July 2 is becoming a day worth circling on the Major League Baseball calendar. It’s the day clubs can sign international players.

Just like the early June draft, bonus money is skyrocketing. And this year’s signing class is led by 16-year old Dominican righthander Michael Inoa, who’s 6 feet, 7 inches tall, weights 205 pounds and has hit 94 miles an hour on the gun.

Inoa signed with Oakland for a record bonus of $4.25 million.

Several players have been signed for seven-figure bonuses. Oakland, San Diego and Seattle are among teams aggressively making a bigger impact in Latin America and aren’t afraid to outwork and outspend teams like the Yankees and Red Sox to do so. 

I checked with the Twins today to see  if they signed any international players. I was told they have, in both the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get a list of their signings - although more teams are announcing theirs - and I was warned by a frustrated club official before Wednesday’s signing day that they wouldn’t sign anyone to a seven-figure deal. I sensed that the official was flustered because they’ve tried to sign top Latin prospects but have been outspent.

For instance, the Twins last year offered about $1 million to Dominican outfielder Kelvin DeLeon and were willing to go higher to sign him. But the Yankees swooped in, offered $1.1 or $1.2 million (I’ve seen both figures) and DeLeon was gone. Apparently, DeLeon fell for the Yankee mystique.

And they were all over teenager Miguel Cabrera, offering more than $1 million, only to get blown away by a $1.9 million offer from Florida. 

But if the Twins are going to change the perception that they aren’t big players in Latin America, they have to go in harder for players - and not be afraid to beat their chests a little when they are successful.

Let’s face it, the Twins have swung and missed mightily in Latin American player procurement. Juan Rincon and Luis Rivas are the best they’ve come up with in recent years. Other teams signed Johan Santana and Cristian Guzman.

It appears that Twins may have a wave coming in a few years with catcher Wilson Ramos, third baseman Deibinson Romero, shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos and righthander Santos Arias all in A-ball - but it may be their first wave since the pipeline to Cuba dried up.

I fully understand that handing seven-figure bonuses to Latin teenagers doesn’t gaurantee they’ll be stars. Before Inoa. Wily Mo Pena ($2.44M in 1999) and Joel Guzman ($2.25M in 2001) were the biggest bonus babies. Among Latin pitchers, it was Riccardo Aramboles ($1.52M in 1998).

Those aren’t exactly All-Stars.

But it comes down to who the Twins feel is a good prospect. If they like someone, they shouldn’t get outspent. They shouldn’t lose out to the Yankees because of mystique.

Look at what A’s GM Billy Beane did to seal the Inoa deal.

The Twins have spent millions in recent years to improve their facilities in Latin America so players and their reps would actually stop by their fields instead of walking on by to visit another team. Now they need to land some top prospects to play on those fields. This year, in which their payroll is about $15 million lower than it was last year, would have been a good time to start.

They talk a good game but their good intentions need to become tangible results.

I know this is short notice, but Ron Gardenhire is a guest today on, `Pardon the Interruption,’ that airs at 4:30 - or about 15 minutes from when I started writing this.

Massive lineup changes today against Nate Robertson, although lefties are hitting .317 against him (righties are at .297). Nick Punto is better against lefties than righties, so I’m guessing that’s what he’s in. I thought that Mauer would play today then get tomorrow and the off-day on Thursday to chill. Shows how dangerous it is to try to think along with the manager. 

No Miguel Cabrera, whose battling a strained hip flexor.4

4:41 Update:  Just found out that Tigers manager Jim Leyland, during his pre-game presser, expressed how he was convinced that Glen Perkins intentionally threw at Carlos Guillen. I try to post a quote later.

I don’t think there will be any carryover from yesterday, but I expect the league office to have something to say.

6:01 Update: Here’s part of what Leyland said: “We thought Guillen had been thrown at,” Leyland said. “Only we threw ours low, and they threw theirs high _ right at a guy’s head, and it went all the way to the backstop on the fly. So that’s my message.”

Gardy’s reponse: “You know what, you throw at a good hitter, you knock him down or come at his lips, you’re going to get something back.  But you shouldn’t get two somethings back. We got two somethings back.”

By the way, Leyland apparently aired out Miguel Cabrera for his defense before taking him out of the game yesterday. Few here believe Cabrera is injured.

Tigers (42-40): 1. Curtis Granderson, CF. 2. Placido Polanco, 2B. 3. Carlos Guillen, 3B. 4. Marcus Thames, 1B. 5. Matt Joyce, RF. 6. Gary Sheffield, DH. 7. Clete Thomas, LF. 8. Edgar Renteria, SS. 9. Ivan Rodriguez, C. Pitching: Nate Robertson.

Twins (45-38): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Mike Redmond, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Craig  Monroe, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brendan Harris, SS. 8. Nick Punto, 3B. 9. Denard Span, RF. Pitching: Scott Baker.

The lineups haven’t been released yet, but I was told that Carlos Gomez remains in the leadoff spot while Denard Span, who was called up on Sunday to replace the injured Michael Cuddyer, is batting ninth.

I’m a little surprised that Twins manager Ron Gardenhire didn’t bat Span leadoff and drop Gomez to ninth. We’re a ways away from his pre-game presser, so I’m guessing at this point that Gardy doesn’t want to switch things up too much if he has to. And, if Span gets on base, Gomez could get one more fastball to hit. Span-Gomez-Casilla, however, is still a great relay team.

Mauer, Morneau and Kubel are batting 3-4-5. Bobby Seay and Casey Fossum are the Tigers’ left-handed relievers.

5:39 Update: Gardy said that Gomez has batted leadoff all season and didn’t want to move him from that spot with things going so well right now. He knows Gomez isn’t a prototypical leadoff hitter but, “when he goes to the plate in the first inning, I don’t look away.”

As for the three lefties, the manager said he’ll take his chances against lefty relievers with Mauer, Morneau and Kubel. I’m guessing that Craig Monroe will start instead of Kubel tomorrow against lefty Nate Robertston.

Why?

Kubel told me a couple weeks ago that Robertson gives him more trouble than any lefty in the league. I looked it up, and he’s right: Kubel is 0 for 11 with 5 K’s against ol’ Nate.

Tigers (41-40): 1. Edgar Renteria, SS. 2. Placido Polanco, 2B. 3. Carlos Guillen, 3B. 4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B. 5. Marcus Thames, LF. 6. Gary Sheffield, DH. 7. Ivan Rodriguez, C. 8. Ryan Raburn, RF. 9. Curtis Granderson, CF. Pitching: Armando Galarraga.

Twins (45-37): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer. C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Brendan Harris, SS. 9. Denard Span, RF. Pitching: Glen Perkins.

8:40 p.m.:Moments after Nick Blackburn gave up a long home run to Corey Hart, Alexi Casilla came out of the game and was replaced by Nick Punto. We’re still wating to learn why, so we’ll let you know when we find out.  

8:55 Update: Casilla has a sprained left middle finger. He dived into first base after getting a bunt hit in the third, then dived to his left to get Prince Fielder’s grounder in the fifth and came up wincing. He’s day-to-day.

The Twins are going for their 10th straight win. The Brewers have won 8 of 10. A crowd of 30,000 is expected at the Dome tonight to watch two of the hottest teams in baseball.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has what could turn into his standard lineup going tonight.

Update:  Dennys Reyes is having a MRI on his right knee. He apparently tweaked it during his outing in San Diego and the Twins don’t want to take any chances with it. So Craig Breslow will get the call to try to shut down Prince Fielder in the eighth ininning tonight

Jason Kubel killed the ball today in b.p. He had fans in the upper deck in right scrambling for several long balls.

Carlos Gomez tried to kill the ball, didn’t and was getting so mad at himself that Tony Oliva had to calm him down.

Joe Vavra and Delmon Young were seen talking hitting, again. Hmm… Vavra said he watched tape of all of Young’s 2007 at-bats and he looks the same now as he did then.  That, to me, sounds like pitch selection is the main problem. Opponents have him expanding the strike zone, so being more selective would help.

Brewers (43-35): 1. Rickie Weeks, 2B. 2. J.J. Hardy, SS. 3. Ryan Braun, LF. 4. Prince Fielder, DH. 5. Corey Hart, RF. 6. Russell Branyan, 3B. 7. Joe Dillon, 1B. 8. Mike Cameron, CF. 9. Jason Kendall, C. Pitching: Seth McClung.

Twins (43-36): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6. Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Brian Buscher, 3B. 9. Brendan Harris, SS. Pitching: Nick Blackburn.

I woke up this morning in need of a nice cup of coffee, but before I did that I turned on the computer to look at boxscores and stats.

I ran across the following, and suddenly didn’t need the caffeine kick:

I don’t know how long it will last, so I better make a big deal out of this now.

Who would have believed that the Twins are outscoring teams like the Yankees? Or leading their division in runs? Or scoring despite being so power deficient?

They don’t have a leadoff hitter (or their leadoff hitter is actually batting second), their No. 5 hitter has three homers, their left fielder has underperformed.

But they have a lot going for them right now.

Joe Mauer: You can knock him for his lack of power, but there’s no one else on the team more qualified to bat third, and he’s done it well.

Justin Morneau: He’s third in the AL in RBI as he continues to evolve as a hitter.  By that I mean his pitch selection continues to improve.

Alexi Casilla: He’s worked with Joe Vavra and Rochester coach Riccardo Ingram to shorten his swing and not drift as he swings. He’s taking good at-bats and sets the table for Mauer and Morneau. And he has more RBI than Mike Lamb, Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Craig Monroe - and as many as Carlos Gomez - in just 37 games played.

Other stuff: Harris has hit well the past week or so. Brian Buscher has provided from third base - which isn’t what we’re used to. Jason Kubel could hit 20-25 homers on a team that sorely needs power.

Stats: The Twins are batting a major league best .314 with runners in scoring position. They are second with a .279 average with two-out RISP situations. They are third in the majors in close and late situations (kind of an odd stat, but I’m rolling right now), batting .277.

I don’t think Casilla is the only reason, but since he was called up on May 13, the Twins are averaging 0.7 runs a game more than before.

The Twins are on pace to score 783 runs, up from the 718 they scored last season. 

A couple other things: The Twins’ run diifferential is only plus-6 - it’s taken awhile to work off the fat from the White Sox series - but Arizona made the playoffs last season with a differential of -20.
And the Twins’ piostseason odds have taken a noticaeble leap, according to Baseball Prospectus. I remember them being in the single digits before the streak. Now the Twins have closed the gap on the Tigers.