It was a successful Opening Day for three of the four minor league affiliates in terms of Wins. However, I think it was a Win-Win day for all four teams. Now, as I have done in previous years, I will be checking out the box scores of the Twins Minor League affiliates and trying to keep you updated on what is happening on the farm. The below format is what you can expect five days a week. I will post the score although, to me, that really doesn't matter as much as what the players do. I will discuss briefly what the pitchers do in the game. I will also make mention of any guys with multi-hit games or extra-base hits. I will keep up (almost) daily with the statistics of several of the players at the left of the screen.

Some ask me why I choose to focus on the Twins minor leagues. Some say that they don't really matter, that all that matters is what happens in the big leagues, with the Twins. Frequently, someone will write me and say, "Who cares how well a player does in the minor leagues? All I care about is what they do in the big leagues." I guess that is a fair question, but there are at least two reasons that I choose to do it.

First, I love baseball, at any level. Since I was very young, I have enjoyed the concept of the prospect. Do they all pan out? Of course not. But, I want to be the guy that watched and followed a player from the time that they were drafted. I want to understand the process it took for them to get to the major leagues. Maybe a guy signed as a shortstop and ended up making it to the big leagues as a pitcher. Joe Nathan did that. There are also guys who are drafted as a pitcher, and move to the outfield. Or, maybe there is a top draft pick who just comes though and flies through the system. But there are probably more who make their one-step a year progression though the system. There are also those long-time minor league veterans who have quite the ride, hopefully to the big leagues.

Second, these guys are all living the dream that I had when I was growing up and into high school. I wanted to get drafted and play minor league ball with the hope of someday being a big leaguer. That is what the minor leaguers are doing. They're striving for that big league dream. They are part of the Twins organization and they deserve the recognition. In my summaries, I really don't care if the player is a top pick, or a ten year minor leaguer. They will be recognized.

If a Twins prospect does something worth noting, I think that this is a great place to note it. I know that it is not real easy to find box scores, or some people choose not to even worry about it. So, I go through the box scores and summarize it. I hope that some people appreciate having this information all summarized on one page. It may take about three minutes to read through, and you get a little better idea of what is happening in the Twins system.

To me, the purpose of the farm system is to develop prospects. Those prospects serve two purposes to the major league Twins. The first, and most obvious one, is the develop players that can succeed in Minnesota, for the Twins. The second purpose is to develop depth so that you can supply the Twins with players but also use some guys as trade bait to acquire help for the Twins.

Remember just this offseason when there were rumors about the Twins trading for Hank Blalock or other players. If you hadn't been following the Twins farm system, you would have no idea why I (and many others) would think it crazy to even consider dealing Francisco Liriano for him. And Blalock has been an All-Star. However, if you had followed his progression in 2005, you would completely understand.

So, that is way-too-long an explanation of why I do this, but the main reason is... because I enjoy it! If you have any thoughts on the topic, or have any ideas which would make the coverage better, please e-mail me. Also, if you are from one of the cities that hosts a Twins affiliate, would you please send me an e-mail with a link to a local newspaper that covers the team, or any articles about their players. I would like to link more to those sites. Many times that is where we learn a little more about the person, rather than just the player. If there are any proud parents or siblings or anyone else related to the players (or the players themselves), please feel free to e-mail me any time with stories or article links.

Finally, before getting to the Opening Day summaries, I have to point out a couple of injuries to noted prospects. Chris Dunn informs me that Juan Portes, on of the more exciting hitters in the Twins system, slipped on some ice in spring training and broke his thumb. He will start the season at extended spring training. Roger tells me that Jay Rainville will likely miss the entire 2006 season after surgery for a nerve problem that causes pain when he throws a baseball. Rainville is certainly one of the Twins top pitching prospects (which says a lot!), so we hope that this surgery will take care of any problem and he can come back by the Instructional League and get back to being strong.

OPENING DAY

Red Wings 5, Syracuse 3 – The Red Wings started their season with an afternoon game yesterday against Syracuse, the Blue Jays affiliate. Boof Bonser was the story for Rochester. The righty who led the International League in strikeouts a year ago threw very well. In all, he allowed no runs on just two hits, and he struck out eight in six innings.  The trouble came in the 7^th when Ricky Barrett came into the game.  He got just one out and gave up three earned runs on three hits and a walk. Kevin Cameron gave up a hit and a walk in the inning too and recorded just one out. He was replaced by Dennys Reyes who got out of that inning and then the first two outs of the 8^th.  Pat Neshek came in and got the last out of the eight. In the ninth, he gave up two hits, but he was able to finish the game and get the Save. 2B Luis Maza led the offense with a 3-4 day. He had a double and three RBI. Jason Bartlett had a double and a triple in his four at bats. Hopefully he also displayed some good leadership skills! Jason Tyner and Chris Heintz each went 2-4 with an RBI.  

Rockcats 2, New Hampshire 5 – What an interesting start to the 2006 New Britain season. Leading off the bottom of the 2^nd innings, Denard Span hit a home run. The game remained 1-0 through five innings. That was the case, in large part, because of the pitching of Glen Perkins. The 2004 first-round pick started the game with five no-hit innings. He just walked one in that time. However, he came out for the 6^th frame and gave up singles to the first two hitter. He was removed from the game in favor of Levale Speigner. Speigner allowed those two runners to score, plus another one before getting out of that inning. He pitched a scoreless 7^th. Chris Schutt came in and gave up two 8^th inning runs. Tristan Crawford then struck out two in a perfect 9^th.  On offense, the team was limited to just five hits. Span had two of them. Matt Moses, Doug Deeds and Felix Molina each had a single. Trent Oeltjen batted second. He walked twice and stole a base.

Miracle 7, Sarasota 3 – In a story that remained constant with all four affiliates last night, the Miracle started a great pitching prospect and got a solid performance. Top 2005 pick Matt Garza got the starting nod for the Miracle in a matchup against another top prospect, the Reds' Homer Bailey. Garza went five innings. Garza went five innings and gave up two runs (1 earned). He allowed just two hits and a walk, and he struck out four. Tim Lahey, the closer at E-Town last year, will be in middle relief this year. He went two innings and gave up a run on two hits. Julio DePaula came in and pitched two shutout innings for the Save. Alexi Casilla started at 2B and led off. He went 2-5 with three RBI. Garrett Guzman is back! He missed all of 2004, and much of 2003, with very serious injury. But he came back, played LF, and batted third. He went 2-4 with an RBI in his return. Luke Hughes played 3B and hit a three run homer. Deacon Burns played CF and had a double.    

Snappers 4, Cedar Rapids 0 – The Snappers also got a great start from Kyle Waldrop and plenty of quality relief to record an Opening Day shutout. 2004 first-round pick Kyle Waldrop probably was not too happy about being sent back to Beloit to start this season. However, if he pitches like he did last night for a few more starts, and he will quickly be in Ft. Myers. The righty went 5.1 innings and gave up just three hits and one walk. He struck out six. Danny Powers came in and went 2.2 innings with just one hit. He struck out three. Then another top 2004 pick, Eduardo Morlan, came back in and struck out the side to end the game. I would think that Morlan will get a chance to start again at some point. Offensively, the Snappers did enough to score four runs. The highlight may have come in the second inning when 2005 supplemental first-round pick Henry Sanchez hit a home run in his first full-season at bat. He was 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout in the game. Stephen Tolleson led off and went 2-4 with a double. Batting second was Andrew Thompson who had two triples in his four at bats. Eli Tintor had two doubles in his four at bats. Paul Kelly had a double and two RBI. It will be interesting to see the lineups in Beloit throughout the year. They have a lot of talent in the infield, and some of those guys will alternate positions. Last night, Erik Lis played LF. Former catcher Eli Tintor was playing in RF. I don't know what the plan is, but it should be interesting to follow and worth watching.