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Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 NOW AVAILABLE as E-Book - If you’re interested in ordering the electronic version of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012. Order the e-book for just $6.99 by clicking here. Tuesday,
February 7, 2012 Prediction Time! Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. This is the hardest
time of the year to be a baseball fan. At least it is for me. I actually
really enjoy the offseason. I love hearing rumors, and trying to think
about what the Twins could do, and what they will do. Who will they sign?
Will there be a trade? From the end of the World Series until about the
middle of January, it is fun. Then there is the Twins Winter Caravan which is
a great time, followed by the weekend of Twins Fest. In a little
over a week, one of the great phrases will be uttered,
"Pitchers and Catchers Report!" And, I'm of the belief that
Opening Day should be a national holiday! And, then there is the 162 game
season. Obviously it's much more fun when your team is winning, but that
long journey from April to October is what it's all about. However,
there are those pesky three weeks between Twins Fest and the
beginning of spring training. Generally, there won't be any
more transactions. The Super Bowl is done, and all we can do is wait. Once Spring Training starts, there will
be plenty of storylines to follow! So, on days like
today, the best idea for a topic to discuss is: Predictions. Predictions are
always fun. We can voice our opinions and even if they seem funny
now, after the long season, it's possible to be right. We probably
won't look back at them, but we can. So today, get your votes in for the
following 2012 Twins awards: 1.) Twins Hitter of the Year 2012 2.) Twins Pitcher of the Year 2012 3.) Breakout/Surprise Offensive Player of the Year
for the Twins 2012 (not necessarily the best hitter, but a guy who far
exceeded expectations) - 4.) Breakout/Surprise Pitcher of the Year for the
Twins 2012 (may not be the best pitcher, but really stepped up) 5.) Twins Rookie of the Year 2012 6.) Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year 2012 7.) Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year 2012 Let's stop with
that for today. We can make more predictions as the season approaches. My
votes would be: 1.) Joe Mauer - One injury-plagued season should
not deter people from remembering how good he is! 2.) Francisco Liriano - It's a contract year for him.
If he wants to make any money, he better step up! 3.) Ben Revere - He made a lot happen last year in the
field and on the bases, and he didn't even hit well. Watch him actually get
on base in 2012 and see what happens! Should be fun! 4.) Matt Capps - If he's healthy, he is pretty
good. Right now, people are very down on him, but he's solid when healthy. 5.) Liam Hendriks - I believe that if any of the
starters get hurt in June or early July, Hendriks will be the guy to step in.
Parmelee could be the guy if Morneau can't play. 6.) Oswaldo Arcia - Should be back completely at 100%
Needs to cut down strikeout rate, but hits and hits for power to all fields. 7.) Alex Wimmers - many thought he would be last year, but
it was a crazy season for the right-hander. He could jump 2-3 levels in
2012... we hope! Get your
predictions in today! Monday,
February 6, 2012 Organizational Depth Chart: Starting
Pitchers Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. Over the past
couple of weeks, we’ve pointed out the organizational depth charts for the
Twins hitters. We’ve looked at catchers, 3B, 1B, Middle Infielders and
Outfielders. Today, I’ll take a look at the starting pitchers. Now,
especially as I move to the lower levels, I won’t pretend to know which
players will move to the bullpen. Often, due to innings limits, some
‘starters’ will begin the season in the bullpen. Others will begin the season
as starters and get moved to the bullpen later due to innings. Frankly, most
of the pitchers in the lowest levels have been starters their whole lives and
some will be given at least some opportunity. As we saw with Carlos
Gutierrez, even guys destined for the bullpen can be given an opportunity to
start to work on pitches and gain arm strength.
Minnesota
Twins Carl Pavano (RHP), Francisco Liriano (LHP),
Scott Baker (RHP), Jason Marquis (RHP), Nick Blackburn (RHP) Gardy has
announced Pavano as his Opening Day starter, an obvious choice based on last
season. He’s been solid in his 2 ½ seasons with the Twins, most important he
has provided a ton of innings despite an alarmingly low strikeout rate.
There’s no question that Francisco Liriano has the best stuff of anyone on
the staff, but if he can’t find control of his fastball, it will be another
frustrating season. It is a contract season for Liriano, so the goal has to
be for him to have a strong season. In 2011, Scott Baker was easily the Twins
top starting pitcher. He was pitching the best he had in his career, until
elbow problems curtailed his season. Nick Blackburn averaged 200 innings
pitched his first two seasons while posting solid ERAs. He’s been pretty bad
ever since getting the long-term contract. Unfortunately, the contract has
given him many opportunities and likely will continue to do so. He misses
very few bats, so we can just hope that a lot of baseballs get hit right at a
defender. Many Twins fans are down on the Jason Marquis signing, and although
I’m not a bit fan of the contract, he has actually had a pretty solid big
league career. Rochester Red
Wings Liam Hendriks (RHP), Scott Diamond (LHP),
Aaron Thompson (LHP), Jeff Manship (RHP), Deinys Suarez (RHP) We saw Hendriks
and Diamond late in the 2011 season. Hendriks was the Twins Minor League
Pitcher of the Year and likely needs another half-season. Diamond had his
moments, but overall 2011 was the first year in his career that he really
struggled. He says he has made some adjustments, so we’ll see how it goes.
Manship came up with the Twins and his first major league victory came on the
final weekend of the 2009 season, when the Twins needed to sweep the Royals.
He was supposed to be in the Twins bullpen last season, but he was hurt the
entire season. He likely will pitch in the Twins bullpen, but they may have
him start in Rochester first. Aaron Thompson is intriguing, at least. He will
turn 25 years old later this month. He debuted with the Pirates last season,
but in 7.2 innings, he gave up 13 hits, walked six and struck out just one.
He has just six AAA games under his belt, and his AA career numbers are 15-37
with a 5.03 ERA in 96 games (80 starts). Deinys Suarez signed with the Twins
last spring. The Cuban defector split time between New Britain and Rochester,
not pitching particularly well either place. New Britain Rock
Cats David Bromberg (RHP), Logan Darnell (LHP),
Tom Stuifbergen (RHP), Marty Popham (RHP), Dan Osterbrock (LHP), Bobby
Lanigan (RHP) Bromberg’s 2011
season was unfortunately a lost season. He began the season in Twins spring
training, but he went back to New Britain, had a line drive break his arm,
spent a lot of time rehabbing, came back too quickly, shut it down, worked
hard and then found out the Twins had removed him from the 40 man roster.
However, he will be just 24 years old throughout the 2012 season, so don’t
forget about him. Logan Darnell was a 2010 draft pick who started last year
in Beloit and got all the way to New Britain. Stuifbergen had a solid season
in Ft. Myers, had a terrific one-start showing in Rochester, and then was the
pitcher of the year in the World Cup tournament that his Netherlands team
won. He was then knighted in his homeland. Sir Tom Stuifbergen should spent this season with the Rock Cats. Dan Osterbrock
missed most of last season with shoulder problems which was unfortunate
because he was coming off of a very good season in 2010. Bobby Lanigan was in
the Rock Cats rotation all throughout the 2011 season. Some think his stuff
(specifically his slider) will play very well out of the bullpen, and we may
see some of that this year too. Marty Popham was selected by the Twins in the
minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. He has pitched in Hi-A, AA and AAA
each of the past two seasons. He should spend this season in AA. Ft. Myers
Miracle BJ Hermsen (RHP), Pat Dean (LHP), Adrian
Salcedo (RHP), Alex Wimmers (RHP), Manuel Soliman (RHP), Ryan O’Rourke (LHP),
AJ Achter (RHP) This is
certainly an intriguing group of pitching prospects. If not for Liam
Hendriks’ terrific 2011 season, my starting pitcher of the year choice would
have been BJ Hermsen who pitched very well in Beloit and followed it up with
a solid performance in Ft. Myers (minus a rough final start). Alex Wimmers
had a rough 2011 season too in Ft. Myers, but it ended with the seven inning
no hitter. Assuming he has his control issues under control, he could move
quickly. Adrian Salcedo has long been a top ten Twins prospect, and he’ll
move up to the Miracle. Manuel Soliman was the innings-eater for the Snappers
last year despite only having pitched now for three years. He is an
intriguing prospect, but for him to remain a starter, he will need to improve
his secondary pitches. Pat Dean is definitely a solid prospect but like so many others, he missed a
lot of time with injury in 2011. His season started about six weeks late, but
he still pitched for three teams (including a late-season spot start in New
Britain). Ryan O’Rourke is a tough, competitive left-hander with a nasty
slider. When I saw him pitch in Beloit last summer, my comment was that I
didn’t think big league left-handed hitters could hit that slider. He was
successful as a starter, but he could also become a very good relief pitcher,
so it will be interesting to see how his career progresses. The game I saw AJ
Achter start last year, he was tremendous. He touches 90-91 with the
fastball, but he has a terrific changeup and a curveball that had good bite. Beloit Snappers Tim Shibuya (RHP), Madison Boer (RHP), Matt
Summers (LHP), Matt Bashore (LHP), Tim Atherton (RHP), Matt Tomshaw (LHP),
Derek Christensen (RHP) Tim Shibuya was
the Appy League Pitcher of the Year and threw seven innings of a no-hitter
for the E-Twins. A smart pitcher with a full mix of pitches, he should adapt
well to the Midwest League. Madison Boer and Matt Summers both began their
pro careers in the E-Town bullpen. Each unsurprisingly dominated. Boer
struggled upon his promotion to Beloit. It is likely the Twins will have each
start. I believe Boer will move to the bullpen, but I think Summers can stick
as a starter. Matt Bashore was a first-round pick in 2009 and has pitched
very little since. However, reports indicate that in Instructs last fall, he
was looking really good and throwing as high as 93 mph again. He could be one
to watch in 2012. Matt Tomshaw was the Twins 43rd round pick just
last year. Like many, he was given a shot with the Ft. Myers Miracle after a
couple appearances with the GCL Twins. Like few, he was very successful for
the Miracle. My guess, however, is that he will step back to Beloit and start.
Derek Christensen had a terrific season as a starter with the E-Twins. The
side-winder may eventually move to the bullpen but his combination of
deception, fastball and slider make him a very intriguing prospect. Tim
Atherton was with the Twins organization a few years ago as an infielder. The
team let him go, but he came back in 2011 as a pitcher, and he pitched very
well. He has all the pitches, but all will need to further develop. Elizabethton
Twins Tyler Jones (RHP), Corey Kimes (LHP), Brett
Lee (LHP), Chris Mazza (RHP), Angel Mata (RHP), Hung-yi Chen (RHP) There are
plenty of pitchers from the 2011 draft and from last year’s GCL team that
will not be heading to Beloit to start the season. Tyler Jones was the 11th
round pick a year ago out of LSU. He’s got great upside, throws hard, good
breaking pitches. Kimes is a four year college guy who should probably be up
in Beloit due to age, but he got hurt last year shortly after signing. Brett
Lee and Chris Mazza both signed very near the deadline and didn’t pitch in
2011. Angel Mata and Hung-yi Chen were the two most intriguing pitching
prospects from last year’s GCL team. Both have good stuff and are young. GCL Twins Hudson Boyd (RHP), Trent Higginbotham
(RHP), Kuo-hua Lo (RHP), Austin Malinowski (LHP) Boyd and
Higginbotham are two very high ceiling high school picks from last year. The
Twins had to go over-slot to sign their second supplemental first round pick
from Ft. Myers. He touched 96-97 at times last year. Higginbotham was a
late-round pick but the Twins went way over slot to sign him as well. He
touches 94-95, and some believe he can be a top of the rotation starter or a
dominant closer. Time will tell for both of them. Lo signed last year from
Taiwan, and he’s fairly advanced for his very young age. He also has hit 94
mph on a radar gun. He debuted in Instructional League last year, and will
likely be with the GCL Twins in 2012. Malinowski was the Twins 16th
round pick in 2011 out of Minnesota’s Centennial High School after being
names Mr. Baseball in Minnesota. He gave up a scholarship to pitch at Arizona
to sign with the Twins at the last minute.
TOP THREE (OR
SO…) PROSPECTS 1.) Liam Hendriks, 2.) Kyle Gibson, 3.) Alex Wimmers,
4.) Adrian Salcedo, 5.) Tom Stuifbergen, 6.) Manuel Soliman, 7.) Hudson Boyd,
8.) BJ Hermsen, 9.) Pat Dean, 10.) Matt Summers SUMMARY The Twins
starting pitching was really bad last year. That was a combination of
struggles, injury and poor defense. For the Twins to be successful, Carl
Pavano needs to throw 220 innings with a league-average ERA and WHIP.
Francisco Liriano will have to That doesn’t
mean the cupboard is bare though. There are some solid pitching prospects
throughout the minors. Kyle Gibson should be back in 2013 (if not late in
2012). Alex Wimmers could move very quickly as well. There are several
pitchers that have the potential to be a decent #3 pitcher, if all goes well
on the way up. The Twins have been successful with “Twins-like” pitchers.
Guys like Hermsen, Salcedo, Stuifbergen and Shibuya fit that mold. The Twins
have added some power arms in the last draft or two, especially in 2011’s
draft with Boyd, Higginbotham, Jones, Boer, Summers, Corey Williams and
others. It will be interesting to see how they develop. If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Wednesday,
February 1, 2012 Organizational Depth Chart: The
Outfielders Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. At this point,
we have reviewed the infielders and catchers throughout the Twins
organization. Today, we will jump to the outfield. This information, of
course, could be completely altered by an unexpected free agent signing or a
trade. This exercise is not so much an attempt to perfectly predict where all
of these players will wind up. In reality, there will be changes. Several
players will be released. Some will be placed a level higher (or lower) than
I would guess. This is just giving readers a reminder of who remains in the
Twins system from last year, and who are the new players brought in this
year. That said, I try to think about where these guys will
Minnesota
Twins Ben Revere (LF), Denard Span (CF), Josh
Willingham (RF), Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit A lot of people
seem to wonder why Willingham would be the right fielder. To me, that’s an
easy choice. At Target Field, left field, centerfield and the gaps are pretty
huge. I want Span and Revere covering the ground. Willingham isn’t a good
left fielder. As far as playing the strange bounces off of the right field
wall, anyone can have difficulties and will have to adjust to hit. Willingham
will walk a lot and hit a bunch of home runs. I was chatting with Jamie Ogden
at Twins Fest, and the comment that we agreed upon was the he will have the
ability to take advantage of a pitcher’s mistakes and hit them a long way.
It’s nice to have a guy like that in the middle of the lineup. As for Revere,
I think it’s much better for him to play 3B. Simply, the throw from LF to 3B
is much shorter than it is from CF. Also, the throw
to home from CF is longer. Span doesn’t have a rocket for an arm, but he can
throw. Span, when healthy, is a good on-base guy with speed and some extra
base pop. Revere should be much improved, at least in terms of OBP, in 2012.
He said that his goal is to steal 100 bases on 2012. He dropped that number
to 80, but he plans on going whenever he gets a chance. Even though he didn’t
play great in 2011, he made the Twins fun to watch and he made things happen.
Imagine what he can make happen when he actually gets on base at a good clip!
Trevor Plouffe should get plenty of time in left field, but he could also DH.
He can hit lefties, and it will be interesting to see how he does in left
field now that he doesn’t have the infielder’s glove. Ryan Doumit could get
some time in right field as well. Rochester Red
Wings Wilkin Ramirez (LF), Joe Benson (CF), Matt
Carson (RF), Rene Tosoni, Mark Dolenc, Dustin Martin Ramirez and
Carson were minor league free agents brought in by the Twins. Carson is a
power hitter. Ramirez is an all-around player who was a top prospect with the Tigers just a couple of years ago. Joe
Benson has spent the past two years at New Britain, so he is ready for the
challenges of AAA. He could move up to the Twins as necessary throughout the
year, at least after the June Super 2 timeline. The same can be said of Rene
Tosoni who will likely play nearly every day between the three outfield spots
as well as DHing. Benson could be a
star if everything comes together. He could be a 30/30 guy with plus-defense
in time. Tosoni is a guy who I think could fill a role as a platoon player
and bench bat and occasional DH. He showed at times the power the he
possesses. Dolenc has spent the past two years in New Britain and will likely
need to advance to Rochester in 2012. He has averaged 439 plate appearances
over the past four years and had a career-high 467 plate appearances in 2011.
He has terrific tools, can play all three positions, gets on base, has very
good speed, and plays really good defense with a strong arm. Dustin Martin
put together his best year at Rochester (in his third season there). New Britain Rock
Cats Angel Morales (LF), Aaron Hicks (CF), Evan
Bigley (RF), Steve Liddle, Michael Hollimon Aaron Hicks had
a frustrating and inconsistent season in 2011 in Ft. Myers. He was tremendous
in June and then struggled for a couple of months. He definitely represented
himself well in the Arizona Fall League. His defense and arm are certainly
ready for advancement. It is a big year for Hicks. He will be added to the 40
man roster following the season, but he will have to continue to show
improvement on the field, in his approach at the plate and show consistency.
What he does in 2012 may determine whether he remains a switch-hitter as
well. Evan Bigley spent all of 2011 in New Britain and showed that he could
be a candidate for a midseason promotion. Angel Morales is younger than Hicks
(something many seem to forget). 2011 was a lost year for him. He missed
three months with his elbow injury. He had arthroscopic surgery and came back
at the end of the season. He has good speed and a vastly improved approach at
the plate. Although he hasn’t hit as many home runs the last couple of
seasons, no one seems to be worried about his power. Liddle really struggled
last season in Ft. Myers, and he had shoulder surgery following the year. The
Vanderbilt product is the nephew of Twins 3B coach Steve Liddle. Hollimon can
play all around the infield and can also play around the outfield. He could
be the guy to go back and forth between New Britain and Rochester regardless
of where the need is. Ft. Myers
Miracle Lance Ray (LF), Nate Roberts (CF), Oswaldo
Arcia (RF), Wang-Wei Lin, Danny Rams, Dan Rohlfing I was surprised
when the Twins sent Arcia to Ft. Myers following rehab of his elbow. I would
be surprised if he jumps up to New Britain to start the season, but not
completely. If he has one thing to work on, it is cutting down on the
strikeouts. I think he can end the year with the Rock Cats. Lance Ray can
hit, even if his 2011 Beloit numbers didn’t strongly indicate that. He has a
very fluid swing and good power. Nate Roberts was the 5th round
pick a couple of years ago. He missed a lot of time on the DL with a knee
injury. He is an on-base machine, taking walks and always willing to get hit.
Wang-Wei Lin has steadily improved over his time, and after two years in
Beloit, he will need to play in Ft. Myers. He has a good, line drive swing
but the Taiwan native still has plenty to improve. Dan Rohlfing impressed
behind the plate and will go to big league spring training in that role, but
he can also play the outfield. At Instructs, Rams was moved to the outfield,
although he will continue to catch some. The goal is to let him really focus
on his swing and his bat. Beloit Snappers Danny Ortiz (LF), JD Williams (CF), Tyler
Koelling (RF), Drew Leachman, Matej Hejma, Jhonatan Goncalves Ortiz was my
choice for player of the month last April in Beloit, but it was a struggle
through most of his season. He could start with the Snappers and spend a
couple of months there (he already played in the Midwest League All-Star game
last year). Tyler Koelling and Drew Leachman are two college outfielders who
should advance to Beloit. JD Williams had an incredible season in
Elizabethton in 2011, yet it went almost unnoticed thanks to Rosario and
Sano. Baseball America just called him the fastest player in the Twins farm
system, and he has the ability to bunt for hits from both sides of the plate.
He played RF usually for the E-Twins because Eddie Rosario was in center.
Matej Hejma is from the Czech Republic. Although he didn’t play a lot, or
that well, in Elizabethton, he has to move up to Beloit because he has
already played three seasons in the short season leagues. Goncalves is an
interesting case. He has played most of the past two seasons in Ft. Myers,
but he ended last year in Beloit which is probably where he should have been
all along. Extended Spring
Training/Short-Season Max Kepler (CF), Candido Pimentel, Romy
Jimenez, Kelvin Mention, Kelvin Ortiz, Dereck Rodriguez Like Niko
Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will begin the season at Extended Spring
Training. Like Goodrum, I suspect that Kepler will not return to Elizabethton
but will instead advance to Beloit before the short season begins. He has so
much talent but is still very raw. Pimentel is similar to Otis Nixon, very
thin and very fast. Romy Jimenez (formerly known as Romy Trinidad) missed
most of last year with an injury in his first year in the States. Kelvin
Mention did miss all of 2011 with injury. Kelvin Ortiz came to the States and
really struggled. He should go back to the GCL. And Dereck Rodriguez (the son
of Ivan Rodriguez) will certainly spend another season in the GCL. TOP THREE (OR
SO…) PROSPECTS 1.) Oswaldo Arcia, 2.) Aaron Hicks, 3.) Joe Benson, 4.)
Angel Morales, 5.) Max Kepler, 6.) JD Williams, 7.) Lance Ray, 8.) Danny
Ortiz SUMMARY Barring injury,
the Twins starting outfield should be solid despite the losses of Michael
Cuddyer and Jason Kubel (And to a lesser extent, Jason Repko). Benson and
Tosoni are fairly close to being ready to contribute on a regular basis.
Beyond that, there is a lot of talent but a lot of question marks. Can Aaron
Hicks take that next step? Will Angel Morales return in 2012 with some added
power? How quickly will the Twins advance Oswaldo Arcia? The ceilings of JD
Williams and Max Kepler are very high, and there are so college draft picks
(Roberts, Ray, etc.) who could advance fairly
quickly. Of course, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano also remain in the future
outfield situation as well which provide even more depth over time. Outfield
is a position of strength for the Twins system. 2012 will be a big year for
many of them! If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Tuesday,
January 31, 2012 Organizational Depth Chart: Middle
Infielders Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. Last week, I
started looking at the depth throughout the Twins system. I reviewed the
catchers, first basemen and third basemen. After a weekend at Twins Fest
(which I’ll write about very soon), I thought it would be good to get back
into the Organizational Depth Chart series. Today, I am going to write about
the Middle Infielders. I decided to put the shortstops and second basemen
together because so many of these players can and will play both positions.
As I’ve said before, the purpose of this series is two-fold (if not more).
First, it’s a look at the depth at or near the big leagues. Second, it’s a
glance at the depth at the position throughout the system. You can find out who
might be coming up to the Twins if there is a need, and you can find out who
the prospects to watch might be.
Minnesota
Twins Jamey Carroll (SS), Alexi Casilla (2B),
Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Luke Hughes About the time
spring training starts, Carroll will turn 38 years old. Most consider him a
utility player, and he probably is because he plays multiple positions. He
has accumulated more than 350 plate appearances five of the last six years.
The last two years, he has combined for 924 plate appearances. He played 129
games at second base, and another 135 and shortstop. The Twins are bringing
him in for the next two seasons to be their starting shortstop. He’s an
on-base machine, perfect for the #2 spot in the lineup. Alexi Casilla has
proven himself to be a solid utility infielder but has often shown that he
can’t handle an every day job. I thought last year was his last chance to
prove that, but he’s getting another opportunity in 2012. I’m not going to
say Luke Hughes is the answer, but Casilla has received so many
opportunities, I’d rather Hughes get a shot at the regular, daily second base
job with Casilla as a role player. We don’t know if Hughes will hit, but he
does have some pop in his bat. We know that Casilla won’t do much. I’m understanding that Nishioka needs and deserves to
start 2012 with an empty slate. 2011 was an awful year for him. He was
adjusting to so many things on and off the field, and then he was hurt within
the first week and never fully recovered. The best thing would have been for
him to get a lot of time in the minors last year. Maybe that can happen in
2012. Rochester Red
Wings Brian Dozier (SS), Pedro Florimon (2B), Ray
Chang, Brian Dinkelman Brian Dozier
was the minor league player of the year in 2011 and hopes to build upon that
starting in spring training in 2012. There is little chance he’ll open with
the Twins. In fact, there’s a better chance he returns to New Britain and
based on the past, I would not be shocked if he did start the season with the
Rock Cats. But he’s ready for AAA, and nearly ready for the big leagues. Part
of why I would like to see Hughes get the starting gig with the Twins, is
because by June, he could move to the bench with Carroll shifting to second
base and Dozier jumping to the Twins. But, let’s see how he starts the 2012
season before counting any eggs, or something like that. The Twins claimed
Florimon from the Orioles in December, but nearly immediately placed him on
waivers. He cleared and was outrighted to Rochester. He jumped from AA to the
big leagues with a September call-up. He will certainly get plenty of time at
shortstop with Dozier moving to second. Chang will play all around the
infield. He was the Red Wings starting shortstop while he was with the team
last year, before his broken leg. Dinkelman finally got his chance with the
Twins last year and hit .301. He struggled in Rochester. He can play second
base but can also play the corner outfield positions. New Britain Rock
Cats James Beresford (SS), Estarlin de Los
Santos (2B), Chris Cates James Beresford
is tremendous with the glove. He is a smooth fielder with soft hands and a
strong arm. He can play both middle infield positions well and is a leader on
the infield. His play in international competition has really been
impressive. He has hit for average in his minor league career. He takes
really good, quality at bats. But because he is almost exclusively a singles
hitter, he will not be walked often. He also doesn’t strike out much. He
works very hard to gain weight, and hopefully that will happen soon to give
the opponents a little concern for extra base hits. De Los Santos was once
considered a quality prospect in the Twins system. He was added to the 40 man
roster, but that lasted just a year. 2011 was a lost year for him. He spent
most of the season on the Disabled List, rehabbed quite a bit in the GCL. He
got a little time at Ft. Myers, played second base before he finally ended
his season with elbow surgery. Although he could have become a free agent at
the end of the season, he signed quickly to remain with the Twins. Cates is a
strong defender at both middle infield positions. He also has a very strong
arm. Ft. Myers
Miracle Tyler Grimes (SS), Danny Santana (2B),
Reggie Williams, Adam Bryant Grimes was the Twins 5th round pick just last year out
of college baseball power house Wichita State. He missed a little bit of time
after signing with the Twins and reporting to Beloit. He can hit. He’s
another on-base percentage guy with some pop in his bat. He has good speed
and plays solid defense. Santana primarily played shortstop in Beloit, but he
will likely get time at second base and in centerfield as well in 2011. He
has great range, soft hands and a very strong arm. He does have pop in his bat
although his 2011 numbers don’t necessarily show it. He has a immense talent and all the tools, but he will need to
start putting it together. Reggie Williams was a fourth round pick in 2007
out of high school. He is a terrific athlete, and he will play all around the
diamond in 2012. He can play four infield positions and probably all three
outfield positions. He primarily plays 2B, 3B and LF, but who knows, we may
even see him behind the plate this year. Beloit Snappers Levi Michael (SS), Eddie Rosario (2B), AJ
Pettersen, Stephen Wickens, Nick Lockwood One question
we’ve been hearing all offseason is Where will Levi Michael start his 2012
season? The Twins have had top college pitchers jump straight to Ft. Myers.
All indications are the Michael will begin the season with the Beloit
Snappers. Making me want to get to Beloit early in the season is an infield
that should include Michael, Rosario and Miguel Sano. I would also expect
that Michael would get no more than a half-season in Beloit before being
promoted. Rosario was the Appy League co-MVP last year when he hit .337 with
38 extra base hits, including 21 home runs in 67 games. He also is a
tremendous center fielder. During Instructional League, he was moved to
second base. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. I would assume
he will continue to get some time in the outfield as well. Sano will likely
see some time at shortstop. Minnetonka native and former Gopher and last
year’s 25th round pick AJ Pettersen said he is willing to play anywhere,
but he is a natural shortstop who started there for the Gophers four years.
Wickens is a Canadian who is a four year college shortstop as well with very
good on-base skills. I would expect that Michael will be promoted in mid-June
with Niko Goodrum moving up to take his spot. Nick Lockwood is a tremendous
defensive second baseman. Although he didn't hit much at E-town last year, he
has a strong, line drive swing and uses the whole field. . Extended Spring
Training/Short-Season Niko Goodrum (SS), Jorge Polanco (SS),
Wander Guillen (2B) Goodrum had a
very strong season with the Elizabethton Twins, even if it was lost behind
the big seasons of Sano and Rosario. He is a tremendous athlete who will take
a while to develop. That’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts the
season at Extended Spring Training. I would, however, be surprised if he
spends any more time with Elizabethton. I would expect him to be promoted to
Beloit whenever there is a need, or whenever Michael is promoted. Polanco
signed with the Twins for over $750,000 two years ago. He and Miguel Sano
split 2010 between the DSL and GCL. Polanco returned to the GCL in 2011 and
didn’t do much with the bat. Touted for his terrific defense at shortstop, he
played 19 games there in 2011, 14 at third base and 11 at second base. He
also played all three outfield positions. He will spend 2012 in Elizabethton.
Wander Guillen is a third baseman, but with Travis Harrison around, I
wouldn’t be surprised to see Guillen play more at second base, where he has
played a little the past two seasons. He also should advance to E-Town in
2012 after splitting 2011 between the DSL and GCL. TOP THREE (OR
SO…) PROSPECTS 1.) Eddie Rosario, 2.) Brian Dozier, 3.) Levi Michael,
4.) Niko Goodrum, 5.) Danny Santana, 6.) James Beresford, 7.) Tyler Grimes,
8.) Jorge Polanco SUMMARY After what
Twins fans saw at the shortstop position in 2011, it was pretty clear that
the Twins needed a change in 2012! Alexi Casilla started the season as the
shortstop and through five weeks was hitting about .150. Trevor Plouffe got a
couple of games. Tsuyoshi Nishioka was given an opportunity. It wasn’t pretty
all season. Jamey Carroll should bring consistency to the position. He may
not have a ton of range, but he will make most of the routine plays and it
winds up that trait is pretty important. Cailla and Hughes may be a solid
platoon and the Twins should see again what they have in Nishioka, if
anything. Brian Dozier is on the cusp and we should (or at least could) see
him by July. The lower levels of the system actually provide a bunch of solid
prospects to at least be excited about. Rosario is intriguing as a second
baseman. Scouts love Levi Michael and he could move fairly quickly. He was
one of five college shortstops the Twins drafted in 2011 (Michael-1,
Grimes-5, Bryant-9, Pettersen-25, Wickens-33), each of which should get a lot
of playing time in 2012. Accumulating a lot of talent in the lower levels is
great, and hopefully a couple of them will continue to progress through the
system. If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Friday,
January 27, 2012 Twins Fest Weekend Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. The procedure I
had done yesterday kind of won last night, so I wasn’t able to finish the
next installment of the Organizational Depth Chart, so that will return next
week. I was, fortunately, able to watch the Diamond Awards live on
FoxSportsNorth.com, and it was incredible. It’s such a nice event for such a
great cause, but it also appears to be a fun event to be at. I would say that
it is on my bucket list of baseball activities. Here are some of the
highlights: ·
Liam Hendriks
and Brian Dozier accepted their awards for minor league pitcher and player of
the year and did a good job in their comments. ·
Ben Revere
stole the show. He was so funny in his speech, and in his responses to
questions from Dick Bremer. The best story (among many hilarious ones!) was
about the triple during which he tripped and did a complete summersault. He
said that his dad and his brother were at the game. They didn’t get to sleep
until about 2:30 because, you see, his dad is a football coach, so they had
to watch it on video several times and then do some running drills, and his
dad brought cones, and… it was hilarious! Revere’s smile was in full effect! ·
Tom Kelly went
last and said there were benefits to being last. He
kind of roasted most of the earlier presenters, which was hilarious. But when
he was done, the surprise was on him. Dick Bremer told him to stay up on the
stage and invited Dave St. Peter and Jim Pohlad to come up. St. Peter went on
to talk about Kelly and said that September 8th will be Tom Kelly
Day at Target Field. At that time, the Twins will retire Kelly’s #10. Kelly
was clearly shaken. He didn’t know what to do. In fact, he quickly shook, Bremer’s hand and walked off the stage to a
standing ovation. As the ovation dropped to a sitting ovation, the FSN
cameras showed Kelly wiping away tears. Clearly, that was an incredible honor
for him, and I am so glad that I got to see it. I’m sure it’ll
appear on FSN on TV in the near future. It is something you will definitely
want to watch. I am about to
make my trek to the Twin Cities, to Twins Fest. I’ve been going now for about
five years and always enjoy it. I plan to be at the Metrodome Friday night
and Saturday throughout the day. Then a reminder, at about 7:30 on Saturday
night, the TwinsCentric crew and several other of your favorite Twins writers
and bloggers will be at Old Chicago in Roseville. So come on out. If you see
me, please come and say hi. It’s fun to meet people there. I will try to have
a few Prospect Handbooks with me. Hopefully I’ll see a bunch of them walking
around the Dome. As I’ve pointed out, I believe 22 players in the book will
be signing at Twins Fest this weekend, including Dozier and Hendriks on the
cover. Twins Fest is what you make it. If you like spending money on
autographs, it’s great. It’s a baseball card and memorabilia show. It’s a
great place to people watch. I know people who could sit in the Dome’s
bleachers and listen as the 1500 ESPN personalities interview Twins players,
coaches, front office people and more. It really is a fun event.
And, so that I
can get on the road, I’m going to cut this off here and keep it all positive.
I won’t even talk about Dan Wheeler signing a minor league deal with
Cleveland, or Brad Lidge signing with the Nationals for $1 Million +
incentives. Twins Fest weekend is a great way for baseball fans to start
getting ready for the 2012 season. Spring Training is just around the corner,
and that always brings hope and excitement. At least for me, it does. If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Thursday,
January 26, 2012 SethSpeaks… in Fargo Today The kidney stone
saga is about to come to an end, I hope… at least for now! I have a doctor’s
appointment this afternoon in Fargo today that should end this chapter. I’m
not looking forward to what will be done, at all, but I am very much looking
forward to getting back to normal!! I’m also looking forward to heading to
the Twin Cities on Friday. I will be at Twins Fest on Friday night and
throughout the day on Saturday. The TwinsCentric guys and several more of
your favorite Twins bloggers/writers are getting together at Old Chicago in
Roseville on Saturday night about 7:30, so stop by and say hi, if you’re in
the neighborhood. At 12:35 this
afternoon, I will be joining Jack Michaels at the RV Show at the Fargo Civic
Center. The Jack Michaels Show on 740 The Fan will be broadcast live from there from 12-2, and
I’ll join him for a segment at 12:35. We’ll likely discuss Twins prospects,
transactions, Twins Fest and more. Of course, if you’re not able to make it
to the RV Show, or Fargo, you can always listen live by
clicking here.
I hope to
return tomorrow with more of the Organizational Depth Chart. Wednesday,
January 25, 2012 Organizational Depth Chart: Third
Basemen Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. We have looked
at the catchers and the first basemen in the Twins organization the past two
days. Today, I’ll be looking at the third basemen. Again, the purpose of this
series is two-fold (if not more). First, it’s a look at the depth at or near
the big leagues. Second, it’s a glance at the depth at the position
throughout the system. You can find out who might be coming up to the Twins
if there is a need, and you can find out who the prospects to watch might be.
Minnesota
Twins Danny Valencia (Luke Hughes, Jamey Carroll)
2011 was a
difficult year for Valencia. In the first half, his numbers struggled thanks
to a lot of at-‘em balls. His high BABIP in his rookie season was evened up
by his low BABIP in his sophomore season. He can hit, and hitting in the
bottom third of the lineup, he will succeed. His defense wasn’t as good in
2011 as 2010 either. More disturbing, he was the player blamed most by the
manager, which makes no sense. I expect a solid season out of Valencia in
2012, maybe somewhere along the lines of .280/.340/.450 with 30+ doubles and
12-15 home runs. As I’ve pointed out before, I won’t be even a little surprised
if Ron Gardenhire says that Sean Burroughs is competition for a starting job.
Burroughs will get plenty of at bats in spring training though. And Luke
Hughes, who is out of options, should again receive plenty of at bats and
time in the field at three infield positions including 3B. Jamey Carroll is
really a middle infielder, but some seem to think he might be a 3B option as
well. I can’t see that. Rochester Red
Wings Sean Burroughs. Ray Chang Burroughs was once
one of baseball’s top prospects, then struggled, then got into drugs and
alcohol. But he had a nice comeback season last year that saw him reach the
big leagues for the first time since 2006. He did a nice job as a pinch
hitter for Arizona. He is known as a very good defensive third baseman, which
bodes well for him. He has also shown the ability to hit for average. I
really believe that although he likely isn’t in direct competition with
Valencia for a starting job, he is likely going to be battling Luke Hughes
and maybe Tsuyoshi Nishioka for the final bench spots. With Trevor Plouffe
also likely on the bench many nights, Gardy may find it important to have a
left-handed bench bat. Ray Chang made
a very good impression last year in spring training. He went to New Britain
and played well. He was promoted to Rochester where he played even better,
hitting 3rd many games for them. Unfortunately, he broke his
fibula and missed almost two months. He will likely get time at 3B and at SS
for the Red Wings. New Britain Rock
Cats Deibinson Romero, Michael Hollimon Romero was once
considered a very good, high ceiling prospect. Following a
injury-riddled season in Beloit, the Twins added him to the 40-man-roster. He
struggled and was removed from the 40-man-roster a year later. Many
questioned his work ethic, but he responded in 2011 with a solid year in AA.
He could have become a free agent after the 2011 season, but he quickly
resigned with the Twins. Likewise, the
Twins and Hollimon quickly agreed that he would return to the Twins rather
than enter free agency. Between New Britain (97 games) and Rochester (29
games), he hit 19 doubles and 18 home runs. He primarily played 2B and LF but
also go some time at the hot corner. The Twins drafted him in the 49th
round in 2003 but he didn’t sign. In 2008, he got 25 plate appearances with
the Tigers. He had six hits, including two doubles, a triple and a home run. Ft. Myers
Miracle Anderson Hidalgo, Jairo Perez Hidalgo has
been in the organization since 2006. He has moved up one level each year and
was with the Miracle last year. His .274 batting average was the lowest of
his career. In 2010, he was the only Beloit Snappers player to hit over .300
(.316). He has an unorthodox swing at the plate that many wonder if it will
adapt as he moves up the ladder. Defensively, he’s a little below average. Jairo Perez
seemingly came out of nowhere last year. He spent the first two months of the
year in Extended Spring Training, but after joining the Snappers in mid June,
he hit .337/.413/.580 with 20 doubles and 15 home runs. He had missed all of
2010 with Tommy John surgery. He primarily played 3B but also played a few
games at 2B. He is a little guy who takes a monstrous swing. He is not fast
and his range is limited, so 3B is a better option. Beloit Snappers Miguel Sano, Roy Larson, Adam Bryant I think most
Twins fans have heard pretty much everything about Miguel Sano. He is the
consensus top prospect in the Twins farm system. He got the big signing
bonus. He draws comparisons to Miguel Cabrera and other great power bats in
the game. He had a lot of errors last year in Elizabethton at both shortstop
and third base, but he can flat-out hit. He hit .292/.352/.627 with 18
doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs in 66 games for the E-Twins. His
power potential is off charts. The Twins are typically patient with their
young prospects’ development. The same should be true of Sano. As much as his
offensive game is advanced, there are more aspects of the game that he needs to
work on. He needs to make more contact. He needs to run the bases better. And
he needs to play better defense and just mature, in general. I would expect
him to spend the whole season at Beloit. Adam Bryant was
the team’s 9th round pick just last year, and as a four-year
college senior, he signed quickly and was sent to Beloit where he held his
own. He played all three infield positions and was solid with the bat. He’s a
solid, all-around player who will likely advance as a utility player. The
Twins signed Larson out of the University of St. Thomas. He’s 6-6 and
struggled in E-Town, but he has very quick hands and bat speed. He can play
both corner infield spots. Due to his age (he’s 24),
he’ll likely have to advance through the lower levels quickly. Extended Spring
Training/Short-Season Travis Harrison, Javier Pimentel It will be
interesting to see where Harrison and Pimentel will play in 2012. The
assumption is that both will go to Extended Spring Training. Harrison was the
team’s supplemental first-round pick in 2011 out of high school in
California. He has a bunch of power potential and some believe that he could
also become an all-around hitter. Pimentel was signed in 2010 out of the
Dominican Republic for about a $700,000 signing bonus. He split the 2011
season between the Dominican Summer League and the GCL. I think he would
likely head to the GCL again, but he has very good potential as well. Signed
as a shortstop, he already spent most of his time at third base in 2011. TOP THREE
PROSPECTS 1.) Miguel Sano, 2.) Travis Harrison, 3.) Jairo Perez SUMMARY Third base is
Danny Valencia’s for the near-term. Sean Burroughs provides some quality
depth. This would be a position where the Twins are quite strong at the lower
levels (with Sano, Harrison and Pimentel), but there is not much help above
Beloit for 2012, at least not anyone that would have any long-term potential.
We’ll need to wait until at least 2014 to see Sano (and that’s only if he
advances on the Joe Mauer path), and Harrison and Pimentel are likely 2016
arrivals. Will Sano be able to stick at 3B? How will Valencia fare through
his pre-arbitration and arbitration years? If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Tuesday,
January 24, 2012 Organizational Depth Chart: First
Basemen Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. After looking
at the catchers throughout the Twins system yesterday, I’ll be looking at the
first basemen today before continuing around the diamond throughout the
coming weeks. Again, the purpose is two-fold. First, it’s a look at the depth
at or near the big leagues. Second, it’s a glance at the depth at the
position throughout the system. You can find out who might be coming up to
the Twins if there is a need, and you can find out who the prospects to watch
might be.
Minnesota
Twins Justin Morneau, Ryan Doumit (Joe Mauer,
Luke Hughes) As much as I
have no worries about Joe Mauer as he comes back in 2012, I am equally
concerned about Justin Morneau’s ability to come back and play. Obviously I
really hope that I am wrong. I hope he comes back and performs to the
MVP-like caliber that we saw from 2006 through 2010. Defensively, he was
tremendous and that is a great example of his work ethic. Hopefully by now,
fans understand the seriousness of head injuries and concussions. As much as
they’re saying that Morneau won’t be just a DH, that has to be considered an
option. We talked quite
a bit yesterday about Doumit as a backup catcher, and his ability to hit.
He’s not good defensively behind the plate, and frankly,
he’s not too great in front of it either. He could play some at 1B,
but it may not be pretty. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see Joe Mauer play first base a couple of times a week to keep
his bat in the lineup. He played rather well there with the glove a year ago.
Luke Hughes showed last year that he could adapt to first base. He had a
positive UZR at both 1B and 2B. He also provides a solid right-handed bat off
the bench. He’s the only right-handed bat in these four options. Rochester Red
Wings Chris Parmelee, Aaron Bates, Steve Pearce Parmelee showed
in September what he could be capable of in the big leagues. He has been very
solid the past two seasons in New Britain, but no one could have anticipated
his strong September performance with the Twins. It’s the beauty of small
sample size. That said, Parmelee seems to have
figured a couple of things out the last two years. He puts together solid at
bats, uses the whole field and hits for power. He needs a half-season at
Triple-A to continue to progress, but the Twins’ 1st round pick in
2006 can be a solid contributor to the Twins lineup for years to come. If the Twins
need a 1B option early in the year, or just want a good left-handed bat off
the bench, Bates should be considered. The Red Sox third round pick in 2006
debuted with the Sox in 2009. Last year, he joined the Red Wings in early May
and was their best, most consistent hitter. He hit .316/.408/.439 with 30
extra base hits. He was invited to big league camp. So was Steve Pearce who
burst on the prospect scene in 2007 when he dominated at four levels. Since
then, he has not put up big numbers, but he has had over 100 plate
appearances in four of the past five years in the big leagues. The Twins
drafted him in the 45th round in 2003 out of high school. He
didn’t sign. He is kind of a right-handed Aaron Bates. New Britain Rock
Cats Nate Hanson, Steve Liddle Hanson is a
Minnesota native who played for the Gophers before being drafted by the Twins
as a third baseman. During the 2010 season, he played more and more first
base, and now he is well respected for his glove and athleticism at first
base. He joined the Rock Cats at about the halfway point of last season and
held his own. Liddle was hurt much of the 2011 season. He has surgery on his
non-throwing shoulder in the offseason. Although he has played more outfield, he played quite a bit of first base as well.
After a frustrating 2011 season, it will be interesting to see if he jumps to
New Britain. Ft. Myers
Miracle Michael Gonzales, Lance Ray, Danny Rams Gonzales
returned to Beloit in 2011 about 25 pounds lighter. He came through with a
healthier, more productive season. He showed better range at first base. More
important, his hands and his bat were much quicker. He increased all of his
numbers from 2012 and is certainly ready for the Florida State League. Lance
Ray has primarily played in the outfield, but he does a nice job when he
plays at 1B as well. Rams will catch at times, but he will play some other
positions including outfield and DH. He played quite a bit of 1B in Beloit in
2010. Beloit Snappers Rory Rhodes, Kennys Vargas Rhodes is 6-7,
so the natural comparison for him will likely be Richie Sexson, and I think
that’s a fair comp. He has a ton of power at such a young age. The Australian
needs patience, but he also will need to compete in a full-season league in
2012. Putting the ball in play more often will be a big thing. Defensively,
he was a solid defensive third baseman, but with Miguel Sano in the picture,
Rhodes primarily played first base at E-Town last year. Vargas is a big
guy, a switch-hitter with a powerful swing from both sides of the plate. He
was putting together some solid numbers, hitting in the middle of the E-Town
lineup when he was suspended for 50 games for using a banned weight-loss
supplement. It cost him the end of the 2011 season and will cost him the
first 32 games of the 2012 season. But he has some real potential, so I
expect the Twins to stick with him after the suspension is up. Elizabethton
Twins Josh Hendricks Another
Australian, Hendricks was signed as a catcher but was quickly moved to first
base. He was very streaky and inconsistent with the bat in 2011, but he does
have good size and power potential. He could have a big year in 2012 at
E-Town. TOP THREE
PROSPECTS 1.) Chris Parmelee, 2.) Michael Gonzales, 3.) Rory
Rhodes SUMMARY For 2012,
Justin Morneau is the question mark. He hasn’t finished a full season in
several years. He has the concussion injury, but the wrist surgery is also
concerning for a power hitter. If the Twins didn’t have so many other needs
and concerns, maybe it would make sense to add a 1B to the mix. However,
Chris Parmelee is close and could take over the position for the next
half-dozen years. Bates and Pearce are guys that could pinch hit or fill in
very temporarily. If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail me at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Monday,
January 23, 2012 Twins Organizational Depth Chart:
Catchers Minnesota
Twins Prospect Handbook 2012 – Now Available as an e-book for $6.99 by clicking here. You can, of course, still get the print version
for $13.99 by clicking here. For the most part,
the Twins spring training rosters are pretty well set. I wouldn’t be
surprised if there is another reliever brought in, and there could be some
more minor league signings. I thought it would be late enough in the
offseason to start taking a look at the Twins organizational depth. So, over
the next two weeks, I’ll go position by position and name the players
throughout the farm system with a few thoughts. In doing so, I’ll be trying
to figure out what the Twins minor league rosters will look like.
Minnesota
Twins Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, Drew Butera Maybe it’s
hopeful optimism, but I’m not worried about Joe Mauer in 2012. 2011 started
out with injury, a bad diagnosis made public, and a not-so-subtle hint of
confusion surrounding his health, his toughness and how even his teammates
and managers didn’t always understand what the situation was either. If Mauer
is healthy, he’s one of the best catchers in baseball, offensively and
defensively. Ideally, he could again catch 110-120 games and if he does so,
we know that he will likely hit .320/.390/.490 or so with 35 or more doubles
and potentially a dozen home runs. Doumit was a
tremendous signing early in the offseason. His career numbers in the NL show
that he has posted an OPS very similar to Jason
Kubel’s. Offensively, I expect the same type of hitter as Kubel. That’s
probably a little optimistic. I think Doumit (along with Trevor Plouffe and
Luke Hughes) will be the primary DHs, unless Justin Morneau can’t play 1B and
they have him DH. Doumit can also catch 30-40 games a season to give Mauer a
day off from behind the plate. He’s not too good back there. Butera is the
opposite. He has no chance offensively, particularly when overexposed as he
was last year. Butera is the actual backup catcher, in my mind, since Doumit
should be starting every day. As a true backup catcher, he’s fine, plays good
defense, does a good job against the running game, and works well with
pitchers. When he has to play most days and gets 400 plate appearances, that
isn’t the design. In reality, the Twins have a bunch of versatility on their
major league roster, so I might prefer to have Butera in Rochester. If Mauer
or Doumit is hurt one game, the other could catch the rest of that game, and
Butera could be up the next day. Of course, that would assume the Twins
utilized the DL well, something they did very poorly the last couple of
years. Rochester Red
Wings Rene Rivera, JR Towles We saw in 2011
what Rivera could do, and it was pretty much just as bad offensively as
Butera. He just swung more crazy and more often. Defensively, he is obviously
quite solid. JR Towles comes
over from the Astros where he was once a top prospect in baseball. He never
really hit with the Astros, although he never really got much consistent
playing time. There may be some hope here for some optimism. New Britain Rock
Cats Danny Lehmann, Chris Herrmann Butera, Rivera
and Towles are pretty much the same. I may be wrong, but everything I’ve
seen, read and heard from players throughout the system, Lehmann is the best
of that group. He won’t hit a lot, but no worse than Rivera and Butera did,
and his defense is just as good, if not better. I’ve talked to a lot of
pitchers in the Twins system the last couple of years and all agree that they
love throwing to Lehmann. Chris Herrmann
is the Twins top catching prospect, and it isn’t terribly close. He made a
very strong impression in 2011 at Ft. Myers and in New Britain. He didn’t hit
for average, but he gets on base a lot. He also hits a lot of doubles with a
smooth left-handed swing. He runs very well for a catcher. Part of his value
is his versatility. In college, he played mostly in the infield. Early in his
Twins career, he played mainly in the outfield and played well there.
Pitchers say that his defense behind the plate has improved, and he now
throws out a solid percentage of would-be base stealers. He could be a
versatile backup player with the Twins by September, and he is also good
enough to be the primary backstop for the team as well should they move the
$184-million-dollar man to another position at some point. Ft. Myers
Miracle Danny Rams, Dan
Rohlfing, Josmil Pinto Rams made a good
impression last year at big league spring training and was very good in
April. At that point, he got hurt and played through it, but his numbers were
not what he and organization would have wanted. Defensively, he has a strong
arm, but isn’t touted as a great defender. It’s just a gut feeling, but Rams
is very talented, and I think once he gets to New Britain, we’ll start seeing
some of his power potential turn into some power numbers. Rohlfing played
infield in high school and the Twins moved him to catcher. After awhile, he
was moved to the outfield. Last year, he was pushed to New Britain where he
held his own as a backup catcher. When he was sent back to Ft. Myers, he was
in the lineup most every day, either behind the plate or in the outfield and
he played well. He was invited to spring training this year because he has
made an impression on the right people. Josmil Pinto
put up huge numbers in E-town a couple of seasons ago, but he really
struggled in 2010 in Beloit. He returned to Beloit and did alright before
being moved up to Ft. Myers. He has a strong arm, but it’s likely he’s a DH
because he does struggle behind the plate. Beloit Snappers Andy Leer, Philip Chapman, Matt Koch, Matt
Parker, Jairo Rodriguez, Kyle Knudson This is where
you start realizing that not all of these players will remain in the
organization beyond spring training. There will likely be some injuries and
others also added to the Disabled List for depth. Andy Leer is
from North Dakota and went to college at the University of Mary. He was an
infielder with the Snappers in 2011, and at Instructional League, he was
moved behind the plate. Philip Chapman and Matt Koch were both drafted in
2011. Chapman hit well, but he was a college guy playing in the GCL. Koch
signed late and played in a dozen or so games in Elizabethton. Both are old
enough that they should move up to Beloit, but based on numbers, one could
stay in Extended Spring Training. Matt Parker was a non-drafted free agent
singing a couple of years ago. He’s a defensive guy. Knudson played with
Beloit in 2011, but he missed most of the second half of the season with a
groin injury. He’s one that they will need to keep because he is solid
defensively and has some offensive potential. Jairo Rodriguez is a strong-armed
backstop without much offensive upside. Elizabethton
Twins Kelly Cross, Michael Quesada Cross was
drafted out of high school in 2010 and signed late. He got into just a couple
of games. He really struggled last year with the GCL Twins, but he’s a guy
that they’re going to have to push quickly because he’s only got one more
season that he can play in the short seasons. Quesada was one
of the better hitters with the GCL Twins last year and showed good power.
Some scouts really like his potential. The Twins
typically draft a couple of college catchers in the first ten rounds or so,
and they go to Elizabethton as well. So, it’s really impossible to predict
who will play any position in Elizabethton or the GCL. TOP THREE
PROSPECTS 1.) Chris Herrmann, 2.) Danny Rams, 3.) Dan Rohlfing SUMMARY Joe Mauer is an
All Star, an MVP, a Gold Glove winner, a Silver Slugger winner, and he’s paid
like it. A couple more big seasons and he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
But, he has to stay healthy. Chris Herrmann is likely a year away from being
ready for the big leagues. He is likely the one player in the minor leagues
that has the chance to be a starting catcher. There are several terrific
defensive catchers whose ceiling is backup catcher, not that that is a bad
thing! If you have any
further questions, please feel free to e-mail Seth Stohs at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com or
leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Friday,
January 20, 2012 Analyzing the Twins Top 20 Prospects
In my very-recently released Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook, I unveiled my 2012 Twins Top 30 Prospects. I thought it would be fun to analyze the Top 20 prospects to see if any interesting notes, or even trends, emerge. I found a few, but maybe you’ll find even more. A reminder, these are my Top 20 Twins prospects. If you make a prospect list of your own, yours will likely look a little different, but most of the players will be the same with some variance. Here is my Top Top Twins Prospect List:
Some Notes: · Nine of my Top 20 Twins prospects were 1st or 2nd round draft picks. There are two 1st round picks and two supplemental 1st round picks since 2006 that are not on this list. 2007 top pick Ben Revere is no longer a “prospect” since he has spent so much time in the big leagues. Matt Bashore was the Twins supplemental first round pick in 2009 from Indiana. He’s had a couple of arm surgeries and returned to limited action in 2011. Reports indicate that by the end of last season, he had regained most of his velocity and he may have the opportunity to move up prospect lists quickly next season. · Following the 2007 season, Torii Hunter chose to sign with the Angels instead of the Twins. Because of that, the Twins received the Angels first round pick in 2008 and the first supplemental first round pick of that draft. With the 27th overall pick, the Twins chose Carlos Gutierrez who does not appear on my Top 20 prospect list, but he is a good relief pitching option who throws really hard with a good sinker but needs to throw more strikes. With the 31st overall pick, the Twins chose a hard-throwing right-hander out of Tulane University names Shooter Hunt who fought Steve Blass Disease since the 2008 season. This past December, he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. · The Twins have a strong scouting presence all around the world, and that is shown in their top prospect list. Three players are from the Dominican Republic, and there is one player from Venezuela, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. The Twins also have prospects from Cuba, South Africa, Mexico, Panama, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. · Of these top 20 prospects, 13 were drafted by the Twins. Of those, seven are high school hitters. The Twins have had great success drafting hitters out of high school (see Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer, Denard Span, Ben Revere).Aside from Revere and Mauer, most of these players took five or six years to make their big league debuts and more importantly make a big impression in the big leagues. Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee are also examples of this. Drafted in 2006, they made their big league debuts in September of 2011. Each will likely start making a bigger impression on the Twins in 2012. That’s why I always find it funny when people are so disappointed that we haven’t seen Aaron Hicks dominate at the upper levels of the minor leagues yet. Or, although he was drafted a year earlier, Angel Morales is younger than Hicks. Niko Goodrum is one of the best athletes in the organization as well and played very well in Elizabethton last year. Travis Harrison was one of the top power hitting prospects from the high school ranks in the 2011 draft. · Although not drafted, Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia and Max Kepler were all signed as 16 year olds and certainly fit into the high-upside young hitter mold!! · The other thing that the Twins have done is draft college pitchers in the first rounds of the draft. Just two college-drafted pitchers appear on this list, and each of them has some question marks. Kyle Gibson was the team’s top prospect one year ago, and pitched very well the first two months of 2011. Unfortunately, as we all know, he had to have Tommy John surgery in September and will miss most, if not all, of the 2012 season. Alex Wimmers was the two-time Big 10 Pitcher of the Year at Ohio State. He was a control pitcher that draft experts said was closest to the big leagues. Unfortunately, he had a hamstring injury in spring training last year and it led to some very disturbing control issues. However, he seemed to be a rare example of someone overcoming Steve Blass Disease as he came back late in the season and pitched much better. He ended his season by throwing a 7-inning no-hitter for Ft. Myers. I would expect to see both make starts for the Twins in 2013. · The Twins did have three pitchers pitch at three levels in 2011. Reliever Matt Hauser (San Diego State) is my top ranked Twins reliever prospect (#28). Pat Dean (#30) was the Twins 3rd round pick in 2010 from Boston College. Lefty Logan Darnell (#25), the 6th round pick in 2010, was the third. All three pitched briefly with Beloit before spending most of their season in Ft. Myers. Darnell spent the most time in Double-A New Britain. The Twins have a history of being willing to promote college pitchers quickly through the minors. The following players have pitched at three levels in one season with the Twins: Scott Baker, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, and Jesse Crain. Matt Garza actually pitched at four levels, including the Twins, in 2006. · The Twins hadn’t drafted a high school pitcher in the first round since 2004 when they drafted Kyle Waldrop with the 25th overall pick (Anthony Swarzak was taken in the 2nd round). The Twins used their second supplemental first round pick in 2011 on Hudson Boyd, who not only has shown good control, but he has touched 97 mph on the radar gun. He could move up quickly. · Here is a quick look at where these twenty players ended the season playing: Three Did Not Play (2011 draft picks), Four ended the season in Elizabethton, Two in Beloit, Four in Ft. Myers, Two in New Britain, two in Rochester and three with the Twins. You often hear that the Twins prospects are all at the lower levels of the farm system. However, Benson, Parmelee and Hendriks are all top ten prospects who made their big league debuts on September 6. Each figures into the Twins long-term future. Brian Dozier and Chris Herrmann were the high-risers among prospects and both will likely debut with the Twins in 2012 after strong seasons in New Britain and strong showings in the Arizona Fall League. · When Baseball America releases its Top 100 Prospects list, Miguel Sano will likely rank in the Top 25-30. It is possible that Rosario, Arcia, Benson and maybe even Gibson will appear in the Top 100 lists. · If you listen to Baseball America’s most recent podcast, they discussed their Top 10 rankings for AL Central teams. They clearly had the Royals as the best farm system in the division. They ranked the Twins with the second-best prospects in the division (and middle of the pack overall). They ranked the White Sox and Indians as having the two worst farm systems in all of baseball, with the Tigers very close to the bottom. Any other comments on these twenty prospects of the Twins farm system in general? I’ll be happy to answer them in the Comments. Here are some other thoughts and links: · On Wednesday, the Minnesota Twins Caravan came to The Shed in Warroad. Ron Gardenhire, Joe Vavra, Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins were in attendance, along with TC Bear. TwinsBaseball.com’s Rhett Bollinger was there as well. It was a nice event, and very informal. The Twins contingency seemed to really appreciate and enjoy it. It was great to be up close with the players, talk to them and, as a couple of people told me, see them as regular people. I think we (many fans) forget that at times. I have been to several Twins Caravan events over the past five years. I definitely recommend going if you’ve got one in your area. It’s just a great opportunity to meet players, get autographs if you want, and start getting excited for a new Twins season. · Speaking of great events, Twins Fest is next weekend. I just got my tickets in the mail yesterday. I plan to be there on Friday night and Satuurday throughout the day. I don’t get the autographs, but I enjoy talking to people, players and fans alike. SO, if you’ll be there, be sure to say hi! · Baseball America will be posting its Top 20 Twins Prospect list on its website today, so be sure to check there this afternoon. I want to welcome any questions or comments that you
might have. Feel free to e-mail me or leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Tuesday,
January 17, 2012 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook
2012 Now Available!!
ORDER HERE – Although the book will be $13.99, you can get it now for $12.49 (introductory offer) by clicking here. If you are unable to see the book’s cover, please click here. From AJ Achter to Jacob Younis (or Aaron Hicks to Miguel Sano to Liam Hendriks to Alex Wimmers, if you prefer), learn more about the prospects throughout the Twins minor league system. From last year’s book, a dozen players rose to the big leagues. How many will play with the Twins in 2012, and who should Twins fans get excited about? Stohs noted, “I hope Twins fans will use this as a coffee table type of book. The Twins do build from within, so fans can learn more about these players before they get to the big leagues. The book is about the top prospects and the guys that 99% of fans haven’t heard of. They all work very hard to achieve their big league goals. Few will get there, but they also deserve recognition for all of their efforts.” This is the fourth annual Twins prospect handbook by Stohs. The 2012 version features: · Self-published, available at LuLu.com as a 6x9 paperback book, with 179 pages of Twins minor league content. · More than 150 Prospect Profiles. Profiles by Seth Stohs, Cody Christie (North Dakota Twins Fan), Nick Nelson (Nick’s Twins Blog), Josh Johnson (Josh’s Thoughts). · Article on the 2011 Twins Major League Debuts, by Seth Stohs (quotes from Brian Dinkelman, Chris Parmelee and Liam Hendriks) · What do big stats in the Appy League really mean? by Roger Dehring (Twinkie Town) · Plotting a path through the 2012 Draft, by Cody Christie · Minor League Player of the Year: SS Brian Dozier, by Seth Stohs · Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year: RHP Liam Hendriks by Seth Stohs · Minor League Reliever of the Year: LHP Andrew Albers, by Seth Stohs · Top 5 Twins Dominican Summer League Prospect Profiles, by Seth Stohs · SethSpeaks.net 2012 Minnesota Twins Top 30 Prospects · SethSpeaks.net Top 30 Twins Prospects History (past six years of good and not-so-good choices) · Top Ten Twins Prospect Rankings by many Twins bloggers, media and national rankings · Cover by Josh Johnson with photos from David McQueen (Elizabethton photos) and Ashley Marshall/MiLB.com (New Britain photos) · Photos inside by Greg Wagner (Ft. Myers photos) and Rinaldi Photos (Beloit photos) If you have any further questions, please feel free to e-mail Seth Stohs at sethspeaksnet@hotmail.com. I want to welcome any questions or comments that you
might have. Feel free to e-mail me or leave your thoughts in the Comments
Section! Monday,
January 16, 2012 Twins Arbitration Scenarios Major League players with less than six years of
service time and more than three years of service time are eligible for
salary arbitration. As we all know, there are a bunch of Super-2
arbitration-eligible players as well each year. On Tuesday, arbitration
numbers will be exchanged. The teams will say how much they are offering to
the player, and the player and his agent will submit the value that they
think they should receive. Of course, in most cases, the team and the player
come up with a value somewhere in the middle and numbers never get exchanged.
When the offseason began, and TwinsCentric was
working on its Offseason GM Handbook, the Twins had eight
arbitration-eligible players on their roster. Since the end of the season,
there have been a few changes: ·
Phil Dumatrait – Was Designated for Assignment and removed from
the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but returned to the Twins on a
minor league contract. That means, he is no longer
eligible for arbitration. ·
Jason Repko – Was Designated for Assignment and removed from
the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but has not yet signed with another
organization. ·
Matt Tolbert - Was Designated for Assignment and removed from
the 40 man roster. He became a free agent but has not yet signed with another
organization. ·
Jose Mijares – Was non-tended last month by the Twins. Less than
a week later, he signed with the Kansas City Royals. ·
Kevin Slowey – Was traded to the Colorado Rockies in December. That leaves the Twins with three
arbitration-eligible players. The Twins will likely attempt to sign all three
before Tuesday’s deadline. It is also possible they are working on multi-year
deals with one or more of them. Here they are: 1.) Alexi
Casilla – In 2011, the
2B/SS made $700,000 in his first year of arbitration. In the Offseason
GM Handbook, TwinsCentric predicted that he would get $2.5 million in
arbitration. If I were to place my bet, I think it will be closer to $1.5
million. 2.) Glen
Perkins – In 2011, the
lefty reliever made $865,000 in his first year of arbitration. TwinsCentric
projected him to make $1.8 million, and I think that is about right. I also
believe that the Twins may look to lock up Perkins for three years (to buy
out one year of free agency). Perkins may be hesitant to sign a long-term
deal knowing that there is a chance he will get some time as Twins’ closer
this year, and closers make a bunch more money. However, if he wants to stay
with the Twins, it’s possible that he could be signed in the neighborhood of
three years and $8 million. 3.) Francisco
Liriano – In 2011,
Liriano made $4.3 million. Despite a frustrating season, he will likely get a
raise. TwinsCentric predicted that he would be awarded $6 million, but I
think it will be closer to $5 million. A year ago, I said that the Twins
should sign him to a 4 year, $40 million deal. At this point, I’d be very
hesitant to give Liriano a multi-year deal. However, if they are at all
interested, now is the time to do it. This would be
a buy low scenario. Could the Twins now have the talented (but enigmatic)
Liriano to a three year, $18 million now? If so, would you consider it? We will learn quite a bit before Tuesday’s deadline.
Many years the Twins get all their arbitration situations figured out before
numbers are even exchanged. This year, the Twins have three very interesting
situations. What do you think will happen? Leave your thoughts
in the Comments
Section! Sunday,
January 15, 2012 Twins to Sign Joel Zumaya? UPDATE – I read things wrong. The Twins gave Zumaya a
Major League contract, guaranteed money as opposed to a minor league
contract. That changes things a little bit. It’s still not enough money to
worry about or be upset about, but there is a little bit more risk in the
deal. As Jim Crikket points out in the Comments section, it’s a find deal if
it doesn’t affect the Twins ability to sign someone else that can be counted
on more. (Coffey, Wheeler, etc?) ---- According to a tweet by Jason Beck of MLB.com, the Twins have reached an agreement with RHP Joel
Zumaya on a minor league contract that will reportedly pay him between
$800,000 and 1.7 million. Obviously, especially in this case, the Twins are wise
to not report it themselves until Zumaya passes a physical. A caution to Twins fans expecting to see the Zumaya
of 2006 that threw 100-101 mph with a sharp slider and little control.
Reports of his tryout several weeks ago were that he is touching 92 mph with
his fastball. However, there is little risk in a minor league contract, and
Zumaya is still just 27 years old. The last time he pitched was at Target
Field in 2010 when he bounced off the mound after throwing out his elbow. As a 21 year old rookie in 2006, he posted a 1.94
ERA in 62 games. From 2007 through 2010, he averaged 27 appearances and 31+
innings. He did not pitch in 2011. I must admit that Zumaya is a name that intrigued me
coming into the offseason, but based on there being 50 scouts at his tryout, I assumed that the Twins would not be in the mix.
Now, I’m just very curious how this will go. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the Comments Section! Friday,
January 13, 2012 Tweets of the Week I’m known on Twitter for doing a lot of tweeting and
retweeting. For those who are not on Twitter, it simply means that I tweet
something that someone else already tweeted. I retweet
Twins related articles and blogs or general comments that I tend to agree
with. If you’re interested in following me on Twitter, you can click the
“Follow” button here, or you can simply bookmark my twitter page and check it
from time to time. Today, I wanted to go back to Saturday and blog many of my
retweets from the week. Hopefully you enjoy the variety of topics! SATURDAY ·
It was Saturday
afternoon that I found out I had been included in Top Prospect Alert’s Top 50 Must-Follow Twitter
Accounts.
Quite an honor! You’ll want to check the link out just to see who else made
the cut! ·
Here is a nice article on Scott Diamond’s 2011 season and becoming the first player from Binghamton
University to play in the big leagues. SUN DAY ·
Puckett’s Pond continues its look at the Twins non roster invites
by writing about OF Matt Carson. ·
I exchanged a
few tweets with Jon-Paul Morosi (from Fox Sports) And Seth Everett. My
opinion is the Raines is an easy choice for Baseball’s Hall of Fame. To this
point, voters don’t necessarily agree. Rained was overshadowed by Ricky
Henderson as a leadoff hitter, and he was much more of a Hall of Famer than
former Expos and recent Hall of Fame inductees Andre Dawson and Gary Carter. MONDAY ·
NoDak Twins Fan
blogged his first of a three part series on Justin Morneau. ·
Todd Van
Steensel wrote about his release by the Twins. More unfortunate, arguably, was the manner in
which he found out. Sadly, I’ve heard a few other similar stories from former
Twins minor leaguers. ·
The Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of this day was Ray
Chang,
who is from Kansas City. He was terrific last year until a broken fibula cost
him two months of his season. ·
Travis Aune and
I co-hosted a special offseason Twins Minor League Weekly. We weren’t sure how much there would be to be
said, but we went 90 minutes and filled the time fairly efficiently. ·
Check out the new DiamondCentric t-shirt showing Timberwolves rookie sensation, Ricky Rubio! ·
There were
several tweets regarding Reds SS Barry Larkin entering the Hall of Fame. I
was always a big Larkin fan, and I think it goes back to my baseball card
collecting days. I thought his 1987 Topps and Donruss cards were so cool.
It’s kind of how I became a big Roberto Alomar fan, because of his cool
mustache thingy on his 1988 Donruss card! I thought Larkin was a definite
Hall of Famer, and it was good to see him get such support from the voters
too. ·
Often I hear
Twins fans frustrated by how slowly they perceive the Twins to be when
promoting prospects. I think the opposite side of that spectrum is what the
Mets did five years ago. Aaron Gleeman and I had a fun-filled exchange on
Twitter after the Mets DFAd former huge prospect Fernando Martinez, the Mets
top prospect at the time. (Aaron sent me a link to an
article I wrote
at that time.) In the Johan Santana trade, the Twins got the Mets #2 prospect
according to Baseball America (Deolis Guerra), their #3 prospect (Carlos
Gomez), their #4 prospect (Kevin Mulvey) and their #7 prospect (Philip
Humber). That would be the equivalent of them trade Joe Benson, Eddie
Rosario, Aaron Hicks and Kyle Gibson. At the time, Tyler Robertson was my #1
Twins prospect which indicated how much the Twins
needed to restock their farm system. Guerra was clearly rushed by the Mets.
Gomez was pushed to the big leagues far too fast. Mulvey went from being a 2nd
round pick straight to AA. And Humber had Tommy John surgery. ·
ManCenter.com
posted its Top 10 Twins prospect list. TUESDAY ·
Are you
following the log entries of former Twin R.A. Dickey as he and Kevin Slowey are currently climbing Mt.
Kilimanjaro? ·
Check out this
photo that the North Dakota Twins Fan is calling “Pot of Gold.” ·
NoDak Twins fan
posted Part 2 of his Morneau Chronicles series. ·
Paul Boye (Phrontiersman) tweeted: “Greg Maddux should be the first
unanimous Hall of Famer and I won't hear otherwise.” I concur! ·
John Manuel was
in charge of putting together Baseball America’s Top 10 Twins Prospect list. 1500espn got their copy in the mail and
posted the list. WEDNESDAY ·
Here is the newest episode of Gleeman & The
Geek. ·
Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of the day was Brian Dinkelman. ·
NoDak Twins Fan
posted Part 3 of his Morneau Chronicles. ·
Some Twins fans
are down on our favorite team and its minor league system, but hey, at least we aren’t White Sox fans! ·
Knuckleballs’
Jim Crikket posted his Top 10 Twins Prospects list. ·
Hudson Boyd, Dakota Watts, Kyle Gibson and David Bromberg joined former Twins 3B (and
lifetime .357 big league hitter) Tommy Watkins for the Ft. Myers portion of the Twins Winter Caravan. ·
Here’s a pretty
cool Sports Illustrated picture of Kevin Garnett’s shoe
tribute to Kirby Puckett
after his death. ·
Starting next
week, the Twins Winter Caravan will begin throughout the Upper Midwest. Here is
the list of locations, times and dates for the caravan. It’s a great time, so
if you get a chance to go to one, be sure to do so. ·
Twins
International scout Howie Norsetter posted a tremendous response to an angry blog commenter regarding the Twins and
their Australian signings. Well worth the read!! Upon reading this blog, Todd Van
Steensel,
who the Twins just released last week, tweeted to me, “I loved the Twins and
had a great time there, had great coaches and made great friends, just wish
it ended a little better.” ·
Thrylos98 informed us that former Twins catcher Mike Redmond
was promoted to Dunedin to manage the Blue Jays Hi-A
affiliate in the Florida State League. THURSDAY ·
North Dakota
Twins fan wrote about the pursuit of a little white spherical object (sometimes referred to as a baseball. ·
Brian Dozier
was the subject of the Puckett’s Pond Non-Roster invite of the day. ·
Baseball
America’s Ben Badler informed us that the Twins signed Mauricio Silva, a 16-year-old right-handed pitcher from Venezuela,
for $370,000. It makes me happy every time that I see the Twins sign one of the top 20 or 30 prospects from Latin America.
·
Puckett’s Pond
also posted several Thursday links. ·
According to
the Baseball Hall of Fame, it was 30 years ago (on Thursday) that the Twins
drafted Kirby Puckett with the 3rd overall pick in the now-defunct
January draft. ·
Had a good
Twitter discussion with FSN’s Robby
Incmikoski.
He posted a couple of pictures from the arena in Chicago and commented on
Jordan’s 6 NBA titles and called him the best athlete ever. I said I thought
that Bo Jackson was the best athlete. Others chimed in with discussion on how
winning NBA titles has to do with being an athlete, and I think the word
“athlete” refers to strength, speed, power, and everything that Bo Jackson
was. I just wish the guy wouldn’t have had the hip injury because he was
incredible. Few remember he had a 32 home run, 105 RBI season with the
Royals. The man was amazing. As I tweeted, “Bo Jackson was 6-1 and 230+
pounds and ran a 4.2/40. He hit a bunch of HR before “the era”, had a big
arm, knocked down LB and out-ran DBs.” ·
Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Twins and Target Field will host
the 2014 All-Star game. Later, Twins President
Dave St. Peter
tweeted that nothing was official yet. ·
Phil Dumatrait,
who spent much of 2011 with the Twins, is the non-roster invite of the day at Puckett’s Pond. FRIDAY ·
Parker’s
TwinsCentric blog of the day is titled Coffey is for (setting up for) closers. ·
Nick’s Twins
Blog discusses payroll. ·
NoDak Twins Fan
posted his Friday Links-n-Thinks. ·
Aaron Gleeman
posted, at Hardball Talk, that Johan Santana still isn’t sure
when he’ll be able to pitch again despite having surgery 16 months ago. ·
Joe Christensen
wrote a very nice article on Dan Johnson, from Blaine, and his career which has been up and
down but full of some big moments. ·
Phil Mackey
wrote about the Twins’ Pitch-to-Contact philosophy. ·
If you’re
heading down to Ft. Myers for spring training, tickets go on sale tomorrow morning. ·
You can now
vote for Prospect #29 in the Twinkie Town Community Top 50
Prospect
voting! FINALLY – I’ll be editing the Minnesota Twins Prospect
Handbook 2012 all weekend, so look for much more order information on
Monday! Twitter is awesome… Way better than Facebook, which
I’m also on from time to time. If you’re interested, you can follow me at www.Twitter.com/SethTweets. If you would like, please feel free to e-mail me or leave questions or comments in the Comments Section! Tuesday,
January 10, 2012 Twins Prospect Handbook Coming Soon UPDATE 1/14 – Jus a real
quick Thursday morning update. I’ve spent a lot of time the last two nights
finishing up my first full draft of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2012,
and I’m very happily complete. I put it together and ordered up a couple of
review copies. I will be spending the weekend editing like crazy and hope to
make this available for purchase early next week. I appreciate your patience
with me. As of now, it’s looking like it’ll be 174 pages (in a 6x9 format). A
huge thank you to Josh Johnson for
his work on the cover and with some profiles. Cody Christie wrote an article and did a whole bunch of profiles.
Nick Nelson wrote up several profiles
as well. Roger Dehring wrote a
very interesting story. It was great to work with Ashley Marshall from MiLB.com who let me use a couple of pictures
of new Britain players on the cover. David
McQueen is a photographer from Elizabethton that let me use the Sano and
Rosario cover photos. Thank you to him, and to Greg Wagner for the Ft. Myers
pictures. The Beloit player pictures throughout the book were provided by Rinaldi Photos. I’d definitely
encourage people to follow them on Facebook because they have a ton of great
photos of Snappers players. There are a lot of Thank You’s in book writing
and those that helped in any way know who they are, and I just want to thank
them all. I think this book is even a little better than last years, which I
thought was pretty good too! Before you get started, be sure to listen to last
night’s 90-minute Twins Minor League Weekly show. There were a lot of great topics discussed,
so listen to it and let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcome! As I mentioned yesterday, the Minnesota Twins Prospect
Handbook 2012 will be available soon. As has been the case in
previous years, there will be over 160 profiles of Twins minor league
prospects, from AJ Achter to Jacob Younis. It includes my choices for the
Twins top prospects in the Dominican Summer League. There are special
articles from Cody Christie (NoDak Twins Fans) and Roger Dehring (Twinkie
Town).You’ll find my updated prospect list and the history of my top 30 Twins
prospects over the past seven years (which is rather interesting in
retrospect!). I also wrote articles with a ton of quotes from Brian Dozier
(Hitter of the Year), Liam Hendriks (Starting Pitcher of the Year) and Andrew
Albers (Relief Pitcher of the Year). Today, I thought I would share with you a couple of
paragraphs from the three articles. Each is full of quotes from each player. BRIAN
DOZIER – SS – Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year … He credited his
manager, Jake Mauer. “I tell you what, he’s a
player’s coach. He’s been there, gone through the system and everything. He
really relates to his players very well.” He moved up to
New Britain and worked for former Twins hero Tom Brunansky, a member of the
Twins 1987 World Series championship team. Dozier said, “He is one of the
best when it comes to hitting. He knows how to hit. Actually, when I got
moved up, he found a couple of little tweaks in my swing that I never knew I
was doing. He showed me on film. I was like, ‘Well, that makes sense!’ Ever
since then, since that first week, we worked really hard in the cage, and he
found a couple of things, and it took off from there.” … Mark Dolenc is
a Minnesota native who spent the past two seasons in New Britain. He said,
“When Dozier came up, he immediately stepped in and took on a leadership
role.” Dozier said, “I
think from a leadership aspect, everybody kind of looks to the shortstop.
They are the captain on the infield. I know Gardy takes a lot of pride in his
shortstop being like the quarterback on the field. I’ve taken that to heart a
lot. Same thing with my college coach, he was the same way. I’m not a big
vocal guy. I never have been. I do try to put myself into the right
situations, the right place at the right time, not only on the field but off
the field. If you play the game the way it is supposed to be played and
always give 110%, people respect that. I try to do that each and every day.” … LIAM HENDRIKS
– RH SP – Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year … “I was lucky
because when I was younger, I didn’t throw very hard, so I had to throw
strikes. I was able to keep it up and as I started throwing harder it stuck
with me which is always good. I can locate most (of
my pitches) pretty well. I think my changeup is my best pitch, but at times,
it is the slider, and every now and then, it’s even the curve ball. I’ve got
the pitches so if one isn’t working, I can hopefully fall back on another one.” “Philosophy-wise,
just get ahead. You look at the averages up 0-2, rather than down 2-0. As
soon as you get ahead, it makes the hitters sweat a little bit. Most of the
time, guys aren’t going to hit you hard.” … It has been a
meteoric rise through the Twins farm system the past two years. In the 2010
and 2011 seasons, he pitched in Beloit (Low A), Ft. Myers (High-A), New
Britain (AA), Rochester (AAA) and with the Twins (MLB). “Every now and
then, I’ll think back and think that this takes guys six to eight years to do
at times. And I’ve gone from Low A in my first full season in pro ball to the
major leagues in two years. I look at it that way and think, ‘Oh Wow! That
doesn’t happen often, especially to guys who were signed or drafted out of
high school like myself.” “As I was
saying to Luke Hughes, the stars had to align for me to get the call up this
year. Luckily enough they did, and hopefully I’ve opened up some eyes up
there. I’m hoping to head to spring training and open some more.” … ANDREW
ALBERS – LH RP – Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year … 22 games with
the Miracle, he went 4-1 with four saves. In 52.1 innings, he gave up 48
hits, walked seven and struck out 46. “My plan was to
just go out and be aggressive and pitch to my strengths. I guess I surprised
myself a little bit with the first half that I had. Everything kind of went
my way, and I caught some breaks and got a little lucky. The defense was
outstanding with the likes of Brian Dozier, James Beresford and Aaron Hicks
up the middle. Those three guys can make up for a lot of mistakes that I make
as a pitcher.” … So what has he
learned about himself along this journey? “I found out
that I could still pitch. I had been through a bit of adversity and come out
better from it. I learned that I didn't have to live and die with every game
and that there are a lot more important issues out there than winning or
losing a baseball game. I think being out of the baseball world and not having
a job in affiliated ball allowed me to gain a new perspective on different
areas of my life. I began to enjoy
baseball a lot more and was able to relax more on the mound instead of
putting so much pressure on myself to perform every time out. I think that
attitude has greatly contributed to my success.” … All three of these players played at least half of
season at Double-A New Britain, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility
that we could see all three players in a Twins uniform. All three were
generous with their time as they answered my questions via e-mail and on
podcasts and such. I’m really excited about the 2012 book. I think that
the three previous books were good and this one can be better. Twins blogger Josh Johnson designed the cover.
Johnson, along with TwinsCentric’s Nick Nelson and the NoDak Twins Fan
Cody Christie,
helped me by writing some profiles. The profiles are a good combination of stats,
advances stats and splits and scouting reports. Much more information will be
coming in the near future. Thank you to all for your support! If you have any questions, please let me know! Monday,
January 9, 2012 Twins Minor League Weekly Tonight Tonight at 9:00 central time, Travis Aune and I will
be hosting a special offseason edition of Twins Minor League Weekly. The Twins have been quite active in the minor
league free agency department this offseason. You’ve seen information here on
each of the moves as they have happened, but Travis and I will discuss them
more and what they mean to the Twins organization. We’ll also step back and
take a look at the players that the Twins have let go during the offseason,
the Rule 5 additions and subtraction, minor leaguers in winter ball, and
where we think some of the organization’s top prospects will begin the 2012
season. It should be a lot of fun and a good discussion, so hopefully you’ll
join us live and participate in the chat room, and ask us a lot of questions.
Listen Live here or download it here later. Prospect
Handbook – I’m really,
really hoping that the Prospect Handbook will be available before Twins Fest.
I may soon start taking some pre-release orders, but if you are planning on
attending Twins Fest and would like a copy of the handbook to bring with you
to be signed by players or just to have there, I’ll see if I can find a way
to get them to you quicker. If you would like a sneak peak of the awesome
cover that Josh Johnson created for the book, click here! A Nice
Honor – On Saturday
afternoon, I was at home putting some finishing touches on the first draft of
the Prospect Handbook, when I found out that Top Prospects
Alert
had named me as one of the Top 50
Must Follow Baseball Accounts. It’s kind of cool to be on a list that includes
the likes of Bryce Harper, Buster Olney, David Price, Keith Law, Ken Rosenthal, Logan Morrison, Peter Gammons and so many others! That’s it for today! Feel free to leave comments or
more links/topics in the Comments section. Most Recent Postings (for a complete list, check out the Archives) 1/16/12 – Twins
Abitration Scenarios
1/15/12 – Twins
to Sign Joel Zumaya 1/10/12 – Twins
Prospect Handbook Coming Soon 1/5/12 – Twins
Infield Situation 1/4/12 – Twins
Outfield Situation 1/3/12 – Relief
Help Available?
12/27/11 –
Twins Top Moments of 2011
12/23/11 –
Kevin Slowey or Jason Marquis? 12/22/11 –
Marquis Attraction? 12/21/11 – 2nd
Preliminary Top 50 Twins Prospect List 12/20/11 – What
Could Have Been? (Kubel leaves) 12/19/11 –
Guess Who’s Back? Twins Notes |
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