Jeremy Nygaard

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]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quEHYQQNrMU

Happy Memorial Day! The Twins returned from their west coast trip fresh off a Giant sweeping. They were in action Monday afternoon against the Rangers. It marked the first game that Aaron Hicks played as only a right-handed batter. It also marked the first loss of Aaron Hicks’ career playing as only a right-handed batter. After Sunday’s game, it was announced that both OF Josh Willingham and OF Oswaldo Arcia would be re-joining the Twins. Heading back to Rochester would be OF/1B Chris Colabello and C/OF Chris Herrmann. The Kernels also made a move, sending RP Yorman Landa to the DL and bringing P Chris Mazza up from extended spring training. No one was deserving of the picture, so you’re getting a bunch of the US flag instead. Moving on to the farm… Red Wings Report ROCHESTER 10, SYRACUSE 5 Box Score The Red Wings had 13 hits and pushed across ten runs in Monday’s victory. Chris Rahl hit his second home run. Deibinson Romero had two doubles. Only Dan Rohlfing failed to get a hit. Trevor May didn’t have his best stuff today. It took him 107 pitches to get through five innings. He walked three and struck out three. While he allowed five hits, only one run scored and it was unearned. The bullpen struggled. Matt Hoffman struck out three, but gave up two solo home runs. Michael Tonkin walked three and allowed a run. Aaron Thompson gave up a home run. Rock Cats Review NEW BRITAIN 0, BINGHAMTON 5 Box Score Not much to say about this one. Corey Wimberly doubled and Brad Boyer singled. That was all for the hitting. Pitching-wise, Virgil Vasquez made a start and pitched six innings of four-hit ball. Unfortunately, four runs scored, though only two were earned. He struck out four and walked two. DJ Baxendale made his second appearance (both out of the bullpen) since coming off the disabled list. This outing lasted two innings. He allowed one run on two hits. It should be noted that he threw only 21 pitches. (He threw 14 in his first outing.) It remains to be seen if Baxendale gets stretched out to return to the rotation or continues in his bullpen role. Miracle Matters FORT MYERS – OFF DAY The Miracle were off today and will be back on the field tomorrow. Kernels Nuggets CEDAR RAPIDS 5, BELOIT 6 Box Score The Kernels comeback came up short, scoring three runs in the eighth off back to back home runs by Chad Christensen and Mitchell Garver. Bryan Haar got the Kernels on the board in the top of the fourth with a two-run home run of his own. Those three hitters - the 3-4-5 batters in the lineup - had five of the team's eight hits. Engelb Vielma added a double. Garver also stole his fourth base of the season. Kohl Stewart, who had been so good up until this point, left a lot to be desired today. He walked four in only 2.1 innings. He also gave up five hits which resulted in four runs (all earned). He struck out three. Felix Jorge made his first relief appearances since starting his first eight games. He last 2.2 innings. He gave up a walk and three hits, which resulted in two earned runs. He struck out two. Jorge will be replaced in the rotation by Derrick Penilla. Chris Mazza struck out three and walked one in two hitless innings. Mazza was making his season debut. Alex Muren pitched one inning, allowing a hit. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Deibinson Romero, Rochester Red Wings PITCHER: Chris Mazza, Cedar Rapids Kernels TUESDAY’S PROBABLES: Rochester vs Syracuse (6:05 PM Central) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Britain at Portland (5:00 PM Central) – Pat Dean (Listen) Fort Myers @ Clearwater (6:00 PM Central) – Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Beloit (11:00 AM Central) – Derrick Penilla (Listen)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! The Twins lost the opener against the Giants late Friday night. Game two was also a late-night affair. The Twins return home for a four-game set against the Rangers and we can anticipate a 25-man roster that will undergo some changes between now and then. Though guys may have been deserving of getting that promotion during the week, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to fly guys completely across the country for one or two games. Moving on to the farm… [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Red Wings Report ROCHESTER 0, SCRANTON W/B 2 Box Score Besides James Beresford, who went 3-for-4 with a double, there is very little to talk about offensively. Oswaldo Arcia and Doug Bernier both had one hit and Deibinson Romero had a walk. Other than that, no player reached base. Josh Willingham was lifted after going 0-for-3 with a strikeout. Logan Darnell had a very solid six innings. He allowed three hits and two walks. He struck out four. Unfortunately one of the hits was a home run and the other was a run-scoring double. Ryan Pressly pitched the last two innings of one-hit ball. He struck out two. The loss drops the Red Wings to 25-22. Rock Cats Review NEW BRITAIN 6, BINGHAMTON 8 Box Score The Rock Cats blew two leads tonight en route to dropping to 20-26. The pitching was not stellar. Tyler Duffey gave up nine hits and four runs in only four innings. Dan Turpen gave up four runs while recording five outs. Ryan O'Rourke only pitched to one batter and retired him. Adrian Salcedo took the loss (and dropped to 0-6) by giving up two runs in one inning. Lester Oliveros struck out the side in one inning of work. The offense was good - but not good enough. Corey Wimberly had three hits, with a triple, while driving in two runs. Nate Hanson doubled twice. Tony Thomas had two hits, including a double and drove in three runs. Kennys Vargas made his return to the lineup and got two hits. He did strike out once. Miracle Matters FORT MYERS 6, JUPITER 5 Box Score Despite committing five errors – leading to four unearned runs – the Miracle were able to hang on and get the win, improving to 27-21. Brett Lee was on the mound and didn’t get a lot of help from the team behind him. He did, however, get a lot of groundballs (12:1 GB:FB) and gave up only six hits. Consider, too, that all of the five errors came directly after groundballs and we’re talking about a literal mass-killing of all of the worms at Hammond Stadium. Lee struck out four and walked two. Reports from Brian Sakowski (Perfect Game) had Lee at 89-92 with solid command. He remains a favorite as an under-the-radar prospect for, well… just about everyone who writes about prospects here. Lee is now 5-1 with an ERA of 2.11. Tim Shibuya and Steven Gruver earned holds and Madison Boer recorded two outs by strikeouts for the save. Offensively, the Miracle had a pretty balanced attack as all nine starters recorded hits. Mike Gonzales (5) and Niko Goodrum (1) both hit home runs. Travis Harrison, Adam Walker and Max Kepler all doubled. Goodrum also stole his tenth base of the season. Photo courtesy of Captive Photons Committing tonight's errors were Jorge Polanco (15, 16), Kepler (2, 3) and Anderlin Mejia (3). Kernels Nuggets CEDAR RAPIDS 2, QUAD CITIES 5 Box Score The Kernels blew an early lead with starting pitcher Ethan Mildren couldn't get out of the sixth inning. His final line - 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R (4 ER), 2 BB, K - looks much less impressive than it did after four. While recording only one out in the fifth, he allowed a double , a walk and two home runs in the fifth. Brandon Bixler, who's been phenomenal all season, gave up one hit while recording five outs. Hudson Boyd pitched a perfect final frame. Despite out-hitting Quad Cities 8-6, the Kernels failed to do any damage besides in a two-run second inning. Engelb Vielma and Ryan Walker drove in Jason Kanzler and Bo Altobelli. Chad Christensen stole a base. Vielema stole two bases (they came in the same at-bat). The Kernels are now five games below .500 (22-27). TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Corey Wimberly, Rochester PITCHER: Brett Lee, Fort Myers SUNDAY’S PROBABLES: Rochester at Scranton/WB (12:05 PM Central) – Kris Johnson (Listen) New Britain at Binghamton (5:35 PM Central) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Fort Myers vs Jupiter (3:05 PM Central) – Jose Berrios (Listen) Cedar Rapids at Beloit (4:00 PM Central) – Josue Montanez (Listen)

Listen in on last night's Twins Hangouts podcast. Seth and Jeremy discussed many topics over two hours. The Twins pitching, some of the interesting roster moves coming up in the coming weeks (Willingham, Arcia, Pelfrey, Fuld and who could get sent down). We went through the minor leagues more quickly than normal, but we also spent some time on the draft. An interesting question... Where would some of the top draft prospects rank in our personal Top 10 Twins prospects, and how does that play into your thoughts on who the Twins should select? All episodes available on our webpage and iTunes. -------------------------------- Seth and I will be live again at 9pm tonight. You can turn down the Twins game and listen to us as we spend a couple of hours discussing the team and its system. We'll run the gamut tonight. We'll talk about transactions made (and not made), top performances in both the major league and minor league system and much more. Please leave questions below or @TwinsHangouts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRHUxniy0RM The Twins beat the Padres last night so on Wednesday you can get a half price large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com with the promo code TWINSWIN.

The Twins, who fell back to .500 with yesterday’s loss, have an off day before starting their National League west-coast road-swing. It’s two against the Padres and three against the Giants before starting a four-game home stand against the Rangers. Moving on to the farm… Red Wings Report ROCHESTER 4, TOLEDO 0 Box Score The story of this game revolves around two players: Trevor May and Oswaldo Arcia. Trevor May appeared to being gearing up for the Show with his second straight shutout performance. This one went eight innings on 107 pitches, with six strikeouts. He allowed four hits and four walks. His ERA dropped from 4.11 to 3.35 and he’s also shutting down left-handed batters (who are batting only .185). If it were up to me – and no, no it isn’t – Trevor May would be joining the team next Monday to make his big-league debut at Target Field against the Rangers in place of Kevin Correia. While James Beresford and Deibinson Romero both had two-hit games that included doubles, the story, again, was Oswaldo Arcia. Arcia’s 3-run blast in the fourth inning was more than enough run support and it’s Arcia’s fourth jackjob in his last seven games. While many clamor for his promotion, remember there is clause that prohibits players from being called up within ten days of being optioned (unless there is injury). The Twins will likely use that time to continue to evaluate Chris Colabello (before swapping the players out for each other). Whether its right field or left, I’m hoping the Twins pick one to make Arcia’s permanent home. This game marks the seventh consecutive win for the Red Wings, who now find themselves only one game out of first in the International League North Division. Rock Cats Review NEW BRITAIN 10, RICHMOND 6 Box Score The Rock Cats used a balanced offensively approach – and strung together two big innings – to take the win tonight at New Britain Stadium. Danny Ortiz homered and doubled, driving in two, while Brad Boyer also drove in two on a two-hit night. Tony Thomas scored three times, tripling and stealing a base in his two-hit performance. In all, only Nate Hanson, Brandon Waring and Mike Kvasnicka failed to get hits. Only Waring and Kvasnicka failed to drive in a single run. Kennys Vargas went 1-for-3, bumping his average up to .309 and also walked twice. While I’m not punching his ticket to Rochester anytime soon, Vargas should definitely get a big-league call-up in September. Tyler Duffey picked up his first AA win in his fourth start and while he hasn’t put up stand-out numbers, he’s barely walking anyone (none tonight and three total in 24.2 AA innings). His K/9 is 6.7, which leaves a little to be desired, but would you take 6.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R (4 ER), 0 BB and 4 Ks from the starting pitchers on the Twins staff? Besides the runs… absolutely. Adrian Salcedo came in with two outs in the seventh and allowed an inherited run to score. He struck out two and allowed two hits, recording four outs. Dan Turpen gave up a run in the ninth and also struck out two. Miracle Matters FORT MYERS 2, DAYTONA 4 Box Score After a slow start, Jose Berrios settled down to have arguably his best start as a professional. In seven innings, Berrios allowed five hits and three walks. Two runners came around to score. The highlight though: Ten strikeouts. Berrios’s ten strikeouts were the most he’s had since striking out 11 in August of 2012, his second start in E-town which was only the fourth of his professional career. It wasn’t enough for the win as Travis Harrison committed two errors to charge Brian Gilbert with two unearned runs in two innings to take the loss. Harrison was back at third base, which was obviously a struggle. Miracle play-by-play announcer Brice Zimmerman told TwinsDaily contributor Cody Christie today via Twitter that Berrios has “calmed down his fastball” and is getting better results at 93-94 than he was at 95-96. He also lauded the command that Berrios has shown on his off-speed pitches. Offensively, the team couldn’t muster much. Harrison and John Murphy each drove in a run. Adam Brett Walker doubled. Harrison stole his fourth base. Jorge Polanco got another hit, extending his hit-streak to 16 games. Polanco continues to start at shortstop, where he has 14 errors on the season. Eddie Rosario’s suspension is set to expire this weekend and he will join the Miracle. While his time in Fort Myers isn’t expected to be long, it will make this double-play combo an exciting (or maybe interesting is the better word) one to watch. Kernels Nuggets CEDAR RAPIDS 6, BELOIT 3 Box Score A couple big nights on the offensive side for the Kernels leads the team to victory. Ryan Walker, who joined the Kernels less than a week ago, pounded out four hits from the leadoff position. He tripled, drove in a run and scored three. The star of the night, though, was Cedar Rapids native Chad Christensen. Christensen hit his first and second home runs of the year. He drove in four and crossed home plate three times. He also stole his 10th base of the season. Christensen (right) caught pondering life as a professional ballplayer by well-known sniper/Knuckleballs blogger Jim Crikket. Josue Montanez notched his first victory of the year (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and was relieved by fireballer Yorman Landa. Landa struggled with control (three walks), but allowed only one hit in two innings. He struck out one. Hudson Boyd aka Lil' Broxton earned save number six. He walked one and gave up three hits in two innings. He struck out two. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: Chad Christensen, Cedar Rapids PITCHER: Trevor May, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLES: Rochester vs Toledo (12:05 PM Central) – Scott Diamond (Listen) New Britain vs Richmond (5:35 PM Central) – Sean Gilmartin (Listen) Fort Myers @ Dunedin (5:30 PM Central) – Matt Tomshaw (Listen) Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (12:05 PM Central) – Kohl Stewart (Listen)

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. Every weekday for the next three weeks, Twins Daily will be previewing the June draft. 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.

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 a savings is significant - Rodon is the answer. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]2. Miami - Brady Aiken, LHP, California prep - Aiken is a fine consolation prize for a team who 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 for Jeff Hoffman before he 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 (while also playing RF) a few times a week 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 #6. I mean, 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 too 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, Sout 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, RHP, TCU - How far does the short righty 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 ligaments or because they are good at rehabbing them 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.

This is the fourth in a series of (somewhat) weekly installments leading up to the June 5th through 7th draft. The focus is intended to be very Twins-specific. Part 1: Locals Part 2: The Top Part 3: What's New? --- While you may read the title and think I’m referring to a 10-game Pedro Florimon stretch, I’m actually going to spotlight a handful of players who could be in play when the Twins go on the clock with the 45th overall pick. Forecasting these possibilities is far from easy and the reasons are obvious. It’s hard to predict who the top five players who go off the board will be; it’s impossible to predict who the 44 guys will be that aren’t available for the Twins to choose from. ***I woke up this morning and realized, "Hey, the Twins don't draft 45th." They draft 46th, all the points still remain.*** It is my personal conjecture that the avenue the Twins go with their first round pick will have an effect on how they use their second pick. For example, if the Twins take SS Nick Gordon at #5, they would be less likely to take another shortstop in the second round. While the Twins could conceivably go back-to-back pitchers (or even prep pitchers), that's not a common path they’ve taken (though it was the way chosen in 2013). LHP Mac Marshall (Lilburn, GA): Marshall’s value seemed to spike early as he performed exceptionally at the Perfect Game National Showcase at the Metrodome. He showed more velocity and more raw tools than he ever had previously and he made a case to be a mid- to late-first round pick. In their most recent rankings, both Baseball America and Perfect Game have Marshall rated as the 53rd-best draft prospect, which would put him right in line with the Twins 2nd-round pick. The pitcher that Marshall is now is a three-pitch guy. The lefty typically sits in the 88-91 range, but can reach back and hit as high as 94. Professionally, his best results are going to come when he’s in the high-80s range. Marshall’s best pitch is his 80 mph change-up. Perfect Game calls the pitch the best any draft-eligible lefty throws and also ranks it the 3rd best among all prep pitchers. Rounding out his repertoire, Marshall also throws a curveball with true downhill break. It has the potential to be above-average and it’s best when he’s throwing it in the mid-70s. The young lefty evokes comparisons to current Ray Matt Moore (6-3, 200) and they are about the same size (Marshall is 6-2, 185). LHP Cody Reed (Athens, AL): Reed is being vastly undervalued. Baseball America has Reed ranked #44, while Perfect Game has him all the way down at #81. You can throw those rankings out the window, though. The Twins have this southpaw ranked much, much higher. Reed pitched this summer at 220 with a fastball that barely broke 90. Six months - and apparently 40 pounds of Southern-style cookin’ later - Reed is 260 and pumping mid-90s gas. This Vanderbilt commit is no one-trick pony though. His change-up is a work in progress, but both of his breaking balls (slider and curve) are coming along nicely. Reed has been completely dominant in his final high school season and, according to Baseball America, has recorded 84% of his outs this year via strikeout. He also has a 21-strikeout game to his record. It goes without saying that the conditioning will need to be monitored closely, ain’t nobody want CC Sabathia walking through that door. Only we do. We want the fat CC…. and his Cy Youngs. RHP Michael Cederoth (San Diego St): Cederoth was one of the first names in this draft class that people started to hear about. The reason was that Cederoth was touching 100 mph the fall before his sophomore year. Cederoth has struggled with his control and has found himself in a relief role where his fastball plays up and he can concentrate more on throwing just that and his slider. Baseball America ranks Cederoth #46 and Perfect Game has him at #63. It will be interesting to see which team thinks they can successfully convert the college hard-thrower into a starter, a move the Twins have attempted to make a number of time in the recent past. The knock on Cederoth is that he’s got a violent delivery, one that might be best suited for short stints. SS Ti’Quan Forbes (Columbia, MS): If the Twins end up with Nick Gordon high on their board in the first round and miss, Forbes would be a more-than-adequate consolation prize. Forbes doesn’t come without question marks; in fact, he comes with a toolshed full of them. But the Twins have always been drawn to guys with lots of tools and Forbes has a lot of same qualities that Niko Goodrum did coming out of high school. Forbes is currently 6-4, 180 and, like Goodrum, the perception is that his future position is anywhere but shortstop. His qualities - in both his hands and his balance point - suggest the infield is a reasonable destination. His arm, though, is not the arm you’d want to put deep in the hole. Both Baseball America (55) and Perfect Game (60), rank Forbes as a potential 2nd rounder. Could he be a match for the Twins? OF/RHP Dylan Davis (Oregon State): Davis is gradually turning into one of my “personal cheeseballs”. Not because I think he’s going to turn into the best player from this class, but simply because he’s very unique. Davis was a very highly regarded pitcher coming out of high school. He was throwing mid-90 gas and only a strong commitment to Oregon State kept him from getting drafted. As it turns out, Davis made his contributions first as a hitter and through two rounds in the Cape Cod - a league which churns out Twins draftees at a very high rate - further solidified his status as a future outfielder. But here’s the rub: Davis is up to 97 and has a potentially wipeout slider. But before you turn around and call him a pitcher, remember he’s got, arguably, the most right-handed raw power of any player in this draft. So what the heck do you do? Well, the most likely scenario is that a team drafts him and calls him an outfielder. Maybe a team likes him and tries to make him a starter. Or… maybe a team drafts him as a right fielder and still lets him relieve once or twice a week. I mean, the Twins do love versatility. This would bring the versatility game to a whole new level. ---- So, what do you think?

Join Seth and me tonight at 9:00 pm for the newest episode of our Google Hangout. We will be joined early in the show by a couple of big-time, young left-handed pitching prospects, Stephen Gonsalves and Lewis Thorpe. So, join us live and ask us lots of questions. Now available on our webpage and iTunes. On the agenda: all the moves that have been made (specifically the AAA infield becoming the MLB outfield), some other moves that may still need to be made, some recent popular topics and more. We've also cover any and all things in the minor leagues as it relates to the Twins system. If you have any questions, please leave them below. You can also tweet us @TwinsHangouts if you'd like to go that route in asking questions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQUCzkf__f8

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. 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)

This is the third in a series of (somewhat) weekly installments leading up to the June 5th through 7th draft. The focus is intended to be very Twins-specific. Part 1: Locals Part 2: The Top --- Thursday is Draft Day! Well, the NFL Draft anyway. We're also within a month of the MLB draft. Time to shed some light on recent happenings. When we left off in this series in late April, we looked at a handful of guys that the Twins would possibly consider at #5. Since that point, a lot has happened. As Carlos Rodon rebounded from a rough start and both Brady Aiken and Tyler Kolek jumped up draft boards, many people started projecting that Alex Jackson could be the target for the Twins. And then a few days ago, we started to hear whispers of the Twins potentially drafting Nick Gordon, a prep SS who has really started to impress lately. Those whispers got louder Wednesday morning when Kiley McDaniel released his Top 100 (but really 116). If that were true, it would be ok for the Twins too, as McDaniel had Gordon ranked #5 overall, behind only Aiken, Rodon, Hoffman and Kolek. If the Twins could get the "best player available" at their spot and do it while saving a few hundred thousand dollars... well, that would be the best news possible (for those who subscribe to the BPA theory anyway). It also didn't deviate far from what Chris Crawford thinks (where Gordon is slotted #6 behind the pitchers and Jackson) or what the MLB.com guys think (Gordon ranked #7). But you can see the divide - among experts anyway - though as Perfect Game had Gordon projected to go to the Giants at #14 in their most recent mock draft. And if nothing changed over the next month and the Twins did, in fact, cut a deal with Gordon, it would be fair to say that they did an ok job for themselves. But then things changed... in a hurry. At exactly 11:17 Wednesday morning, Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game tweeted that East Carolina RHP Jeff Hoffman would miss the rest of the season. At some point later, the news came out that he would be undergoing Tommy John surgery. All of a sudden, one of the guys many expected to be off the board by the time the Twins pick will no longer be considered by those same teams. And that deal the Twins could cut with Gordon? Well, now the Cubs are in a better position to make that same deal. McDaniel updated his list (Hoffman drops, Gordon up to #4 and Jackson follows at #5) and Crawford's mock draft (from Wednesday) follows suit: Nick Gordon may be off of the board before the Twins are up. That puts Alex Jackson (and Scott Boras) back in play. I wouldn't expect a discount there. But it also re-opens the chance that the Twins could go the pitching route - where many guys will be available and the team could probably save some money too. Guys like Aaron Nola, Tyler Beede, Kyle Freeland, and Erick Fedde may become more serious options. So why save the money? Well, it simply gives you more options with every other pick you make in the draft. There are a number of prep pitchers that may expect 1st round money that drop to the Twins in the 2nd round. There's also the chance that a guy drafted on the 3rd day could take some of that banked money and sign even though he didn't plan to. If you're looking for a list of those guys, it's too early for that. One guy you can take off that list is J.B. Bukauskas. Bukauskas reclassified into this class (effectively graduating early) to head to UNC early. He's seen a spike in velocity (touching 100) and had some first round steam. This week, he informed MLB teams that he'd like to go undrafted. This type of move isn't unprecedented, Josh Bell did the same thing only to sign for a record-breaking amount of money a few years ago. At the very least, though, on Wednesday we saw two top 50 prospects fall down, if not off, a lot of team's boards. And that's why the draft is so fun... we could have more draft-altering news tomorrow.

Seth and Jeremy will be live at 9pm on Tuesday. Right around the time the Twins are hopefully locking up their fourth consecutive win. 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. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6VMrrtxhDQ

The Twins started their road trip at Progressive Field on Monday night and got a stand-out performance from Kyle Gibson, a big hit from Eddie Escobar and, because it’s the minor league report, the first hit of Danny Santana’s big league career. Earlier Monday, the Red Wings announced that they’ve activated RP Deolis Guerra. The Miracle also made a bullpen swap, adding RP Brandon Peterson and DL'ing closer Brian Gilbert. In case you missed it yesterday, Dalton Hicks was placed on the DL to make room for the return of Byron Buxton. You can view these – and other moves and rosters – here. Moving on to the farm… Red Wings Report ROCHESTER 4, COLUMBUS 6 Box Score With Logan Darnell’s promotion and the Red Wings playing for the fifth(!) straight day, Rochester leaned on LHP Brooks Raley to make a spot start. Raley has worked exclusively out of the bullpen for the Red Wings, but made 25 starts for the Iowa Cubs (PCL) last year, so this wasn’t an entirely new experience. Raley only lasted three innings (throwing 70 pitches), but escaped without giving up a run. It was a brief one hit, three walk, five strikeout performance. Ryan Pressly wasn’t great in relief and allowed three runs on four hits. He lasted only two innings. His ERA is up to 5.52. Matt Hoffman allowed one run in two innings and got four outs on the ground. A.J Achter gave up a two-run blast in the eighth inning to take the loss. James Beresford provided all of Rochester’s offense on one swing – a grand slam. His second career home run. He also had three of the team’s seven hits. Oswaldo Arcia and Eric Fryer added doubles. Rock Cats Review NEW BRITAIN 3, TRENTON 2 (10 INNINGS) Box Score After Lester Oliveros gave up the go-ahead run in the top half of the 10th inning, it looked like the Rock Cats might drop another game below .500. The offense, which had been pretty anemic for the first nine innings, had other ideas. It started with a Reynaldo Rodriguez double and was followed by a Danny Ortiz bunt single. A wild pitch advanced Ortiz to second. Brandon Waring was walked to load the bases with nobody out. Matt Koch "batted" in the game-tying run by letting ball four fly by. Tony Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice. The choice, probably obviously, was to get Ortiz out at home. Corey Wimberly came up with the bases still loaded and promptly drove a pitch to right field to score the winning run, in walk-off fashion. It should also be mentioned that New Britain didn’t score their first run until the bottom of the ninth, when Nate Hanson doubled home Wimberly. Matt Summers pitched five innings of one-run ball. He struck out four and walked one. Daniel Turpen (two innings) and Ryan O’Rourke (one inning) both pitched hitless innings while posting K/9’s of 18.00. Lester Oliveros picked up the win, after leaving the game in line for the loss. Because that’s how baseball works. The benches also cleared after Matt Koch was run in to trying (successfully) to make an out at home. No managers were injured during the disagreement. Miracle Matters FORT MYERS 3, BRADENTON 2 Box Score Day 2 of Return of the Buxton was identical to Day 1: 0-for-3, two strikeouts. (He did have an outfield assist.) The Miracle pick up the win despite only getting two hits (including a Mike Gonzales double) and a walk on Monday. It helped that that all came in the first inning. They added an insurance run in the third as the result of an error. The Miracle were facing Tyler Glasnow, a top prospect who was throwing 98 mph cheese. Matt Tomshaw is credited with the win. He pitched six innings, gave up six hits, allowed an unearned run and struck out two. Mason Melotakis allowed one run in 2.1 innings. He walked and struck out one. Madison Boer picked up save #4 for working the last 2/3 of an inning. Kernels Nuggets CEDAR RAPIDS 5, QUAD CITIES 2 Box Score The Kernels got another strong outing from Ethan Mildren on Monday. The tall righty allowed four hits and a walk over six innings. He struck out only two, but surrendered only two runs and one was unearned. Brandon Bixler picked up the win, but walked three in two innings. Hudson Boyd picked up his 5th save with a hitless ninth inning. The Kernels were aided by four River Bandit errors. Offensively, Zach Larson drove in two runs on two hits. Logan Wade had two hits (one double) and Engelb Vielma had two hits (and drove in a run on sac-fly). Bryan Santy had a two-run double. Ivory Thomas reached base four times (one hit, three walks). Vielma and Larson each stole a base. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY HITTER: James Beresford, Rochester PITCHER: Matt Tomshaw, Fort Myers TUESDAY’S PROBABLES: Rochester @ Columbus (5:35 PM Central) – Kris Johnson (Listen) Trenton @ New Britain (5:35 PM Central) – Taylor Rogers (Listen) Bradenton @ Fort Myers (6:05 PM Central) – Brett Lee (Listen) Cedar Rapids @ Quad Cities (7:00 PM Central) – Josue Montanez (Listen) --- The Danny Santana photo was taken by Ben Garvin of the Pioneer Press and used in a March 3 article. --- ~~~ The Twins beat the Indians on Monday so you can get a half price large or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'twinswin' on Tuesday!