Vargas, Berrios win Twins minor league awards

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins announced this afternoon that 1B Kennys Vargas and SP JO Berrios were named their minor league hitter and pitcher of the year, respectively.

 

At Twins Daily, my choices for the awards were Mitch Garver (Hitter), JO Berrios (Starting Pitcher), Brandon Peterson (Relief Pitcher) of the year. 

 

It's hard to argue with either choice. My choice of Mitch Garver had as much to do with the fact that he spent the entire season playing well in the minor leagues. Vargas's 2014 minor league season ended on July 31 when he was promoted to the Twins following a six-week slump in New Britain. However, Vargas was my #2 choice and is deserving. 

 

I don't think anyone would question JO Berrios as the choice for top pitcher of the year. 

[gunnarthor]

I assume this is hitter and pitcher of the year but your paragraph says "of the month."  

 

Berrios was the obvious choice but May had a tremendous season at AAA and a few others had some nice and surprising seasons.  Not a terrible year for our pitchers, despite Meyer's somewhat disappointing season.

 

For hitter, Vargas is a good choice, I suppose.  Kind of a rough year for our hitters.

[jharaldson]

I would disagree a bit.  Berrios had great numbers with Ft. Meyers (10 K/9, 2 BB/9, 1.96 ERA) but came back to the pack in AA (6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 3.54 ERA).  I would maybe see rewarding a guy who performed really well at a high level like Trevor May who put up really good numbers against good competition (8.5 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, and a 2.84 ERA).

[Mike Sixel]

Berrios was an obvious choice.

 

Not sure how I feel about Vargas, given that he only spent about half the minor league season in the minors (give or take). I'd think he would have had to have been much more dominant to win in half a year.......

[jharaldson]

 

I still don't see why it is obvious.  The numbers are close and May pitched in a better league.  There is at least a discussion, right?

[gunnarthor]

berriosmay.jpg

 

I still don't see why it is obvious.  The numbers are close and May pitched in a better league.  There is at least a discussion, right?

I agree somewhat.  But Berrios age and his sky rocketing up prospect lists probably push him over May.

[Mike Sixel]

berriosmay.jpg

 

I still don't see why it is obvious.  The numbers are close and May pitched in a better league.  There is at least a discussion, right?

 

Yes, it might not be as obvious as I thought. But, he went from low A to AA, and moved from "he might a be a 4" to "he might be legit" this year (in many minds). I think it is as much as about outcomes as expectations vs outcomes. May did about what was expected, I'd think.

[kab21]

Berrios was an obvious choice.

 

Not sure how I feel about Vargas, given that he only spent about half the minor league season in the minors (give or take). I'd think he would have had to have been much more dominant to win in half a year.......

 

I wouldn't consider 4 out 5 months as half a season (give or take).

 

It will be interesting to see what scouts think of Garver this offseason.  So far there doesn't seem to be much buzz about him even though he had a great season.  He was old for the league (for a prospect) and is already a C/DH but he showed power in a neutral/pitchers league with great plate discipline.

[Seth Stohs]

berriosmay.jpg

 

I still don't see why it is obvious.  The numbers are close and May pitched in a better league.  There is at least a discussion, right?

 

There can definitely be discussion. I think I had May as my #6 for the starting pitcher of the year (in part due to missing a month, I guess). I had Wheeler, Rogers, Duffey and Hu ahead of him. I think Berrios was an easy choice, but I like the discussion for sure.

[Seth Stohs]

I wouldn't consider 4 out 5 months as half a season (give or take).

 

It will be interesting to see what scouts think of Garver this offseason.  So far there doesn't seem to be much buzz about him even though he had a great season.  He was old for the league (for a prospect) and is already a C/DH but he showed power in a neutral/pitchers league with great plate discipline.

 

I know where I'll have him in this preliminary list... Any guesses? 

 

"Already a C/DH" - This is a positive thing. He is a pretty solid catcher who can hit well enough that they wanted him DHing many of the games he wasn't behind the plate. The helps from a prospect list standpoint.

[Mike Sixel]

Ya, a C is a great asset, not sure how being a C/DH is a bad thing.....

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

berriosmay.jpg

 

I still don't see why it is obvious.  The numbers are close and May pitched in a better league.  There is at least a discussion, right?

 

I'm guessing it was. I don't think either were hands down winners, but both choices were justifiable for various reasons.

[Steven Buhr]

I wouldn't consider 4 out 5 months as half a season (give or take).

 

It will be interesting to see what scouts think of Garver this offseason.  So far there doesn't seem to be much buzz about him even though he had a great season.  He was old for the league (for a prospect) and is already a C/DH but he showed power in a neutral/pitchers league with great plate discipline.

 

Just to add to Seth's response.

 

It's important to realize that when you see minor leaguers playing multiple positions, whether it's a C who also plays OF/1B/DH or a SS who also plays 2B/3B, it's not necessarily a reflection on their abilities to play their primary position full time (as may be the case in the big leagues).

 

In the minors, a manager is likely to have 3 catchers and 3 shortstops and it's his job to make sure all of them get enough time at the position to be evaluated fairly by the staff and the organization's scouts.

 

CR started the year with 3 catchers. For a while, they'd kind of alternate every game. Later, Jake Mauer would have each guy catch a full series so they could be evaluated on their abilities to handle catching several days in a row. Through the stretch run late in the year, the "3rd catcher," Alex Swim was playing RF pretty much ever game, so Garver and Michael Quesada (who, for my money, was the best overall defensive-minded catcher on the team) got almost every inning behind the plate. If Quesada was catching, however, Garver was still in the line up at DH.

 

As Seth indicated, that's not a negative reflection on Garver's long term potential as an everyday catcher, it's a positive reflection on how important his bat was to the Kernels.

 

Just one reason we have to be a little bit cautious about how we evaluate the numbers for minor leaguers, especially below the AA level.

[Seth Stohs]

Very good points, JC... 

[kab21]

I seem to remember the same things being said about Herrman.  If players are legit catching prospects then they would catch more games since their development is really important.  turner for example caught 92 games in Ft Myers.  Quesada might be a great defensive catcher but you don't stall the development of someone that you think is a legit catching prospect for 24 yr old career MiLB'ers.

 

But this is one of the interesting things that we will read from the scouts this offseason.  Perhaps they liked his defense. 

[TRex]

Just to add to Seth's response.

 

It's important to realize that when you see minor leaguers playing multiple positions, whether it's a C who also plays OF/1B/DH or a SS who also plays 2B/3B, it's not necessarily a reflection on their abilities to play their primary position full time (as may be the case in the big leagues).

 

In the minors, a manager is likely to have 3 catchers and 3 shortstops and it's his job to make sure all of them get enough time at the position to be evaluated fairly by the staff and the organization's scouts.

 

CR started the year with 3 catchers. For a while, they'd kind of alternate every game. Later, Jake Mauer would have each guy catch a full series so they could be evaluated on their abilities to handle catching several days in a row. Through the stretch run late in the year, the "3rd catcher," Alex Swim was playing RF pretty much ever game, so Garver and Michael Quesada (who, for my money, was the best overall defensive-minded catcher on the team) got almost every inning behind the plate. If Quesada was catching, however, Garver was still in the line up at DH.

 

As Seth indicated, that's not a negative reflection on Garver's long term potential as an everyday catcher, it's a positive reflection on how important his bat was to the Kernels.

 

Just one reason we have to be a little bit cautious about how we evaluate the numbers for minor leaguers, especially below the AA level.

If you are going to cut him slack on not catching every day, don't you then also have to discount his offensive numbers because he wasn't taking the wear and tear behind the plate? Now... how much you discount them is up for debate. If he was a full time DH, he wouldn't be a prospect at all, but if he caught 110 games he would be in the top 20.