Travis Talks prospect list: Prospect #10

I have decided to do something a little bit different for the top 10. I will be bringing you 1 prospect a day until we have number 1. I will be bringing number 10 tonight. I hope everyone will leave a comment on these players and give them the recognition they deserve. Hope everyone enjoys.


10. Luke Hughes 3b 24 (8/2/1984)

• Luke Hughes signed as a free agent with the Twins in 2002 out of Australia. Luke started his Twins career in 2003 with GCL where he hit .305 with 2hr and 25 rbi's along with 9 doubles and 4 triples in 54 games. Luke then moved on to E-town for the 2004 season where he hit .284 with 3hr and 19rbi's along with 8 doubles and a triple in 44 games. In 2005 Luke moved up to Beloit where in 72 games he hit .257 with 7 hr and 42 rbi's along with 14 doubles and 2 triples for a ops of .709 before being promoted to Fort Myers where in 23 games he hit .202 with 7 rbi's. In 2006 Luke spent the entire year in Fort Myers where he hit .231 with 4hr and 37 rbi's along with 15 doubles and a ops of .599 in 95 games. For the 2007 season Luke moved up to AA New Britain where in 92 games he hit .283 with 9 homeruns and 43 rbi's along with 18 doubles and 2 triples for a ops of .794. The 2007 season was where Luke took the next step to being a big time prospect as he showed some consistancy at the plate. In 2008 split the year between New Britain and AAA Rochester. In 70 games at New Britain he hit .319 with 15hr and 43 rbi's along with 15 doubles and 3 triples for an ops of .936. That led to a promotion to AAA Rochester where in 29 games Luke hit .283 with 3 hr and 21 rbi's along with 7 doubles and a triple for a ops of .778. This year Luke was back at Rochester and was doing pretty good until he strained an oblique that has cost him about 3 weeks. Luke was hitting .259 with 6hr and 28rbi's along with 8 doubles and 2 triples for an ops of .825. Luke Hughes went from a guy that was a candidate to be released to being possibly the future 3rd baseman for the Twins. He brings speed, versitility, power, and overall a very good offensive player. There are 2 things keeping him back and they are he is not a very good defensive player. That is the reason he will probably not be a full time starter at the next level. He is good enough offensively to be a starter, but his glove will hold him back. The other is he is very injury prone as his last 2 seasons have been interrupted due to injuries. I view him as a perfect utility player in that he can play 3rd, 2nd, all outfield positions. With his offense and the versitility he will always find a job in the big leagues and could debut as early as next spring.


• 2009: play 3rd/2b/of for the Rochester Red Wings


• Projection: I project him as a utility player for the Twins going into next season.

Thursday, June, 18th

Twins Talk

Pirates 8 Twins 2

• The Twins really had a clunker last night as they struggled offensively and pitching wise in a 8-2 loss to the Pirates. Francisco Liriano got the start for the Twins and was decent except for 2 pitches that turned into 2 2run homeruns for the Pirates. In all Liriano went 7 innings and gave up 4 runs on 8 hits along with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.91 on the year. With the loss Liriano lowered his record on the year to a very bad 2-8. I could get all negative about Liriano and how he continues to struggle witht he homerun ball and the big inning, but I am not going to do that because the honest truth is Liriano has been much better his last 3 starts. In those starts Liriano is 0-1 with a very solid 3.79 era in those games. He has cut down on the amount of people that he is walking and pitching more to contact than he did before. I really believe if he keeps pitching like he has the last 3 times out he will win his fair share of games and keep the Twins in the game which is what his job is supposed to be. The bullpen really struggled last night and let the game get out of hand. Sean Henn was the first one out of the bullpen and he was not very good as he only got 1 out and gave up 3 runs on 1 hit along with 2 walks to raise his era to 5.91 on the year. Luis Ayala then came on and was not much better as he gave up a run on 2 hits along with a walk to raise his era to 4.06. The Twins bullpen has done a very good job as of late and one bad game should not make people think that they are not very good because they have done very well.

• Offensively, the biggest problem last night was the Twins could not get the clutch hit when they needed it. Last night they left 10 guys on base and you are not going to win too many games when you leave 10 on. Michael Cuddyer had a big night going 2-2 along with 2 walks to bring his average up to .273. Joe Crede went 1-4 with his 9th double of the year and drove in his 29th and 30th runs of the year. Joe Mauer went 1-4 with his 11th double of the year and brought down his average to .425. Another thing that I found out was Joe Mauer is leading the AL in hitting now because going into last night he is 17 at bats short of qualifying for the batting title. At the end of the year if you are short they figure a 0 for how many at bats you are short and thats how they figure your batting average for batting title purposes. So if you make Mauer 0-17 he would be at .386 well ahead of Ichiro for the lead. Mauer will make up the total in a week or so and probably win his 3rd batting title of his career. Brendan Harris and Jason Kubel added base hits in the losing cause for the Twins.
• Today, the Twins finish off their 3 game series with the Pirates as they send staff ace Nick Blackburn to the mound as they try to take the series.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 10 Columbus 2

• The Red Wings really broke out of an offensive slump with a big game at the plate as they had 10 run to win in a laugher over Columbus by a score of 10-2 last night. Bobby Keppel continued his strong pitching as of late as he went 6 strong innings. In 6 innings Keppel gave up 2 runs on 9 hits along with 5 strikeouts to improve his era to 2.43 and improve his record on the year to 3-3. Keppel has been a very good surprise for the Red Wings as I was not expecting much out of Keppel and he has been the most consistant pitcher on the Red Wings staff either as a reliever or as a starter. With Anthony Swarzak back with the Red Wings I would NOT send Keppel back to the bullpen. I would replace either Jason Jones or Philip Humber in the starting staff with Keppel because neither one of those guys has been very good this year. My pick would be Humber because he has shown the ability to do a good job out of the Wings bullpen as that got him going last year. So I personally, would put Bobby Keppel in Philip Humber's spot in the rotation atleast as long as Swarzak is with the Wings. Armando Gabino then came in relief and threw 3 shutout innings of relief along with 3 strikeouts to lower his very good era down to 2.81 on the year.

• The Red Wings finally broke out of an offensive slump as they put 10 runs on the board on 17 hits. There was not one guy that you could say was better than someone else. The offensive hero's of this game were Alexi Casilla, Trevor Plouffe, and Steve Tolleson who combined to go 9-16 with 2 walks and a homerun. Alexi Casilla went 3-5 with his first homerun as a Red Wing along with his 9th rbi of the year. Dustin Martin went 1-3 with 4 rbi's to bring his season total up to 22 on the season. Justin Huber went 2-5 with his 32nd rbi to bring his average up to .285 on the year. David Winfree went 2-5 with 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 32 also. Alejandro Machado, Brock Peterson, and Drew Butera also contributed hits to the big Red Wings victory.
• Today, the Wings continue their series with Columbus as the Wings will send Anthony Swarzak to the mound for Rochester.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had their game yesterday rained out and it will be made up with a doubleheader today. Matt Fox will get the start for New Britain in the first game and Carlos Gutierrez gets the ball in the second game.

Fort Myers Minutes

Dunedin 8 Fort Myers 4

• The Miracle blew a chance to clinch the first half title yesterday afternoon as they lost to Dunedin by a score of 8-4. Deolis Guerra got the start for the Miracle and he was not very good in this one. Guerra only lasted 4 innings and gave up 8 runs on 10 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts and gave up 2 homeruns to raise his era up to 5.21. With the loss Guerra's record dropped to a disappointing 4-7. I really don't know what to make of Guerra because he can look like he is turning the corner and becoming the quality prospect that we thought we were getting when we traded Johan Santana. I guarantee you the Twins would not of made that trade if they would of known that Guerra was going to pitch like this. With that being said the honest truth is Deolis is only 20 years old it just is you would like to see some improvement. Something he has improved on is the walks as he has cut them way down. Hopefully, this start was just an anomaly and he will rebound next time out. A positive in the game was the pitching of Loek Van Mil who went the final 4 innings without giving up a run on only 2 hits along with 2 walks and three strikeouts. Van Mil has not given up a run in 12 innings since coming off the DL. At 7'1 Loek is a very intimidating figure and if he stays healthy the sky is the limit for him.

• The Miracle kind of broke out of an offensive slump as they put up 12 hits in this one, but they were only able to push across 4 runs. The reason for this was the Miracle left 9 guys on base. Even though they left a lot of guys on base I will take the 12 hits any day, because most days the Miracle will make that into 6-7 runs which would be good enough for a victory with their pitching. Danny Berg, Ben Revere, Deibinson Romero, and Evan Bigley led the attack with 2 hits apiece. Berg came into the game late and went 2-2 with his 9th double and his 1st triple of the year. Revere went 2-3 with his 27th stolen base of the year and brought his average up to .322 as he has broken out of a hitting slump that saw his average go down to .307. Romero went 2-4 with his 13th double of the year and brought his average up to .233. Evan Bigley also went 2-4 with his 4th double and drove in his 13th run of the year. Steve Singelton, Nick Romero, Mark Dolenc, and Jair Fernandez added hits in the losing cause.
• Tonight the Miracle finish off the first half and hope to clinch the first half title as they send Mike Mccardell to the mound for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Clinton 4 Beloit 1

• The Snappers continued their recent run of good pitching, but in this one it was not enough as they lost a tough game last night to Clinton by a score of 4-1. Dan Berlind got the start for the Snappers and was good once again going 6 innings and only giving up 3 runs on 3 hits along with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.99 on the year. With the loss it dropped Berlind's record on the year to a tough 2-7. Berlind has pitched alot better than his record would indicate as the Snappers offense really has not helped him too much this year. Blake Martin came in relief and really struggled as he gave up a run on 2 hits in his 2 innings of work along with 3 walks and strikeouts to raise his era to 4.76. Blake's problem is he does not get hit hard it is a matter of throwing strikes because when he throws strikes he does a good job. So hopefully, from here on out he will improve in throwing strikes. Curtis Leavitt pitched the 9th and really bounced back from a poor outing his last time out. In this one he gave up 1 hit in a scoreless ninth to lower his era to 10.97.

• The Snappers really could not get anything going at the plate in this one as they could only muster a run on 6 hits for the game. Ramon Santana led the charge going 2-3 with his 14th double and his 32nd rbi of the year and brought his average up to a very good .338. Dominic De La Osa also had a big game going 2-3 with a walk to bring his average up to .223. Drew Thompson and Jon Waltenbury added hits in a losing cause for the Snappers.
• Tonight, the Snappers begin a weekend series with Quad Cities as Dan Osterbrock gets the star for Beloit.
• Transactions: I have news that every Beloit fan has been waiting for as Aaron Hicks was promoted to Beloit today. He should be in uniform in time for tommorrow nights game against Quad Cities.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospects 15-11

Today I will be continuing my Twins prospect list with players numbers 15-11. Tommorrow I will be bringing players 10-6 and then on Friday I will have the top 5 prospects in the organization. Hope you all enjoy and come back often.



15. Chris Parmalee 1b/Of 21 (2/24/1988)

2oo8 teams: Beloit Snappers

• Chris Parmalee was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the 2006 draft out of high school in Chino Hills, California. After signing with the Twins Parmalee split the season between the GCL and Beloit. At GCL Parmalee hit .279 with 8hr and 32 rbi's along with 7 doubles in 45 games. This led to a promotion to Class A Beloit where in 22 games he hit .227 with 2 rbi's. Chris Parmalee spent the entire 2007 season in Beloit with the Snappers. In 128 games Parmalee hit .239 with 15hr and 70 rbi's along with 23 doubles. The average was not good, but the 43 extra base hits were impressive. With that I was surprised that Parmalee returned to Beloit for the 2008 season. Chris' 2008 season was ruined because of a wrist injury that lost him the whole second half of the season. In 69 games Chris hit .239 with 14 hr and 49 rbi's in only 226 at bats. Chris also hit 10 doubles and 3 triples for 27 xtra base hits and he missed the second half. This year Chris was promoted to Fort Myers and he has been very solid hitting .247 with 8 hr and 32 rbi's along with 10 doubles and a triple. Chris Parmalee has alot of power as his 44 homeruns in less than 3 seasons as a professional. He reminds many people of Adam Dunn as he will hit plenty of homeruns and has 126 career walks so his career obp is .346 which is great for a power hitter. His achilles heel is he will never hit for a high average as his .246 career average and he strikes out way to often as he has struck out 276 times. He reminds me alot of Dunn and also Jack Cust who hits alot of homeruns, but strikes out alot. I really believe he has a big league future as a DH who can play 1b and Rf. He will definately not be in for his defense, but his bat will keep him in the lineup most nights. I project Parmalee to be a 30 hr guy who will also strike out 100 times a year so that is what he is and that is not a bad thing because every team can use a guy who hits 30 hr.


• 2009: Spend season playing 1b/of for Fort Myers


• Projection: I project him to be a 30 hr guy for the Twins by 2013.

14. Jeff Manship RHP 24 (1/16/1985)

2008 teams: Fort Myers and New Britain

• Jeff Manship was a 14th round draft pick by the Twins in the 2006 draft out of Notre Dame University. Manship split the 2006 season between GCL and Fort Myers were he only pitched in 6 games including 3 starts where he went o-0 with a 1.28 era in limited duty. In 2007 Manship split the season between Beloit and Fort Myers. In 13 starts with the Snappers Jeff went 7-1 with a very good 1.51 era. In 77.2 innings Jeff walked only 9 and struck out 77 with a very good 0.77 whip. That led to a promotion to Fort Myers where he went 8-5 with a 3.15 era in 13 starts. In 71.1 innings he walked 25 and struck out 59 with a whip of 1.43. Many felt after the 2007 season that Manship would go on to AA New Britain, but the Twins had other ideas. Manship started the 2008 season at Fort Myers where he went 7-3 with a 2.86 in 13 starts with the Miracle. In 78.2 innings he walked 2o and struck out 63 with a whip of 1.12. That led to a promotion after the all-star break to AA New Britain where he went 3-6 with a 4.47 era in 14 starts. In 76.2 innings Jeff walked 24 and struck out 62. This season back at New Britain Jeff has had another solid year going 5-4 with a 4.70 era in 12 starts. In 69 innings he has walked 18 and struck out 42. Jeff Manship has steadily moved through the system to become one of the top pitching prospects in the whole organization. Jeff has 3 quality pitches with a good fastball in the low 90's fastball with a very good curveball, and a improving changeup. He is struggling a bit at AA, but he is improving quite a bit after a rough start to the season. I really have high hopes for Manship and believe he can be a solid number 3 starter in the big leagues. I look for him to continue to improve and possibly be with the Twins sometime next season.
• 2009: Spend season Pitching at New Britain and possible promotion to Rochester.
• Projection: I project him to be in the Twins starting Rotation by 2011.

13. Dustin Martin OF 25 (4/4/1984)

2008 teams: New Britain

• Dustin Martin was a 26th round pick by the Mets in the 2006 draft out of Sam Houston State. The Twins acquired Martin from the Mets along with Drew Butera for 2nd baseman Luis Castillo in 2007. After Martin signed with the Mets he was assigned to Class A Brooklyn where in 72 games he hit .312 with 2 hr and 35 rbi's along with 15 doubles and 7 triples with a ops of .843. For the 2007 season Dustin moved on to high A St. Lucie where in 93 games he hit .287 with 5 hr and 52 rbi's along with 22 doubles and 6 triples for a ops of .779. He was then traded to the Twins in midseason and was assigned to high A Fort Myers where in 32 games he hit .294 with 3hr and 19rbi's along with 8 doubles. Dustin was promoted to AA New Britain for the 2008 season where he hit .290 with 10hr and 72 rbi's along with a very good 34 doubles and 8 triples along with 22 stolen bases for a OPS of .802. This year Dustin moved up to AAA Rochester where he is doing very good hitting .254 with 1hr and 18 rbi's along with 8 doubles and a triple in 61 games. Dustin Martin has really floored me with how much better he has gotten in the last year and a half to become a legitimite prospect for the Twins. Martin has good speed, good defense, can play all three outfield positions. He is a very good line drive hitter and a doubles machine as his 34 doubles last year at New Britain last year would show. I see Dustin Martin as a possible starter for the Twins if some players don't pick it up or leave as free agents. If nothing else I see him as a good utility outfield who if there is an injury can help out seemlessly. The only thing that worries me is he is a little streaky. He is known to go through tough slumps and then get hot so consistancy is the biggest thing he needs to work on. Overall, I think Dustin is a very good prospect who next spring Dustin Martin will be the utility outfielder for the Twins.
• 2009: Play Left Field for Rochester all season
• Projection: I view him as a utility outfielder who could also become a solid starter at the big league level.

12. Rene Tosoni OF 22 (7/2/1986)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Rene Tosoni was a 36th round pick by the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Chipola College. After signing with the Twins as a sign and follow pick and did not join the organization until just before the 2007 season. Tosoni spent the 2007 season at E-town where he hit .301 with 3hr and 31 rbi's in 63 games along with 13 doubles and 4 triples and a obp of .407. In 2008 Tosoni surprised many people by bypassing Beloit and moving on to Fort Myers for the 2008 season. That is something that many people were shocked by because not many people skip a level and Tosoni has proven to be the right guy for the job. If not for an injury Tosoni's 2008 with the Miracle would of been alot better. Tosoni was only able to play in 42 games and hit .300 with 1 hr and 19 rbi's along with 7 doubles. This year Tosoni moved up to AA New Britain where he got off to a horrible start, but has really rebounded and is hitting very well right now. Tosoni is hitting .254 with 8hr and 33 rbi's along with 9 doubles and 3 triples and an OPS of .821. Rene Tosoni is one of the best up and coming outfielders in the whole organization. He can do it all he can hit for power, hit for average, with good defense and a decent arm. He is only 22 years old and at AA so he is so young and is going to keep getting better. I view him as a future corner outfielder for the Twins. The only problem is staying healthy as he missed most of last year, but that was a freak injury. If he stays healthy I believe he will be a 20-25 hr guy with good obp and a strong ops. It will be interesting to see how good he can be.
• 2009: Spend season in Rf for New Britain
• Projection: I project Rene Tosoni to be a starter quality outfielder by 2013.

11. David Bromberg RHP 21 (9/14/1987)

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

• David Bromberg was a 32nd round draft pick by the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Santa Ana College. David started the 2006 season with GCL and went 3-3 with a 2.66 era in 10 starts along with 2 complete games. In 50 innings Bromberg walked 18 and struck out 31 batters for a whip of 1.18. For the 2007 David moved up to E-town where he went 9-0 with a very good 2.78 era in 11 starts. In 58 innings Bromberg walked 32 and struck out a very impressive 81 batters for a whip of 1.32. After the good 07 season Bromberg moved on to 2008 season with Beloit. Last year at Beloit Bromberg went 9-10 with a 4.44 era in 27 starts. In 150 innings Bromberg walked 54 and struck out an organization high 177 batters for a whip of 1.35. With that good season it earned him a promotion to high A Fort Myers. At Fort Myers Bromberg has been awesome with the Miracle. He is 5-0 with a very impressive 2.22 era. In 69 innings David has walked 33 and struck out 66. David Bromberg is another good Twins pitching prospect who is a strikeout pitcher as his 355 strikeouts in 324 innings would attest to. When he throws strikes he is unhittable, but sometimes he struggles throwing strikes and really that is the only thing holding him back from being the top pitching prospect in the organization. He has walked 137 batters in the 324 innings which is way too much. If can limit the walks than really the sky is the limit for Bromberg and would be in the top 2 or 3 in prospects for the organization. I really believe he is going to keep getting better with his low to mid 90's fastball and great offspeed pitches he will be hard to beat. I really believe the sky is the limit and we will see many good things from Bromberg in his career.
• 2009: Spend season in rotation with Fort Myers
• Projection: I project him as a number 2 or 3 guy in the Twins rotation by 2013.

Wednesday, June, 17th

Twins Talk
Twins 8 Pirates 2

• The Twins won their 3rd game out of their last 4 with a very convincing 8-2 victory last night over the Pirates at the Metrodome. Glen Perkins made his return to the Twins after missing a few weeks due to an elbow injury. Perkins went 6 innings and gave up 2 runs on a Nyjer Morgan 2 run homerun on 7 hits along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. Perkins picked up his 2nd win on the year along with 3 losses and dropped his era to 5.09 on the year. Perkins was a little shaky early on in the game, but that could be attributed to either nerves or the extra rest as he hadn't pitched in a week. After he calmed down after the Morgan hr he was the Glen Perkins we got used to seeing at the beginning of the season before elbow pain took its toll on him. If Glen Perkins can come back and give the Twins solid innings they will be all the better for it. The Twins rotation is really starting to come on now as they have recorded 7 quality starts in a row. That is really something to behold because even the 8th game Anthony Swarzak only gave up 3 runs, but didn't make it 6 innings. The starters really have given us a chance to win in all of those games and in the 7 game streak the Twins have gone 5-2 in those games which says when the starters pitch good we win so hopefully they can keep it going. RA Dickey came in and pitched 2 solid innings of relief. In his 2 scoreless innings Dickey gave up 2 hits along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era to a very good 2.70 on the year. RA Dickey has been just a godsend for the Twins as he has been better than we could of dreamed and with the Twins going down to 11 pitchers yesterday they are going to need him to provide big innings 3 or 4 times a week. Jose Mijeras came on in the 9th and pitched a bumpy, but clean inning giving up 2 hits and no run along with a strikeout.

• The Twins really hit the ball well last night as they pounded out 16 hits along with their 8 runs. It would of been even more if the Twins had not hit into an unbelievable 5 double plays. It is not hard to guess who probably was the hitting hero last night cause he is just about every night. For those of you who guessed Nick Punto you were wrong, actually it was Joe Mauer. Mauer went 4-4 in the game along with his 10th double and 41st rbi of the year to bring his average up to a crazy .429. Joe Mauer can do it all hit for average, hit for power, move runners along, play gold glove defense, rescue grandmas from burning buildings, rescue cats from trees, and keep the Twins afloat when it was needed. Joe Crede, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, and Carlos Gomez also contributed 2 hits apiece to the big Twins victory. Michael Cuddyer hit his 13th double and Joe Crede added his 8th double of the year along with his 28th rbi. Carlos Gomez and Delmon Young are really picking it up as of late as they combined to go 4-8 in the game with 2 rbi's and 2 runs scored. If the Twins can get those guys going they are going to be tough to beat. Brendan Harris, Justin Morneau,Jason Kubel, and Nick Punto also contributed hits as all 9 starters had atleast 1 hit in the victory.
• Transactions: Before the game yesterday the Twins made 2 roster moves and they were to activate Glen Perkins off the DL to make the start and sent struggling reliever Jesse Crain to Rochester. It was not a surprise as Crain had a 8.38 era this year. After the game the Twins put Denard Span on the disabled list with an inner ear infection and recalled Of Jason Pridie from Rochester to take his spot. Being that he has already missed a week Span is expected to be back early next week so its a short term thing.
• Tonight, the Twins take on the Pirates in game 2 of the 3 game series as the Twins send Francisco Liriano to the mound to try to take the series.

Rochester Wrap

Columbus 10 Rochester 3

• The Red Wings lost their 4th game out of 5 with a blowout loss last night to Columbus by a score of 10-3. Kevin Mulvey got the start for the Red Wings and had been doing very good, but in this one he got shelled. Mulvey lasted only 3.2 innings and gave up 8 runs although only 4 were earned on 10 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to drop his record to 3-4 and raise his era to 3.91. Mulvey has been so good this year that we should not make a big deal out of a bad start. If he has 2 or 3 more just like this then we can worry, but until then I am not worried about him at all. Anthony Swarzak has proven that he is probably the 6th starter for the Twins right now, but I think Mulvey has shown that he is definately the 7th if things get bad for the Twins this summer. Reid Santos then came in and did what the team needed and that was to give some innings. Santos went 2.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits along with a walk and a homerun to bring his era down to 5.79. Ben Hendrickson then came on and saw his struggles continue as he gave up 1 run on 2 hits along with 2 walks in 1 inning of work. Hendrickson's era has ballooned to 7.84 on the year and if he doesn't pick it up soon I think he will be a candidate to be released when Jason Pridie returns to the Wings. Tim Lahey came in and pitched an effective inning of relief as he put them down 1-2-3 on 1 strikeout to lower his era to 9.87. If I had to choose right now between the 2 I would keep Lahey as he seems to be improving and Hendrickson is going the opposite direction, however I would not mind letting both go to see Anthony Slama in a Wings uniform.

• The Wings were only able to push 3 runs across in this one even though they had 9 hits as they left an incredible 11 guys on base in this one. Justin Huber was the hitting star in this one as he went 2-5 with his 6th homerun and his 29th, 30th, and 31st rbi's of the year. With the 2 hits Huber is now hitting .282 and has been very solid with the Wings this year. Jason Pridie also contributed 2 hits before his promotion to the Twins. David Winfree added his 17th double of the year. Alexi Casilla, Steve Tolleson, Matt Macri and Brock Peterson added base hits in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Columbus as they are scheduled to send Philip Humber to the mound for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Altoona 6 New Britain 4

• The Rockcats suffered a tough loss to swallow as they went down to a not very good Altoona team to drop a game further behind Connecticut. The Rockcats now trail first place Connecticut by 2.5 games. Jay Rainville got the start for the Rockcats in this one and struggled. Rainville lasted 4 innings and gave up 6 runs on 11 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his record to 4-4 on the year and raise his era to 5.43. As you could tell with my rankings that I am pretty high on Jay Rainville, but at the same time he can be very frustrating with his inconsistancy. One time he will look like he is turning the corner and then the next time out he will get shelled. This is going to sound really bad, but I would rather he either get it together or not do so good so they could give the chance to someone else. The problem is when he pitches good you see all the talent on display and it makes you think he is going to fufill the promise he has shown, but then he has starts like this where you wonder if he can get anybody out. Hopefully, he can get more consistant because the talent is obviously there. Frank Mata then came on and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief and only giving up 1 hit along with 3 walks and a strikeout to lower his era to 5.30. Yohan Pino then finished the game with 2.1 innings of awesome baseball as he only gave up 1 hit to lower his era to 4.34 on the year and has been one of the more consistant pitchers in the Rockcats bullpen.

• The Rockcats suffered from the same problem as Rochester did and that is they had plenty of hits, but could not turn them into runs. The Rockcats mashed 12 hits in this one, but only able to score 4 runs. The reason was they left an unbelievable 13 guys on base in this one. Erik Lis was the hitting star for the Rockcats in this one going 3-3 with 2 walks to bring his average up to .305. Danny Lehman made his return to New Britain with the Wilson Ramos hamstring injury and went 1-3 with 2 rbi's to bring his total with the Rockcats to 5. Toby Gardenhire and Juan Portes each contributed 2 hits in the losing cause. Danny Valencia went 1-5 and saw his terrible June continue. For the month of June Valencia is hitting 7-57 a terrible .123 average which has saw his average drop from .341 down to .266. Valencia will come out of it as he is too good of a hitter, but this is the worst slump in his professional career and it will give him the perspective how hard you have to work to hit .300.
• Tonight, the Rockcats continue their series with Altoona as Cole Devries gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Fort Myers 5 Dunedin 3

• The Miracle saw their season high 3 game losing streak end with a big 5-3 victory over Dunedin. With the victory the Miracle clinched a tie for the First half title and can clinch the First Half Title outright with a win this morning. Tyler Robertson got the start for the Miracle last night and showed why is the stopper for the Miracle. Robertson picked up his 4th win of the year with an excellent start last night. Robertson went 6 innings and gave up 1 run on only 4 hits along with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era down to 3.66 on the year. Tyler has showed just how good of a pitcher he is and why I feel he is ready to join former teammate Carlos Gutierrez in New Britain. He has shown more consistancy throwing strikes and has stayed healthy which is half the battle with Tyler and really is ready for a new challenge. Henry Arias came in relief and continued to struggle in that he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 1 inning of work to raise his era up to 5.79. Kyle Waldrop pitched the last 2 innings to pick up his 3rd save of the year. In 2 innings Waldrop gave up 1 hit along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.

• The Miracle finally broke out of a month long hitting slump as they mashed 13 hits on their 5 runs. It could of been worse, but the Miracle left 7 guys on base in this one. Ben Revere was the hitting star as he broke out of a slump to go 3-5 to raise his average up to .318. Revere had only been 9 for his last 49 which was a .184 average that saw his average drop 40 points. Revere is too good of a hitter and you knew it was a matter of time before he broke out. Mark Dolenc also had a big game going 3-4 with his 10th double of the year. Steve Singelton also added 2 hits in the game to improve his average to .249. Singelton has had a really good June hitting .298 with 2 homeruns and 5 rbi's. Chris Cates, Deibinson Romero, Evan Bigley, Danny Berg, and Allan De San Miguel all added a hit in the winning cause for the Miracle.
• This morning the Miracle try to clinch the First Half title as they send Deolis Guerra to the mound for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 2 Clinton 1

• The Snappers continued their recent string of better play with a hard fought and tight all the way 2-1 victory over Clinton last night. Michael Tarsi got the start for the Snappers and had his 2nd consecutive great start. Tarsi went 7 innings and gave 0 runs on only 2 hits along with 5 strikeouts to pick up his 2nd victory of the year. Tarsi has really been a breath fresh air after having the starting rotation struggle all year. With Brad Tippett, Tarsi and Tippett appear ready to lead a much improved Snappers starting rotation in the second half of the season as they try to snag a playoff spot in the second half. Mike Allen then came on and gave up a run in only 1/3 of an inning to raise his era to 5.75 on the season. Joe Testa then came on and pitched 1.2 great innings to pick up his 7th save of the year. He did not give up a hit and walked 2 while striking out 3 in the big Snappers win.

• The Snappers continued their recent hitting slump in this one as they were only able to muster 2 runs on 6 hits in this one, but it was enough to get the win. Dominic De La Osa led the charge going 2-4 to raise his average up to .216 on the year. Drew Thompson went 1-3 with his 6th double of the year and his 11th rbi. James Beresford, Ozzie Lewis, Juan Richardson all added hits in the winning cause for the Snappers. If the Snappers are going to make a run in the second half they are going to need more hitting out of these guys because besides Ramon Santana and James Beresford noone has brought consistantly good at bats for the Snappers and if they are going to contend in the second half that is what needs to happen.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Clinton as Dan Berlind is scheduled to pitch for Beloit

Tuesday, June, 16th

Twins Talk

• The Twins had yesterday off before beginning a series tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates as Glen Perkins makes his return to the Twins rotation and gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Rochester 4 Columbus 2

• The Red Wings snapped a tough 3 game losing streak last night with a hard fought 4-2 victory over Columbus. Jason Jones got the start for the Red Wings last night and finally had a good start after a bad stretch of games. Jones went 6.1 shutout innings on only 7 hits along with 1 walk and 1 strikeout to lower his era to 6.30 on the year and picked up his 2nd win along with 5 losses. Jason Jones has not been very good this year and I was ready to give up on him and about the trade that sent Charles Nolte to the Yankees. The Red Wings really need to get these kind of starts out of Jones because they don't have very good starting pitching so they need Jones to do his part and give them good pitching. Juan Morillo then came into the game and gave up a run on 2 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings to raise his era to 3.42. Rob Delaney then came on to pick up the save by going 1.1 innings where he gave up a run and 2 hits along with a strikeout to raise his era to 5.40. Delaney will have his struggles, but he will have way more good outings then games he struggles and will be with the Twins sometime in the next couple of years.

• The Red Wings really got their offense going in a good way after struggling offensively as of late. Brock Peterson was the hitting hero in this one by going 3-4 with his 7th rbi of the year and brought his average up to .226 on the year. Peterson has really picked it up as of late and has saw his playing time increase because of that. In the month of June Brock is hitting .367 in 9 games for the Wings. If Brock can keep it up and contribute to the Wings offense that will really make a difference. David Winfree went 2-4 with his 16th double of the year. Matt Macri went 1-4 with his 6th homerun of the year along with 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 21. Jason Pridie and Steve Tolleson each doubled in the game. For Pridie it was his 11th and Tolleson's 7th of the year.
  
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Columbus as staff ace Kevin Mulvey gets the start for Rochester.

New Britain Business

• The Rockcats had the day off and begin a series with Altoona tonight with Jay Rainville getting the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

Dunedin 2 Fort Myers 1

• The Miracle lost their season high 3rd straight game was a tough 2-1 loss as the Miracle had a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 9th and couldn't hold the lead. The pitching was not the problem as David Bromberg got the start for the Miracle. Bromberg went 6.1 innings and did not give up a run on only 3 hits along with 4 walks and 5 strikeouts to lower his era down to 2.22 on the year. Bromberg probably has been the best pitcher on the staff this season and that included Carlos Gutierrez. The only problem is he walks to many batters because when he throws strikes he is impossible to hit. When he is off it is because his control is lacking not because people are hitting him. If Bromberg can throw strikes he is probably the best pitching prospect in the organization. Spencer Steedley then came on and gave up a run on 2 hits in 1.2 innings of work to raise his incredible era to 0.86. Blair Erickson picked up the loss going 2/3 of an inning and giving up an unearned run thanks to a Chris Parmalee error. Erickson saw his record drop to 0-2 on the season.

• Offensively, the Miracle continued their hitting slump as they were only able to score 1 run on only 4 hits. Steve Singelton was the hitting star of the game as he went 2-4 with his 3rd homerun of the year and his 25th rbi along with his 11th double of the year. Chris Cates added his 2nd triple of the year for the Miracle. Deibinson Romero added a single in the losing cause for the Miracle last night to bring his average to .227.
• Tonight, the Miracle try to break out of their 3 game losing streak as they send Tyler Robertson to the mound for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Clinton 10 Beloit 5

• The Snappers suffered a tough 10-5 loss to Clinton last night as they saw a 5-2 lead disinterigate in the late innings. Brad Tippett was probably the only pitcher last night that did his job. Tippett went 6 solid innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era to 3.15 on the year. Tippett has been the most consistant starter on the Snappers staff as the Snappers have looked for consistant pitching Tippett has given the Snappers a chance to win just about every time out. Curtis Leavitt then came in and in a word was awful. Leavitt did not get an out and gave up 4 runs on 3 hits along with a walk to raise his era to 12.10 on the year. I am not going to get on him because Leavitt has really struggled since coming off the DL so hopefully he is healthy and can get it going in the second half. Bruce Pugh then came on and was not much better giving up 3 runs on 1 hit along with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work. Blake Martin then came on to get the last 2 outs, but not before walking 3 batters and striking out 1. The big problem with the pitching last night was the walks as the Snappers walked 7 last night in the last 3 innings which is not good enough on any night.

• The Snappers continued their recent offensive streak as they scored 5 runs on 10 hits. James Beresford, Ramon Santana, Ozzie Lewis, and Juan Richardson each had 2 hits to pace the Snappers. Santana added 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to a team high 29. Ozzie Lewis added his 11th double of the year and increased his average up to .296 on the year. Dominic De La Osa added his 5th double of the year and increased his average up to .211 and had 2 rbi's to bring his total up to 13. Angel Morales also added a single in the losing cause last night.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Clinton as new member of the starting staff Michael Tarsi gets the start for the Snappers.
  

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospects 20-16

Today I will be continuing my countdown in Twins prospects as I will be doing the 20-16 Twins prospects. I will be bringing prospects 15-11 tommorrow, 10-6 on Thursday and Finish 5-1 on Friday. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think in the comment box below.


20. Steve Tolleson IF 25 (11/1/1983)
2008 teams: New Britain

• Steve Tolleson was drafted by the Twins in the 5th round of the 2005 draft out of South Carolina University. After signing with the Twins Tolleson started his career with E-town before moving on to Beloit. In 16 games at E-town Steve hit .321 with 2 homeruns and 8 rbi's along with 6 doubles. Tolleson then moved on to class A Beloit where he played in 31 games to finish the 2005 season where he hit .176 with 3hr and 10 rbi's along with 2 doubles. Tolleson split the 2006 season between Beloit and Fort Myers. In 47 games at Beloit Steve hit .287 with 2 homeruns and 16 rbi's along with 8 doubles and a .390 obp. He was then promoted to Fort Myers where he hit .268 in 49 games along with 4hr and 23 rbi's along with 8 doubles and a .353 obp. In 2007 Steve spent the entire year at Fort Myers where he hit .285 with 5 hr and 35 rbi's along witha very impressive 24 doubles and a very good 27 stolen bases along with a .388 obp. This led to a promotion to AA New Britain for the 2008 season where he followed up a very good 2007 season with an even better 2008 season. In 93 games Steve hit a even .300 with 9hr and 50 rbi's along with 28 doubles and a very impressive .382 obp. A season like that would have many teams promoting him to AAA. The Twins thought otherwise and kept him at AA and I don't know if he let his disappointment get to him but he really struggled early on with th Rockcats. He came on late which got him a promotion to Rochester where he has done very well. At New Britain in 38 games Steve hit .258 with 2hr and 13 rbi's along with 10 doubles. That led to his promotion where in 16 games Tolle is hittin .345 with a homer and 4 rbi's along with 7 doubles. Steve Tolleson has gone from a so so prospect to a possible starting possiblity with the Twins in the last 3 years. His 2007-2009 have been very good and has many people asking is he ready for the bigs. What I like about Steve is he can play all over as he has played second, short, and the outfield. That is a valuable skill to have because then he can serve as a backup infielder and outfielder and free up a roster spot for someone else. He plays good defense, a solid obp guy who will steal some bases. He does not hit for much power and his range is not great at short. If he can continue to play at the level he has the last 3 years I can see him making the Twins as a utility infielder as soon as this year.
• 2009: Spend season at 2nd for Rochester and maybe get call to Twins
• Projection: I project him as a utility player whether its for the Twins or someone he has a big league future.

19. Mike Mccardell RHP 24 (4/13/1985)

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

• Mike Mccardell was a 6th round pick by the Twins in the 2007 draft out of Kutztown University. After signing with the Twins Mccardell split the 2007 season between the GCL and E-town. At GCL Mike made 2 starts and went 2-0 with a 2.50 era and a 0.78 whip. He was then promoted to E-town where he made 8 starts and went 5-1 with a awesome 2.00 era along with only 5 walks in 45 innings compared to 70 strikeouts with a 0.76 whip. Mike then moved on to Beloit for the 2008 season and had a phenomenal season. He went 9-4 with a very good 2.86 era in 21 starts as he missed a month of the season due to a shoulder injury. In 135 innings he struck out 139 batters and only walked 25 for a whip of 1.00. Mike moved up to Fort Myers this year and hasn't missed a beat going 7-4 with a very good 3.86 era in 12 starts. In 63 innings Mike has only walked 14 and struck out 50 for a whip of 1.16. The thing that I absolutely love about Mike Mccardell is his control as he doesn't walk anyone as he is Brad Radke like. He has only walked 48 batters in 263 innings which is an amazing total. Mike has a low 90's fastball with a great curveball and a nice changeup. He has everything you are looking for out of a pitcher and reminds me of a young Kevin Tapani with his control and ability to just get guys out. The only negative is his age as he is 24 and only in high A. You would like a 24 year old pitcher to be in AA or even better in AAA. However, that does not take away from the pitching ability that Mike has and I really believe he has major league stuff. With his control you are going to have to hit him to get on base and that is harder than you think because he has 2 great pitches and can spot them where he wants. Mike Mccardell is one guy I am excited to follow to see how good he is going to be.
• 2009: Remain in starting rotation for Fort Myers
• Projection: He has major league stuff who could be a number 4 or 5 starter in the big leagues.

18. Anthony Slama RHP 25 (1/6/1984)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Anthony Slama was drafted by the Twins in the 39th round of the 2006 draft out of the University of San Diego. After signing with the Twins Slama was sent to E-town in 2007. In 6 games he went 0-0 with a 2.46 era along with 4 saves before being promoted to Beloit. In 21 games with the Snappers Anthony went 1-1 with a very good 1.48era and 10 saves. In 24 innings he had 9 walks and an incredible 39 strikeouts. For the 2008 season Anthony moved on to Fort Myers where he was even better. Slama's 2008 season got him on scout's radars and led many to believe he was a big time prospect and someone to watch. In 2008 with the Miracle he went 4-1 with a very low 1.o1 era along with 25 saves in 51 games. In 71 innings he walked 24 and struck out an incredble 110 strikeouts.
  That is an incredible 13.5 strikeouts per 9 innings. After that awesome season he moved on to New Britain this year and has kept it up. In 29 games with the Rockcats Slama is 4-1 with a 2.65 era along with 13 saves. In 34 innings Anthony has walked 18 and struck out 50. His strikeout rate is very comparable to what he did last year as he had 13.5 per/9 last year and this year he is 13.2 per/9. Anthony Slama's only problem is he walks to many hitters for a reliever. He has walked 90 batters in 226 innings. His wildness is the only thing holding him back from being a great reliever. However, his strikeout totals in my mind supercede his walk totals. He is absolutely dominant on the mound who keeps getting better as he moves along. Another red flag is his age as he will be 26 next season, but I think he is very close to being called up and I think he will be with the Twins before the year is out.
• 2009: Split season between New Britain and Rochester
• Projection: I project Slama to be the 8th inning guy with the Twins next season and for years to come.

17. Trevor Plouffe SS 23 (6/15/1986)

2008 teams: New Britain and Rochester

• Trevor Plouffe was a 1st round pick by the Twins in the 2004 draft out of high school in Encino, California. After signing with the Twins Plouffe went to E-town where he hit .283 with 4hr and 28rbi along with 7 doubles and a obp of .340. In 2005 Trevor moved up to Beloit and hit .223 with 13 hr and 60 rbi's along with 18 doubles. Even though his average was not great and his obp was not better he was productive enough that he was promoted to Fort Myers for the 2006 season. In 125 games with the Miracle Trevor hit .246 with 4 hr and 45 rbi's along with an incredible 26 doubles and a much better .333 obp. That led to a promotion for the 2007 season in New Britain. With the Rockcats in 2007 Plouffe hit .274 with 9 homeruns and 50 rbi's along with unbelievable 37 doubles in 126 games. After that season people started looking at Trevor as the shortstop of the future and why many were surprised he started the 2008 season back in New Britain. Plouffe split the 2008 season between New Britain and Rochester. At New Britain Trevor hit .269 with 3hr and 21 rbi's along with 17 doubles in 58 games. He was then promoted to AAA Rochester where he hit .256 with 6hr and 39 rbi's along with 17 doubles in 66 games. This year he started the season with Rochester and has struggled hitting only .238 with 5hr and 36 rbi's along with only 8 doubles in 214 at bats. Trevor Plouffe is a doubles machine as he has 130 doubles in 6 seasons would say. He will not hit for average, but he is good at hitting extra base hits and his defense is adequete. His defense is not as good as you would hope it would be. Sometimes he seems like he doesn't get fired up to play baseball, but that may have to do with being a California guy as he is very laid back. Overall, though Trevor Plouffe is the future starting shortstop for the Twins and that could happen as early as next season. He is smooth at shortstop and brings extra base power, speed, and overall a very good player.
• 2009: Play shortstop for the Rochester Redwings
• Projection: He will be the opening day shortstop next spring for the Twins

16. Deolis Guerra RHP 20 (4/17/1989)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Deolis Guerra was signed by the New York Mets as a free agent in 2005. Before the 2008 season he was traded to the Twins along with Carlos Gomez, Kevin Mulvey, and Philip Humber for Johan Santana. After signing with the Mets Deolis spent the 2006 season at Class A Hagerstown where he went 6-7 with a very good 2.20 era in 17 starts. In 81 innings Deolis walked 37 and struck out 64 batters. He was then promoted to high A St. Lucie for the 2007 season at the age of 18 where he went 2-6 with a 4.02 era in 20 starts. In 89 innings Guerra had 25 walks and 66 strikeouts. When he came over the Twins decided his mechanics were all screwed up and would lead to future arm problems so they switched his mechanics. By doing this Guerra went from a mid 90's fastball down to a low 90's fastball, but they felt that would keep him healthy. The Twins had Guerra spend the 2008 season in Fort Myers where he went 11-9 with a 5.47 era in 25 starts. In 130 innings he had 71 strikeouts, but he also walked an incredible 71 batters. This season he is spending his 3rd season at High A Fort Myers where he has gone 4-6 with a 4.41 era in 11 starts. In 63 innings he has walked 20 and struck out 44. Deolis Guerra might not be the prospect we thought he was going to be when he came over in the Santana trade. However, he is only 20 years old and has a good fastball in the low 90's and a good curveball and great slider. I think everyone is being a little bit premature in saying that Guerra is a bust or not what we needed. At the age of 20 most guys are in GCL and not in high A. I really believe that Guerra is going to develop into a number 1 type of pitcher we just need to give him some time. The big thing is he needs to quit walking people based on the 71 walks last year would say. He is doing much better with the walks this year. I really think it is time for him to go to AA and see what he is all about. He has spent 3 years at high A now and I would like to see him go to AA and see if he can take off like I think he would.
• 2009: I think he will spend season starting for Fort Myers
• Projection: I project him as a #1 type of starter eventually
  

Monday, June, 15th

Twins Talk
Cubs 3 Twins 2

• The good news was that the Twins took 2 out of 3 from the Cubs over the weekend and finished their tough 10 game road trip at 5-5. The bad news is there were games they should of won and yesterday was one of those games. When you leave 10 runners on base and a pitcher can't get hitters out in critical situations you are going to lose 90% of the time. In this one a Ryan Therriot rbi single in the bottom of the 9th scored the winning run in a Cubs 3-2 victory for the Twins. Scott Baker got the start for the Twins and he was really good in this one. Baker went 7 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 5 hits along with 5 strikeouts to lower his era down to 5.30 on the year. Scott Baker has really rebounded after a rough start to the season and has been the Scott Baker we have gotten to seeing and the Scott Baker that was worth the 17 million dollars that we gave him this spring. Baker has had 3 straight quality starts and 4 of this last 5 have been quality starts. In those 5 outings he has gone 3-1 with a very good 3.50 era. Those are the kind of numbers that Scott Baker is all about and I think we can stop worrying about it when it is Baker's turn in the rotation. He has overcome some bad starts and is now back to normal. Luis Ayala then came on and pitched a clean 8th inning along with 1 strikeout to lower his era to 3.99 on the year. Ayala is another one that has been much better as of late. I was ready to cut the cord a couple weeks ago, but Luis has really picked it up and done his job as a solid middle reliever. I would not trust him in the 8th inning role, but in his job as a middle reliever he is just fine. Just like RA Dickey if you keep Ayala in his role he will pitch good. In his last 10 outings Ayala is 0-1 with a great 1.50 era in those games. That just shows you how well he has pitched since the middle of May. Jesse Crain on the other hand has been awful really all year as he came on in the 9th yesterday. Jesse faced 5 batters and 4 of the 5 reached base as he took the loss to take his record to 2-3. With the run allowed his era is up to 8.15. I really don't know if there is a reason why all of his pitches are up right now, because even though he throughs 95 he is meat right now. There is nothing in his history to suggest something like this happening, but the Twins can't trust him in any game right now. As much as I dislike saying this because i'm a big Jesse Crain fan the only thing you can do is to send him to Rochester to work out the kinks. The person that deserves to come up and take his spot in the bullpen is Bobby Keppel who has done a good job at Rochester. Hopefully, a month at Rochester will straighten him out and the Twins can get him back up here and have him pitching like we all know Jesse can.

• The problem all year and the reason the Twins are under .500 was our strength last year and that is hitting with runners in scoring position. The Twins left 10 guys on base again yesterday and has been a reoccuring theme all season. In most games the Twins have played them close and a key hit or there would of made all the difference. Hopefully, with the pitchers doing better it will take the pressure off the hitters a little bit and they can get some clutch hits. Joe Mauer once again was the hitting star going 3-5 to move his average up to an unreal .414 on the year. Carlos Gomez had a huge day as well going 2-4 with his 7th double and his 1st homerun of the year. His homerun, a solo shot, tied the game at 2 in the 6th inning. Looks like Gomez is starting to take some better swings up there and being a little bit more patient. He will never be Joe Mauer or Denard Span when it comes to patience at the plate, but if he can improve it a little bit and get his obp up to 34-35 percent then I would be happy. With the 2 hits it raised Gomez' average to .227, but in the month of June he is doing better hitting .250 which may not seem like much, but it is an improvement and if he can keep getting better every month the Twins will be happy. Nick Punto also added 2 hits in this one and his 13th rbi of the year. With Carlos Gomez at 3rd with 2 outs Punto put down a fabulous bunt up the first base line and beat it out for a hit and an rbi. It was one case where his head first slide was good as it helped him avoid the Ted Lilly tag. In 3 games since coming off the dl Punto has went 5-10 a .500 average with a rbi and 2 runs scored. Hopefully, it is a start of a much better rest of the season for Punto because he is going to play everyday and it would be nice not to have a automatic out with him. Jason Kubel and Delmon Young added hits in the losing cause for the Twins.
• The Twins have today off before beginning a series tommorrow night against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Rochester Wrap

Toledo 6 Rochester 1

• The Red Wings dropped their 3rd straight game last night with a tough 6-1 loss to Toledo. Brian Duensing got the start for the Red Wings and was so so in this one. Duensing went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs on 10 hits along with 5 strikeouts. With the loss Duensing dropped his record on the year to 3-5 and raised his era to 5.05. Duensing really has not been the leader of the staff that I was expecting. I thought he would be much better than he has this season, in fact this season he has been very mediorcre for the Red Wings. At 26 years old you wonder how patient the Twins are going to be with Duensing because there are good pitchers on his heals and the Twins don't like to block someone's path. I don't think they will release him because he has a very good arm, but I could see them put him in the bullpen permanently and see if he can turn into a good Loogy. Ben Hendrickson then came on after Duensing and continued his struggles since coming off the dl as he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits along with a walk in 1 inning of work. After the outing Hendrickson's era is now sitting at a very bad 7.71. I think the Twins will give Ben some more time to try to figure things out, but Hendrickson has been a disappointment to me because I really had high hopes for Ben coming into the organization. I even thought he had a chance to help the Twins this year. He definatly will not be back next year and if he doesn't pick it up he won't make the year. Rob Delaney then came on and pitched a very good 9th inning going 1-2-3 with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.14 since his callup. Really everything happened in 1 outing where he was really bad, but he has been very good in the 3 other outings with the Red Wings. At the end of the year he will have his great numbers once again and just might be with the Twins in September.

• The Red Wings offense continued to struggle in this one as they were only able to score 1 run in this one on 7 hits. The hitting star for the Red Wings was Steve Tolleson who went 2-4 with his 6th double in his short stay with the Red Wings. Tolleson is now hitting .352 with the Red Wings and this is just me, but I would consider bringing him up for Matt Tolbert because Tolbert looks overmatched and Tolleson deserves the chance. Justin Huber went 1-4 with his 28th rbi of the year and lowered his average down to .279 on the year. Jason Pridie, Matt Macri, David Winfree, and Brock Peterson added singles in the losing cause for the Red Wings.
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their roadtrip as they begin a series in Columbus with Jason Jones scheduled to pitch for Rochester.

New Britain Business

Bowie 5 New Britain 2

• The Rockcats after playing really well for quite a while have hit a little bit of a lull where they are not playing as well. Yesterday, they lost a tough hard fought game to Bowie by a score of 5-2. Ryan Mullins got the start for the Rockcats and he was decent in this one. Mullins went 4.1 innings and gave up 4 runs although only 2 of them were earned on 6 hits along with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.83 on the year and lowered his record to 3-7. Ryan Mullins really struggled to start the season, but has been pretty good the last 6 weeks giving the Rockcats a chance to win just about every start. In 5 of his last 6 starts he has given up 4 runs or fewer with a 4.62 era in those starts which is much better than what he did in April. Zack Ward then came on and he struggled through an inning giving up a run on 2 hits along with a walk and 2 strikeouts to raise his era to 6.75. For my money Zack Ward has been the biggest disappointment in the whole organization this year. So much was expected out of Ward this year and he has done so little that he is lucky he is still with the organization. I have said for a while he will come around, but I am starting to wonder. I hope I am wrong because Ward has a very good arm and I thought he would be a future Twins reliever, but things are more unsettled with him now. Alex Burnett then came on and pitched 2.1 perfect innings of relief for the Rockcats. Burnett dropped his era to 1.54 in the short time he has been with the Rockcats. I was really happy that Alex was able to bounce back after a so so outing his last time out and show that the Rockcats can count on him out of the bullpen to set up Anthony Slama.

• The Rockcats could not get anything going against Bowie pitching yesterday as they could only push across 2 runs on 5 hits. Whit Robbins was the hitting star once again going 2-4 with his 16th double of the year and raise his average up to .345 on the year. I really don't get it with Robbins I really did not see this coming. He is making a case to possibly move up to AAA Rochester at the All-Star break. I don't think they will do that because too many other people at Rochester need at bats and he is doing just fine at New Britain. That being said he has been the biggest surprise to me in the whole organization and I really don't know how to grade him after a season like this because his history says he shouldn't be able to do this. I am just going to enjoy the ride and see how far he can go. Matt Moses went 1-3 with his 9th double of the year. Rene Tosoni went 1-3 with his 33rd rbi of the year and Jeff Christy also drove in his 6th run of the year in the losing cause.
• Today the Rockcats have off before beginning a series with Altoona Tuesday night as Jay Rainville will get the start for New Britian.

Fort Myers Minutes

Daytona 8 Fort Myers 1

Fort Myers 4 Daytona 1

• The Miracle split a doubleheader with Daytona yesterday losing the first game 8-1 before rebounding in the nightcap 4-1. In the first game Mike Mccardell got the start and his defense let him down to the tune of 5 errors. Take a look at Mccardell's line you don't see it very often. 0.1 innings 8 runs 1 earned run 4 hits and 3 walks. Definately the defense did not help him out much, but he also was not very good in this one with 4 hits and 3 walks. The walks is something I can't figure out because going into the game he had only walked 6 batters in 62.2 innings so far. Hopefully, it was just a glitch and not a foreshadowing because his history says he does not walk batters. Overall, Mike has been very good for the Miracle this year and one bad outing should not sour people on him. Mccardell dropped his record to still a very good 7-4 with a still very good 3.86 era. Santos Arias then came in relief and was very good going 3.2 innings of relief and only giving up 1 hit along with 4 strikeouts to lower his era down to 2.20 on the year. I don't understand why people are not talking about Arias because he was good last year at Beloit and has been equally as good at Fort Myers. Blair Erickson pitched a clean 5th inning with 1 strikeout to lower his era to 2.79. Henry Arias then pitched the 6th and did a very good job to lower his era to 5.33. In the second game Steve Hirschfeld rebounded after a rough start his last time out. In this one Hirschfeld went 5 innings and only gave up 2 hits along with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 1.72 and raise his record on the year to 2-1. Kyle Waldrop came in relief and pitched a solid inning only giving up an unearned run along with 2 hits and 1 walk and 1 strikeout to lower his era to 3.27. Waldrop has done a lot better after struggling to start the season and I look for him to get better and better as he gains confidence in his shoulder. Spencer Steedley pitched the 7th to pick up his 2nd save of the year and lowered his era down to 0.61. Steedley has only given up only 2 runs in 29.2 innings of work.

• The Miracle finally broke out of their hitting slump in the second game of the doubleheader. In the first game they were only able to muster 1 run on 3 hits. Nick Romero had the only offense of the game as he hit his 2nd homerun of the year along with his 7th rbi. Chris Cates and Mark Dolenc also added hit in the losing cause for the Miracle. In the second game the Miracle really rebounded for 4 runs on 11 hits. Jair Fernandez led the assault going 2-3 with his 1st homerun of the year along with his 5th double. Steve Singelton went 2-4 with his 10th double of the year and raised his average up to .240. Chris Parmalee went 1-3 with his 10th double and raised his average to .257. Deibinson Romero went 2-4 to raise his average to .224 and his average in June to .302. Romero has really come on after a horrible slump in May to being the hitter we thought he would be going into the season. Ben Revere, and Mark Dolenc also contributed hits to the victory.
• Tonight, the Miracle begin a series with Dunedin as David Bromberg gets the start for Fort Myers.

Beloit Beat

Clinton 9 Beloit 2

• The Snappers let a game get away from them yesterday. After having 2-1 lead going into the 6th inning the bullpen let it get away as they gave up 8 runs in the last 4 innings in this one as they lost to Clinton by a score of 9-2. Bobby Lanigan got the start for the Snappers in this one and went 3.1 innings as they protect his innings and only gave up 1 run on 4 hits with 6 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.24. Danny Rondon then came on and gave up only a unearned run in 2.2 innings of work to lower his era to 5.30. This is where it starts getting bad as Steve Blevins came into a tie game and gave up a run on 2 hits in his 2 innings of work to raise his era to 4.05. Matt Williams came in and totally got demolished as he gave up 6 runs on 4 hits even though only 2 of the runs were earned along with 1 walk and 1 strikeout to raise his era to 2.19 on the season. The Snappers defense really let them down as they committed 2 errors which led to 5 unearned runs without those its a close game.

• The Snappers were befuddeled by Clinton pitching in this one as they were only able to push across 2 runs on 2 hits in this one. Clinton relievers went the last 5 innings without giving up a hit to the Snappers. The only hits in this one was singles by Michael Harrington and Dominic De La Osa. The only rbi's went to Ozzie Lewis, his 26th on a groundout and Nathan Hanson, his 18th on a sacrafice fly. There will be days like this offensively and hopefully the Snappers can come back today and rebound and have a good night at the plate.
• Tonight, the Snappers continue their series with Clinton as Brad Tippett is expected to pitch tonight for Beloit.

Sunday, June, 14th

Twins Talk
Twins 2 Cubs 0

• The Twins won their 2nd straight victory over the Cubs yesterday afternoon with a big 2-0 win. Anthony Swarzak was the story of the game as he went 7 shutout innings to pick up his 2nd win of the year. Swarzak went 7 innings and gave up no run on only 4 hits along with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts to bring his era down to 3.90 on the year. The funny thing is after the game the Twins sent him down to the minors to add a hitter with Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer hampered with injuries. Swarzak has proved that he is a major league pitcher and it is just a matter of time before he returns to the Twins and continues to show how good fo a pitcher he is. Matt Guerrier then pitched a clean 8th inning not giving up a hit and striking out a batter to lower his era to 3.03. Joe Nathan then came on and pitched the 9th giving up 1 hit and walking 1 and striking out one to pick up his 15th save of the year.

• In a pitchers duel the Twins just did enough to pick up the victory as they only got 5 hits in this one. The good thing though was that the 5 hits resulted in the 2 runs that they needed to pick up the win. Jason Kubel went 1-4 with his 11th homerun of the year and 2nd in 2 days and drove in his 37th run. Joe Mauer went 1-4 with his 40th rbi of the year and dropped his average to still an unbelievable .408 on the season. Justin Morneau, Carlos Gomez, and Nick Punto also added hits in the win.
• Today, the Twins try to go for the sweep as they take on the Cubs in Chicago as Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins.

Rochester Wrap

Toledo 4 Rochester 2

• The Red Wings lost another tough game to Toledo last night as they continue to struggle offensively. Philip Humber got the start for the Red Wings and was much better than he had in previous starts. Humber went 5.1 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 7 hits along with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 6.22 on the year. Humber has not pitched very good this season and possibly a return to the Red Wings bullpen would do the trick for him like it did last year when he was much better in the 2nd half. Armando Gabino continued his good season as he came in relief to pitch 1.2 scoreless innings along with 3 strikeouts to lower his era down to 3.03. Gabino has probably been the most consistant relief pitcher on the Red Wings this year and he continues to pitch good for the Red Wings. Tim Lahey finished it and pitched a good inning finally and did not give up a run to lower his era to 10.47.

• The Red Wings saw their offensive funk continue as they were only able to push 2 runs across on 8 hits. Justin Huber and David Winfree led the attack with 2 hits apiece. Justin Huber also added his 5th homerun of the year and his 7th double and 27th rbi to bring his average up to .264. David Winfree added his 15th double and brought his average up to .283 on the season. Steve Tolleson added his 5th double in his short stay with the Red Wings and brought his average to .340. Dustin Martin, Trevor Plouffe, and Matt Macri added hits in the losing cause.
• Tonight, the Red Wings continue their series with Toledo as they send Brian Duensing to the hill for Rochester

New Britain Business

New Britain 6 Bowie 5

• The Rockcats snatched victory out of the hands of defeat in this one as they put 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th to pull out the victory yesterday 6-5 over Bowie. Carlos Gutierrez got the start for the Rockcats and was much better than his first start when he gave up 5 runs. In this one Gutierrez went 5 innings as they try to limit his innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits along with 3 walks to lower his era to 5.40. That is more like the kind of start we should expect to see out of Guti from here on out. In 15 outs in the 5 innings 11 of the 15 were groundouts and that is what he is a better version of Carlos Silva. Frank Mata then came on and struggled giving up 3 runs on 2 hits in only 1/3 of an inning along with 1 walk to raise his era up to 5.56. Jose Lugo then came on and pitched 2.1 innings and only gave up an unearned run on 3 hits along with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts to lower his era to 4.76. Yohan Pino then came on and got an out to lower his era to 4.63. Anthony Slama then came on and pitched a scoreless top of the 9th to pick up his 4th win of the year along with 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 2.65.

• For a long time in this one it looked like the Rockcats were going to let this one get away as they left 12 guys on base. That is way to many and you are not going to win very many games when you leave 12 guys on base so the Rockcats should consider themselves very fortunate to get the win. Erik Lis had a huge day going 4-4 with 2 rbi's to bring his season total up to 3o. Yancarlos Ortiz, Whit Robbins,and Matt Moses each had 2 hits in the game. Moses also had a 2 run single to win the game in the bottom of the 9th. Juan Portes, Danny Valencia, and Toby Gardenhire also contributed hits in the victory for the Rockcats. Robbins raised his average up to .342 on the year. Which is unbeliveable considering Whit has never finished a season higher than .268 a 72 points lower than what he is hitting right now. I keep expecting him to go in a slump, but I am beginning to believe it is not going to happen and he is that good.
• Today, the Rockcats continue their series with Bowie as Ryan Mullins gets the start for New Britain.

Fort Myers Minutes

• The Miracle had their game with Daytona washed out and will play a doubleheader today. Mike Mccardell will start the first game and will be followed by Steve Hirschfeld pitching in the sencond game.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 4 Burlington 1

• The Snappers won their 3rd straight game with a hard fought 4-1 victory last night over Burlington. Dan Osterbrock got the start for the Snappers in this one and pitched very well once again. Osterbrock went 6.1 innings and gave up 1 run on 6 hits along with 1 walk and 2 strikeouts to lower his era to 5.15 on the year. Osterbrock has had his rough moments this year with the Snappers, but all in all he seems to be improving which is all you can ask for from any pitcher. If he can have a good second second half the year will not turn out to bad year for him after how he started. Joe Testa then came on and finished the game for his 6th save of the year. Testa went 2.2 innings and gave up 1 hit along with 1 walk and 4 strikeouts to lower his era to 1.71.

• The Snappers only were able to put 6 hits up in a very hard fought win, but the good thing is they were able to put 4 runs on the 6 hits so they finally got some key hits. Ramon Santana had his 13th double of the year and had his average drop to a still very good .340. Dominic De La Osa, Michael Harrington, Ozzie Lewis, and Jon Waltenbury contributed hits in the big win. Ozzie Lewis drove in hsi 25th rbi and Juan Richardson drove in his 4th run of the year in the winning cause.
• Today, the Snappers begin a series with Clinton at home after the long road trip. Bobby Lanigan gets the starts for Beloit.

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospects 30-21

I will be continuing my Minnesota Twins prospect list with players ranked 30-21. I won't promise the rest on a certain day because I have been so busy that it is a waste of time to promise things. So I encourage everyone to keep checking back because I for sure will have it done by midweek next week because I have something else planned for the end of next week so everyone keep checking back.


30. Deibinson Romero 3b 22 (9/24/1986)
2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

• Deibinson Romero signed as a free agent with the Twins in 2004 out of the Dominican Republic. After spending the 2005 with the Dominican Summer League Deibinson joined the Twins organization in the States in 2006. In 2006 Romero played with the GCL Twins and posted very good numbers by hitting .313 with 4 hr and 38 rbi's along with 10 doubles in 50 games. In 2007 Deibinson split the season between E-town and Beloit. At E-town he hit .316 with 9 hr and 52 rbi aloing with 16 doubles before being promoted to Beloit for the last 2 games. It was then that everyone started talking about Romero as a possible 3rd baseman prospect and he jumped up lists. He started 2008 with Beloit and lets say it was a disappointment in that he only played in 40 games due too injuries. On the field he did not do much as he hit .268 with 3 hr and 18 rbi's along with 8 doubles. This season he moved up to Fort Myers and got off to a good start, but then went through a 1-36 slump that lowered his average from .270 down to .201. He has rebounded a bit lately and comes into today with a .222 average with 2 hr and 29 rbi along with 12 doubles in 54 games. The key to this season is he is playing and take away that bad slump he has had a pretty solid year. Deibinson's problem is his defense as he has already committed 10 errors at 3rd base and that won't fly with the Twins. My sources say that the Twins are pretty high on Romero and are hoping he can bring it together. The second half is very important to Romero as he will be 23 at the end of the season. That is not old for his level, but he was always young for his level and now he is kind of evened out. He really needs to start next season in New Britain, but if he doesn't blow up in the 2nd half I don't see that happening. Deibinson is a doubles machine as his 12 doubles so far this year would suggest. If he has a big second half which he very well could because he has the talent too he will fly up the charts for my end of the year look at the prospects.
• 2009: play 3rd base at Fort Myers and try to stay healthy
• Projection: Compete with Danny Valencia as starting 3rd baseman for the Twins

29. David Winfree RF 23 (8/5/1985)

2008 teams: New Britain

• David Winfree was a 13th round pick by the Twins in 2003 out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. After signing with the Twins he joined the GCL Twins and hit .129 in only 17 games. In 2004 Winfree moved up to E-town and did much better hitting .286 with 8 homeruns and 37 rbi's along with 8 doubles in 59 games. In 2005 David moved on to Beloit and hit a very good .294 with 16 homeruns and an unbelievable 101 rbi's in 135 games. After the 2005 season David was really seen as a true prospect for the Twins. In 2006 he moved up to Fort Myers he hit .276 with 13 homeruns and 48 rbi's in only 67 games as he left the organization for a month to figure things out. In 2007 he moved up to New Britain and did ok not great, but not bad as he hit .267 with 12 homeruns and 51 rbi's in 123 games. After the 2007 season the Twins decided to switch his position because he was not working out as a 3rd baseman. The hope also was he could relax and do better at the plate with less to worry about on defense. In 2008 he stayed with New Britain and had an up and down year as a hot streak at the end got his average up to .252 on the year. That does not tell the whole story because he was very effective by his 19 homeruns and 87 rbi's along with 27 doubles. This year he moved up to AAA Rochester and has done even better which really surprised me as I thought he would struggle. In 55 games David is hitting .283 with 9 homeruns and 30 rbi's along with 15 doubles. David is only 23 years old which is very young for AAA so he could spend 3 years there and still be young for the big leagues. He has always been a good run producer and his defense since he moved to the outfield has been good. If he can keep his average in the .270-.280 range he will jump up the charts. He is one of those guys that your shocked at the end of the year when he has 20 hr and close to 100 rbi's. I am a bit higher on him then a lot of other people are. I could forsee him being a bench player for the Twins possibly as early as next year. Be that guy on the bench that comes in late in games needed the big hit. So I really think the future is very bright for David Winfree
• 2009: Play Right Field for Rochester
• Projection: Bench Player for the Twins as early as 2010

28. Juan Morillo RHP 25 (11/5/1983)

2008 teams: Colorado Springs and Colorado Rockies

• Juan Morillo was acquired on waivers from the Colorado Rockies in April 2009. Juan was signed by the Rockies as a free agent in 2001 from the Dominican Republic. After spending 2 years in the DSL Morillo came to American and his first season in Rookie Ball was 2003. In 15 games he went 1-6 with a 5.91 era with 40 walks and 44 strikeouts in 64 innings. In 2004 he moved to the northwest league where he went 3-2 with a good 2.99 era in 14 starts. In 66.1 innings he struck out 73 batters, but also walked 41 which was way to many. In 2005 he split the season between Class A Ashville and high A Modesto. At Ashville he went 1-3 with a 4.55 era in 7 starts where he had 13 walks and 43 strikeouts in 33.2 innings. At Modesto he went 6-5 with a 4.41 era in 20 starts. In 112 innings he had 65 walks and 101 strikeouts. That season showed that he can strikeout a lot of hitters, but also that he walks just as many. In 2006 he moved up to AA Tulsa where he went 12-8 with a 4.62 era in 27 starts. In 140 innings he walked 80 and struck out 132 which led to a promotion to the Rockies. Things did not go well with the Rockies as he made one start and gave up 8 runs in 4 innings before being sent back down to AA. In 2007 he started at Tulsa where he went 6-4 with a very good 2.35 era in 46 games out of the bullpen. In 57 innings he walked 27 and struck out 59 before being promoted to AAA Colorado Springs. In 7 games there he went 0-1 with a 3.73 era in 9 innings. That led to another opprotunity with the Rockies where he struggled again. He gave up 4 runs in only 3.2 innings in 3 outings with the Rockies. In 2008 Juan returned to AAA where he went 1-0 with a 5.28 era in 52 games. In 59 innings he walked 56 batters and struck out 55. This led the Rockies to decide they could not figure him out and put him on waivers in April which the Twins quickly claimed. In 3 games with the Twins he gave up 5 runs in 2 innings, which caused the Twins to put him on waivers, but in the Twins case they got lucky and he made it through so they sent him to Rochester. He has done pretty good at Rochester going 3-2 with a 3.22 era in 15 games. In 22.1 innings he has walked 15 and struck out 31. He has had his good games and then his bad games. Morillo is a hard one to figure out as he has a 100 mile per hour fastball and a good slider and when he throws strikes he is absolutely dominant. If he could harness that control he would be the top pitching prospect in the organization. He has the most potential of anyone in the organization and if he can harness that control he will be closing for the Twins in 3 years.
• 2009: Spend season relieving for Rochester
• Projection: I see him as a future closer for the Twins

27. Evan Bigley OF 22 (3/9/1987)

2008 teams: E-town

• Evan Bigley was a 10th round pick of the Twins in the 2008 draft out of Dallas Baptist University. Bigley after signing joined the E-town Twins where he hit .300 with 14 homeruns and 47 rbi's along with 13 doubles in 53 games. This year he moved up to Beloit where he hit .307 with 2 homeruns and 22 rbi's along with 6 doubles in 25 games before being promoted to Fort Myers. At Fort Myers in 27 games he is hitting .295 with a homerun and 11 rbi's along with 3 doubles. Evan Bigley has really impressed me as he has hit at every level that he has been. He is a career .301 hitter so far in his career. He plays a very good outfield with a good arm and good speed. If he can keep being consistant he will continue to move through the system. He has more potential than just about anyone in the organization so it is important to keep an eye on him and see how he does.
• 2009: Play rest of season in outfield in Fort Myers
• Projection: I project him as a 4th outfield type who could develop into a starting type.

26. Whit Robbins 1b 24 (9/25/1984)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Whitney Robbins was drafted by the Twins in the 4th round of the 2006 draft out of Georgia Tech University. After signing with the Twins Whit joined the Beloit Snappers and in 32 games he hit .304 with 3 homeruns and 26 rbi's along with 9 doubles. He did so well there that in 2007 he was moved up to high A Fort Myers. In 64 games with the Miracle Whit hit .211 with no hr and 21 rbi's along with only 6 doubles. After that season some members of the Twins were concerned if he was going to be able to make it. So in 2008 he repeated Fort Myers and did a little bit better. In 91 games Whit hit .268 with 6 hr and 42 rbi's along with 13 doubles as he split time with Johnny Woodard at first for the Miracle. After the 2008 season the Twins decided to let Woodard go and see what they had in Robbins and moved him up to AA New Britain. This year at New Britain Robbins is having a break out year for the Rockcats. Whit is hitting .342 with 7 hr and 29 rbi's along with 15 doubles in only 53 games. As we have seen with other players sometimes it just takes time for a player to get it. Whit Robbins is just like one of those guys because right now he is crushing the ball all over the park for New Britain. He plays a very solid first base and gets on alot by his .417 obp says. I really have high hopes for Robbins going forward because if he continues to play like this he will find himself in the majors in a couple years. He is not a power guy, but I see him as a line drive hitter who will hit for a high average. It will probably not be with the Twins, but I really think Whit Robbins has a future in the Major Leagues.
• 2009: Play first base for New Britain all year
• Projection: I see him as a starting caliber first baseman for someone

25. Rob Delaney RHP 24 (9/8/1984)

2008 teams: Fort Myers and New Britain

• Rob Delaney was signed as a free agent by the Twins in 2006 out of St. John's University. Delaney started his career in the bullpen for the GCL Twins pitching 17 games and going 1-3 with a 4.64 era and 2 saves. He was then promoted to Fort Myers and pitched in 3 games to end the year giving up 3 runs in 5 innings of work. In 2007 he split the season between Beloit and Fort Myers and started at Beloit. In 36 games for the Snappers Delaney went 1-0 with a awesome 0.77 era and a Snapper record 28 saves. In 46 innings of work he only walked 6 batters. He was then moved on to Fort Myers where he did an equally good job going 2-0 with a very good 1.54 era in 17 games along with 7 saves. Even though many wanted him to be moved up to AA he started 2008 back at Fort Myers and dominated again going 1-2 with a very good 1.42 era in 23 games along with 13 saves. He was then promoted to AA New Britain where he did a very good job going 2-1 with a awesome 1.05 era in 24 games along with 5 saves. Going into 2009 there were some that were clamoring for him to start in AAA, but he started in AA and was dominant once again going 1-1 with a 2.00 era in 26 games for the Rockcats. Delaney was then promoted to AAA Rochester where he has only pitched in 3 games so far and 1 of the 3 was bad so his 6.00 era looks bad but trust me it will come down fast. Rob Delaney has come from a undrafted free agent to being one of the top relieving prospects in the System. He has impeccable control by his 35 walks in about 214 innings show. He has a very bright future with the Twins because he is probably good enough to be with the Twins right now and do a solid job. I see him as a 6th to 7th inning guy with his low 90's fastball and good breaking pitches. The only reason I don't have him ahead of Anthony Slama is his strikeout totals are not real great for a closer so I think he will be a middle innings guy for the Twins. Look for him in a Twins uniform maybe as early as the September callups.
• 2009: Finish season closing for Rochester
• Projection: I project him as a middle innings reliever who can get left or right handed hitters out.

24. Joe Benson OF 21 (3/5/1988)

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

• Joe Benson was selected in the 2nd round by the Twins in the 2006 draft out of Joliet, Illinois. After signing with the Twins Benson was sent to GCL. In 52 games he hit .260 with 5hr and 28 rbi's along with 11 doubles and 9 stolen bases before being promoted to Beloit for the last 7 games where he went 5-19. In 2007 Joe started the season at Beloit and did ok there. He hit .255 with 5hr and 38 rbi's along with 18 doubles and 18 stolen bases which showcased his 5 tools on display. There was a lot of expectations for Joe going into the 2008 season after doing so well in 2007, but a fracture in his back shortened his season to only 69 games. He was not hitting real great before he got hurt as he was only hitting .248 with 4hr and 27rbi along with 16 doubles and 17 stolen bases. Going into this year they felt that 2 full seasons at Beloit was enough and it was time to move him up to Fort Myers. That thinking was correct as he was doing awesome until he decided to punch a wall after a strikeout and of course the wall won as he broke his hand. That is not supposed to take away from the start he had with the Miracle. In 28 games with the Miracle Benson was hitting .293 with 3hr and 14 rbi along with 4 doubles and 6 stolen bases. Joe Benson is a hard prospect to really judge because he has missed most of the last 2 years because of injury. It is great to have 5 tools but if your not on the field to use them whats the point. However, that is not taking away the awesome athletic ability he has. He is a doubles machine that will develop power. He can play any outfield position and play it very well. He has power, speed, defense, can hit for average, really he can do it all on the baseball field. If he could stay healthy he would be in my top 10 that is how good I think he can be. He should be back in a couple weeks so I am excited to see if he can put a good 2nd half together and show everyone why he is considered one of the top 2 or 3 pure athletes in the organization and why you can't forget about him when you are talking about our future outfield.
• 2009: Stay healthy and play all over for Fort Myers
• Projection: I project him as a starting caliber outfielder who one day may go 30-30.

23. Cole Devries RHP 24 (2/12/1985)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

• Cole Devries signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2006 out of the University of Minnesota. He started his career with the Twins in 2007 with the Beloit Snappers. With Beloit he went 9-5 with a very good 3.41 era in 25 starts. In 2008 he moved up to the Fort Myers Miracle and went 10-9 with a very good 2.93 era in 23 starts. In 2009 Devries moved up to AA New Britain and is having another very good year going 4-5 with a very good 3.27 era in 12 starts for the Rockcats. Cole Devries has always been looked over saying that he is not big enough and does not throw hard enough to get professional hitters out. All he has done and prove people wrong time after time. I will admit I thought he would get eaten for lunch this year, but he has been the most consistant starter for New Britain this year. Cole is an innings eater who finds a way to get guys out and doesn't walk many batters so you have to hit to get on against him. I am done saying how good he is going to be because I have no idea anymore and anyone that says they know are lying. So just sit back and enjoy the way Cole Devries is pitching and see how far it goes.
• 2009: Spend season with New Britain pitching in the rotation
• projection: I project him as a long reliever in the bigs

22. Brian Dinkelman 2b 25 (11/10/1983)

2008 teams: Fort Myers and New Britain

• Brian Dinkelman was drafted by the Twins in the 8th round of the 2006 draft out of Mckendree University. Brian started his Twins career with E-town and hit .298 with 4 homeruns and 32 rbi's along with 11 doubles in 46 games at E-town. 2007 was split between Beloit and Fort Myers for Brian. At Beloit Brian hit .283 with 7 hr and 21 rbi's along with 16 doubles in 67 games before being promoted to Fort Myers. With the Miracle Dinkelman hit .255 with 6 hr and 21 rbi along with 7 doubles in 64 games. After 2007 there was some doubt about Dinkelman's hitting ability and he answered it in 2008. He started season at Fort Myers and hit .293 with 2 hr and 19 rbi along with 18 doubles and 10 stolen bases in 63 games. After the All-star Break Dinkelman was promoted to AA New Britain where he struggled only hitting .247 with 2hr and 21 rbi along with 14 doubles in 52 games. Again he struggled after a promotion something he has done at every level. This year he started season back at New Britain and took off hitting .312 with 3 hr and 34 rbi's along with 15 doubles in 55 games with the Rockcats. Brian is a double machine who will hit for a good average and hit line drives all over the park. The negative is his age he will be 26 after the year and still in AA. He really needs to get up to AAA because at his age he will no longer be viewed as a prospect even though he is an excellent player. He has speed, can hit for average, play a good defensive 2nd base and also steal some bases. If he can start next season at AAA he will be fine because he is ready to go now and he really needs to get there. I view Brian as a possible future 2nd baseman for the Twins who just needs a chance.
• 2009: Starting 2nd baseman at New Britain with a possible promotion to Rochester.
• Projection: I view Brian as a possible 2nd base candidate for the Twins

21. Shooter Hunt RHP 22 (8/16/1986)

2008 teams: E-town and Beloit

• Shooter Hunt was a first round pick, a supplementary pick, by the Twins in the 2008 draft out of Tulane University. After signing he was assigned to E-town where he went 0-0 with a crazy 0.47 era in 4 starts where he only gave up 1 earned run in 19 innings. He was quickly promoted to Beloit where he did pretty good going 1-4 with a 5.46 era in 12 starts for the Snappers. His problem last year at Beloit was wildness as in 31.1 innings he walked 27 batters. Going into this year there was hope that he would put his control issues in the past. However, that did not happen as this year he went 0-1 with a 10.70 era in 5 starts. The unbelievable thing about it is in 17.2 innings this year he walked 33 batters. They called it a strained groin, but it was believed that the Twins shut him down to build him back up because he has too good stuff to pitch like that. I really believe that Shooter Hunt is going to overcome this and be the pitcher the Twins drafted. The reason they drafted him was his incredible upside and the ability to be an ace of a staff. I really believe it is going to be like when Roy Halladay was sent to A ball by Toronto and built back up to being the pitcher he is today. I believe in 2 years he will be the top pitching prospect in the organization and be a futre ace for the Twins. Shooter Hunt has a overpowering fastball with an incredible curveball when he is on he will blow hitters away and it is just a matter of time before he gets back to that.
• 2009: come back and join Beloit rotation for the second half
• Projection: I view him as the ace of the Twins staff as early as 2012