Twins Minor League Talk

Every year some prospects exceed expectations and start rising in an organization's top prospect rankings. So, who is the best Twins prospect you've never heard of? The Dodgers originally signed Jair Camargo as a 16-year-old out of Colombia. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .250/.309/.346 (.654) with eight extra-base hits in 41 games. Over the next three seasons, he climbed the Dodgers' organizational ladder, continuing to be young for each level. In 2019, he played 79 games at Low-A with a .642 OPS as a 19-year-old. Minnesota acquired Camargo along with Kenta Maeda for Brusdar Graterol and Luke Raley. His organizat…

Every season some prospects break out to move into a team's long-term plans. Unfortunately, other prospects struggle, and their stock significantly falls. Here are three of the team's top prospects that have struggled in 2022. Getting to the major leagues can be challenging even for baseball's best prospects. Some players work their entire lives to reach the big leagues, and others make their debut before their 20th birthday. All three names below had the potential to impact the Twins roster during the 2022 season, but poor performance and injuries have cast doubt on their top prospect rankings. Minnesota's farm system continues to drop in national rankings, a…

There wasn't a ton of big offensive performances tonight on the farm for the Minnesota Twins affiliates, but Kala'i Rosario stole the show this afternoon in a Mighty Mussels loss. Cody Laweryson was dominant for the Wichita Wind Surge, and Cole Sands made a rehab appearance for the St. Paul Saints. TRANSACTIONS Pitcher Cole Sands began a rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul SAINTS SENTINEL Omaha 5, St. Paul 1 Box Score Louie Varland has been among the best pitchers in the Twins system this season and was on the bump for St. Paul tonight. He worked 4 1/3 innings giving up two runs on four hits. He didn’t allow a walk and struck…

Josh Winder returned from the injured list, Billy Hamilton made an impact in his debut, and a traded away top Twins draft pick even made the start against his former organization. While all four affiliates were able to jump out to early leads, would they be able to hold them? TRANSACTIONS OF Billy Hamilton was officially assigned to the St. Paul Saints, and batted leadoff in their game, playing centerfield. RHP Josh Winder was also activated from the injured list and made the start for the Saints. IF Tim Beckham elected free agency after his DFA earlier in the week. SAINTS SENTINEL Omaha 6, St. Paul 10 Box Score Josh…

Eduardo is, was, and will always be one of my favorite Twins. Snuck him out of the White Sox as a 23 year old for a done Liriano, andwatched him blossom as a Twin. He wasn't a star(though he would get 2 AS berths later on), but was solid, and a great teammate, always a smile. Well, Duran has turned out to be a great acquisition, so who knows when the trade is made? What about the other two? As I understand it, the Twins lost Maciel in Rule 5 last year to Oakland. He is still in the Midwest League at Lansing, and doing well, though at 24 he is now over the average age of his league. As the rare Brazillian, I hope he makes it. Ernie De La Trinidad is one…

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TJ93DZ2 Hey all, I set up a quick 10-question survey on Survey Monkey asking about the Twins Daily minor league coverage. I know there are many who only follow the big-league club, and that's fine, and we need that input too... but specifically, I'm looking for how to go about improving the coverage on the site. Feel free to discuss things here as well, but please take 3-4 minutes to participate in the above survey. I will share any feedback and results with our staff of owners and writers. The goal is obviously to provide the best coverage of all things Twins, and especially if you're looking for minor league information. …

Matt Wallner is having a breakout season at Double- and Triple-A. Is his ceiling similar to a current big-league slugger? The Twins’ current front office selected Matt Wallner with the 39th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. The Minnesota native dominated at Southern Mississippi in three collegiate seasons by hitting .337/.461/.652 (1.113) with 39 doubles and 58 home runs in 189 games. He compiled these tremendous offensive numbers while still being a part-time pitcher during his freshman and sophomore seasons. An arm injury forced him to focus on hitting as a junior, and his raw power made it tough for potential organizations to ignore. After signing with th…

The Return of Randy continued in Iowa on Sunday with the Saints, and that game had plenty of run scoring. After playing one game over two days, the Mighty Mussels played two games on Sunday. Some impressive offensive performances. And we'll keep you updated on the Wichita game throughout the night. TRANSACTIONS OF Billy Hamilton was officially assigned to the FCL Twins. As you know, the FCL season is complete, so this is just a formality. Will be interesting to see where he is assigned in a few days, or if he goes directly to the big-league club. RHP Randy Dobnak was sent to the Saints to continue his rehab assignment. The Mighty Musse…

In about a year, the country is going to turn its eyes on Iowa for non-sports reasons. On Saturday night, the Saints were in Iowa and managed to steal a victory against the Cubs. Whitey Herzog would be proud! Wichita's balanced offense made a big comeback, and the late-season rains in Florida wreaked havoc again on Saturday. TRANSACTIONS OF Leobaldo Cabrera was activated by Wichita. OF Cole Sturgeon was activated by the Wind Surge and then promoted to the Saints. RHPs Ben Heller and Ariel Jurado were also activated by the Saints. SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 3, St. Paul 6 Box score Simeon Woods Richardson took the mound for his sec…

The #MNTwins broke their six-game losing streak with a big win at home against the Giants. There were some terrific starts on the mound in the Twins minor leagues too, and one speedster was a triple away from the cycle. See what all happened in the Twins system on Friday. TRANSACTIONS Recently signed non-drafted free agent LHP Michael Boyle was assigned to Ft. Myers. So was MLB veteran RHP Brock Stewart who has worked his way back to affiliated ball after recovering from injuries the past few seasons? SAINTS SENTINEL Iowa 6, St. Paul 5 Box score Ronny Henriquez has been coming out of the bullpen for the Saints the past couple of months, g…

Thursday night was a tough night for the Twins organization all around. The Twins were on the verge of being swept by Houston (and when you read this, it likely has happened). Meanwhile, all of their minor-league affiliates lost all of their games without tallying more than five hits total in any of their games. The one bright spot in the minor league games was Louie Varland continuing his surge of dominance for his hometown team with his third start in a Saints uniform. TRANSACTIONS The Twins signed OF Billy Hamilton to a Minor League deal and assigned him to the Florida Complex League. Just days after the Twins released him, the team signed free ag…

According to H-Young Park, the Twins have signed former speedster Billy Hamilton to a minor league contract. Don't know how much he's got left in the tank, but I like the idea of possibly putting him in the OF instead of a back-up infielder out there. Anyone know if he's also a switch hitter?

I attended this game last night. Here are my observations.Twins offense was pretty much non existent. 1 run on 3 hits for the game.Varland looked really good.There were a couple of long outs against him.His fastball was 94-95 to start the game and 93-94 in the 6th. 9K's and 1 walk, not to many 3 balls counts.His off speed stuff looked good too. 91 pitches, 62 for strikes. He left with a 1-0 lead. Sisk came in in the 7th and promptly hit a batter and walked the next. a bunt and a sac fly tied the game.Thornberg pitched 2/3 of and inning without issue.His fastball was 94-95.Peacock got the bottom of the 9th and I can't tell you what his stuff looked like because his 2nd pit…

Edouard Julien destroyed Jack Leiter. There were two extra-inning thrillers. Jordan Balazovic took the hill again. And there was a four-hour rain delay. Read about all of this and more in Wednesday’s minor league report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins sent OF Kyle Garlick on a rehab assignment to AAA St. Paul SAINTS (AAA) St. Paul 2, Iowa 4 Box Score The Saints did not start the day well for the Twins minor league affiliates as they fell 4-2 to the Iowa Cubs in an afternoon game. Jordan Balazovic took the ball for St. Paul in this one. Balazovic has had a rough year as he was …

MLB has just updated it's prospect rankings and three Twins have made the top 100. #33 Brooks Lee https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/brooks-lee-686797 #61 Royce Lewis https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/royce-lewis-668904 #97 Emmanuel Rodriguez https://www.mlb.com/prospects/top100/emmanuel-rodriguez-691181 Overall, the Twins' farm system is ranked #22 in MLB. Explanations and the biggest movers. https://www.mlb.com/news/top-30-prospect-lists-midseason-rankings-updates-2022?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage The Guardians are ranked #7 with 5 top 100 players, and the rest of the AL Central teams Twins, Tigers, Royals, and White Sox are literally #22-25, respecti…

I attended the Saints game against the Cubs here in Des Moines today. Here's what I saw. Balazovic's fastball was 94-95 in the first inning. He had trouble throwing any of his other pitches for strikes, so they started sitting on his fastball. Threw 75 pitches in 4 innings. In the 4th he was down to 92 on his fastball. to be honest, he really didn't look very good and he was visibly frustrated during the game. Strotman was, well Strotman. 1 2/3 innings 2 K's 2 walks. hit 97 on the gun once, but was usually 95. Moran looked good in his 1 1/3 innings. 3 K's. Cotton looked good too, but did make a mistake and game up a dinger. Palacios made a really nice play on a ball hit t…

SAINT PAUL – 30 years after beginning his professional career with the Saints, Kevin Millar returns to his first baseball home to see his jersey number 15 retired. The St. Paul Saints cowboyed up the number 15 for all time in honor of 1993 Saint Kevin Millar. As the Saints celebrated their 30th year, Millar became the first player in Saints history to have their jersey number retired. “This year I have my jersey retired at Lamar University in June and we [Millar’s family] talked about coming out here in August and it's truly an honor. While you're playing, all I did was I love baseball, and I wasn’t the best player on the field. I just loved the game mor…

Hits were hard to come by on Tuesday for Minnesota Twins affiliates, much like their major-league team's efforts against the immortal Justin Verlander in Houston. This means it was 0-fer night for the organization. But a slugger in Triple-A went yard again, Randy Dobnak made a rehab appearance, and another pitcher set a career-high in strikeouts. TRANSACTIONS LHP Devin Smeltzer was optioned back to St. Paul, with Aaron Sanchez being added to the Twins roster in his place. To make room on the 40-man roster, Alex Kirilloff was placed on the 60-Day IL. Caleb Hamilton was also recalled as Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day IL. After two appearan…

The Twins recently promoted Simeon Woods Richardson to Triple-A, where he is one step away from making his big-league debut. Can he become better than Jose Berrios? When the Twins traded Jose Berrios, Austin Martin was considered the top prospect in the return package. Over a year later, Martin's prospect stock has dropped, and Simeon Woods Richardson is having a breakout year. Woods Richardson will forever be connected to Berrios and the trade that brought him to the Twins organization. So, does he have the potential to be better than Berrios when all is said and done? The Twins drafted Berrios as a teenager out of Puerto Rico, and he immediately put himself o…

The Twins farm system continues to drop in national rankings, so should fans be concerned about the organization's future? Here are three reasons why the system continues to drop. National rankings of a team's farm systems can be taken with a grain of salt. A lot of hope and high expectations are tied to the team's top prospects, but most fans will focus on whether or not the big-league team is consistently winning. Front offices must find a balance between building homegrown talent and trading for pieces that can help the current roster. Baseball America updated its farm system rankings based on changes from this year's draft and the trade deadline. Minnesota…

While only the short season leagues play on Monday’s, the Dominican Summer League club had the day off so it was all Florida Complex League action. Get caught up on how the action went. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Orioles 2, FCL Twins 1 Box Score The Twins turned to Develson Aria today and got three strong innings. He allowed just a single hit while striking out a batter and walking another. Through four innings, the Orioles had just one hit. It wasn’t just the Orioles finding themselves stifled in this one though. It wasn’t until Rafael Cruz crushed his 2nd home run of the season until the Twins were on the board. Despite tallying a total of six hits, that…

The Minnesota Twins acquired pitching prospect Simeon Woods Richardson along with fellow Twins Daily top 10 prospect Austin Martin in exchange for José Berríos at the 2021 trade deadline. Doing so provided fans with the sugar needed to swallow the bitter medicine that was parting with a fan-favorite and consummate professional. But while Simeon Woods Richardson was billed as one of the building blocks for the future of Twins baseball, the luster of his prospect-dom dulled a little after struggling during his four appearances with the Double-A Wichita Wind Surge. Despite this, the 21-year-old still ranks among the team’s most promising pitching prospects and co…

Donning their Captain America threads, Minnesota's own Matt Wallner was the superhero for the Saints on Sunday afternoon. On top of that, the Kernels and Wind Surge each plated a touchdowns (and extra point) worth of runs in a pair of victories. Get all the info on action from across the farm on Sunday! SAINTS SENTINAL St. Paul 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4 (10) Box Score Forest Lake, Minnesota native Matt Wallner has developed a reputation for blistering the cover off of baseballs; it's why he's ascended the farm system ladder quicker than most in the Twins organization over the past few years. Yet Wallner didn't need a blazing double or walk-off homer…

I would think we'll hear about AFL assignments in the next week or so. I thought it might be fun to try to guess who you think the Twins will send. Typically teams send 3-4 hitters and 3-4 pitchers. Usually it's a total of 7 players. Here are my guesses: Pitchers: Brent Headrick, Blayne Enlow, Denny Bentley, Derek Molina. Hitters: Alex Isola, Austin Martin, Aaron Sabato, Edouard Julien. Coach: Virgil Vazquez or Toby Gardenhire. Your turn...

No time for an intro—Twins affiliates played eight games on Saturday and we have to go over all of them. TRANSACTIONS LHP Devin Smeltzer recalled from St. Paul Saints Sentinel (Game One: 7 Innings) St. Paul 4, Scranton Wilkes-Barre 5 Box Score Mario Sanchez: 3 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K HR: Chris Williams (4), Braden Bishop (2) Multi-hit games: None The Saints lost the first game of their doubleheader. Devin Smeltzer was slated to start this match, but the Twins required his services, and Mario Sanchez became the game-one starter. A 1-2 punch 1st and 2nd inning dashed his hopes of dominating; he walked away from those frames with four earn…

Wichita's Daniel Gossett tossed a no-no, while the Saints, Wind Surge, and Mighty Mussels all picked up wins. TRANSACTIONS None SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 5, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3 Box Score Louie Varland had yet another solid outing for the Saints on Friday, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. Although he did surrender seven hits and three runs—only two earned—the RailRiders struggled to make consistent hard contact. Varland has now struck out 15 batters and walked two in 11 Triple-A innings. While two starts hardly provides definitive proof for upcoming sustained success, Varland’s immediate impact at the highest level of Minor League…

Rain interrupted a couple games down on the farm but it didn’t stop the heart of the DSL Twins’ lineup from raking. Let’s get you caught up! TRANSACTIONS - RHP Jake Jewell claimed off waivers, assigned to Triple-A St.Paul - FCL Twins activated OF Reynaldo Madrigal from the 7-day injured list - C Nate Baez assigned to Low-A Fort Myers - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels transferred 2B Jorel Ortega from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels released C LaRon Smith. - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels activated RHP A.J. Labas from the 60-day injured list. SAINTS SENTINEL The game between the St.Paul Saints and the Scran…

Aaron Sabato had his biggest swing of the year. Jordan Balazovic had an excellent outing. Austin Martin returned from the IL, and Simeon Woods Richardson is one step away from the big leagues. Plus, Minor League affiliates went 4-0! Read about this and more in Wednesday's Minor League Report! Let’s see what happened this Wednesday in the Twins organization. TRANSACTIONS The Twins claimed RHP Jake Jewell off waivers from the Cleveland Guardians and optioned him to AAA St. Paul. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson was promoted from AA Wichita to AAA St. Paul The Saints placed C Roy Morales on the 7-day IL with a lower back strain LHP Aaron Roze…

There was lots of action on the farm on Tuesday, as both the rookie leagues played pseudo-doubleheaders in addition to the regular slate. A top pitching prospect, and heck, the whole team, went off in Double-A, and a new top prospect hit a milestone in Cedar Rapids. TRANSACTIONS LHP Ryan Horstman was assigned to Wichita from Fort Myers. In Cedar Rapids, SS Dalton Shuffield was assigned from the FCL Down in Fort Myers, SS Daniel Ozoria was transferred to the development list, while OF Alex Sayre and SS Ben Ross were assigned from the FCL. In sadder transaction news, RHP Matt Canterino and LHP Steven Klimek were assigned…

Minnesota's farm system ranks in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of baseball. That makes this year's key prospect injuries even tougher to withstand. Injuries impact every farm system, but the Twins have had three of their top-10 prospects suffer season-ending injuries. All three players should return over the next year with various timelines to impact the big-league level. Matt Canterino, SP Injury: Tommy John surgery Expected Return: Fall 2023 On Wednesday, it was announced that Matt Canterino would undergo Tommy John surgery which usually has a 12-month recovery timeline. Canterino has missed significant time throughout his professi…