Steven Buhr

The answer is a combination of need and wanting to give some regulars a rest. Jake Mauer wanted to give his regular infielders some rest in the last 2 weeks before the playoffs start and since the Kernels have three catchers, Grimes started taking some balls at 2B. Then both Polanco and Goodrum went on the DL with groin pulls. Grimes has actually looked pretty decent at 2B.

The second straight disappointing start for Berrios may have cost him the opportunity to start the Kernels' first postseason game at Quad Cities next week. Jake Mauer told MSR's Jim Ecker after the game, "we may have to go in another direction." MetroSportsReport.com article can be found clicking below http://metrosportsreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14597:baker-takes-step-in-right-direction-for-cubs&catid=184:about-msr

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2277-Ghost-of-Twins-Past-Haunts-the-Twins-Future

Almost exactly six years ago, I sat several rows up from home plate as Scott Baker took a perfect game in to the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals. While he didn't complete his date with immortality, it was the closest I've ever come to seeing a Major League no-hitter in person. On Wednesday night, I watched Baker continue to try to work his way back to the Big Leagues with the Chicago Cubs with a rehabilitation start for the Kane County Cougars against the future Twins suiting up for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Baker1.jpg Scott Baker, Kane County Cougar (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) I never saw Baker get above 86 mph on the scoreboard, so even giving him an extra tick or two due to the Cedar Rapids scoreboard's reputation for being slightly slower than the speed guns of the scouts who perch directly behind home plate most nights, the former Twins pitcher never hit any higher than 88 mph and he didn't mix in more than a couple of off-speed pitches each inning. But on this night, that was good enough to handcuff the Kernels as only a fifth inning infield single by Adam Brett Walker kept Baker from completing five perfect innings. Jorge Polanco and Travis Harrison each reached the warning track off of Baker in their first plate appearances of the night, but that was the closest anyone came to doing any damage to the former Twins star. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Berrios2.jpg Jose Berrios Jose Berrios, the 19-year-old that Twins fans hope will be one of the anchors of a future Twins rotation, fared far worse. Berrios has been tabbed as the starting pitcher in the first game of the Kernels' postseason next Wednesday, but tonight he struggled with his control. Berrios walked three hitters and gave up five hits, including two home runs, as the Kernels fell 9-1 to Baker's Kane County Cougars. SD Buhr covers the Cedar Rapids Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com. His alter-ego, Jim Crikket, opines about the Twins and Kernels at Knuckleballsblog.com.

I think all five of these guys have a shot to wear a Major League uniform, but I suspect every one of them will need to do it with another organization.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2273-Kernels-Profile-Pitcher-Hudson-Boyd

One of the unique things about Class A minor league baseball is that the season is divided in to two halves. The format allows teams, such as the Kernels, that have strong first halves of the season to qualify for postseason play at the mid-point of the season. It also gives teams that struggle early a chance to start over with a clean slate for the second half. The format benefits teams that experience significant roster turnover that’s common among Class A affiliated teams. Sometimes, it also allows players that get off to a slow start to start over and salvage their seasons, not to mention their prospect status in the eyes of the organizational scouts that will largely determine their futures in professional baseball. Cedar Rapids Kernels pitcher Hudson Boyd is one such player who has benefited from the chance to demonstrate improvement and versatility in the second half of the Kernels’ 2013 season. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Boyd1.jpg Boyd was selected in 2011 by the Minnesota Twins as a supplemental first round pick (55th pick overall) in the First Year Player Draft following his senior year of high school at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Florida. He had a scholarship offer to play baseball at the University of Florida, but ultimately signed with the Twins for a reported $1 million bonus and reported for his first season of professional baseball in 2012 at the Twins’ spring training facility in his home town of Fort Myers. The right-hander weighed 275 pounds the summer after graduating from high school in 2011, according to one Fort Myers media report. The Twins made no secret of their feelings that Boyd would need to work himself in to better shape to survive the long seasons inherent in professional baseball and Boyd had already trimmed several pounds by the time he was pitching for Elizabethton a year ago for the Twins' Rookie level team there. This spring, Boyd was listed at just 225 pounds spread over his 6’ 2” frame when he opened the season in the Kernels’ starting rotation. The new look didn’t translate in to instant success, however. In the first half of the season, Boyd posted a 1-4 record for the Kernels in twelve starts, with a 6.56 ERA. Hitters knocked Boyd around to the tune of a .284 batting average. “Yeah, I think I got a little too obsessed with (dropping weight),” Boyd said in an interview over the past weekend. “I think I was a little too light. I noticed my fastball (velocity) starting to drop.” In his first start of the second half of the season, on the road against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Boyd went just five innings, giving up five earned runs on eight hits, while walking six batters and striking out just one. While Boyd was credited with the win as the Kernels topped Wisconsin 13-9, he was pulled from the rotation after that game and began working out of the Cedar Rapids bullpen. Since that time, in eleven relief appearances covering 21 1/3 innings of work, Boyd has thrown to a 1.69 ERA out of the bullpen, while striking out 16 hitters and holding batters to a .208 batting average. That turnaround alone would be quite a story, but the story doesn’t end there. With several of the Kernels’ starting pitchers nearing innings limits imposed by the Twins organization, the club’s pitching coach, Gary Lucas, has been faced with a need to pull some of the those pitchers from the rotation as the regular season winds to a close. That meant Lucas would need some members of his bullpen to replace those starters in the rotation. Boyd got the news a couple of weeks ago that he was going to be re-inserted in to the starting rotation. The news came as a bit of a surprise, according to Lucas, but Boyd has taken the switch in stride. “Whatever gives us the best chance to win,” Boyd said, “I was down with that.” His first game back in the rotation was a forgettable effort where he failed to survive the third inning, but since that game, he’s steadily improved. On Friday, Boyd threw seven strong innings against the Quad Cities River Bandits, the team the Kernels will be facing in the first round of the Midwest League Playoffs beginning Wednesday, September 4. Boyd gave up just three runs on four hits and a pair of walks on the night, while striking out four. Boyd seemed more comfortable than he was during most of his early-season starts. “I was able to get through seven, which was nice. Just trying to throw a lot more strikes than I was early in the year,” said Boyd. Boyd indicated he has also made some adjustments to his preparation process. “Being in the bullpen, I think I learned some things I didn’t really need to do. I kind of have a better routine and it hasn’t been that big of an adjustment to get back in to it.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Boyd1-480x600.jpg Boyd has been on the Kernels’ roster since Opening Day in April and, as has been the case with most of his team mates, he was quick to praise the local fan base. “It’s been pretty nice. The fans up here are great,” said Boyd. “They’ve been really supportive of our team all year, so it’s been pretty fun to see the big packed crowds we get. I’ve definitely pitched in front of more people up here than I ever have in my life. So it’s been a fun year.” Still, nobody could fault Boyd for being anxious for a promotion to the Class high-A Fort Myers Miracle. Everyone likes the look of the next rung on the organizational ladder, but that’s particularly the case when the next rung means getting to play in your home town. “Yeah, the next step up for us is where I’m from,” Boyd admitted. ”It’s where I live in the off-season. So, the next step up, I’ll just be going home.” Don’t look for Boyd to drop more weight as he prepares for next year, however. In fact, Boyd may look to put back on some of the weight he shed a year ago. If he does add weight, it will be, “good weight,” assured Boyd. “I’m more looking to put it on in my legs than anything - just trying to get a lot stronger in my legs.” This has been the 20-year-old’s first exposure to a full season of professional baseball, giving Boyd a sense of what his body needs to be prepared to endure. “Now, I know what it feels like in August, so I have something to prepare for,” said Boyd. It certainly has not been the kind of season a consensus top 20 Twins prospect might have been wishing for coming in to the season, but he’s accomplished at least one of his goals coming in to the year. Boyd’s fastball has always been highly regarded and scouts have rated his breaking ball as potentially a “plus” pitch, but coming in to the year, Boyd was determined, in his words, “to have a better change-up than I did last year. I feel like I reached that one. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good change-up now.” Adding an effective third pitch to his repertoire is important for any pitching prospect, but critically important for a pitcher with designs on being a future member of a Major League starting rotation. Of course, there are some goals Boyd hasn’t attained. Coming in to the season, he hoped to throw about 130 innings during the year, “but I don’t think I’m going to get there,“ Boyd conceded. “One of the goals I had was to throw a complete game,” added Boyd. “That’s still attainable.” But then there’s the big goal. “Hopefully, we’ll win the championship,” said Boyd. “That will be three rings in three years for me.” Boyd is among a number of Kernels players this season that were part of the Appalachian League championship team at Elizabethton last year. The year before that, Boyd’s high school team won the Florida state championship. Boyd pitched his team through the semi-final game and in to the championship. In the finals, Boyd found another way to contribute. “Won it on a walk-off. I had the walk-off,” Boyd said with a smile. So if fate found Boyd pitching for a National League team someday, would he look forward to an opportunity to swing the bat again? “As long as they only throw fastballs. I wasn’t too fond of those curve balls.” Boyd said he'd like to get a chance to start in the postseason, yet added, “but if they move me back to the bullpen, I’m comfortable doing that, too.” The first two rounds of the Midwest League playoffs are only best two out of three games. That means that a number of the Kernels' current rotation, including Boyd, won't get opportunities to start unless the Kernels progress to at least the second round. Jose Berrios and Brett Lee will start the Kernels' first two postseason games and Tim Atherton will get the call if there's a game three in the first round. Boyd will be back to bullpen duty in round one, but could still get a start in the second round if the Kernels advance.

Jim Ecker of MetroSportsReport.com posted a feature on Kernels pitching coach Gary Lucas. Good insight in to Lucas and how the players and manager Jake Mauer feel about him. As a former pitcher, I loved this quote because it exemplifies the positive reinforcement I see Luke giving guys all the time. "If I'm in their shoes, I don't want to hear about what I just did wrong, I want to hear about how I'm going to get myself out of this jam," he said. "These young kids, they're rattled. So if they can get a positive thought and it carries them, maybe that's the ticket." Here's the link to the article. 'Luke' teaches Kernels the right stuff

Everything I've heard indicates Lee will start one of the games in the first round of the Kernels' postseason.

A little look behind the scenes from the Cedar Rapids Gazette. A day at Veterans Memorial Stadium (video) | TheGazette

Back in September when the Twins and Cedar Rapids Baseball Club announced their agreement to become affiliates, there were references to the Host Family program that Cedar Rapids has for ballplayers. There are also occasional references to the program in stories about the Kernels players. If you'd like to know more about the Host Family program, check out Mike Condon's MSR article at the link below. Host families make Kernels feel at home

Niko Goodrum joined Jorge Polanco on the Kernels' DL today and the Twins promoted infielder Ryan Walker to the Kernels. Walker was the Twins' 18th round pick in this year's draft. Goodrum has a groin pull.

You may be right. What will be interesting to see is how many of the Kernels position players that are ending the season in CR return to start 2014. Murphy, Pineda, Licon, Altobelli, etc., could be back depending on what kind of logjam there is at high-A. Those guys are showing some ability to make contact. That scenario would also seem similar to what the Astros have fielded at Quad Cities this year. Outside of a guy like Correa, they haven't had a lot of hitting, etiher. But their pitching has been good enough to put them in line for posteason play.

In a perfect world, I would bet the Twins (and any other organization that has a Florida spring training facility and a high-A team in the FSL) would prefer if the FSL was a "low-A" league and the Midwest League was for "high A" teams. It's not that easy, of course, since not every MWL affiliation is with teams that train in Florida. Just one of many things that might be done differently if the baseball powers ever tore up the status quo and started over with the whole minor league system. Oh, and as for the team keeping players in the MWL an entire season... I think nine players on the current Kernels roster started the season on the original 25 man roster.

I might just add that how the minor league managers/coaches deal with local media probably goes in to their evaluation. I've had more than one FO visitor in Cedar Rapids this year ask me how the Kernels coaching staff is to work with from a media standpoint. I'm not sure that's a coincidence.

There is obviously so much more that goes in to evaluating minor league managers/coaches than W-L record. Almost anyone could put up a pretty good record if you give him Sano & Rosario for half a season and Buxton, along with a lot of other talent that rose from CR to Ft Myers the second half of their season. But the Twins will, and should, make minor league assignments based on whether they think those staffs are properly developing the prospects they're put in charge of helping to improve. In the process, those managers/coaches are learning how to teach, as well. They're honing their own talents. If they continue to improve, they'll get better assignments either with the Twins or elsewhere. Maybe even MLB jobs, eventually. I just don't think wins and losses dictate much as a primary measurement of their performance, at least not until you're in the final year of an affiliation agreement you want to renew.

I do think the FO response to any player who asks, "what do I have to do to get promoted?" is, "dominate your current level." That said, obviously not EVERY promoted player has done so. Injuries, needs, being in the right place at the right time, status with regard to actual "prospect status," all can lead to promotions. Honestly, you don't have to look far to see promotions this year of players that not only hadn't dominated lower levels, but hadn't even played well. Some of those guys were even released not long after their promotions.

In theory, every player should focus equally every plate appearance on getting a hit, hitting the ball hard, yadda yadda. But over the course of a 140-game minor league season, that's really not practical, imo. From talking to Walker and his coaches, I know he takes pride in driving in runs. When there are potential ribbies out there, he's intent on driving them in. Statistically, does that mean he's successful any more frequently than he would be anyway? I dunno. I'm not smart like you stat-guys. But I do know he's been very good in those situations and it has been enjoyable to watch.

From my admittedly amateur observations during his time in CR, I thought he seemed to get relatively small leads off first base and not always the greatest jump. That said, these guys don't exactly have professional 1st base coaches with years of experience reading pick-off moves to help them out. The 1st base coach is almost always a team mate getting the night off who has less knowledge/experience than Buxton himself at reading pitchers.

I dunno, I would think it might be more likely than some other options. I don't think he burned any bridges with the FO when he left, though he certainly limited their options in terms of who he'd accept a trade to. But that's just business. He had leverage and used it. Last I knew, he still had his home in Fort Myers, making the Twins, Red Sox and maybe the Rays as teams he might lean toward going to spring training with. Of those teams, the Twins would seem to have more room for a reclamation project in their 2014 rotation. It would need to be on an incentive-heavy contract, perhaps with an agreement to allow Santana to walk away if he's not on the active roster by June. If he did make the roster, his name would generate some buzz and sell a few tickets/jerseys. Certainly wouldn't be the worst move either side could make this winter.

Interestingly (and, to me, surprisingly) there were no suspensions handed down by the league. Only fines of undisclosed amounts.

Exactly. Thrylos. you wrap up your aticle by saying, "I just cannot see how objectively anyone can justify ranking Buxton higher than Sano..." You can't see it because you don't even mention or, apparently, consider defensive contributions or abilities. Sano, while apparently improved over the past year, is a mediocre (or worse) corner infielder. He's as likely to cost his team runs with his glove as he is to prevent them. Buxton is an elite fielder at a premium defensive position. Unless the only "objective" measurements you consider are those that go in to wRC+, Buxton absolutely deserves equal consideration in any discussion of POY with Sano. However, with all due respect to the other excellent players mentioned in this thread, I can't see ranking any of them higher than 3rd, behind Sano and Buxton in some order as 1 and 2. They have had elite seasons playing at levels above their chronological ages.

Once you hit September, the record is meaningless. At that point, the Twins will (should) forget all about wins and focus almost exclusively on looking to get innings/at-bats for guys that are auditioning for a spot on next year's roster. Gardenhire's fate should be determined by how the front office feels he has managed this year's roster, such as it is, from April-August.