Baseball America Top 10 Twins Prospects

[Nick Nelson]

Baseball America released its annual list of the Top 10 prospects in the Twins organization, as compiled by Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press.

 

You can read the writeup here but here's how BA's list shakes out:

 

1. Byron Buxton, of
2. Miguel Sano, 3b
3. Jose Berrios, rhp
4. Kohl Stewart, rhp
5. Alex Meyer, rhp
6. Nick Gordon, ss
7. Nick Burdi, rhp
8. Jorge Polanco, ss/2b
9. Trevor May, rhp
10. Eddie Rosario, of/2b

 

Some interesting things to note:

 

* Buxton & Sano still in the 1 & 2 spots despite tumultuous/lost seasons.

 

* Order of top pitchers has gone from Meyer-Stewart-Berrios last year to Berrios-Stewart-Meyer this year.

 

* Top draft pick Nick Gordon already in as the third-highest position player on the list.

 

* Nick Burdi at No. 7 as a pure relief prospect. Guess triple-digit heat and a dazzling pro debut will do that.

 

* I was a little surprised to see Trevor May sneak in. Rosario still hanging on after  a rough year, though he did drop three spots.

 

Any thoughts? Any rankings you'd take issue with? Anyone who's not listed that you think should have been?

[gunnarthor]

I wasn't surprised at May - frankly, he could be higher depending on how you want to rank prospects.  He's a pretty secure bet to pitch in the majors (again).  Some of the guys ahead of him may never make it. 

 

Solid depth in our system, although I would have been a lot happier if Buxton, Sano, May and Meyer had lost their eligibility by playing more in the majors this year.

 

Rosario might have had his AFL success play into the ranking - I'd probably have put Thorpe above him.

 

I think Burdi is in the majors by the all-star break next year.

 

I believe BA, Fangraphs and Sickels have all put out rankings already.

[TRex]

These two lines about Kohl Stewart have me confused

 

1. ...but prefers to put hitters away with a mid-80s power slider that ranks among the best in the system...
2. Perhaps because hitters could eliminate two pitches on many nights, Stewart’s strikeout rate was of 6.4 per nine innings was well off the pace for top Midwest League starters.

This makes it sound like, on many nights, Kohl Stewart threw only (mainly) fastballs and sliders. I had the impression that he limited the use of his slider. Does this sound correct, SD Buhr?

[nater79a]

Can anybody remember the last time a pure reliever was in the Twins top 10?

[Seth Stohs]

I'm good with Berardino's rankings. I think they're fair. We all have our "favorites" or guys we really believe in and may put higher than others. I know I'm guilty of that. I think if this were a Top 15 or 20 list, there are still a lot of guys who would have us excited.

[Seth Stohs]

Can anybody remember the last time a pure reliever was in the Twins top 10?

 

I know Jesse Crain was... Not  sure about others. Maybe Neshek in 05?

[twinsfanstreif]

On the May inclusion, BA overvalues ML ready players and will place them higher because of it. Remember when they had Nick Blackburn as our #1 prospect? Granted our farm system was trash then but still we had Wilson Ramos and Ben Revere in that top 10 below Blackburn.

[gunnarthor]

Can anybody remember the last time a pure reliever was in the Twins top 10?

My guess would be Crain or Mijares in a top 10.  

[nater79a]

With Stewart, Meyer, Gordon - could almost put them in any order. All individual preference. Wouldn't be surprised to see them within 10 spots of each other in the BA overall 100.

[gunnarthor]

On the May inclusion, BA overvalues ML ready players and will place them higher because of it. Remember when they had Nick Blackburn as our #1 prospect? Granted our farm system was trash then but still we had Wilson Ramos and Ben Revere in that top 10 below Blackburn.

I always felt the opposite - they under rank AAA guys while dreaming on lower ranked guys.

As to Blackburn, he had a very good career - 137 starts in the majors.  69 of which were quality starts.  He had two pretty darn good seasons and, while I questioned WAR's value on another thread, he did manage two 2+ WAR seasons.  Revere and Ramos have combined for two.

[Seth Stohs]

Check out Mike Berardino's Top Ten Twins Propsects Chat from Baseball America this afternoon: 

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/?1416001091

[Seth Stohs]

I always felt the opposite - they under rank AAA guys while dreaming on lower ranked guys.

As to Blackburn, he had a very good career - 137 starts in the majors.  69 of which were quality starts.  He had two pretty darn good seasons and, while I questioned WAR's value on another thread, he did manage two 2+ WAR seasons.  Revere and Ramos have combined for two.

 

I would say that Blackburn's first two big league season's were pretty solid, not 'very good.' after that, it was too many strikes and too many injuries.

 

I think that was an anomaly of a year.  I had many chats with John Manuel about the Blackburn ranking. But typically Baseball America and all such rankings (mine included) tend to value upside more than big league proximity. 

[jokin]

Buried within the article, something interesting that many may have missed:

 

 

Despite those successes, minor league hitting coordinator Bill Springman and Fort Myers pitching coach Gary Lucas were each dismissed after 15 years in the organization. Rookie-level Gulf Coast League pitching coach Ehren Wassermann also wasn’t invited back,                                                                                                                        

 

Second-year farm director Brad Steil made those recommendations, and Ryan honored them in hopes of expediting the Twins’ turnaround.

 

 

Pretty harsh outcome for Gary Lucas.  First FSL championship, team pitching ERA was 4th in the league, led the league in CGs with 10.  Under Springman's coordination:

 

Rk  OPS .708 1st in League

A    OPS .703 5th in 16-team League

A+  OPS .722 2nd in League

AA  OPS .708 7th in League

AAA OPS .722 6th in 14-team League

 

 

Does Terry Ryan have a new hatchet man in the making?  Brad Stiel looks like he's going to demand even higher standards.  Future GM material?

[gunnarthor]

I would say that Blackburn's first two big league season's were pretty solid, not 'very good.' after that, it was too many strikes and too many injuries.

 

I think that was an anomaly of a year.  I had many chats with John Manuel about the Blackburn ranking. But typically Baseball America and all such rankings (mine included) tend to value upside more than big league proximity. 

Probably just arguing semantics here.  I would expect that most pitching prospects would be thrilled to make 130+ starts in the majors.

[Thrylos]

Polanco is too low and Gordon is too high.

[bird]

Nice balance of pitching and position prospects, with 8 of the 10 likely to be contributors within a year or so. And there are another 20 prospects that are or will possibly be C+ or better prospects. Very exciting!

[Sweetwater]

I like it. Totally fine with Burdi in the top 10.