Jeremy Nygaard

The story on the farm today was... RAIN. Rainouts, specifically. ROCHESTER RED WINGS, NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS, FORT MYERS MIRACLE and GCL TWINS were all postponed. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4654[/ATTACH] CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, PEORIA CHIEFS 3 Box Score Mike Pelfrey packed his family up in the Cities yesterday and made the trek down to Cedar Rapids for a rehab start today. In six frames, he allowed two runs (one home run) and struck out six. He reportedly feels better and should be back in the Twins rotation on Saturday. Mason Melotakis, who would have started today, picked up a three-inning save. Melotakis allowed four hits and a run. He struck out two. Even with the absence of Byron Buxton reaching eight games (and counting), the Kernels have continued their dominance in the second half. Today marked consecutive victory number eleven. The bats were led by Max Kepler, who tripled and homered, who drove in two and scored twice. Niko Goodrum also tripled. Jonathan Murphy, who joined the Kernels when Jeremias Pineda was placed on the DL, was 0-for-2, but contributed an outfield assist. Jose Berrios will stand atop the mound at Pohlman Field tomorrow in Beloit at 7:00 pm. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 8, KINGSPORT METS 4 Box Score E-Town improved to 10-2 with their victory tonight. Zach Granite, batting leadoff, drew four walks, resulting in three runs scored and two stolen bases. Mitch Garver, who was a cheap senior-sign this year, has hit the ball extremely well (a question coming into the draft) and added two more tonight (his fourth multi-hit game out of seven). Dereck Rodriguez doubled. The team as a whole combined to draw 11 walks. Tanner Mendonca made his second start for the defending Appy League Champs. Mendonca struck out six in three innings. He allowed four hits and two runs, but didn't walk anyone. Tim Shibuya came in as a reliever again and pitched three strong innings to pick up his third win. When there is a need in Cedar Rapids, you have to believe Shibuya will move up. Brian Gilbert struck out the side in his inning of relief. E-Town takes on Johnson City tomorrow at 7 pm ET. Leave your questions and/or comment below. The International signing period opens tomorrow... check the site for updates.

As it is every July 2nd, teams begin to announce deals with "International Free Agents". This year is no different and the Twins made an early splash, signing Dominican 1B/OF Lewin Diaz for $1.x million. Diaz actually played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last August, going 1-for-3 against many players who are older and were drafted in last month's draft. As the DH, he batted 7th in a lineup that included new Twin Brian Navaretto. Diaz checked into the game at 6' 3", 195 pounds. Baseball Factory said this about him: Over the last 11 months, however, opinions of Diaz, who was once considered one of the top prospect in this year's market have begin to differ. So what's changed? The now 16-year-old began to fill out. He's now an inch taller (6' 4") and heavier (210). After being considered an "OF", he's now considered a "1B/OF" with the likelihood being that his future home is first base. Diaz has an above-average arm, so there is some feeling that the Twins will allow him the chance to play right field (you know, because they don't have any outfield prospects). The Twins have been enamored with Diaz for quite some time and, scouts believe, paid considerably more for his services than any other team would have. Baseball America had this nugget in their June 26 notebook: With the 4th-highest pool allotment, though, the Twins have that luxury available to get the guy they wanted. The joke many Twins fans will make is that despite Diaz showing huge power in BP, he "turns into a singles hitter in games." Scouting comparisons have included David Ortiz and Ryan Howard, both similar in body-type and left-handed power bats. As with every 16-year-old IFA signing, Diaz is ineligible to play this season. The Twins may be aggressive with him - as they were last year with Amaurys Minier - and have him participate in Fall Instructs. That would likely lead the way towards skipping the DSL and making his pro debut next June in the GCL.

As it is every July 2nd, teams begin to announce deals with "International Free Agents". This year is no different and the Twins made an early splash, signing Dominican 1B/OF Lewin Diaz for $1.x million. Diaz actually played in the Under Armour All-American Game at Wrigley Field last August, going 1-for-3 against many players who are older and were drafted in last month's draft. As the DH, he batted 7th in a lineup that included new Twin Brian Navaretto. Diaz checked into the game at 6' 3", 195 pounds. Baseball Factory said this about him: Over the last 11 months, however, opinions of Diaz, who was once considered one of the top prospect in this year's market have begin to differ. So what's changed? The now 16-year-old began to fill out. He's now an inch taller (6' 4") and heavier (210). After being considered an "OF", he's now considered a "1B/OF" with the likelihood being that his future home is first base. Diaz has an above-average arm, so there is some feeling that the Twins will allow him the chance to play right field (you know, because they don't have any outfield prospects). The Twins have been enamored with Diaz for quite some time and, scouts believe, paid considerably more for his services than any other team would have. Baseball America had this nugget in their June 26 notebook: With the 4th-highest pool allotment, though, the Twins have that luxury available to get the guy they wanted. The joke many Twins fans will make is that despite Diaz showing huge power in BP, he "turns into a singles hitter in games." Scouting comparisons have included David Ortiz and Ryan Howard, both similar in body-type and left-handed power bats. As with every 16-year-old IFA signing, Diaz is ineligible to play this season. The Twins may be aggressive with him - as they were last year with Amaurys Minier - and have him participate in Fall Instructs. That would likely lead the way towards skipping the DSL and making his pro debut next June in the GCL.

Merry Gibsmas! Kyle Gibson made his Major League debut this afternoon in front of a nearly-packed house. If you're waiting to get home to watch Gibson's start on DVR, I won't ruin it for you. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 0, SYRACUSE CHIEFS 1 Box Score Offensively, the Red Wings just didn't get it done. Doug Bernier and Jeff Clement both doubled and, throw in a Bernier single, that's all the hits they accounted for today. Aaron Hicks struck out twice in an 0-for-4 day. He played all nine innings and will soon be activated from the disabled list. Where will he go then? It's being discussed in this thread. As you'd expect in any game where a team only scored one run, the pitching was very good. Pedro Hernandez pitched a complete game for the Wings. In eight innings of work, Pedro allowed only five hits and two walks. He struck out three and gave up the only run in the game. His 96-pitch effort still is labeled with a "loss", but it definitely wasn't Hernandez who lost this game. It will be interesting to see what plays out with the Red Wings and Twins pitching staffs. Hernandez has been a fully-capable fill-in and has pitched well even though he's been flipping between a bullpen and starting role. By no means is Hernandez a long-term answer in the rotation, but he's definitely a guy that should be able to be counted on as a LOOGY or as a long-lefty out of the bullpen. Liam Hendriks starts at Syracuse at 4pm tomorrow afternoon. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS 5, READING FIGHTIN PHILS 0 Box Score There were no Miguel Sano fireworks tonight. Though there was a double off Philly's Jesse Biddle. Sano struck out twice too. Baseball Prospectus' Jason Parks was in attendance all weekend. He tweeted numerous times about Sano. Most tweets included either #rig or #want, two of Parks' "catch-tags". In a nutshell, Parks loves Sano's power. He loves his arm. He thinks he's a good overall hitter. He thinks he's fast for a big man. And he was very impressed with Sano's defense at 3B. After hearing his perspective, Sano will stick at 3B without a doubt. (That's "flashing all five tools at times in games" if you're scoring at home.) Parks earlier this week called Buxton the top prospect in the game. I guess the Twins view top prospects in the same way Taylor Swift does. #want Nate Hanson, Josmil Pinto, Kyle Knudson and Angel Morales all had two-hit games. Pinto drove in three runs. Eddie Rosario got the night off and A.J. Pettersen filled in a shortstop, walking twice and getting a hit. The story of the night, however, was the pitching performance of Pat Dean. Before tonight, Dean was 3-8 and somewhere in the realm of "lousy" on the season. Tonight, he was the exact opposite. He struck out five in a complete-game, five-hit, two-walk shutout. He did it in exactly 100 pitches. Dean is a lefty - and breathing - so he'll be given every opportunity, but it's refreshing for him to throw a gem tonight. Matt Summers will make his second start for the Rock Cats tomorrow afternoon at 12:35 pm. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 12, ST. LUCIE METS 2 Box Scores Jhon Goncalves had a pretty memorial game for the Miracle today. He was 4-for-4 with three doubles, five RBI and two runs scored. He reached base by walk in his other plate appearance and also stole a base. (Maybe he wasn't ready to just hand over center field to some 19-year-old punk...?) [ATTACH=CONFIG]4625[/ATTACH] Goncalves scores a run against St. Lucie in 2010. Speaking of, Byron Buxton singled twice to raise his average to .222. He struck out once but drove in and scored a run. Aderlin Mejia, Matt Koch, Stephen Wickens and Levi Michael all had two-hit games too. Keeping in line with pitching gems today, Matt Tomshaw pitched eight innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks. He struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes struck out the side in the ninth. CEDER RAPIDS KERNELS 2, PEORIA CHIEFS 1 (10 innings) Box Score Brett Lee got a no-decision, but might have had the best start in the system today. He went eight innings and struck out nine. He didn't walk a batter, but allowed four hits. The lone run allowed was unearned, the result of an error by Jorge Polanco. Caleb Brewster pitched two innings and got the win, striking out and walking three. ABW2, who has cooled off since a great first month, was good today going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two walks. Max Kepler doubled in a run. The Kernels won, in extra innings, after Adam Walker singled and stole second. Kepler walked to make it first and second. Tyler Grimes sacrificed the runners over. Michael Quesada came up and a pitching change was made. The new pitcher, Zach Russell, came in and promptly threw a wild pitch. Game over. Kernels improve to 100-0 in the 2nd half of the season. (Ok, sorry... it's 9-0.) Tim Atherton will make his first start of the year tomorrow at 2:05 pm. Mike Pelfrey will be pitching for the Kernels on Monday. Yahtzee! ELIZABETHTON TWINS 4, KINGSPORT METS 5 Box Score E-town dropped their second game of the year (8-2) after scoring the game's first runs (4) in the top of the 8th. Kelvin Ortiz doubled in two runs and Bryan Haar came up a home-run short of the cycle. Zach Granite stole two bases. Hein Robb struck out four in three innings. Carson Goldsmith followed that up with two strikeouts in a inning. Andre Martinez allowed two runs in the eighth. Dallas Gallant cleaned up that mess, stranding both of Martinez's guys. However, Gallant got himself into his own mess in the ninth, which Luis Nunez couldn't get out of. With two outs in the ninth, Nunez allowed a walk-off hit. E-town will try to get back in the left-hand column tomorrow at 5 pm. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RED SOX 4 Box Score Another good start wasted. Kyle Davis, rehabbing from a shoulder injury, pitched five innings of shutout baseball. He struck out seven. Fernando Romero blew the save giving up three runs (two earned) in two innings. Markus Solbach gets handed the loss. The winning run scored on an error by the shortstop. Solbach didn't do himself any favors by balking and walking a batter after allowing the winning run to reach base with a single. Zach Larson (double), Lance Ray and Jorge Fernandez (two doubles) all had two-hit games. Amaurys Minier was 1-for-3 with an RBI (and no strikeouts). The GCL will rest on the Seventh Day. Comment or questions? Leave them below!

The Twins are off today. They're in Miami, trick. But there was plenty going on in the minor leagues with both games and transactions. The transactions are all noted below, but essentially the promotion of Kyle Gibson had a trickle-down effect from AA-AAA (Logan Darnell) to hi-A to AA (Matt Summers) and Byron Buxton filling the Miracle roster spot. Esmerling Vasquez was released from the Red Wings' disabled list. (Noteworthy mostly because it got me my first mention on MLB Trade Rumors.) ROCHESTER RED WINGS 2, LOUISVILLE BATS 4 Box Score So after clawing and scratching and kicking their way back to .500, the Red Wings lose tonight and drop one game below the mark. The offense only mustered eight hits, including an Antoan Richardson double. Jeff Clement drove in both runs with a 2nd-inning single. Liam Hendriks struck out five in six innings. He allowed ten hits and four runs (three earned). Shairon Martis pitched two scoreless innings. Chris Herrmann started the game behind the plate and was replaced by Drew Butera for no good (known) reason. It may be nothing. It may be injury. It may foreshadow a move being made by the parent club. Speculate amongst yourselves. Congrats to Vance Worley, who was named International League Pitcher of the Week. Filling Kyle Gibson's roster spot will be LP Logan Darnell, who has spent a long time in New Britain. Darnell was recently named the Eastern League's Pitcher of the Week. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 6, ALTOONA CURVE 4 Box Score (game 1) On the strength of one crooked inning - a six-run second inning - the RockCats were able to win the first game of today's doubleheader. The highlight of that inning was a three-RBI triple by 2B Eddie Rosario. Rosario added a single to go 2-for-3 and entered game two with a .279 batting average. Miguel Sano went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and his 3rd AA error and sits at .158. Also struggling since his promotion, Angel Morales went 0-for-2 and is now batting a Hicksian .086. Nate Hanson has had a fantastic June. He doubled and is now batting .302. Pat Dean recorded two outs in the fifth before he was relieved. He allowed 11 hits and four runs. He didn't walk or strike out anyone. A.J Achter and Edgar Ibarra got the win and save, respectively, going the last 2 1/3 innings, each striking out two. NEW BRITAIN ROCKCATS 0, ALTOONA CURVE 2 Box Score (game 2) Well, the offense in game 2 was brutal. It's probably a good thing it only lasted seven innings. Batting leadoff, Eddie Rosario had a hit and a walk. (He was also picked off of first base... Spanam Style and had an error.) Danny Ortiz had a single. That's it. Miguel Sano was 0-for-2 and grounded into a double-play. Yeah, this baseball thing is hard. There were some that clamored for Sano to get a few at-bats when Plouffe went down. I think you're witnessing the reason why that was never going to happen. Pitching-wise, B.J. Hermsen did okay in a spot start. In three innings, he only gave up a run on four hits and a walk. He struck out one. Daniel Turpen allowed an unearned run in two innings. Cole Johnson pitched a scoreless inning. Matt Summers has been promoted from Fort Myers to take Darnell's spot in the rotation. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 2, PALM BEACH CARDINALS 4 Box Score The Miracle could have used Buxton a day earlier. The offense didn't offer a lot of hope in today's game. Andy Leer (single) and Aderlin Mejia (RBI triple) accounted for half of the team's hits in the two-run third inning. Stephen Wickens drove in the other run on a groudout. Mejia and Wickens added the other two hits. Matt Tomshaw pitched 6.2 innings and allowed three runs. He struck out five while giving up nine hits and two walks. Adrian Salcedo the other 1.1 innings. He gave up a run on two hits, a walk and a hit batter. He struck out two. Byron Buxton will make his much-anticipated high-A debut tomorrow. The Miracle had been on a six-man rotation after the addition of Manuel Soliman, so they will not need to add another pitcher at this time. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - IDLE The Kernels were given the day off. The people of Cedar Rapids were also told to stay home from work today to mourn the loss of the greatest player they've ever welcomed to Veterans Memorial Stadium. There has been no corresponding move made yet, though one possibility is the addition of RP Dallas Gallant. Gallant struck out 14 in 10.2 IP for the Snappers last year before missing the first part of this year while recovering from a nerve relocation procedure. He is currently working out of Elizabethton's bullpen. ELIZABETHTON TWINS 7, GREENEVILLE ASTROS 2 Box Score The defending Appy League champs got their 4th win in their first five games of their young season. Tonight's win can be credited a lot to the left arm of young Randy Rosario. Five shutout, two-hit innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Also impressive is the six groundouts to only three flyouts he accumulated. Rosario has been very good in other short-season leagues to this point and could really show up on the prospect radars with a good showing this season. (Obviously, some of you are high on him... I'm talking on the big scene. He wasn't a Top 30 in BA.) After a strong one-inning debut on Friday, Andre Martinez struggled in his two-inning outing tonight. He allowed two runs, including a home run, and struck out one. Kuo Hua Lo backed up a strong three-inning performance on Friday with three strikeouts over two innings tonight. The bats were also active. They connected a bunch (14 hits) and also missed a bunch (13 strikeouts). Five players - Tanner Vavra, Dereck Rodriguez, Stuart Turner, Romy Jimenez and Bo Altobelli - had two-hit games. Rodriguez had two doubles and drove in two runs to highlight to offense. As you know, Dereck Rodriguez is the son of future Hall-of-Famer Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. The whole family shown below. (Photo from the Washington Post.) [ATTACH=CONFIG]4539[/ATTACH] The E-Twins will need to improve on their batting with runners in scoring position. They went 3-for-20 tonight... and that's not gonna hack it. GCL TWINS 2, GCL RAYS 5 Box Score Well, it turns out Amaurys Minier is (at least part) human. He struck out three times in four at-bats. He also drew a walk. The lineup as a whole struck out 13 times. Brian Navaretto had a good day at the plate (2-for-4) but a poor day behind it (a passed ball and a throwing error). Jason Kanzler has continued to struggle to hit, but showed off his defensive prowess with an outfield assist. Chad Christensen had two hits and an RBI. Zach Larson drove in the other run. Sam Gibbons struck out three in four innings, allowing an earned and unearned run on three hits. Miguel Gonzalez struck out two and allowed a run on three hits. Both Madison Boer and Bruce Pugh made rehab appearances. Boer struck out three, but allowed two unearned runs. Pugh walked two. Please post questions and/or comments below.

It was a relatively slow day in the world of Twins Baseball with only two of the five ball clubs active. Though that didn't prevent us from hearing some pretty newsworthy things. Twins first round draft pick Kohl Stewart is en route to the Twin Cities. In fact, at 9:28 pm, he tweeted a photo of Target Field from the Twins dugout. He's obviously not signed, sealed and delivered. But he's well on the way. I'm holding out hope that the deal gets done by tomorrow afternoon and he throws out the first pitch tomorrow night. Top 10 Twins prospect Max Kepler will be joining the Cedar Rapids Kernels after the All-Star Break. The ensuing speculation is endless. My take: Buxton goes to Fort Myers with D.J. Hicks. Rory Rhodes also joins Cedar Rapids. Kennys Vargas would also take a step up to New Britain, who could easily clear a roster space or two. There will be many more moves, but that could be how a few dominoes fall when Kepler moves up. Hein Robb was sent from Cedar Rapids to Elizabethton to make room for Kepler. The Roster & Payroll page shows up-to-date rosters from the top of the organization to the bottom. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 10, SCRANTON/WB RAIL RIDERS 1 (Game 1) Box Score After an extremely slow start to the season, the Red Wings closed to within one game of .500 (35-36). Vance Worley pitched a seven-inning complete game for the win. He struck out two and gave up nine hits. The top-of-the-order certainly delivered for Rochester as well. Antoan Richardson was 2-for-2 with a double. He also walked three times. It's a pretty impressive feat for a guy with no home runs to have an OPS of .871. It does make it a little easier when you get on base almost half of the time you come up to the plate. At a minimum, Richardson's presence is going to make it that much easier to expose Clete Thomas to waivers when that time comes... because we all know that time will come. At the other end of the spectrum is Richardson competing with Hicks (and Mastroianni?) for the center field job in 2014. (Come on, like we can't at least pretend that Hicks could use some AAA seasoning.) Chris Herrmann was 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs batted in. Chris Colabello added two more hits to raise his average to .372 (!). Deibinson Romero added two more hits as well. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 3, SCRANTON/WB RAIL RIDERS 5 (Game 2) Box Score Virgil Vasquez spotted the Rail Riders three runs in the second inning (on a three-run home run) and that was more than the Wings could come back from, falling short in their quest to reach .500. Vasquez allowed six hits and a walk over four innings. He struck out one. Shairon Martis allowed two runs in two innings. The bats weren't as good in Game 2. Antoan Richardson eclipsed the .300-mark going 1-for-3 with a triple and two RBI. James Beresford was the only Red Wing with a muli-hit game. Chris Herrmann doubled. LP Andrew Albers (who looks shockingly a lot like Justin Morneau) will be on the hill tomorrow. The southpaw is 5-2 with a 3.01 ERA. Terry Ryan was also on record last week saying that Albers - and not Kyle Gibson - would be the next pitcher in line to start for the Twins. (Originally from Canada - the Twins love Canadians - before playing for Kentucky - the Twins also love Wildcats - of course he's next in line. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 6, PALM BEACH CARDINALS 5 Box Score The Miracle started off their second half with a bang. After scoring four seventh-inning runs to give themselves a 5-3 lead, Zack Jones allowed two inherited runners to score for his second blown save of the season. Andy Leer started off the bottom of the ninth with a single and Candido Pimentel made his Miracle debut as a pinch-runner. After a Levi Michael walk advanced Pimentel to second, Aderlin Mejia attempted a sacrifice bunt to move Pimentel to third. Only a sacrifice it was not. The third baseman threw the ball past the first baseman allowing Pimentel to score the game-winning run in walk-off fashion. Not a bad way to finish your first game in Fort Myers, eh? Aderlin Mejia is putting himself on the prospect map. In what was assumed to be short stay with the Miralce, Mejia is proving that he belongs. Batting leadoff and playing shortstop, Mejia went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Over his last four games, Mejia is 9-for-15 (.600) with 6 RBI. People were worried about the Miralce offense with Sano and Rosario left... Mejia is filling those shoes admirably. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4459[/ATTACH] Also picking up the slack was Stephen Wickens. Wickens went 3-for-4 with a double and a home run. Jairo Rodriguez went 3-for-4. Manuel Soliman allowed three runs on seven hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked two. The choice to start Soliman is intriguing, to say the least. Coming off of the All-Star break, they obviously have a rested rotation and none of the five starters appear headed to New Britain. (Three have come up from Cedar Rapids since the beginning of the year, the two who started in Fort Myers both have WHIPs over 1.30 and K/9s under 6.5.) If the Miracle were in need of a starter, Adrian Salcedo would seem to be a much more obvious option. Salcedo pitched in relief tonight, allowing two hits in two innings. He struck out two. Salcedo continues to show impeccable control. In 29 innings this year, he's struck out 33 and only walked five. Chad Rodgers left with runners on base before giving way to Jones. Jones struck out three in getting five outs. Fort Myers starter for tomorrow night's game is TBD. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS - off today. Back at it tomorrow night with a starter TBD. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS - All-Star Game tomorrow with many Kernels scheduled to play. If you questions or comments, please comment below.

I'm sure the Rockies will explore all trade options before placing him on waivers, because he'll surely be claimed. I would be stunned if the Twins didn't put in a claim; I'd be equally stunned if a team with priority higher than the Twins didn't also put in a claim. The Twins and Rockies have been trading partners twice in the last handful of years (Jose Morales and Kevin Slowey), so maybe they do make a deal. Would the Rockies take either Cole De Vries or B.J. Hermsen for a guy they'd lose for nothing? Or could they do better?

(This post will be updated after the completion of tonight's games.) Since last night’s podcast/minor league review there have been a few more moves. The Twins placed Aaron Hicks on the DL with a strained hamstring and recalled Oswaldo Arcia. The Red Wings, who had a full roster following the addition of James Beresford and re-addition of Chris Colabello, placed Danny Lehmann on the 7-day DL with right elbow neuritis. You can Google it like I did and you’ll get to read about a bunch of “elbow terms”, but it basically boils down to “sore elbow” which, in this case, is double-secret code word for “our roster is full”. Anyway, the Red Wings now have a roster spot available. New Britain released Mark Sobolewski. Good luck to Mark as he continues his baseball career. The Miracle added Bryan Haar to their roster. Haar will essentially serve as a place-holder until reinforcement or two come from Cedar Rapids. Haar is expected to be E-town’s primary first baseman. The Twins also inked their first draft pick of the year: 9th-round pick C Mitchell Garver. Garver signed for $40,000, which is $108,100 less than his designated pick value. He will report to Fort Myers before heading t o Elizabethton for the start of their season. ROCHESTER RED WINGS x, TOLEDO MUD HENS x Box Score Game tonight. NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS – Day off FORT MYERS MIRACLE x, DAYTONA CUBS x Box Score Game tonight. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 6, KANE COUNTY COUGARS 2 Box Score Byron Buxton was the star of this show, featured on FSNorth. Defensively, he made two running catches in the left-center field gap. They looked fairly routine (for him). He also made a near the wall in the left-center gap that is hard to put in words. It looked like something Ben Revere would do. It would be a SportsCenter Top 10 play if they featured minor league plays (which maybe they will). [ATTACH=CONFIG]4394[/ATTACH] Offensively, Buxton was a home run short of the cycle. He singled up the middle on a two-strike count. He had a three-RBI double on a left-center drive that fell about six feet short of a grand slam. Most impressively, he tripled to the right-center field gap on a ball that didn’t even reach the warning track. He also proved to be in near-human form when he was caught leaning off of first base and tagged out between first and second. Personally, I was also disappointed he didn’t at least try to steal home after his triple. He’s fast enough to beat the pitch home. Obviously. Mason Melotakis had an impressive seven-inning start to pick up his team-leading sixth win of the season. The lefty worked very quickly and only allowed four hits and three walks. He was aided with two double-plays behind him and struck out two. Tomorrow night, Hein Robb will make his 2nd MWL start against the Lance McCullers-led Quad Cities River Bandits at 7pm CT. If Quad Cities loses tonight and the Kernels beat them tomorrow night, the Kernels will have clinched a playoff spot (if my math serves me correctly). Comparing schedules, I think that Buxton will finish out the first-half with Cedar Rapids. The Miracle don’t play Friday through Sunday, so it wouldn’t make sense to have Buxton take three days off when the Kernels could still potentially use him. Comments or questions, please post below.

The only Twins news of the days was the purchasing of OF Clete Thomas’s contract. To make room on the 40-man roster, LRP Tyler Robertson was designated for assignment. LRP Blake Martin was promoted from New Britain to take fill Robertson’s lefty role in Rochester’s bullpen. INF Joel Licon was summoned from Extended Spring Training to Cedar Rapids to help while SS Niko Goodrum recovers from yesterday’s concussion. All the moves made today are reflected here. In draft news, Oklahoma’s Jonathan Gray tested positive for Adderall, a common ADHD medicine as well as something used for weight loss. Many professional players have prescriptions for the drug, which makes it legal; Gray did not “go through the right procedures” to be using it. When asked whether it was an issue, a Twins source said he “won’t speculate… (but) obviously (its) an issue. (We) have to get all the facts.” At the very least, Jonathan Gray made (or has been making) a poor decision and even though it might not make him tumble down draft boards, it will certainly affect his bottom line. (My two cents: he still doesn’t fall to the Twins.) On a happier note, if you’re a fan of raspberries and Byron Buxton, read this post by Brad Swanson. ROCHESTER RED WINGS 9, CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS 1 Box Score Pedro Hernandez was much better tonight than he was on his last outing (5/29: 3.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R). Hernandez threw 94 pitches tonight. The result was promising: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, BB, 6 K, HR. Though Hernandez has struggled in the major leagues, he’s still young and has a future. That might be taking over Brian Duensing’s role in a couple of years, but a greater role than anyone anticipated when he was acquired (with Eduardo Escobar) for Francisco Liriano. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4288[/ATTACH] Michael Tonkin recorded six outs, without allowing a hit (or an inherited runner to score). He struck out three. Smart money says we see Tonkin at Target Field in September. The firepower from Rochester’s early season – Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Colabello – was back together for the first time tonight, but the offensive story of the game was a guy that wasn’t even in the country at the beginning of the season: Deibinson Romero. Tonight, Romero went 3-for-5. He hit two home runs and drove in five runs. Once rated as high as the #13 prospect in the organization by Baseball American (in 2007) and noted for his defense, Romero spent a season on the 40-man before being removed. It’s completely believable to think Romero could be involved in the Twins next roster move. (Though he’s a right-handed bat, he wouldn’t be a great platoon partner with Trevor Plouffe, but could be given a shot if Plouffe’s calf injury doesn’t go away. Oswaldo Arcia, Chris Colabello and Doug Bernier all had two hits and drove in a run. Tomorrow night at 6:05pm ET, Kyle Gibson (4-5, 3.38) will be making his last start in Rochester. (I’m kidding, obviously. The Twins are waiting to bring him up until mid-2015.) NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS – OFF DAY D.J. Baxendale (0-1, 13.50) makes the start tomorrow. He looks to recover from a poor AA debut. First pitch at Richmond is scheduled for 6:35pm ET. FORT MYERS MIRACLE 4, BREVARD COUNTY MANATEES 6 Box Score In Matt Tomshaw’s first high-A start last week, he was very successful. He allowed only two hits and one run in six innings. Tonight was not as successful. Though he still made it six innings, he allowed four runs on eight hits. He struck out five. Adrian Salcedo and Jose Gonzalez both allowed runs too, but combined to strike out five in three innings. Angel Morales is doing everything he can to finally escape Fort Myers. Tonight he was 3-for-4. He is 17-for-34 (.500) in his last ten games. He added a double tonight. Levi Michael went 2-for-3 with a double. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario both had RBI doubles. Jason Wheeler will look to continue his undefeated season (5-0, 3.94) tomorrow at 7:05 pm ET against Brevard County. CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS 10, KANE COUNTY COUGARS x Box Score The Kernels strung together two well-timed innings to come-from-behind and beat the Cougars. The 5-run 6th inning came mainly as a result of taking five walks and seeing a wild pitch. Only two hits occurred: a double by Dalton Hicks and a single by J.D. Williams The 5-run 7th inning was a little more traditional, though the Kernels were aided by a throwing error and two more walks. All told, the Kernels only totaled eight hits, but drew 10 walks. Williams was 1-for-6, but drove in three runs. Candido Pimentel, Travis Harrison and Tyler Grimes all had two hits. Joel Licon, in his low-A debut, went 0-for-2 but walked twice and scored two runs. He also drove in a run and committed two errors at second base. Harrison (11) and Pimentel (8) also had errors. Mason Melotakis picked up his fifth win on the year. He allowed four runs (two earned) in five innings. He walked five, struck out two and allowed seven hits. Not a great line by any means. Many people continue to believe his future is in the bullpen. Manuel Soliman (four strikeouts) and Steven Gruver (two strikeouts) each pitched two innings. Jake Mauer was ejected for arguing a safe/out call at 3rd base. Allegedly, it was the way he said, “Aw, shucks.” Byron Buxton (thumb) and Niko Goodrum (concussed) both missed today’s game. The Kernels have an off-day tomorrow.

As the draft quickly approaches, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing the choices the Twins have with the fourth overall pick in the draft. Today, we’re going to look at what you can expect to happen in the first ten rounds. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4270[/ATTACH] Over the last three drafts, the Twins have selected 35 players in the Top 10 rounds. Here’s how those picks break down: College right-handed pitchers: 10 (1, 1s, 2, 2, 4, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10) College left-handed pitchers: 7 (2, 3, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10) Prep outfielders: 3 (1, 4, 6) College shortstops: 3 (1, 5, 9) College “corners”: 3 (3, 8, 9) *value in bat, position TBD (includes unsigned Mazzilli) Prep right-handed pitchers: 2 (1s, 1s) Prep shortstops: 2 (2, 10) *maybe should be labeled “prep athletes” Prep “corners”: 1 (1s) College outfielders: 1 (5) Prep left-handed pitchers: 1 (6) Prep catchers: 1 (7) College catchers: 1 (9) The Twins have been equipped with five extra choices in rounds one and two over the last two years, a luxury they won’t have this year. Those additional picks have been extra arms or, in Travis Harrison’s case, the only prep with his value tied exclusively to his bat in the last three years. Though the Twins have only used two Top 10 selections on catchers in the last three years, they used a 12th-round pick on a college catcher in the odd year. They’re admittedly looking for more catching, so expect to see a catcher selected higher than in previous years. (GUESS: Twins pop a catcher somewhere in the rounds 4-6.) The category of college shortstops is tied for third most-represented on the list. Unfortunately, the Twins haven’t gotten great value there. Levi Michael was likely viewed as the best-available and that was why he came off the board. (GUESS: There isn’t a lot of SS depth in the system or in this draft, so if there is a “senior sign” that the Twins believe in, taking one in round 6-9 wouldn’t be a shock.) It could be tied into the last category, but prep shortstops are different. The Twins have a history of adding a prep shortstop in the Top 15 (if not Top 10) rounds. It seems they’ll sacrifice bat for a likeliness to stick at shortstop. (GUESS: If they find a guy they like, they could move early. If not, expect them to take a chance after round 10, especially if they’ve used a pick on a college shortstop already.) College “corners” and even the lone college outfielder (Nate Roberts) happen about once a year. (GUESS: It could happen at any time in the first ten rounds, maybe twice. One name to keep an eye on early on Day 2 is Georgia Tech OF/1B Daniel Palka.) The Twins have always seemed to have a love-affair for toolsy prep outfielders. The truth is, though, that they haven’t taken a ton of them, they’ve just had a lot of success with them when they do. (GUESS: Like prep pitchers, they do it early. There is a chance the Twins take an athlete that falls with the likelihood they add a CF sometime on Day 2. Should be noted, as well, that the Twins only “overslot” sign after Round 10 was a prep CF.) Taking a prep right-hander is rare. But when it’s happened, it’s happened early. Expect the same this year. (GUESS: Kohl Stewart at 4 would qualify as early.) The Twins have only selected on prep lefty in the Top 10 rounds and that pick turned up to have shoulder issues before signing. He was also one of a handful of Puerto Ricans drafted over the last three years. The Twins typically wouldn’t be counted on to take a prep lefty, but this year has more depth in the category than most years. (GUESS: They’ll come off the board early, so if it hasn’t happened by round 3, don’t count on it.) College pitchers – both left- and right-handed – dominate the Twins draft board over the last three years. Nearly half of the Top 10 round picks have been pitchers and that makes sense. Last year, eight of the first 13 picks were pitchers. This year could be very similar. (GUESS: Expect the Twins to go to the pitching well early and often. Drafting six pitchers total in the first ten rounds seems about right, but after drafting so many lefties recently, there is less urgency to add as many this year. If two lefties come off the board in the top 10 rounds, that would make sense.) Round-by-round expectations: Round 1 – There is some intrigue left because of the uncertainty before them, but (as of today) prep RHP Kohl Stewart is the pick. Round 2 – If the pick is Stewart in Round 1, it would surprise me if they turned around and took a prep lefty here. With that being said, there will be some good value here. Names such as Blake Taylor (CA) and Hunter Green (KY) are names that could be in the discussion. A more likely scenario would see a college arm come off of the board. Best available would be the way to go, especially if one falls, but names that are in play are Tom Windle (Minnesota), Kent Emanuel (North Carolina) and Dillon Overton (Oklahoma). The other scenario would be a position player dropping into the Twins lap. It’s impossible to predict who it could be, but the Twins are enamored with Aaron Judge’s power (Fresno State), though he’s upped his draft stock as of late. Round 3 and Round 4 – Some names worth remembering here are Stephen Tarpley (LHP, Scottsdale JC), Cody Reed (LHP NW Miss. JC), Corey Littrell (LHP, Kentucky) and D.J. Snelton (LHP, Minnesota). If the Twins want to take another shot on a college reliever A.J. Vanegas (RHP, Stanford) could be an intriguing name. Slowed by injuries, Vanegas still offers a high-90s fastball and very good slider. This could also be the time you also see a prep shortstop (or other prep athlete) come off the board, though it’s a danger-zone for those with signability questions. Round 5 through Round 7 – This is the range the Twins could very easily be considering a catcher. Brian Navaretto (FL) and Rene Melendez (PR) are two preps that fit the defensive profile. Mississippi State SS Adam Frazier would immediately become a Gardenhire favorite. If the Twins go the prep SS route here, Stephen Alemais (a personal favorite of mine) would make sense. David Gates (RHP, Howard JC) and Taylor Williams (RHP, Kent State) are names that could be in the mix here. Round 8 through Round 10 – If the Twins have passed on outfielders to this point, someone like Adam Engel (Louisville) would be a great choice. Ryan Cordell (Liberty) would also make sense. There are literally hundreds of pitchers that could be under consideration for these picks. The baseball draft is far more unpredictable than either the football or basketball draft simply because of the volume of guys that are selected. The front office is hard at work setting their draft board, which will consist of approximately 900 names. (Yes, that’s less than will be selected over the 40 rounds. No, they’re not worried they’ll run out of names.) It will be much earlier in the draft than you’d anticipate where players are getting drafted that aren’t even on the Twins board. (I believe I was told it happened in the 3rd round last year.) Once the draft is complete – and the organization has 40 more players – they will begin signing them. Of course, not all will sign (not all will even be offered contracts), but when the dust clears on July 15, expect the Twins to have signed somewhere between 22 and 26 players. --- If you haven't had enough draft talk yet, go find last week's Gleeman and the Geek podcast. I also talked draft with Fanatic Jack at BlogTalkRadio last Monday. There's more draft talk coming: The Talk2Contact crew will be running their draft preview early next week. And if you're really crazy and can't get enough, I'll be joining the BlueJaysPlus podcast tomorrow night.

Who IS This Guy? Young Texan Kohl Stewart (6’ 3, 195) is widely considered the top prep pitcher in the nation. Kohl Stewart is also, according to ESPN, the 6th best high-school quarterback in the nation and is committed to Texas A&M. Stewart is equipped with a mid-90s fastball (an improvement over last summer) and a “nasty” slider. The mid-80s slider projects as – if it’s not already – a plus pitch. It’s a legitimate strikeout pitch. He’s shown flashes of being able to throw a low-80s curveball and throws an occasional change-up as well. Of course, he’s able to do all of this despite splitting his time between baseball and football. He stands to show improvement as he shifts his focus to strictly baseball. A scouting director recently told Baseball America that "Stewart's pure stuff is as good as [Appel’s and Gray’s], and he's more athletic than they are." Scouts also believe that Stewart is more advanced than Jameson Taillon was at the same point in his career (when the Pirates actually claimed they preferred Taillon over Bryce Harper). Though not as big, Stewart profiles similar to Archie Bradley, a Diamondbacks draft pick in 2011, who needed $5 million to be bought out of his football commitment to Oklahoma. (Bradley signed a two-sport contract, which can be paid over five years; Stewart could too, but the entire bonus would count against this year's draft pool.) The ironic part is, as a quarterback, the ESPN football scouting report mentions twice that Stewart’s arm is “not elite”. It should also be mentioned that Stewart is a Type 1 diabetic. He is represented by Frontline Sports Management’s Darek Braunecker. Braunecker, a former MiLB pitcher, also represents Cliff Lee, A.J. Burnett and prospective 1st rounder Trey Ball. You can follow him on twitter: @KohlStewart1. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4204[/ATTACH] www.perfectgame.org Who Could He Be? Stewart could be a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter. But the track record of right-handed prep pitchers is limited, so making this selection at number four is not without risk. Since 2000, only seven prep right-handers have gone in the top 5. Dylan Bundy, Baltimore, 4th overall, 2011 Jameson Taillon, Pittsburgh, 2nd overall, 2010 Matt Hobgood, Baltimore, 5th overall, 2009 Mark Rogers, Milwaukee, 5th overall, 2004 Chris Gruler, Cincinnati, 3rd overall, 2002 Clint Everts, Montreal, 5th overall, 2002 Gavin Floyd, Philadelphia, 4th overall, 2001 Gavin Floyd has made 187 career major-league starts. The rest of that list has made a combined nine (all by Mark Rogers). Obviously, though, both Bundy (who’s currently been shut down to rest an ailing elbow) and Taillon (who’s pitching well in AA) are two of the highest-ranked pitching prospects in baseball. So while there is risk, there is also the chance for a very, very high reward. How Soon Could He Be Playing In Target Field? It would be unfair to compare any prep pitcher to Bundy, but Taillon and Bradley are much better comparisons. Unlike those two, though, Stewart would have the opportunity to get significant professional experience under his belt in 2013. If the Twins drafted Stewart, he would likely start with the GCL Twins and finish his year in Elizabethton. Next season (2014) would likely start a little later, but be spent in Cedar Rapids. He would probably start in Fort Myers – and finish in New Britain – in 2015 before returning to New Britain in 2016 and be a candidate for a mid-season promotion. Archie Bradley is currently dismantling AA and if he continues to, he could be in the majors this year. If Stewart was on that accelerated path, it would equate to being ready at some point in 2015. I would error on the side of caution and say that being in the Opening Day rotation in 2017 would be a realistic goal, with his first major league experience coming in the summer of 2016. If The Twins Draft This Guy, They Messed Up Because.... …they didn’t do their homework. If the Twins draft Kohl Stewart, they took the right guy. If the Twins fail to sign Kohl Stewart because of his commitment to college, they screwed it up. They would lose $4.5 million out of this year’s draft pool (but acquire pick #5 in the 2014 draft). If the Twins Draft This Guy, They Nailed It Because…. …they got one of the three pitchers with the highest upside in the draft and, in all likelihood, had to shell out the smallest bonus to lock one of them up. Drafting fourth in what is widely considered to be a three-man draft isn’t ideal, but getting a pitcher with this upside – even with the risk – is like making lemonade out of lemons. --- Just like any other pitcher the Twins may consider, drafting Stewart would be a welcome addition to the organization. Though he is a year or two further away from making a contribution than many fans would prefer, you can’t try to turn the baseball draft into band-aids. At the end of the day, you want to have as much talent in the organization as possible and adding a talent - albeit someone who is a little raw (due to time spent on another sport) and comes with a significant amount of risk – is a giant leap in the right direction. Twins Daily MLB Draft Player Profiles: · Monday, May 20-- Sean Manaea, SP · Tuesday, May 21-- Austin Meadows, OF · Wednesday, May 22-- Trey Ball, OF · Thursday, May 23-- Ryan Stanek, RHP · Friday, May 24-- Clint Frazier, OF · Tuesday, May 28-- Reese McGuire, C · Wednesday, May 29—Braden Shipley, RHP For MLB Draft Day Coverage, make sure you follow @TwinsDaily on Twitter!