Twins Minor League Report (8/3): Newly Acquired prospects Hendry Mendez and Mick Abel Shine

[Matthew Taylor]

What a wild day across the Twins minor league system on Sunday. The Wind Surge stole the show with an outrageous ten-run ninth inning, capped by a huge game from newly acquired Hendry Mendez. In St. Paul, Mick Abel impressed in his organizational debut with five dominant frames.

Plenty of action, standout performances, and prospect notes to dig into from top to bottom. Let’s get into it.

TRANSACTIONS 
Cedar Rapids placed infielder Rayne Doncon on the temporary inactive list. 

SAINTS SENTINEL 
St. Paul 1, Toledo 4
Box Score

The Saints got on the scoreboard in the top of the first when Payton Eeles singled to drive in Luke Keaschall, who led off the game with a double. Unfortunately, that was the Saints' lone run of the game. 

Mick Abel made his first start since joining the Twins organization from the Phillies in the Jhoan Duran trade. He threw five scoreless innings and gave up just one hit. He walked two and struck out seven batters. 

Christian MacLeod went the final three innings and was charged with four runs on five hits and two walks. 

Randy Dobnak made the start for the Mudhens. He gave up one run on three hits and three walks over four innings. 

WIND SURGE WISDOM
Wichita 16, Amarillo 8 
Box Score

Ryan Gallagher came to the Twins from the Cubs in the Willi Castro trade last week. On Sunday, he made his debut in the Twins organization. While the results were not great, it’s clear he’s got some good stuff, especially a good breaking ball. He put a zero on the board in the first inning and then gave up either one or two runs in each of the next four innings. In five innings, he gave up six runs on seven hits (including three home runs) and a walk.

The top of the second inning began with a walk by Walker Jenkins. With one out, Ricardo Olivar homered for the second straight day. Hendry Mendez (who also joined the Twins from the Phillies, only in the Harrison Bader trade) followed immediately with his first Surge homer. 

In the fourth inning, Jenkins drove in the team’s fourth run with a sacrifice fly. 

Rubel Cespedes led off the top of the sixth inning with a laser line drive driven beyond the wall in right field to lessen the Surge deficit to 6-5. 

In the top of the seventh, Mendez singled to drive in Kala’i Rosario and tie the game at six. 

 

Ricky Castro came on and put two zeroes on the board while the Surge tried to come back. However, he gave up two runs in the bottom of the eighth to turn a tied game into an 8-6 deficit heading to the ninth inning, but the Wind Surge had the top of their lineup coming to the plate.

Kaelen Culpepper lined a single to left. Jenkins followed with a single to right. Rosario walked to load the bases. The first pitch to Olivar went to the backstop, allowing Culpepper to score and runners to advance to second and third with nobody out. Olivar walked to re-load the bases. 

Then the new guy came through again. Mendez dropped a single to center which drove in Jenkins and Rosario and gave the Surge a 9-8 lead.

Andrew Cossetti added an insurance run with an RBI groundout, making it 10-8. Then Cespedes laced a double to extend the lead to 11-8. Jorel Ortega followed with an RBI single, pushing the score to 12-8. Culpepper ripped a triple into the gap, scoring Ortega to make it 13-8. Jenkins kept the line moving with another RBI single to push it to 14-8. And finally, Rosario capped the explosion with a towering two-run homer to left field, making it 16-8.

In all, Wichita put up ten runs in a remarkable ninth inning rally, turning an 8-6 deficit into a commanding 16-8 advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth, Kade Bragg took the mound and shut the door, sealing the improbable comeback victory for the Wind Surge.                                                                                    

KERNELS NUGGETS
Cedar Rapids 5, Lansing 6 
Box Score

Jay Thomason got the Kernels on the board first with a home run in the second inning.

Chase Chaney started with four scoreless innings. He went five innings and gave up two runs on three hits and a walk. He had eight strikeouts.

Matt Mikulski came in and gave up four runs (three earned) on two hits and three walks in 1 1/3 innings. Ivran Romero got the final five outs without allowing another base runner.

Down 2-1 going to the sixth inning, Brandon Winokur drove in Maddux Houghton to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Lugnuts scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Kernels responded with two in the top of the seventh. Caden Kendle singled, and Jaime Ferrer followed with a two-run homer. 

Down two, Eduardo Tait (also acquired from the Phillies in the Duran trade) doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Danny De Andrade, but the Kernels were unable to complete the comeback. 

Ferrer was 2-for-4 with his fourth home run. Kendle went 2-for-4. Kyle Hess and Tait each hit a double.

 

MUSSEL MATTERS
Fort Myers 1, Dunedin 7 (11 innings)
Box Score

 

The final score may not show it, but this was a fantastic pitchers duel. A six-run top of the 11th inning gave the Jays an “easy” win after all.

The Mussels went with a bullpen game. Sam Rochard, fresh up from the FCL, made the start. He gave up one run on four hits and two walks over three innings. He had three strikeouts. Will Armbruester came on and gave up just one hit over the next 2-1/3 innings. Anthony Narvaez gave up one hit in 1 -1/3 innings. Lefty Zander Sechrist got all seven batters out that he faced. Julio Bonilla pitched a scoreless 10th. 

Tyler Stasiowski started the 11th inning. He was charged with four runs (three earned) on one hit and two walks. Jakob Hall came in with the bases loaded and allowed all three runners to score. Plus, he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in the inning. 

The lone Mussels run came in the seventh inning when Luis Hernandez singled to drive in Bryan Acuna. Hernandez, a non-drafted catcher last month, went 1-for-2 with two walks. Acuna went 2-for-4. Dameury Pena was 2-for-5. Acuna went 2-for-4. Khadim Diaw continued his rehab and added a double. 

 

PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Hitter of the Day  
Hendry Mendez (Wichita):  3-for-5, HR(1), 2 R, 4 RBI

Pitcher of the Day  
Mick Abel (St. Paul): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 66 pitches, 43 strikes (65.2%)

PROSPECT SUMMARY
Check out the Prospect Tracker for much more on our Twins Top 20 prospects after seeing how they did today. 

#1– Walker Jenkins (Wichita) - 2-for-4, BB, HR(5), 3 R, 2 RBI, K (played CF) 
#2 - Luke Keaschall (Minnesota) - rehab SP: 1-for-4, 2B(1), R (DHd) 
#3 - Kaelen Culpepper (Wichita) - 3-for-6, 3B, 2 R, RBI (played 3B)
#4 - Emmanuel Rodriguez (St. Paul) - IL
#5 - Connor Prielipp (Wichita) - DNP
#6 - Dasan Hill (Fort Myers) - DNP
#7 - Charlee Soto (Cedar Rapids) - Injured List 
#8 - Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-for-4, 2 K (played RF) 
#9 - Marco Raya (St. Paul) - DNP
#10 - Marek Houston (Fort Myers) - 1-for-5, 2 K (DHd)
#11 - Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-for-4, RBI, K (Played 3B)
#12 - Andrew Morris (St. Paul) - Injured List 
#13 - Riley Quick (FCL Twins) - DNP
#14 - Kyle DeBarge (Cedar Rapids) - 0-for-3, BB, K, (played SS)
#15 - C.J. Culpepper (Wichita) - DNP
#16 - Billy Amick (Cedar Rapids) - DNP
#17 - Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) - rehab FM: 1-for-3, 2B(1), 2 K (played CF)
#18 - Quentin Young (FCL Twins) - DNP 
#19 - Eduardo Beltre (Fort Myers) - 0-for-4, BB, 2 K (played LF and CF)
#20 - Ricardo Olivar (Wichita) - 1-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI (DHd)

MONDAY PITCHING PROBABLES 
DSL Twins @ DSL Miami (10:00 AM CT) - TBD 

CURRENT W-L Records
Minnesota Twins: 52-59
St. Paul Saints: 47-59
Wichita Wind Surge: 54-48
Cedar Rapids Kernels: 59-42 
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 45-55
FCL Twins: 39-20 (finished 2nd in FCL playoffs)
DSL Twins: 17-27

Please feel free to ask questions about the teams, the rosters, and discuss today’s games, or anything else Twins minor-league related!

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[mnfireman]

Given the defensive struggles of the MLB team, I really don't like seeing the team's top prospects being used as DH's. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Where is Abel on your revised Twins prospect list? I suggest #5. And Tait #6.

[bunsen82]

Looks like the top 20 prospect list needs updated since the trade deadline. 
 

Abel has some quality stuff. Now it just needs to transition to the MLB level. Everything is going right for Mendez. That AA lineup is murderers row. Jenkins Culpepper and Mendez lead a really good group of hitters.  
 

2 other notes, I thought another traded pitcher was suppose to start today. Also it appears Diaw was pulled was he injured again?

[SaberNerd]

5 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Also it appears Diaw was pulled was he injured again?

No intel, but the Twins often have guys early in rehab only play half a game.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, SaberNerd said:

No intel, but the Twins often have guys early in rehab only play half a game.

He plays CF when not catching?

[tony&rodney]

Mendez had a fine game but the player of the game was easily Kaelen Culpepper. Everyone looks to him and he drives the offense. Kaelen's line drive to start off the 9th inning fired up the entire team. It was over for Amarillo right there.

Mendez was impressive in the 9th inning with the bases loaded, fouling off two pitches on 3-2 and then flaring a broken bat bloop into centerfield to score the tying and winning runs. Good bat to ball skills on display. That was a fun game to watch.

Only watched Abel for one inning. He looked good. Toledo seemed flummoxed by his pitches. 

Winokur keeps marching along with a hit and RBI. He is developing. 

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Given the defensive struggles of the MLB team, I really don't like seeing the team's top prospects being used as DH's. 

Part of MILB is EVERYONE gets to play. How else do you develop players? You just can't have a set daily lineup, otherwise you end up ignoring everyone else on your roster. PLUS, what if a kid is just better at a different position? OR, can debut at the ML level one day at position X instead of Y because of need and because he actually CAN play position X.

This is not unique to the Twins. It's how you develop MILB players. For instance, 2 of the Twins best young catchers are BOTH at A+ right now in Diaw and Ferrer. Both drafted in 2024 back to back, and have the ability to play the OF and 1B. So they swap out time at catcher and other spots as well. And DH is another option to keep their still developing bats in the lineup as a 1/2 day off from playing in the field.

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

He plays CF when not catching?

Yep. He's probably the best "athlete" the Twins have had at catcher since Mauer. Picked right behind him in the 4th round was Jaime Ferrer, a TOP prep catching prospect who FL St moved to the OF because they already had a catcher in place, who was just recently drafted.

Diaw is athletic enough to play some CF, though I doubt he will be there long term in any capacity. And Ferrer plays corner OF and 1B when not catching. 

The recent addition of 18yo top 100 prospect Eduardo Tait is probably the Twins new #1 catching prospect, even though he's a good 2-3yrs away from a ML debut. But Diaw and Ferrer are reasons I've been yelling on my soapbox for months now for everyone to pay attention for future backstop options. BOTH are ATHLETES with real bat potential who are still raw behind the plate, but offer good to above offense if they can settle in behind the plate.

The Twins haven't ignored catching since Jeffers, they've just missed SO FAR on the guys they've drafted since.

[DocBauer]

So for the 2nd time today I've lost everything I had posted and can't recover. So I guess I have to try agsin and be more brief. Maybe that's a good thing considering my ability to be long winded, lol. So I guess I'm going to go the bullet point approach to make sure I can get through this post:

1] Abel has been a top 100 prospect almost since he was drafted as a HS arm in 2020. He only slipped out of the top 100 after the recent draft. Great build, great stuff, poor control until this season. Ceiling is a top of the rotation, playoff caliber SP. Floor, depending how you look at it, is backend SP, or top RP.

2] I'm ignoring only the 2nd appearance of MacLeod at AAA. He's a bit behind in development due to injury. He's improved his stuff. I doubt he's a ML starter. He has the potential to be a Thielbar type of pen arm. The conversion should start now.

3] Gallagher seems to have good stuff, good potential, and STEAM as a prospect. Not worried about a bad 1st appearance with a new team a couple of days after being traded. 

4] Culpepper is rolling at AA in his 1st FULL SEASON and Jenkins at 20yo is doing great and heating up! But is it OK to slow the roll just a bit and just let them finish 2025 at AA doing well?

 

 

5] Am I the only one that keeps thinking Rosario remains a prospect of interest? He was the MVP of the Midwest League in 2023, suffered through injury in 2024 at AA, got off to a HORRIBLE start in 2025, but has kept getting better and better as the season has gone along.

6] Great debut for Mendez! But it's only a couple of games. If he can learn to LIFT the ball beyond his precious 60% ground balls rate, we might have something. 

7] Olivar KEEPS hitting and producing. Is he developing more power? Man, I wish I could believe he's more than a #3 catcher option. I still think he's a LF who CAN catch if you need him to. 

 

[Doctor Wu]

3 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Am I the only one that keeps thinking Rosario remains a prospect of interest?

Yeah, he seems to have become the invisible man lately. But certainly he should still be considered a prospect worth watching. 

[Doctor Wu]

Cedar Rapids placed infielder Rayne Doncon on the temporary inactive list. 

Well, it's not the "Development List" but what has made him inactive? I know he hasn't been playing that well this season, but I hope he comes back. 

[Matthew Taylor]

8 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Mendez had a fine game but the player of the game was easily Kaelen Culpepper. Everyone looks to him and he drives the offense. Kaelen's line drive to start off the 9th inning fired up the entire team. It was over for Amarillo right there.

Mendez was impressive in the 9th inning with the bases loaded, fouling off two pitches on 3-2 and then flaring a broken bat bloop into centerfield to score the tying and winning runs. Good bat to ball skills on display. That was a fun game to watch.

Only watched Abel for one inning. He looked good. Toledo seemed flummoxed by his pitches. 

Winokur keeps marching along with a hit and RBI. He is developing. 

Easily could’ve gone Culpepper. In this case, when it’s close I’m just gonna go with the new guy.

[chpettit19]

Certainly easy to see what puts Abel on prospect rankings. That arm and stuff is impressive. Also easy to see what gives so many people concerns about him. Even yesterday he had moments where he just completely lost his control and had no idea where the ball is going for multiple hitters in a row. But they were pretty short lived stints of completely lost control so it was a fun game to watch. I'd put him right in with Festa and Zebby in the category of "clearly have MLB starter stuff, but their upside will be determined by what level of consistency they can reach."

Oh boy, that Tait kid does not get cheated. It's a controlled violence, but it is violence. Stays back well to take the ball the other way if needed, but still comes out of his shoes in attempting to do so on those swings. It's a pretty swing, but makes my back hurt just watching him.

[Jeff K]

10 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Mendez had a fine game but the player of the game was easily Kaelen Culpepper. Everyone looks to him and he drives the offense. Kaelen's line drive to start off the 9th inning fired up the entire team. It was over for Amarillo right there.

Mendez was impressive in the 9th inning with the bases loaded, fouling off two pitches on 3-2 and then flaring a broken bat bloop into centerfield to score the tying and winning runs. Good bat to ball skills on display. That was a fun game to watch.

Only watched Abel for one inning. He looked good. Toledo seemed flummoxed by his pitches. 

Winokur keeps marching along with a hit and RBI. He is developing. 

I really appreciate your reports from actual watching.

[madtowntwin]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Yep. He's probably the best "athlete" the Twins have had at catcher since Mauer. Picked right behind him in the 4th round was Jaime Ferrer, a TOP prep catching prospect who FL St moved to the OF because they already had a catcher in place, who was just recently drafted.

Diaw is athletic enough to play some CF, though I doubt he will be there long term in any capacity. And Ferrer plays corner OF and 1B when not catching. 

The recent addition of 18yo top 100 prospect Eduardo Tait is probably the Twins new #1 catching prospect, even though he's a good 2-3yrs away from a ML debut. But Diaw and Ferrer are reasons I've been yelling on my soapbox for months now for everyone to pay attention for future backstop options. BOTH are ATHLETES with real bat potential who are still raw behind the plate, but offer good to above offense if they can settle in behind the plate.

The Twins haven't ignored catching since Jeffers, they've just missed SO FAR on the guys they've drafted since.

Now that the smoke has cleared - My apologies to all those suffering thru poor wildfire poor air quality - It will be intriguing watching these catching prospects develop in the Twins minor league system. The cupboard was far from bare prior to the deadline, but the doors are now ready to burst...As they pair with some of the existing and now new pitching prospects within system development will be fascinating. 

[Jeff K]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

So for the 2nd time today I've lost everything I had posted and can't recover. So I guess I have to try agsin and be more brief. Maybe that's a good thing considering my ability to be long winded, lol. So I guess I'm going to go the bullet point approach to make sure I can get through this post:

1] Abel has been a top 100 prospect almost since he was drafted as a HS arm in 2020. He only slipped out of the top 100 after the recent draft. Great build, great stuff, poor control until this season. Ceiling is a top of the rotation, playoff caliber SP. Floor, depending how you look at it, is backend SP, or top RP.

2] I'm ignoring only the 2nd appearance of MacLeod at AAA. He's a bit behind in development due to injury. He's improved his stuff. I doubt he's a ML starter. He has the potential to be a Thielbar type of pen arm. The conversion should start now.

3] Gallagher seems to have good stuff, good potential, and STEAM as a prospect. Not worried about a bad 1st appearance with a new team a couple of days after being traded. 

4] Culpepper is rolling at AA in his 1st FULL SEASON and Jenkins at 20yo is doing great and heating up! But is it OK to slow the roll just a bit and just let them finish 2025 at AA doing well?

 

 

5] Am I the only one that keeps thinking Rosario remains a prospect of interest? He was the MVP of the Midwest League in 2023, suffered through injury in 2024 at AA, got off to a HORRIBLE start in 2025, but has kept getting better and better as the season has gone along.

6] Great debut for Mendez! But it's only a couple of games. If he can learn to LIFT the ball beyond his precious 60% ground balls rate, we might have something. 

7] Olivar KEEPS hitting and producing. Is he developing more power? Man, I wish I could believe he's more than a #3 catcher option. I still think he's a LF who CAN catch if you need him to. 

 

It's certainly not wrong to keep Culpepper and Jenkins at Wichita.  Culpepper is 23 and I would like to see him moved up this season to St. Paul.  He gives good reason to believe he is the SS of the future for the Twins.  Some seasoning at AAA this year could bring an outside shot at making the Twins out of spring training next year, but more likely later.

[jmlease1]

Man, I go on vacation and the Twins get a new pack of a prospects. This is going to take a while to sort through. (that said, I do believe I'll be starting or ending most of my comments with Eff the Pohlads until they sell the team)

Looking forward to getting to know the new kids, but it's nice to see that Kaelen Culpepper and Walker Jenkins continue to roll along at AA. Jenkins seems to have found some of the power stroke that some people were starting to worry over (I assume some naysayer will be along to tell me that we shouldn't be happy about it because he plays in Wichita and therefore it doesn't count?). Both of these guys will be in AAA next season for sure, which is pretty great and fast development. (Thank god, because MLB is looking a little dire)

I'm excited to see what the new catching prospects can do, but it's probably going to take some time with these guys. But it is nice to have some high/higher end prospects at that position. If the Pohlads can't get the team sold, Jeffers will probably get dealt in a further cost-cutting move, so we'll need at least one of these guys to develop quickly.

In closing, Eff the Pohlads...sell the team!

[tony&rodney]

18 minutes ago, Jeff K said:

It's certainly not wrong to keep Culpepper and Jenkins at Wichita.  Culpepper is 23 and I would like to see him moved up this season to St. Paul.  He gives good reason to believe he is the SS of the future for the Twins.  Some seasoning at AAA this year could bring an outside shot at making the Twins out of spring training next year, but more likely later.

No reason that Culpepper is not the shortstop out of Spring Training next season. He turns 23 late in December and has made every progression needed. It is not uncommon at all for players to skip AAA. Kaelen is exactly the type of player the Twins need on their roster. He is athletic, runs, fields his position well, and drives the ball all over the park.

[rdehring]

After missing almost all of the first two months of the season, it was reasonable to expect Jenkins to have a slow start when he returned.  And that he did.  But he sure has been the player we all hoped for the last month plus.  Including that start, his average went above .300 yesterday with a +.400 OBP and +.900 OPS.  Those are fantastic results which I hope will continue to climb as the season winds down.

As great as Jenkins has been, Culpepper has been getting even better results since moving up to Wichita.  Amazing season.  Also interesting, at least to me, that he played third base yesterday.  

[FlyingFinn]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

Am I the only one that keeps thinking Rosario remains a prospect of interest?

You are one of the few. To me, he's in the same bucket as Gonzalez, who started in A+ ball this year and flown right by Rosario to AAA. Rosario's stolen bases would seem to add some value but Julien also stole bases at this level and now gets pulled for a pinch runner. Gonzalez moving up isn't a good sign for Rosario.

[2wins87]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

5] Am I the only one that keeps thinking Rosario remains a prospect of interest? He was the MVP of the Midwest League in 2023, suffered through injury in 2024 at AA, got off to a HORRIBLE start in 2025, but has kept getting better and better as the season has gone along.

I've been fairly high on him and ranked him 11th coming into the season, which was too high in retrospect, but I still like him.

He's got legit 70 raw power, but doesn't tend to get the launch angles to turn that into game power as much as you'd hope.  Since striking out well over 30% as a pretty raw prospect in rookie and low-A (didn't face tough competition in HS), he's actually improved while moving up to face tougher competition.  28% is still high, but he really improved his approach from his early days as a prospect, and he just turned 23.

If he puts everything together he's a 30+ HR guy with a high K rate but a good enough approach to still get on base well over 30% of the time.  Kind of the right-handed version of Matt Wallner. The rough start was bad enough to have me doubting that thesis, but he's had nearly a .900 OPS since April, so I once again see the path.  

[jmlease1]

17 minutes ago, FlyingFinn said:

You are one of the few. To me, he's in the same bucket as Gonzalez, who started in A+ ball this year and flown right by Rosario to AAA. Rosario's stolen bases would seem to add some value but Julien also stole bases at this level and now gets pulled for a pinch runner. Gonzalez moving up isn't a good sign for Rosario.

I think GG has shown more than Rosario, but there still might be a role for Rosario? He just turned 23, so it's not like he's exactly old, so there's still time to find more there. When he's going good, he limits K's to a reasonable level, takes walks, and flashes solid power. But he hasn't shown consistent power in a big way that his lower BA will be supported by consistent homers. So he's maybe not a traditional slugger, but at the same time he doesn't make enough consistent contact that you can't be sure he can be a different kind of hitter, bit of a tweener, maybe?

He really started the season horribly. Had a fine May and an excellent June, before slumping in July. I think he needs to finish strong this year. I suspect he will not get protected in the Rule 5 upcoming...but I also don't think he'll get plucked, since he's not a plus defender, strong runner (he's ok), won't be ready to hit MLB pitching, and doesn't add much defensive flexibility. But if he finishes 2025 well, I can see him in Saint Paul to start 2026. 

I'm concerned that he's more like Yunior Severino than a real prospect. I'd like to be wrong there, because I've been on Team Rosario, but there are some unfortunate similarities.

[FlyingFinn]

56 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

No reason that Culpepper is not the shortstop out of Spring Training next season

I see no reason why we can't have Culpepper at SS and Jenkins in a corner OF spot to start next year. Jenkins can't be worse than Roden out there (who let's lazy fly balls drop in front of him and can't adjust to catch a shot that ends up going right over him and landing on the warning track) on defense. Rookie mistakes sure, and probably some struggles at times but overall improvement to the team.

[bunsen82]

MLB has the traded prospects slotted in the following slots

Tait 4, Abel 6, Rojas 7, Gallagher 16, Mendez 20, Jimenez 24.   

No longer prospects - Outman, Roden, Bradley.  

This list doesn't include the rookies.  On another list Houston is 7,  Quick is 10, Young 15 and the 3 high end pitchers of Ellwanger, Reitz and Barr are not in the top 20 prospects.  

After the draft and trade deadline that is an extremely strong top 30 prospects.   Not as many high end prospects but there aren't many teams that can beat our depth.  Right now you have Bohorquez treading water as a top 30 prospect.  

[jmlease1]

Curious to learn more about Hendry Mendez; it'll be interesting to find out what kind of hitter he really is. He's clearly having a bit of a breakout season, and he's hardly old, but he didn't impress in A-ball that much, so a little curious to see AA going better. But maybe it's mostly because he seems to be healthy/playing? Is the power increase this season for real or a mirage?

We can certainly use all the hitters we can find right now...

[Jeff K]

22 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

No reason that Culpepper is not the shortstop out of Spring Training next season. He turns 23 late in December and has made every progression needed. It is not uncommon at all for players to skip AAA. Kaelen is exactly the type of player the Twins need on their roster. He is athletic, runs, fields his position well, and drives the ball all over the park.

I fully agree.  Unfortunately, it seems like the Twins bring their players along so cautiously.