This is just kind of a wrap-up post of various thoughts on the Twins minor league teams and players.  I claim no particular credentials as either an analyst or a scout, so feel free to disagree with anything that follows.

--You can understand why Rochester management is getting upset with the Twins.  I know the minors are about player development, but you'd still like to be able to field a competitive team.  Given how bad they've been the last two years, attendance hasn't suffered as much as you might think--the Red Wings were ninth out of fourteen teams, with an average of 6493 fans.  All the injuries to the major league club obviously played a part in how bad the team was, but a failure to develop players has also played a part.

--There's not a lot to tell you about the Red Wings players.  Pretty much everybody who's any good, and some guys who aren't any good, have already been in Minnesota.  One who has not is Aaron Bates.  He's a first baseman, 27 years old, has been in AAA since 2009, signed with the Twins in May.  This was the first good AAA season he's had, as he hit .316/.408/.439.  I'm a little disappointed he never got a shot in the majors.  He's not going to be a star--he might not do anything--but the Twins had a need for a first baseman, and I don't see what it would've hurt to give him a chance.  He's not on the 40-man roster, but surely there's enough dreck on the 40-man roster that a space could've been cleared.

--Looking at the AAA stats of some of the guys the Twins brought to the majors this year shows either how desperate the Twins were or how bad their AAA players are.  Tosoni:  .226/.283/.343;  Hughes .231/.287/.402;  Diamond, 4-14, 5.56, 1.58 WHIP.

--Kyle Gibson had gotten off to a good start before struggling later in the season, leading one to think he was pitching hurt for some time before he went on the disabled list.  Young players are in a tough spot.  If they're hurt and don't say anything, management gets down on them for not playing well and then gets mad at them for hiding injuries.  On the other hand, if they do say something, they get called soft.  Since most young athletes would rather be thought of as liars than wimps, they tend to go with the former approach.  We talk about the Twins in this regard, but I don't know that it's something unique to the Twins; I think it's more the culture of sports generally.

--Anthony Slama pretty much had a lost year at a time when he really couldn't afford to have a lost year.  He pitched well when he was healthy, but he battled injuries most of the season.  I still think he could help somebody, but he'll be 28 next season, and the Twins obviously are not very high on him.  If they don't want him, I hope they'll let him go to someone who'll give him a chance.

--Kyle Waldrop got off to a terrible start, but straightened himself out and pitched pretty well in the second half of the season.  Given the Twins need for bullpen help, he should have a good shot at making the team next year.  He'll be 26 next season, so it's about time to see if he can help or not.

--New Britain at least gave us something to cheer for as they tried to make the playoffs, but they were basically a .500 team (72-70).  That's a substantial improvement over last year, but still nothing to get excited about.  They did have some good players, though, especially on offense.

--We've discussed whether the Twins had let Joe Benson get "stuck" in AA.  The Twins seem to have a policy that they won't move their best prospects during the season.  As a general rule, I don't have a problem with that; I'd just make more exceptions than they do.  Once a player has established he can handle one level, it's time to move him up to the next level.  If you don't, he can get frustrated, develop bad habits, and start trying too hard in an attempt to get noticed.  Just when a player has "established" that he can handle a level is a tricky business, but surely Benson had by mid-season.  I see no purpose served by leaving him in AA all year.

--Brian Dozier was the exception to the rule discussed above, as he was promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain in mid-season.  On the other hand, he's 24 and was hitting .322 with a .423 OBP at Ft. Myers, so promoting him was pretty much a no-brainer.  He continued to put up good numbers at New Britain, and the Twins need middle infielders.  It'll be interesting to see if he's given a chance to make the big club next spring.

--Yangervis Solarte, on the other hand, is another player who was required to spend a full year in New Britain despite his numbers.  He'd already played 35 games there before this season, but was left there all year despite hitting .329/.367./.466.  I'm not saying he could've done the same in Rochester, but I am saying he should've been given a chance to see what he could do there.

--A year ago, it appeared that Chris Parmelee had changed his approach to raise his average and cut down on his strikeouts.  It worked, but he also cut down on his power.  This year, the average stayed up and the power returned to some extent, but so did the strikeouts--94 on the year.  As a first baseman, he's going to need to hit with some power to be productive.  If it was up to me, we wouldn't worry so much about the strikeouts.

--Little Chris Cates made a good story, but unfortunately he's not a good ballplayer.  .205/.258/.245 just ain't going to cut it.  He's 26, so he's probably not going to get much better.  It's too bad, but it's the way it is.

--I don't have a lot to say about the Rock Cats' pitching, but it should be pointed out that Deolis Guerra really turned it on the last couple of months.  On June 30, he was 5-6, 7.55, 1.68 WHIP.  After that, he went 3-1, 2.77, 1.08.  He's only 22, so there's reason to hope this improvement is real, and that he'll continue to improve next season.

--Oswaldo Arcia was my Ft. Myers position player of the year, but it was mostly based on a lack of competition; he really wasn't anything special there, although he did play quite well in Beloit for the first month.  What concerns me most is his walks, or rather his lack of them.  His highest walk total in a season so far is 19.  Given that he's spent his entire career so far in the low minors, where there are lots of pitchers with control problems, that's not good.  For comparison, Kirby Puckett averaged about 35 walks per minor league season and Vlad Guerrero around 45.  He's only 20, so he has time to improve, but if he's going to make it, he's going to have to stop swinging at everything.

--Aaron Hicks did not exactly take a step forward this year, hitting .242/.354/.368.  The walks are good, but the rest is not.  He repeated Beloit; he may need to repeat Ft. Myers, too.  He'll turn 22 next month, so there's still time, but not as much as there used to be.

--I think we can about close the book on Shooter Hunt.  His second year at Ft. Myers was no better than his first, and he's 25 now.  Let him go and see if another organization wants to try to straighten him out, because it's not happening here.

--Alex Wimmers, on the other hand, did straighten out.  The no-hitter was a nice punctuation mark for his season, but it was clear he was pitching well before that.  If you throw out his awful first outing, he went 2-2, 2.88, 1.08 WHIP in 40.2 innings.  He'll be 23 next year; I can see why you might want to start him at Ft. Myers, but I hope he won't be there long.

--Jairo Perez is another player who could have been moved up mid-season, but wasn't.  He missed all of 2010 and part of this season, so it's understandable, but still, .337/.413/.580 shows that he was too good for the Midwest League.  Seventeen errors in 49 games may show that his future is somewhere other than third base, though.

--B. J. Hermsen continues to make progress, having a fine year in Beloit.  He did not do as well in five starts at Ft. Myers, but he'll be 22 next season.  One assumes he'll start with the Miracle next season.

--Eddie Rosario had a monster season, slugging over a thousand.  Again, another player who could have been moved up, as he was clearly too good for the league he was in.  I get that he was 19 this season, but still, if you're ready to move up, you're ready to move up, no matter what your birth certificate says.

--It's more understandable that Miguel Sano was not moved up.  He played well all year, but really stepped it up in August, turning a good season into an excellent one.

--Max Kepler was a little disappointing, maybe, but not so much when you consider that he's 18.  He wasn't bad by any means, just not as good as one might have hoped.

One more thing.  You may have noticed that my reports got somewhat sloppy toward the end of the season.  I'm not happy about that.  I could make excuses for it, but that's what they'd be, so I won't.  I'll simply apologize, thank those who picked up my errors, take a few weeks off (other than birthday posts and transactions reports) and come back when the Arizona Fall League season starts October 4, ready to battle my tail off and fire some more reports throught the internet.