Those of you who have been to this site since last summer know that each day during the minor league season I wrote up brief updates of what happened with each of the Twins affiliates. Throughout the season, three names popped up on nearly a daily basis. Garrett Jones, Luis Maza and Kevin West all had wonderful seasons, and most of their seasons were spent at Class AA New Britain. Maza hit second, Jones hit third and West hit fourth.
But when further researching these three ballplayers, we find that they have a lot in common. They all had real breakout seasons in 2004. I was actually surprised to see from how out-of-nowhere these three really came last year. So let's take a quick look at each.
Jones
was selected in the 14th round of the 1999 draft out of an Andrew,
Illinois, high school by the Atlanta Braves. He spent the rest of
that summer with a Braves short-season rookie league team.
And then he spent 2000 at short-season rookie league.
And he spent 2001 at short-season rookie league.
And then the Braves let him go, released him.
The Twins signed him and he spent the 2002 season with Low-A Quad Cities. In 63 games with the Swing, he hit .202/.238/.372 with eight doubles, 10 homers and 32 RBI. He walked just 11 times and struck out 82 times. He moved up to High-A Ft. Myers in 2003. In 117 games, he hit .220/.280/.408 with 12 doubles, five triples, 18 homers and 67 RBI. He walked 32 times and struck out 98 times.
And then came last year. He started the season at Ft. Myers again, and you would think that he was called up to AA because of his performance. I don't think that is the case. In 19 games with the Miracle, he was hitting just .242/.286/.364 with five doubles, one homer and six RBI. He had walked four times and struck out 19 times.
What
happened next is really almost unfathomable, based on his five
previous seasons. After his call-up to AA New Britain, Jones became
a monster. He hit .311/.356/.593 with 33 doubles, 30 homers and 92
RBI. He even stole ten bases. He walked just 28 times and still
struck out 98 times, but that is acceptable when you put up those
kinds of numbers!
So where did it come from? I wish I could answer that! I bet Jones wishes he could answer that! Jones is a big man (6-4, 205). He is still just 23 years old. Obviously the potential has been there, just without the results. Whatever it was, Jones took advantage. Following the season, the Twins put him on their 40 man roster because they would have lost him if they wouldn't have. He spent just a few weeks with the Twins in spring training, but showed the team a lot. Some even said that he might have the "most power in the organization." Until I see him do some of the things that Justin Morneau has done, I will be happy to say that Jones is the second most powerful hitter in the Twins organization!
He will likely spend the 2005 season at AAA Rochester and if he continues to perform and there is an injury in Minnesota to Morneau (let's hope not!), Jones could be recalled.
Maza
was signed by the Twins as a free agent in 1997 out of Venezuela. He
stayed in the country and played for the Twins academy there for a
couple of summers. The Twins were very patient with him, keeping him
in rookie ball through the 2000 season. Even in the rookie leagues,
he was not much of a hitter.
In 2001, Maza played in 116 games at Quad Cities. He hit .280/.357/.403 with 24 doubles, nine homers and 46 RBI. He was also hit-by-pitch 23 times. He moved up to Ft. Myers in 2002 where he played in 105 games. He hit just .241/.302/.337 with 15 doubles, four homers and 38 RBI. And he was hit 13 times. He repeated at Ft. Myers in 2003 and played in 111 games. He improved to .290/.368/.400 with 18 doubles, six triples, five homers and 61 RBI. Good numbers, but certainly far from top prospect levels.
However, it was now time for Maza to show if he could do something, so last year, he moved up to New Britain. And another breakout season happened. Things actually started well in spring training when he went 3-5 with a home (and an HBP) for the Twins big league club. Maza played in 126 games and hit .311/.365/.470 with 26 doubles, eight triples, 12 homers and 66 RBI. And yes, he was hit another 15 times.
Maybe the most impressive thing about Maza is his defense. At one point last year, he went over 75 games without committing an error at 2B. He moved up to Rochester for nine games and had one error. In that brief stint, he hit .229/.289/.343 with two doubles, a triple and (you got it) two HBP.
Maza was a non-roster invitee to Twins training camp again this spring. Interestingly, he played most of the time at SS. I would think that the 24 year old Maza will spend 2004 at Rochester. He is one of few legit middle infield prospects in the Twins organization. But I don't know if he will play 2B or SS. Luis Rodriguez will likely play somewhere. Brent Abernathy and Andy Fox could both play in Rochester. I would certainly hope that Rodriguez and Maza would not be held back by the likes of Abernathy, Fox or Augie Ojeda.
25
year old Kevin West had been a decent power hitter since the
Twins drafted him in the 16th round of the 1999 draft. The San Jose,
CA, native was drafted out of Menducino Junior College.
West is a powerful 6-2, 195 pound right-handed hitter. He spent 1999 with Elizabethton. He then spent two years at Quad Cities. Then in 2002, West moved up to Ft. Myers where he played 129 games. He hit .275/.351/.430 with 25 doubles, 12 homers and 64 RBI. He walked 46 times and struck out 96 times. In 2003, he moved up to New Britain where in 136 games, he hit .279/.317/.451 with 41 doubles, 14 homers and 79 RBI. He walked just 27 times and struck out 110 times. That could have been a breakout season of sorts, I guess.
But in 2004, West played in 119 games at New Britain and improved to .293/.359/.551 with 35 doubles, 25 homers and 87 RBI. He struck out 41 times and walked 98 times. His strong played meant a promotion to AAA Rochester where he played in 19 more games primarily as a DH. Not only did he play, but he contributed while hitting right in the middle of the Redwings lineup. He hit .276/.296/.526 with seven doubles, four homers and 20 RBI. He walked just three times and struck out 19 times.
We
have heard that West is not a swift-moving outfielder, so his future
with the Twins would likely be as a DH or 5th outfielder. I feared
that when the Twins left him off of the 40 man roster that he was
going to be lost in the Rule V draft. Why? Because I think that he
has the power to contribute to a big league club now. However, a
couple of weeks ago, I e-mailed the Star-Tribune's LaVelle E.
Neal and asked him about West. He told me that West was in minor
league camp and in the best shape of his life. The concern with West
is his ability to hit a big-league curveball. I can see where the
concern would come from, based on his strikeout totals.
West will start the 2005 season with the Redwings in Rochester. Likely, he will spend some time in the outfield alongside Jason Tyner and Josh Rabe, but I would also expect that he will see plenty of time as the Designated Hitter. If he is able to put the ball in play more consistently and show the Twins brass that he can hit a curveball, he could help the Twins later in the season.
SUMMARY
Three players who had all been slowly working their way through the Twins minor league system for a few years. Three players who hadn't really distinguished themselves as potential contributors to the Twins. Three players who likely started the 2004 season in New Britain in what could have been their last opportunities. Three remarkable seasons that each will hope to build on in 2005.
Everyone has heard of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jesse Crain and JD Durbin. Jason Kubel and Scott Baker moved swiftly through the Twins system last year. But it is important to remember that there are a lot of players in an organization, guys who have worked really hard to just move up a level a year. There are guys like Luis Rodriguez who has been productive the last two seasons at Rochester without even being given a real shot at a spot with the Twins. And then there are guys like Garrett Jones, Luis Maza and Kevin West. They had put in their time. And when each had a great 2004 season, they put their names on the Twins map. Each is now considered a possible future big leaguers. And these guys sometimes deserve to be noticed as much as the big leaguers whose realized dreams all of these guys are chasing as well.