Ranking Prospects by Position

[AZTwin]

I know Seth did his organizational rankings in total but I wanted to give my thoughts (for what that's worth) on how I view the prospects and wanted to do it by positional breakdown so we can better dissect the health of the organization.   For the sake of argument, I will assume all of our top 10 round draft picks will sign.

Catcher
1. Ben Rortvedt (all potential here)
2. Mitch Garver (backup catcher at MLB level)
3. Stuart Turner (AAAA player)
4. AJ Murray
5. Kerby Camacho

Comments - Adding some depth here but no one really standing out right now

1st Basemen
1. Lewin Diaz
2. Amaurys Minier
3. Zander Wiel 

Comments - Yikes!  

2nd Basemen

1. Jorge Polanco
2. Luis Arraez
3.  Sean Miller

Comments - Think Polanco could stick.   Arraez is still kind of far away but he could be a player.  Sean Miller is some nice depth.

Shortstop
1. Nick Gordon
2. Engelb Vielma
3. Wander Javier
4. Jermaine Palacios

Comments - Position of strength right here.  I actually like Vielma better than Gordon but easily Gordon has the higher ceiling.   Middle Infield is definitely a strength in the organization and it could be hard to break them in.  My guess is that if we start making a run in a couple years, the prospects could be used as trade chips

3rd Basemen
1. Trey Cabbage
2. Travis Blankenhorn
3. Jose Miranda

Comments - A little rough here.  Everyone is pretty far away.  Could Javier move over to 3rd base if MIF is full.

Corner Outfield
1. Max Kepler
2. Alex Kiriloff
3. Danial Palka
4. Travis Harrison
5. Lamonte Wade
6. Akil Baddoo
7. Adam Walker

Comments - Some depth here but nothing too special.  Probably doesn't need to be with the Twins outfield being young and pretty set in stone with guys like Sano, Kepler, Rosario, etc.

Centerfield

1. Zach Granite
2. Edgar Corcino

Comments - Nothing here but does there need to be with Buxton locking this position down?

Starting Pitchers
1. Jose Berrios (have him a 1 or 2)
2. Tyler Jay (1 or 2)
3. Stephen Gonsalves (2 or 3)
4. Kohl Stewart (3 or 4)
5. Fernando Romero (backend starter)
6. Lewis Thorpe (backend starter or relief)
7. Felix Jorge (5th starter or relief pitcher)
8. Randy Rosario (relief)

Comments - We have a lot of top end talent here.  I won't bother posting the relief pitchers as I think you know of the usual suspects.  Chargois, Burdi, Ramirez, etc.

Sorry if I missed anyone but it really looks like we have some incredible depth in the organization at all positions (except 1st, 3rd, Catcher and CF) and I would be hard pressed to find another organization with this much talent.  I really do believe the Twins will be contending in 2-3 years. It looks like we will have a lot of trade chips available if we are really missing pieces

 

[Rosterman]

Just these guys alone will be hard to protect over the next two off seasons, so some decisions have to be made truly about where they fall on the Twins depth charts.

 

C = Murphy might be a real deal and the Twins can hold fort with Garver and Turner until someone they drafted this year comes along. Again, though, they should look strong at free agents come 2018. But until then, an area of weakness and we will have a one-year minor league signee next season as back up.

 

1B = We have Park and Mauer. We also have Vargas, who is tradebait. At one point thought Kepler could be the 1B guy of the future, if you decide NOT to move Sano there.

 

2B = Polanco has to make a move and possibly push aside Dozier. Again, as we look at vets on the current roster...do we want those guys here in 2017 or 2018 and beyond? If so, extend them, if not...trade them.

 

SS = Ryan Walker is showing some life. But the Twins have too many bodies here. Gordon will be around for the longterm and Javier is considered hot, plus some youngster they signed this year. There is some strength to package as we go beyond Escobar, Nunez and Beresford (and Tovar).

 

3B = Cabbage or Blankenhorn. But we do have Sano and hope to get 2-3-4 years out of him at that corner.

 

OF = Rosario, Santana, Grossman is now part of the game, Buxton, Walker, Michael, Palka. We probably have some strength, here. And if he Twins go after any position player as a free agent, it should be a solid outfielder with 2-3 years of control, probably before the 2018 season. Depending on who is who, do we go after power or speed, r just someone who is versatile.

 

SP - If and when the Twins do become competitive, it would be ncie if they broke the bank on the best starter available and surround them with the prospects mentioned above.

 

RP = Who are the Twins grooming in the system to be a closer is the question. Do they convert a starter? Will Burdi or Reed or Chargois come thru? Just don't do what theya re doing this year. We need long men. We need ground ball guys. We need a fly ball guy. We need K's. But msot of all, we need a starting staff that can get into the 7th inning.

 

When you look at the Big Picture of most major league teams, you maybe bring up 8-12 guys a year and maybe 3-4 stick around fulltime. You add 6-8 players each year to the 40-man. Next three years = 24 new names. Who will they be in 2017, 2018, 2019?

 

Of course, turnover could be major, but remember we are talking about prospects here, not journeymen who others have given up on who rehabs from indy ball.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm not quite sure what the criteria is for ranking.  I don't see how Rortvedt is better than Garver right now.  He certainly may have a higher ceiling, but Garver could actually be a league average to slightly better catcher.  Rortvedt could definitely be better, but he's nowhere close to where Garver is now.

 

Same with Walker.  I wouldn't rank him below either of the guys we drafted right now.

[AZTwin]

Potential played a part. For walker and garver, we know who they are. Garver is a backup catcher ceiling and walker is a AAAA player at best. I mean he's barely a AAA player right now. Yeah those guys are ahead of who we drafted but they don't have a lot of potential so I can't see them being key contributors in the future

[bluechipper]

I'd bump Travis Harrison down to 7th on the corner OF list. I don't know if it's a draft position thing with Harrison in regards to him even being ranked on these types of prospect lists, but he hasn't really done much of anything since a decent season in Cedar Rapids 3 years ago.

 

I will give him credit for improving this year in his second chance in Chattanooga, but it's still just a .751 OPS.

[bluechipper]

Lewis Thorpe is the guy I really want to see pitch again. He had a 3.52 ERA with 10 K/9 as an 18 year old in Cedar Rapids 2 years ago, so I think your back-end starter/reliever prediction is a little pessimistic.

[Pardon My Dinger]

 

 the Twins outfield being young and pretty set in stone with guys like Sano, Kepler, Rosario, etc.

How dare you!

[d-mac]

You have LaMonte Wade criminally underrated.