Minor Leagues

While Twins fans were getting swept up in pennant fever for the first time in nearly a decade, a development down on the farm flew somewhat under the radar. The 2019 Pensacola Blue Wahoos assembled what may have been the most talented minor league team in franchise history.

Now that the 2019 MLB Draft is behind us, it is time to sit back and wait for news on when each of the 41 picks will either sign or decided to forgo their opportunity to play with the Twins. As the signings start coming in, this page will consistently be updated, so be sure to check back to keep up to date with all of the signings.

Following their first postseason appearance since the inaugural season of Target Field, the Minnesota Twins found themselves in an unfamiliar position, as they didn’t have their first selection until the 20th pick of the 2018 MLB Draft. Factor that in with it being the first draft following the Twins taking Royce Lewis with the first overall selection in 2017, and it makes sense that not a lot of Twins fans were overly excited for this draft. However, that doesn’t mean that the Twins weren’t able to acquire some quality talent and now a season and a half later it appears that the Twins did just that.

Last week, I began review of my updated, midseason Top 40 Minnesota Twins prospects with Part 1 (31-40) and Part 2 (21-30). Yesterday, we entered the Top 20 with my selections for Twins Prospects 16-20. And today, in Part 4, I present my choices for Twins prospects 11 through 15. Below you’ll find brief profiles on those five prospects, and we certainly welcome your questions and discussion in the forum.

Jose Berrios made his triumphant return to the majors, turning in a performance that got Twins fans’ hearts all aflutter. It was also a banner day in the minor leagues highlighted by a near no hitter, two dramatic comebacks and numerous noteworthy performances. Oh, and everybody won.

Find out what else happened around the Twins' minor leagues on Saturday.

In most years, the purpose of this article is reserved for tracking the signing each of the 40 plus Minnesota Twins draftees. This year, things will be a little different, as the entire draft system has been changed, which I am sure all of you know about by now. So, in addition to tracking the eventual signing of each of the Twins four draft picks, we will also be tracking when the Twins sign undrafted players, in the signing period that began Sunday morning at 8 a.m. CT.

It’s been a little over two years since the Twins traded Eduardo Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a trio of minor league players. One of those players, Jhoan Duran, is one of the team’s top starting pitching prospect. Escobar was on his way to free agency at season’s end and Minnesota was able to get some value for the infielder. After two years, how have the Twins fared in the Eduardo Escobar trade?

The first time I remember watching minor league baseball was when I was 11 years old on vacation to visit family living in Appleton, Wisconsin. At the time, the city was home to a Midwest League affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, the Appleton Foxes. That season, they had a player who went on to become one of the greatest and most hated baseball players the game has ever seen—a wiry shortstop by the name of Alex Rodriguez who would make his major league debut at just 18 years old later that same year.

On Thursday night, the Cedar Rapids Kernels played their third and final game of a series against Lake County, Cleveland’s Low-A Midwest League affiliate. Before that game, I had the opportunity to interview a couple of their players who have ties to Minnesota Twins prospects. Tonight, let’s get to know a little bit about left-handed pitcher Juan Hillman.

Juan Hillman was Cleveland’s second-round draft pick in 2015. The southpaw was a graduate of Olympia High School in Orlando. As you recall, the Twins first-round draft choice in 2014 was a shortstop out of Olympia, Nick Gordon.

Re-post as the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster is 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20.

After taking a high upside high school third baseman in Keoni Cavaco with their first round pick, the Twins stuck to a strategy of picking only college players with their remaining 10 picks in the first two days of the draft. As a result, it is expected that the Twins might have some left over bonus pool money to try and make another splash or two in the early rounds of day three.

The Minnesota Twins did a good job adding to their farm system with three picks on Day One of the Draft. With their first pick they took Keoni Cavaco, a high school third baseman from California. They then added a couple of Matts with the 39th and 54th overall picks. The first Matt being Matt Wallner, a Minnesota native who is a right fielder for Southern Mississippi. The second Matt was Matt Canterino, who is a right-handed pitcher from Rice University.