Wednesday's Twins Minor League Daily

Chris Herrmann, one of three Rock Cats
players to see action in the AA
All-Star game last night

I'm back in action after a hiatus that took me, by car, halfway across the country to the beautiful Twin Cities, then up to Lake Superior, just south of the Canadian border, to parts of Minnesota that I had never seen. What a fantastically beautiful part of the state!

3 Rock Cats players appeared in the Eastern League All-Star Game last night: catcher Chris Herrmann, who I interviewed last month, and pitchers B.J. Hermsen and Daniel Turpen. Herrmann was hitless in 2 appearances, Hermsen gave up 1 run in an inning of work, and Daniel Turpen got the win, getting the final out of the game. Andrew Albers was also named to the team, but did not play. Congratulations to those guys on their achievements this season!

Each Wednesday evening I write a recap of what happened in the Twins' minor league system for TwinsDaily. Even though the major league teams are still resting in preparation for the second half of the season, there were plenty of minor league games last night, so let's take a look at that action.
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FT. MYERS 6, CLEARWATER 5
Tom Stuifbergen got the start for the Miracle tonight, and went 4 innings. He gave up only 1 hit, and struck out 4. Twins fans, take note: Matt Capps threw tonight, on his rehab assignment, after Stuifbergen. Capps tossed 1 inning, allowed 1 hit and no walks, but did surrender an unearned run. Thereafter, Adrian Salcedo tossed 3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits, striking out 1 and walking 1. Michael Tonkin picked up the save, his first of the season, throwing a perfect 9th.

On offense, Andy Leer and Anderson Hidalgo both homered. Daniel Santana had 2 hits, including a double. Joe Benson (yes, the Joe Benson that is still a top prospect rehabbing a wrist injury) had a double in 5 at-bats, as did Michael Gonzales in 3 trips to the plate. Kyle Knudson and Daniel Rams also singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

BELOIT 3, FT. WAYNE 6
Tyler Jones started for the Snappers tonight, and lasted 3 and 1/3 innings. He gave up 8 hits and 5 runs (4 earned), striking out 3 and walking 2. The bullpen was better: Cole Johnson threw 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed only 1 hit; Dallas Gallant tossed 1 and 1/3 scoreless, striking out 1; and Corey Williams threw 1 inning, allowing 1 run on 1 hit, striking out 2 and walking 1.

On offense, let's start with the big guy, Miguel Sano. He was 2-for-3 with a triple, his third of the season. He had 2 RBIs, a walk and a strikeout (also he committed 0 errors). Stephen Wickens, Drew Leachman, Steven Liddle, Jonathan Goncalves and Jairo Rodriguez all singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

ELIZABETHTON 4, GREENVILLE 7
Ricardo Arevalo got the start for the E-Town Twins tonight, going 4 innings. He gave up 6 runs on 5 hits, striking out 4 and walking 1. Brett Lee threw 2 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits and striking out 2. J.T. Chargois was also effective, tossing 1 perfect inning and striking out 1. Tyler Duffey threw the 8th inning, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 1.

E-Town had ample offense, just not enough runs. Jhonatan Arias, catcher, had 3 singles in 4 at-bats, Jorge Polanco and Niko Goodrum each had 2 hits, Joshua Henkricks had a double, and Max Kepler, Adam Walker and Travis Harrison each singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 2 (7 inning game)
Felix Jorge tossed 4 scoreless innings, giving up only 2 hits and striking out 4. Alexander Muren threw 2 scoreless innings, striking out 1, and Gonzalo Sanudo was the only Twins pitcher to get into trouble, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits, compiling 1 strikeout along the way.

Center fielder John Murphy and Joel Licon each had 2 hits, Murphy with 1 double and Licon with 2 RBIs. Aderlin Mejia and Javier Pimental each singled.

Here's the link to the box score.

GCL TWINS 6, GCL ORIOLES 1
Jouse Montanez was very effective, going 5 innings and allowing only 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 5 and issuing 0 free passes. Jose Berrios earned the save, tossing 2 perfect, scoreless innings and striking out 3.

Rene Tosoni had 2 hits tonight, both doubles, and 2 RBIs. Second baseman Jose Ramirez had a double, and Joel Licon, Bryan Haar and John Murphy all singled. Mejia, Haar and Murphy also had RBIs.

Here's the link to the box score.
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I'm hitting up tonight's Rock Cats game, so be sure to check back tomorrow for a "beyond the box score" report and hopefully a few pictures.

How Good Should Our Minor League Teams Be?

I've been thinking about this question lately. Baseball farm teams are, by nature, really interesting. General managers don't set the rosters, or even acquire the players. And I bet if the Rock Cats GM gets a call from Terry Ryan suggesting that he play the back-up shortstop because "something may be in the works," the back-up shortstop will get a lot of playing time, regardless of what that does to New Britain's chances. In the minor leagues, the best-performing players often don't last with the team very long, because they are bumped up to the next level. With the Twins' system, we've already seen that take place this year (Lucas French and Deolis Guerra to AAA, Caleb Thielbar and BJ Hermsen to AA to take their places), and we will see it dozens more times this season.

So, as fans, how good should we expect our farm teams to be? On the one hand, it's easy to look at things in the abstract and simply say, "for every player promoted, there should be an emerging player ready to take that vacated roster spot." But that's not baseball -- that's not life. Guerra, for instance, was putting up disgustingly good numbers for the Rock Cats; he was undoubtedly their best reliever -- their Glen Perkins. It would be great if Caleb Thielbar could instantly achieve the success that Guerra had in the last part of 2011 and 2012, but that's anything but a given. Similarly, French was arguably the Rock Cats' best starter this season -- their (fill in the blank if the Twins had a good starter). Good starting pitching is tough to replace, and although it seems that BJ Hermsen is ready for the next level, it's doubtful that he will replicate French's stats (French's success at AA should be partially attributed to the fact that he has MLB and AAA experience). I think a better approach, rather than expecting seamless roster transitions, is to expect competitiveness. Some years drafts are going to be pitcher-heavy. Right now, the Twins have a surplus of outfield talent at the MLB level and down on the farm. Over the course of time, it's the responsibility of the front office to have depth at all positions and all levels, but it's difficult to imagine -- on any one day -- having perfect Low-A, High-A, AA, AAA and MLB depth in any one organization.

In 2011, Baseball America rated the Kansas City Royals as having baseball's best organizational ranking. The Omaha Storm Chasers, the Royals AAA affiliate, had a 79-63 record last season and won the Pacific Coast League championship. The Northwest Arkansas Naturals, the Royals' AA affiliate, finished 73-64, and won their division championship. The High-A team, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, failed to make the playoffs, going 66-72, good for 6th out of 8 teams in their division. Finally, the Low-A team, the Kane County Cougars, went 65-74, and also failed to make the playoffs. The Royals' farm system is just one team, and just one example, of course. It's interesting, though. Their AA and AAA teams were very good last season, despite the fact that the Royals have several young players, like Eric Hosmer, that have been called up recently. It's notable, though, that their lower level teams were both sub-.500 last season, despite the fact that Kansas City almost always has a very high draft position.

So what does this mean for our Twins and their farm teams? I think it's just something to keep an eye on. New Britain, the team I'm following, is 15-9, off to a good start. After going 44-98 in 2010, they finished 72-70 last year, and are on an even better pace now. The Rochester Red Wings are 9-14, still a better pace than they had last year. The Beloit Snappers are 14-11, and the Ft. Myers Miracle are 9-15. Some good so far, and some not so good.

The other notable thing about fielding competitive teams throughout the system is that players get used to playing winning baseball. I'm sure you remember the stories from last season about certain young Twins players (Drew Butera, Danny Valencia, Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes were all named at various times) that didn't particularly care whether the Twins were winning or losing; rather, they seemed preoccupied with being big league ballplayers. Many of those guys played on awful Rochester and New Britain teams. If you have no expectation of winning each and every game at the minor league level, and your behavior is modified accordingly over the course of several hundred games and thousands of at-bats, why would that automatically change once you get "the call?"

I imagine it's difficult for the Twins -- or any organization -- to successfully achieve balance at all levels of the system. That's why the Twins are now having career minor leaguers come in and play at Rochester -- simply to field a competitive team. Hopefully, with several early picks in the 2012 draft, the Twins can shoot up the farm team rankings, and we will, in 3-5 years, see another wave of solid MLB prospects ready to play at Target Field.