A Look At The Latest Twins Signings

I just don't want anyone in AA that should be in AAA, because some random guy that is older gets the spot. That's my main concern with any of these signings. If Kepler is in AA to start, I'll be very disappointed. If any of the young RP that are supposedly going to be up this year are in AA to start, I'll be somewhat disappointed. 

I'm not worried about that. Guys can make the jump from AA to the majors and the difference between the two leagues isn't all that crazy - AAA has more of the AAAA players and guys who are organizational depth while AA often has your up-and-coming arms. Basically, the talent level isn't as big a jump because AAA has a lot of guys whose careers have stagnated while AA tends to have pitchers with velocity who can hit their spots and hitters who go up with a solid plan.

The real issue for me would if the backlog builds up and guys are in High A who are ready for AA because that's a huge jump. But I trust the Twins to manage this - they know what their priorities are and I can't remember them blocking young guys up the system by holding onto useless guys in the high levels of the minors.

I don't much care who is at AAA and who is at AA.

I care who is on the big league team. And when you are constantly filling holes on the big league team with non roster spring invites, as Plan A no less, it's no wonder you've won one post season series in decades.

One of Mastro/Benson is going to be on the Twins out of camp. At least one bullpen spot will go to one of the above names.

Those are near locks, IMO.

Not a fan of this approach.

I really doubt that one of those bullpen guys will open the season with the Twins.

I don't get why people keep saying Benson has a shot at the team. What has he done in the last 4 years to show that? I'd be surprised if he makes it to AAA.

I totally agree. Especially when Danny Santana can be the 4th outfielder, but Benson should not be on an opening day roster, even if he goes all Hicks on spring training.

AA has a much lower percentage of AAA/AAAA/MLB players. It has some, some elite guys, but most lineups have 2-3 guys. But, facing a AAA lineup has much fewer weaknesses and is a much better test of a pitcher's ability.

 

I read here all the time it doesn't matter, and yet, the Twins and most other teams actually do promote guys to AAA before sending them to the majors.

 

It's a super convenient argument.....doesn't matter that they are in AA, they can always promote them from there.....and also, can't promote him, because he's not even been in AAA yet. The same people say those things all the time here. AAA matters, no matter what people here keep typing.

I'm not saying AAA doesn't matter at all, just that I don’t think guys development will be blocked by five or six minor league free agents.  The difference comes partly from the fact that I don't look at all of those AAAA players as necessarily a good thing – teams facing the Red Wings last year faced guys struggling to hit major league pitching and stalled prospects.  Now I get that's just the Twins and I'm nowhere near expert enough to say if we are different than other organizations but I haven’t read anything from the people on this site or baseball writers indicating that Twins are any different – all teams get five or six minor league free agents and stick them in AAA for organizational depth.

It just seems like AAA has become a place for lots of MLB teams to stash the minor league free agents and the older prospects that may be fated to be 3rd catchers, utility guys or who have tried the majors and need more seasoning. AA teams are where the impact prospects are and even if the whole batting lineup isn’t amazing, those are the guys you want your up and coming pitchers to face as they develop. 

Two other things:

1) Last year Kepler, Buxton and Sano all made the jump from AA to the majors. While Buxton did some injury time in AAA later and Kepler was a cup of coffee and may end up in AAA for a few months this year due to crowding/service time, these guys were all judged to not need AAA. And it’s not just last year, Mauer did the same thing a decade ago. If a guy can master AA, AAA seems to be skippable and I haven't heard a ton of evidence that these guys were hurt by not facing AAA pitching. If you want evidence on the pitching side of things, Berrios was primarily in AA all year and when the Twins decided not to bring him up it was because of innings, not because he hadn't seen AAA batters. If he doesn’t make the major league rotation this year it won’t be because he hasn’t faced AAA.  So AAA is not necessary to making the jump, indicating that the Twins view the two leagues as relatively equivalent.

2) These minor league free agents won’t all be on the team all year.  The Twins exciting relief prospects can start the year in AA and then if they push up to AAA, a lot of those minor league veteran guys can easily be released.  But if the AA prospects stall out or the Twins have some pen injuries early in the year, it’s nice to have some options in AAA.