Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Opening Day Roster - 2023

[Seth Stohs]

On Monday, the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels officially announced their Opening Day roster. Find out which prospects will be starting with a full-season affiliate for the first time? How many 2022 draft picks are on the roster? How many of the Twins Daily Top 20 prospects are on this roster?  

Image courtesy of William Parmeter (L to R: Carlos Aguiar, Luis Baez, Rubel Cespedes)

Let's take a look at the Mighty Mussels Opening Day roster. 

Coaching Staff
Brian Meyer is back for his third season as the Mighty Mussels manager, his fourth in the organization. Pitching Coach Richard Salazar moves from Cedar Rapids to Ft. Myers this season after spending the past two years with the Kernels. Jared Gaynor will enter his second season as a Mighty Mussels pitching coach. Rayden Sierra returns to the Mighty Mussels as their hitting coach again. Luis Reyes  was a coach in the FCL a year ago and he is now the Assistant Hitting Coach in Ft. Myers. 

Starting Pitchers: Tomas Cleto, Cory Lewis, Andrew Morris, Juan (Miguel) Olivares, Zebby Matthews.
Andrew Morris was the Twins fourth-round pick from Texas Tech a year ago and made an appearance for the Mighty Mussels in the playoffs last year. Cory Lewis was their ninth round pick out of UC-Santa Barbara in 2022. Zebby Matthews is a hard throwing righty taking the eighth round last year out of Western Carolina University. Tomas Cleto pitched well in the FCL last season and earned a late-season promotion to the Mussels. Juan Olivares was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year last year when he, going by Miguel last year, posted a 144 ERA in the DSL. 

Relief Pitchers: Johnathan Lavallee, Develson Aria, Ben Ethridge, C.J. Culpepper, A.J. Labas, Juan Mendez, Samuel Perez, Jackson Hicks, Wilker Reyes, Zach Veen, Gabriel Yanez
Ben Ethridge was the Twins 15th round pick a year ago from Southern Miss. CJ Culpepper was their 13th rounder out of California Baptist.  Zach Veen was their 18th round pick in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Lavallee was their 16th round pick in 2021 out of Long Beach State. Hicks signed late in the 2021 season out of the USPBL in Michigan. That is about the time they signed AJ Labas who had gone undrafted out of LSU. Sam Perez was the Twins Daily short-season minor league pitcher of the year in 2021 and spent most of the 2022 season with Ft. Myers. Gabriel Yanez signed with the Phillies in 2016 and reached Low-A Clearwater in 2022. The Twins signed him this offseason as a free agent. Last year in this league, he had 58 strikeouts and just 13 walks over 50 1/3 innings. One to watch is hard-throwing Juan Mendez. And lefty Develson Aria is intriguing as well. 

Catchers: Andrew Cossetti, Ricardo Olivar, Dillon Tatum
Andrew Cossetti was drafted in the 11th round last year out of St. Joseph’s in Philly. Tatum caught two Mussels no hitters last year. Olivar had a breakout season in the FCL last year, hitting .349/.442/.605 (1.046) with 12 doubles, three triples and five homers over 40 games. A good athlete, he actually spent more time in the outfield in 2022.  

Infielders: Rubel Cespedes, Danny De Andrade, Yohander Martinez, Jorel Ortega, Mikey Perez, Dalton Shuffield.
Danny De Andrade is the top prospect in this group. One of the top international signings in 2021, he held his own in the FCL a year ago. Jorel Ortega was the team’s sixth round pick a year ago. He had one at bat with the Mussels and had an RBI hit, but he hurt his wrist on the play which ended his season. Cespedes is an intriguing prospect who has some offensive upside. Martinez was a minor-league Rule 5 pick in December. 

And why Mikey Perez and Dalton Shuffield are starting in Ft. Myers is just silly. Perez was the 15th round pick of the Twins in 2021 from UCLA. He played 81 games in Ft. Myers a year ago, then moved up to Cedar Rapids for 28 more games. He even played one game with the Saints and hit a game-winning, three-run homer in his lone at-bat. He led the organization with 48 stolen bases last year. And, for good measure, he played in nine spring games for the Twins this year and went 4-for-10. Shuffield spent five years at Texas State University before the Twins took him in the 10th round of the 2022 draft. After three games in the FCL last year, he moved up to Cedar Rapids for eight games. Then he moved up to Triple-A St. Paul and started almost every day for 14 games. He hit .271/.314/.542 (.855) with three doubles, two triples, and two home runs. All that is small sample size, but he just turned 24. 

Outfielders: Carlos Aguiar, Luis Baez, Maddux Houghton, Alec Sayre, Dylan Neuse.
Carlos Aguiar and Luis Baez signed with the Twins in 2017 from Venezuela. Aguiar is a big, strong power hitting outfielder. Baez is a speed merchant, capable of stealing a ton of bags and taking extra bases at will. Houghton signed with the Twins just before spring training began. He spent five years at Lipscomb and then last year played in a summer wood bat league. Alec Sayre was the Twins 17th round pick a year ago out of Wright State. Neuse was the Twins 17th round pick in 2021 out of Texas Tech. His older brother Sheldon spent parts of 2019, 2021 and 2022 in the big leagues. He played in 89 games last year for the A’s. This year, he is playing in for Hanshin, in Japan. 

TWINS DAILY TOP 20 PROSPECTS
None. 

Danny De Andrade is likely the highest-ranking prospect by most systems. There are definitely some pitching prospects to watch on this list. 

What do you think of the Mighty Mussels roster? Which players are you most intrigued by and interested in following?

 

 

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[FlyingFinn]

Perez and Shuffield are the two guys that moved from low A to AAA last year, wherever we needed them. Probably not good news for them as they don't seem to be on any planned path towards the Twins. Cedar Rapids is probably overloaded with our many SS's playing in the infield. The infielders are strong here in Fort Myers with those two plus De Andrade.

[miracleb]

TY for the update Seth!

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Thanks Seth. The weather, the ball park, the training facilities, the beach, the seafood, the birds and wildlife all make playing baseball at Ft. Myers wonderful for a young prospect. Enjoy the present. But I doubt many, if any, of these players will ever make it into the major leagues. Possibly Perez and Shuffield, DeAndrade and hopefully Zebby Mathews.

[Doctor Gast]

Thanks Seth, I have high hopes for Ricardo Olivar. For a player to develop as a catcher he has to actually needs to catch (more the better) & be trained. He has an above average arm but has trouble throwing guys out. An athletic guy like him should be able to master that w/ proper training & playing time. Graduating to high A we usually see regression as far hitting goes. Hope in Olivar's case it's minimal & he'd develop more defensively. Hope for Cossetti to rise very quickly with Olivar on his shirt tails. I'm curious how the pitching will fare.

[Dman]

Lot's of guys I don't know that well at this level.  Where is Nate Biaz?  I don't see him at High A or A ball, injured? I kind of thought Alexander Pena would get a shot at A ball but I guess not.

I guess I can see why they moved Shuffield and Perez down to A ball to start.  First they need a couple of bats to bolster that lineup. Also, I think both players could move to any level if there is an injury at A+, AA or AAA either one of those guys could be moved there to fill in.  Personally I think they both should be at AA but with inevitable injuries I am sure things will sort themselves out.

I will mainly be monitoring the pitching and the catchers at this level to see who shines there.  De Andrade is the only top 30 prospect at this level. Even short season ball has more top 30 players (6) than this level so it might be tough to follow this team this year.

[Seth Stohs]

3 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

Perez and Shuffield are the two guys that moved from low A to AAA last year, wherever we needed them. Probably not good news for them as they don't seem to be on any planned path towards the Twins. Cedar Rapids is probably overloaded with our many SS's playing in the infield. The infielders are strong here in Fort Myers with those two plus De Andrade.

Yes, Ernie Yake was that guy the last couple of years too. At least in Yake and Shuffield's cases, they were 5th year senior signs, signed really for that purpose (along with saving bonus pool money). There are a lot of catchers that fit that category too, Kyle Schmidt, Frank Nigro, etc. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

But I doubt many, if any, of these players will ever make it into the major leagues. Possibly Perez and Shuffield, DeAndrade and hopefully Zebby Mathews.

Really impossible to know. While unlikely, it's also possible more from this team make it then the Kernels roster will. Just hard to know, especially with the guys from the 2022 draft. A year ago, we probably weren't terribly excited about David Festa and Jaylen Nowlin, and now they're both Top 20ish guys with great stuff. Olivares is a big dude, filled with potential. 

[Seth Stohs]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Thanks Seth, I have high hopes for Ricardo Olivar. For a player to develop as a catcher he has to actually needs to catch (more the better) & be trained. He has an above average arm but has trouble throwing guys out. An athletic guy like him should be able to master that w/ proper training & playing time. Graduating to high A we usually see regression as far hitting goes. Hope in Olivar's case it's minimal & he'd develop more defensively. Hope for Cossetti to rise very quickly with Olivar on his shirt tails. I'm curious how the pitching will fare.

In the lower levels, they have three catchers and they each usually start twice per week. If they're also a decent hitter, they'll get a game or two more as a DH, maybe at another position. I think Olivar can fit into that category as he can play in the outfield too. They take care of these guys and their legs and understand that it is a position of attrition. It's really hard to get to the big leagues as a catcher. Keep them healthey, and get them a lot of work even when they have an off day. Lots to learn. 

[4twinsJA]

Thanks Seth for rosters, great information. I sure there will be plenty of surprises, good and bad. Really hard to make it all the way to MLB.

[jkcarew]

Mikey Perez and Dalton Shuffield...

Maybe they were caught hanging out with with Balazovic? 😜

[Twinsrtheworst]

Great info Seth, thankyou.  Will you be putting out the Complex league roster as well when it's available?  I always try to make a few of there games every summer.  Any info on them is appreciated.

[Danchat]

Zero top 20 prospects? That's kinda hard to believe, but yeah, De Andrade is the only guy who's close. Huh.

[Althebum82]

The Twins transaction history for March 27 shows this player received in a trade from the Phillies and assigned to the Mighty Mussels and included on the relief pitcher list above:

03/27/23

Philadelphia Phillies traded LHP Gabriel Yanez to Minnesota Twins.

There is no corresponding Twins organization player going to the Phillies or reference to cash considerations.  Is this a "player to be named later" scenario of some type?

[Rigby]

A Phillies site reported it as a cash transaction.