Twins Ties To The WBC Qualifier In Sydney

Certainly there is no surprise that Team Australia is littered with players with Twins connections. The Twins and legendary scout Howie Norsetter have always signed players from Down Under. Briefly, here are the players who have spent time in the Twins system who are on the Australian team.

James Beresford played in the ABL after the holidays for Joe Vavra’s Melbourne Aces team. First, it allowed Beresford more time in front of one of the Twins coaches, but it also helped him prepare for this tournament. Beresford has been in the Twins organization since signing in 2005. He was an International League All-Star for the Rochester Red Wings in 2015 and will return again to the organization in 2016.

Todd Van Steensel has been in the Twins organization twice. He pitched for Elizabethton in 2011 but was released after the season. He returned before the 2014 season after becoming a strong relief pitcher prospect while pitching in the ABL and in Europe. He has put up strong numbers the last two seasons, including more than a strikeout per inning. He should move up to Chattanooga for the 2016 season.

Sam Gibbons has a nice showing once he was promoted to Cedar Rapids in 2015. He posted a 2.89 ERA as a 21-year-old in 15 starts. He signed with the Twins in July of 2011. He is certainly one to watch in 2016.

Logan Wade signed with the Twins as a 19-year-old in 2011. He was the number three hitter and shortstop for the Brisbane Bandits team that just won the Claxton Shield (ABL championship) last week. Apparently his father has five Claxton Shield titles. Wade played in Ft. Myers last year.

Aaron Whitefield was also on that championship Brisbane team. He is a 19-year-old who signed with the Twins in May. He has been playing baseball now for about a year now after playing softball for years. In fact he’s represented Australia in international softball tournaments. At 6-4 and 200 pounds with very good speed, he is certainly intriguing. He played in just seven games in the GCL in 2015.

Luke Hughes signed with the Twins in 2002 and gradually worked his way up the system.In 2010, as a 25-year-old he made his major league debut and in his first at-bat, he homered against Max Scherzer. He played in 96 games for the Twins in 2011 and hit seven homers. He played just four games for the Twins in 2012 before being DFAd and claimed by the A’s. He has not played in the big leagues since 2012. He has played for Perth each winter.

Allan de San Miguel signed as a 16-year-old catcher in 2004. Out of necessity, he played 11 games for Ft. Myers as a 17-year-old in 2005, but overall, his progression through the Twins system was slow. An organizational player, in 2009 he actually played games for Beloit, Ft. Myers, New Britain and Rochester. After the 2010 season he moved on to the Orioles. In 2015, he was back with the Twins, providing some catching depth and getting a few games in for Rochester. He remains a free agent.

Peter Moylan may not be a name you necessarily associate with the Twins. However, that is where he made his US start. Kind of. He signed with the Twins as a 16-year-old in 1995. He pitched for the GCL Twins in 1996 and 1997, and posted ERAs of 4.08 and 4.05. The Twins let him go, and he did not play again in the States until 2006 when he went to AAA for the Braves and despite a 6.83 ERA in 35 games, he debuted in the big leagues with 15 games. He has played in eight big league seasons since, only missing the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery.

Trent Oeltjen signed with the Twins in 2000. He slowly worked his way up the system. Two years in Elizabethton. Two years in Quad Cities. Two years in Ft. Myers. He had a strong 2006 in New Britain and was solid in Rochester in 2007, but he became a free agent and signed with the Diamondbacks. He played 24 games for the Diamondbacks in 2009 and a combined 75 games for the Dodgers between 2010 and 2011. He continued playing AAA ball through the 2014 season. He played for Sydney in the ABL after the 2014 season but announced that it would be his final season. He retired and didn’t play in 2015 but he’s still on their roster. He is one of the more respected players in Australia.

Matt Williams pitched in the Twins minor league system starting in 2005 and culminating with 28 games in New Britain in 2010. Since then, he has been one of the better relief pitchers in the Australian Baseball League and has competed in many international competitions. He is arguably best known, however, for a fantastic beard.

Ryan Rowland-Smith never pitched in a regular season game for the Twins or any of their minor league affiliates. However, the Twins picked the then-22-year-old in the December 2004 Rule 5 draft. He went to spring training with the Twins but was returned to Seattle in late March. He debuted with the Mariners in July of 2007 and pitched 115 games for the Mariners between 2007 and 2010. He played AAA ball for five organizations between 2011 and 2013. Arizona signed him before 2014. He made the Opening Day roster but he was released early in the season and hasn’t played since.

The Twins have signed a lot of players from Australia and several of them have pitched in the big leagues. Many played for the Twins including Grant Balfour, Glenn Williams, Michael Nakamura, and even Melbourne Ace’s GM Justin Huber.

The Phillipines and New Zealand are also in the Sydney WBC Qualifier but they don’t have any Twins connections. However South Africa does have three players with Twins ties. Here is a little bit on each. (Quick Update/Correction - Eric Farris, who got a couple of cups of coffee with the Brewers in 2011 and 2012 and spent 2013-2015 with the Red Wings, was added to the Phillipines roster.)

Hein Robb signed with the Twins in 2008 but spent a year pitching in Australia before coming to the States in 2010. He pitched for the GCL Twins in 2010 and 2011. He was with Elizabethton in 2012 and 2013. In 2013, he also pitched in three games for Cedar Rapids. He played independent ball in 2014. He has been on the South African WBC teams since 2009 when he was just 17 years old.

Callan Pearce signed with the Twins in July of 2013. He has pitched in the GCL the last two years. He is a great athlete and can throw into the low-90s but he has struggled with his control.

19-year-old Rowan Ebersohn was the starting left fielder and seventh-place hitter for South Africa in their first game of the tournament. Just 5-9 he is stocky, strong and still fast. He played in just 27 games in the GCL and hit just .193, but he showed great improvement even during the three months he was with the team. (In Game 1, Ebersohn went 0-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch.)

So there you have it, plenty of reasons to watch the WBC qualifying tournament the next few days. Sure, Team Australia’s games will be played at 2:30 a.m. (Central time) in the United States, but they will be fun to watch.

Next month, there will be two more WBC Qualifier Tournaments. In Mexicali, Team Mexico will host the Czech Republic, Nicaragua and Germany. We have already been told that Max Kepler will not be playing for the German team as he will be at Twins big league camp, hoping to earn an Opening Day roster spot.

Also in mid-March in Panama City, Panama will host Colombia, France and Spain. The games will be played at Rod Carew Stadium.

The fourth WBC Qualifier will not be until late September. In the Bronx, teams from Brazil, Great Britain, Israel and Pakistan will compete for the fourth Qualifier spot in the 2017 WBC.

The four teams to win the Qualifiers will join the teams that finished in the top 12 of the 2013 WBC. Those countries are the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Japan, the Netherlands, Cuba, the United States, Italy, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Venezuela, and Canada. Again, the World Baseball Classic will begin in 2017.