Thread: Article: Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios Promoted to Elizabethton

Originally Posted by Celebrity Weddings!

Is this really that odd? Benson and Parmelee both saw time at Beloit in 2006. And Revere and Hicks both skipped E-Town so their lone assignment in the first season after being drafted was in Beloit. The group of high school pitchers is comparatively smaller, but Rainville and Swarzak actually logged substantial innings at Ft. Myers in the first year after their draft. Waldrop and Robertson both logged a lot of innings at Beloit in the year after their draft..

There is a difference and has to do with moving up the signing deadline this season. For all of the guys you are mentioning, their first pro season was the season after the one they were drafted, unlike Buxton and Berrios. If these two start next season in A ball (won't be Beloit, but some other place), it would be the equivalent of Revere and Hicks (or another high schooler) starting their pro seasons in A ball, which just hasn't happened with the Twins.

What ever happened to Buxton not having power? Just a look at his body profile and projecting it into his 20's makes it obvious how strong this guy will be.

Originally Posted by Jack Torse

What ever happened to Buxton not having power? Just a look at his body profile and projecting it into his 20's makes it obvious how strong this guy will be.

Scouts love his power potential - heck, his most common comparisons was Justin Upton. TR compared him to Sizemore. I think some fan posts might have suggested that his lack of HR in HS meant he didn't have power but those were silly posts.

Wow....pleasant surprise!

Originally Posted by thrylos98

Interesting. Add this to the list of unusual for the Twins minor league moves this season. If I were to venture a guess, I'd say that I would not be surprised if Jim Rantz officially announces his retirement in September/October. These look to me like someone else's moves...

Ahhh, but just who is the "Black Hand"? I'd like to give that hand a shake. Buxton deserves and needs the challenge and I speculated (maybe more wishful thinking on my part) that he should get moved this month , but wow, fast-tracking a high school pitcher, as well? Definitely not the Twins Way. Those sandwich picks may pay dividends sooner than expected.

This bold move loudly and clearly pushes every player in the organization and places them on notice to put up or prepare to be cut/traded.

Originally Posted by thrylos98

There is a difference and has to do with moving up the signing deadline this season. For all of the guys you are mentioning, their first pro season was the season after the one they were drafted, unlike Buxton and Berrios. If these two start next season in A ball (won't be Beloit, but some other place), it would be the equivalent of Revere and Hicks (or another high schooler) starting their pro seasons in A ball, which just hasn't happened with the Twins.

Joe Mauer played at E-Town his first summer and then to Low A at QC his second season. Are you saying that Buxton, Bard and Berrios won't start out in Beloit next year?

Originally Posted by jokin

Joe Mauer played at E-Town his first summer and then to Low A at QC his second season. Are you saying that Buxton, Bard and Berrios won't start out in Beloit next year?

I am saying that they will be in A ball in the season after they were drafted (which is next season). Mauer is the exception. He signed early so like those guys ended up playing Rookie ball the season he was drafted and A ball the season after he was drafted. (And he was Mauer and he was pushed). Most of the other High Schoolers singed around August 15 or so, so they did not have much time to play the season they were drafted and started in E-town or GCL the season after they were drafted.

> and struckout 27 baters

Aaron Bates is back down in Rookie ball?

Jokin, I think Thrylos believes Beloit won't be the A- affiliate of the Twins. They will start (and likely finish) at A- next year. Kepler, Buxton, D-Rod, Jimenez, and Pineda in the OF for Beloit next year?

Originally Posted by shanewahl

Jokin, I think Thrylos believes Beloit won't be the A- affiliate of the Twins. They will start (and likely finish) at A- next year. Kepler, Buxton, D-Rod, Jimenez, and Pineda in the OF for Beloit next year?

Thanks for the clarification. You hammered home the point I was making previously, this move pushes every OF and P in the org. to work harder to keep their jobs or expect to be traded. It's a rare and nice feeling to think that "positional blocking" might actually become a more frequent thread topic in relation to the Twins in the very near future.

They had a couple of injuries at Eliz and needed some players. So, why not the two biggies.

Originally Posted by thrylos98

For all of the guys you are mentioning, their first pro season was the season after the one they were drafted, unlike Buxton and Berrios. If these two start next season in A ball (won't be Beloit, but some other place), it would be the equivalent of Revere and Hicks (or another high schooler) starting their pro seasons in A ball, which just hasn't happened with the Twins.

That's not true. Parmelee, Hicks, Revere, and Benson all had between 200 and 250 plate appearances in the year they were drafted. Buxton has 102 so far, but if it weren't for the hamstring tweak he'd probably end up in the same ballpark for plate appearances.

Every one of those guys started the year after they were drafted in full season A-ball, with Benson and Parmelee actually getting to that level in the year they were drafted for about two weeks at the end of the season. Buxton is being set up for the same thing - a spring debut in full-season A ball.

Originally Posted by shanewahl

Jokin, I think Thrylos believes Beloit won't be the A- affiliate of the Twins. They will start (and likely finish) at A- next year. Kepler, Buxton, D-Rod, Jimenez, and Pineda in the OF for Beloit next year?

Correct on my belief that Beloit will not be a Twins' affiliate next season.

But A. Not A-. Just A (and I know a lot of people call the Midwest league -and the South Atlantic League- "low A" to distinguish from the "high A" Florida State and Carolina and California Leagues, but it isn't.)

"A-" or "low A" or "short season A" is a totally different level of competition akin to Elizabethton and the other teams of Appalachian league because their seasons start after the draft. Teams in the New York Penn League and Northwestern League are low A teams.

So 3 levels of "A" ball (as 3 levels of Rookie ball )

Don't know if someones mentioned this cause I don't wanna read through all the posts, but IMO with the new signing deadline I think we'll see the Twins promote younger guys a bit more agressively. Not so much once they hit full-season ball, but now that you have to sign earlier and it gives kids a time to get their feet wet in the GCL or E-town. Hopefully that should lead too some kids hitting fullseason ball quickier.

How many games left are in E-towns season? A months worth? Still happy to see what they can do in a new league...

Originally Posted by DPJ

Don't know if someones mentioned this cause I don't wanna read through all the posts, but IMO with the new signing deadline I think we'll see the Twins promote younger guys a bit more agressively. Not so much once they hit full-season ball, but now that you have to sign earlier and it gives kids a time to get their feet wet in the GCL or E-town. Hopefully that should lead too some kids hitting fullseason ball quickier.

Good point. The twins might be working on a system of wanting players to get so many at bats or innings pitched before doing promotions. This would lead to earlier promotions for key players.

Originally Posted by PseudoSABR

How many games left are in E-towns season? A months worth? Still happy to see what they can do in a new league...

The regular season ends exactly 3 weeks from today (8/28) but the will make the post-season and have a couple of makeup games as well

Think of how good E-Town will be now!!!!! They are already dominating, lol.

The more I think on this, the more I'm not surprised. Didn't Ryan or somebody in the front office say in an interview shortly after he was drafted that they were going to do this - let him start in GCL and then move him up to Appy mid-season? And as far as his numbers, Ryan has said he doesn't put much stock in numbers at this level. He's looking at how the players are adjusting to playing professional ball and trying to gauge their emotional makeup and maturity.

I don't put any stock whatsoever in some "Black Hand" notion that we're seeing some dramatic change in promotion policy that ought to strike fear in the hearts of the minor league players and that spells the end for the age-addled Jim Rantz. Rantz isn't tied up somewhere in a back room. Some of you may not be aware of the reality that he doesn't decide these cases on his own. It's a simple situation, and it has past precedence, as Celebrity Weddings accurately pointed out with the Hicks, Parmelee, Benson, and Revere examples. These two players, both mercurial talents, have, as kbknudson points out, satisfied the development staff's criteria of adjusting to pro ball and displaying the necessary makeup and maturity. As Ryan says, it goes beyond numbers to things they see that we don't see. If anything is instructive from this it's that a #2 pick often has loads more talent than the guy picked 28 slots later.