All Frontier Field Ballot

Professional baseball has been in Rochester for over 140 years. The Red Wings have been an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Baltimore Orioles (1961-2002), and the Minnesota Twins since 2003. Ironically, when the Twins moved their affiliation to Rochester, it was the first year of their tremendous radio voice, Josh Whetzel joined the.

When I saw the ballot for the All Frontier Field team, I couldn’t help but spend some time voting. It is fun to think back to the dozen or more years that I have followed the Twins minor league system and seeing names of some great players and guys who became well-known for their time in New York. Some went on to have long big league careers. Some barely got a cup of coffee. Seeing the names is such a good reminder of how hard this game can be.

So, take five minutes and cast your vote. You can spend more time, if you want, and research the stats of the players in Rochester. You can just vote for your favorite player in each category, or the player who went on to the best career? There is no right or wrong answer for this.

So, let’s walk down memory lane and take a look at the ballot:

First Basemen: Chris Colabello, Garrett Jones, Justin Morneau, Calvin Pickering, Chris Parmelee

My vote goes to Garrett Jones. He spent quite a bit of time in Rochester because the Twins had Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young and Jason Kubel at the positions Jones could have played. So, he just kept putting up monster numbers for the Red Wings. From 2005 through 2008, he played over 105 games for the Red Wings each year and hit a lot of doubles and home runs. He played in just 31 games for the Twins, all in 2007. Since then, he has played in 880 games in the big leagues, mostly with the Pirates, but also some time with the Marlins and Yankees. He’s still playing in 2016, his first year in Japan.

Second Basemen: James Beresford, PJ Forbes, Luis Rodriguez, Brian Roberts, Jerry Hairston

My vote goes to James Beresford. I was a big fan of Rodriguez (when I wrote of him, I just wrote “Luis!!”), and the other three were from the Orioles era. Brian Roberts had a strong big league career. However, in his three-plus seasons with the Rochester, Beresford has continued to get better and add to his game. He came up and struggled some, but he was a .300 hitter and an All-Star in 2015. This year, he’s playing all over the infield.

Third Basemen: Willis Otanez, Ryan Minor, Terry Tiffee, Danny Valencia, Chris Heintz

My vote goes to Terry Tiffee. He spent parts of three seasons with the Red Wings and got a couple of cups of coffee with the Twins as well. He played 91 games for the Twins between 2004 and 2006, and then got into a handful of games with the Dodgers in 2008. Valencia has become the best big leaguer in this bunch. Ryan Minor was quite a prospect for the O’s in the late 90s. Chris Heintz spent quite a bit of time with the Red Wings as well. He was signed as a long-time veteran, and his cup of coffee with the Twins was exciting. He was 31-years-old when he debuted for the Twins and played a total of 34 big league games for the Twins, mostly as a catcher.

Shortstop: Jason Bartlett, Doug Bernier, Jesse Garcia, Aaron Ledesma, Trevor Plouffe

My vote goes to Trevor Plouffe. The Twins really pushed Plouffe up the minor league system despite never putting up big numbers at any level. He reached AAA at age 22 and didn’t debut with the Twins until he was 24, in 2010. He wasn’t always great with the Red Wings, but he grew and improved. He spent parts of four seasons with the Red Wings and has also rehabbed there a couple of times. Bartlett had a solid career in Rochester, where he spent parts of three seasons. I believe he still lives there. Bernier was a very solid producer for the Red Wings for most of three seasons. The Orioles guys didn’t spent a lot of time in Rochester.

Catcher: BJ Waszgis, Tommy Davis, Jose Morales, Drew Butera, Eric Fryer

My vote goes to Jose Morales. He was drafted as a middle infielder, but was immediately moved to catcher. He worked his way up. When the 2007 season was complete, he went back home. When a couple of catchers got hurt, Morales received a September call up. He made one start and went 3-3 with a double. However, he broke his leg sliding into second base in the game and didn’t get back to the big leagues until 2009. He spent parts of four seasons with the Red Wings and hit over .300. Butera had the defense and has had a solid, lucrative big league career. Fryer has had plenty of time and spent three years playing in Rochester.

Outfielders: Danny Clyburn, Lew Ford, Jason Kubel, Dustin Martin, Darnell McDonald, Jason Pridie, Josh Rabe, Michael Restovich, Denard Span, Jim Wawruck.

My three votes go to Dustin Martin, Josh Rabe and Darnell McDonald. I know there are bigger names. Kubel was the IL Rookie of the Year the one partial season he spent there and put up great numbers. Lew Ford spent parts of four seasons there but limited time each year because he spent a lot of time with the big league club. Restovich had a couple of very good years in Rochester after spending a couple of seasons in AAA in the Pacific Coast League. Darnell McDonald was one player who played for Rochester while a member of the Orioles and the Twins. He was a top prospect with the O’s, but by the time he got to the Red Wings, he was move organizational filler. However, he played so well that he earned time with the Twins too. Rabe spent parts of five seasons with the Red Wings. He debuted with the Red Wings in 2003. It wasn’t until 2006 that he finally got a call up to the Twins. He played in 38 games for the Twins over two years and hit three homers. Dustin Martin is in the top 5 in many Rochester categories. He spent three years at the level and went to spring training with the big league club but never got a chance with the Twins. Still just 32, he has played for a couple other organizations, in independent leagues and still in Mexico.

Starting Pitchers:

There are 14 names to consider on this list, so I’m not going to get into them all. However, you will want to click that link to remember how much talent has come through Rochester on the way to Minnesota. We are to vote for five, so here are my picks. Dave Gassner didn’t have a long big league career, though he did win his big league debut, but he spent parts of four seasons with the Red Wings and put up some strong numbers. On the other side of the spectrum, Francisco Liriano dominated the league in 2005 and early in 2006 before coming up to the Twins where he was more impressive than multi-Cy Young winner Johan Santana during his prime. After his Tommy John surgery, he came back to the Red Wings in 2008 and was again very good. Similarly, Kevin Slowey dominated this International League in 2007, posting an ERA under two and captured the league’s Pitcher of the Year award. Boof Bonser racked up some big strikeout numbers during his (parts of) three seasons with the Red Wings. The fifth choice is Brian Duensing who won 20 games in his time with the Red Wings. That doesn’t include the Gold Medal that he won in the 2008 Olympics with Team USA.

There are some impressive pitchers that weren’t in my top five. Andrew Albers is back and had a terrific year with the organization a couple of years ago before returning earlier this season. Liam Hendriks was a tremendous minor league pitcher. And who could forget The Real Deal? Scott Baker pitched well there. Matt Garza didn’t get much time in Rochester during his fast 2006 rise to the big leagues, but he was good and has had a long career. Kyle Gibson put up some solid numbers in Rochester as well, before Tommy John and then after his return.

Relief Pitchers:

We are supposed to vote for two relievers, and for me, the choices are easy. No one who followed the Twins minor leagues from about 2007 through 2011 will be able to not vote for Anthony Slama. No one will ever be able to explain adequately enough to me how a guy who put up the numbers that Slama put up in the minors, including AAA, could possibly not be given more of an opportunity in the big leagues. #Slama Time and #FreeSlama were frequent hashtags even before we knew what hashtags were. Similarly, few have pitched as well in Rochester as AJ Achter did for the Red Wings over the last three years. He didn’t give up many runs, picked up saves, and generally rarely allowed base runners. He got a couple of limited opportunities with the Twins and has been up and down with the Angels a few times already this season. Pat Neshek put up very similar numbers in Rochester, just in less time. He has gone on to a tremendous, long career. Michael Tonkin wasn’t as good as Achter in Rochester, but he still put up terrific numbers and big strikeouts too. I might not argue too much if you wanted one of them on the team. And I’d also understand your votes for Jesse Crain or Bobby Korecky.

Designated Hitter: Karim Garcia, Justin Huber, Randy Ruiz, Julio Vinas, Kevin West

Kevin West gets my vote. He spent a couple of seasons with the Red Wings and hit 34 homers. He was a big man with a lot of power, hitting both doubles and home runs. Unfortunately, he got hurt in his third season with the Red Wings and never got a chance. Garcia had a fairly long career but didn't spend a lot of time in Rochester. Ruiz had one monster season with the Red Wings and earned a 22-game call up to the Twins at age 30. He spent time the next two seasons with Toronto. Huber was similar in that he was older. The former prospect from Australia earned a September call up, but got hurt in his one game with the Twins.

Utility Player: Alex Casilla, Howie Clark, Brian Dinkelman, Matt Tolbert, Tommy Watkins.

My vote goes for Tommy Watkins. Sure Howie Clark spent four seasons with the Red Wings, three with the O's and one with the Twins. He has some impressive numbers. Brian Dinkelman ranks in the top five or six in Red Wings stats during the Twins era and was a Harmon Killebrew Award recipient. He had the cool nickname and chant when he received his call ups to the Twins. Casilla and Tolbert both spent a lot of time back and forth between Rochester and the Twins. But Tommy Watkins is The Mayor. I mean, it's Rochester and he owns it. And, it's my ballot!

Manager:

There are some quality options on the ballot, but I'm going with Gene Glynn. The Red Wings had just come off of losing 91 and 95 games when he took over. Obviously better players help but Gene Glynn less the team to three straight seasons at .500 or better before moving up to the big league club as the Twins 3B coach.

So there you have it, a look at my personal ballot for the All Frontier Field team. This is the 20th season of baseball at the stadium. The Twins have had the Red Wings as their AAA affiliate for 14 years now. Please take 5-10 minutes of time to click here and make your choices for the 20th anniversary Frontier Field team. And share your vote and your memories of some of these players in the comments below.