2020 Baseball America Top 100 Prospects

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins got 6 players in the 2020 Baseball America Top 100 prospects rankings. 

 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2020-top-100-prospects/ 

 

#26 Royce Lewis

#31 Alex Kirilloff

#45 Trevor Larnach

#60 Brusdar Graterol

#95 Jordan Balazovic

#96 Jhoan Duran 

 

Discuss.

[Mike Frasier Law]

I love to see three high-upside pitchers (in theory all potential ace starters) in the top 100. I know at least two seem destined to the bullpen, but it's not foregone. And they're not what I'm used to seeing - high likelihood of making MLB but limited upside.

[twinsfanstreif]

Am I the only one who finds Duran to be an odd inclusion? I like the upside but I haven't really looked at him as a top 100 player, maybe I'm off here

[rdehring]

 

The Twins got 6 players in the 2020 Baseball America Top 100 prospects rankings. 

 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2020-top-100-prospects/ 

 

#26 Royce Lewis

#31 Alex Kirilloff

#45 Trevor Larnach

#60 Brusdar Graterol

#95 Jordan Balazovic

#96 Jhoan Duran 

 

Discuss.

Nice.  

[scottz]

Only the Rays (8) and Dodgers (7) have more. The Padres also have 6. None of it guarantees anything, of course, but you have to appreciate the apparent improvement in the minor league system over the last few years.

[Tomj14]

 

The Twins got 6 players in the 2020 Baseball America Top 100 prospects rankings. 

 

https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2020-top-100-prospects/ 

 

#26 Royce Lewis

#31 Alex Kirilloff

#45 Trevor Larnach

#60 Brusdar Graterol

#95 Jordan Balazovic

#96 Jhoan Duran 

 

Discuss.

How does compare to last year, I mean each player, going up or down? I assume Lewis and Kirilloff went down and the rest up?

 

[drivlikejehu]

 

Am I the only one who finds Duran to be an odd inclusion? I like the upside but I haven't really looked at him as a top 100 player, maybe I'm off here

 

He's likely going to be top 100 in Fangraphs also, so no it doesn't seem odd. 

[Dman]

It's not easy to make the top 100 as a prospect as there is stiff competition so congrats to all the Twins players who made the list.   Happy to see some pitcher on the list and they are all hard throwers so greater upside as well.  They are also pretty young 22 or under and at AA or higher so plenty of time to refine pitches and still make it.  

 

Duran's K9, WHIP and FIP all look really, really good.  I am guessing that is why he made it in.  ERA was high for a pitcher in the top 100 but in the age of analytics he probably deserves to be at least number 96.  Hopefully he improves some more this year and becomes a top of the rotation starter.

 

Balazovic has been solid level to level and I am hoping he handles AA and moves right onto AAA.

 

Nice to have 6 guys on the list.  Hopefully some of the lower guys have good seasons and work their way up here as well.

 

[diehardtwinsfan]

3 pitchers... probably what I'm most happy about. 

[amjgt]

None of our pitchers made the top 10 lists that MLB Pipeline is in the middle of releasing (RHP in this case)

 

Their #8-10 RHP are:

 

Daniel Lynch

Brailyn Marquez

DL Hall

 

Where are those guys at on the Baseball America list?

 

ps. They released SS today (Lewis #3 SS) and will do OF Tomorrow (Kirilloff and Larnach???) but no Twins made any other top 10 positional list. 

 

pps. Lewin Diaz was the #6 1B

[Ben Noble]

 

Am I the only one who finds Duran to be an odd inclusion? I like the upside but I haven't really looked at him as a top 100 player, maybe I'm off here

 

 

He's likely going to be top 100 in Fangraphs also, so no it doesn't seem odd. 

 

For what it's worth, Fangraphs actually has Duran ranked ahead of both Graterol and Balazovic.

[Vanimal46]

If you were curious, this is the trend of Twins' Prospects from pre-season 2019 to now from Baseball America:

 

Royce Lewis - down 17 spots 

Alex Kirilloff - down 15 spots 

Trevor Larnach - up 55 spots (not ranked in 2019) 

Brusdar Graterol - down 5 spots 

Balazovic and Duran were unranked. 

 

And if you want to look back further than this, I had a thread in the past called Royce Lewis vs. 2017 Draftees Update Club with more rankings. 

 

[old nurse]

Graterol that low on their hot 100 list already having major league time in to me signifies that they do not believe he has that high of ceiling anymore.

[Dman]

 

None of our pitchers made the top 10 lists that MLB Pipeline is in the middle of releasing (RHP in this case)

 

Their #8-10 RHP are:

 

Daniel Lynch

Brailyn Marquez

DL Hall

 

Where are those guys at on the Baseball America list?

 

ps. They released SS today (Lewis #3 SS) and will do OF Tomorrow (Kirilloff and Larnach???) but no Twins made any other top 10 positional list. 

 

pps. Lewin Diaz was the #6 1B

 

I think if Rooker played out the year last year he would have made the top 10 1st baseman.  He was just getting hot when he got hurt.  He also made teh top 10 last year. 

 

Diaz was and is very good but they needed relief help last year and Miami threw in a decent pitching prospect as well.  Not sure how many 1st baseman types we need with Rooker, Kirilloff and Larnach potentially there along with Sano who is already in that spot.  So trading for pitching there seemed to make sense and that is apparently who Miami wanted.

 

[Vanimal46]

 

Graterol that low on their hot 100 list already having major league time in to me signifies that they do not believe he has that high of ceiling anymore.

 

Another year has gone and more data to work with. I wonder what percentage of prospect publications think he is a reliever vs. a starter? I don't have a BA account to dig into it, but if someone else does, I'm curious to know if they think he's just a reliever? Resulting in a slide down the rankings. 

[twinkiesfan11]

 

Am I the only one who finds Duran to be an odd inclusion? I like the upside but I haven't really looked at him as a top 100 player, maybe I'm off here

 

He seems to be pretty highly regarded by all of the major publications. The common themes seem to be ideal pitchers frame, plus velocity, improving command and curveball and that "splinker" is a filthy pitch. He's exciting

[goulik]

 

Another year has gone and more data to work with. I wonder what percentage of prospect publications think he is a reliever vs. a starter? I don't have a BA account to dig into it, but if someone else does, I'm curious to know if they think he's just a reliever? Resulting in a slide down the rankings. 

The fact that Wes Johnson has already said he was going to be a reliever this year for the MLB club probably has a big part of that slide.

[old nurse]

 

Another year has gone and more data to work with. I wonder what percentage of prospect publications think he is a reliever vs. a starter? I don't have a BA account to dig into it, but if someone else does, I'm curious to know if they think he's just a reliever? Resulting in a slide down the rankings. 

Trips to the injury lists did not help. He is listed at 265 pounds and 6'1'' Ensuring that no food went to waste at the post game buffet wasn't the greatest idea.. That the Twins used him in a relief role might have the sites thinking that is what the Twins think of him, although an elite reliever still should be ranked high

[mikelink45]

I am actually a little worried about Lewis.  His prospect rating is high, but it has been slipping and I hope he puts together a year that pushes him back up to the top ten.  Kiriloff, like Buxton, seems to have an injury problem.  He has missed a lot of games through his milb days - I hope he too stays healthy and really moves up.  I believe Graterol is missing one pitch and when he gets that to put with his FB he will be a star.

[Vanimal46]

I am actually a little worried about Lewis. His prospect rating is high, but it has been slipping and I hope he puts together a year that pushes him back up to the top ten. Kiriloff, like Buxton, seems to have an injury problem. He has missed a lot of games through his milb days - I hope he too stays healthy and really moves up. I believe Graterol is missing one pitch and when he gets that to put with his FB he will be a star.

Trading Lewis/Kirilloff for Thor sounds pretty good right now eh? That’s why I am always up for trading prospects... Lewis needs a big year at the plate to get back to top 10. If Kirilloff is indeed an elite prospect, he needs to be on the MLB team this year. He’s not getting any younger...

[drivlikejehu]

 

Trading Lewis/Kirilloff for Thor sounds pretty good right now eh? That’s why I am always up for trading prospects... Lewis needs a big year at the plate to get back to top 10. If Kirilloff is indeed an elite prospect, he needs to be on the MLB team this year. He’s not getting any younger...

 

That's a fictional trade scenario, not something that actually could have happened.

[LylesCrocodiles]

I’m not sure any Twins prospect is a sure thing at this point in time. Lewis Kirilloff and Larnach are all first round picks and have had eyes on them for years. They seem safer bets to succeed than the pitchers. I don’t think any of the 3 will be a true ace (Cole Scherzer Verlander etc) and odds are good that just one of them develops into a No 2/3 caliber SP. Up to the front office to figure out which one to keep. I will hedge my bet on Balazovic.

[jkcarew]

 

Trading Lewis/Kirilloff for Thor sounds pretty good right now eh? That’s why I am always up for trading prospects... Lewis needs a big year at the plate to get back to top 10. If Kirilloff is indeed an elite prospect, he needs to be on the MLB team this year. He’s not getting any younger...

I get the point on the trade, and agree. But, I have no problem with Kirilloff spending another year in the minors. He wasn't very healthy last year, and unless some guys get injured or fall off a performance cliff in 2020, he won't be needed this season. Let him get back to raking in the minors, which he didn't do last year. Late season call-up and 2021 arrival is fine with me...but yes, if the Twins don't see that scenario, they probably should be trading him real soon.

[jkcarew]

 

I think if Rooker played out the year last year he would have made the top 10 1st baseman.  He was just getting hot when he got hurt.  He also made teh top 10 last year. 

 

Diaz was and is very good but they needed relief help last year and Miami threw in a decent pitching prospect as well.  Not sure how many 1st baseman types we need with Rooker, Kirilloff and Larnach potentially there along with Sano who is already in that spot.  So trading for pitching there seemed to make sense and that is apparently who Miami wanted.

Rooker didn't play one inning of first-base last year. I think the point on the Diaz trade still holds...but, fwiw, Rooker is probably more likely to appear on outfield prospect lists still.

[Dman]

 

Rooker didn't play one inning of first-base last year. I think the point on the Diaz trade still holds...but, fwiw, Rooker is probably more likely to appear on outfield prospect lists still.

 

I honestly didn't realize he did not play first base at all last year.  That might impact why he wasn't on this years top 10 list.  He was a 1st basemen in college though so he certainly can play that position if needed.  I know there was some talk that his defense wasn't that great at first base so maybe the Twins feel outfield is best?  Not sure.  Thing is breaking into this outfield is no easy task either.  I really wonder how all this is going shake out.

[FormerMinnasotan]

Graterol that low on their hot 100 list already having major league time in to me signifies that they do not believe he has that high of ceiling anymore.

Well, it’s been reported that the Twins are simply sticking Graterol in the bullpen this year so I’d guess Graterol is seen as a reliever more so than a starter.

[FormerMinnasotan]

I wonder why the low ranking for Balazovic? His numbers are a bit better than solid and his pitching arsenal has been lauded by scouts as well improved from a year ago. And...technically he did go through 3 levels last year (A, A+, AA for playoffs). A rise like that and no love from MLB scouts, what gives?

[DanFordWasTheMan]

I will never claim to be a list/ranking guru, but I would have put Balazovic higher on the list, for three reasons.

 

First, his numbers across two levels last year weren't just strong, they were simply without weak points--with the possible exception of him doing his work in more pitching-friendly leagues. Extremely low WHIP, strong so/w ratios, low hr/9 rates...he wasn't just good, he was good in nearly every statistical measure.

 

Second, unlike Graterol and Duran, there's no talk or thoughts about needing him to move to the bullpen.

 

Third, he's both young, (21 years-old through most of next season) and he has even more projection left. He hasn't fully grown into his frame. And being Canadian, you could even argue he hasn't had the development time of his peers.

 

I predict he's in the top 30 by midseason.

[darin617]

Anyone notice Mackenzie Gore #6 overall?

[mikelink45]

 

Trading Lewis/Kirilloff for Thor sounds pretty good right now eh? That’s why I am always up for trading prospects... Lewis needs a big year at the plate to get back to top 10. If Kirilloff is indeed an elite prospect, he needs to be on the MLB team this year. He’s not getting any younger...

I am with you.  I am not for giving away prospects, but the truly great players are already on rosters by now and we have seen the Gordons and Gonsalves excitement slip away with the years.  If we can move them on a really good pitcher I am for it, but it has to be really good.