk, but other Twins and minor league talk too, because that's what we do. Now down on the farm... RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 1, Gwinnett 6 Box Score How do you spend your days when Alex Meyer starts? Do you turn the lights down and listen to Kenny G? I only ask cause if you did, that would be really weird. His start wasn't great. He threw 78 pitches and only lasted five innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out five. The three-run blast he allowed in the fifth really skewed his stat line. Edgar Ibarra and Michael Tonkin had scoreless outings. Deolis Guerra gave up two runs. Offensively, it took a Brad Nelson solo home run in the 9th to avoid a shutout. Nelson and Deibinson Romero had two-hit games. Chris Colabello continues to struggle. He struck out in all three plate appearances tonight before being ejected in the 6th inning. As great as his first month was, his frustration has now obviously reached a boiling point. Chris Herrmann was placed on the 7-day DL with a sprained wrist. ROCK CATS REVIEW New Britain - OFF DAY C Jairo Rodriguez is being added to the roster. There's some other news right now too. Apparently, the Rock Cats are discussing moving to a new stadium in Hartford; of course, team officials are refuting this claim. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Tampa 8 Box Score David Hurlbut got roughed up in the fourth inning for five runs (only two earned). Those were all the runs he gave up. He struck out five and didn't return for the fifth inning. Brandon Peterson struck out five in two innings. Brian Gilbert struck out two in two scoreless innings. The ninth inning, though, was different. Steven Gruver was roughed up for three runs on four hits and two walks. The offense was lacking. Aderling Mejia drove in both runs... on no hits. Dalton Hicks scored both runs and had the only multi-hit game on the team. Jorge Polanco (17) and Niko Goodrum (14) both committed errors. Stuart Turner was re-activated from the inactive list. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 4, Burlington 6 Box Score Derrick Penilla made his third start - and seventh appearance - in Cedar Rapids and the results weren't encouraging. He held on for five innings, but it wasn't particularly pretty: ten hits and six runs. He struck out only two and allowed three long balls. He was sent back to EST after the game. The duo of Chris Mazza and Hudson Boyd provided four innings of two-hit shutout ball. Jason Kanzler had three hits, a walk and two RBI to bring his batting average up to .309. Mitch Garver had two hits, including a double, to bring his average to .308. Bryan Haar added two hits. Chad Christensen hit his fifth home run of the season, his third in the last seven games. BONUS DOMINICAN DELIVERY DSL Twins 3, DSL Orioles 5 Box Score Lewin Diaz, the prized International Free Agent signee, played his first game in the field (first base) and committed two errors. He also went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He's now 1-for-8 with five strikeouts in his first two games. Roni Tapia, who played third base, has an identical 1-for-8, 5 K line after two games, but Tapia has a double. Tapia trailed only Diaz in the size of their bonus. Williams Ramirez, who was an effective, but wild reliever last year, had a great season debut as a starter, striking out six in four innings. He gave up six hits, but only issued one walk. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Brandon Peterson, Fort Myers Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Jason Kanzler, Cedar Rapids TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester @ Charlotte (6:05 CST) – Logan Darnell (Listen) New Britain vs Akron (5:35 CST) - TBD (Listen) Fort Myers vs Tampa (6:05 CST) – Jason Wheeler (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Wisconsin (7:05 CST) – Aaron Slegers (Listen) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Monday games. Click here to view the article

Seth and Jeremy will be live at 9pm on Tuesday. Right around the time the Twins are hopefully locking up their fourth consecutive win. Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg We'd love to take your questions and you can leave them down below. Some topics we'll likely cover are: -How about this string of starts? -What's up with Josmil Pinto? -Shortstop position in flux? -Minor league roundup (including a look at the Futures Game)[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]-and more... If you miss the live show, you can always catch up on our webpage or on iTunes. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: hangoutspic3.jpg Seth and Jeremy were back for another edition of Twins Hangouts. Jeremy recapped his Kernels trip (and baseball-filled week) at :02. Seth and Jeremy both shared their mid-season Top 10, with lots of details (:10) and that conversation lasted 39 minutes. At the 49-minute mark, the conversation turned into trade deadline talk before discussing Saturday's possible starting pitcher at 1:17. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Seth gave his minor league updates of the difference affiliates: Rochester (1:24), New Britain (1:27), Fort Myers (1:29), Cedar Rapids (1:33), E-town (1:44) and the GCL (1:47). We had a brief Swarzak-for-Gibson discussion at 1:42 and an impromptu injury update at 1:45. We finished off with a 7-minute Q and A session. We encourage you to ask questions. And you can do that below, on Twitter (@twinshangouts) or by watching the show live and using the Q and A feature on our event page. We'd also like to encourage you to leave feedback. And just in case you've missed any episodes, they are all available on our webpage and iTunes page. Click here to view the article