We continue our closing look at each of the Twins' minor league teams.

--It took a while to get used to rooting for Cedar Rapids instead of Beloit (I think I even tagged a few early-season games "Snappers" rather than "Kernels"), but the Kernels helped by having an awesome year.  Led by Byron Buxton, they finished second in the first half, qualifying for the playoffs with a record of 40-28.  They did even better in the second half, as Adam Brett Walker II led them to a 48-22 record, finishing first.  Their overall record of 88-50 was the best in the league.

--We discussed Buxton and Dalton Hicks in the Fort Myers article, so we'll start here with Adam Brett Walker II.  He hit .278/.319/.526 with 27 homers, 31 doubles, and 7 triples.  Many thought he should have been promoted to Fort Myers.  I tend to agree, but assume the reason he was not is that he walked only 31 times all season while striking out 115 times.  I don't know that this is enough reason to hold him down, but on the other hand, he'll turn 22 in October, so it probably didn't do him any harm.  One assumes he'll be in Fort Myers at the start of next season, and if he continues to bash the ball there he'll probably go to New Britain at some point.

--The other hot batting prospect in Cedar Rapids was Max Kepler.  He hit a rather underwhelming .237/.312/.424 in 236 at-bats.  On the other hand, he's twenty, and growing up in Germany presumably put him behind some people.  The guess here is that he'll start next season back in Cedar Rapids, but he still has time to develop.

--Jorge Polanco rather quietly put up some pretty good numbers, hitting .308/.362/.452 with 32 doubles and 10 triples.  Polanco turned 20 in July and put up good numbers in Elizabethton last year, too.  We assume he'll start in Fort Myers next year, and he may be someone to keep an eye on.

--Travis Harrison showed some power, hitting 15 home runs and 28 doubles.  He also drew 68 walks, giving him a line of .253/.366/.416.  It'll be interesting to see what he does in Fort Myers, as well.

--Niko Goodrum also drew a bunch of walks, 60 of them.  He's drawn a lot of walks everywhere he's played.  Unfortunately, that seems to be his only offensive skill, as he's never hit more than .275 and has little power.  This year his line was .260/.364/.369.  He gets on base at a good clip, and that's obviously valuable, but he's probably going to have to hit more to get ahead.

--The pitcher we all had our eyes on at the start of the season was Jose Berrios.  He wasn't great, but he wasn't terrible:  7-7, 3.99, 1.40 WHIP with 40 walks and 100 strikeouts in 103.2 innings.  He turned 19 this season, so he has plenty of time to improve.  I suspect he'll start at Fort Myers next season.

--Miguel Sulbaran, the guy the Twins got for Drew Butera, just might be something.  He was 9-4, 2.96, 1.26 WHIP with 32 walks and 101 strikeouts in 112.2 innings.  He turned 19 in March.

--Brett Lee had a pretty solid year, too.  He was 8-4, 2.95, 1.23 WHIP with 26 walks and 89 strikeouts in 116 innings.  He'll be 23 this week, so you'd expect him to be a little more advanced, but we'll see what he does in Fort Myers.

--I could go on and on about the pitchers at Cedar Rapids, but you're probably getting bored by now.  I'll just give you the numbers on some of them from here out.

--Mason Melotakis, 11-4, 3.16, 1.31 WHIP, 39 walks, 84 strikeouts, 111 innings, 22 years old.

--Tim Atherton, 8-5, 2.54, 1.14 WHIP, 33 walks, 102 strikeouts, 95.2 innings, will be 24 in November.

--Alex Muren, 6-1, 2 saves, 2.85, 1.13 WHIP, 18 walks, 36 strikeouts, 60 innings, will be 22 in November.

--Steven Gruver, 5-2, 3 saves, 2.45, 1.13 WHIP, 16 walks, 62 strikeouts, 58.2 innings, 24 years old.  Did okay in 20.1 innings in Fort Myers.

--David Hurlbut, 3-1, 6 saves, 2.52, 0.96 WHIP, 8 walks, 46 strikeouts, 50 innings, will be 24 in November.  Also did okay in 20.1 innings in Fort Myers.

--Tim Shibuya did well in six games at Elizabethton, and continued to do well in 10 games (4 starts) at Cedar Rapids.  He was 4-0, 0.96, 1.38 WHIP, 4 walks, 25 strikeouts in 37.2 innings.  He turned 24 Saturday.

So there you are, your 2013 Cedar Rapids Kernels.  If possible, we'll look at the Elizabethton Twins tomorrow.