Daniel Santana

[Aaron Cross]

So is this kid the real deal? Is he the next Greg Gagne? What kind of time frame are we looking at for his major league debut? 2015 at the earliest? I have high hopes for the kid. I've heard nothing but positives.

[stringer bell]

I know this: the GM likes his game. Somebody asked Mr. Ryan about Santana last week and considering this was JR, he was effusive with his praise. I'm paraphrasing here, but close. Ryan said his bat really came a long way last year. He said that while he wasn't big, he was strong and determined and that he plays hard.

[jokin]

I know this: the GM likes his game. Somebody asked Mr. Ryan about Santana last week and considering this was JR, he was effusive with his praise. I'm paraphrasing here, but close. Ryan said his bat really came a long way last year. He said that while he wasn't big, he was strong and determined and that he plays hard.

 

These characteristics will play well if Gardy is still here...let's see...."Santana-ee really gets after it"...er, maybe, "Sant-ee"?

[Badsmerf]

Danny, Santa, Santanasie, Santie, Santsie... those are what I got right now. The jump to AA is a pretty big jump. If he handles it well he could see the Twins as a September call-up, maybe sooner with injuries or ineptitude by the current MI. Also, I wouldn't be surprised by a slight bump in HR as the FSL is tougher on HR's than the Eastern League. I'm pretty hopeful about him. Don't expect an All-Star. If he can hit at or above league average for SS and be a good fielder the Twins will have their best SS in decades.

 

*consistent SS (Hardy, Bartlett, Guzman all had decent years, I'm talking longevity)

[ALessKosherScott]

<----shakes Magic 8 Ball. Answer is cloudy. Ask again later.

 

IMO, people talk about his power breakout last year, but he hit for the same pop in Beloit in 2011. The difference last year was a 40 point jump in batting average, and that makes it hard to tell if his 2012 line was breakout or luck. At .250, he's going to be an OBP hole who's going to need to be an elite defender to counteract it. At .280, there's more leniency. We'll see what he does at New Britain.

[cmathewson]

With his defense and speed, all he needs to do is hit better than Florimon to take that job away. The only reason he's still in AA is he needs to work on TK's list of pet peeves before he's ready.

[Seth Stohs]

I've always liked Santana and ranked him much higher than most, and been ridiculed, but I don't think I rank him higher than about 13th on my Twins prospect list this year. To me, that is a solid major leaguer... I think a .720 OPS ceiling is where he's at. He's not a big guy, but he takes some big swings. He likely will never by a guy to walk. He'll never hit a lot of homers... I think Cristian Guzman is the ceiling, and I think that would be a great thing. As cmathewson said, he's got the speed and he's got a great arm. He'll have to improve his defense even more to be able to play SS in the big leagues. I really like santana, but I'd temper the expectations some.

[Aaron Cross]

If Guzman is his ceiling I'm off the Santana bandwagon.

[Mr. Brooks]

If Guzman is his ceiling I'm off the Santana bandwagon.

Why?

Guzman had a few pretty good years, and was pretty much above replacement level every season.

Santana has never been a top prospect, if you wind up getting ANYTHING of value, let alone Guzman level production, from a guy outside of your top 10 prospects (and more like top 20 on some lists), then you've gotten really good value.

That is how good young teams are built, and I'd be thrilled to get that from him for 4 or 5 cheap seasons.

[Physics Guy]

If Guzman is his ceiling I'm off the Santana bandwagon.

 

Guzman was an All-Star at 23 with a 4.6 WAR and 4 other seasons surrounding that one all at about 1. That is a substantial improvement over what we have seen lately.