Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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Last week, I discussed the reasons why the Minnesota Twins should select Sean Manaea with their first round and fourth overall pick. This week, I am presenting potential second to fifth round picks for the Twins. The Twins do not have compensatory picks this season. Brief profiles of the players also are included.


Round 2, (43 overall): Hunter Dozier, SS, Stephen F. Austin State

Would history repeat itself and the Twins will select yet another college SS (and their second Dozier recently) in the high draft rounds, even though their previous selections have not moved with the speed the Twins' hoped? He shall see, but Hunter Dozier is not like the previous college short stops they have been selecting. He is a Cal Ripken-sized SS (6-4, 220) with a lot of pop. He bats right handed. His 17 HRs have him in the top 3 in the NCAA he is hitting .394 and has 12 SBs. His arm is very strong and he has good hands. Range is an issue (and this, with his size, makes some think that he will project as a 3B at the next level) but very workable in the next level. I think that he has the tools to stick at short and this is a huge position of need in the Twins' organization. He was named Southland conference player of the year and hitter of the year. His up to date 2013 stats are here.

Round 3, (78 overall) Andrew Knapp, C, Berkley

Catcher is another position in need in the Twins' organization with no clear replacement for Joe Mauer down the line, other than potentially Josmil Pinto. Knapp is not mentioned as one of the top catchers on the draft (that would be a trifecta of high school kids) but he might as well be. An excellent game caller (he goes to Berkley for a reason) with a strong bat that projects, but would require a bit of work with his receiving skills and foot work. He hit left-handed as is 6'1" tall and weights about 200 lbs. Mostly a line drive doubles machine who likes to use the whole field (sounds like another Twins' catcher?) but projects to have home run power. Can run a bit too. Dad also a Catcher at Berkley.

Round 4 (110 overall) Edwin Diaz, SS, Ladislau Martinez Otero HS, Puerto Rico.

From Jose Morales to Eddie Rosario to Jose Berrios, the Twins have been scouting and drafting high school kids from Puerto Rico in early rounds and they will do it again this season. Diaz is close to the top of the 2013 draft class in Puerto Rico. He is a tall (6'2" - 180) kid who is still growing. Diaz is a lot like Pedro Florimon, but a bit more advanced with the bat at this stage of their careers. Good with the bat, hitting line drives at all fields. Right handed. Slick fielder. I think that is will be one of the first Puerto Ricans on the board. The 2013 draft class is not that great there.

Round 5 (140 overall) DJ Snelten, LHP, Minnesota

The Twins make a point of selecting several players from the University of Minnesota. The ones that they have been selecting in the high rounds (the jury is still out for players like AJ Pettersen who were selected in lower rounds) have not really worked out, other than a certain LHP; so I think that they will get another. The lesser known of the 2 U of M starters and somewhat in the shadow of Tom Windle, might actually be the better pitcher. He is 6'7" and 230 lbs. Plus 91-93 mph fastball that peaks at 95 with great command and control, movement and positioning; curve and change up are serious works in progress but improving. Pitched out of the pen mostly his first 2 seasons. Could be a dominant reliever if his secondary offerings do not improve.

Here are highlights of his complete game one hitter this season against Ohio State (you can read about it here ) :

(EDIT: I cannot embedded here, please go to the original post if you would like to see the video)

Next: Rounds 6-12. As a reminder, you can find all 2013 MLB draft related posts here.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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A couple days ago I realized that the Rochester Red Wings were playing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at my back yard. Literally, their ballpark (Coca Cola Park) is less than half an hour away from my door, so I make a point to go and see the Red Wings every year when they play there. This was their second game here, and by choice I went today instead of yesterday, because Kyle Gibson was pitching. There were a lot of conflicting reports about him and I wanted to see with my own eyes how he is doing...

Not the best day for a ball game, it was in the high 50s, overcast with occasional sprinkles here and there:

The ball park is probably the best one in the minors and always a joy to be there (ok I might have home town bias :) ) :

I got to see Gibson pitch at the pen before the game and was fairly impressed. His fastball was really popping in Eric Fryer's glove and both velocity and movement was there based on my point of view:

After about 20 pitches I went back to my seat (1st row right next to the Red Wings dugout) from the outfield bullpen and watched the game. I was very lucky to be there because this was a magnificent pitching performance by Gibson. I came in with an open mind and nothing to expect and I left a strong believer in that Gibson is the best starting pitcher the Twins have today. A bit about his performance (and I am not going to get into things like numbers, which you can read elsewhere: He had four pitches that he threw when he wanted with a great command. His fastball was his primary pitch and was sitting from 92-94 all night long. It spiked to 95 a few times and went to 91 a couple. It was at 94 in the 9th inning as well. in the first 5 inning he mostly threw his fastball and his slider, which ran from 84 to 86 and really kept the IronPig hitters off balance causing a lot of swings and misses. Have to mention that Gibson had impeccable command of the fastball: he would locate it up and down and inside and out. And throw it at the dirt when he wanted to. In the latest innings he started throwing more his changeup that was running from 81-83 mph with a good late motion; also he featured a tight slow curve (78-80 mph) that I did not realize he had. He threw that pitch a few times late in the game. He was totally on top of his game today. In addition to what he did on the field, a thing that really impressed me was his composure in the dugout, knowing that he was having a no-hitter: he was sitting there cheering his teammates and clapping when they were batting, instead of being "in his own world" and apathetic about the game. This was a dominating performance that, I think that won him his first trip to the majors. Frankly, I thought that I will witness history and it was that close...

Gibson being interviewed after the game:

It was Kyle Gibson's day but a few more observations about the team and a couple of players: This looks like a close knit team with a lot of positive energy (A funny thing that happen was that when Antoan Richardson, who was the Red Wings' left fielder today, came back to the dugout, he got a hazing in jest by Clete Thomas, who did not play, and Brian Dinkelman, who was the first base coach, because the first IronPigs hit was at the left field...)

All players seemed to have fun but one. And it was very obvious and the Twins as an organization have to do something to help him: Joe Benson. Joe was the starting Centerfielder today and had a great game at the field, getting to every ball that hit his way. At the plate he had a 2-run scoring single in his third plate appearance, he almost ran out an infield hit in his fourth and struck out in his first 2 PAs against an IronPigs pitcher who threw 69-78 mph junk. His body language was very obvious and a big sign that he is pressing and needs help. After each unsuccessful plate appearance he went back to the dugout, slapping himself and sitting alone despondent with his head in his hands. He needs help and coaching and needs someone of the Twins to tell him that it is not worth it. He is still one of the top talents the Twins have and they should do something to help him.

Chris Colabello had another great night at the plate and played right field. I will not be surprised if Chris Parmelee and him swap teams sometime soon. His fielding at right was uneventful, but he is better than I thought on the base paths. Speaking of base paths, Antoan Richardson late in the game hit a triple that would have been a double for most places and should have been an inside the park home run, if Gene Glynn (as a third base coach did not put the stop sign.) Plenty of time to score but the Red Wings were up by ten at that point... Chris Herrmann, another player who has been having a forgetable season so far, had a good game and looked like he enjoyed it. Which is a good thing to see.

A few parting shots from the game:

Chris Colabello:

Brian Dinkelman, the first base coach:

Some of these guys will probably be starting for the Twins one of these days (Virgil Vasquez, Liam Hendriks, Cole DeVries) :

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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I feel that an introductory paragraph is in order here. This is the fourth season I have been covering the Minnesota Twins' drafts (started about 2 years into the existence of this blog). Since day one (you can see the humble 2009 beginnings here) I have been presenting potential target players' names and profiles and have been live-blogging each pick as they were happening providing mini-profiles. This will happen this season as well, but a lot of things have changed and evolved in the internet and the Twins' blogosphere the last 4 years. I remember that I did the 2009 live-blogging only with a radio feed of the draft. Now mlb.com has taken over the show with clear and concise coverage so the need for live blogging those is not as much.

What is new here for this year? The first (and hopefully) annual Twins mock draft: I will present my mock draft results for the Twins selections in the first 12 rounds. Yes. Twelve. We all have opinions and there are a lot of ideas about who the Twins might select with their first overall pick, but not many people are thinking about the later rounds, so I thought that I will give it a shot, just for fun. Of course, like all other mock drafts out there, unless someone can see all the draft boards from all teams, this is a purely recreational endeavor.

Back to the story: With the 4th pick of the 2013 MLB draft, the Twins select...

... Sean Manaea (pronounced mahn-EYE-ah)

Why? Because a. he is the player with the highest upside in the draft, b. because of velocity and injury concerns will fall in their lap and c. because he represents something they are missing in their organization.

A little bit of a background: Sean is a junior at Indiana State University. He is a big (6'5", 240 lbs) LHP who has been starting with the Sycamores the last couple years and really made a name for himself at the Cape Code league last summer.

Here is a 10 minute video from his warmup to his pitching in one game there last summer

(edit: for some reason it did not transfer... Please go to the original post, if you would like to see it)


Sean dominated the Cape Cod league hitters, with Fastballs that were hitting 97-98 mph late in the games, sharp sliders and masterful change ups; he went 5-1 in 8 GS, had a 1.22 ERA and broke the Cape Cod League record with 85 strikeouts in 57.1 IP. He gave up only 7 walks and allowed 22 hits.

This sounds like a top overall pick, why would he fall down to the fourth pick?

He has not been the same as far as velocity goes this season as he has been at the Cape, he has a hip injury and scouts have been souring on him as a top pick.

Would that make him a risk for the Twins?

Every pick is a risk but there are a lot of things in Manae's favor that scouts overlook and will make him the perfect pick for the Twins:

• Cape Cod summer league aside, his 2013 performance (even though he has hip issues) is better than his 2012 performance.
• A pitcher cannot just lose "stuff". He might lose control, but Manaea still has his control and stuff (see this, for an excellent recent scouting report that compares his performance now to his performance last summer)
• His velocity is down, but his has been the coldest spring in recent history and he is battling a hip issue (and has not lost control.)
• He has the best natural talent in the draft and the scary thing is that he has not really have much instruction (which is something that scouts avoid to say). His mechanics are awful (as you can see in the video) and with proper instruction, the sky is the limit.
• Why he did not have much instruction? Here is his story: He is not a privileged kid. He did not live in the suburbs and played in the best teams with the best coaches. His dad, Faaloloi, immigrated to Indiana after he fought in the Vietnam war. Both he and his mom are factory workers, settled at Wanatah, and could not afford special baseball instruction for their kid. Sean went to a small High School, South Central Junior-Senior High School in Union Mills, where he showed his talent but was way under the spotlight to get a College scholarship. To achieve this, he transferred to the bigger Andrean High School in Merrillville, where he flashed his excellent but raw offerings. The only school that offered him a scholarship was Indiana State, which is not a baseball powerhouse playing in a powerhouse conference.
• So, Manaea has incredible good stuff, despite horrible mechanics, despite his hip issue and he has never really received expert instruction. As far as I am concerned, this makes sky proverbially the limit.
• The Twins have 4-5 RHPs who have flashed top of the rotation talent in the minors (Alex Gibson, Alex Meyer, DJ Baxendale, Trevor May, Jose Berrios) but not a lefty. He would be the perfect top of the rotation lefty to complement some of those righties.

So you have it: Sean Manaea, should be the Twins' 2013 first round draft pick and I think that they will pull the trigger.

Who the Twins select in the later rounds? Check in this week to find out.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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This is the third an last installment in this series. Yesterday, I presented the names of 114 College position players who will likely be drafted and a couple days before those of 129 College pitchers likely to join an MLB organization this early June. Today I am presenting the names of 101 High School players who are likely to get drafted (52 position players and 49 pitchers.)

The one thing that we learned from the 2012 MLB draft, the first one under the newest Collective Bargaining Agreement, which had slot bonuses implemented, was that it was harder to select and sign High School players from the mainland US and Canada at slot value. Thus, fewer High School players were selected and even fewer signed. Unless a player is selected on the top rounds, signability of a High School player will be an issue.

Before I present the list, I will give you a teaser about the next draft related installment here: It will be the first ever Twins mock draft where I will be presenting the names of the players I think that the Twins will draft in the first 12 rounds of the draft, starting with the number four pick overall (and it is not a conventional wisdom pick, or consensus pick - those are listed here) in a couple days. (EDIT: I finished earlier than I thought and my projected Twins' first round pick, along with rationale for the selection, is listed here.)

Here is the list of the 101 High School names you should know before the 2013 MLB draft (including those of a handful of Minnesotans) :

52 Position Players

Willie Abreu OF Mater HS (FL)
Christian Arroyo SS Hernando HS (FL)
Cavan Biggio 3B/2B St. Thomas HS (TX) Craig's son
Ryan Boldt OF Red Wing HS (MN)
Nick Ciuffo C Lexington HS (SC)
Zach Collins C/1B American Heritage HS (FL)
JP Crawford SS Lakewood HS (CA)
Tyler Danish 3B Valrico HS (FL)
Edwin Diaz, ss, Ladislau Martinez Otero HS, (PR)
Travis Demerritte 3B Winder Barrow HS (GA)
Jon Denney C Yukon HS (OK),
David Denson 1B La Puente HS (CA)
Xavier Fernandez, c, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
Kevin Franklin 3B/OF Cerritos HS (CA)
Clint Frazier OF Loganville HS (GA)
Josh Hart OF Parkview HS (GA)
Connor Heady SS Prospect HS (KY)
Jan Hernandez SS/2B Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy (PR)
Nick Longhi 1B/OF Venice Senior HS (FL)
Joseph Martarano 3B Fruitland HS (ID)
Jeremy Martinez C/3B Mater Dei HS (CA)
Terry McClure OF Riverwood International Charter HS (GA)
Dane McFarland OF Laguna Niguel HS (CA)
Andy McGuire SS/3B James Madison HS (VA)
Reese McGuire C Kentwood HS (WA)
Billy McKinney OF Plano West HS (TX)
Ryan McMahon 3B Mater Dei HS (CA)
Matt McPhearson OF Riverdale Baptist HS (MD)
Austin Meadows OF/1B Grayson HS (GA)
Oscar Mercado SS Gaither HS (FL)
Brian Navarreto C/OF Arlington Country Day HS (FL)
Tucker Neuhaus SS Wharton HS (FL)
Sheldon Neuse SS Fossil Ridge HS (TX)
Dom Nunez SS Elk Grove HS (CA)
Chris Okey C Eustis HS (FL),
Tyler O'Neill C Maple Ridge H.S. (BC, Canada)
Dustin Peterson 3B/SS Gilbert HS (AZ)
Corey Ray OF Simeon Career Academy (IL)
Tim Richards SS Wilson HS (CA)
Chris Rivera SS El Dorado HS (CA)
Cord Sandberg OF/1B Manatee HS (FL),
Dominic Smith 1B/LHP Serra HS (CA),
John Sternagel 3B/SS, Rockledge HS (FL)
Jake Sweaney, C, Garces Memorial High School
Rowdy Tellez 1B Elk Grove HS (CA)
Riley Unroe SS Desert Ridge HS (AZ)
Marcos Ventura OF/1B Puerto Rico Baseball Academy
Drew Ward 1B Leedey HS (OK)
Justin Williams OF/3B Terrebonne HS (LA)
Ivan Wilson OF Ruston H. (LA)
Weston Wilson SS/3B Wesleyan Christian Academy HS (NC)
Stephen Wrenn OF/RHP Walton HS (GA)


49 Pitchers

Trey Ball LHP/OF New Castle HS (IN)
Derick Beauprez RHP, Cherry Creek HS (CO)
Phil Bickford RHP Oaks Christian HS (CA)
Akeem Bostick, RHP, HS (SC)
Jacob Brentz LHP South Ballwin HS (MO)
Ian Clarkin LHP/1B James Madison HS (CA)
Trevor Clifton RHP, Heritage HS (TN)
Wil Crowe RHP Pigeon Forge HS (TN)
Kevin Davis RHP Tr Miller HS (AL)
Dustin Driver RHP Wenatchee HS (WA),
Zach Farmer LHP Piketon HS (OH)
Stephen Gonsalves LHP/OF Cathedral Catholic HS (CA)
Hunter Green LHP Warren East HS (KY)
Hunter Harvey, RHP, Bandys High School (NC)
Thomas Hatch RHP Jenks HS (OK)
Clinton Hollon RHP Woodford County HS (KY)
Connor Jones, RHP, Great Bridge High School (VA)
Ryder Jones, RHP/3B, Watauga HS (NC)
Rob Kaminski LHP St. Joseph Regional HS (NJ)
John Kilichowski LHP Tampa Jesuit HS (FL)
Max Knutson LHP Mounds View HS (MN)
Chris Kohler LHP Los Osos HS (CA)
Matt Krook LHP St. Ignatius HS (CA)
Brett Morales SP KIng HS (FL)
Chris Oakley RHP, St. Augustine HS (NJ)
Ryan Olson RHP Western Christian (CA)
AJ Puk LHP/1B Washington HS (IA)
Carlos Salazar RHP Kerman HS (CA)
Kyle Serrano SP RHP Farragut (TN)
Casey Shane RHP, Centennial HS (TX)
Jordan Sheffield RHP Tullahoma (TN)
Logan Shore RHP Coon Rapids HS (MN)
Kohl Stewart SP St. Pius X HS (TX),
Dominic Taccolini RHP Kempner HS (TX)
Blake Taylor LHP Dana Hills HS (CA)
Keegan Thompson RHP, Cullman HS (AL)
Robert Tyler RHP Crisp County HS (GA)
Matt Vogel RHP Patchogue Medford HS (NY)
Jonah Wesely LHP, Tracy HS (CA)
Devin Williams RHP Hazelwood West (MO)
Garrett Williams LHP/1B Calvary Baptist HS (LA)

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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couple days ago, in preparation for the 2013 MLB Draft, I listed 129 names of College Pitchers who will get drafter in that draft and several of them will be drafted by the Minnesota Twins. In this second segment, I am listing the names of 114 College position players who will be drafted. The Twins will likely draft several of them.

Will they redraft LJ Mazzilli who decided to not sign and return to University of Connecticut for his Senior year? Maybe, but not as high as they did last season, because with a below par performance, his stock really fell recently. The Twins do like players with "bloodlines" and in addition to Mazzilli, thee are a few players whose last names are pretty famous. (Craig Biggio's son, is a High School Senior, also eligible for this draft, but it is a different story.)

You can find all the 2013 MLB Draft content in this site here.

Without further ado, here is the list, alphabetically:


Brenton Allen, OF, UCLA
Zach Alvord 3B Tampa CC
Mario Amaral C Miami-Dade CC
Tim Anderson SS East Central Community College
Michael Arencibia OF Tallahassee CC
Pat Biondi, OF, Michigan
Aaron Blair OF Fresno St
Krey Bratsen OF Texas A&M
Colin Bray OF Faulkner
Jake Bray, 3B Feather River
Aaron Brown, OF/1B/LHP Pepperdine
Jaycob Brugman OF Brigham Young
Kris Bryant 3B/1B San Diego
Elliot Caldwell, OF South Carolina Community College
Victor Caratini C Miami-Dade CC
Dale Carey, OF, Miami
Shon Carson, OF, South Carolina
Kyle Carter, OF Miami-Dade CC
Connor Castellano 2B Santa Fe CC
Danny Collins, 3B Troy
Chase Compton, 1B Louisiana-Lafayette
Ryan Cordell, OF Liberty
Conor Costello OF Navarro
Omar Cotto, OF USC
Johnny Coy, 1B Wichita State
Dustin DeMuth, 3B Indiana
Drew Dosch, 3B Youngstown State
Hunter Dozier, 3B/SS, Stephen F. Austin State
Jeff Driskel OF Florida
Jordan Dunatov, OF Central Arizona College
Sean Dwyer OF Florida Gulf Coast
Kaiana Eldredge, 2B, Kansas
Adam Engel, OF Louisville
Phil Ervin OF Samford
Kyle Farmer, SS Georgia
Jacob Felts C Texas
Dominic Ficociello 1B/3B Arkansas
Johnny Field OF Arizona
Eric Filia-Snyder, OF UCLA
Billy Flamion, OF, Grossmont
Adam Frazier SS Mississippi St.
Mitchell Garver, C New Mexico
Ryan Gebhardt OF Louisiana Tech
Conrad Gregor 1B Vanderbilt
Trey Griffin, OF Tennessee Wesleyan
Cody Gunter, 3B Grayson County CC
Conner Hale 3B Manatee CC
Jordan Hankins, 2B Austin Peay
Ryon Healy, 1B/C, Oregon
Tyler Horan, 1B/OF Virginia Tech
Mott Hyde SS Georgia Tech
CK Irby, OF/RHP Samford
Eric Jagielo 3B/OF Notre Dame
JaCoby Jones 2B/OF LSU
Kevin Jordan, OF, Wake Forest
Aaron Judge OF Fresno State
Lonnie Kauppila SS Stanford
Tony Kemp 2B/OF Vanderbilt
Jared King, OF Kansas State
Andrew Knapp, C California
Kevin Koziol, SS, Parkland
Tyler Kuresa, 1B UC Santa Barbara
Hunter Lockwood, C Weatherford CC
Dylan LaVelle, 3B Everett CC
Michael Lorenzen OF/RHP Cal State Fullerton
Tyler Marincov, OF North Florida
Jamal Martin OF Santa Fe CC
Trey Mancini, 1B Notre Dame
Jacob May, SS/OF Coastal Carolina
LJ Mazzilli 2B U Conn
Joel McKeithan, 3B Vanderbilt
Jason Monda, OF Washington State
Colin Moran 3B North Carolina
Matt Moynihan OF Texas
Spencer Navin, C Vanderbilt
Case Nixon C Alabama
Adam Nelubowich, 3B, Washington State
Kelly Norris-Jones, C, Illinois
Michael O’Neill, OF Michigan
Daniel Palka OF/1B Georgia Tech
Jordan Parr, 3B, Illinois
Mark Payton OF Texas
DJ Peterson 3B New Mexico
Chad Pinder, SS/3B, Virginia Tech
Zack Powers 3B Florida
Vickash Ramjit 1B Florida
James Ramsay OF South Florida
Brian Ragira 1B Stanford
Matt Reida SS Kentucky
Hunter Renfroe, C/OF, Mississippi State
Raph Rhymes, OF LSU
JT Riddle, 2B Kentucky
Drake Roberts 2B Navarro
James Roberts, SS, Southern California
Matt Roberts, C North Carolina
Angel Rosa SS Alcorn State
Tyler Ross, C LSU
David Schuknecht C Riverside
Michael Suiter, OF, Kansas
Christian Summers SS Angelo State
Daniel Sweet OF Florida
Ryan Tella, OF, Auburn
Brandon Thomas, OF Georgia Tech
Brandon Trinkwon, SS/2B UC Santa Barbara
Stuart Turner C Ole Miss
John Underwood 1B Palm Beach State
Josh Van Meter, SS, Norwell
Erich Weiss, 2B/SS Texas
Conor Williams, OF Utah Community College
Trey Williams 3B College of the Canyons
Austin Wilson OF Stanford
Kyle Wren, OF Georgia Tech
Mike Yastrzemski, OF, Vanderbilt
Jimmy Yezzo, IF, Delaware

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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Every year about this time, I present profiles of College and High School players that the Minnesota Twins might draft. Last year, I identified pitching as a high need, so I presented the profiles of 23 pitchers, all potential Twins' draft picks. The Twins, properly, went ahead and picked a High School outfielder instead. I will be doing something different this year. Like past years, I will continue to present mini-profiles of every single Twins' draftee (you can find the 2012 profiles here) but instead of profiling 20some players that the Twins might pick, I will name several players (in the hundreds) that will be drafted.

The thought behind this is that everyone knows the 4-5 players who make up the pool of talent that the Minnesota Twins will select with the 4th overall picks (for a refresher, look at the aggregate mock draft picks); however, there is little information about players in later rounds. I hope that this fills that gap somewhat. I am dividing it into 4 parts: College Pitchers, College Position Players, High School Pitchers and High School Position Players. This is the first part and includes College Pitchers. One thing that we learned from the 2012 draft, the first one under the new CBA, is that the new rules favor selecting College picks. Thus, I am certain that the 129 names I am presenting here will all get selected sometime in this draft and that the Twins will select 4-5 of them.

This is just an naming names list; in the near future, additional one liners of information (micro scouting reports) will be added about each player, after I complete all four installments. I know it is somewhat of a huge undertaking, but it is fun.

Here are 129 College pitcher names everyone should know before the 2013 MLB Draft, alphabetically:

Tyler Alexander, LHP Carroll
Chris Anderson RHP Jacksonville
Mark Appel RHP Stanford
Barrett Astin RHP Arkansas
Alex Balog RHP San Fransisco
Carson Baranik RHP Miami-Dade CC
Tyler Barnette, RHP Charlotte
Cal Becker, RHP, Palm Beach State
Kirby Bellow LHP Texas
Aaron Blair, RHP Marshall
Matt Boyd LHP Oregon State
Justin Brantley, RHP, Siena
Hunter Brothers, RHP, Lipscomb
Aaron Brown, LHP Pepperdine
Shane Carle, RHP, Long Beach State
Dan Child, RHP Oregon State
Harrison Cooney, RHP, Florida Gulf Coast
Dace Kime RHP Louisville
Jonathon Crawford RHP Florida
Brady Corless, RHP Salt Lake
Dylan Covey RHP San Diego
Josh Dezse RHP/1B Ohio State
Eric Dorsch, RHP, Kent State
Calvin Drummond RHP Arizona Christian
Ryan Eades RHP LSU
Erick Eck, RHP Wofford
Kent Emanuel LHP North Carolina
Zane Evans, RHP/C Georgia Tech
Buck Farmer, RHP, Georgia Tech
Kyle Finnegan, RHP Texas State
Nathan Foriest LHP Middle Tennessee State
Scott Frazier RHP Pepperdine
Dakota Freese, RHP Des Moines Area CC
David Garner RHP Michigan State
David Gates RHP Howard
Daniel Gibson LHP Florida
Zachary Godley P
Marco Gonzales LHP Gonzaga
Alex Gonzalez RHP Oral Roberts
Nicholas Gonzalez P South Florida
Trevor Gott, RHP Kentucky
Jonathan Gray, RHP, Oklahoma
Chad Green, RHP, Louisville
Matt Grimes, RHP Georgia Tech
Jerad Grundy, LHP, Kentucky
Alex Haines, LHP Seton Hill
Michael Howard LHP Baylor
Jason Hursh RHP Oklahoma State
CK Irby RHP Samford
Ricky Jacquez, RHP Central Arizona
Jake Johansen, RHP Dallas Baptist
Chase Johnson RHP Cal Poly
Christian Jones LHP Oregon
Jon Keller RHP Tampa
Tanner Kiest, RHP Riverside
Dace Kime, RHP Louisville
Keenan Kish RHP Florida
Erich Knab, RHP, Spartanburg Methodist
Corey Knebel RHP Texas
Forrest Koumas, RHP North Carolina
Austin Kubitza RHP Rice
Alex Lakatos, RHP, Michigan
Randy LeBlanc RHP Tulane
Tyler Linehan LHP Fresno State
Corey Littrell, LHP Kentucky
Ben Lively, RHP, Central Florida
Sean Manaea LHP Indiana State
Johnny Magliozzi, RHP, Florida
Trey Masek RHP Texas Tech
Kenny Mathews, LHP Riverside
Mike Mayers, RHP Ole Miss
Jake McCasland RHP New Mexico
Kurt McCune RHP LSU
Andrew Mitchell RHP TCU
Albert Minnis, LHP, Wichita State
Sam Moll LHP Memphis
Spencer Navin C Vanderbilt
Case Nixon C Alabama
Dillon Overton LHP Oklahoma
Paul Paez, LHP Rio Hondo
Jordan Patterson OF South Alabama
TJ Pecoraro RHP Vanderbilt
Nick Petree, RHP Missouri State
Philip Pfeifer LHP Vanderbilt
Adam Plutko RHP UCLA
Kayden Porter, RHP Southern Nevada CC
Cody Reed, LHP Northwest Mississippi
Tony Rizzotti RHP Tulane
Nic Pivetta, RHP New Mexico
Drake Roberts 2B Navarro
Angel Rosa SS Alcorn State
Nick Rumbelow, RHP LSU
Javier Salas RHP Miami
Lukas Schiraldi, RHP Navarro CC
Brad Schreiber, RHP Purdue (Twins' 2012 40th round pick)
Jimmie Sherfy, RHP Oregon
Braden Shipley, RHP, Nevada
John Simms RHP Rice
Tyler Skulina, RHP Kent State
Dan Slania RHP Notre Dame
DeAndre Smelter, RHP Georgia Tech
Myles Smith, RHP, Lee CC
DJ Snelten, LHP Minnesota
Ryne Stanek RHP Arkansas
Teddy Stankiewicz RHP Seminole State JC
Gandy Stubblefield RHP Texas A&M
Colby Suggs RHP Arkansas
Stephen Tarpley, LHP Scottsdale CC
Trey Teakell, RHP, TCU
Jeff Thompson, RHP, Louisville
Andrew Thurman RHP UC Irvine
Justin Topa RHP Long Island U Brooklyn
Josh Uhen, RHP Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Nick Vander Tuig RHP UCLA
AJ Vanegas RHP Stanford
Austin Voth, RHP Washington
Konner Wade RHP Arizona
Michael Wagner, RHP San Diego
Bobby Wahl RHP Ole Miss
Billy Waltrip LHP Oklahoma
Zach Weiss, RHP, UCLA
Ben Wetzler LHP Oregon State
David Whitehead, RHP, Elon
Karsten Whitson RHP Florida
Trevor Williams RHP Arizona State
Tom Windle LHP Minnesota
Cole Wiper RHP Oregon
Rob Zastryzny, LHP, Missouri
Kevin Ziomek LHP Vanderbilt

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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The 2013 MLB Draft is less than a month away (it takes place from June 6th until June 8th.) The Minnesota Twins have the 4th pick this season, and there is a lot of disagreement (as is with every draft in every season in every sport) about who is the best pick for them and who they will select. And 'tis the season for mock drafts, so I am presenting the picks experts (and non-experts) think the Twins will make, and see whether there is a consensus. I am listing all of the mock drafts to date since late March. If a particular writer made multiple mock drafts, only the latest version is shown. If you know of any additional mock drafts, please let me know.

The picks are presented by mock draft date, mock draft place & name of the writer (with links to their web pages) and the name, school and position of the Twins' likely draftee. Regardless whether the Twins will pick any of these players, all these players are "names to know" for the 2013 draft:

May:

5/11/13: MLB Draft Site (ebowser18) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas
5/10/13: Sports Illustrated (Dave Perkin) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA)
5/9/13: Baseball America (Jim Callis) : Kohl Steward, RHP, St. Pius X High (TX)
5/9/13: My MLB Draft : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA)
5/9/13: 85% Sports (Eugene Tierney) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University
5/7/13: Scout.com (Kiley McDaniel) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA)
5/7/13: Bleacher Report (Tim Rapp) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA)
5/7/13: MLB Unique: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA)
5/6/13: MLB Draft Insider (Chris Crawford) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA)
5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Adam Wells) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University
5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Mike Rosenbaum) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego
5/2/13: Crawfish Boxes (Anthony Boyer) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego
5/2/13: MLB Draft Prospects (Matt Garrioch) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University
5/1/13: Boyd's Bets (Jim Boyd) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego

April:

4/28/13: Through The Fence (Dan Kirby) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA)
4/18/13: Minor League Rundown : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA)
4/18/13: Sports City: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas
4/13/13: BH Picks: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas
4/12/13: The Baseball Draft Report: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA)
4/11/13: Big League Futures (Kevin R) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas
4/2/13 : Big League Futures (Matt Grabusky) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA)

March:

3/23/13: Minor League Ball (John Sickels) : Jonathan Denney, C, Yukon HS (OK)


Based on this there are 5 names (alphabetically: Bryant, Frazier, Manaea, Meadows, Stanek) that rotate in most of the mock drafts as the Twins' pick. John Sickels and Jim Callis made different picks (HS C Denney and HS P Steward, respectively.) I do like Sickels' pick because Catcher is a position of need in the Twnis' organization at this point. Also, the conventional consensus wisdom is that RHPs Mark Appel (Stanford) and Johnathan Gray (Oklahoma) will be taken with the first 2 picks and will not be available for the Twins.

I will probably update this at the end of the month as the draft nears.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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For a few years now, I have been doing a feature, pretty much on a monthly basis, which was called "Who is hot in the Twins' minors" (you can see last seasons' versions here.) This included a list of the best players in the Twins' system, based on cumulative performance year to date, broken down by position.

I am giving it a new twist this year: I am listing the best team of 25 players in the Twins' organization, by position based on cumulative performance. This is listed as a 25-man roster squad with starters and bench and a rotation an a pen. No batting order. Ages, handedness and team are also listed along with the stats. This is the first one and I will be doing those every 3-4 weeks.

This first version of the Twins' top 25 in the minors is dominated by players from the Fort Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels teams that dominate their leagues, but there is a good representation from the Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rock Cats squads. This is pretty small sample size and the results can be skewed, especially on the pitching side. And of course there are some surprises.

The 2013 Twins minors' best 25 are:

Starters:

C - Josmil Pinto (RHB, 24, AA) : .294/.400/.544, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 80 PA
1B - Chris Colabello (RHB, 29 AAA) : .328/.377/.642, 6 HR, 14 RBI, 77 PA
2B - Eddie Rosario (SHB, 21, A+) : .338/.368/.500, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 1 SB, 87 PA
3B - Miguel Sano (RHB, 20, A+) : .384/.439/.740, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 1 SB, 82 PA
SS - AJ Petersen (RHB, 24, A+) : .345/.418/.448, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 68 PA
OF - Byron Buxton (RHB, 19, A) : .404/.514/.614, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 7 SB, 70 PA
OF - Clete Thomas (LHB, 29, AAA): .347/.448/.571, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB, 58 PA
OF - Danny Ortiz (LHB, 23, AA): .313/.356/.582, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 73 PA
DH - Mike Gonzales (LHB, 25, A+) : .238/.338/.476, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 77 PA

Bench:

C - Kyle Knudson (RHB, 25, A+) : .432/.512/.649, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 43 PA
IF - Nate Hanson (RHB, 26, AA/AAA) : .317/.405/.429, 2 HR, 11 RBI
1B - DJ Hicks (LHB, 23, A): .310/.385/.586, 3 HR, 12 RBI
OF - JD Williams (SHB, 22, A): .270/.429/.514, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 6 SB, 49 PA
UT - Matt Koch (RHB, 24, A+) : .405/.490/.548, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 49 PA


Rotation:

Tyler Duffey (RHP, 22, A) : 2-1, 2.29 ERA, 3 GS, 19.2 IP, 3 BB, 17 K, 0.661 WHIP (.184 BABIP), 7.78 K/9, 5.67 K/BB
DJ Baxendale (RHP, 22, A+) : 2-0, 1.04 ERA, 3 GS, 17.1 IP, 3 BB, 15 K, 0.750 WHIP (.200 BABIP), 7.79 K/9, 5 K/BB
Alex Meyer (RHP, 23, AA) : 1-0 , 1.69 ERA, 3 GS, 16 IP, 7 BB, 19 K, 1.250 WHIP (.317 BABIP), 10.69 K/9, 2.71 K/BB
Kyle Gibson (RHP, 25, AAA) : 0-1, 4.43 ERA, 4 GS, 20.1 IP, 1.279 WHIP (.321 BABIP), 8.41 K/9, 2.71 K/BB
Andew Albers (LHP, 27, AAA): 0-0, 3.09 ERA, 3 GS, 11.2 IP, 1.286 WHIP (.314 BABIP), 8.49 K/9, 2.75 K/BB


Bullpen:


Corey Williams (LHP, 22, A+) : 2.08 ERA, 7 G, 8.2 IP, 4 Sv, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.692 WHIP (.231 BABIP), 3.12 K/9 INF K/BB
Adrian Salcedo (RHB, 22, A+): 4.82 ERA, 6 G, 9.1 IP, 0 BB, 11 K, 1.179 WHIP (.407 BABIP) 10.61 K/9, INF K/BB
Caleb Thielbar (LHP, 26, AAA) : 3.68 ERA, 8 G, 14.2 IP, 2 BB, 18 K, 1.364 WHIP (.405 BABIP), 11.05 K/9, 9 K/BB
Steven Gruver (LHP, 24, A) : 0.64 ERA, 4 G, 1 GS, 14 IP, 1 Sv, 2 BB, 16 K, 0.714 WHIP (.258 BABIP), 10.29 K/9, 8 K/BB
Tyles Jones (RHB, 23, A) : 0.96 ERA, 5 G, 9.1 IP, 2 Sv, 2 BB, 11 K, 0.750 WHIP (.217 BABIP), 10.61 K/9, 5.50 K/BB
Ryan O'Rourke (LHP, 25, A+) : 0.00 ERA, 5 G, 9 1P, 1 BB, 7 K, 0.333 WHIP (.100 BABIP), 7 K/9, 7 K/BB
Zach Jones (RHB, 22, A+) : 1.00 ERA, 7 G, 9 IP, 5 Sv, 2 BB, 13 K, 0.667 WHIP (.176 BABIP), 12 K/9, 4 K/BB

Last season, I started a Random Twins Thoughts series that included a post a week every Tuesday. I was told that people actually liked those and missed them when I stopped, so I will continue them this season. I decided to change it up a bit this season and do it a bit more randomly. This first one is after the Twins competed their first series of their young 2013 season, hosting the Detroit Tigers who are the favorite to win (at least) the AL Central in the 2013 season. I will try to coincide these thought posts with the end of Twins' series. As previously, the content will be on the major league team, as well as the minor league team; I will also include additional factoid and links to Twins' stuff, like last season. Here is the first installment:

• After Wednesday's win, it was the first time the Twins were at .500 after the 2010 season.
• Good to see them winning the opening series 2-1 at home over the AL Central favorites. If the Twins win at home, play close to .500 ball on the road, and win over the other AL Central teams, great things will happen.
• I think that a lot of fans were surprised by the strong showings of Vance Worley, Kevin Correia and Mike Pelfrey. From what I saw and reported last week from Fort Myers, I was hopeful for both Correia and Pelfrey. This is in contrast to the 3 pitchers who opened the 2012 season in Baltimore: Carl Pavano allowed 4 runs (all earned) in 7 IP, Fransisco Liriano 6 (5 Earned) in 4 IP; Anthony Swarzak did a good job with 1 run in 5 IP.
• Great to see the comeback by the Twins' bottom of the order last night against the Tigers' committee of closers. Trevor Plouffe, Jamey Carroll, Wilkin Ramirez, Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar were the participants and it is clear that this comeback might had not happened if the Twins gave Drew Butera a position on the 2013 25-man roster. Major kudos to Joe Vavra who aggressively (unlike his predecessors Steve Liddle and Scott Ullger) waved in Dozier for the winning run. It great (and about time) to see the Twins play aggressively and fight hard on the diamond.
• Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks have both been struggling at the plate (and they both got their first base hits of the season in the Twins' 8th inning), but the season is still young. The Twins do not have many other Centerfielder options, but I can see Ramirez taking some PAs from Parmelee, especially against LHPs
• The Twins sold only 19,000 season tickets for 2013, down 3,000 from 2012, which was down 2,000 from 2011. Not winning does not sell tickets, but the revenue loss due to loss of additional non-season ticket attendance is higher than that due to the loss of season tickets. Still the Twins have sold as many season tickets as the total average home attendance of three other MLB teams in 2012: The Astros (19,848), Indians (19,797) and the Rays (19,255). The latter are the poster boys of the exception of the aforementioned rule that winning sells tickets. A team prime for moving to a more baseball-friendly place.
• Today is the opening day for all full season Twins' minor league affiliates (International League, AAA, Rochester Red Wings, Eastern League, AA, New Britain Rock Cats, Florida State League, high A, Fort Myers Miracle and the newest affiliate, Midwest League, A, Cedar Rapids Kernels.)
• Speaking of the Kernels, if you are interested in following them, you should bookmark the Knuckleballs Blog, where Jim Crikket (a total Kernels' insider) will follow them from Cedar Rapids with great original content like this. And even if you don't care about the Twins' minor league affiliates (shame on you), you should bookmark them, because the guys and gals of Knuckleballs offer some of the greatest independent blogging coverage of the Twins (including some great game time chats as well as awesome weekly podcasts.)
• Since we are talking about independent Twins' blogs, make sure you follow The Twins' Fan from Afar, for New Britain Rock Cats coverage, k-bro's baseball blog for a kinder gentler side of Twins coverage and her trademark paper dolls, Peanuts from Heaven, for great lighter coverage of Twins and Twins Trivia, for an amazing historic perspective of the Twins. Interesting to see how few independent blogs are left in the Twins' blogosphere these days, but content consolidation and aggregation by the big paying sites (like ESPN and SI) and more open access to bloggers by teams (which cuts down on independent and open views) has becoming more and more mainstream. Will be interesting to see how this will end up. And this is totally reflected on my blogroll on the left side here. Interesting to see how few of those Twins blogs are now still standing alone.
• On the non-independent blog side, Harold Sinker has returned with vengeance over at Section 219, the new kid on the block, Mike Berardino (who is a delight to read, btw,) has totally revived the Twins Now blog on the St Paul paper, and as always the super-bloggers and the dozens of contributors at the Twins Daily provide tons of current and original Twins' content and stimulating discussion.
• RF Oswaldo Arcia (age 21) is the youngest player to start on opening day for the Rochester Red Wings in the Twins' era of the team. He celebrated the occasion with a long 2-run Home Run at dead Center Field in the top of 6th inning at Buffalo.
• This article on Miguel Sano by David Dorsey the veteran baseball writer of the Fort Myers News-Press, is an absolute must read for any Twins' fan.
• Food for thought: Tomorrow (4/5) is the 60th birthday of the man, Andy Macphail, who build the twice World Champion Twins teams more than 21 seasons ago. He was born in the same year as the current Twins General Manager, Terry Ryan who was promoted to the post in 1994.
• Former Twins' opening day starter, Carl Pavano, is facing further life-threatening complications due to his spleen injury. Wishing him the best and a quick recovery.
• The Twins' product of the week is the brand new this season MLB Minnesota Twins 2013 Batting Practice 59Fifty Baseball Cap, 734, White/Red. Arguably, it is much better looking than the other new this year Batting Practice Cap, in Red, White & Navy that reminds me of Montreal Expos, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Originally published in full with 56 pictures at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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Like all good things that have an expiration date, the Twins' 2013 Spring Training had to end today. Tomorrow the games mean everything as the Twins are opening the season in a frigid Target Field against the Detroit Tigers.

As in the last few years, I attended Spring Training (you can find all my 2013 Spring Training posts here) and took several pictures. This is pretty much my photo diary without comments (but in one picture). It is in chronological order. Feel free to ask any questions about these pictures here and I will answer them.

Small (but important) print:

All images are: Copyright 2013, The Tenth Inning Stretch. Feel free to use them, for non-profit situations, with a. appropriate attribution of the copyright as mentioned above and b. a link to this post. If you are a commercial entity, or want to use them for profit situations, feel free to drop me a line if you would like to use any of this.













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For space and bandwidth considerations, only part of the photo diary is re-posted here. Feel free to continue at The Tenth Inning Stretch for the rest of the photos, including photos of the Twins' top prospects and Mauer's HR against Toronto. 56 photos in all.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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I think that it is pretty safe to say that nobody expects the Minnesota Twins to be close to contending in 2013. As a matter of fact, a lot of fans and experts would find the new Accuscore predictions that were released today and show the 2013 Twins with a predicted record of 72-90, optimistic.

I usually do not try to predict the way the Twins will finish with an analysis. The last time I did it was in the aftermath of the Santana trade and before the 2008 season, when the sky was supposedly falling (you can find that analysis in parts: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.) My quite unorthodox calculations predicted the team to have an 89-73 record, while everyone was predicting a sub .500 record. That season, as in this season, the major breaking point is Starting Pitching.

When I was asked before Spring Training by Cardinal70.com in their playing pepper series, my prediction (gut feeling) was that the Twins will compile an 86-76 record and will be competitive in 2013. Additionally, I recently noted the good energy that I saw this team have in Fort Myers, which makes me optimistic for 2013. Add to this, this excellent analysis by Phil Macky at ESPN 1500 based on individual projected performances that project the Twins to win 80 games in 2013, and it was about time to look at the possibilities formally.

I looked at it in 2 different ways and this post is part one, looking at the possibilities of the new starting rotation. The second way will be a WAR- and RAR-based analysis that will be presented some time this weekend or so, otherwise this post will be a monster.

This analysis is pretty unorthodox but pretty close to what I did before the 2008 season. I am looking at the differences of the Twins' rotation in 2013 vs the Twins' rotation in 2012 (Starting pitching is the driver of the Twins' performance folks... They led the AL Central in position player WAR by a lot, 25% ahead of the second team, in 2012.)

I am looking at the following two measures for each starting pitcher in 2012:

• Bill James' Game Score (which is what I used to tabulate my Spring Training Dashboards, and use the same convensions for above average, below average and average as there; explanation is here)
• Earned runs a pitcher allowed in each game
• Then I tabulate the number games that each pitcher had game scores better than, worse than or average; and the number of games that each pitcher allowed 2 runs or less, 3 to 4 runs and 5 runs or more. (Note: The Twins scored about 4.3 runs a game, so =< 2 runs is high probability or win and 3-4 runs good probability for a win.)
• The 2012 Twins' starters used for the calculations are Pavano, Blackburn, Liriano and Marquis
• For the 2013 Twins' startes I used the 2012 numbers for Correia and Worley and the 2011 for Pelfrey and Harden
• I assume that the rest of the rotation in 2013 (Diamond, De Vries, Deduno etc) will perform as in 2012.

Here are the results by pitcher:

It is obvious that the 2013 rotation had many better games in 2012 and would have kept the Twins competitive in most of their games (4 runs or less) than the 2012 rotation. But how much?

• The 2013 rotation had above average game scores 48.3% of the time vs 23% for the 2012 rotation
• The 2013 rotation allowed less than 2 runs in 42.7% of games vs 26% for the 2012 rotation
• The 2013 rotation allowed less than 2 runs in 82.2% of games vs 61.2% for the 2012 rotation

What does this mean in wins for the 2013 Twins?

• In 2012 the Twins starting pitchers won 41 and lost 72 games
• Extrapolating based on above average game scores the 2013 rotation will win an additional 23 games for a total of 89 wins
• based on less than 2 runs allowed 2013 rotation will win an additional 26 games for a total of 92 wins
• based on less than 4 runs allowed 2013 rotation will win an additional 15 games for a total of 81 wins
• These 3 average to 87 wins, giving the 2013 Twins a projected 87-79 record.

So here you have it. These Twins can compete in 2013.

Next: WAR and RAR-based analysis

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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I arrived North a tad too late from Fort Myers last night, so I did not quite had time to compile my last Spring Training report, so here it goes:

• Mainly a drills day over at the Minor League fields yesterday with no games or scrimmages schedules. Interesting to see Ray Olmedo, who was cut earlier in the morning participate in drills with the position players who will likely stay at Fort Myers for extended spring training and get assigned to the Rookie leagues. Most of them are young Latin American players and I suspect that Ray was helping with the translation.
• Back at Hammond Stadium Mike Pelfrey pitched a very good game (the only earned run should had been unearned because Morneau should have been charged with an error when misplayed what would have been the third out of the inning.) When I look at the return of someone from injury I look at 2 things: Velocity of fastball and command of the breaking ball. And Pelfrey had them both. His fastball hit 94 mph (at Hammond so subtract a couple) and he had excellent command of his high 70s curve. He changed speeds effectively, mixed and matched pitches well and provided a good glimpse of why he was considered a top of the rotation prospect for a long time. Good to see him back and I am certain that he will help the Twins this season.
• The only roster battle left is one for two pen spots among three relievers (who may all make it if Liam Hendriks' injured hand proves to be worse than it seems) who severely underperformed and underwhelmed this spring training and all have 40 man roster spots: Alex Burnett, Casey Fien and Trevor Robertson. Robertson (who admittedly has been unlucky this Spring because the ball seemed to bounce the wrong way every time he pitched) had a very sub-par outing yesterday. The main problems were that his fastball velocity was 85-88, with the fast Hammond Stadium radar, that made it flat and hittable and he could not command his breaking ball. As I mentioned above regarding Pelfrey, those 2 things are red flags for me as far as potential injury is concerned. On the other hand, Robertson yesterday said the he felt alright. We shall see. Regardless, with Anthony Swarzak and Tim Wood returning from injuries in a couple weeks, the two relievers who will make the squad will be under the microscope.
• Ecstatic to see Wilkin Ramirez making the club. He has been the most consistent Twins' player with the bat this Spring and his defense was occasionally impressive (including a diving catch today against Baltimore.) He will provide a RH bat with some pop off the bench and potentially a platoon partner for Chris Parmelee at RF. Ramirez is not on the 40-man roster so a transaction needs to take place to open a spot for him. This could be a trade involving Drew Butera, Jamey Carroll (who is practically unnecessary now with the emergence of Eduardo Escobar) or the removal from the 40-man roster of the reliever who loses the battle for the last pen spot or Caleb Thielbar or BJ Hermsen.
• One very hopeful observation for the coming season (and I actually asked others who agreed with me so it is not just me) : The overall energy of the team this Spring seems to be much better that it was last Spring. The mood seems to be much lighter. Players were pretty loose around the batting cages when waiting for others to bat or when were catching the ball at the OF during batting practice, or at the dugout. Even Gardenhire who last Spring was fairly grouchy was cracking jokes and was engaged in conversations with fans. This makes me very hopeful for this set of Twins as far as this season goes. Just a feeling I cannot describe, but it is pretty much there.
• Four games are left now, including the last 3 with the Red Sox in Fort Myers. Byron Buxton's guest star appearance will be the talk of the day tomorrow, while the next order of business will be the appointing of the opening day starter. As far as I am concerned I think that it will be either Vance Worley or Kevin Correia depending on their next appearance (or Worley's next appearance) so we will know the earliest tomorrow.
• Another Spring comes to the end and another season is coming to be. Let's hope it is better than the last one and the Twins sweep Detroit in the first series to make a strong statement as far as the division is concerned.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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Today the Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 14-5 at Hammond Stadium with about a week remaining at Spring Training; meanwhile there were AAA vs AA and A+ vs A scrimmages at fields number 2 and 3 on the minor league side. Here are my thoughts and observations of the day

• A lot of great performances today, including Joe Mauer's 6 RBI day that included a HR at dead center and Aaron Hick's 4 for 4 day, but the performance of the day happened at field number three and was witnessed by about 50 people, including Twins' General Manager Terry Ryan. During the high A vs. A matchup that included stars in the making like Miguel Sano, Byron Braxton, Travis Harrison, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas etc, a little known 10th round draft pick stole the show. DJ Baxendale, who was the Twins' 10th round pick from the University of Arkansas last summer and has been stretched to be a starter this season retired all 9 A players he faced, striking out 8. Only second baseman Aderlin Mejia was retired by a 3-1 ground out. Not a small fit, because the Cedar Rapids' lineup started with Buxton, Polanco and Harrison. Baxendale's stuff was absolutely filthy and his control was perfect (he had only one called ball the whole game). Two sinker with a lot of motion, a sharp breaking ball and a change up that had a life of its own. I will be very surprised if he does not move fast in the organization. This was one of the single most dominating pitching performances I have ever seen at any level of play. It was as if a major leaguer was pitching against Rookie league kids. Definitely someone to follow this season in Fort Myers (even though I suspect that he might end the season in New Britain.)
• Speaking of, this Fort Myers squad will score some runs and will be a serious contender in the Florida State League. Sandwiched between Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas, at the clean up spot today was Mike Gonzales, the Twins' 9th Round pick in 2008. For the ones not familiar with Gonzales, he has had his up and downs (mostly downs) mainly resulting from lack of discipline and hard time controlling his weight. Last season he played with the Miracle and was mediocre. This would be his make or break season and looks like he will repeat the high A tour to start the season. The 25 year old is in probably the best shape of his career and actually is dwarfing Vargas, if that is possible. I expect a break through season from Gonzales this year.
• Alex Meyer pitched for the AA team against the AAA and the little I got to see him (the A vs high A matchup was the center piece of the day) he looked pretty good with a great fastball and impressive command. Luke Bard who pitched for the Cedar Rapids team also pitched pretty well, but he was eclipsed by Baxendale.
• At the Stadium it was an overcast and very windy day and lots of home runs resulted. PJ Walters got the node for the Twins and he just did not have it today. Plus he ran out of gas pretty quickly. I don't think that the threw anything harder than 80 mph in his last inning. His fastball was clocked at 88-91 in the first innings and this was about 2-3 mph less in actuality because of the Fort Myers radar. He is not ready to start the season in the majors at least as a starter. Just not there yet.
• Brian Duensing was solid other than the home runs and Jared Burton was impressive. I am not sure that Josh Roenicke will make the team; I feel that it is a battle of 2 spots between him, Tim Wood and Jim Pressly and the other two have been better, even though Roenicke had a good appearance today. Since he can pitch multiple innings, maybe will slide in the Swarzak role while he is on the DL. His fastball touched 94 mph and his breaking ball was effective today.
• I have the feeling that Pedro Florimon and Brian Dozier are pretty much enshrined as the starting middle infielders and from now until the opening day it is a matter of them to get to know each other. Second day in a row that started in their respective positions.
• Chris Parmelee had another lackadaisical performance. I don't know if he feels that there is no way that he will not make the team, but the level of effort is just not what it should be at this point. Hasty plate appearances and swinging at bad pitches is not the way to make people feel that you deserve a position among the best 13 position players of the Twins.
• More cuts will be coming soon and I think that Ray Olmedo, Brandon Boggs, Jeff Clement, Dan Rohlfing, PJ Walters, Tyler Robertson and maybe one of Casey Fien and Alex Burnett will be it. One week until opening day and the slate should clear pretty quickly.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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Actually I spent the day at Port Charlotte, watching the Twins beat the Rays; thus, no minor league report today other that the 5 guys (Jason Christian, Nate Hanson, Chris Colabello, Bruce Pugh and Dan Turpen - of Kevin Slowey trade fame) who made the half an hour trip up North to fill in as needed. Here are my thoughts and observations from today:

• I did not see it, but Scoot Diamond pitched for the AAA Twins' team against the Red Sox' AAA team down at Fort Myers and his line was: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Not too encouraging.
• A couple notes about the Charlotte Sports Park (the home of the FSL Charlotte Stone Crabs and the Spring Training home of the Rays.) I think that the most parks I visit, the more and more I appreciate Hammond Stadium and the whole complex as a Spring Training venue. Here is one example: The minor league fields in Port Charlotte have an entrance with a door and a guard behind it and they were locked. Also, unlike Hammond stadium, there are cloth barriers on the chain link fences, which make following the action pretty awful. One of the gems of Charlotte Sports Park (and a peak into Hammond Stadium 2014) is the wrap around deck from short left to short right field. A great place to watch the game, esp. sitting on the tables by the Twins' bullpen at Right Center Field. Really looking forward to Hammond Stadium having one of those next Spring Training.
• I came down here for Spring Training with an open mind about Kevin Correia (yes, I know...) and I think that I know what the Twins saw in him. When he hits the lower third of the strike zone he is actually a good pitcher; when he doesn't, he is bad. Today he pitched against what was very close to the Rays' opening day lineup and did alright. His fastball was at 89-91 (the radar there is probably alright, since Price was at 92-95, which is pretty true) and was good at the lower third, but flat and hittable at anything above that. Change and breaking ball were both effective. He pitched much better than Worley did yesterday. I can start warming up to the idea that he will be serviceable for the Twins, but he will be walking a fine line if he needs to have pinpoint control to be serviceable (and he does need that.) On another note, Correia is too slow and deliberate. Not exactly a human rain delay, but pretty close...
• The Twins' four relievers (Tim Wood, Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett and Casey Fien) did a fine job. Wood is an interesting character and reminds me a bit of Jim Hoey physique-wise. He has a bit deception on his movement and short-arms the ball. He hit 94 with his fastball (Perkins did too) and he got swings and misses with his breaking ball. Very energetic guy and one of the few players who still uses chewing tobacco. Interesting to see whether he makes the team and how he will fit in.
• Alex Burnett needed this very badly. This was his only above average appearance in Spring Training (and it came in his seventh outing.) Every thing was working for him, including his fastball that went up to 92. A very good sign, but I am not sure at this point whether it is too late for him to make the team.
• Dan Rohlfing and Wilkin Ramirez continued their great appearances this Spring. Rohlfing started at first base and moved to left field later in the game. I think that his versatility eventually will be valuable to the Twins, but he has to build up on what he achieved this Spring Training and translate it into a good season with the bat at AA. As far as I am concerned, Dan Rohlfing is THE story for the Twins this Spring Training because he pretty much came from nowhere. Nowhere as a career .249/.296/.313 in parts of 2 seasons in AA. Now he has to take the leap.
• At this point and with Darin Mastroianni having a fairly anemic day at the plate plus misplaying a fly ball, I wonder whether Wilkin Ramirez is actually battling Mastroianni for the 4th OF position and not only Drew Butera and Jeff Clement for the last spot on the 25-man roster. He has been really good this Spring, he is a good defender at the corner OF spots, has some pop, has some speed, and has played some Centerfield (albeit last time in 2011.)
• I think that all three starting infielders today (Brian Dozier, Pedro Florimon and Eduardo Escobar) make the team, with Dozier and Florimon the starters at second and short. What you look in a double play combination is chemistry and these two seem to have it. I just hope that the Twins decide that this is the case and have them play the rest of Spring Training together so they click even better. As far as I am concerned, a cohesive middle infield is key to good defense and I hope that the Twins decide in one and let it be without taking guys in an out like they did the last few years. That would be a recipe for defensive disaster.
• Tomorrow the Twins are playing the Blue Jays in Hammond Stadium and will be interesting to see what a lot of people think is the team to beat in the American League in 2013.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch
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I am officially at Fort Myers, where I will be through Monday, attending Twins' games and checking on the minor leaguers. Unlike last season, when I pretty much presented a photo diary with 20+ images a day and some commentary, this season I will be doing something different: I will be presenting some of my observations and thoughts during the day on both major and minor leaguers, as well as other Spring Training-related items. Of course, I will add a few pictures on each post. I will probably make a couple of picture posts after next week, maybe as a Spring Training retrospect of sorts (since I am taking a ton of pictures this season.)

Today the Twins hosted the Yankees at Hammond Stadium and the AAA team hosted the Red Sox' AAA team on field number 1. Here are my daily thoughts and observations:

• Happy to be part of the biggest home Spring Training crowd ever for the Twins: a record 8366 people attended the game at Hammond Stadium and it showed it. Standing room only and even that was sold out before the game.
• Speaking of Hammond Stadium, some pretty interesting additions to the ballpark menu include deep fried cheese curds and calamari fingers (both of them at the "party deck" area at short right field.)
• For what is worth: Alex Meyer, Evan Bigley and Oswaldo Arcia were practicing with the Rochester group this morning.
• Speaking of Rochester, I was not really impressed with 3 of the pitching newcomers: Elarton, Lane and Vasquez.
• Got to see Miguel Sano take fielding drills with the New Britain squad. BJ Hermsen was in that group as well, as were Josmil Pinto and Matt Koch. Pinto is not a surprise to start at AA, but if Koch stays there. it will be a pretty big surprise. Likely he is filling for Dan Rohlfing who is with the big boys still.
• Over at the A and lower field, there were major pitching drills going on. Kennys Vargas was on the field at first during those drills, and I would swear that he looks even bigger this season.
• Speaking of pitching drills, back at the big league camp, there was a pretty large one going on this morning. Good to see that Rich Harden was actually participating, but was the only pitcher who did not throw the ball. Both Scott Diamond and Anthony Swarzak did throw the ball, btw.
• Speaking of Swarzak, he later pitched batting practice to the infielders who were not playing today and he shattered Brian Dozier's bat to about 6 pieces (one of which went towards Swarzak and another popped in the back of the cage; nevertheless it was a large commotion) Pretty good to see Swarzak back; he could be ready be the beginning of the season, but the Twins will put him on the DL.
• Speaking of bats, Dan Rohlfing, it his plate appearance before his home run, sent his flying into the crowd about 6 rows over the Twins' dugout. Large commotion but no injury and a nice souvenir. Dan Rohlfing keeps being the surprise of the Spring as far as I am concerned, because there was a guy from whom nobody expected anything at the beginning of ST and now he is on the Twins' catching prospects map.
• Thoughts about individual performances today:
• The good: Trevor Plouffe was great at the field in several chances and he had solid plate appearances. Good to see him back from his injury. Wilkin Ramirez, who went 3-3 and was hit by a pitch, will make the back up outfielder/last spot on the bench race really interesting. Solid on the plate against major leaguers. I really liked Ryan Pressly. He has an effortless delivery and can dial it up. At this point, I will be surprised if he does not make the team.
• The bad: Vance Worley was all over the place today. I had a chance to watch him pitch both with the Phillies and with their AAA affiliate (IronPigs, which happens to be about 10 miles away from where I life) and he is not the same guy. Not sure what's up, but it is worrisome at this point. He had a bit of success lately when he tried to mix his offerings up, but the first few innings his two seamer was very flat. He probably lost a few ticks as well, since the Hammond Stadium gun had him at 88-91 (got to subtract 2-3 for that gone.) 2 weeks left, he really needs to pick it up. Ray Olmedo was fairly shaky on the field. Bad jumps, miss-judgements and the such. I thought that he had an outside chance at a utility role, but I just do not see it now. Darin Mastroianni was not at his best either. He let a couple balls drop right in front of him for singles during Tyler Robertson's breakdown, which brings us to
• The ugly: Robertson was miss-matched at this game. The ball was coming off his hand flat when he was throwing the sinker that topped at 88 (with that gun) and the Yankees' AAA squad hit it like it. His breaking ball was good, but if the fastball is not there, he will not survive. I will be surprised if he is not one of the next cuts.
• Several scouts at the game (look at the following picture) and not sure who they were scouting. Among them the Twins' First Scout who watched the game with a stopwatch on his left hand and a scouting book the size of Gutenberg's Bible on his lap.
• Tomorrow I will be at Port Charlotte watching the Twins visit the Rays' home park. First time at that ballpark for me and I look forward to it.