Which Top Twins Prospects Could Reach the Majors in 2027?

[Fatbat]

Lackey could be the next Buster Posey. He will be in AAA by July. 
AAA is going to be loaded with 22&23 yo’s by July so expect plenty of them to be knocking on the varsity’s door. Mendez should be the Saints starting 1B and get all those innings. He is pushing 200lbs now, no longer the 175 that he was 3 years ago. Expect a contact slugger to develop and when Sabato crashes, Mendez will get the call. He is going to be special as his career develops!

Houston, Mendez and Diaw will add some serious defensive talent. Sabato&Buck can hold down a majority of the DH AB’s. 
Play the Kids!!

[Mike Sixel]

3 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Just another story about Twins prospects.  Its the same thing every year.  Only the names change.  

 

What are you in this thread?

[Chembry]

3 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Just another story about Twins prospects.  Its the same thing every year.  Only the names change.  

 

If that is how you feel, why are you providing the same comments on just about every thread about prospects?  Why not just skip commenting? Why waste your valuable time?

[Coach]

18 hours ago, sthpstm said:

I've seen other comments since the draft about how low the chances of Lackey debuting in 2027 are. Bth the recent drafts have all produced college players towards the top of the draft who debuted the following season. Granted, he's a catcher, but knowing that historically 2-3 players from the prior draft are likely to debut the next year, I don't think we should be shocked. In fact, he is about as likely as any of them?

Butch Wynegar.  The best way to predict the future, is from the past.

[Coach]

On 9/23/2026 at 11:37 AM, Coach said:

I can't wait for spring training to see how everything plays out!

I have to add on, I don't understand the talk of bringing someone up in July (Houston, Lackey).  Both positions will have a learning curve with their counterpart peers, Trial by fire. 2027 would be a miracle, 2028 could be great!

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, Coach said:

I have to add on, I don't understand the talk of bringing someone up in July (Houston, Lackey).  Both positions will have a learning curve with their counterpart peers, Trial by fire. 2027 would be a miracle, 2028 could be great!

Houston will be up in 27 if he's healthy all year. He's a college player in AA, and a top 50 prospect (once you take out graduations). That's the same path Culpepper was on this year. 

[Coach]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Houston will be up in 27 if he's healthy all year. He's a college player in AA, and a top 50 prospect (once you take out graduations). That's the same path Culpepper was on this year. 

Thanks for your quick reply.  Wishful thinking is an infield out of spring training consists of; Lee 3B. Houston SS, Culpepper 2B, Clemens 1B (led the majors with 5 DRS, after just one month).  

[Coach]

5 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Just another story about Twins prospects.  Its the same thing every year.  Only the names change.  

 

It's going to be a long winter, hope is all we have until spring.

[Coach]

7 hours ago, TNtwins85 said:

Yes, for essentially being a low on the ladder number 24 ranked prospect in a weak but top heavy Phillies system in ‘25 he’s become a very solid prospect. The dude just hits. Not necessarily a fast riser but yeah, by age 25 what will we be looking at? A 1B who hits .265-.275 with 20-25 homer power? If he can get to that it’s a win for sure!

At 25, most TD commentators will write him off as too old.

[MeleMouth]

The prospects with the best chances of contributing in 2027 are Kendle, Houston, and Diaw.

Kendle: there should be room for him if he hits in St. Paul like he did in Wichita (assuming the Twins start promoting people when they earn it and stop their habit of promoting people only when someone else is injured or failing miserably). The outfielders right now look like Buxton, Jenkins, ERod, Roden, and Keaschall, but each has risks in his ability to hold down an outfield spot. (Caveat: Kendle had a ridiculous BABIP in Wichita this year, albeit with an excellent line drive rate, so it's about 100% that his BABIP luck will regress hard. That said, he had a normal BABIP and LD rate in Cedar Rapids, and he was still one of the best hitters in the Midwest League.)

Houston: if he hits well in St. Paul and maintains his glove, he should be automatic. Let's go crazy for a moment. Dansby Swanson (3.6 fWAR, 3.2 bWAR) has slightly-below league average offense and plays great defense. Want a worse, more achievable comparison? Nico Hoerner (2.7 fWAR, 2.1 bWAR) is below-average on offense and merely good on defense. If Houston can meet either of those, he'll be called up. (Caveat: if Culpepper looks good, not messing with success could be the path.)

Diaw: great offense, but iffy defense at catcher. The team has big needs at catcher, so if he improves his defense he will have a role, even if his offense drops. He had among the best line drive and swinging strike rates in his AA league (only player with 200+ PA to have more BB than K), and these are good core skills as a player moves up. (Caveat: it could be unfair to expect him to be better in his first year than Ethan Salas has been with SDP this year - 0.0 fWAR and bWAR.)

[Coach]

I gotta say St. Paul is an outlier.  Everyone hits great in AAA.  

[TNtwins85]

12 hours ago, Sam Caulder said:

That is how prospects work, after all

If they all turned into what is hoped for the Twins would win 110 games every year lol

[Mike Sixel]

Eric A Longenhagen

12:19

I think they should play in the third catcher market and roll with Caratini, Jackson, and a third guy until Lackey is ready, and I do think it could become apparent that he is in the middle of next year. I don't think Diaw is a catcher, or at least I think he's still too green to be in the big leagues when camp breaks.

[DJL44]

On 9/24/2026 at 10:08 AM, Ricky Vaughn said:

I think affordability is a big part of the problem. I used to take my daughter and one of her friends up to a game 7-8 times a year and it wasn't a strain on finances. Now a trip like that would cost more than $300.00. I rarely make it up to a game more than once or twice a year. Didn't even go this year. First time in a long time. Sorry for the rant but I needed to get it off my chest.

I went twice this season. Once was the two free passes I received as a Twins TV subscriber. The other was a 4 tickets for $40 offer on dollar dog night. I think that whole evening was $100 including parking for 4 adults to attend.

[Mike Sixel]

IF Lackey has a chance, Timney might as a first baseman......but I'd guess 28 for him.

[Major League Ready]

On 9/23/2026 at 1:05 PM, Nashvilletwin said:

The Twins will be very pitcher heavy in the ‘27 draft.

Just think where we’d be if we had accepted the BoSox offer for Ryan at the ‘25 deadline (Payton Tolle and Franklin Arias) and traded Jeffers to the BoSox for Anthony Eyanson.

Tolle (LHP) is a 23 year old starter who in his first year in the majors went 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA and 171 Ks and only 40 BBs.  In other words, he’s already way better than Ryan and he’s nearly seven years younger (and way cheaper with five or more years of control).

Arias (SS) is the #3 MLB overall prospect.  Our starting infield at some point next year would be Arias (3B), Houston (SS), Culpepper (2B) and Lee (1B).  Wow!

Eyanson (RHP) is a consensus top 50 MLB overall prospect with a #2 or #3 (at worst) starter potential.  He’d be our #1 pitching prospect probably coming up in ‘28.

Bullseye!  We should be angrier about the lost opportunity.  I think it's somewhat overlooked because we don't know for a fact what these players were offered which is relevant.  However, these types of deals are what is necessary as proven by Milwaukee / Tampa and we did not take a shot.  Bold moves are not limited to trading for acquired players.  As a matter of fact, trading established players for prospects / unproven players has had a far greater impact for modest revenue teams than trading for established players.  The organization was in a great position to lift the ceiling and the totally whiffed.   They could have probably got a haul for Buxton too.   

IMO,  Tom Pohlad's delusion likely diminished the team's next several years. 

[RpR]

32 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

Bullseye!  We should be angrier about the lost opportunity.  I think it's somewhat overlooked because we don't know for a fact what these players were offered which is relevant.  However, these types of deals are what is necessary as proven by Milwaukee / Tampa and we did not take a shot.  Bold moves are not limited to trading for acquired players.  As a matter of fact, trading established players for prospects / unproven players has had a far greater impact for modest revenue teams than trading for established players.  The organization was in a great position to lift the ceiling and the totally whiffed.   They could have probably got a haul for Buxton too.   

IMO,  Tom Pohlad's delusion likely diminished the team's next several years. 

Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.👽