I will use today's report to review this year's Top 50.

The Twinkie Town 2012 Top 50 included 22 position players and 28 pitchers, although only two pitchers made our top ten. Seven players who were in our 2011 Top 50 didn't make the cut this year, Kane Holbrooks (24), Bruce Pugh (34), Brett Jacobson (35), Danny Ortiz (36), Dan Osterbrock (38), Bobby Lanigan (41) and Anderson Hidalgo (48).

Chris Herrmann made the biggest move, moving up to our tenth spot after not being ranked last year. Other players making significant moves upward included Eddie Rosario who moved up sixteen spots to second, Brian Dozier, twenty spots to ninth, Tom Stuifbergen, fourteen spots to seventeenth, Niko Goodrum, eleven spots to nineteenth, Cole DeVries was thirty-fourth and Logan Darnell who was twenty-first after both not being ranked last year.

The players dropping the most included, Jorge Polanco, sixteen spots to forty-eighth, Dakota Watts, nineteen spots to forty-first, Deolis Guerra, twelve spots to twenty-eighth, Pat Dean, eleven spots to thirty-ninth, and David Bromberg, who dropped thirteen spots to twenty-fourth.

The most votes cast in any round were 525 in the eighth round when we selected Liam Hendriks. The player receiving the most votes was Miguel Sano who collected 286 votes in the first round. He also had the highest percentage, 58%. The fewest votes were 113 in the forty-eighth round when we selected Jorge Polanco. The closest round was the twenty-third round when Manuel Soliman beat David Bromberg by three votes. The biggest win was Sano, who won our top spot by 251 votes.

A complete review of this year's poll follows the jump, including last year's ranking in parenthesis.

There will not be a report next Saturday as I will still be traveling home.

Continue reading this post »

Today we will be voting for the last player to make our 2012 Top 50, which is perfect timing as I am about to leave on that long road trip home.

The players who won the four preliminary rounds are Jairo Perez, Javier Pimentel, Steve Hirschfeld and Luis Nunez. Considering this is the fiftieth top prospect, that is four excellent players from which we can choose.

Perez was one of the top hitters in the organization and the Midwest League at Beloit. Yes, he is older which is due to his missing all of 2010 following surgery. Pimentel is a shortstop who signed for about $700,000 a year ago, which is a lot of money for the Twins. In a move not often made by the Twins, they promoted him from the DSL Twins to the GCL Twins last summer when he was only 17 years old. Hirschfeld is a veteran minor league pitcher who was one of the most effective starters in the Eastern League last year. Although the Twins signed more than a dozen AAAA pitchers this winter, Hirschfeld is close and could work his way up to the Twins in the next year or two. Nunez returned to the GCL Twins last year where he was their closer. He was also very good and could become a very good short reliever over the next few years.

This round will remain open through tomorrow morning when my weekly Minor League Report will recap our 2012 Top 50. I hope you all enjoyed this process this winter. If you have any suggestions on how to make next year's better, please leave them in the comments.

In our final preliminary round for our 50th spot, we will be voting on nine pitchers who were with Elizabethton and the GCL Twins last year. The winners of the four preliminary rounds will then compete for the last spot in this year's poll.

The first five included were all at Elizabethton last summer. Cole Johnson is an older college player taken in the 44th round in 2012. He was 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 21.0 innings with 22 strikeouts and 8 walks. Solid numbers, but at 23 he will have to make the Beloit roster out of spring training. Derek Christensen was a lower round college pick in 2010. He was one of Elizabethton's most effective pitchers with a 5-2 record and 2.84 ERA in 19 games (six starts) with 61 strikeouts in 57.0 innings. Stephen Evans was the Twins 13th round pick. He finished with a 3-1 record and 1.54 ERA in 23.1 innings with 24 strikeouts. Stephen Gruver, who was last springs 7th round pick, was 1-0 with a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings with 32 strikeouts. Tim Atherton was with the GCL Twins several years ago before being released for an off field incident. The Twins resigned the 21 year old Aussie this year. He finished with a 3-0 record and 1.50 ERA in 24.0 innings with 29 strikeouts and only 5 walks.

The next four were all excellent young pitchers with the GCL Twins, Hung-Yi Chen (18 years old), Luis Nunez (19), Geraldo Ramirez (17) and Markus Solbach (19). Chen, who is from Taiwan, started ten games, finishing with a 0-4 record and 4.33 ERA in 35.1 innings with 38 strikeouts and only 5 walks. In his second season with the DCL Twins, Nunez pitched like a young man who could be special. He had a 5-0 record with a 1.67 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in 16 games (32.1 innings) with 37 strikeouts and only 6 walks. Ramirez is a Mexican who signed last year. He had a 0-0 record with a 3.12 ERA in 17.1 innings as a seventeen year old. Markus Solbach completes our International Tour as he hails from Germany. He was 3-3 with an excellent 1.91 ERA in 28.1 innings.

The tenth pitcher I thought should be included is last year's 16th round pick, Austin Malinowski. Malinowski, who is from the Twin Cities area, was considered the top prospect in Minnesota last year. He signed too late to see any action last summer.

This round will remain open through tomorrow morning when I will post our run-off for the 50th and last spot in this year's poll.

Today we will be selecting a pitcher from a full season team to compete for our Fiftieth spot. There are eleven that I believe should get some consideration, so all will be included.

Steve Hirschfeld and Bobby Lanigan were the anchors of New Britain starting rotation. Hirschfeld was amongst the most effective pitchers in the league for much of the season, while Lanigan led the team in innings with 153.2. Hirschfeld finished with a 8-8 record and 3.73 ERA in 128.0 innings. Lanigan was 8-9 with a 4.45 ERA. Brett Jacobson was also very good for the Rock Cats, beginning in the bullpen and later as a starter. He finished with a 4.56 ERA in 100.2 innings.

Matt Schuld had a 4-1 record with a 3.99 ERA in Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain where he struggled. Kane Holbrooks, who was our 24th ranked prospect last year, was very good at Ft. Myers in April (2.43 ERA in 29.2 innings) before battling injuries the rest of the year. He finished with a 5-9 record and 4.87 ERA in 94.1 innings. Bruce Pugh was decent at Ft. Myers (2-4 with a 4.53 ERA), however, struggled at New Britain.

Clint Dempster was very good at Beloit where he had a 2.14 ERA and 4-2 record in 46.1 innings. He moved up to Ft. Myers where his ERA ballooned to 7.89 in 21.2 innings. Jose Gonzalez was again one of the most effective relievers in the organization, picking up thirteen saves at Beloit where he had a 5-3 record and 2.47 ERA in 62.0 innings with 63 strikeouts. Ryan O'Rourke had an excellent 5-5 record for the Snappers with a 3.18 ERA in 110.1 innings. Before moving to the starting rotation, he had a 1.85 ERA in 17 relief appearances. Michael Tonkin had a 4-3 record for the Snappers with a 3.87 ERA in 76.2 innings. Blayne Weller had a 6-6 record with a 3.99 ERA in 85.2 innings.

This round will remain open through noon Thursday when we will vote on ten pitchers from the two rookie league teams.

It appears that Jairo Perez finally got the respect of the readers of Twinkie Town, winning the first of four spots in the finals of the 50th round.

Today we will be voting on ten young men who spent this past summer with the GCL Twins and Elizabethton Twins. Phillip Chapman, a catcher who was a lower round 2011 pick, was the GCL Twins top hitter at .308/.834 OPS in 104 at bats. Matt Parker was the top catcher for the Elizabethton Twins where he hit .277/.725 in 112 at bats. He also appeared in six games during a brief promotion to Beloit. Rory Rhodes is known for hitting very long batting practice home runs. In 157 at bats at Elizabethton, he hit .261/.751 with two home runs. He also struck out 72 times. Kennys Vargas is another big first baseman who was one of Elizabethton's top hitters at .322/.865 in 174 at bats. His season ended early when he began serving a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance. A. J. Pettersen is a solid middle infielder who does all the little things the right way. Pettersen's season was cut in half when he was hit in the face with a pitch that broke his nose in ten places. Pettersen hit .286/.388 OBP in 56 at bats. He struck out only nine times while taking seven walks.

Josh Hendricks is a first baseman from Australia who hit .275/.666 in 160 at bats for the GCL Twins. Jacob Younis is a young Aussie shortstop who turned eighteen during the season. He hit .219/.300 OBP in 105 at bats with seven stolen bases. Candido Pimentel was the center fielder for the GCL Twins. Pimentel hit .250/.350 OBP in 136 at bats. Nick Lockwood played primarily second base at Elizabethton, hitting .260/.314 OBP in 206 at bats. He drew 10 walks while striking out 42 times. After beginning his rookie professional season in the DSL, the Twins made an unusual move by moving Javier Pimentel up to the GCL Twins during the season even though he was only seventeen years old. He hit only .167/.227 OBP in 102 at bats, however, he may be another young Latin shortstop with a bright future.

This round will remain open through noon on Wednesday when we will vote on ten pitchers from the four full season teams.

After hanging around for sixteen rounds, Angel Mata captured the Forty-Ninth spot in this year's poll with 34 of 165 votes (20%).

We now move on to the first of four preliminary rounds for the Fiftieth ranked prospect in the Twins organization. Today we will vote on ten players who were with the four full-season teams this past year. Tomorrow, we will vote on ten players who were with the two rookie teams. Wednesday will be pitchers from the full-season teams and Thursday, pitchers from the rookie teams. Beginning Friday, we will have a run-off of the four winners.

The ten players eligible for the first preliminary round are Jairo Perez, Anderson Hidalgo, Danny Ortiz, Nate Hansen, Dan Rohlfing, Michael Gonzales, Tyler Grimes, Adam Bryant, Wang-Wei Lin and Danny Santana.

Perez was one of the top hitters in the Midwest League last year after missing a year with an injury. Perez hit .337/.992 OPS in 276 at bats with 15 home runs. Hidalgo, our 48th prospect last year, was the top hitter at Ft. Myers who was with the team the entire year at .274/.726. Ortiz, who was our 36th prospect last year, hit .239/.685 in 468 at bats with ten home runs. Hansen hit .267/.711 at Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain where he hit .238/.631. Rohlfing is one of the better defensive catchers in the organization. He hit .272/.687 in 173 at bats at Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain where he hit .247/.587 in 166 at bats. Gonzales hit .289/.840 with 15 home runs for the Snappers. Tyler Grimes was this year's fifth round pick. He hit .225/.722 in 138 at bats with four home runs at Beloit. Bryant, this year's ninth round pick, hit .245/.699 in 208 at bats for the Snappers. Lin has consistently hit very well. In 413 at bats for the Snappers, he hit .276/.730. Santana is an exciting young shortstop who played a lot in center field late this season in Beloit. He hit .247/.671 in 365 at bats with 24 stolen bases and seven home runs.

This round will remain open through noon tomorrow.

You selected a slick fielding young shortstop for our Forty-Eighth spot this year, Jorge Polanco. Polanco received 31 of 113 votes (27%), with Jairo Perez second (16), Angel Mata and Steven Gruver tied for third (13), and Brett Jacobson fifth (12).

All of the others received four to seven votes, so none will be dropped from the next to last round. Added will be another exciting young shortstop who the Twins moved up to the GCL from the DSL last summer, Javier Pimentel. Pimentel didn't hit much for the Twins, however, having turned seventeen last March meant that he was one of the youngest players the Twins have moved up to the GCL in recent years. He is another highly thought of prospect who the Twins recently signed out of the Dominican Republic.

This round will remain open through Monday noon. We will then begin the preliminary rounds for our 50th round with the run-off scheduled for Friday. Enjoy the Superbowl everyone!

Danny Lehmann picked up 29 of 137 votes (21%) to capture the Forty-Seventh spot this year. Jorge Polanco was second (22), Jairo Perez third (19) with Angel Mata and Steven Gruver tied for fourth (15).

Dropped from the next round will be Daniel Santana (4) and Jose Gonzalez (2). Added will be relievers Matt Schuld and Daniel Turpen and third baseman Rory Rhodes. Schuld was very effective at Ft. Myers where he was 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA in 70.0 innings. He moved up to AA where he wasn't as effective with a 2-2 record, 8.12 ERA, 27 strikeouts and 21 walks in 41.0 innings. Turpen, the pitcher the Twins received in the Kevin Slowey trade, was 2-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 59.2 innings for Tulsa (AA). He struck out 33 batters while walking 35. Rhodes is a power hitter known for massive batting practice bombs. The young Aussie hasn't done it during games yet, hitting only two home runs last year in Elizabethton where he hit .261/.751 OPS in 157 at bats.

This round will remain open through noon Sunday. On Monday we will begin the first of four preliminary rounds with the runoff voting for prospect number 50 Friday.

Tony Davis had 50 of 188 votes (26%), winning the Forty-Sixth spot in this year's poll. Danny Lehmann was second with 33 votes, Jorge Polanco third (26) and Angel Mata and Jairo Perez tied for fourth with 21.

Dropped from the next round will be Kennys Vargas (5), Michael Tarsi (3) and Phillip Chapman (1). We will bring back four players who didn't make the cut earlier, Danny Santana, Danny Ortiz, Jose Gonzalez and Brett Jacobson. Santana is an exciting young shortstop with some pop in his bat who the Twins may be moving to center field. Ortiz had been highly ranked before having a rough four months in Beloit. Gonzalez has been one of the organizations most effective relievers the past few years. Jacobson came over in the Hardy trade and has done a decent job at New Britain and later in the AFL.

A few of you mentioned that you would like the expanded run-off for the 50th spot as we did last year, so I will finish this year's Top 50 with another four round run-off. This round will remain open through early afternoon, Saturday.

[I forgot to mention earlier, that there won't be a Minor League Report tomorrow]

Although it took nearly ten rounds, former Beloit Snapper MVP James Beresford was selected as our Forty-Fifth ranked prospect. He collected 42 of 201 votes (20%) with Tony Davis, Danny Lehmann and Angel Mata all tied for second with 29 votes. Jairo Perez was fifth with 24.

Steven Gruver and Anderson Hidalgo will remain for the next round, however, A. J. Pettersen, Daniel Osterbrock and Luis Nunez didn't make the cut. Added will be Jorge Polanco, Michael Tarsi, Kennys Vargas and Phillip Chapman. Polanco, who is known for his sterling defense, hit a respectable .250/.668 OPS in 208 at bats in the Gulf Coast League. Considering that he turned 18 in early July, he certainly remains one of the most exciting shortstop prospects in the organization. Tarsi spent most of his season in New Britain where he is considered a local. He had a 3-0 record with a 4.22 ERA in 32.0 innings before moving up to Rochester where he didn't allow a run in two appearances. Vargas is an interesting situation, in that he began a 50-game suspension late last summer. He hit .322/.865 in 174 at bats in Elizabethton where he turned 21 during the season. Considering he will miss nearly half of the coming season, he will need to make an impression at Beloit immediately upon his return. In an organization that is badly in need of a catcher who can hit, Chapman hit .308/.834 in 104 at bats for the GCL Twins. He was a 35th round pick who was playing in low rookie ball after college. But he did hit better than anyone else on that team and certainly deserves a look by the voters of Twinkie Town.

This round will remain open through noon, Friday. Let me know if you would like me handle the 50th round similar to last year when we had four preliminary rounds of ten players (10 players from Hi-A thru AAA, 10 from rookie and low A and two rounds with pitchers from the same leagues). Following the four preliminary rounds, we had a run-off amongst the four winners.

The Forty-Fourth spot in this year's ranking goes to New Britain outfielder Evan Bigley. Bigley collected 67 of 208 votes (32%), with Angel Mata second (27), Danny Lehmann third (25), James Beresford fourth (23) and Jairo Perez fifth (22).

Four players were very close with eight to twelve votes. All four will be included in the next round. Dropped will be Markus Solbach who received only four votes. Added will be the only two players from last year's Top 50 who have not yet been included, Daniel Osterbrock and Tony Davis. Osterbrock was pitching well in April at Ft. Myers where he was 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in four games. In May he moved up to New Britain where he allowed thirteen earned runs in 6.1 innings in two starts before going on the disabled list for the rest of the year. Davis was very good working out of New Britain's bullpen. He appeared in seventeen games (28.0 innings0 with a 2.57 ERA, 24 strikeouts and 12 walks.

As we move into the final week, this round will remain open until noon on Thursday. Let me know if there is someone who I have missed who really deserves a chance to be voted on.

Lance Ray was selected as our Forty-third rated prospect with 44 of 156 votes (28%). Jairo Perez, Angel Mata and Danny Lehmann all tied for second with 21 votes. James Beresford was fifth with 18 votes while Anderson Hidalgo had 10 and Evan Bigley 9. Both Bigley and Hidalgo will remain in our next round.

Dropped from voting witll be Adam Bryant (5), Jose Gonzalez (4) and Bobby Lanigan (3). Added will be Steven Gruver, A. J. Pettersen, Luis Nunez and Markus Solbach. Gruver reported to Elizabethton after the draft where he posted a 1-0 record with a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings. Working out of the bullpen, Gruver struck out 32 batters while walking 10. Pettersen had the misfortune of being hit in the face a few days after reporting causing him to miss about half of his short season. Limited to only 56 at bats, Pettersen hit .286 while striking out only nine times, taking seven walks and scoring sixteen runs. Nunez was the main closer for the GCL Twins, where he had a perfect 5-0 record with a 1.67 ERA in 32.1 innings. He also recorded 37 strikeouts while issuing only six walks. Solbach is a young German who was playing his first professional baseball as a Twin. He had a 3-3 record with a 1.91 ERA in 28.1 innings.

The next round will remain open through noon, Wednesday.

Last year's Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year, Tim Shibuya, took the Forty-Second spot this year. Shibuya received 77 of 246 votes (31%), with Lance Ray second (54), James Beresford third (28%), Angel Mata fourth (25) and Anderson Hidalgo fifth with 20 votes.

Dropped from the next round will be Michael Gonzales (10), Javier Pimentel (6), Steven Evans (6) and Bart Carter (6). We will add five players, Adam Bryant, Danny Lehmann, Evan Bigley, Bobby Lanigan and Jose Gonzalez. Bryant, last year's ninth round pick, had a solid rookie season at Beloit where he hit .245 average in 208 at bats. Lehmann split his time between New Britain and Rochester. Considered one of the best defensive catchers in the organization, Lehmann hit .309 average in 55 at bats in AA while hitting .204 in 137 at bats at AAA. Bigley has consistently been a good hitter at every level he has played at. In 487 at bats at New Britain last year, he hit for a .253 average. Bobby Lanigan was the anchor of the Rock Cats starting rotation as they battled for a play off spot. He led the Cats with 153.2 innings while posting a 8-9 record with a 4.45 ERA. Gonzalez had thirteen saves, a 5-3 record and 2.47 ERA in 62.0 innings at Beloit as the crafty lefty continued to be an effective short reliever.

This round will remain open through noon, Tuesday. I have Dan Osterbrock, Steven Gruver, A. J. Pettersen, Luis Nunez and Markus Solbach on deck. Who do you think should be included in the final seven rounds?

Dakota Watts, a hard throwing short reliever won our Forty-First spot with 40 of 176 votes (22%). Lance Ray was second (29), Tim Shibuya third (28), Angel Mata fourth (25) and Jairo Perez fifth with 18 votes.

Dropped from the next round will be Jorge Polanco (11), Steve Hirschfeld (8), Bruce Pugh (3) and Kane Holbrooks (1). We will bring back Anderson Hidalgo, who always is one of the best hitting players on whatever team he is on. Also joining the voting for the first time are Michael Gonzalez, Bart Carter, Steven Evans and Javier Pimentel. Gonzalez is a big first baseman who hit .289 during his second year at Beloit. He also hit fifteen home runs after hitting thirteen a year earlier. Carter had an excellent 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings at Elizabethton before posting a 3.13 ERA in 26.0 inning for the Snappers. Evans joined Elizabethton following the draft where he had a 3-1 record, 1.54 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. Javier Pimentel, who was one of the Twins prize signings a year ago, moved up to the GCL Twins during the season after beginning his professional career in the DSL. Pimentel hit for only a .167 average in 102 at bats, however, he was only seventeen years old. The fact that the Twins moved him up at such a young age tells us what they think of his potential.

This round will remain open through noon, Monday, January 30th.

There is a lot happening in the Twins organization this weekend as the Twins hold their annual Twins Fest. It is a great opportunity for fans to meet and mingle with players, coaches and management.

On the baseball front, it appears that Terry Ryan is likely done signing players with the largest group in recent memory set to report to Ft. Myers in a few weeks. Mr. Ryan certainly didn't surprise anyone with big named signings as he worked within his limited budget to field what he believes can be a competitive team. Now we wait to see if several key players can stay healthy.

Today I want to take a look at seven players who for various reasons need to have a big season.

Continue reading this post »

Our Fortieth spot went to the reliever who may have had the best year of any reliever in the organization, Andrew Albers. Albers collected 38 of 171 votes (22%), with Dakota Watts second (29), Lance Ray third (25), Angel Mata fourth (23) and Jairo Perez fifth with 16 votes.

The four players receiving the least votes will be dropped from the next round, Daniel Santana (9), Danny Ortiz (7), Ryan O'Rourke (7) and Brett Jacobson (5). Added will be Kane Holbrooks, Bruce Pugh, Jorge Polanco, Steve Hirschfeld and Tim Shibuya. Holbrooks was again very good early in the season before struggling with an injury much of the year. Pugh was very good at Ft. Myers and equally ineffective when he moved up to AA. Polanco is a very young shortstop who must learn to hit, however, is gifted with a special glove. Hirschfeld was one of the better starters in the Eastern League for much of the year. Tim Shibuya was a 2011 23rd round pick who was named the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year.

This next round will remain open through Saturday afternoon. Please leave comments of who you want added now that we are trying to maximize the number of players exposed to our voters.

Our Thirty-Ninth pick this year is the second pitcher out of Boston College to make our list, Pat Dean. Dean collected 34 of 163 votes (20%), with Andrew Albers second (28), Dakota Watts third (23), Angel Mata fourth (19), and Jairo Perez and Lance Ray tied for fifth with 15 votes.

For the next round we will bring back an exciting young shortstop, Daniel Santana. Santana is very fast with some power. This year will be interesting to see if he remains at shortstop or if the Twins follow through with a move to center where he played some last year.

Following this round, we will drop the four players receiving the least votes in each round. That will allow us to get about fifty players involved in the voting before we finish. This round will remain open until noon, Friday.

Danny Rams surged towards the finish line to collect 64 of 209 votes (30%), thus, winning the Thirty-Eighth spot in this year's poll. Andrew Albers was second (34), Pat Dean third (28), Dakota Watts fourth (23) and Angel Mata fifth (16).

Tyler Grimes received only three votes and will be dropped from the next round. Added will be two young men who were ranked 35th and 36th last year, Brett Jacobson and Daniel Ortiz. Jacobson, who is the lone piece of the J. J. Hardy trade still with the Twins, was 5-6 with a 4.56 ERA in 100.2 innings for New Britain last year. Following his season, he had a 6.94 ERA in the Arizona Fall League. Ortiz began his season with a month to remember in Beloit, however, it went downhill after the 1st of May. Ortiz, who many believe could be special, hit .239/294/.391 in 468 at bats with ten home runs.

This round will remain open until noon tomorrow, Thursday. Beginning following the fortieth round, I will eliminate the four players with the fewest votes so that we can get more names who have yet been available to vote on.

Perhaps the fastest player in the organization, JaDamion Williams, captured the Thirty-Seventh spot in this year's poll. Williams received 38 of 171 votes (22%). Andrew Albers was second (23), Dakota Watts third (22), Danny Rams fourth (21) and Pat Dean fifty (19).

Added to the next round will be the Twins thirteenth round pick from 2010, Ryan O'Rourke. O'Rourke, who was selected by MiLB.com as an organization all-star this year, began his season in Beloit's bullpen where he had a 1.85 ERA in seventeen games (24.1 innings) with 19 strikeouts and 8 walks. He moved to the starting rotation where he made seventeen starts (86.0 innings) with a 3.56 ERA, over one strikeout per inning (88) and 24 walks.

This round will remain open through noon on Wednesday.

And with the Thirty-Sixth pick of the 2012 Top 50, the readers of Twinkie Town selected former first round pick Matt Bashore. Bashore collected 56 of 247 votes (22%).

JaDamion Williams was second (33), Lance Ray third (28), Andrew Albers fourth (25) with a tie for fifth between Dakota Watts and Pat Dean with 22 votes.

Added to the next round will be 2011 fifth round pick, shortstop Tyler Grimes. Grimes hit .225 average in 128 at bats in Beloit, including four triples and four home runs.

The next round will remain open through noon Tuesday.

An excellent prospect who the Twins went well over slot to sign captured the Thirty-Fifth spot in this year's poll, Corey Williams. Williams collected 32 of 142 votes (22%), with Matt Bashore second (24), Andrew Albers third (15) and Angel Mata and Pat Dean tied for fourth with 13 votes.

Anderson Hidalgo didn't receive the necessary votres to continue. Added to the next round will be second baseman James Beresford and outfielder Lance Ray. Beresford took another step forward last year, hitting .270 average in 485 at bats for Ft. Myers. Ray hit for only a .253 average in 470 at bats for Beloit, however, he led the Snappers in three categories, 34 doubles, 16 home runs and 74 runs driven in. The Twins have to be intrigued with the power of their 2010 eighth round pick.

This next round will remain open through noon on Monday, January 23rd. On deck are Tyler Grimes, Bart Carter, Javier Pimentel and Michael Gonzalez.

A year ago, the Twins were working to fix a bullpen after four of their top relievers left in free agency. They also were working to build a pitching staff at Rochester that would lead the Red Wings back from one of their worst seasons ever. As Yogi Berra once said, "its deja vu all over again."

As a piece to last year's puzzle, the Twins signed five minor league free agents. Chuck James and Phil Dumatrait had some major league experience. Both would go on to pitch very well in Rochester with Dumatrait doing an acceptable job for the Twins. Andy Baldwin, Eric Hacker and Yorman Bazardo were three-fifths of their starting rotation the first weeks of the season. Bazardo didn't make it to May 1st. Baldwin and Hacker led the Red Wings in innings pitched. They also had ERA's of 5.51 and 6.10, respectively.

If the Red Wings are going to contend in 2012, they must have an above average pitching staff. After the jump I will review the moves made by Terry Ryan and how they may help the 2012 Red Wings.

Continue reading this post »

Our selection for the Thirty-Fourth round was Eden Prairie native, Cole DeVries. Cole received 39 of 184 votes (21%), with Corey Williams second (29) and Andrew Albers third (21). There was a three way tie for fourth with 18 votes, Matt Bashore, Pat Dean and Angel Mata.

Added to the next round will be a young man who was the Twins second round pick in 2007. Danny Rams has always been recognized as a potential power hitter, yet hasn't been able to hit for a respectable average other than a few weeks at Elizabethton in 2009. After hitting sixteen home runs at Beloit in 2010, Rams was the co-leader at Ft. Myers last year with eight. He hit .239 average in 309 at bats with sixteen doubles, three triples and one hundred strikeouts. In an organization short of talented catchers, the Twins will continue to work with Rams to cut down on his strikeouts and to raise his average.

This round will remain open through Saturday afternoon. I am debating who should be next with Michael Gonzalez, James Beresford, Tyler Grimes, Bart Carter and Lance Ray my leading candidates. Who do you want to see?

Matt Summers is our Thirty-Third ranked prospect, collecting 35 of 183 votes (19%). Cole DeVries was second with 28 votes, Corey Williams third (20), Matt Bashore fourth (18) and JaDamion Williams and Pat Dean tied for fifth with 17 votes.

Added to the next round will be the return of GCL Ace Angel Mata. Mata made eleven starts (37.0 innings) with a 1.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 30 strikeouts and 19 walks. His first year as a pro was in 2010 in the DSL where he had a 2.12 ERA in 59.1 innings. Mata clearly is a young starter (he turned nineteen last month) who could have a huge future with the Twins.

This round will remain open through noon tomorrow.

Nate Roberts grabbed the Thirty-Second spot in this year's poll with 30 of 182 votes (16%). Matt Summers was second (25), Cole DeVries third (22), while Andrew Albers and Corey Williams tied for fourth with 21 votes.

We will bring back a very fast, exciting outfielder who had the highest batting average much of the season at Elizabethton, JaDamion Williams. Williams finished with the ETon Twins second best average (.324) with a .871 OPS. He also stole ten bases.


Beginning with the fortieth round, we will drop from each round the four players with the fewest votes. That will give us an opportunity to get an addtional fifty players into the voting during the last ten rounds. There may be someone out there you all like who I have missed and this will get more players involved.

We closed out the selection of back-to-back Rule V picks with Terry Doyle taking the Thirty-First spot in this year's poll. Doyle had 38 of 190 votes (20%) with Matt Bashore second (24), Matt Summers third (24), Cole DeVries fourth (22) and Andrew Albers fifth with 20 votes.

Added to the next round will be another short reliever, Dakota Watts. Watts, who was the Twins eighteenth round pick in 2009, is considered one of the harder throwers in the organization. He was solid last year at Ft. Myers where he had a 2-2 record with a 4.60 ERA in 25 games (31.1 innings) with 25 strikeouts and 14 walks. He moved up to New Britain several times where he had a 7.86 ERA in 34.1 innings with 28 strikeouts and 19 walks. He closed his year in the strong hitting Arizona Fall League where he had a 5.65 ERA in eleven games (14.1 innings) with 9 strikeouts and ten walks.

This round will remain open through noon tomorrow, Wednesday.

The Twins 2010 Rule V pick, Scott Diamond was the winner of the Thirtieth spot in this year's poll. This past December's Rule V pick, Terry Doyle was second with 34 votes. Reliever Andrew Albers was third (28), Corey Williams fourth (23) and Matt Summers fifth (21).

For the next round, we will bring back former first round pick Matt Bashore. After having Tommy John surgery and missing the 2010 season, Bashore returned last year to Elizabethton where he was limited to only a few innings. His velocity was back to 91-92 on his way towards the 96 he was hitting when he left the University of Indiana.

This round will remain open through noon, Tuesday.

The Twenty-Ninth spot in this year's poll went to one of the organization's most promising relievers, Tyler Robertson. Robertson had 41 of 173 votes (23%). Scott Diamond was second (28), Terry Doyle third (19), Andrew Albers fourth (17) and Matt Summers fifth with 15 votes.

Added to the next round will be a young man who has consistantly been one of the top hitters at every level, Anderson Hidalgo. This past season, Hidalgo led all hitters who had been at Ft. Myers the entire year with a .274 average in 347 at bats. The previous year, he was one of the top hitters in the midwest league with a .316 average. He hit .291 average at Elizabethton in 2009 and .364 average in the Gulf Coast League a year earlier. He doesn't have a lot of power, yet, hit a total of 47 doubles the last two years at Beloit and Ft. Myers.

This round will remain open through noon, Monday, January 16th. Please continue to let me know who you would like to see added.

[I picked up a bad cold while traveling last week. Will skip this week's minor league report. Next week I will recap the nearly 30 pitchers who have a chance to make the Rochester pitching staff[

After fourteen rounds on the ballot, Deolis Guerra grabbed our Twenty-Eighth spot with 56 of 190 votes (29%). Scott Diamond and Tyler Robertson tied for second with 22 votes with Corey Williams and Terry Doyle also tied with 19 votes.

For the next round we will bring back another reliever who pitched as well as anyone in the organization this year, Andrew Albers. Albers was a reliever until making five starts late in the year at New Britain. In 35 games (95.2 innings) at Ft. Myers and New Britain, Albers had a combined 8-2 record with a 2.16 ERA, 80 strikeouts and 14 walks.

This round will remain open through Friday evening. The next round will be open from Friday night until noon, Monday. After that I will be back on schedule with closings each day at noon.

In his first time on our ballot, Matt Hauser was selected as the Twenty-Seventh prospect in our 2012 poll. Hauser had 60 of 214 votes (28%). Second in the voting was Deolis Guerra with 46 votes, Tyler Robertson third (26), Terry Doyle fourth (22) and Nate Roberts fifth (19).

Angel Mata received only two votes and will be dropped. We will bring back one of the organization's top pitchers last year, Cole DeVries. We will also add last summer's third round pick, Corey Williams. Williams had a year of eligibility remaining at Vanderbilt, thus the Twins went well over slot to sign this promising pitcher. He signed late, thus, pitched only a few innings for Elizabethton late in their season.

This round will remain open through Thursday evening.