SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

On Monday, I posted my choices for Twins Prospects 36-50. Wednesday, Twins prospects 21-35 were presented. Yesterday, I found that I had completely forgotten one of my top 20 prospects, so he had to be added, and that means that I presented Twins prospects 11-21. That brings us to the topic that I’m sure most of you look forward to in any prospect lists. Here are the SethSpeaks.net Top 10 Minnesota Twins Prospects. You’ve done a great job in the comments section throughout the week, so be sure to Click Here to leave your Comments or Questions.

(To read the player profiles and more, be sure to go to www.SethSpeaks.net)

The SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Minnesota Twins Prospects

#10 – Adrian Salcedo – RHP – 18 (4/24/91)

 

#9 – Rene Tosoni – OF – 23 (7/2/86)

 

#8 – Miguel Sano – SS – 16 (5/8/93)

 

#7 – Ben Revere – OF – 21 (5/3/88)

 

#6 – David Bromberg – RHP – 22 (9/14/87)

 

#5 – Kyle Gibson – RHP – 22 (10/23/87)

 

#4 – Danny Valencia – 3B – 25 (9/19/84)

#3 – Wilson Ramos – C – 22 (8/10/87)

#2 – Angel Morales – OF – 19 (11/24/89)

#1 – Aaron Hicks – OF – 21 (10/2/89)

So there you have it, the SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects. If you have any feedback, comments, opinions or suggestions, please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Hicks named MWL Top Prospect

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Baseball America is currently going through each minor league and providing a list of the top 20 prospects in each league. Today, they posted their choices for the Top 20 Prospects in the Midwest League. Twins OF prospect and 2008 #1 pick Aaron Hicks was selected as the #1 prospect in the league. I like that. Again, I have been told that he is as good of a prospect as the Twins have had in years.

What is absolutely inexplicable to me is that Angel Morales did not make the list. The Snappers outfielder hit .266/.329/.455 (.784) with 22 doubles, five triples, 13 homers, 62 RBI and 19 (out of 25) stolen bases. I fully understand that prospect rankings, especially at the lower levels, have little to do with the numbers that are put up by the players. It’s all about tools and potential. But Angel Morales is younger than Aaron Hicks, he has the tools of power, speed, good defense and a strong arm. He will strike out a lot, but for those other tools, he should absolutely be in the top 20. I am not saying he should be ahead of Hicks. I don’t think anyone would say that (although I think the argument could be made if you want!). I just think his ceiling is hilarious!

Any thoughts?

Updated Top 50 Twins Prospects

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Generally speaking, I post my Top 50 Twins Prospects list in early June and then after the season, in September sometime. Usually I will post a quick update right before spring training starts. I thought it would be fun to do an updated Top 50 Prospect list today. I’m not going to do the full profiles like I do in the main ones. In fact, this is just a list to create conversation. Tell me that you’re surprised by someone’s ranking and ask questions and help each other learn more about these guys. Tell me I’m an idiot for having someone too high or too low. I’m always interested in what other people think of these players. So again, let’s have a really good discussion about the Twins minor leaguers using this list as a starting point.

1. Aaron Hicks, OF, Beloit Snappers
2. Angel Morales, OF, Beloit Snappers
3. Wilson Ramos, C, New Britain Rockcats
4. Danny Valencia, 3B, Rochester Red Wings
5. Ben Revere, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle
6. David Bromberg, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle
7. Rene Tosoni, OF, New Britain Rockcats
8. Joe Benson, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle
9. Deolis Guerra, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

10.  Adrian Salcedo, LHP, GCL Twins 

11.  Chris Parmelee, 1B/OF, Ft. Myers Miracle

12.  Danny Rams, C/1B, Beloit Snappers

13.  Carlos Gutierrez, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

14.  Jeff Manship, RHP, Minnesota Twins

15.  Tyler Robertson, LHP, Ft. Myers Miracle

16.  BJ Hermsen, RHP, GCL Twins

17.  Anthony Slama, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

18.  Rob Delaney, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

19.  Luke Hughes, UT, New Britain Rockcats

20.  Kevin Mulvey, RHP, Rochester Red Wings

21.  Tom Stuifbergen, RHP, Elizabethton Twins

22.  Steve Singleton, MI, New Britain Rockcats

23.  Oswaldo Arcia, OF, GCL Twins

24.  Trevor Plouffe, SS, Rochester Red Wings

25.  Josmil Pinto, C, Elizabethton Twins

26.  Michael McCardell, RHP, New Britain Rockcats

27.  Steve Tolleson, IF/OF, Rochester Red Wings

28.  Alex Burnett, RH RP, New Britain Rockcats

29.  Andrei Lobanov, LH RP, GCL Twins

30.  Blayne Weller, RHP, GCL Twins

31.  Jose Morales, C, Rochester Red Wings

32.  Martire Garcia, LHP, Elizabethton Twins

33.  David Winfree, OF, Rochester Red Wings

34.  Brian Dinkelman, 2B, New Britain Rockcats

35.  Billy Bullock, RH RP, Beloit Snappers

36.  Deibinson Romero, 3B, Ft. Myers Miracle

37.  Bobby Lanigan, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle

38.  Whit Robbins, 1B, New Britain Rockcats

39.  Evan Bigley, OF, Ft. Myers Miracle

40.  Michael Tonkin, RHP, GCL Twins

41.  Matt Bashore, LHP, Elizabethton Twins

42.  James Beresford, SS, Beloit Snappers

43.  Chris Herrmann, OF, Elizabethton Twins

44.  Brian Dozier, SS, Elizabethton Twins

45.  Brad Tippett, RHP, Beloit Snappers

46.  Daniel Santana, SS, GCL Twins

47.  Liam Hendriks, RHP, Beloit Snappers

48.  Reggie Williams, UT, Elizabethton Twins

49.  Ben Tootle, RH RP, Elizabethton Twins

50.  Juan Morillo, RH RP, Rochester Red Wings

51.  Bonus – Yohan Pino, RHP, Rochester Red Wings

52.  Bonus – Loek Van Mil, RH RP, New Britain Rockcats

OTHERS TO CONSIDER – Dustin Martin, OF, Rochester Red Wings – Erik Lis, DH, New Britain Rockcats – Cole DeVries, RHP, New Britain Rockcats – Matt Fox, RHP, New Britain Rockcats – Santos Arias, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracle – Steve Hirschfeld, RHP, Ft. Myers Miracles – Ramon Santana, IF, Beloit Snappers – Shooter Hunt – RHP – Jon Waltenbury, 1B, Beloit Snappers – Derek McCallum, 2B, Elizabethton Twins – Michael Gonzalez, 1B, Elizabethton Twins – Wang Wei-Lin, OF, GCL Twins – Jairo Perez, IF, GCL Twins -

Alright, so this is a non-official ranking. My post season rankings will still appear after the minor league seasons sometime. But I hope that this updated list will create some fun discussion about the Twins prospects. Keep it educational and informative, please. Please leave your Comments here.  

TWINS 7, ROYALS 1

The story of this game was Francisco Liriano. He had not pitched in a game for a week, and he had just one start in nearly three weeks. In the first inning, he looked good, but he also gave up a solo home run to Willie Bloomquist. It was a controlled optimism for me at that point. I mean, he’s shown glimpses before. But after that, he was excellent. Liriano went seven innings and gave up just that run on just three hits. More important, he walked just one and struck out eight. He looked like a different, better pitcher, and the Twins need that. Hopefully this is something that he can build on for the rest of the season. We can hope. We have seen good starts before. He just has to put together a nice run. I think the argument could be made that the Twins postseason chances are directly related to the success of Liriano the rest of the way.

After Liriano gave up the run in the first inning, the Twins came back. With two outs, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau singled. Jason Kubel singled in Mauer. Michael Cuddyer singled in Morneau. And then Joe Crede launched his 15^th home run of the season to give the Twins a 5-1 lead. Crede went 3-3 in his first game back after his second cortisone shot.

Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He had not pitched since Sunday. Joe Nathan struck out the side in the 9^th. He had not pitched since last Friday, so it was good to get both of them into an inning. Some thought that Jeff Manship should have thrown those final two innings. I disagree, and here is why. In Tuesday’s debacle, Brian Duensing, Bobby Keppel and Jesse Crain pitched enough that they could not pitch on Wednesday and ideally would not have to pitch on Thursday. So, if Carl Pavano has a short site this afternoon, it would still be good to have Manship available to go four or five innings, if necessary.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Rene Tosoni, New Britain Rockcats

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Miguel Munoz, Elizabethton Twins

TRANSACTION SUMMARY

OK, it was a day full of transactions yesterday, so as a reminder, I’ll list what I believe to be all of them here.

• Glen Perkins put on the Disabled List.
• Jeff Manship added to the 40 man roster and promoted to the Twins. Kevin Slowey put on the 60 Day Disabled List.
• Anthony Slama promoted to Rochester.
• Loek Van Mil promoted to New Britain.
• Wilson Ramos to be activated from the Disabled List and return to New Britain.
• Bobby Lanigan promoted to Ft. Myers.
• Brad Stillings promoted to Beloit.
• Kelvin Mota and Jhon Garcia promoted to Elizabethton.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday – Rochester 4, Buffalo 7 – Reid Santos found out earlier in the day that he would be starting this game instead of Jeff Manship. It didn’t go so well. He gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Jason Jones gave up an unearned run on three hits in three innings. The Red Wings managed just six hits in this game. Brock Peterson hit his seventh home run. Danny Valencia added his sixth homer.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Wednesday – New Britain 4, Erie 1 – Mike McCardell came off of the Disabled List and gave up just one run over five innings. He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four. Carlos Gutierrez worked a scoreless sixth. Frank Mata threw two scoreless innings. Alex Burnett takes over the closer’s role from Anthony Slama. He recorded his third save with a scoreless ninth. Rene Tosoni led the offense. He hit his 23^rd double and his 13^th home run. Luke Hughes hit his ninth double.

MIRACLE MEMOS

Wednesday – Ft. Myers 3, Palm Beach 10 – Deibinson Romero went 2-4. Estarlin de Los Santos hit his tenth double. But the pitching and defense just weren’t good. Michael Tarsi started and in six innings, he gave up six runs (3 earned) on nine hits and two walks. Joe Testa gave up three runs (1 earned) on four hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He did strike out three. Henry Arias got the final four outs, two on strikeouts. He gave up one run on one hit.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Wednesday – Beloit 2, Clinton 4 – Brad Tippett pitched very well again. In 6.2 innings, he gave up two runs on three hits. He walked one and struck out five. Dan Osterbrock got the final out of the 7^th, but not until he gave up another run on one hit and two walks. Kyle Carr threw two innings. He gave up a run on two hits and a walk. Angel Morales went 2-4 with his 19^th double. Ramon Santana and Jonathan Waltenbury were each 2-4 as well.

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Wednesday – Elizabethton 5, Greeneville 1 – Miguel Munoz has struggled quite a bit this season, so it was great to see him have such a good start. He gave up just one run on three hits and a walk in eight innings. He struck out six. Matt Tone struck out two in a scoreless ninth. Josmil Pinto went 2-4 with his ninth home run. Paul-Michael Klingsberg went 2-4.  

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Wednesday – GCL Twins, GCL Rays – This game was suspended after just three innings due to rain. I obviously won’t go back and look at old box scores, so here are a couple of highlights. Jairo Perez had a double and a triple to that point. BJ Hermsen threw three innings and gave up just one hit, walked one and struck out five.

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Monday Night Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

It was an off day for the Twins, but there is still plenty to talk about. Here are a few topics for your discussion before getting to the minor league updates:

• The SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast last night was  lot of fun. Pat Neshek was on for the first 25 minutes or so. We talked about what he is doing in his rehab and several other Twins topics. The second half of the show, I was joined by Phil Mackey and Darren “Doogie” Wolfson.
• I posted a StarTribune.com Your Voices Blog asking people to comment and rank their favorite sports to watch. With Tiger Woods shooting some golf this week in Chaska, I wondered where golf ranks, which may be directly dependent upon whether Tiger is in the tournament or not.
• Speaking of Your Voices blogs, Doogie Wolfson’s newest blog article is on the White Sox acquisition of OF Alex Rios for nothing. Definitely an interesting topic for discussion.
• Joe Christensen reported that the Twins have released 2B Mark Grudzielanek. Reports indicated that he looked really rusty. Shocking, you know, since he hadn’t played in a year.
• Those of you that listened to last night’s podcast know that I also have a Q&A that is ready to be posted.  I fell asleep at my computer last night and will get that posted later today, so be sure to check back for that.  

 The Twins will send Nick Blackburn to the mound tonight to face Kyle Davies and the Royals in the first game of a crucial homestand. The Twins will play three against Kansas City and three against Cleveland, and winning less than five out of six will make it tough.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Monday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Angel Morales, Beloit Snappers

Monday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Tom Stuifbergen, Elizabethton Twins

ROCHESTER REPORT

Monday – Game 1 – Rochester 8, Buffalo 2 – Armando Gabino made another start and threw six shutout innings. He gave up two runs in the 7^th inning, but after Juan Morillo got the final out of the game, Gabino had his fourth win. Brock Peterson went 3-4 with his 14^th double. Jose Morales went 2-3 with a walk. Steve Tolleson went 2-5. Danny Valencia, David Winfree and Trevor Plouffe each hit a double.  

Monday – Game 2 – Rochester 7, Buffalo 8 – R.A. Dickey made his first start since being sent back down to Rochester. It didn’t go so well. The veteran knuckleballer gave up seven runs on nine hits and two walks in just 3.1 innings. Jason Jones gave up four hits in 2.2 shutout innings. Rob Delaney threw two shutout innings, but with two outs, he gave up a bloop single that drove in the game-ending run. Drew Butera went 3-4 with two doubles. Brock Peterson went 2-4 with his 15^th double. Jason Pridie was 2-4. Justin Huber had just one hit, but his 7^th inning grand slam tied the game.    

ROCKCAT RECAP

Monday – New Britain  – No games scheduled in the Eastern League.    

MIRACLE MEMOS

Monday – Ft. Myers, Sarasota – Postponed by Rain.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Monday – Beloit 7, Cedar Rapids 5 – Angel Morales remained white-hot. In his last 30 games, he had hit .367 with a .647 Slugging Percentage. On this day, he was 4-5 with his 18^th double. Ramon Santana hit his eighth home run. Bobby Lanigan gave up four runs on five hits in 5.2 innings. He walked two and struck out seven. Steve Blevins went two innings and gave up one run. Billy Bullock got the final four outs for his fourth save.  

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Monday – Elizabethton 3, Greeneville 2 – Tom Stuifbergen was impressive yet again. The Dutch righty went the first eight innings. He gave up just one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out three. Dakota Watts came in and gave up a game-tying run but got the Win when the E-Twins scored a run in the bottom of the 9^th. Derek McCallum went 2-3 with a walk and a double.  

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Monday – GCL Twins 11, GCL Red Sox 6 – Wilson Ramos has been solid in his rehab time with the GCL Twins. In this game, he hit a double and his third home run in three games. Yesterday, his triple should have shown that his hamstring is better. Today, he caught. Yangervis Solarte was also rehabbing and went 2-4. Nick Freitas, Oswaldo Arcia and Matej Hejma each went 2-4. Freitas had two doubles and four RBI. Arcia notched his seventh double. Hejma had a triple and a walk.    

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Saturday Night Updates

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Carl Pavano sure made the Twins brass look smart, if only for one day and one start. On Saturday, Pavano recorded his 10^th win of the year with seven shutout innings against the Detroit Tigers. He gave up just five hits, walked none and struck out five. He improved to 4-0 with a 1.48 ERA against the Detroit Tigers on the season. One night after one of the more frustrating losses of the season, Pavano not only beat Justin Verlander, but he seemingly restored hope among Twins fans. My observation from watching Pavano was that nothing he threw was straight. His fastball has great movement, and his offspeed pitches really darted.

Pavano came to the mound in the top of the 1^st inning with a 2-0 lead thanks to a long, opposite field home run by Joe Mauer. It was his 20^th of the season. Mauer was 2-4 with a walk and is now hitting .366 with 66 RBI. However, the story on offense was Denard Span. After going 4-6 on Friday night, Span was 5-5 in this game. He raised his average from .284 to .300 in just two games! Although all nine Twins hitters had at least one hit, the only other with more than one hit was Jason Kubel, who was 2-5 with his 24^th double. Orlando Cabrera raised his hitting streak to 17 games with an 8^th inning triple.

The teams will play the series finale this afternoon, Scott Baker will start against the Tigers’ Jarrod Washburn.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Angel Morales, Beloit Snappers – Brian Dozier, Elizabethton Twins

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Dan Osterbrock, Beloit Snappers

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday –Rochester 3, Louisville 2 – Philip Humber won his sixth game of the season with seven strong innings. He gave up just two unearned runs on four hits. He walked none and struck out five. Juan Morillo walked two and struck out two in one scoreless inning. Rob Delaney struck out two in a perfect ninth for his sixth save. Brian Buscher went 2-3. Steve Tolleson was 1-3 with a walk and his 15^th double. The Red Wings had just five hits.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Saturday – New Britain 7, Akron 11 – Deolis Guerra had another rough start. In just 3.1 innings, he gave up eight runs on eight hits (two of them HR). He walked one and struck out two. Jay Rainville returned to the roster and gave up a run on five hits in 1.2 innings. Kyle Waldrop gave up two hits in two shutout innings. Spencer Steedley then gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in his inning. Brandon Roberts went 2-5 with his 16^th double and 14^th stolen base. Toby Gardenhire pinch hit for Mark Grudzielanek in the 7^th inning and drove in two runs with his eighth double. Gardenhire went 2-2 while Grudzielanek went 2-2. Rene Tosoni hit his 12^th home run.   

MIRACLE MEMOS

Saturday – Ft. Myers 8, Sarasota 7 (13 innings) – Joe Benson doubles in Ben Revere with two outs in the bottom of the 13^th to end this game. Evan Bigley led the offense. He went 3-6 with his 18^th double and three RBI. Chris Parmelee went 2-6 with his 23^rd double. Tyler Robertson started and gave up four runs (2 earned) on six hits. He walked none and struck out five. Joe Testa struck out five in two shutout innings. Loek Van Mil blew the save by giving up three runs on four hits and a walk in one inning. Blair Erickson threw two shutout innings. Michael Allen struck out two in his two shutout innings.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Saturday – Game 1 – Beloit 3, Cedar Rapids 6 – Angel Morales went 2-3 with his 16^th double. Dominic de La Osa hit his first homer of the year. Dan Berlind went all six innings in this game. He gave up six runs (5 earned) on six hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Saturday – Game 1 – Beloit 10, Cedar Rapids 2 – Dan Osterbrock put together his best start of the season, by far. The lefty gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out 11 for his fifth win. Kyle Carr struck out four in two scoreless innings. Angel Morales was busy in this game too. He was 2-2 and was also hit by a pitch. He hit his 17^th double, his 11^th home run, drove in three runs and stole his 12^th base. Danny Rams went 3-4 with his eighth and ninth doubles.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Saturday – Elizabethton 7, Bluefield 3 – Brian Dozier went 4-4 with a walk and his ninth and tenth doubles. Chris Herrmann went 2-4 with a walk and his sixth homer. Michael Gonzalez went 2-4. Angelo Sanchez improved to 4-1 with three runs over five innings. He allowed five hits, walked two and struck out six. Matt Tone got the save by throwing the final four innings. He only allowed one base runner, on a walk. He struck out six.

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Saturday – GCL Twins 4, GCL Orioles 5 – Jhon Garcia gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked none and struck out three. Nelvin Fuentes gave up two unearned runs on three hits. Jean Mijares walked two in a scoreless inning. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his third homer. Brian Bistagne went 2-4 with his second double. Nick Lockwood was 2-5 with two RBI. Wilson Ramos was 1-3 in the game with a triple.  

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Trade Deadline Live Chat at 1:00 Today

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net - 

Today is the day… At 3:00 central time, the trade deadline will be passed and life can return to normal. As of about midnight last night, FoxSports.com was reporting that the Twins and A’s had a much better day of negotiations to bring Orlando Cabrera to the Twins. I fear that will happen, but hopefully it won’t be a big prospect. As we can imagine, if the Twins do nothing, it will be very interesting to see how the clubhouse reacts. Which players will go off and which will say the right things. 

Starting at about 1:00 this afternoon, I will be hosting SethSpeaks.net Trade Deadline Live Chat to talk about the Twins, the trade deadline and any other topics. I will take your questions until 4:00 at which time I will be heading back to the Metrodome. 

It will be a busy day, so expect updates here if and/or when things happen:

Any thoughts on the day? What do you think?   

TWINS, ANGELS SERIES

After a day off, the Twins will get back to baseball tonight when the Angels come to town. Will the Twins be able to turn the tables on the Angels in the Metrodome? Leave your thoughts here. 
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Angel Morales, Beloit Snappers

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld, Ft. Myers Miracle  

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday –Rochester 1, Gwinnett 2 – Yohan Pino was good, but the Red Wings offense wasn’t in the loss. Pino went 6.1 innings and gave up two runs. He allowed just three hits, walked four and struck out five. Rob Delaney got the final five outs. The Red Wings had seven hits. Trevor Plouffe went 2-4.    

ROCKCAT RECAP

Thursday – New Britain 2, New Hampshire 1 – I would say that Michael McCardell’s adjustment to AA is going quite well. In this game, he gave up one run on three hits and a walk in five innings. Carlos Gutierrez then threw two shutout innings. Alex Burnett got two outs before Anthony Slama struck out four in 1.1 innings of scoreless work. It gave Slama his 21^st save. Brian Dinkelman went 2-3 with two walks. Luke Hughes and Juan Portes were both 2-4.   

MIRACLE MEMOS

Thursday – Ft. Myers 0, Clearwater 2 – Steve Hirschfeld was excellent again and gets little to show for it. He threw six shutout innings and gave up just three hits. He walked none and struck out seven. Dakota Watts came in and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Joe Testa got the final out but not before giving up a hit and a walk. The Miracle managed just four hits. Chris Parmelee hit his 18^th double.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Thursday – Beloit 10, Great Lakes 11 (12 innings) –Angel Morales had a big game. He was 4-5 with a walk and his 14^th double. Nate Hanson went 3-5 with his 15^th double. Drew Thompson and Tyler Ladendorf were both 2-6 with a double. James Beresford went 2-6 as well. Dan Osterbrock got the start and gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Michael Allen gave up a run in his two innings. Kyle Carr came in and gave up three runs on a hit, a hit batter and two walks in just 0.2 innings. Billy Bullock then gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins struckout four in two shutout innings. Bruce Pugh got two outs in the 12^th, but gave up an unearned run for the loss.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Thursday – Elizabethton, Johnson City – Postponed by Rain again. 

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Thursday – GCL Twins 3, GCL Reds 4 – Jairo Perez just keeps hitting. He went 3-4 with his fourth double. Alejandro Machado was making a rehab appearance and went 2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4. Michael Tonkin started and gave up three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out eight. Leonardo Parra threw two shutout innings. Andrei Lobanov gave up only an unearned run in his two innings to take the loss. He struck out four.    

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Five Rockcats Named All Stars

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The AA Eastern League named its All Stars today, and five New Britain Rockcats made the list. Congratulations to Anthony Slama, Whit Robbins, Brian Dinkelman, Matt Fox and Rene Tosoni on this honor.

• Slama is currently 4-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 15 saves for the team. He has 59 strikeouts in 42.2 innings.
• Robbins is hitting .307/.381/.463 with 17 doubles, seven homers and 33 RBI.
• Dinkelman is hitting .298/.387/.433 with 18 doubles, four homers and 39 RBI.
• Fox is 6-2 with a 2.95 ERA in 14 starts.
• Tosoni is now hitting .279/.388/.498 with 15 doubles, ten homers and 47 RBI. You recall, last week he was named the Twins representative in the Futures Game.  

Any thoughts? Leave your Comments here.

SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

After looking at Twins prospects 36-50 Tuesday, and 21-35 Wednesday, and Prospects 11-20 yesterday, it is time to look at my choices for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. Again, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy this and again, please feel free to comment.  

What is a prospect and how do I rank them? First of all, prospect ranking is far from an exact science. The top prospects do not always pan out, and frequently other players seemingly come out of nowhere. I do this as much to recognize players as anything else. But I also have been following the Twins minor league system for several years now and have tried to learn what I can about how they operate, and what is needed for promotions, and what skills are important. I have not included players from the Dominican Summer League in these rankings because they need about 7 promotions before they would get to the big leagues. I daily review box scores from the games. I keep up with stats and some trends. For hitters, I like to look at OBP and SLG, but specifically at 2B and 3B coupled with body type to try to determine if HR are in their future. For pitchers, I will look at WHIP and innings and consistency and opponent’s batting average. One of the key stats I look at for both hitters and pitchers are walks and strikeouts which I think tell a lot about a player.

Now, sitting in Minnesota, I have little opportunity to actually see many of these players play. When it comes to prospects, you have to try to look beyond the stats. I have developed sources in and around the Twins farm system to try to get a closer perspective on the players, what their skills are, what they need to work on. I think it is vital to look beyond the stats to try to give a fair perspective. You also have to consider age and level of competition. You have to weigh potential ceiling with likelihood of reaching that ceiling.

With that, I am curious your thoughts on my top ten Twins prospects, or any of the top 50. Who is missing? (Note – I made a concerted effort not to include Jose Mijares just because I think he is now pretty established as a big leaguer.) In the comments, share your top 10, top 20, or whatever you like.

And again, to read much more on all ten of these players, go to www.SethSpeaks.net.

#10 – Rene Tosoni – OF – 22 (7/2/86) 

#9 – Kevin Mulvey – RHP – 23 (5/26/84) 

#8 – David Bromberg – RHP – 21 (9/14/87 

#7 – Carlos Gutierrez – RHP – 22 (9/22/86)

#6 – Anthony Swarzak – RHP – 23 (9/10/85)

 #5 – Angel Morales – OF – 19 (11/24/89) 

#4 – Wilson Ramos – C – 21 (8/10/87)

#3 – Danny Valencia – 3B – 24 (9/19/84)

#2 – Ben Revere – OF – 21 (5/3/88)

#1 – Aaron Hicks – OF – 19 (10/2/89)

So there you have it, my selections for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. What do you think? I would love your feedback and input. Who did I have too high, or too low? If you have any comments, opinions or suggestions, please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Saturday Night Lights

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Be sure to tune in live to tonight’s MNGameNight.com podcast. The Twins Geek will be hosting the show tonight. I will not be on the show as I am taking a couple of days away from blogging, unless of course, there is any breaking news. There will also not be a new SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast on Monday night. During Saturday afternoon’s Twins telecast on FSN, I hosted a Live Chat. There weren’t a ton of questions, which is fine, but you can read the transcript by clicking here.

By the way, I did go to see Angels & Demons on Saturday night. I don’t know if it was quite as good as The Da Vinci Code, but obviously Tom Hanks was excellent, and it was very good and interesting.

TWINS 4, YANKEES 6 (11 Innings)

For the second straight game, the Twins lost to the Yankees on the Bombers’ final at bat. Friday night is was Melky Cabrera with a well-place soft line drive. On Saturday afternoon, it was an A-Bomb, from A-Rod. Rodriguez hit it high and he hit one far, a two run homer off of Craig Breslow with nobody out in the bottom of the 11^th inning. Here are some other notes:

• Nick Blackburn was excellent. If not for Mark Teixeira, his day would have been wonderful. In 7.2 innings, Blackburn gave up four runs on six hits. He walked three and struck out four. Then remember that Teixeira went 4-4 against him with four RBI, three on a home run, and see just how good Blackburn was against everyone else.
• Gardy decided to leave him out there for the 8^th inning. It was absolutely the right decision. Gardy decided to let him pitch to Teixeira with a runner on third and two outs that inning. It probably was the right move. I mean, you could walk him and have him pitch to A-Rod. There just really isn’t a right answer in that situation.
• Denard Span and Brendan Harris, the team’s top two hitters on the day, combined to go 0-11.
• #3 hitter, Joe Mauer, had a hit and a walk. The hit was a long home run, his sixth of the year already. He has five home runs in his last seven games.
• #4 hitter, Justin Morneau, went 2-3 with two walks. One of his hits was a home run, his 12^th of the year. He has six home runs in his last eight games.
• #5 hitter, Jason Kubel, went 2-5. He has now had four straight multi-hit games. He is 10-19 in his last five games to raise his average to .341 on the season.
• Matt Guerrier finally got a day off on Friday, but he was right back in there on Saturday afternoon. So, he has now pitched in six out of seven games. He threw two hitless innings, walked one and struck out two.
• Craig Breslow got the final out of the 10^th inning, coaxing a pop up out of Johnny Damon. He was about the only option to pitch the 11^th, and it was really an impossible situation for him. He walked Teixeira before serving up the game-winning homer to Alex Rodriguez.
• Sunday, Kevin Slowey gets his opportunity against the Yankees on Sunday afternoon when he faces off against AJ Burnett.  

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Juan Portes, New Britain Rockcats

Saturday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Dan Berlind, Beloit Snappers

ROCHESTER REPORT

Saturday –Rochester 3, Durham 4 – Anthony Swarzak threw a lot of strikes in this game. 70 of his 106 pitches were strikes. Unfortunately, many of those strikes were hit well. Swarzak gave up four runs on 11 hits and two walks in seven innings. He struck out four. Juan Morillo then struck out one in a perfect inning. David Winfree went 2-4 with his tenth double. Jason Pridie was 2-5 with his tenth stolen base.       

ROCKCAT RECAP

Saturday – Game 1 – New Britain 4, Portland 5 – Cole Devries started this game and gave up five runs on ten hits (2 HR) and two walks. Jose Lugo then got the next four outs. Rob Delaney struck out two in a perfect relief inning. Juan Portes went 2-2 with a walk and his third stolen base. Steve Tolleson went 1-2 with a walk.  

Saturday – Game 2 – New Britain 4, Portland 1 – Juan Portes had a second good game on this day. In this game, he was 2-2 with a walk. Rene Tosoni was also 2-2 with a walk. Zach Ward made the start for the Rockcats. He threw three no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out two. Frank Mata came in and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Anthony Slama recorded his sixth save with 2.1 no-hit innings. He walked two and struck out three.  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Saturday –Ft. Myers 11, St. Lucie 9 (13 innings) – Carlos Gutierrez started this game and gave up four runs in five innings. None of the runs were earned. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out three. David Bromberg entered in relief and gave up three runs (1 earned) on a hit and a walk in just 0.2 innings. Steve Hirschfeld gave up a run on two hits in 1.1 innings. Henry Arias came in and struck out three in two scoreless innings. Kyle Waldrop gave up a run to blow the save, but in all, he went three innings and gave up just the one run. Santos Arias struck one out in his inning. Danny Berg went 3-6. Danny Rams made his first start and it went quite well. He went 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Late in the game, Ben Revere pinch hit for him and stayed in the game. He went 2-2 with a walk. Evan Bigley went 2-5 with two walks and his first double. Steve Singleton was 2-5. Juan Richardson went 2-7, but his two run single in the 13^th gave the Miracle the win.     

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Saturday – Beloit 5, Peoria 6 – Angel Morales keeps giving glimpses that he is ready to bust out. In this game, the young outfielder went 2-3 with a walk and two doubles. Ozzie Lewis went 2-5. Dan Berlind made the start. In six innings, he gave up four hits and one walk while striking out six. Bruce Pugh gave up two runs on two hits and a walk and got just one out. Joe Testa came in and gave up two runs on a hit and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out two. Matt Williams allowed the losing runs to score in the 8^th. He gave up two hits in 1.1 innings.   

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Bigley Promoted to Ft. Myers; Hicks to Beloit?????

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I just learned the Beloit outfielder Evan Bigley has been promoted to the Ft. Myers Miracle. I thought there was an outside chance that the Twins tenth round pick in 2008 out of Dallas Baptist would start the season with the Miracle. He was sent down to Beloit, and he showed that he deserved to be in Ft. Myers. This morning, he will make that flight, and join the Miracle tonight. In 25 games with the Snappers, he hit .307/.340/.446 with six doubles, a triple, two homers and 22 RBI.

Here are a couple of other thoughts, pure speculation on my part at this point. I will be working to find out if my guesses are accurate, or what the other moves are.

• First, my assumption is that 2007 first-round pick Ben Revere could be going on the Disabled List for the Miracle. He left the game early on Saturday night. The Miracle did not play on Sunday. Revere was also not in the lineup on Monday. Could he be headed to the Disabled List?
• Second, well, you know where I’m going. With Bigley moving up to Ft. Myers, the Beloit Snappers could use another outfielder. Could this be the time for 2008 #1 pick Aaron Hicks? Should it be? Who else could it be? Could be a fun season in Beloit with Hicks joining Angel Morales!

 Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.