Sickels ranks Twins system #7

[Brock Beauchamp]

More on the farm system. In his fangraphs chat today, Mike Newman was asked:

 

Regarding the AL Central, which team do you think has the best prospects, which has the worst? http://cdnsl.coveritlive.com/templates/coveritlive/images/icons/fb_share2.png

 

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Mike Newman:

Worst is still the Chicago White Sox and will continue to be for the near future at least. As for the best, Minnesota hands down. They have a ton of talent in the low minors and traded for a bunch more. It's a sneaky good system right now.

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High praise. I happen to agree with his "sneaky good" assessment. The system could absolutely use more pitching but when you have guys like Kepler barely breaking the top ten on some lists, you have a good ****ing farm system.

 

If Berrios and one of Meyer/May break out this season and anything good happens with one of the college arms, this is a top five system even if you remove Gibson and Hicks as they transition into the majors.

[Nick Nelson]

Encouraging news, love the make-up of some of these hitters. Smith's aggressiveness still could pay a lot of positive dividends.

As frustrated as I was with some aspects of Smith's tenure, he oversaw the biggest international spending spree in franchise history during a stretch in 2009, throwing big money at Sano, Kepler and Polanco. That play is looking really smart right now, and will look genius if Polanco has another year like his last one.

[TheLeviathan]

As frustrated as I was with some aspects of Smith's tenure, he oversaw the biggest international spending spree in franchise history during a stretch in 2009, throwing big money at Sano, Kepler and Polanco. That play is looking really smart right now, and will look genius if Polanco has another year like his last one.

 

Yeah, when you look at the future of this team his aggressive approach in the international market and his willingness to target players that had escaped us under Ryan looks like the foundation for everything we hope for. We can only hope that didn't go unnoticed by Ryan.

[jokin]

Yeah, when you look at the future of this team his aggressive approach in the international market and his willingness to target players that had escaped us under Ryan looks like the foundation for everything we hope for. We can only hope that didn't go unnoticed by Ryan.

 

Except that, if you believe what's being tweeted out there, the Twins- despite having the biggest obvious need for a SS in all of MLB, and sooner rather than later- have already bowed out of the Diaz hunt because, nothwithstanding cutting $40M in the last 2 seasons with more $$ likely cut in 2014, they somehow can't afford to play in that game.

[TheLeviathan]

Except that, if you believe what's being tweeted out there, the Twins- despite having the biggest obvious need for a SS in all of MLB, and sooner rather than later- have already bowed out of the Diaz hunt because, nothwithstanding cutting $40M in the last 2 seasons with more $$ likely cut in 2014, they somehow can't afford to play in that game.

 

He's not counted under an international signing? I want to wait and see what he is signed for, but that would be another blow as a Twins fan if indeed Diaz signed elsewhere.

[Brock Beauchamp]

He's not counted under an international signing? I want to wait and see what he is signed for, but that would be another blow as a Twins fan if indeed Diaz signed elsewhere.

 

Definitely, but let's not classify him under "international" quite yet. The guy could be looking at $10-20m while Sano got what, $3.5m? The fact that the Cuban kids are being treated differently makes them a much bigger risk and they will require a much bigger payday to acquire. While I'd love to see Diaz come to the Twins, I'm not so crazy about the pricetag that could follow him here.

[TheLeviathan]

Definitely, but let's not classify him under "international" quite yet. The guy could be looking at $10-20m while Sano got what, $3.5m? The fact that the Cuban kids are being treated differently makes them a much bigger risk and they will require a much bigger payday to acquire. While I'd love to see Diaz come to the Twins, I'm not so crazy about the pricetag that could follow him here.

 

Well that's why I was curious if it was sorted out for what he qualified under. I'm ok with the team being a bit gunshy about handing tens of millions to an unproven player, but I hope they don't bow out before prices get absurd.

[Mike Sixel]

No one expects Ryan to sign expensive players.....Smiths biggest legacy was his willingness to do so. But Ryan will get all the credit for rebuilding the twins when sano and Kepler are up.

[old nurse]

Definitely, but let's not classify him under "international" quite yet. The guy could be looking at $10-20m while Sano got what, $3.5m? The fact that the Cuban kids are being treated differently makes them a much bigger risk and they will require a much bigger payday to acquire. While I'd love to see Diaz come to the Twins, I'm not so crazy about the pricetag that could follow him here.

If his ceiling is high enough, he would be a better value even at 4/20 than what the Twins could pick up in the free agent market. Compared to what the Twins have available the next two years, at 10 million it would be a steal. His OPS in the high level of cuban leagues was .845 for his career, so he might hit at the mlb level

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Based on Cespedas and Puig's contract, plus Diaz's premium defensive position, you're probably looking at six or so years at $7 or $8 million annually. Cespedas' successful year and the international cap omitting Cubans has Diaz in line for a huge payday. I won't be overly disappointed if/when the Twins quit bidding.

[old nurse]

Based on Cespedas and Puig's contract, plus Diaz's premium defensive position, you're probably looking at six or so years at $7 or $8 million annually. Cespedas' successful year and the international cap omitting Cubans has Diaz in line for a huge payday. I won't be overly disappointed if/when the Twins quit bidding.

 

He is not in Cespedes class as a player. Puig signed for 7/42 and started in the low minors. From what I read Diaz is a little more developed than that but not quite the hitter. It makes it hard to guess a number. Tulowitxki, Drew and Reyes are the last big shortstop contracts. Drew was only for a year. The rest of the above average shortstops are in the 5-6 million range except for Hardy. I don't think Diaz would project to JJ Hardy.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

He is not in Cespedes class as a player. Puig signed for 7/42 and started in the low minors. From what I read Diaz is a little more developed than that but not quite the hitter. It makes it hard to guess a number. Tulowitxki, Drew and Reyes are the last big shortstop contracts. Drew was only for a year. The rest of the above average shortstops are in the 5-6 million range except for Hardy. I don't think Diaz would project to JJ Hardy.

 

I agree with most of what you are saying. Puig and Diaz are nearly the same age, so Diaz would most likely need a year (plus) in the minors. I think what complicates projections the most is the questioning of Diaz's age and if he's going to be allowed in the MLB, when and if he'll be subjected to the pool limits. (For those wondering why, he has apparently presented himself older than he actually is.)