A Bright Future: Why Twins Fans Should Stay Optimistic Despite Offseason Challenges

[Jamie Cameron]

MLB dot com recently released it's annual survey of MLB executives and front office staff. For the Twins, there should be plenty of future optimism despite a slow offseason. Let's dig into the important takeaways and perceptions of the Twins from inside the industry.

Image courtesy of © Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network

The offseason has been slow and cold for Twins fans. Budget limitations and ownership uncertainty have handcuffed a front office who usually move deliberately through winter. Despite the inevitable frustration, there is plenty to be optimistic about regarding the future of the Twins organization, highlighted by MLB dot com’s recent executive survey.

The survey anonymously polls front office executives, scouting directors and personnel, player development staff and analytics departments on a wide variety of topics from pre-season awards favorites to which teams draft and develop the most effectively. The survey received responses from all 30 MLB organizations. Here’s the most important Twins takeaways.

The Twins are Flush with High Impact Prospects
Would you rather have a farm system headlined by depth or impact talent? The Twins have the latter, and Walker Jenkins received plenty of plaudits in the survey. He was ranked as the third best prospect overall (6.1% of the vote), the fourth best hitter (11.1%), as having the best hit tool (11.1%), and the 7th best usable power (6.5%). Cut it any way you want; there’s industry belief that Walker Jenkins is the real deal. He’ll start 2025 at AA as a 19-year-old, so it’s easy to see why.

Perhaps surprisingly, Emmanuel Rodriguez didn’t receive any attention in the survey, but he is now a consensus top 20 global prospect on the cusp of the majors with a tantalizing combination of power and swing decisions. Luke Keaschall did come up, tying for first place (6.4%) as the most underrated prospect in baseball. He’s catapulted himself to top 75 global prospect status, too, and should start the year healthy at AA after TJ surgery cut short his 2024 season.

The Twins are One of the Better Drafting Organizations in Baseball
Until the ownership situation is resolved, the Twins are more reliant than ever on drafting and developing MLB contributors in house. Looking at their 40 man roster, 23 players were drafted (or signed on the international market) by Minnesota. The Twins were votes tied fifth for the organization who drafts the best. Looking beyond their current MLB roster, there’s 3 more prospects in top 100 lists (Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschall), and many more intriguing arms and bats throughout the system. While you might argue the Twins have found more success in the middle rounds of the draft than at the top, their track record is strong in the Falvey regime.

Notably, there was no mention of the Twins in questions surrounding performance on the international market. Emmanuel Rodriguez could alter that perception, but the Twins have had a disappointing run in recent seasons of their top international prospects ‘popping’. There were a number of standout performers in 2024, including Daiber De Los Santos, Eduardo Beltre, and Yasser Mercedes, with Danny De Andrade and Ricardo Olivar also noteworthy on slightly higher organizational rungs.

Prospect Turnover Masks the Strength of the Twins Young Core
The Twins didn’t receive any votes for best farm system despite finishing third overall in MLB Pipeline’s midseason update. So what gives? Turnover. The Twins graduated Brooks Lee and David Festa from their farm system (with Zebby Matthews soon to follow). This is why I much prefer a ‘pre-arb talent ranking’, or ‘young talent ranking’. Organizations like the Twins are not only reliant on drafting and developing their own contributors, but they need to produce those contributors in relatively short order. The Twins have a ton of young talent. 

The organization also received votes for the best at developing pitching and was graded out as fourth best for finding and developing sleeper prospects (hello Payton Eeles). One barometer of their player development for me in 2025? Can they add another name to global top one hundred prospect lists who's not currently featured on them?

Aside from any offseason frustration, what do you make of the health of the Twins organization? Who or what are you high or low on entering 2025?

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[ashbury]

5 minutes ago, Jamie Cameron said:

Aside from any offseason frustration,

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln..."  😀

[Brandon]

Count the prospects traded for Mahle and Lopez and the list of development gets even better in the Twins favor.  Steer, Povich, Encarnacion, Cano, …. 
Also the Twins have a high floor at each position going into next season.  They could use a stabilizing veteran that can play 2B and 1rst.  But otherwise they seem all set and it’s a matter of further development and health for their players.

[tony&rodney]

I'm pretty bullish on the Twins actually. I rather like their pitching. The only wish for me was that the front office would be willing to go a bit overboard on a couple of gambles for young players who are capable of filling an organizational weakness. Neither players may even be available but I would overpay for both. 

The current top prospects are very close to earning lineup slots. Jenkins may be a year away, but I'm hoping big time to see some success from Emmanuel, Luke, and Payton this year. The farm system may clock in among the middle third in MLB but there are players itching to show their stuff. Let it be.

[Schmoeman5]

16 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Count the prospects traded for Mahle and Lopez and the list of development gets even better in the Twins favor.  Steer, Povich, Encarnacion, Cano, …. 
Also the Twins have a high floor at each position going into next season.  They could use a stabilizing veteran that can play 2B and 1rst.  But otherwise they seem all set and it’s a matter of further development and health for their players.

Curious as to who you think are the high floor prospects at SS and C? That's where I see the biggest question marks going forward. 

[tony&rodney]

17 minutes ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Curious as to who you think are the high floor prospects at SS and C? That's where I see the biggest question marks going forward. 

Catcher? None have high floors. Shortstop? Kaelen Culpepper could stick as could Danny De Andrade. The sleeper here is slightly improbable but should not be counted out - Brandon Winokur.

There are questions at these two positions, no doubt. This is why i proposed, in the past, that the Twins go hard after Jeferson Quero of Milwaukee (cost ? B. Lee) and Jordan Lawler of Arizona (cost ? J. Duran and one of J. Miranda or E. Julien). However, I don't think the Snakes or Brewers oblige.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Curious as to who you think are the high floor prospects at SS and C? That's where I see the biggest question marks going forward. 

In 2025 I think we are set at C and SS.  We are not going to have top prospects at all positions at all times.

[Blyleven2011]

What i like the most is twins baseball  ...

What I like the least is our manager and coaches not taking out talent from AAA  to the next level of the major leagues , it seems our talented prospects stall at the major leagues or they  just weren't ready to be called up ...

You never stop learning to play the game and our manager and coaches should emphasize  this to the players , take that talent and make that talent even better  ...

You just can't tell a young man , go play baseball,  you've got to help their weaknesses , other managers help there players get better  , past and present  ...

I will never cut our manager and coaches any slack , because the players  may take the field but there are alot of games they don't come to play , sloppy sloppy baseball because  they don't know how many outs there are , on the bases they run into outs on stupid mistake , out fielders can't hit the cutoffs or throw to the right bases , hitting suckks at times against good pitchers because they lack discipline and adjustments at the plate , even mediocre pitching the hitting make the opposing pitcher look like a Cy young candidate  ...

I'm not sorry for the negativity  , I'm just telling you of the reality of the twins and management  , that will not place better than 3rd in our central division  , but I'll follow every game always because of the love of the game of baseball  , I live for opening day and the world series  and everything in-between  ...

go twins ...

[DocBauer]

I am very high on the Twins system and their collection of young talent. I also believe pre-arbitration players who have just passed rookie status should be included when ranking a system. I mean, Lee and Festa are not far removed from rookie status.

Is the #3 ranking by ML Pipeline accurate? Maybe. I believe they rank in the top 10 by most pundits and publications. But at the end of the day, what matters is the GOOD ONES who make the team better because some will be traded, and some/most will never turn out for EVERY team.

Personally, I think the Twins have a collection of high talent prospects as well as good depth. I say that because I still include Lee and Festa as potentially very good players, if not starts. Jenkins and Rodriguez have star potential. And Keaschall might not be far off. Were I in charge of the Twins, I say yet again I'd have Eeles and McCusker both in ST for a  LONG look. I have more faith in Eeles, but your scouting department found a pair of interesting players who MIGHT just turn out to be good players, Eeles as a starter or utility player, McCusker as a RH 5th OF/DH. PLEASE stop dismissing potential on hand that might be good FO!

The old adage for pitchers is have 5 or 6 in order to find 2 good ones, or something like that. Well, in addition to what SWR did last season, and Festa really looking good after his first couple of mediocre starts, AAA has Matthews, Morris, Raya, Lewis, Adams, and lefty Nowlin, who probably ends up in the pen. Culpepper isn't far behind. And while he's lower in level at the moment, if the brace procedure on Prielipp holds, look out! 

I think where some might argue against the Twins having depth is they're short at the AA level currently due to a number of factors. Not saying Wichita is devoid of talent and some potential...they aren't...but most of the top talent in the system is recently graduated, at St Paul, or in A ball.

And speaking of A ball, Culpepper and DeAndrade just might be heir apparents to Correa, though I'm doubtful he moves off SS for at least 3 years. There are a handful of arms at A ball not named Prielipp that offer the potential to make serious jumps in 2025, and while the Latin signings in recent years have really only provided E Rodriguez as a top prospect, Olivar as a RH OF who MIGHT be able to play some catcher, the aforementioned DeAndrade, J Rodriguez, and Mercedes offer intrigue. Soto has a ways to go, but the kid is impressive as an individual, and has all the physical tools and pure stuff/potential you could ever spit out if you did a "Weird Science" experiment to build a starting pitcher. And I can't wait to see the debut of LHSP Dasan Hill in 2025.

Winokur has room to develop of course. And I'm pretty sure he's not going to stick at SS much longer just based on size and physical development. But IMO he's one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire system. He could be anywhere from a washout athlete who never gets enough "control" of the zone to make it, to an All Star slugger who runs well and plays solid defense at 3B, or either corner OF spot, maybe CF if he doesn't grow too big and loses too much speed, to at WORST a major slugger at 1B who runs better, and is a better athlete than any typical 1B.

Since we're primarily focusing on young/future talent, I'm going to be focusing a lot on the 2024 draft class. And I don't mean just Kaelen Culpepper and Billy Amick...both of whom might make jumps similar to Keaschall, or Kyle DeBarge, who didn't impress initially in SSS. 

Diaw is a catcher/outfielder who they should STICK at catcher as long as possible to see if he can handle the position. He's raw as can be, but has potential and is a much better athlete than you normally ever see in a backstop. It's my understanding that 4th round pick Ferrer was a pretty highly regarded catcher coming out of HS, who Florida State moved to the OF. I'm hoping the Twins move him back behind the plate to see what he can do. You DEVELOP CATCHERS. You don't often get to draft a Mauer type of player. 

A pair of 3B in Peyton Carr and Jay Thomason are of great interest. Carr is from a smaller school and had injury concerns, but performed well when healthy. And Thomason, an Air Force alum put up tremendous numbers that makes me wonder why he was available so late in the draft, despite not coming from a powerhouse conference. 

While the Twins drafted more position wise in 2024, grabbing some bats and athletes that might be "position questionable" there's some real potential if they put them in the right spot. Again, I'd be focusing on Diaw and Ferrer as potential catchers. Carr and Thomason might be potential steals at 3B. But they all only got a small taste of pro ball. What might they do in 2025 now that they are acclimated and have a full season to play?

And, typically for recent drafts, the Twins didn't ignore arms despite Hill being the only early pitching pick. They still grabbed a lot of mid round selections. As of RIGHT NOW the 2023 pitching draft class hasn't looked as good as the 2022 class. And that's understandable as the 2022 class has exceeded expectations I'd say. But there's certainly potential there. But again, as has been typical in recent history, the 2024 draft selections of arms have barely thrown, if at all. So I'll be looking to see who steps forward in 2025.

Not every draft class works out. But Sean Johnson and his staff have been on a good roll for several seasons now, even if the Latin signings haven't gained a lot of traction in recent seasons. (Why the Twins made changes there that might take a couple years to bear fruit). 

And I love to make long posts about things like "the system" because I think Johnson has put the system in good ordinance. And I always love to ramble, because i apparently have a lot to say. LOL.

There's room to trade talent to fill spots. And I think that will happen. The Twins haven't ignored the catcher position, BUT post the drafting of Jeffers, they've either guessed wrong, developed wrong, or been unlucky with development. 

But the system and young talent looks pretty good to me. A few TOP talent prospects, depth in pitching looking good, and a good looking talent group at A ball, with a gap at the AA level, and a BUNCH of 2024 draft choices that are WILD CARDS I'll be following this next season to see how they do. 

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

48 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

I am very high on the Twins system and their collection of young talent. I also believe pre-arbitration players who have just passed rookie status should be included when ranking a system. I mean, Lee and Festa are not far removed from rookie status.

Is the #3 ranking by ML Pipeline accurate? Maybe. I believe they rank in the top 10 by most pundits and publications. But at the end of the day, what matters is the GOOD ONES who make the team better because some will be traded, and some/most will never turn out for EVERY team.

Personally, I think the Twins have a collection of high talent prospects as well as good depth. I say that because I still include Lee and Festa as potentially very good players, if not starts. Jenkins and Rodriguez have star potential. And Keaschall might not be far off. Were I in charge of the Twins, I say yet again I'd have Eeles and McCusker both in ST for a  LONG look. I have more faith in Eeles, but your scouting department found a pair of interesting players who MIGHT just turn out to be good players, Eeles as a starter or utility player, McCusker as a RH 5th OF/DH. PLEASE stop dismissing potential on hand that might be good FO!

The old adage for pitchers is have 5 or 6 in order to find 2 good ones, or something like that. Well, in addition to what SWR did last season, and Festa really looking good after his first couple of mediocre starts, AAA has Matthews, Morris, Raya, Lewis, Adams, and lefty Nowlin, who probably ends up in the pen. Culpepper isn't far behind. And while he's lower in level at the moment, if the brace procedure on Prielipp holds, look out! 

I think where some might argue against the Twins having depth is they're short at the AA level currently due to a number of factors. Not saying Wichita is devoid of talent and some potential...they aren't...but most of the top talent in the system is recently graduated, at St Paul, or in A ball.

And speaking of A ball, Culpepper and DeAndrade just might be heir apparents to Correa, though I'm doubtful he moves off SS for at least 3 years. There are a handful of arms at A ball not named Prielipp that offer the potential to make serious jumps in 2025, and while the Latin signings in recent years have really only provided E Rodriguez as a top prospect, Olivar as a RH OF who MIGHT be able to play some catcher, the aforementioned DeAndrade, J Rodriguez, and Mercedes offer intrigue. Soto has a ways to go, but the kid is impressive as an individual, and has all the physical tools and pure stuff/potential you could ever spit out if you did a "Weird Science" experiment to build a starting pitcher. And I can't wait to see the debut of LHSP Dasan Hill in 2025.

Winokur has room to develop of course. And I'm pretty sure he's not going to stick at SS much longer just based on size and physical development. But IMO he's one of the most intriguing prospects in the entire system. He could be anywhere from a washout athlete who never gets enough "control" of the zone to make it, to an All Star slugger who runs well and plays solid defense at 3B, or either corner OF spot, maybe CF if he doesn't grow too big and loses too much speed, to at WORST a major slugger at 1B who runs better, and is a better athlete than any typical 1B.

Since we're primarily focusing on young/future talent, I'm going to be focusing a lot on the 2024 draft class. And I don't mean just Kaelen Culpepper and Billy Amick...both of whom might make jumps similar to Keaschall, or Kyle DeBarge, who didn't impress initially in SSS. 

Diaw is a catcher/outfielder who they should STICK at catcher as long as possible to see if he can handle the position. He's raw as can be, but has potential and is a much better athlete than you normally ever see in a backstop. It's my understanding that 4th round pick Ferrer was a pretty highly regarded catcher coming out of HS, who Florida State moved to the OF. I'm hoping the Twins move him back behind the plate to see what he can do. You DEVELOP CATCHERS. You don't often get to draft a Mauer type of player. 

A pair of 3B in Peyton Carr and Jay Thomason are of great interest. Carr is from a smaller school and had injury concerns, but performed well when healthy. And Thomason, an Air Force alum put up tremendous numbers that makes me wonder why he was available so late in the draft, despite not coming from a powerhouse conference. 

While the Twins drafted more position wise in 2024, grabbing some bats and athletes that might be "position questionable" there's some real potential if they put them in the right spot. Again, I'd be focusing on Diaw and Ferrer as potential catchers. Carr and Thomason might be potential steals at 3B. But they all only got a small taste of pro ball. What might they do in 2025 now that they are acclimated and have a full season to play?

And, typically for recent drafts, the Twins didn't ignore arms despite Hill being the only early pitching pick. They still grabbed a lot of mid round selections. As of RIGHT NOW the 2023 pitching draft class hasn't looked as good as the 2022 class. And that's understandable as the 2022 class has exceeded expectations I'd say. But there's certainly potential there. But again, as has been typical in recent history, the 2024 draft selections of arms have barely thrown, if at all. So I'll be looking to see who steps forward in 2025.

Not every draft class works out. But Sean Johnson and his staff have been on a good roll for several seasons now, even if the Latin signings haven't gained a lot of traction in recent seasons. (Why the Twins made changes there that might take a couple years to bear fruit). 

And I love to make long posts about things like "the system" because I think Johnson has put the system in good ordinance. And I always love to ramble, because i apparently have a lot to say. LOL.

There's room to trade talent to fill spots. And I think that will happen. The Twins haven't ignored the catcher position, BUT post the drafting of Jeffers, they've either guessed wrong, developed wrong, or been unlucky with development. 

But the system and young talent looks pretty good to me. A few TOP talent prospects, depth in pitching looking good, and a good looking talent group at A ball, with a gap at the AA level, and a BUNCH of 2024 draft choices that are WILD CARDS I'll be following this next season to see how they do. 

 

Great post Doc. Thanks.

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I am very high on the Twins system and their collection of young talent. I also believe pre-arbitration players who have just passed rookie status should be included when ranking a system. I mean, Lee and Festa are not far removed from rookie status.

Is the #3 ranking by ML Pipeline accurate? Maybe. I believe they rank in the top 10 by most pundits and publications. But at the end of the day, what matters is the GOOD ONES who make the team better because some will be traded, and some/most will never turn out for EVERY team

 

The Twins rank 22nd in Bleacher Report currently because Festa, Matthews & Lee all graduated.

If the rankings were adjusted to arbitrarily include Twins players who have lost rookie status, our farm would rank further down because a lot of other prospect players were actually good at baseball while playing at the MLB level, unlike Lee and Matthews who were both awful. When a "prospect" is lights out at the MLB level long enough to lose rookie status, but then put back onto a "prospect" list, we'd see the entire top 50 feature only players at the MLB level.

It's fine everybody is so high on Walker Jenkins because it really doesn't matter, but he doesn't grade out especially well results-wise vs. future successful peer results at the same age and at A+ or higher. Jenkins is kind of in the middle of a 50/50 boom/bust group.

Emmanuel Rodriguez has made Byron Buxton look like he's made of iron all while advancing very slowly through the MiLB system and producing results which come with plenty of red flags. Rodriguez already burned an option last year, and I can't imagine he won't burn a second option this year before he sees the diamond in a regular season game.

Luke Keaschall is the last of the Twins top 100's, and he was borderline last year. It wouldn't surprise me if he fell off the top 100 list before spring. After Keaschall, our farm is filled with B and C grade prospects. It's not as if they couldn't rise up fast (look at Matthews last year), just that they're not going to be expected to do as well as top prospects.

[dxpavelka]

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

Count the prospects traded for Mahle and Lopez and the list of development gets even better in the Twins favor.  Steer, Povich, Encarnacion, Cano, …. 
Also the Twins have a high floor at each position going into next season.  They could use a stabilizing veteran that can play 2B and 1rst.  But otherwise they seem all set and it’s a matter of further development and health for their players.

Lopez was traded for a batting champion.  Can a batting champion really count as a prospect? 

[ashbury]

10 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Lopez was traded for a batting champion.  Can a batting champion really count as a prospect? 

The Other, Wrong, Downright Awful, Very Bad Lopez.

[h2oface]

So far, they seem to have a pretty bad track record of picking the prospects to keep. 

[Doctor Wu]

3 hours ago, h2oface said:

So far, they seem to have a pretty bad track record of picking the prospects to keep. 

Yeah, the track record in that respect could be a lot better. We might as well trade Martin to the A's and let him become an All-Star like Rooker! Seriously, I actually wasn't that bothered that the Twins traded Rooker to San Diego (he was a victim of "too many cooks in the kitchen" with the Twins) so his recent surge caught me by total surprise, And the guys (Steer and CES) that we gave up in that ill-fated Reds trade, will have their moments, but then again, they were surplus players that we could afford to lose. The Orioles trade was that one that hurt us the most, giving up Povich and Cano. Going forward, I'd still like the Twins to take more chances on drafting pitchers that can/might make an impact, instead of focusing so much on athletic shortstop types. I understand the logic of drafting like that, but I'd like us to have even more quality pitchers/arms in the system. 

[big dog]

The Reds seem to be trying to upgrade the positions Steer plays, though he's been good, and it doesn't sound like they count on CES. Cano is an MLB reliever, Povich might make it. I don't think any of these losses on their own are disasters, but giving them up for two guys with a combined Twins lifetime WAR of 0.3 was terrible. Happy to trade players but we gotta get players.

[Pwjxr56]

I don’t think the Twins have a good farm system.  During Falvey’s tenure most of the pitching on the major league roster has been acquired from other teams.  The farm system has not produced any pitchers who have become regular starters.  Except for Ryan Jeffers the farm system has not produced any position players who have become everyday players.  What the farm system has produced are a large number of prospects who sustain an ongoing series of injuries and/or who are unable to succeed at the major league level. Results, not potential, are what matter.  The player scouting and development operation is fatally flawed and needs to be rebuilt from the ground 

[miracleb]

Steer didn't have nearly the season last year that was expected (after a very promising 2023.)  CES has been injured and not getting the at bats needed to make a good assesment in the majors (but he is only 25 years old.)  But I agree with big dog......they were valuable assets at the time and basically were "wasted."  :(

[JD-TWINS]

22 minutes ago, miracleb said:

Steer didn't have nearly the season last year that was expected (after a very promising 2023.)  CES has been injured and not getting the at bats needed to make a good assesment in the majors (but he is only 25 years old.)  But I agree with big dog......they were valuable assets at the time and basically were "wasted."  :(

Live in Cinti……Steer was voted Team MVP in his Rookie season in ‘23. His BA dipped from .271 to .221 in ‘24 (big time streaky). Over 2 years he’s averaged 157 games played - 89 RBI - 107 OPS+ - 2.25 WAR - he plays 3-4 positions. He IS the right handed hitting Corner Outfielder the Twins are continually looking for as a FA.

The trade was made - can’t do anything about that but Steer is a solid pro and the Reds are very happy to have him.

DeLaCruz - Steer - Nolve - McClean to a man ALL think CES is the best hitter among them based on their AAA exposure - they were all ecstatic when he was initially called up……not happened for him yet but there’s still a successful big leaguer potential with CES as he gets healthy.

[Otaknam]

19 hours ago, Brandon said:

Count the prospects traded for Mahle and Lopez and the list of development gets even better in the Twins favor.  Steer, Povich, Encarnacion, Cano, …. 
Also the Twins have a high floor at each position going into next season.  They could use a stabilizing veteran that can play 2B and 1rst.  But otherwise they seem all set and it’s a matter of further development and health for their players.

A veteran second baseman is the one thing they don’t need, with Lee and Julien already in the ML, and top prospect Keaschall on the cusp. And there have been discussions about moving Lewis to second, though I don’t think that will happen. But they could use a first baseman, which should be the easiest infield position to fill.

[TopGunn#22]

Great Post Doc Bauer !  I had forgotten about Dason Hill after initially being excited we picked him.  It's far to easy to lose track of all the guys they pick year after year.  Even the ones that you think might be pretty good.

Could you clarify something you've posted a couple times?  Do you KNOW the Twins are not inviting Eeles or McCusker to spring training?  Or are you just hoping they do?  I can't imagine a couple of guys that reached AAA St. Paul and performed well (especially Eeles) wouldn't be invited.  And with the status of 2B up in the air (is it Lewis, Lee, Julien or Castro) a guy like Eeles, with his apparent elite bat to ball skills and his 41 SB's over the entire minor league season he played, I can't imagine they WOULDN'T give him a long look.  

I realize Eeles has really only had that one season last year, but it was a very IMPRESSIVE season.  

I'm very excited about some of the guys we have in our system and I would think it's better to have potentially high impact guys than a lot of "depth."  I would like to see the Twins do better in Latin America and internationally in general.  I'm a dreamer, so I'm still dreaming of Roki Sasaki.  

HOW MLB measures a farm system matters.  But I think it's obvious MLB thinks the Twins farm system is loaded with some high upside potential as well as good depth throughout the system.  I can understand how a certain level, in this case AA may be a little short on talent to begin the season, but a number of those lower lever guys may get promoted fairly quickly and reinforce AA.

I think Winokur is a more athletic right handed version of Matt Wallner.  Wallner is a corner OF who might play some 1B despite having a cannon for an arm.  A young, LH version of Frank Howard.  Winokur could end up anywhere in the OF at 3B or 1B.  But the raw power both have is intriguing.  Can they have a reasonable K rate and hit enough HR's to justify the K's??  

[Fatbat]

9 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Lopez was traded for a batting champion.  Can a batting champion really count as a prospect? 

Jorge Lopez, Not Pablo

[jmlease1]

9 hours ago, bean5302 said:

The Twins rank 22nd in Bleacher Report currently because Festa, Matthews & Lee all graduated.

If the rankings were adjusted to arbitrarily include Twins players who have lost rookie status, our farm would rank further down because a lot of other prospect players were actually good at baseball while playing at the MLB level, unlike Lee and Matthews who were both awful. When a "prospect" is lights out at the MLB level long enough to lose rookie status, but then put back onto a "prospect" list, we'd see the entire top 50 feature only players at the MLB level.

It's fine everybody is so high on Walker Jenkins because it really doesn't matter, but he doesn't grade out especially well results-wise vs. future successful peer results at the same age and at A+ or higher. Jenkins is kind of in the middle of a 50/50 boom/bust group.

Emmanuel Rodriguez has made Byron Buxton look like he's made of iron all while advancing very slowly through the MiLB system and producing results which come with plenty of red flags. Rodriguez already burned an option last year, and I can't imagine he won't burn a second option this year before he sees the diamond in a regular season game.

Luke Keaschall is the last of the Twins top 100's, and he was borderline last year. It wouldn't surprise me if he fell off the top 100 list before spring. After Keaschall, our farm is filled with B and C grade prospects. It's not as if they couldn't rise up fast (look at Matthews last year), just that they're not going to be expected to do as well as top prospects.

You're basically the only person in the world who is this down on Walker Jenkins.

Why are you claiming that Emma is "advancing very slowly through the MiLB system"? He's never repeated a level in his professional career and will be in AAA at 22. Is that really slow? For a player with some injury issues, it seems just fine.

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, Pwjxr56 said:

I don’t think the Twins have a good farm system.  During Falvey’s tenure most of the pitching on the major league roster has been acquired from other teams.  The farm system has not produced any pitchers who have become regular starters.  Except for Ryan Jeffers the farm system has not produced any position players who have become everyday players.  What the farm system has produced are a large number of prospects who sustain an ongoing series of injuries and/or who are unable to succeed at the major league level. Results, not potential, are what matter.  The player scouting and development operation is fatally flawed and needs to be rebuilt from the ground 

Ober was drafted and developed.  Woods-Richardson was traded for and developed, Festa was drafted and developed.  That’s pretty good.  But wait there’s more Mathew’s was drafted and developed a little further down and Lewis and Morris and Adams were all developed by the Twins and are all at AA or AAA meaning almost ready.  Varland was drafted too but will likely end up in the pen.  

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, jmlease1 said:

You're basically the only person in the world who is this down on Walker Jenkins.

Why are you claiming that Emma is "advancing very slowly through the MiLB system"? He's never repeated a level in his professional career and will be in AAA at 22. Is that really slow? For a player with some injury issues, it seems just fine.

Yes, I do seem to be the only one concerned that Walker Jenkins' stats and performance don't justify the hype around him. I compared Jenkins to his peers (all 19 of them) in a different thread. Guys who became elite at the MLB level were mostly already torching AA at Jenkins' age, but Jenkins is sandwiched between 10. Wil Myers, 11. Byron Buxton, just above 13. Carlos Correa and 14. Addison Russell. Jenkins is going to make MLB. There's no question about that. Whether he'll become Wil Myers or Jarred Kelenick remains to be seen. For what's it's worth, I was dead wrong on Royce Lewis being overrated. 

Re: Rodriguez. When a guy is burning options years before he gets to the big show, he's moving slow. Age doesn't matter. Years of professional baseball experience matters. Rodriguez is moving slow.

[Fatbat]

Jenkins and erod are 2years apart as they are entering their 20 &22 yo seasons respectively. If Jenkins is a phenom and makes it to MLB in ‘25, he is simply special. When Erod shows up in ‘25, he is right on time to play 12-15 mlb seasons. Does it really matter if he burnt 1 option year?  Its much more important to put the flooky injury bug behind him and be a building block in our OF. 

Dylan Crews is exactly 1 yr older than Erod,  Is he considered a slow moving prospect? 

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Great Post Doc Bauer !  I had forgotten about Dason Hill after initially being excited we picked him.  It's far to easy to lose track of all the guys they pick year after year.  Even the ones that you think might be pretty good.

Could you clarify something you've posted a couple times?  Do you KNOW the Twins are not inviting Eeles or McCusker to spring training?  Or are you just hoping they do?  I can't imagine a couple of guys that reached AAA St. Paul and performed well (especially Eeles) wouldn't be invited.  And with the status of 2B up in the air (is it Lewis, Lee, Julien or Castro) a guy like Eeles, with his apparent elite bat to ball skills and his 41 SB's over the entire minor league season he played, I can't imagine they WOULDN'T give him a long look.  

I realize Eeles has really only had that one season last year, but it was a very IMPRESSIVE season.  

I'm very excited about some of the guys we have in our system and I would think it's better to have potentially high impact guys than a lot of "depth."  I would like to see the Twins do better in Latin America and internationally in general.  I'm a dreamer, so I'm still dreaming of Roki Sasaki.  

HOW MLB measures a farm system matters.  But I think it's obvious MLB thinks the Twins farm system is loaded with some high upside potential as well as good depth throughout the system.  I can understand how a certain level, in this case AA may be a little short on talent to begin the season, but a number of those lower lever guys may get promoted fairly quickly and reinforce AA.

I think Winokur is a more athletic right handed version of Matt Wallner.  Wallner is a corner OF who might play some 1B despite having a cannon for an arm.  A young, LH version of Frank Howard.  Winokur could end up anywhere in the OF at 3B or 1B.  But the raw power both have is intriguing.  Can they have a reasonable K rate and hit enough HR's to justify the K's??  

Unless I've missed something, I don't believe any invites  have been made public yet in regard to ST. So my comments are a "wish list" for them to do so. I just think they need to give Eels and McCusker legitimate looks and not a couple games and sent across the road to the MILB complex kind of invites. Neither may make it. Both could. But they had good seasons...excellent in the case of Eeles...and may potentially help the club at some point in 2025. Eels will be 25yo this upcoming season...not exactly old...and McCusker will turn 27 near the end of May. I think each deserves something more than a cursory invite. 

[big dog]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Live in Cinti……Steer was voted Team MVP in his Rookie season in ‘23. His BA dipped from .271 to .221 in ‘24 (big time streaky). Over 2 years he’s averaged 157 games played - 89 RBI - 107 OPS+ - 2.25 WAR - he plays 3-4 positions. He IS the right handed hitting Corner Outfielder the Twins are continually looking for as a FA.

The trade was made - can’t do anything about that but Steer is a solid pro and the Reds are very happy to have him.

DeLaCruz - Steer - Nolve - McClean to a man ALL think CES is the best hitter among them based on their AAA exposure - they were all ecstatic when he was initially called up……not happened for him yet but there’s still a successful big leaguer potential with CES as he gets healthy.

Steers had a very successful first year, no question. Hopefully he can repeat that in year 3. 

[JD-TWINS]

5 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Great Post Doc Bauer !  I had forgotten about Dason Hill after initially being excited we picked him.  It's far to easy to lose track of all the guys they pick year after year.  Even the ones that you think might be pretty good.

Could you clarify something you've posted a couple times?  Do you KNOW the Twins are not inviting Eeles or McCusker to spring training?  Or are you just hoping they do?  I can't imagine a couple of guys that reached AAA St. Paul and performed well (especially Eeles) wouldn't be invited.  And with the status of 2B up in the air (is it Lewis, Lee, Julien or Castro) a guy like Eeles, with his apparent elite bat to ball skills and his 41 SB's over the entire minor league season he played, I can't imagine they WOULDN'T give him a long look.  

I realize Eeles has really only had that one season last year, but it was a very IMPRESSIVE season.  

I'm very excited about some of the guys we have in our system and I would think it's better to have potentially high impact guys than a lot of "depth."  I would like to see the Twins do better in Latin America and internationally in general.  I'm a dreamer, so I'm still dreaming of Roki Sasaki.  

HOW MLB measures a farm system matters.  But I think it's obvious MLB thinks the Twins farm system is loaded with some high upside potential as well as good depth throughout the system.  I can understand how a certain level, in this case AA may be a little short on talent to begin the season, but a number of those lower lever guys may get promoted fairly quickly and reinforce AA.

I think Winokur is a more athletic right handed version of Matt Wallner.  Wallner is a corner OF who might play some 1B despite having a cannon for an arm.  A young, LH version of Frank Howard.  Winokur could end up anywhere in the OF at 3B or 1B.  But the raw power both have is intriguing.  Can they have a reasonable K rate and hit enough HR's to justify the K's??  

IMO, it’s either Lewis moved to 2B or it’s Castro. No way with the limited AB’s through Spring Training that Julien can prove he’s “the guy” at 2B. Lee has to show he can hit as well - they may let him learn in the job more with the bat v. Julien. Lee, to me, should be playing 3B for best use of our potential defensive tools.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, Fatbat said:

Jenkins and erod are 2years apart as they are entering their 20 &22 yo seasons respectively. If Jenkins is a phenom and makes it to MLB in ‘25, he is simply special. When Erod shows up in ‘25, he is right on time to play 12-15 mlb seasons. Does it really matter if he burnt 1 option year?  Its much more important to put the flooky injury bug behind him and be a building block in our OF. 

Dylan Crews is exactly 1 yr older than Erod,  Is he considered a slow moving prospect? 

Typically, high school draft picks make MLB between 3-4 years after drafting.
Typically, college draft picks make MLB between 2-3 years after drafting.
Top draft picks and elite prospects generally knock a year off that.

I'm not going to agree with you.