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While the Minnesota Twins have been pretty good since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over the front office, we’re not far off from those awful Twins teams of a decade or so ago. I found myself scratching my head thinking, “remember these guys?” This isn’t intended to be a space where the thought process derives from guys being bad or otherwise unproductive, but more about remembering that these players wore a Twins uniform. Some of them were very brief, and some were in games that didn’t count, but they were there and going through the motions nonetheless. Here are a few of the more obscure ones I could come up with: Carlos Quentin This one may be my favorite and is where this idea came from. Remember Quentin being a two-time All-Star for the Chicago White Sox and San Diego Padres? He had a pretty good career posting an .831 OPS and 154 homers. He retired in 2014, though, until he didn’t. In February of 2016, Minnesota signed Quentin to a minor league deal. He played 15 games for the Twins in Spring Training and posted an .833 OPS. However, instead of bringing him north, the Twins opted to play Miguel Sano in right field and asked Quentin to go to Rochester. He chose to be released instead. That Twins club lost 103 games. Jason Bartlett You remember the piranha Jason Bartlett, a scrappy shortstop for Ron Gardenhire clubs in the early 2000s. This is about the 34-year-old Bartlett that came back in 2014 and was all of a sudden a left fielder. In over 7,400 Major League innings, Bartlett had never played the outfield, but he acted as a defensive replacement for Gardy. That role lasted just two games and seven innings. It didn’t go well, and he hasn’t played since. Sean Burroughs Another former Padres player that had some name recognition. Burroughs played in 440 games at the Major League level from 2002 to 2006. He then didn’t resurface until 2011 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Coming to camp with the Twins in 2012, he played in 10 games compiling a .343 OPS before being released. John Ryan Murphy Minnesota acquired Murphy from the Yankees in exchange for Aaron Hicks. Both guys looked like they needed a fresh start, and after Murphy took star closer Glen Perkins deep at Target Field, apparently the Twins decided they needed to be that place. He played in just 26 games for Minnesota, posting a .413 OPS. Somehow, despite a .591 OPS in 143 Major League games since, Murphy was still getting big league jobs until 2020. Vance Worley One guy that will never forget his time with the Twins is Vance Worley. Ask him to sign a Minnesota baseball card, and he’d rather shred it. Acquired in the Ben Revere trade alongside Trevor May, Worley was the club’s Opening Day starter in 2013. He was beaten to a 7.21 ERA in just over 48 innings and never pitched with the club again. It was May who Minnesota wanted most in the Phillies deal, but the Major League-ready arm certainly didn’t work out. Sam Fuld One of my favorite acquisition stories in Twins history, Terry Ryan worked a laugher in Sam Fuld. Claiming him a couple of weeks into the season from Oakland, Fuld played 52 games for Minnesota before the Athletics needed his services back. In the deal, Tommy Milone was acquired by Minnesota and went on to pitch in 49 games for the Twins. Just the idea of flipping Oakland their asset back and gaining something in the ordeal was incredible. David Murphy Murphy’s Baseball Reference page ends at Triple-A in 2016, and that’s because he never actually played for the Twins. Needing outfield help, he was signed to Triple-A Rochester and played ten games before Minnesota needed his services. The 2016 Twins were an abomination, losing 103 games, and rather than accept his promotion to the big leagues, a 34-year-old Murphy called it quits. What are some players you remember being involved in weird Twins roster decisions? View full article

The Minnesota Twins announced that they have signed veteran outfielder David Murphy to a minor league deal. The Red Wings announced he will be there on Friday. It is likely he will not spend much time in Rochester before joining the Twins.The 34-year-old Murphy is best known for his years in Texas where he hit .275/.337/.440 (.777) over seven seasons. He spent 2014 and the first half of 2015 with Cleveland before being traded to the Angels in the second half last year. He went to spring training this year with the Red Sox. Of course, this starts an interesting debate about a couple of things. First, when he is called up to the Twins, whose spot on the 25-man roster will he take? Max Kepler would be a likely candidate as he is already not playing a lot.Byron Buxton could be sent down, allowing Murphy to play in left field with Eddie Rosario moving over to center (or Kepler).Could Murphy be a bench bat and replace Oswaldo Arcia?That brings us to the second part of the question. When the Twins call him up, he will have to be added to the 40-man roster? Who would come off of it? There are several candidates, of course, but if it is Arcia, that would kill two stones with one bird (as our friend Domingo Ayala might say). When I initially heard this news this morning, I thought maybe he would just get some time in the Rochester outfield as Adam Brett Walker has missed several days already with a strained oblique, but Murphy will be brought up quickly. What do you think will happen with this over the next few days? Click here to view the article

There were multiple streaks to keep an eye on during Tuesday's action in the Twins farm system. Stephen Gonsalves entered his start tonight with a streak of 11 straight scoreless innings. LaMonte Wade entered play today with a 12-game hit streak, the longest currently active streak in affiliated baseball. Would either of these streaks continue? You'll have to read on to find out.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Pawtucket 9 Box Score Pat Dean and Loek van Mil ran into some tough times on the mound on Tuesday night. Dean earned his third loss after allowing four earned runs over five frames. He struck out four and walked two. Van Mil didn't do much better in relief as he gave up four runs in 1.2 innings with a strikeout. Dan Runzler and Buddy Boshers put zeros up the rest of the way but the Wings were in a deep hole. As a team, Rochester was held to four hits but three of the four hits were for extra-bases. David Murphy hit his first home run since signing with the Twins. James Beresford and Kennys Vargas both collected their second double of the season. Wilfredo Tovar doubled his stolen base total on the year by swiping second twice in the game. The team was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base. With the loss, the Red Wings drop to 4-8 on the season as the team has lost six of their last eight games. They are currently in last place in the International League North and trail the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders by four games. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Mississippi 7 Box Score David Hurlbut started for the Lookouts and he couldn't make it out of the fourth inning. In 3.1 innings, he allowed four earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Corey Williams took over for Hurlbut and allowed one run, a solo home run, across two innings with three strikeouts. Marcus Walden and Jake Reed finished off the last 2.2 innings by allowing one run, a home run given up by Reed. Joe Maloney and Levi Michael each went 1-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI, and a walk. Leonardo Reginatto had the team's lone extra-base hit, his third double of the season. Shannon Wilkerson reached base three times but also struck out twice. The team left nine men on base and went 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The loss drops Chattanooga to 4-9 on the season as the team has lost four of their last five games. They are currently in last place in the Southern League North and sit 4.5 games behind the Jackson Generals. These two teams will square off again tomorrow in game four of a five game series. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 2, Jupiter 1 Box Score Stephen Gonsalves has been on quite the roll to start the season. He gave up three runs in his first inning this season and he entered the night with 11 straight scoreless frames. He carried that streak into the fifth inning tonight before allowing a leadoff home run. Gonsalves wouldn't factor into the decision but he made it through seven innings by allowing the one earned run with eight strikeouts and a walk. Trevor Hildenberger earned his first victory of the year as he pitched two scoreless innings to close out the contest. Alex Swim was the lone Miracle batter with multiple hits as he finished the night 2-for-4 before being pulled for a pinch runner in the late innings. Tanner English walked to start the bottom of the sixth inning and followed this up by stealing second. Swim grounded out to advance him to third and Nick Gordon drove him in with another ground out. English was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the eighth and this was followed by a Swim single. One batter later, Trey Vavra walked to load the bases for Chris Paul who used a sacrifice fly to score the winning run. With the victory, the Miracle have won six of their last eight games. Their six-game homestand continues tomorrow with the second game of their series with Jupiter. Former first-round pick Kohl Stewart is scheduled to take the mound. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 1, Burlington 5 Box Score The Kernels struggled to get any offense going against Bee's starter Jamie Barria as he took a perfect game into the fifth inning. However, the Kernels were right in the game behind a solid start from Randy LeBlanc. He lasted a career-high seven innings and limited the Bees to two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Logan Lombana allowed three earned runs in his one inning on the mound to allow the Bees to add to their late inning lead. Seven of the nine batters in the Kernels line-up had a hit but the team only had four at-bats with runners in scoring position. Rafael Valera cracked his fourth double of the season as he drove in the team's lone run. In the seventh inning, J.J. Fernandez tried to score from first on a double from Jermaine Palacios but he was gunned down at the plate and the Kernels were out of scoring opportunities. LaMonte Wade's 12-game hit streak was snapped with an 0-for-4 day. The Kernels and the Bees are tied at 1-1 in this three game series with the rubber match scheduled for Wednesday evening. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day- Stephen Gonsalves, Fort Myers Miracle Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day- Alex Swim, Fort Myers Miracle WEDNESDAY'S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs. Pawtucket (12:35 CST)- RHP Alex Meyer (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Chattanooga @ Mississippi (10:35 am CST)- RHP Aaron Slegers (0-1, 3.60 ERA) Fort Myers vs. Jupiter (6:05 CST)- RHP Kohl Stewart (1-0, 1.50 ERA) Cedar Rapids @ Burlington (6:30 CST)- RHP Andro Cutura (2-0, 2.45 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Tuesday games. Click here to view the article