2025 Sire of Fort Myers Coronation

[Tom Froemming]

Hear ye, hear ye! ‘Tis time.

Image courtesy of © Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

I have a confession to make: I hate spring training. Yes, it’s true. This distaste for the exhibition schedule is precisely what led me to create the Sire of Fort Myers award all those years ago. I wanted something to look forward to during this time of year.

I’m pleased to report that it has worked as intended.

I’ve had such a great time with this silly little project through the years, and appreciate all of you who’ve joined in on the fun. Before we crown the 2025 Sire of Fort Myers, let’s take a moment to look back. Here are the numbers each prior Sire of Fort Myers posted in his conquering spring:

Hitters
2018 Ryan LaMarre: .475/.511/.775 (1.286 OPS) in 45 PA
2023 Willi Castro: .250/.375/.575 (.950 OPS) in 48 PA
2024 Brooks Lee: .333/.351/.611 (.962 OPS) in 37 PA

Pitchers
2019 Ryne Harper: 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 1.05 FIP, 16 K, 0 BB in 12 IP
2021 Derek Law: 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 1.45 FIP, 13 K, 3 BB in 8 IP
2022 Jhoan Duran: 0.00 ERA, 0.29 WHIP, 1.23 FIP, 10 K, 1 BB in 7 IP

Eligibility
As a reminder, to be eligible for Sire of Fort Myers, a player must either be 1) Not on the 40-man roster, or 2) Have never played in the majors. 

If this was Year 1 of the award, I might consider changing these intentionally narrow guidelines a bit. The spirit of the award is mostly to honor a player battling for a roster spot. That’s a pretty general concept, and I wanted a clear-cut definition of who would and would not be in the running. Guys like Zebby Matthews, Mickey Gasper and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. kinda feel like they should be eligible, but rules are rules and they’re there for a reason.

Still, that trio of players deserves a quick tip of the cap. Matthews struck out 12 batters over 9 1/3 scoreless innings, Gasper had a .904 OPS, while Keirsey had a .761 mark. These three entered camp on the fringes of the big-league roster, and two of them will break camp with the Twins. Gasper and Keirsey made their first Opening Day roster. While Matthews will open in St. Paul, expect him to be ready when a need arises. 

The Finalists
Hitter: Jeferson Morales
Who could’ve seen this one coming? As recently as 2023, Morales was stuck in Cedar Rapids, repeating the level for a third season. He finally made it to Double-A Wichita last season, and did enough to warrant a late-season promotion to St. Paul. It was a brief but brilliant flash with the Saints. Morales hit .359/.433/.585 in his first exposure to the top level of the minors, but it was easy to dismiss as a small sample, coming over just 60 plate appearances.

Maybe there’s something more here.

Morales was signed out of Venezuela way back in 2016. He became a father at age 19 (more on that in this 2022 article, from Jeff Johnson of the Cedar Rapids Gazette), the same year he made his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League. He was the Fort Myers winner of the Harmon Killebrew Award in 2021, which is given to the player who goes above and beyond for fan interaction and community service. He’s also had moments of brilliance on the field, being named an MiLB.com Organizational All-Star in 2021.

Morales has a line-drive swing and is great at making contact. He struck out in less than 16% of his plate appearances last season, despite facing pitching that was much better than he’d ever been exposed to. In the field, Morales used to primarily be a catcher, but now only dons the tools of ignorance every once in a blue moon. Instead, he spends the majority of his time in left field, with some cameos at second base mixed in. 

Morales has had an excellent spring with the Twins. He stuck in big-league camp through the very end, hitting .375/.459/.531 in 37 plate appearances over 20 games. 

The only other Sire-eligible hitters to see more plate appearances than Morales were former big-leaguers Armando Alvarez and Mike Ford, who did not have springs worthy of Sire consideration, to say the least. Prospect Luke Keaschall had a strong showing (.814 OPS), as did newcomer to the org Allan Cerda (.982 OPS), but Morales was the clear-cut leader among hitters for Sire of Fort Myers.

Pitcher: Andrew Morris
It’s pretty tough to beat a 0.00 ERA. Toss in a 0.57 WHIP, and Morris proved worthy of consideration for the crown, cape and scepter over his seven innings pitched this spring. My personal favorite player to watch in the entire system, Morris is an animated, intense competitor who was playing college ball for Colorado Mesa at 16 years old. He’d represent the title well.

There’s just one problem: While you can’t beat a 0.00 ERA, Morris wasn’t as dominant as prior arms to take the crown. 

Sires Derek Law and Jhoan Durán posted strikeout rates above 40%, and Sire Ryne Harper struck out nearly a third of the batters he faced. Morris punched out just five of 25 batters, a 20% strikeout rate. He made a great impression, sure, but it wasn’t the overpowering display we’re used to seeing from a Sire of Fort Myers.

Another arm to garner consideration was Randy Dobnak, who had a 0.00 ERA but a much less impressive 1.50 WHIP. He also made just two appearances, logging six innings. Dobnak will have to settle for a spot on the Opening Day roster as his reward. Jacob Bosiokovic was also excellent (0.00 ERA, 0.43 WHIP, 47.1 K%), but only logged 4 2/3 innings. Originally drafted as a position player, Bosiokovic converted to pitching a couple of years into his pro career, spent some time in indy ball, and was with the Cardinals Triple-A affiliate last year. Being motivated to familiarize myself with guys like him is one of the things I enjoy most about Sire of Fort Myers.

Still, Morris emerged as the top arm in this year’s class. So it’s come down to Morales vs. Morris.

And the 2025 Sire of Fort Myers is … 

Jeferson Morales!

Congratulations on winning the world’s greatest honor. I present you with the crown, cape and scepter. Represent the throne well in St. Paul. Keep this up and maybe we’ll even see you across the river at some point this summer.

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[LambchoP]

Morales looked real good this spring. Will be interesting to see if he can keep hitting like this in AAA for any length of time. If Lewis and Lee continue to battle injuries, it couldn't hurt to have someone like him available who can hit:)

[Althebum82]

Love this recurring feature and the detailed analysis that comes with it!  The choice is definitely most worthy, and hopefully this spring training performance is a precursor to a productive major league career, ideally mostly with the Twins.

[jmlease1]

Interesting player. I suspect the missing 2020 minor league season screwed up his developmental track, especially as the Twins tried to determine whether or not he could stick at catcher (and catchers usually need more time anyways). he seems to have good control of the strike zone, solid (if not always consistent) pop in the bat, and had a fine season in 2024 against more advanced competition.

Does he have a defensive position? Doesn't really have the size you'd like to see at 1B, so corner OF might be the best option. If he can keep hitting, he should get a shot. As a RH bat he might find some opportunity if he keeps making good, hard, consistent contact.

[IndianaTwin]

@Tom Froemming, did the sportswriter for the Cedar Rapids Gazette actually play parts of three seasons for the Yankees? Because that's where that link goes. 

[Parfigliano]

Wouldn't Dobnak be ineligible due to previously pitching numerous MLB games?

[Tom Froemming]

2 hours ago, Althebum82 said:

Love this recurring feature and the detailed analysis that comes with it!  

Thanks for reading! 

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Does he have a defensive position? Doesn't really have the size you'd like to see at 1B, so corner OF might be the best option. If he can keep hitting, he should get a shot. As a RH bat he might find some opportunity if he keeps making good, hard, consistent contact.

Not really, though LF is where he's settled in the past few years. I like that they're taking some looks at him at 2B, though. Seems unlikely he'll be truly usable there, but it's worth a look. 

1 hour ago, IndianaTwin said:

@Tom Froemming, did the sportswriter for the Cedar Rapids Gazette actually play parts of three seasons for the Yankees? Because that's where that link goes. 

Hahaha, no, that's just the Baseball-Reference player linker doing its thing. Jeff is a talented guy, but I don't believe he had that great of a playing career 😅

43 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Wouldn't Dobnak be ineligible due to previously pitching numerous MLB games?

Dobnak entered camp not on the 40-man roster, so he is eligible. He was removed from the 40 man in November. So this puts him in the same bucket as prior winners LaMarre, Willi and Law, all being guys who had previously played in the majors. Anybody not on the 40 man is eligible. The only eligible guys on the 40 man are those who haven't debuted.

[Dman]

I was way down on him after taking three years at high A.   Even last year it was hard to see it at times, but he did really well at AAA and he looked great this spring granted not against top competition.  Will be interested to see how he does at AAA in a larger sample size.  If the high contact rates continue gotta believe he finds his way to MLB.  Still a long shot IMO.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

I was way down on him after taking three years at high A.   Even last year it was hard to see it at times, but he did really well at AAA and he looked great this spring granted not against top competition.  Will be interested to see how he does at AAA in a larger sample size.  If the high contact rates continue gotta believe he finds his way to MLB.  Still a long shot IMO.

Agreed. That rough go 'round A+ season in 2022 at a high true prospect age 23 for that level put a big damper on Morales. That said, it was an isolated down year for him. He's consistently hit well otherwise. Unfortunately, he's been pretty old / experienced for the level by true prospect standards. It's preferable to see a23 in AA or higher for higher end prospects.

At age 26 this season, and a ton of catching depth ahead of him, Morales has a high bar set to get opportunities. As far as outfield options go, his fielding numbers aren't great due in part to a poor error rate (stop me if you've heard that about a Twins prospect before...) and he was used exclusively as a left fielder with no playing time at CF/RF over the last 3 years. He'll need to be able to pass guys like Keirsey and Martin on the depth charts.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

I don't know...

0 era with 1.50 whip is more impressive than a lot of other stat combinations.

Although, yeah, that is an awfully narrow tightrope, and wreaks of small sample size instability.

Still, i am glad to hear about Dobnak!

[Guest]

Really like your Sire competitions.

I am so happy that Jeferson Morales won the Harmon Killebrew Award. Many will probably see this a "soft" award compared to a baseball performance award, but I personally think it is great and will root for him in the future!!!!!

 

"If this was Year 1 of the award, I might consider changing these intentionally narrow guidelines a bit." Tom, how would you change this if you were of a mind to doing it?

 

"...playing college ball for Colorado Mesa at 16 years old."

Finally, regarding Andrew Morris, how does a 16 year old play college ball? Anybody have insight or a link they can share on this??

 

 

 

 

[DocBauer]

A worthy head to wear the crown!

Alas, I never got to see him play any 2B in ST, but he looked solid in LF, even saw him battle the sun and wind and make the necessary adjustments.

As a prospect, I'd like him better if he had stuck at catcher, or had more power. A couple years younger would be nice as well. But the MILB career OB% of .372 and OPS of .806 is very interesting. Considering the dearth of RH hitting OF anywhere close to the ML level...Rosario and Gonzalez are about it beyond Martin right now...I don't think we should sleep on him as a possible option. I'm uncertain about him at 2B, or the opportunity to play much there, but as a RH OF/DH option who CAN play some 2B fits if he continues to hit as well as he did in 2024 and ST.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

7 hours ago, IndianaTwin said:

@Tom Froemming, did the sportswriter for the Cedar Rapids Gazette actually play parts of three seasons for the Yankees? Because that's where that link goes. 

That’s automated. Tom didn’t add that link, TD adds the player baseball-reference pages and the ai failed us all

[Tom Froemming]

4 hours ago, sampleSizeOfOne said:

I don't know...

0 era with 1.50 whip is more impressive than a lot of other stat combinations.

Although, yeah, that is an awfully narrow tightrope, and wreaks of small sample size instability.

Still, i am glad to hear about Dobnak!

Dobnak only pitching in two official spring games was what worked against him as much as anything. Tough to crown a guy who participated in that few games. It's part of why there's never been a starting pitcher to win Sire of Fort Myers. It would basically require that someone eligible were competing for a big league rotation spot. Otherwise, the guys just don't get into many games. 

2 hours ago, Verified Member said:

"If this was Year 1 of the award, I might consider changing these intentionally narrow guidelines a bit." Tom, how would you change this if you were of a mind to doing it?

 

"...playing college ball for Colorado Mesa at 16 years old."

Finally, regarding Andrew Morris, how does a 16 year old play college ball? Anybody have insight or a link they can share on this??

I might have decided that anyone on the 40 man who still has rookie eligibility would be eligible. As it stands, it's anyone on the 40 man who hasn't debuted at all. I'm sticking with that, but the race would have been a lot closer this year under ever so slightly different eligibility rules.

On Morris, he's a September baby, kinda on the fence between school years. His parents put him in school early, so he was already young for his grade. Then when they eventually moved (I wanna say to Alaska), for some reason they pushed him another year ahead in that new school district. Don't know the whole story there, but bottom line is he's been facing older/more developed competition his whole life. I believe he was part of the college program at 16 but didn't appear in a game until after he'd turned 17. That's how he'd pitched four years of college ball and was still only 20-years-old when drafted.

[nclahammer]

Thank you Tom, I look forward to this every spring.