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Rosario will have a busy off-season as I suspect he will go straight from Arizona to the Puerto Rican Winter League. Will be interesting to see where he plays in both Arizona and P.R. as that will give us a hint of what to expect next year.

Seth, can you please hold off on the death of the GCL Twins for two more days. They are three back of the Red Sox and play them today and tomorrow. If they can take two, they would be one game back with four to go. I don't know who has the tiebreaker, but they have a chance to pull this out...however, they cannot lose either today or tomorrow.

Thanks Seth. Saw the Kernels game a week ago yesterday when they had one of their walk off wins. I now understand what you have been talking about all year...what a wonderful ballpark. Was able to sit about eleven rows up right behind home plate. Learned that umpiring is part of the game as that nights umpire had a more than generous strike zone. Certainly helped Atherton with his big night of K's. Only disappointement was I really wanted to see Walker play and he had the night off. Appears the FSN televised game from New Britain was the night Rosario broke out of his slump. As Dozier continues to improve at the plate, what to do with Eddie becomes an interesting question? Have a great day Seth!

This year's team may be the best group of every day players the Twins will ever send to Cedar Rapids. Next year's team on opening day will be similar to ETon this year...ie, real good pitching with a lot less hitting than this year's version. Certainly the right year to start a new relationship.

I have a question Jeremy. We learned of the signing of Thomas recently with many reports that he had just signed. Doesn't the new CBA require that all players had to sign by July 15th or they couldn't be signed? If that is the case, I expect Thomas signed then and no one learned about it until recently. That is unless there are exceptions to the July 15th rule.

Good morning Seth. Could Wimmers' struggles be a blessing in disquise? Could his struggles make it less likely someone would take him in the Rule 5 draft if not added to the 40-man? Romero is having a nice year for an eighteen year old. Could be another young arm we can begin watching.

Darnell has one other thing going for him Seth....a U of Kentucky lefty!

I will second your comments about guys like Albers, Watkins, Heintz. It will be both interesting and perhaps exciting to see how Albers career plays out. Will he become the next crafty lefty who defies the odds with a nice career? Or will last night be the best game of his career? Right now the Twins need someone from this group of over a half dozen pitchers (Albers, Diamond, Worley, Hendriks, Hernandez and Walters) to step up and be good, joining Gibson and Deduno in an improved rotation in 2014.

Great article Seth. As you know, I have been wondering about this question for awhile. I see Dozier as being Dustin Pedroia lite. Hard working, hustling, very solid defensive second basemen. Decent bat with occassional pop. Kind of guy you like to have on a winning team, a gamer! What to do with Rosario, who some believe will be ready on opening day, is another question. With so many holes in this team, you can't put Dozier on the bench. That means they have to find another spot for Rosario and right field certainly makes the most sense. If my memory is correct, both Gardy and Moliter have previously talked about Rosario's bat being ready for the big leagues.

I have an observation and question Seth. Taylor Rogers continues the string of very good lefties out of UK (Albers, Darnell and Rogers), with a right handed Alex Meyer mixed in. Looking at UK's roster, I see several freshmen lefties who will be draft eligible in 2015. Perhaps the most intriguing is 6'9, 280 pound Chase Mullins. Then there is Kenosha, Wisconsin native Sam Mahar, who will be draft eligible next year. He had a fine freshman season in 2012 before missing all of 2013 with an arm injury. He was Wisconsin's gatorade player of the year a couple years ago...will he be the next lefty the Twins grab out of UK? I see that Wimmers has now made a few rehab starts. The first couple were ok, before yesterday's rough outing. Do you see the Twins adding him to their 40-man roster in November? If they don't, do you see someone drafting him and stashing him on their roster as a 13th pitcher for a year?

Yesterday's game was ugly and it was uglier in person! I expect Hicks would have been sent down earlier had either Mastroianni or Ramirez been available. Both are rehabbing in games now and expect one will be back in a week or so. I agree with Seth regarding the elbow surgery. Not certain that 'minor cleanups' for Diamond, Worley and Hendriks isn't having a major effect on their seasons. Can we expect better from one or two of the three next year? But the disappointment this year has to be the play of Doumit, Willingham, Morneau and Plouffe. I know a lot of you will be critical of anyone who defends Mr. Ryan, but no way could he have foreseen that all four of these would be huge disappointments this year. Maybe not quite as good as last year...but all four this bad? As Jim Souhan wrote today, they were at the trading deadline and 'nobody' wanted their players. Ugggh!

Good morning Seth, I have to wonder if Baxendale's arm is starting to tire? He gave up only one run on five hits through six innings last night. In the seventh, he got one out while allowing three hits and his only walk...with all four scoring. The ETon Twins are the team many of us thought they would be this year. Gone are all the sluggers of recent years. With only one hitter batting over .275 average, they struggle scoring a lot of runs. On the other hand their pitching staff is wonderful as several of last year's young guns for the GCL Twins continue pitching very well. I guess the Twins emphasis on pitching over position players the past couple drafts is beginning to be felt!

Great article Nick, and a hell of a question? The good news is that we will know a lot more in six days. I think it is a given, if he isn't traded and they don't work out an extension that Mr. Ryan will make a qualifying offer and pick up the draft picks if he does sign elsewhere.

Didn't he hit one last year against Cedar Rapids that led to a bench clearing brawl?

Good morning Seth, Saw that Hendriks had a perfect game going about the 4th inning yesterday morning. Watched it from that point, until in the seventh Bonnie needed me to help her with an errand. Came back just in time to see the home run and the score 6-3. So blame it on Bonnie! The good news is that it looks like Hendriks is getting stronger on his way back from his stint on the DL. Lets hope that this is his year to turn it around and become what most of us believe he can be. Are you at the point that you only mention Mejia when he doesn't have two hits, more or less? Must be tiring to write his name what seems like every day. Question about Rosario. With Dozier developing into an excellent defensive second baseman and assuming his bat improves in 2014 and beyond (say .275+/-)...he will have earned a spot in the lineup. What do they do with Rosario? Does he go back to the outfield? Yes, I know that is a year from know and assumes several things happening, but am curious as to your thoughts?

Everyone needs to stop looking at Hendriks' numbers this year and understand why they are what they are. He was pitching with an injured arm early in the season, thus, disregard those stats. Since his first start back from the DL, we are seeing the pitcher he was in 2012. Did the experiences he lived through last year help him become better in his next big league trial? If so, he could be a solid starter for a long time.

Cody, I seem to recall that Hendriks had a minor 'clean up' preocedure on his elbow last winter. Is that correct? If so, like Diamond and Worley, he may not have been 100% at the start of the season. That was confirmed when he wasn't pitching well and went on the DL with an arm problem. If that enabled him to get fully healthy and he is now back to the pitcher we all expect, throw his hat back in the ring and a September callup is likely. Is he the pitcher who comes up when Gibson is shut down at whatever innnings limit he has?

I agree that Pelfrey should continue to get better the rest of the season as he gets further from his surgery. That would lead to the expectation that he could be the pitcher he was again in 2014, which was pretty good. Unless Mr. Ryan gets something worthwhile in July, I see him standing pat until the year end. Pelfrey then becomes one of two players he could consider offerring arbitration to. If Pelfrey accepts, one year of the good Pelfrey is worth $13mm dollars, especially with where the overall budget is. If Boras gets him a multi-year deal elsewhere, the Twins get a lot more than they will later this month.

Seth, Isn't Zach Larson the kid that the Twins took last year in the mid rounds then went well over the $100,000 maximum to sign so he wouldn't go to college? I know he is a Florida kid, do you remember where he was going to college?

I see five that are nearly locks, Logan Darnell, Alex Wimmers (assuming he is healthy and pitching by next month), Kennys Vargas, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler. Also see them adding one or two from a trio of relievers, Achter, Hauser or O'Rourke. Two long shots, in my opinion, could be Danny Ortiz and Deibinson Romero. Ortiz problem is that he is an outfielder on a team loaded with outfield prospects. Romero could be considered if he has a good second half after missing the start of the season.

Well Seth, I guess I am in the minority as I liked it. Yes, I do value the links. But for a change up...this was great.

And sickening comments like this is why some of us defer from coming to this site more often, even though the guys running this site provide fantastic information to the Twins community. If you can't be civil, please refrain from commenting.

Thanks A.J., moving up to AA had to be exciting! Glad to see that you kept Paul busy traveling America.

Seth, Just think back 6-7 years when we were following and reporting on the minor leagues. Not many people knew much about the Twins down on the farm. And the talent level we were all excited about was guys like Deacon Burns, David Winfree, Garrett Guzman, Alex Romero, et. al. Wow, how things have changed. Now the masses are following nearly every team...thanks to the internet and people like you. And the talent? The Twins have come a long ways. Can you wait until they all get here? I know I don't want to.

Thanks!