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AA St. Paul Saints

Bye-Bye Boyer, Twins Purchase Contract of Saints Infielder, 112th Contract Purchased in Franchise Hi

August 17, 2013 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (August 17, 2013) - The Minnesota Twins have found success in 2013 with former Independent League players. It all started a couple of years ago when they purchased the contract of St. Paul Saints pitcher. They are hoping the magic continues as infielder Brad Boyer had his contract purchased by the Twins, the fourth Saints player to join the Twins.

The 29-year-old Boyer is having an incredible season batting .337 with seven homers and 50 RBI in 78 games. In 303 at bats he has 26 doubles, three triples, a .395 on base percentage and a .512 slugging percentage. He has been among the league leaders in batting average since day one and is currently tied for sixth in the American Association.

Boyer's season, which has seen him start 44 games at second, 17 games at third and four games at shortstop while DHing 14 times, has been filled with incredible moments. He scored a run in a career high seven straight games from May 16-25 and then topped that when he scored in eight straight from July 4-12. On June 11 he clubbed a walk-off homer against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. His 14-game hitting streak from May 28-June 12 is a season high by a Saints player this year. His name was also etched into the Saints record books alongside Darryl Strawberry, Marty Neff and Phil Garner when he became a part of the second Saints trio, along with Willie Cabrera and Brandon Tripp, to hit back-to-back-to-back homers in a game on June 26 vs. the Lincoln Saltdogs.

"Seeing guys like J.D. Drew, Darryl Strawberry and even guys a couple of year ago who were signed, it shows the history this club has," said Boyer. "That was something I considered and I knew this was a first class club and coming here it's been one of the best experiences in baseball I've had since I signed out of Arizona."

Boyer becomes the fifth player this season to have his contract purchased by a Major League organization. Pitchers Robert Coe (Diamondbacks twice), Connor Whalen (White Sox) and Cole Nelson (Braves), infielder Craig Brazell (Hanshin Tigers) and catcher Nick Ammirati (Mariners) have all had their contracts purchased in 2013. The Saints have had 112 contracts purchased, by 106 different players, in their 21-year history. Six players have had their contracts purchased twice. Boyer will head to Double-A New Britain.

"Being with the Saints, it's a first class organization," said Boyer. "I could tell the environment, the energy, everything I expected has been picture perfect. Being in a town, like the Twin Cities, it's an unbelievable environment. One of the best baseball towns I've ever been in. Every night you don't know what to expect. You know people are going to be there that have a great passion for the game."

This is also the fourth player to have his contract purchased by the Twins joining Esteban Beltre (1997), Thielbar (2011) and Dan Sattler (2012).

Boyer tore up American Association pitching in 2011 with the Gary SouthShore Railcats finishing eighth in the league with a .348 average, 11 homers and 68 RBI in 87 games. In 353 at bats he scored 66 runs, roped 21 doubles, eight triples, a .405 on base percentage and .538 slugging percentage. He was voted a Post-Season All-Star at second base. His incredible season included a 15 game hitting streak from June 25-July 12. In a series against the Saints at Midway Stadium during that streak he collected nine RBI in three games, including four hits and five RBI on July 8 and two homers and a triple on July 9. That helped him earn Player of the Week honors for the week ending July 10.

In 2005 Boyer was selected in the 14th round of the June Amateur Draft by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of Arizona, but elected not to sign. Following his senior season at Arizona he was selected in the 13th round of the June Amateur Draft by the San Francisco Giants. After 2006, at Low-A Salem-Kaizer, and 2007, split between Single-A Augusta and High-A San Jose, where he hit around .250, Boyer found his stroke in 2008.

Beginning the 2008 season Boyer went on a hot streak with San Jose before being promoted to Double-A Connecticut. After 12 games with the Defenders an injury caused him to miss a month of the season, but upon returning to San Jose he picked up where he left off. Towards the end of the season he had an incredible streak of 10 straight games with a RBI. In 75 games with San Jose he hit .348 with seven homers and 45 RBI. Those numbers allowed him to spend all of 2009 at Double-A.

Despite beginning the 2009 season 0-30 he still finished ninth in the league in batting average at .294 and hit three homers and 41 RBI. He led the league in triples with 10.

His final season in the Giants organization came in 2010 where he began the season at Triple-A Fresno and played 46 games before being assigned to Double-A Richmond where he played in 48 games.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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