August 21

Because I forgot to get this ready ahead of time, this is a reprint from last year which has not been updated.

Frank Isbell (1875)
Ed Stone (1909)
Murray Dickson (1916)
Gerry Staley (1920)
Jim Beauchamp (1939)
Felix Millan (1943)
John Ellis (1948)
John Stearns (1951)
Frank Pastore (1957)
John Wetteland (1966)
Mike Misuraca (1968)
Craig Counsell (1970)
Ismael Valdez (1973)
Akili Smith (1975)
Jason Marquis (1978)
Jesse Chavez (1983)
Melvin Upton (1984)
J. D. Martinez (1987)
Ehire Adrianza (1989)
Tim Collins (1989)
Elliot Soto (1989)
Christian Vazquez (1990)

Akili Smith, better known as an NFL quarterback, played for three seasons in the Pittsburgh organization, reaching AA.

Right-hander Frank Enrico Pastore pitched for the Twins in 1986.  He was born in Alhambra, California, went to high school in La Verne, California, and was drafted in the second round by Cincinnati in 1975, Pastore pitched well at every stop along the way in the minors, and made the Reds at the beginning of 1979. He pitched mostly out of the bullpen that year, but became a solid member of the rotation in 1980. That was his best year: he went 13-7 with an ERA of 3.27 in 27 starts. He pitched well in 1981 and 1982, but started to slip and got injured from a fall. Later he also apparently started to have injury problems. He was primarily a reliever in 1985, became a free agent, and signed with the Twins in April of 1986. The Twins ran through a lot of relief pitchers that year, and Pastore was actually one of the better ones they had: in 33 games, he was 3-1 with a 4.01 ERA and 2 saves, but walked 24 in 49.1 innings and had a WHIP of 1.58. He again became a free agent after the season, and signed with the Texas Rangers, but pitched poorly for AAA Oklahoma City and his career was over. After baseball, Frank Pastore went back to school and obtained degrees in business administration, philosophy of religion and ethics, political philosophy, and American government. He became the host of a radio program, The Frank Pastore Show, which was described by wikipedia as the largest Christian talk show in the United States.  Sadly, Frank Pastore passed away December 17, 2012 as a result of injuries following a motorcycle accident.

Right-hander Michael William Misuraca did not play for the Twins, but he was in their farm system for over seven years.  He was born in Long Beach, California and signed with Minnesota as a free agent in 1988.  A starter for most of his career, he pitched fairly well in the low minors, but never well enough to attract anyone’s attention.  He reached Class A in 1989, but did not advance past there until 1993, when he finally got to AA Nashville.  He reached AAA in 1994, but did not pitch well in Salt Lake, posting ERAs over five each season there.  He was sent to Milwaukee in a conditional deal in June of 1996 and sent to AAA New Orleans.  He did not pitch any better in AAA for the Brewers, but was brought up to the majors for about three weeks in 1997.  It did not go well:  in five appearances (10.1 innings), he put up an ERA of 11.32 and a WHIP of 2.13, allowing five home runs.  His playing career came to an end after that season.  He may not have been in the big leagues for long, but as an undrafted free agent, he beat the odds to get there at all.  He has stayed in baseball, and at last report was the supervisor of scouting for the Cincinnati Reds.

Right-hander Jason Scott Marquis made seven starts for the Twins at the beginning of 2012.  He was born in Manhasset, New York, went to high school in Staten Island, and was drafted by Atlanta in the first round in 1996.  He advanced slowly, mostly because he really didn’t pitch all that well.  he had a good year in AA in 2000, though, and ended up spending nearly half the season in the majors.  2001 was his first full year in the majors and was one of his best years there.  He started in the bullpen, but made the rotation by mid-June and ended up posting a 3.48 ERA.  He came nowhere near those numbers in 2002 and was back in the minors for about half of 2003.  That off-season he was traded to St. Louis.  He had a fine year for the Cardinals in 2004, going 15-7, 3.71, though with a WHIP of 1.42.  He was still pretty good in 2005 but had a terrible 2006, leading the league in earned runs allowed and home runs allowed.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with the Cubs.  He was adequate for the Cubs for two seasons, then was traded to Colorado before the 2009 season.  Given that he was pitching in Coors Field, he actually had a pretty good year for the Rockies, but became a free agent again and signed with Washington.  He was on the disabled list much of 2010 and was pretty awful when he did pitch, but he bounced back in 2011 and was having a decent season when he was traded to Arizona at the deadline.  He again was injured and was awful in the three starts he did make for the Diamondbacks.  A free agent again, he signed with Minnesota for 2012.  It was hoped he would bring a veteran presence to the rotation, but his time with the Twins was a disaster:  2-4, 8.47, 1.94 WHIP in 34 innings.  He was released in late May and signed with San Diego the next day.  He was actually fairly good with the Padres the rest of the season and was adequate in 2013 as well, although he issued a lot of walks.  A free agent after that season, he did not sign for 2014 until early June, when he signed with Philadelphia and made nine minor league starts.  Once again a free agent, he signed with Cincinnati for 2015 and made the team, but was pretty bad in nine starts and was released in June.  He pitched for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic in 2017 and said that he was still interested in playing professional baseball, but no professional baseball team was interested in having him play.  He expressed an interest in pitching for Israel in the Olympics in 2021, but whether by his choice or the team's he did not do so.  At last report, Jason Marquis had returned to Staten Island to live.  He has expressed an interest in coaching, but does not seem to be a coach at the present time.

Infielder Ehire Enrique Adrianza was with the Twins from 2017-2020.  He was born in Guarenas, Venezuela and was signed by the Giants as a free agent in 2006.  He spent two years in the Dominican Summer League and was apparently injured for much of 2008, as he played in only eighteen games.  He reached class A in 2009, AA in 2012, and AAA in 2013.  He had a strong year in AAA in 2013, batting .310 with an OPS of .851, and got a September call-up that season.  He spent about half of each season with the Giants from 2014-16, playing mostly second base and shortstop.  He was a reserve most of that time and batted like one, batting .220/.292/.313 for the Giants.  They waived him at the end of January of 2017 and he was claimed by Milwaukee.  A week later Milwaukee waived him and he was claimed by Minnesota.  He started 2017 in AAA but came up in early May.  He was fairly decent as a reserve in 2017, batting .265 with an OPS of .707.  He began 2018 again in a reserve role, but the Twins ran into a shortage of infielders for a variety of reasons, and he became a mostly regular for a couple of months.  He did okay in that role, too.  2019 was his best year so far--he played less than in 2018 but took advantage of the time he got, batting .272 with an OPS of .765.  He was again a reserve in 2020 but had a poor season and became a free agent.   He signed with Atlanta for 2021 and did fairly well in a super utility role.  A free agent again, he signed with Washington, had a poor season, and was traded to Atlanta on August 1, for whom he continued to struggle in a limited role.  He remains with the Braves in 2023 but has been injured most of the season, appearing in just five games.  He turns thirty-four today.  We wish him well, but it appears that Ehire Adrianza's major league career may be nearing an end.

Left-hander Timothy Michael Collins did not play for the Twins, but was in spring training with them in 2019.  Born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, he was signed by Toronto as a free agent in 2007.  A reliever all the way, he reached AAA in 2010, but by then he was no longer a Blue Jay.  He was traded to Atlanta in the middle of July and then was traded to Kansas City a few weeks later.  He started 2011 with the Royals and was in their bullpen for the next three and a half seasons.  He was a reliable set-up man for them--not great, but certainly not bad, either.  He was injured in mid-June of 2014, coming back in September.  He then had Tommy John surgery and missed all of the next two seasons.  He signed with Washington for 2017, but was able to pitch in just eighteen minor league games.  He split 2018 between AAA and the majors, where he wasn't horrible but was a step down from what he'd been before his injury.  He signed with Minnesota for 2019, but was released in late March.  He signed with the Cubs the next day and was back-and-forth between AAA and the majors until being granted free agency at the end of July.  He signed with Cincinnati, for whom he made five minor league appearances.  He signed with Colorado for 2020 but opted out of the 2020 season.  That appears to have led to him opting out of his playing career, as he never played again.  At last report, Tim Collins was living in Richmond, Virginia, and offered personal and group baseball instruction under the name "Tim Collins Baseball".

Infielder Elliot Sebastian Soto has not played for the Twins yet, but is in their minor league system in 2022.  He was born in Elgin, Illinois, went to high school in Carpentersville, Illinois, attended Creighton, and was drafted by the Cubs in the fifteenth round in 2010.  He had actually been drafted by the Twins in the thirteenth round in 2007, but did not sign.  He has never been much with the bat:  he has an OPS of .651 in low A, .605 in medium A, .645 in high-A, .624 in AA , and .704 in AAA.  He has primarily played shortstop, although he's seen substantial time and second and third and has played a few games in the outfield.  It's tough to judge minor league defensive statistics, but teams clearly think he's a superior defender or he wouldn't have played twelve seasons in the minors.  He was in the Cubs organization through 2015, went to Miami, was back with the Cubs in 2017, was with Colorado in 2018-2019, was with the Angels in 2020, the Dodgers in 2021, and has been with the Twins since 2022.  He played in three major league games with the Angels at the end of the 2020 season, going 2-for-6 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  He has spent his time in the Twins' organization in St. Paul, batting .223 in 2022 and .213 so far this season with little power.  He offers positional flexibility, but that's about it.  He turns thirty-four today.  The only way he'll be in the majors again is due to a rash of infield injuries, but he might be able to play for a couple more years in the minors or in independent ball if he wants to.

Catcher Christian Rafale Vazquez came to the Twins in 2023.  He was born in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, attended the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, and was drafted by Boston in the ninth round in 2008.  He did not hit much his first couple of years, but broke through in 2011, batting .283 with 18 homers for Class A Greenville.  He struggled in AA the next season but batted .290 there in 2013.  He split 2014 between AAA and the majors, missed 2015 due to injury, and split 2016 between AAA and the majors.  He finally reached the majors to stay in 2017 and batted .290 as he shared catching duties with Sandy Leon.  Again sharing catching duties in 2018, this time with Leon, he fell to just .207.  He became the full-time catcher in 2019, however, and rewarded the Red Sox with three and a half solid seasons before being traded to Houston on August 1 on 2022.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Minnesota and has again shared catching duties, this time with Ryan Jeffers.  He has not batted as well as might have been expected, batting .231/.289/.311 in 251 at-bats at this writing.  He turns thirty-three today.  He is signed through 2025, however, so unless there's a trade, Christian Vazquez will probably remain with the Twins for a couple more seasons.