Minor League Report (7/22): Little Bit of Everything

Great night down on the farm for the Twins.

In a 1-0 win, Javier was 1-5 in an eleven inning game.  Urbina got a hit and A. Pena was 2-2 with a walk, extending his run of multi-hit games.

Was going to comment on Varland's great start for Cedar Rapids, but then noticed that your link to the box score takes us to Wednesday's game.  Don't know what to think about Vallimont.  Seems to have a great game like last night, then follows up with a real clunker like last time out, if I am not mistaken.

Expect the new guy from Tampa should be inserted into the Saints rotation, with Ryan joining him as soon as the Olympics are over.  Saw that they are ranked by MLB as the sixth (behind Canterino) and thirteenth (behind Winder) prospects in the Twins organization.  Hopefully, at least one of this duo will be stellar for the Saints and solid with the Twins for the next six years.  Isn't it great adding two quality AAA pitching prospects to the organization.  One related question, however, does this mean that Balazovic will remain at Wichita for the finish to the season?

8 minutes ago, roger said:

Great night down on the farm for the Twins.

Expect the new guy from Tampa should be inserted into the Saints rotation, with Ryan joining him as soon as the Olympics are over.  Saw that they are ranked by MLB as the sixth (behind Canterino) and thirteenth (behind Winder) prospects in the Twins organization.  Hopefully, at least one of this duo will be stellar for the Saints and solid with the Twins for the next six years.  Isn't it great adding two quality AAA pitching prospects to the organization.  One related question, however, does this mean that Balazovic will remain at Wichita for the finish to the season?

Yes, sir it was a good night on the Farm .

You might be right on Blazer Beam.  My guess the whole season has pretty much been a possible late season call up to the Saints, but that the Twins weren't in a rush to bring him up unless it was an absolute emergency.  I'm still thinking though that we see him in St. Paul before the season ends.

Happy to see Valimont bounce back.  I am going to watch his portion of that game before the Twins game tonight.  Really curious about him.  

I am wondering how this trade may affect the rule 5 draft eligible players. I know it's a little early to think about but if we make a number of trades for minor leaguers who will we have to protect or do we include some in trades to get better value?

Looking at your daily recap of the Top 20.  When this trading binge is over next week, will you be updating the list to include those top prospects joining the organization?

I'm not super read up on the Saint's rotation, but are they really hurting so badly for starters that Shoemaker had to get the call?

7 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

I'm not super read up on the Saint's rotation, but are they really hurting so badly for starters that Shoemaker had to get the call?

Shoemaker accepted his assignment to AAA when he didn't have to. It seems reasonable the Twins told him he'd be a starter and have the opportunity to work on his game with the possibility of being recalled or traded. If that's not the case, Shoemaker wouldn't have a good reason to accept an assignment and the Twins would have just released him.

1 minute ago, bean5302 said:

Shoemaker accepted his assignment to AAA when he didn't have to. It seems reasonable the Twins told him he'd be a starter and have the opportunity to work on his game with the possibility of being recalled or traded. If that's not the case, Shoemaker wouldn't have a good reason to accept an assignment and the Twins would have just released him.

Because a handful of starts in AAA would convince the Twins or anyone else that his 11 (mostly disastrous) starts were what, a fluke?  The only possible value Shoemaker has to the Twins right now is if he somehow figures out how to be a usable reliever, and even that is a long shot.  If the Twins promised him starts because they were worried about rotation depth at AAA, then that's fine (as I said, I'm not super up to date on St Paul's rotation).  If they promised him starts for any other reason, then they are wasting everyone's time on a guy who will end his professional relationship with the organization in about 60 days.

Another day, another dinger for Jose Miranda. He's a delight, and I'm thrilled he's having such a great season.

Vallimont is going to be a really interesting prospect to watch. You can live with the walks when he's mowing down hitters like this and not giving up too many hits between Ks. His WHIP is the stat I'll be watching for the rest of the season: if he can keep having outings where it's around 1.0 the rest of the year in AA while maintaining the big K/9 rate, then he's a real prospect who will advance in the organization and contend for a spot in the rotation sooner rather than later. The other good thing is with a K-rate like that, he's a great option to move to the bullpen if he can't make it work consistently in the rotation. Nice floor, interesting ceiling on this guy and should be fun to follow.

3 hours ago, Sparky55 said:

I am wondering how this trade may affect the rule 5 draft eligible players. I know it's a little early to think about but if we make a number of trades for minor leaguers who will we have to protect or do we include some in trades to get better value?

You should check out this thread on 40 Man Roster Management, as I delved into how many spots could be open and how much room there will potentially be for protecting prospects from the Rule 5 draft. It's looking like the Twins will have to protect at least 7 guys at this point.

Seems like a lot of low hanging fruit on the 40 man for next year. Thorpe, Smeltzer, Cave, Garlick, Astudillo, etc.

Hamilton is starting to look like the real deal.  I have to believe they call him up after the deadline.  They need to know if his stuff plays at the MLB level.

6 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Another day, another dinger for Jose Miranda. He's a delight, and I'm thrilled he's having such a great season.

Vallimont is going to be a really interesting prospect to watch. You can live with the walks when he's mowing down hitters like this and not giving up too many hits between Ks. His WHIP is the stat I'll be watching for the rest of the season: if he can keep having outings where it's around 1.0 the rest of the year in AA while maintaining the big K/9 rate, then he's a real prospect who will advance in the organization and contend for a spot in the rotation sooner rather than later. The other good thing is with a K-rate like that, he's a great option to move to the bullpen if he can't make it work consistently in the rotation. Nice floor, interesting ceiling on this guy and should be fun to follow.

I believe Law and several others always saw Vallimont as a reliever not a starter so I agree with you I think his stuff plays even with a slightly higher WHIP as a reliever but, not as a starter.  I still think the Twins will try him as a starter as long as they can to see if he can harness his control.  I have been following him since they got him and can have control issues at times.