One Guy's Plan

As you know, I am the "Prospect Guy." From the moment a player is drafted or signed to the Minnesota Twins organization, I try to learn as much about that player as I can and follow their Twins careers. Why? I enjoy the journey. There is no specific, exact science to prospect development. Some guys sign at 17 and are in the big leagues at 20. Some guys sign at 22 and are in the big leagues for a cup of coffee at 27. Some guys sign at 16 and become stars at 22. Some guys sign at 16 and get a shot when they turn 26. And the unfortunate story for most is that they don't make it.

No two stories are identical, and that's what makes it fun to follow. I think of myself as a guy who likes to give credit where credit is due, where credit is earned. Often, minor leaguers go through their time without getting noticed, so when they do well, I find it important that they do get recognized.

I would love to see them all get to the big leagues, and we can all agree that we want them to do well when they get there. We don't want them held back in the minors though either.

With that as the background, here is a plan that I might try to implement if I were in charge.

Send the prospects down.

What? Seth, you want the prospects sent down??

Listen, I want what's best for the Twins, and sometimes what is best for the Twins is doing what is best for the individual players. We want our favorite Twins prospects to fly through the system. A guy has a dominant month in Ft. Myers... push him up to Chattanooga. A guy has a dominant month in Chattanooga... push him up to Rochester, or why not even the Twins? They have "nothing left to prove, right?"

That's not necessarily the case. Listen, I can't tell you why Stephen Gonsalves is still in Ft. Myers. Maybe it's so that he can get a little bit more time working on a new pitch at a level where he can still experience success. Maybe there's an edict for him to control his walk rate?

Why was there hesitance to bring JO Berrios up to start the season? Was it service time? The Twins haven't been a team to play that game before. Was it that he was being blocked? Not really. Was it because he was completely lacking control and command in spring training? Absolutely. He struggled badly throughout spring training. In his first two Red Wings starts this year, he walked seven and hit two more in ten innings. He had a terrific start in his third game, and he was promoted right after that.

Right now, I would send down Jorge Polanco, Jose Berrios and even Eddie Rosario.

The last month has likely been a tremendous learning experience for Berrios. He has a tremendous maturity about him and a will to continually improve and get better. Could he continue to start for the Twins and take some lumps? Sure, and I believe that he has the type of make up that he could handle the adversity.

Or, he could go to AAA and spend the next two months really working on his mechanics and at a level where he can still experience great success.

It's the same thing with Byron Buxton. He has great makeup and maturity, and he struggled in the big leagues. But what is clearly best for him is spending time in AAA for a while, working on those mechanics, playing every day and experiencing success.

There is something to be said about getting that big league service time, finding out how good it is, discovering what areas of your game you still need to address, working on those things at AAA, improving and then coming back ready.

Jorge Polanco fits more into the Max Kepler category. These guys just need to play and there isn't currently a spot for them in the big leagues. Neither of them has enough AAA time to say that they have to be up. Polanco needs innings at all three infield positions so that he can try to improve the defense. Kepler needs time at all three outfield positions. Both can hit, but they both need to play every day.

In AAA, I'd like to see an outfield of Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton and Max Kepler with Adam Brett Walker getting most DH days and some occasional time in the corner outfield spots. Play that group pretty much every day until August 1st. I would also play Jorge Polanco around the infield every day. Two games a week at all three positions.

Have Jose Berrios and Alex Meyer in the Red Wings starting rotation and encourage them to work on throwing strikes. They both have electric stuff and need to trust it.

The other thing is that the Red Wings could win a lot of games with that group, and frankly, winning and learning how to win is part of the development process. At least it should be. Get them back in the right frame of mind.

Now, at the big league level, you've still got some learning going on. Oswaldo Arcia can play every day, and now at 25, he's got a two-month stint to see what happens. Play Danny Santana every day, but do so all over the field - all three outfield spots and all three infield positions. See what you've got. Continue to play Miguel Sano in right field, but get him a weekly start at third base as well. Put Michael Tonkin and Ryan Pressly into more high leverage situations. See what you've got. Let Pat Dean be the swing man. See what he can offer now and in the future.

However, play Trevor Plouffe every day. Play Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer every day. Move Byung Ho Park up in the lineup to get him a few extra plate appearances each month. Play Eduardo Escobar every day when he gets back to find out more if he can be an every-day player. Keep Eduardo Nunez's bat in the lineup most days, somehow. Play Kurt Suzuki in a role that you think will make him most valuable.

Play Darin Mastroianni in centerfield to help the pitchers out. Place Glen Perkins on the 60-day DL and call up James Beresford to be the utility infielder and allow Jorge Polanco to play every day.

Keep starting Phil Hughes, Ervin Santana and Ricky Nolasco. Keep throwing Kevin Jepsen into late innings.

Hope they turn things around and maybe they can be traded in July. Can they get anything for those pitchers, maybe Trevor Plouffe or even Brian Dozier? Will a team in contention be looking for a utility player or a backup catcher and consider Eduardo Nunez or Kurt Suzuki as options? Maybe Milwaukee will want to acquire Oswaldo Arcia on the same day they call up Orlando Arcia.

And on August 1st, turn things over to the young guys. Turn it over, almost completely. At that time, bring back Berrios, Rosario, Buxton, Polanco. Move Sano back to third base. Make Max Kepler the right fielder. Call up JT Chargois.

The plan since Terry Ryan took over was to take the long approach through scouting and player development. Generally speaking, it is the proper way to do it. Look at teams that win. They have a core of players that come up and win. Those great Yankees teams had a core of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams. Guys they drafted/signed and developed and the guys that led the way through all those inning seasons. Look at most playoff teams. They have built a core and then supplement.

It's just about time for the new Twins core to start getting time. The next "great" Twins team will be led by the likes of Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Max Kepler. Very soon, it's time to turn things over to them.