FanPost

Minor League Report...January 3, 2008

Happy New Year everyone, and the good news is that it is now only a month and a half until we have Twins baseball.

There have been several minor transactions and other issues that are noteworthy.  First, LENIII reported yesterday that Joe Mauer had "minor kidney surgery" at the Mayo Clinic a few days before Christmas.  It was for some type of blockage that he apparently has had for some time and reports indicate that it should not effect him this spring.  It has been previously reported that the Twins have signed several players to minor league contracts, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, starter Bobby Keppel, lefty reliever Sean Henn and former Oriole top prospect Luis Matos.

(Much, much more after the jump...)

The Aragua Tigres are now in the Venezuelan playoffs.  Several players who will play important roles with the Twins next year are part of this team, including catcher Wilson Ramos who just may make his debut this coming September.  Ramos finished the regular VWL season hitting .317/.331/.475 in 120 at bats with 7 doubles, 4 home runs and 25 rbi.  The best comparison to judge how good Ramos is may be comparing him, as a 21 year old, playing on the same team as several  players we are familiar with (Alex Romero, .311/.382/.372; Luis Maza, .306/.365/.400; and Luis Rodriguez, .279/.362/.344).

Luke Hughes will be one of the first prospects to be called upon in 2009.  Hughes began his VWL season playing third base for Aragua, however, was switched to left field where he played the last several weeks before returning to Australia to prepare for the WBC.  Hughes began slowly, however, hit as expected the last month finishing at .298/.348/.423 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 14 rbi in 104 at bats.  Matt Tolbert joined the team late and only had 80 at bats, hitting .275/.333/.413 with 4 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run and 10 rbi.  Tolbert played a lot of third base, however, was also playing center field in several games.

Jose Mijares was the Tigres' primary closer after arriving a few weeks after the season began.  Mijares appeared in 28 games (25.2 innings) with a 4-1 record, 9 saves, 1.40ERA, 1.36WHIP and 32K/12BB.  Another Twins short reliever that likely won't make it to Minnesota in 2009 is Frank Mata.  Mata appeared in 20 games (27.2 innings) with a 2-0 record, 3.58ERA, 1.23WHIP and 19K/14BB.  Bobby Korecky got better as the season went on, appearing in 11 games (15.0 innings) with a 1-1 record, 6.00ERA, 1.73WHIP and 11K/6BB.  Yohan Pino and Oswaldo Sosa both joined the team late in their season.  Pino apeared in 11 games (16.0 innings) with a 1-0 record, 3.38ERA, 1.31WHIP and 13K/5BB.  Sosa appeared in 10 games (10.0 innings) with 1-1 Record, 9.90ERA, 1.90WHIP and 6K/2BB.  Edgar Ibarra was solid for a young pitcher with only rookie league experience, appearing in 5 games (3.2 innings) with a 2.45ERA and 2K/3BB.  Danny Hernandez also had limited experience with the Tigres, appearing in 3 games (3.0 innings) with a 0-1 record and 6.00ERA.  Mijares had a nice game in yesterday's 8-4 win, pitching a perfect inning with 3 strikeouts while Pino also pitched a solid 0.2 inning.

Over in the Dominican Winter League, Gigantes del Cibao won yesterday, 6-4, with lead off hitter Alexi Casilla getting 1 hit.  Casilla finished the regular season hitting .343/.436/.478 in 67 at bats with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 10 rbi, 15 runs scored, 11 walks, 13 strikeouts and 3 stolen bases in 4 attempts.  Former Twin Julio DePaula was one of Gigantes most used middle reliever, appearing in 25 games (28.0 innings) with a 3-1 record, 4.82ERA and 19K/14BB.

Two Twins who will play important roles for the Twins in 2009 were with Leones del Escogido and didn't make the playoffs.  Carlos Gomez finished his season sharing duties in center field, hitting .243/.364/.351 in 74 at bats with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 10 walks, 20 strikeouts and 9 stolen bases in 13 attempts.  Former Twin Tony Batista hit .272/.351/.433 with 6 home runs and 37 rbi in 180 at bats.  Francisco Liriano joined the team late and was on a strict pitch count.  The Franchise finished his season making 4 starts (11.0 innings) with a 0-1 record, 2.45ERA, 1.09WHIP and 8K/3BB. 

All indications are that several Twins will be playing in this springs WBC.  Joe Nathan has accepted a spot for Team USA while Justin Morneau will be with Canada.  Luke Hughes is a strong candidate for Australia while Joe Mauer will likely be with Team USA unless his recent surgery will cause the Twins to be cautious.  There has also been talk that Liriano will be pitching for the Dominican Republic, hwoever, I don't believe their squad has been announced.