Friday, February 19, 2010

Twins Minor League Draft – Part 3

If you would like to hear my interview with Denard Span, please click here.

 

Today, we conclude our look at the Twins Minor League draft held last week. Roger Dehring, Josh Johnson, Travis Aune and myself conducted a 22 round mock draft, just to see how it might turn out. Today, I will post our final six selections. So, here we go:

 

 THE DRAFT (Rounds 17-22)

 

Round 17 – 65th Overall – Roger – LHP – Matt Tone

I debated between two excellent young lefty relievers and decided to go with the more experienced, Matt Tone.  I was hoping that Lobanov could slide through another six picks, however, Seth picked him with the next pick.

 

Round 17 – 66th Overall – Seth - LHP – Andrei Lobanov

(Lobanov, Lugo or Steedley? How do I pick? Well, I take the youngest, the guy with the 35 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio, of course.)

 

Round 17 – 67th Overall – Josh - IF – Ramon Santana

(I believe that Ramon Santana and Luke Hughes can battle to see where each plays, one will start at second base and the other will start at third base. Santana had a great year in 2009, but he turned 23-years-old this year when the average age in the Midwest League is 21. Santana helps extend my lineup. I also considered both Steven Liddle and Michael Harrington with this pick.)

 

Round 17 – 68th Overall – Travis - OF – Michael Harrington

(The reason I drafted him is not because of his low batting average but his extra base power.  For quite a long time last season he led the whole organization in doubles and that to me is very impressive.  It will be interesting to see if he can improve on the other parts of his game to become a true prospect.)

 

Round 18 – 69th Overall – Travis – RHP – Bobby Lanigan

(I was very happy to get him because he is on the cusp of good things going forward.  He is a little bit inconsistent, but the sky is the limit as he has all the tools to be a very good pitcher.  I will be interested to see if he shows the promise the Twins saw in him when they drafted him as high as they did.)

 

Round 18 – 70th Overall – Josh - OF – Steve Liddle

(As I mentioned above, I considered taking both Steven Liddle and Michael Harrington when I took Ramon Santana. Travis took Harrington which left Liddle, which was completely fine by me. Although he was taken in the 15th round last of June’s draft, he went to Vanderbilt (a college baseball powerhouse) and played great in the Appalachian League this year (but keep in mind that he was a year older than the rest of the competition). Liddle should start in Beloit in 2010 and could move up quickly through the system. His uncle (also named) Steve Liddle is the Twins’ bench coach. )

 

Round 18 – 71st Overall – Seth – 1B – Michael Gonzales

(I need a 1B. Next pick, I'll take either Miguel Munoz or Martire Garcia, just hoping Roger doesn't take both of them!)

 

Round 18 –72nd Overall – Roger - SS – Daniel Santana

(I believe that one of the better middle infield prospects in the organization is Daniel Santana.  He was one of the better hitters for the GCL Twins last simmer, while showing excellent speed with 11 stolen bases in only 12 attempts.)

 

Round 19 – 73rd Overall – Roger – LHP – Spencer Steedley

(I then went back to a veteran of last year's Arizona Fall League to pick up another top reliever for my bullpen, Spencer Steedley.)

 

Round 19 – 74th Overall – Seth – RHP – Miguel Munoz

(Well, they were both still available, so I'll take the guy that hits 94. Not much left in OF or any bats, several good BP options.)

 

Round 19 – 75th Overall – Josh – LHP – Kyle Carr

(With Andrei Lobanov, Spencer Steedley, Matt Tone and Joe Testa already taken, I knew that Kyle Carr or Jose Lugo would be my pick. I went with Carr primarily because he’s a couple years younger and should be in Ft. Myers in 2010. That’s really what it boiled down to.)

 

Round 19 – 76th Overall – Travis – LHP – Jose Lugo

(The reason I drafted him is everything that I hear about him is positive.  Everyone tells me that he will be in the big leagues in the not too distant future so I really wanted to know more about him.  After doing research on him I agree he will be a Twin soon.)

 

Round 20 – 77th Overall – Travis - OF – Dustin Martin

(The reason I selected Martin was the simple fact that last year he was two different people and I want to see which one he is.  In spring training with the Twins he hit the cover off the ball hitting over .400 and doing a good job in center field.  However, with the Red Wings he really struggled and with his age it is almost time to put up or shut up because there is a dealth of center fielders in the upper minors for the Twins so there is definitely an opportunity.)

 

Round 20 – 78th Overall – Josh – SS – Nick Lockwood

(I needed a middle infielder and at this point its slim pickings. Nick Lockwood was taken in the 9th round and signed to a $125,000 signing bonus last June to forgo his commitment to the University of Southern Florida to sign with the Twins. He is solid defensively and showed good power in High School. Roger took Daniel Santana a couple rounds before, who I was hoping to take in either the 21st or 22nd round, so I wanted to make sure I took Lockwood. I also considered taking Anderson Hidalgo with this pick.)

 

Round 20 – 79th Overall – Seth - RHP – Bruce Pugh

(Since we're talking about success 2-3 years down the road, I'll go with a sleeper pick instead of Chris Province)

 

Round 20 – 80th Overall – Roger – OF – Mark Dolenc

(I closed out my outfield with a player I was looking to take for about five rounds, Mark Dolenc.  Without a lot of publicity, Dolenc was one of the better outfielders in the organization last summer when he hit .288/.332/.392 for Ft. Myers.  He also had 27 stolen bases in 33 attempts, which is a better stolen base success rate than either Revere or Benson.)

 

Round 21 – 81st Overall – Roger – LHP – Michael Tarsi

(With Seth picking one spot ahead of my 20th pick, he again picked the player I was eyeing for one of these two picks, Bruce Pugh.  With Pugh gone, I closed out my bullpen with a big left handed long reliever/starter, Michael Tarsi.)

 

Round 21 – 82nd Overall – Seth - EX – Anderson Hidalgo

(Solid offensive season at E-Town, and Gleeman's got him in his top 40!)

 

Round 21 – 83rd Overall – Josh - OF – Romy Trinidad

(With my “Extra” pick, I wanted another outfielder and it came down between two Dominican players, Romy Trinidad and Candido Pimentel. I went with Trinidad because he’s a year younger and is three inches taller than Pimentel. Trinidad hit .312/.443/.363 as an 18-year-old in the DSL last summer and should be making his way to the States in 2010.)

 

Round 21 – 84th Overall – Travis – IF – Nick Romero

(I am very surprised he was not selected earlier as he was playing just about every day at 2nd for the Miracle.  He has some things to work on in his game, but he plays good defense and if you can do that the rest will take care of itself.)

 

Round 22 – 85th Overall – Travis - OF – Jonathan Goncalves

(I selected him because we don’t know much about him and if he has the ability to be a good prospect or someone that will hang around for a year or two.  He did not do much at E-Town, but he did not get a lot of opportunities so my hope is that he gets more at bats so we can know if he a contender or a pretender.)

 

Round 22 – 86th Overall – Josh – 1B – Jonathan Waltenbury

(I kind of shot myself in the foot on this pick. I had a feeling Travis might take Nick Romero and I took the risk of waiting for him in the 22nd round. Travis ended up taking Romero with his next pick and Jonathan Waltenbury was really the only other player that appealed to me. He climbed prospect charts in 2008 but fell off in 2009. He’ll likely repeat Single-A Beloit but he still has good upside.)

 

Round 22 – 87th Overall – Seth - OF – Matej Hejma

Not much to choose from. D. de La Osa is older. Wang-Wei Lin is a 5-tool type, but 22 and not out of GCL due to injuries.

 

Round 22 – 88th Overall – Roger - C – Allan de San Miguel

(With the final selection in the Seth Stohs 2010 draft, I selected my extra player/back up catcher.  It seems like Alan de San Miguel has been around for forever.  But he didn't turn 22 until last week, thus, is very young for someone who played on all four full-service teams last year.  An excellent defensive catcher who has never hit for a high average, de San Miguel had his best season at the plate last year.  At his age, should he continue to improve with his bat again this year his future will also continue to brighten.)

 

SETH’S TEAM SUMMARY

Real Briefly, I am going to write about my team, and then I will encourage you to check out the other drafters/bloggers for their thoughts on their rosters (here is Josh’s):

 

LINEUP

James Beresford – SS

Steve Singleton – 2B

Rene Tosoni – RF

Danny Valencia – 3B

Aaron Hicks – CF

Michael Gonzales – 1B

Chris Herrmann – C

Anderson Hidalgo – DH

Oswaldo Arcia – LF

 

Bench: Reggie Williams, Matej Hejma, Estarlin de Los Santos

 

Starting Rotation: Deolis Guerra, Blayne Weller, Matt Bashore, Miguel Munoz, Edgar Ibarra

Closer: Carlos Gutierrez

Bullpen: Santos Arias, Rob Delaney, Andrei Lobanov, Bruce Pugh

 

There you have it, Part 3 of the Minor League draft, and my team. For more information, lineups and more from each of the other teams, check out the sites of Roger Dehring, Josh Johnson and Travis Aune. Have yourself a great weekend. Feel free to leave your comments here.

 

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