#30 – Brock Peterson – 1B – 23

2007 Team: New Britain Rockcats

Acquired: Twins 49th round pick in 2002 out of Chehalis (WA) high school

After two solid years at Ft. Myers, Peterson finally moved up to AA New Britain. I was surprised he went back to Ft. Myers last year, but it proved to be a blessing in disguise as he had a terrific season. He jumped from 12 to 21 home runs while dropping his strikeout rate. He started this season a little slow, hitting just .222 in April, but he has shown some improvement in May. On the year, he is now hitting .255/.322/.416 with four homers. Peterson is most frequently playing 1B for the Rockcats, but also spends plenty of time as the DH. He may be a guy who will repeat AA too, but considering he was a 49th round pick out of high school just five years ago, Peterson is doing very well!

2007 Projection: 1B/DH in New Britain

Potential: big league bat, could DH

Could be in Minnesota in: 2010

#29 – Whitney Robbins – 3B/1B – 22

2007 Teams: Ft. Myers Miracle

Acquired: Twins 4th round pick in 2006 out of Georgia Tech

Robbins was playing in the College World Series a year ago when the Twins drafted him in the 4th round. When his season ended, the Twins signed him and sent him straight to Beloit, the only Twins draft pick last year to play for a non-short season team. He started off very hot with a lot of extra base hits, but when back problems came to him, his season ended. This year, he began the year at Ft. Myers, but his bat has not really done anything much yet this year. Through today, Robbins is hitting just .232/.348/.284 with just six doubles, a triple and no home runs. That is surprising and yet few members of the Miracle have hit to this point. I thought he would be banging on the door to AA by this point in the season, but he will likely spend the rest of the year in Florida. 

2007 Projection: playing 3B in Ft. Myers

Potential: solid all around corner infielder

Could be in Minnesota in: 2009

#28 – Garrett Jones – 1B/DH – 25

2007 Team: Rochester Red Wings/Minnesota Twins

Acquired: signed with Twins as free agent in 2002.

Garrett Jones got a big league call up in May. It was short, less than a week, but he can now say he was a big leaguer, and he has a hit in the record books to prove it. He went just 1-8 in his brief stay, but apparently Gardy was impressed by Jones batting practice displays. I guess that is something. But, as disappointing as Jones has been the last two years at Rochester, he has been very good in 2007. Despite the fact that he is in his ninth professional season, he will only turn 26 in June. Although not young, that does keep him in the 'he could still do something' category. To date, in Rochester, Jones is hitting .296/.339/.512 with 12 doubles and seven homers. He still strikes out too much (about once every 4.5 at bats), but if he produces, that won't be a huge factor at all. I expect to see Jones back with the Twins. I believe he is out of options in 2008, so he will have to make the team. I know we'll see him in September, but it is possible he could get an extended look with the Twins.

2007 Projection: splitting time between Minnesota and Rochester as DH/PH/Backup 1B

Potential: DH, or pinch-hitter

Could be in Minnesota in: 2007

#27 – Denard Span – OF – 23

2007 Teams: Rochester Red Wings

Acquired: Twins 1st round pick in 2002 out of Tampa Catholic

Throughout spring training he was called the Centerfielder of the Future, Torii Hunter's heir-apparent. With a solid spring showing, and a lot of at bats, I was just about believing the hype. And then the regular season began, and reality set back in. We had heard that he had a new approach and was showing some pop in his bat. I don't know, I haven't seen it yet. He's hitting .216. He is getting on base less than 28% of the time. He does have nine doubles and two triples, which gives him a slugging percentage of just .286. Now, he is still just 23. He is in his first year at AAA. But from what we're seeing, he will not be a quality replacement for Torii Hunter. It is becoming much more likely that he will have a career similar to that of Jason Tyner. Now, to say something positive... he is 11 for 13 in stolen base attempts, a much better percent than he has had previously in his career.  

2007 Projection: playing CF in Rochester, September call up

Potential: light-hitting, #9 hitter

Could be in Minnesota in: 2007

#26 – Yohan Pino – RHP – 23

2007 Team: Ft. Myers Miracle

Acquired: signed as Free Agent from Venezuela in 2004

All he does is win, right? Coming into the year, he was 23-4 in his two past seasons. And yet, he couldn't even break the Miracle's starting rotation. But, as it happens every year, Pino got into the rotation, and it is unlikely that he will go back to the bullpen... unless or until he moves up to New Britain. Now this season, he is just 1-2, but he has a 1.57 ERA. He has pitched in 12 games, and he has now made three starts. Despite a very small, very thin stature and a fastball that rarely gets into the upper 80s, Pino has 29 strikeouts in 28.2 innings. His WHIP is just 0.84. Because of his size, he'll likely never be a top prospect. But he is one of those guys who will likely just continue to go underneath the radar, and just progress consistently. And who knows, he may just get a shot with the Twins if he can keep throwing strikes and finding ways to get guys out and pick up wins. 

2007 Projection: Should stay in the Beloit starting rotation. Possible move up to New Britain bullpen.

Potential: long reliever

Could be in Minnesota in: 2009

#25 – Brian Dinkelman – 2B – 23

2007 Team: Beloit Snappers

Acquired: Twins 8th round pick in 2006 out of McKendree College

Dinkelman may have come from an NAIA school, but after a great showing in Elizabethton last year, Dinkelman has been a bright spot for the Beloit offense. Although a recent slump dropped him to .262/.349/.436, he has 18 extra base hits in 172at bats. He has 10 doubles, four triples and four homers. Plus he has 21 walks. He is also 7/7 in stolen base attempts. So, with all that, why is he down this low? Well, he was in college for four years, so he is actually a year older than most of the 2006 college draft picks in the league. And, if you think about it, he is four years older than teammates Joe Benson and Chris Parmalee. His numbers are solid, but in perspective, I would like to see him pushed to Ft. Myers and see what he can do there.

2007 Projection: Moving around the IF at Beloit, possible promotion to FM when Kelly/Thompson come back.

Potential: solid top of the lineup hitter

Could be in Minnesota in: 2010

#24 – Jose Mijares – LHP – 22

2007 Teams: New Britain Rockcats

Acquired: signed as free agent by Twins in 2002 out of Venezuela

It has been an interesting, challenging year for Mijares so far. Early in spring training, he had to return to Venezuela because several members of his family had been murdered. He started the year at New Britain and really showed that he can be very good. In 21 innings, he had 22 strikeouts. He was 1-0 and had six saves. Mijares is another young, hard-throwing lefty. Unlike Francisco Liriano, Mijares is a thick man. With the recent injuries to Dennys Reyes and Glen Perkins, and the promotions of Carmen Cali and Jason Miller to the Twins, Mijares was moved up to Rochester. He got into his first game for the team and threw three shutout innings. Last night, he threw two perfect innings. Although Mijares has started in the past, I think that his future with the Twins will be as a dominating lefty reliever. 

2007 Projection: promoted to Rochester, and maybe time with the Twins

Potential: dominant left-handed reliever

Could be in Minnesota in: 2007

#23 – Danny Santiesteban – OF – 21

2007 Teams: Beloit Snappers

Acquired: Twins 39th round pick in 2004 out of Palm Beach Community College

Some may be surprised by how high I have Santiesteban rated. At Beloit this year, his first year with a full-season affiliate, he is hitting just .210/.271/.403. However, he is a tremendous defensive outfielder. He has great speed. He is five for six in stolen base attempts. He has a strong arm. And he has a lot of power. In 119 at bats, he has hit six homers and has ten extra base hits. Again, that is not a big number, but as he continues to get bigger, more power should come. He certainly will need to cut down on the strikeouts though. This may be a little bit of a reach, but we are talking about potential and upside, and Santiesteban has a very high ceiling! 

2007 Projection: playing three OF positions in Beloit

Potential: 5-tool athlete, All Star caliber, 30/30 type

Could be in Minnesota in: 2010

#22 – Ryan Mullins – LHP – 23

2007 Teams: Ft. Myers Miracle/New Britain Rockcats

Acquired: Twins 3rd round pick in 2005 out of Vanderbilt

I thought that Ryan Mullins had a disappointing season in 2006 at Beloit. As a college pitcher, I thought he would do very well at Beloit and work his way up to Ft. Myers. But that just didn't happen, and in my opinion, at no point was it warranted. As a matter of fact, his first appearance for the Miracle was an inning out of the bullpen. But, he then entered the rotation and he has been spectacular this year. For the season at Ft. Myers, he was 3-3 with a 1.98 ERA. That doesn't tell the whole story. In his past five outings, he is 3-1 with a 0.87 ERA. All that earned him a promotion to New Britain just yesterday where he replaced Brian Duensing who replace Kevin Slowey. In his debut last night at AA, he went six innings and gave up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out seven. The tall lefty is a smart pitcher. He doesn't throw terribly hard, but has enough stuff and intelligence to be successful. Hopefully that means the 2006 version of his former college teammate Jeremy Sowers.

2007 Projection: possible promotion to New Britain

Potential: #4 starter

Could be in Minnesota in: 2009

#21 – Joe Benson – OF– 19

2007 Team: Beloit Snappers

Acquired: Twins 2nd round pick in 2006 out of Joliet (IL) High School

Speaking of Joe Benson, when it comes to athleticism and talent and potential and high ceilings, Benson have as much of them as anyone in the top fifty. At 19, Benson and Parmalee are two of the youngest players in the Midwest League. As you would expect of guys that young entering their first full seasons, Benson has struggled a lot in the early goings. The main concern in my mind is the number of strikeouts. He has 39 strikeouts in 164 plate appearances. That is one strikeout every 4.2 plate appearances which isn't a great number, but a great improvement over when we looked at that a month ago. In other words, he is making adjustments, and that is key in player development. He also has 11 extra base hits and seven stolen bases. So, despite a .207 batting average (with a solid Isolated Discipline of .085), there is a lot of reason to remain very optimistic about the future of Joe Benson.  

2007 Projection: Should spend the whole year in the OF in Beloit.

Potential: a good power/speed guy

Could be in Minnesota in: 2011