Can College Pitching Prospects Lead the Minnesota Twins to a Cleveland-esque Rotation?

Great article!

I don't disagree with any of the premise here. It's one of the reasons I like this front office.

But I'm also fascinated about how franchises continue to change. We praise Cleveland now (and we should) for their pitcher development in the 2010s. But we're also dismissing them as a competitor for 2020 -- so what happened?

Great article!

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

I don't disagree with any of the premise here. It's one of the reasons I like this front office.

 

But I'm also fascinated about how franchises continue to change. We praise Cleveland now (and we should) for their pitcher development in the 2010s. But we're also dismissing them as a competitor for 2020 -- so what happened?

I'm definitely not counting Cleveland out, though I think the Twins have a big edge offensively. Cleveland's ability to continually churn out quality pitching is what keeps them relevant (and allows them to trade away guys like Bauer and Kluber). They do have some holes in their lineup, but having Lindor and Ramirez certainly helps.

Thanks for the info. I`m really keeping my eye on Vallimont seems like he has everything working for him. This draft they have a lot of great college prospects, was hoping to have more draft picks to take advantage of it. W/ college draftees they pass through the lower levels very quickly. We need some young pitchers thru the international drafts to help the lower levels stocked w/ pitchers.

Yes, my hope is for us to imitate Cleveland in evaluating & developing aces to have a steady influx in our rotation. We`ve been always known for bats

College pitchers come into the system older, but still must make the different jumps. And because you don't talk about them for an additional couple of years as they progress, you either see them happen, now, of they flame-out in the competitive field of prospects. The bigger question is: have the Twins ahd more success with prospect pitchers out of high school or college in the past.

Will second Doc's comment...Ober.  Although drafted before the new group got here, wasn't Tyler Wells also a college pitcher.  Was pitching as well as anyone before missing all last year.

Haven't researched this, but weren't most of the Cleveland starting pitchers drafted high, but not necessarily the first round?

The level at which the Indians have churned out pitchers seems unprecedented. Has there been an equivalent in baseball history?

From Kluber, Clevinger, Beiber, Bauer...even going back to Salazar and Carrasco who have derailed by injuries/illness....it’s pretty unreal.

I look at the Twins, for example. They’ve had two guys on that level since the 90s (Santana and Berrios...could count a few months of Liriano for a third). The Indians had 4-5 guys of that caliber in the same rotation. One leaves, they replace him with another one. Remarkable.

There have been better rotations, but not all developed from the same farm system.

Although they clearly have a knack of developing talent, I have to think there is a ton of luck involved as well. Even with the greatest development staff on the planet, the odds of all of these guys making it through to the majors healthy has got to be microscopic. At some point, the pipeline will run dry. Everyone has to eventually supplement their pitching staff from the outside. Setting a goal of never having to do that is unrealistic.

We get so much of the same stuff over and over from most media outlets...can Buxton stay healthy?  Can Cruz do it again at 40?  Does Rosario stay or go?  Starting pitching.....  

Articles like this are why I love TwinsDaily and check in a couple times a day to see what they're offering.

Will second Doc's comment...Ober.  Although drafted before the new group got here, wasn't Tyler Wells also a college pitcher.  Was pitching as well as anyone before missing all last year.

 

Haven't researched this, but weren't most of the Cleveland starting pitchers drafted high, but not necessarily the first round?

Here's the draft positions of the guys I listed:

Bieber- 4th round, Clevinger- 4th round (Angels), Bauer- 1st, 3rd overall (Arizona), Kluber- 4th round (San Diego), Civale- 3rd round, Pleasac- 12th round, Plutko- 11th round (though originally drafted by Houston in the 6th round but did not sign).

So, Canterino was drafted ahead of everybody but Bauer while Sands and Valimont went in the 5th (Sands signed over slot) and Winder in the 7th. 

We get so much of the same stuff over and over from most media outlets...can Buxton stay healthy?  Can Cruz do it again at 40?  Does Rosario stay or go?  Starting pitching.....  

Articles like this are why I love TwinsDaily and check in a couple times a day to see what they're offering.

Thanks! I love writing about this kind of stuff and am always grateful (and pleasantly surprised) when others enjoy reading it. Thanks again!

The Twins really went all in on college pitchers in the last draft. In the first 25 rounds I believe we selected 17 college pitchers (in 26 picks). There must be some analysis that shows that after the top 150 or so picks college arms are an undervalued commodity. I'll be curious to see how many of these guys turn into real prospects.

Love this topic. Thanks for writing! I think the whole college vs. HS players, and other drafting strategies (hitters early, etc.) is my favorite type of baseball article to read.

Here's the draft positions of the guys I listed:

Bieber- 4th round, Clevinger- 4th round (Angels), Bauer- 1st, 3rd overall (Arizona), Kluber- 4th round (San Diego), Civale- 3rd round, Pleasac- 12th round, Plutko- 11th round (though originally drafted by Houston in the 6th round but did not sign).

 

So, Canterino was drafted ahead of everybody but Bauer while Sands and Valimont went in the 5th (Sands signed over slot) and Winder in the 7th. 

Thanks for digging that up.

So the key is to get the right pitchers in say the first ten rounds, then have a top development program.  Would sure love to see the Twins be able to reload every few years with Starter X, Y, and Z moving on.

How about the 1954 Cleveland Indians? Early Wynn, Mike Garcia, Bob Lemon, Art Houtteman and Bob Feller were the starters and Hal Newhouser, Don Mossi and Ray Narleski were the main relievers.

You had to remind me of that tarheeltwinsfan?

That was a great staff.  Another was Baltimore when they had Palmer, Cuellar and a couple other great starters.  

But what your comment reminded me of was morning back in the late '50s, I had to opportunity to go out goose hunting with Bob Feller.  I was 12 or 13 and he came out to our Wisconsin farm with a couple guys from Milwaukee who rented our marsh for hunting.  Signed a ball with comments on it about our morning.  Sometime while in college, my Mom tossed it along with all the other 'junk' I had at home.  Often wondered what that would be worth in today's market. 

Never is a long time. My guess is no later than 2023, possibly 2022, most of our starting pitching needs will be taken care of internally, just as we have relievers. It should be noted, most teams won't even try.