Minor Leagues

Brent Rooker was gearing up for the 2020 season thinking he had an opportunity to make his big-league debut and be part of one of the strongest teams in baseball. Now he is left wondering when the season will begin and how that will impact his eventual call-up. Rooker was kind enough to answer five (well almost five) questions for Twins Daily.

Major League Baseball, much like the rest of the world, is being hit hard by the fallout from COVID-19. We all know about the start of the regular season being pushed back, however, that is not the only thing in being affected, as the MLB Draft was in serious danger of not happening at all. Fortunately, MLB and MLBPA reached an agreement this past week that insured it will happen, albeit with some major alterations.

For the past six or seven years, I have gone down to Minnesota Twins spring training in Ft. Myers. I most enjoy spending time down on the minor league fields, head on a swivel, watching prospects do their work, practice and play games. It’s fun to see the top prospects in action, but for me it’s always fun to find a few players who aren’t talked about as much, or I haven’t seen in action, that stand out. Here are my three players from 2020 Twins minor league spring training (and a bonus minor league signing).

Over the span of just a couple of months in the summer of 2009, the Twins added the trio of Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler and Miguel Sano. In doing so, they shelled out just $4.675 million. On the cheap, the team added three players who have become big parts of the nucleus of the 2020 Twins and all have signed long-term extensions.

The summer of 2009 was an outlier from a normal year on the International market, but let's take a look at the Twins activity recently.

Sometimes narratives, baseball or other, get into circulation, and once they do, it seems that they are hard to get rid of. I have probably (unfortunately) started some, and I am sure that I have passed along some without doing any research. Of course, I think we all agree that a little data to either support or disprove any narrative should help. Today I am going to address one of those narratives and let you decide.

While in Ft. Myers, I chatted with Ft. Myers broadcaster Marshall Kelner in the Hammond Stadium press box on the team's scheduled off day. Kelner is a Minnesota native who has worked in several minor league cities in his young professional career. We discussed growing up as a Twins fan, going into broadcasting, his influences and all those Twins prospects that have played at Hammond Stadium in recent years.

Last month, Twins Daily ranked infielder Jose Miranda as the Twins #20 prospect. Last week, he arrived in Ft. Myers for his fourth spring training. Twins Daily caught up with the slugger to discuss several topics including being drafted, his strengths, what he’s working on, and his world-famous cousin.

Following their first postseason appearance since the inaugural season of Target Field, the Minnesota Twins found themselves in an unfamiliar position, as they didn’t have their first selection until the 20th pick of the 2018 MLB Draft. Factor that in with it being the first draft following the Twins taking Royce Lewis with the first overall selection in 2017, and it makes sense that not a lot of Twins fans were overly excited for this draft. However, that doesn’t mean that the Twins weren’t able to acquire some quality talent and now a season and a half later it appears that the Twins did just that.

Earlier in the week, I looked at Minnesota’s depth across the board and it makes it tough not to be excited about the club’s chances in 2020. That being said, one group of players might be being held back because of the team’s loaded big-league roster. For better or for worse, Minnesota’s top prospects aren’t going to get a long look this season because the club has big goals and depth at nearly every position

After the Minnesota Twins made him their ninth-round pick in the 2018 draft, Willie Joe Garry Jr. struggled in his professional debut. Since then, he’s literally been one of the first to the ballpark and his work started to pay off for him in 2019. After another offseason of work, he hopes to take his game to another level in 2020.

Josh Donaldson was brought to Minnesota because of his MVP-level play on the field, but his impact off the field might be even more important to the organization. Minnesota hasn’t had an MVP since 2009 when Joe Mauer took home the hardware. Now the Twins have signed a former MVP and Josh Donaldson seems to be doing everything in his power to help Minnesota’s top prospects reach their full potential.

We've spent the past couple weeks profiling our picks for the Top 20 (and beyond) prospects in the Minnesota Twins organization. Now, as spring training gets underway in earnest, these exciting young talents will bring the team's minor-league complex to life.

Let's step back and take stock of the Twins' system as it stands entering the 2020 season.