Article: Twins Minor League Report (6/21): And Then There Were Six

[Seth Stohs]

The public admonitions from the Twins staff about what they see in Buxton is virtually unprecedented for a Twins prospect. Mauer may have had the same published evaluations, but it sure seems that Buxton has been getting even bigger hype from people in the organization (like Tom Kelly and Paul Molitor) who don't even know the meaning of hype. And regarding Sano, Dougie-Fresh probably spoke out of turn, then, when he pronounced that Sano's bat is major league ready?

 

Times are different as it comes to prospects now than it was even 9-12 years ago with Mauer. It used to be the following prospects and minor leaguers was done through Baseball America and you were kind of a hipster if you did. Now, it's everywhere. Baseball America is still there, but blogs and the internet have really brought minor leaguers to the forefront. People like Kelly and Molitor are now getting those questions, frequently. I'm sure that teh Twins were just as excited about Mauer and Morneau and Kubel and Cuddyer and others as they are about Buxton and Sano.

 

As for Mientkiewicz, I'm sure they weren't thrilled with the comment, but they don't run from it. They put Sano into the spotlight and wanted him to see how he handled it at Twins Fest. He has grown up, matured a ton in the last 12-18 months. I believe Mientkiewicz's comment was that he could "hold his own" as a hitter in the big leagues. He probably could. But do you want a guy wit that kind of upside holding his own, or do you want him to keep developing so that he can come along and succeed, rather than struggle.

[jokin]

Meh, "openly questioning" is a bit of a leap. I think it's more accurate to say excitement or advocates for promotions. I suspect very few people from the groups you mentioned openly questions the front office judgement about these two players because when a group has successfully done it in the past people in general give them the benefit of the dought they can do it again. Unless either of these players are showing signs of regression from lack of being challenged, how their being handled is not a big issue at this point.

 

You obviously haven't read the articles that I have, then. Comments from opposing GMs and scouts go something like this: "Buxton is a better athlete than A-Rod" "What is Sano still doing at this level?" "The Twins are well-know for moving prospects very slowly, but this is different" "This guy is a crazy-good athlete" "Guys like this only come along once every 10 years, no 20 years" "I thought it was a mistake to keep Sano at Beloit all season." "Buxton clearly looks too advanced for this level" "Not sure what he has left to prove..." "Buxton has soared up the prospect rankings to #2 overall" "If you see this guy run, it's freaking unreal...five steps and he's on the bag"

 

Again, Machado, Harper and Trout are already well on their way in their careers, after putting up numbers similar or inferior to Sano and Buxton. These guys should be pushed, challenged and then rewarded with promotions, not eased along on the 6 year plan like Oswaldo Arcia was (Sano will be 6 year planned if he makes it in 2015). These are elite-level-potential game changers, not just "Twins plan" plodding cookie-cutter, dime-a-dozen prospects. What Sano has done is virtually unprecedented, and Buxton's legend around the entire world of baseball grows by the day.

[diehardtwinsfan]

So is that why GMs, officials and scouts from other organizations, along with many of the professional independent writers and evaluators are openly questioning how both Sano and Buxton are being handled?

 

Speaking of statements that need to be sourced. I've see nothing linked here that indicates this. I've read guys like Sickles who indicate it will happen at one point, but the I'm missing the free Buxton slogans... I'd like to see one GM that's said it, much less a whole host of scouts and other officials from competing organizations... Go ahead, source this one please.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

As for Mientkiewicz, I'm sure they weren't thrilled with the comment, but they don't run from it. They put Sano into the spotlight and wanted him to see how he handled it at Twins Fest. He has grown up, matured a ton in the last 12-18 months. I believe Mientkiewicz's comment was that he could "hold his own" as a hitter in the big leagues. He probably could. But do you want a guy wit that kind of upside holding his own, or do you want him to keep developing so that he can come along and succeed, rather than struggle.

 

I doubt they were upset about the comment... While it may be true, your last statement hit the nail on the head. No need having him waste service time holding his own in a struggle when he can develop his talent and hit the bigs by storm. People forget that the fact he even started in cedar rapids was pretty impressive. The fact he's likely going to finish in Fort Meyer, a year after graduating highschool, is even more impressive.

[Seth Stohs]

You obviously haven't read the articles that I have, then. Comments from opposing GMs and scouts go something like this: "Buxton is a better athlete than A-Rod" "What is Sano still doing at this level?" "The Twins are well-know for moving prospects very slowly, but this is different" "This guy is a crazy-good athlete" "Guys like this only come along once every 10 years, no 20 years" "I thought it was a mistake to keep Sano at Beloit all season." "Buxton clearly looks too advanced for this level" "Not sure what he has left to prove..." "Buxton has soared up the prospect rankings to #2 overall" "If you see this guy run, it's freaking unreal...five steps and he's on the bag"

 

Again, Machado, Harper and Trout are already well on their way in their careers, after putting up numbers similar or inferior to Sano and Buxton. These guys should be pushed, challenged and then rewarded with promotions, not eased along on the 6 year plan like Oswaldo Arcia was (Sano will be 6 year planned if he makes it in 2015). These are elite-level-potential game changers, not just "Twins plan" plodding cookie-cutter, dime-a-dozen prospects. What Sano has done is virtually unprecedented, and Buxton's legend around the entire world of baseball grows by the day.

 

First paragraph... a couple of them (which really should be sourced) are pushing the promotion agenda... but remember those "experts" likely aren't around the Twins organization every day, much less around the actual players. They have opinions, just as we do. Most of those sentences are just very nice compliments about how well they're doing and that they're great prospects. Not that they are being moved to slowly.

 

Then to the Arcia six year plan comment:

 

He (like Sano) was signed as a 16-year old. Played one year in the DSL, one year in the GCL, and one year in E-Town. He then spent one month in Beloit. The rest of that season, he spent in Ft. Myers where he was OK, but not great, and couldn't hit left-handed pitching. He spent the first half of last season in Ft. Myers where he started very slow before finally figuring out the left-handed pitching. He spent 2 months in New Britain at the end of last year and dominated. He spent about a month in AAA, and now he's pretty much a fixture in the Twins lineup for the next 6 years. If a guy makes his major league debut at 21 or 22, it's pretty hard to agree with that being a slow path.

 

As was also mentioned, one year ago, Buxton had not even signed a contract yet, and he could soon be in Ft. Myers as a 19 year old. And Sano just turned 20 a month ago and he's in AA. Again, hard to say the path has been too slow. Both will likely debut in the big leagues at 21 years old.