Getting all of them into the fold is unlikely, if not flat out impossible, but today they cleared their largest hurdle by signing high school RHP Kohl Stewart to $4,544,400 bonus. An amount that wound up matching the slot value for the 4th overall pick. While there was never any real concern about his signability, he did have a scholarship to play QB and also pitch for the baseball team at Texas A&M on the table. When it comes to contract negotiations, until the deal is done you never can be sure how things will play out. No doubt Twins Territory is breathing  a little easier tonight with Stewart, the draft’s top-rated high school pitcher and consensus top-10 player, now officially a part of the organization.

Stewart was the first HS pitcher taken in the first round by the Twins since they selected Farragut HS (Tennessee) RHP Kyle Waldrop 25th overall back in 2004. More recently they have spent a couple supplemental round picks on high school arms grabbing RHP Jose Berrios (32nd overall, 2012) and RHP Hudson Boyd (55th overall, 2011).

I will have a lot more on Stewart and the Twins history of drafting pitchers in the 1st round in the coming days, but for now here is what Baseball America had to say about him in their pre-draft report:

Scouts love the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder’s arsenal, athleticism and competitiveness. They say that he has better present stuff than Jameson Taillon did when the Pirates took the suburban Houston righthander No. 2 overall in 2010. Stewart has boosted his fastball from 88-93 mph last summer to 91-96 for much of the spring, though his velocity tails off at times in the later innings. His life and command with his heater make it even more dominating, but his best offering is a power mid-80s slider with tilt. He has improved his curveball and shows feel for his changeup, and he’ll display four above-average big league pitches at times.

Kohl Stewart signing is wonderful news but after giving us the main course the Twins treated us to more.

In addition to Stewart, they also inked high school lefty and 4th round selection Stephen Gonsalves to a $700,000 bonus. Then they followed that up with the announcement of a slew of other signings. All told the Twins now have deals done with at least 12 of their top 15 picks. LSU RHP Ryan Eades (2nd), Indiana RHP Aaron Slegers (5th) and Indiana 3B Dustin DeMuth (8th) are the three still unsigned according to Baseball America’s Draft Database.

There is some discrepancy in the information available however.

1500ESPN has the count at 23 players signed and 21 of the top 25 with deals in place. BA currently has the count at 20 players signed and 18 of the top 25. Both are likely accurate counts as the staff at Baseball America tends err on the side of caution and verify deals before they report them or update their lists.

Regardless, the future of the Minnesota Twins is a little bit brighter today than it was yesterday and that is a wonderful thing.

On Interstate 295 near Jacksonville the E-Twins’ bus, loaded with 35 players and staff, was stuck by a car traveling south in the northbound lane. No one on the bus suffered any injuries but given the nature of the head on collision, the driver of the car was killed. By the accounts that have been published the driver of the Twins bus did his best to pull over before being struck but could not avoid the collision.

Little is known about the driver of the vehicle, a black Honda, aside from the facts that he was in his mid-20s and died at the scene. Additional details, including whether or not alcohol, drugs or simple fatigue played any part in the young man driving the wrong way on the interstate, have yet to be made public. Regardless of the cause, it’s an unfortunate tragedy and thoughts and condolences go out to the family of the deceased.

As far as baseball is concerned, this could be an inauspicious start to the team’s 2013 season if you’re inclined to believe in signs. The team was heading to Elizabethton to prepare for their season opener on Thursday against the Bristol White Sox. After transferring their gear to another bus, there were able to complete their journey though the events of Tuesday morning will surely stick with the team for quite some time.

MiLB.com published the most comprehensive piece I’ve come across on this story.

They’ve had a fantastic season but they limped into the All-Star break by losing four straight and had 3-5 for the week as a whole. Their stumble helped Oakland A’s affiliate Beloit capture the Western Division.

On the Mound:

LHP Mason Melotakis (21) found mixed results over the last eight games. On the 10th he threw a 7.0 inning, 4 hit shutout with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts but he could not duplicate that success in on the 16th. Facing Peoria on Sunday he gave up 6 hits, 3 walks and 5 runs in 6.1 innings while striking out a pair of Chiefs.

RHP Jose Berrios (19) turned in the best start of all the Kernels hurlers in the past week when he tossed 6.0 innings with 4 hits, 2 unearned runs, 3 walks and 6 strike outs.

RHP Christian Powell (21) [5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO] and LHP Brett Lee (22) [7.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO] also chipped in with quality starts but thanks to the “work” of the bullpen neither pitcher came away with a win. In fact in the eight games the Kernels played, the starting pitcher got a decision just twice. Melotakis added a W to his resume in his shutout and Hudson Boyd was collared with a loss in his second start of the week.

The bullpen had a smattering of strong outings but overall got knocked around and no one was able to get through the week without getting tagged for at least one run (and often times more).

At the Plate:

If it seems like Buxton has been hot since Opening Day, it’s because he has. In fact only two times in 64 games thus far has the 19-year old CF gone without a hit in back to back games and he’s yet to be held hitless in three straight. During the past week he hit in 7/8 of the team’s games en route to a 0.361/.425/.583 slash line with 7 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB, 7 SO and 3 SB in 36 AB. For most players that’s a fantastic week but for Buxton it fit right in with his 2013 line of 0.344/.431/.561 over the course of 253 AB.

Buxton’s OF mate, Adam Walker (21) hit 0.333/.351/.417 in 36 AB with 5 R, 3 2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 9 SO and 2 SB.

Dalton Hicks (23) started the week off slowly but surged at the end with a home run in each of the teams last three games. During that span he was also 6-13 with 9 RBI and a 2B.

The Kernels also got a nice boost at the end of the week with the return of Niko Goodrum who finally saw game action again after 14 days on the shelf. The 21-year old SS went 3-4 with 3 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI and 1 BB on Sunday.