MLB pipeline's top 20 Twins

[gunnarthor]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=min

 

This wasn't included in the other thread so I threw it out here. Top 5 isn't surprising but a few worth noting were:

6. Thorpe

10. Jorge

16. Fernando Romero

18. Gonzalez

 

Guys like Eades, Turner, Gilmartin, Tonkin, Jones didn't make the top 20. Nice depth.

[Lonestar]

I'm stunned to see Kepler at #15 behind Harrison, May, and AB Walker, especially since he figures to play the same position as Harrison and Walker and play it better.

 

I'm shocked to see Gonsalves is at #18, down with Bard #19 and Melotakis #20.

[lightfoot789]

I'm stunned to see Kepler at #15 behind Harrison, May, and AB Walker, especially since he figures to play the same position as Harrison and Walker and play it better.

 

What makes you say Kepler is better at the OF position than Harrison and Walker? Both probaly have better arms (according to pipeline 5 tool chart) and Walker apeared to be faster as I watched throughout the season last year - IMO (even with his size).

 

Kepler has a shorter swing and might become a better hitter, but for now - his stats for RHP vs LHP have too much differential.

 

Did you guys know that Walker was also a 2nd Team All American at 1st Base in College behind CJ Cron? He has more versatility than people give him credit for. Harrisons arm can be a force in the OF as well and he played OF in high school.

 

Glad Melo made the list.

[tobi0040]

I'm shocked to see Gonsalves is at #18, down with Bard #19 and Melotakis #20.

 

I agre on Gonslaves. If he was a first round pick last year, sans shenanagins he would be top 15.

 

I also think Thorpe jumps ahead of Berrios in a year.

[tobi0040]

What makes you say Kepler is better at the OF position than Harrison and Walker? Both probaly have better arms (according to pipeline 5 tool chart) and Walker apeared to be faster as I watched throughout the season last year - IMO (even with his size).

 

Kepler has a shorter swing and might become a better hitter, but for now - his stats for RHP vs LHP have too much differential.

 

Did you guys know that Walker was also a 2nd Team All American at 1st Base in College behind CJ Cron? He has more versatility than people give him credit for. Harrisons arm can be a force in the OF as well and he played OF in high school.

 

Glad Melo made the list.

 

 

I would put Kepler ahead of Walker. He is a year or two younger and Walker is very raw. 27 HR with a .316 OBP last year. Very low walk rate.

[TheLeviathan]

What makes you say Kepler is better at the OF position than Harrison and Walker? Both probaly have better arms (according to pipeline 5 tool chart) and Walker apeared to be faster as I watched throughout the season last year - IMO (even with his size).

 

Kepler has a shorter swing and might become a better hitter, but for now - his stats for RHP vs LHP have too much differential.

 

Did you guys know that Walker was also a 2nd Team All American at 1st Base in College behind CJ Cron? He has more versatility than people give him credit for. Harrisons arm can be a force in the OF as well and he played OF in high school.

 

Glad Melo made the list.

 

Kepler should get the nod because his upside is significantly higher than either of those two IMO.

[Steve Lein]

What makes you say Kepler is better at the OF position than Harrison and Walker? Both probaly have better arms (according to pipeline 5 tool chart) and Walker apeared to be faster as I watched throughout the season last year - IMO (even with his size).

 

Kepler has a shorter swing and might become a better hitter, but for now - his stats for RHP vs LHP have too much differential.

 

Did you guys know that Walker was also a 2nd Team All American at 1st Base in College behind CJ Cron? He has more versatility than people give him credit for. Harrisons arm can be a force in the OF as well and he played OF in high school.

 

Glad Melo made the list.

 

I think people read too many positives from AB Walker's season at Low-A last year. Frankly, I don't think he should have even been playing there with his college experience/success (he should have been expected to tear up the Midwest League - and for what it's worth, Keith Law agrees with me). I like him, great athlete, looks the part, and has potential, but he's a one-trick pony at this point (power), and needs to develop other areas to make that one-trick play. Contact issues and non-existent plate discipline won't allow that to happen as he moves up.

 

Can he improve? Absolutely, but there's no way I'd rank him ahead of Kepler, or Harrison for that matter, at this point. Kepler would be in my top 10 (at 9 or 10), Harrison would be top 15, and Walker would be around 20.

 

Defensively, he also has a lot to work on as an outfielder. Even with his good speed for a bigger guy, he'll never be an asset there (by "asset" I mean above average). Have seen a few bad reports about his D out there this Spring.

 

At 1B, I like Kepler even more in comparison than the OF one. He's very athletic for his now Morneau-like size, and growing up in Germany 1B is where he mostly played. It's not new to him. I think he'll excel there this season.

[Mr. Brooks]

Frankly, I'm not sure that Kepler gets the "upside" card anymore.

He's going into his age 21 season already, and has just 263 mediocre to below average PA's above rookie ball.

I'm afraid he needs a breakout season this year to even be considered much of a prospect anymore.

[gunnarthor]

Frankly, I'm not sure that Kepler gets the "upside" card anymore.

He's going into his age 21 season already, and has just 263 mediocre to below average PA's above rookie ball.

I'm afraid he needs a breakout season this year to even be considered much of a prospect anymore.

 

This is sorta my thinking too but, to play devil's advocate, some scouts still love his tools. Has decent plate discipline (and last year his bapib was pretty low so some bad luck might have been involved in his numbers). He has decent power now with a better future potential.

 

I think one thing we might be forgetting is that, when we signed him, everyone said he would take a lot of time to develop. He wasn't playing against great talent in Europe. Then he had a really nice season in 2012 and we all might have jumped the gun on him and forgot that he's probably a guy who is going to need a ton of minor league at bats. And I also think it's great for our minor league depth that a guy like him is a borderline top 10 prospect.

[Mike Sixel]

I think we learn a ton about Kepler this year. And yes, he's your future 1B/DH/occassional OF.

[ashbury]

to even be considered much of a prospect anymore.

 

Can't even begin to imagine what your definition of a "prospect" is, if you're ready to erase from your radar someone who had an above average OPS while a year younger than the average of his peers in single-A. Of course he has to make progress - that's the nature of a 21-year-old prospect, he still could fail. You're ready to say he *has* failed?