The OTHER Twins milb prospects you are watching

[DocBauer]

The earth always seems to spin a little more true, wobble just a bit less, when baseball is being played. (*I have no actual proof of this, but my feet always seem more firmly planted on the ground). And while it will be a while yet until truly meaningful games are played, the Twins are back in action. And very soon, the minor leaguers will be reporting and preparing for their upcoming season. Thankfully, one of the best things about Twins Daily...our baseball gospel as it were...is the attention given to the Twins minor leagues. There are a ton of various top prospect lists out there, including some presented by TD posters. But in deference to the ownership collective here, I am referencing prospects outside of the collective top 20 Twins prospects. As a refresher, they are as follows:

 

20) Justin Haley SP/RP?

19) Ben Rortvedt C

18) Engelb Vielma SS

17) Nick Burdi RP

16) Zach Granite OF

15) LaMonte Wade OF

14) Daniel Palka OF/1B?

13) JT Chargois RP

12) Felix Jorge SP

11) Mitch Garver C

10) Lewin Diaz 1B

9) Travis Blankenhorn 2B/3B?

8) Kohl Stewart SP

7) Adalberto Mejia SP

6) Wander Javier SS

5) Tyler Jay SP

4) Nick Gordon SS

3) Alex Kirilloff

2) Stephen Gonsalves

1) Fernando Romero

 

Over the next five months or so, we will have various commentaries and debates while following these 20 closely, and the seasons they are having, as well as various other players, probably at AAA primarily, and does so and so deserve a shot, etc. But there is a vast Twins milb system to consider, and literally hundreds of other players to watch and consider and speculate about.

 

Other than this collection of top 20 prospects, who is it that YOU are personally following and are interested and intrigued by? Is it someone from your area? Someone you feel is overlooked? Someone you've watched play or met? Someone not getting enough credit? Perhaps someone from the DSL? (Hello Thrylos!) Perhaps someone with a human interest story or someone you think we've all forgotten about?

 

I could offer a fairly lengthy list of my own, but there are a few guys that really peak my interest that I will begin with:

 

Trevor Hildenberger RHRP: I don't care that he's 26 and hasn't pitched above AA yet. Relievers to me, much like catchers, aren't as defined by age as other players are. And for some reason, I'm suckered by side-armors. Guy has been flat out nasty and throws harder than most side-flingers seem to be. I'm betting on him making an appearance in 2017 and possibly sticking.

 

Aaron Slegers RHSP: He may be 6' 10" but his no Johnson or Meyers. That can be both good and bad. You'd think someone that large would just "bring it", but we all know pitch velocity is just not always about build. Reports have him high 80's and low 90's but with a deceptive delivery, with his length, and some mechanical inconsistencies. Walk rate and WHIP pretty good. Could experience and consistency with his mechanics suddenly vault him to a higher prospect status?

 

Lewis Thorpe LHSP: What could be right now eh? Considering the way he was tracking and what was said about him early on, healthy, could he be the Twins #1 prospect today? Thankfully, his lost 2016 was due to illness and not injury. Still, his 2015 was, and that's almost two full years lost. Kind of sounds a bit like Romero though, doesn't it? If his still youthful self hasn't been ravaged via initial injury and then sickness, I'd really like to think he will rebound similarly as Romero did and this time next year we will be talking about him as a top 10 prospect AT LEAST ready for AA ball, if not speculation as to when he is ready for AAA.

 

Lachlan Wells LHSP: I am absolutely dumbfounded and confused by this guy! An, almost in a couple of days, 20yo LHSP who can SO a batter per IP, with a 4-1 SO/BB ratio with a 1.0 WHIP...SSS I know...is ALWAYS interesting! But who is this guy really? MILB lists him at 5' 8" and 165 lbs, and I've read where he throws in the high 80's. And I've read other reports where he's more like 6' or 6' 1" and 190+lbs and throws in the low 90's. Who he really is may intrigue more as much, or more, than what he does on the field and the "Wild Thing" glasses he sports on his Kernals photo.

 

Position player wise....

 

Tanner English OF: He drew raves for his defense coming out of college, and was seen as a prototype top of the order hitter. He absolutely seems to understand his role in the lineup and takes great pride in his defense. He had a nice short season debut in '14, a very nice 2015 for Cedar Rapids before a rough, injury filled 2016. I have the feeling he's flying under the radar and could have a breakout 2017.

 

Niko Goodrum Utility: Just ready to turn 25, it feels as though he has been in the system forever. He reminds me of the traditional "toolsy" OF's the Twins have drafted over the past few seasons. He's never fully put it together, has been bounced around some positional lyrics, and has had a couple of injuries here and there that slowed him down somewhat. He has played SS/2B/3B/LF/CF and I'm not sure about RF thus far in his milb career. His hitting has been up and down, but his OB% has almost always been 60-90 points higher than his BA. He's shown speed, a bit of pop, positional flexability, (not always a good thing), but seemed to start putting it all together at Chattanooga for a little over half a season last year. Is he about to put it all together and be the versatile and somewhat dangerous utility player we all hoped DanSan might become?

 

These are my personal top minor leaguers I'm watching for 2017. There will invariably be others that catch my eye. But I'm wondering what other prospects, not in the top 20, YOU are intrigued by and watching this upcoming season?

[AZTwin]

He may make the lists but I often feel as though vielma is overlooked. Just think he has a long career ahead of him

[Guest]

Arraez, Curtiss, Minier, Wheeler, Miranda, English, Bard, Ynoa, Graterol

[goulik]

Arraez

Palacios

Murray

[goulik]

Arraez, Curtiss, Minier, Wheeler, Miranda, English, Bard, Ynoa, Graterol

Dang it, you said Arraez before me...

[clutterheart]

Hunter Greene

[gunnarthor]

I'm hoping Cabbage has his break out year this year. 

[Bob Sacamento]

Of the MiLBers in camp already, the one who has taken the biggest step forward physically is Akil Baddoo.  The Twins drafted him as a speedy fast twitch athlete, well he's added 20 plus pounds of muscle since being drafted. Kid was hulking out of his shirt.

 

Trey Cabbage is a personal favorite of mine, good kid, extremely athletic but this year is a big year for him to step forward. On the pitching side look out for Brusdar Graterol, kid throws smoke and has flashed a plus breaking ball, trained with Romero during their TJS procedures which were the same (replace the UCL in the elbow with portion of the suprapatellar tendon of the left knee).  He'll probably start in EXST but could be in E-town by season's end.

[Guest]

Of the MiLBers in camp already, the one who has taken the biggest step forward physically is Akil Baddoo.  The Twins drafted him as a speedy fast twitch athlete, well he's added 20 plus pounds of muscle since being drafted. Kid was hulking out of his shirt.

Yabba-da-Baddoo!

[Thrylos]

In the two weeks I will spend in Fort Myers the coming month, I will be focus on watching players who were drafted by the Twins last season, as well as the ones who are playing stateside for their first season, and have not watched play live.

 

Other than that I will be looking at the following because this is kind of a make or break season for them:

- Amaurys Minier

- Trevor Harrison (was told that gained about 15 lbs of muscle, interesting to see)

- Michael Cederoth

- Luke Bard (remember those 2?)

- Lewis Thorpe.

[AZTwin]

Of the MiLBers in camp already, the one who has taken the biggest step forward physically is Akil Baddoo. The Twins drafted him as a speedy fast twitch athlete, well he's added 20 plus pounds of muscle since being drafted. Kid was hulking out of his shirt.

That's great and all and certainly better than coming in out of shape but how has he been swinging the bat? Any time someone talks about an athlete being in top physical shape but doesn't talk about their actual play, I start to worry about the look like Tarzan, play like Jane types.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

That's great and all and certainly better than coming in out of shape but how has he been swinging the bat? Any time someone talks about an athlete being in top physical shape but doesn't talk about their actual play, I start to worry about the look like Tarzan, play like Jane types.

The point was that the Twins drafted him as a speedy slapper CF with the added strength and conditioning program (gaining 20lbs of muscle since being drafted), he now has an added power element to his game that no one thought he had beforehand.

[Thrylos]

 

 I start to worry about the look like Tarzan, play like Jane types.

 

Last Twins' prospect to come close to fitting that description is Tyler Robertson.  6'6" or so and a muscular 270 or so and all he could get was 85-88 mph out of his fastball.

[AZTwin]

Last Twins' prospect to come close to fitting that description is Tyler Robertson. 6'6" or so and a muscular 270 or so and all he could get was 85-88 mph out of his fastball.

Arcia looked like he could hit the cover off the ball. Just couldn't make contact. It's more common in sports than you think

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

Arcia looked like he could hit the cover off the ball. Just couldn't make contact. It's more common in sports than you think

Arcia regularly hit >.300 in MiLB and had an OPS of >.800.

 

Surprisingly ineffective in MLB. Very disappointing.

[David HK]

Melo, man, Melo.  

A little surprised not to see him on many people's lists, even after the TJ surgery, and albeit lackluster results in '16.   Here's hoping he'll bounce back this year

 

Also, Zack Granite is my guy.  Like for the last couple of years.  Can't wait to see him in the Show.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Most of the guys I'll be watching have already been covered here:  Thorpe, Arraez, Palacios, pretty much all the HS guys drafted last season, Cabbage, etc.  Lots of those younger guys that aren't on the list certainly have the ceiling, and any one could take a big enough step forward to start getting national attention.  Hopefully, we see a bunch make the step.

[TRex]

I second the motion on Cederoth and Bard, and will throw out the bespectacled Curtiss as another mid-90s reliever who could make a big impression this season.

[David HK]

 

I second the motion on Cederoth and Bard, and will throw out the bespectacled Curtiss as another mid-90s reliever who could make a big impression this season.

I'm just digging that 1) there are still bespectacled cats out there, and 2) that I get to see the word 'bespectacled' in such an august forum as this.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Zack Granite. I saw him throw out a Tampa Bay player in the opening ST game. Granite threw a strike to the third baseman from centerfield. The prior report on him was that he had a less than average arm. Hmmm, I wonder whether to believe the report or what I saw  Friday night in Fort Myers. Don't forget Granite led all minor league players in steals last year.