With the release just around the corner, I wanted to... well, you know... blog about it.

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(Aaron Hicks autograph on a ball Hicks fouled off in Beloit.)

I remember trying to follow the Twins Minor League system in the early-to-mid-90s. And by "follow", I mean "look at the team stats in the Sunday paper". I would always wonder why guys with really good stats stayed at certain levels longer than other guys who weren't "as good". Or why guys that appeared to be getting it done were sometimes never heard from. Unfortunately, there weren't a ton of places to go to learn, so I'd remember the names of the guys that were drafted in the 1st round and look at their stats once a week.

And look how the times have changed.

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I don't remember how or when I stumbled onto SethSpeaks.net, but it quickly became a site I checked out every morning. I enjoyed that it was a one-stop shop when it came to Twins minor leagues... where else could you find it? Nowhere that I had seen. I purchased the 2009 Prospect Handbook (red cover, 91 pages) and brought it to TwinsFest as a "just-in-case I needed something for guys to sign." I flipped through it tonight and saw that it was signed by Ben Revere, Brian Duensing, Drew Butera and Cole De Vries among others.

If you would have told me at that time I'd be helping out a handful of years later, I would have called you crazy.

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Fast forward a few years and, sure enough, I'm agreeing to contribute to the Handbook. It's been a gratifying experience, to say the least. I'm not going to spoil it, but I'll give you a few teasers:

- It's the longest edition. Ever. When we have to talk about "scaling it back" because there is too much content, that's pretty awesome. Because then it got fifteen pages longer.

- The writers are great. As I've looked over a couple of drafts, I find myself forgetting to edit... I'm too busy enjoying it. From Seth (obviously) to Cody Christie to Jim Crikket to Paul Pleiss, it's tough pick a favorite. It's tougher to put down.

- The prospect profiles are loaded. I made the comment to Seth a few weeks ago that after writing the profiles, you like the player as a prospect even more.

I'll give you an example:

Upon hearing that the Twins wanted to push Trevor Plouffe, I assumed they'd go outside of the organization. I started doing some research to write Deibinson Romero's profile and came to the conclusion that he was ready for AAA; he deserved that shot. And then I started doing some research on Mark Sobolewski. I finished that one - which might be my personal favorite - and realized that he probably deserved that shot just as much. When I heard Terry Ryan tell Phil Mackey on ESPN1500 this past Monday that the Twins were looking for competition, but really liked both Romero and Sobolewski. I didn't bat an eye. I thought, "I do, too."

- There are other gems, too. I'm not going to give too much away, but when I started to send out feelers for things to include in the book I expected to come up empty. I was able to secure one interview that epitomizes the reason this book is written.

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The book will be available soon. And I'm sure you'll see advertisements. Our main objective, though, is to get as much information to you as possible for an affordable price.

The question I get a lot when writing things is, "Are you going to make any money?" The answer I've given about this project is, "Yeah. But it would be difficult to cut me a check small enough that makes me say, 'Well, that wasn't worth it'."

I appreciate the opportunity that Seth has provided and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed working on it.

I am certainly looking forward to this years Prospect Handbook. But when Terry Ryan suggested that Deibinson Romero or Mark Sobolewski would push Trevor Plouffe I had to laugh. These guys are not even in Luke Hughes realm. They remind me at best of Larry Wolfe, Brent Gates and Terry Tiffee. If these are the players to push Plouffe, he has no worries about losing his job. If Terry Ryan is serious, he should take a long look at Freddie Sanchez. Otherwise the competition he intends to use as a push to Trevor is a joke.

I think they're still looking... and, ultimately, I do think they'll add someone. I fear, though, it's not gonna be anyone worthwhile.

Ummm... Brent Gates and Terry Tiffee were both better than Hughes... But I do agree that neither of those guys are really competition for Plouffe other than as bodies who will also take ground balls. (and Hughes is better than Romero or Sobolewski, for what that's worth!)

Nice write up, Jeremy!