Rosario, De Andrade Headline Twins Contingent to Arizona Fall League

The Arizona Fall League is often touted as a great place to find prospects after the season. The season begins October 7th and will conclude on November 16th with the championship games. 

The Twins players will play for the Salt River Rafters, along with the prospects of the Diamondbacks, Nationals, Rockies, and Yankees.  Specifically, Tyler Smarslok (Saints Defensive Coach) will be the manager of the Rafters. 

Smarslok (MGR, 32) joined the Twins organization for the 2020 season. He was set to be a coach in the GCL before the season was canceled. Since 2021, he has been on the Saints coaching staff with Toby Gardenhire. The defense/infield coach was a four-year starter at Kean University. He went to three Division III World Series and won a Rawlings Gold Glove. 

If I'm being honest, the Twins aren't sending any pitching prospects. None of the five pitchers would be near a Top 50 Twins prospect list. That doesn't mean that they aren't intriguing, especially with the way that the Twins pitcher development has helped several pitchers reach their full potential. But these names aren't going to excite fans. That's normal. Teams hardly ever send high-end hurlers to that meat grinder of a showcase circuit.

As it relates to position players, they are sending three players. Two of them are Top 25 Twins prospects who missed significant time this season due to injury.  Let's take a look at the players representing the Twins in the AFL. 

Kade Bragg (LHP, 23)
Bragg was the Twins 17th round pick in 2023 out of Angelo State University in Texas. He pitched in six games for the Mighty Mussels early in the year. He had a 1.08 ERA. He gave up five hits, five walks and nine strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings. Then he went on the Injured List and missed the rest of the season. After he was drafted, he was a guy that was very intriguing due to good stuff and the fact that he went 15-1 with a 1.20 ERA at Angelo State in 2023. He had 124 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings. 

Jacob King (RHP, 22)
King was signed by the Twins after the 2023 college season. He spent four years at UC-Irvine, pitching solely in relief. He pitched in two games and 1 2/3 innings that season in the FCL. This year, he pitched in just one game and recorded two outs and walked three. He missed the early part of the season, pitched in that game, and then was on the IL the rest of the season. 

Devin Kirby (RHP, 25)
Kirby signed with the Twins after the 2023 college season. He had spent two seasons at U-Conn. The Twins saw that he threw a knuckleball, encouraged him to work on it and signed him. In 2023, he pitched in three games for the FCL Twins. This season, he pitched in 11 games for the FCL Twins before ending the season with six games at Fort Myers. Combined, he went 3-1 with a 3.55 ERA over 38 innings. He walked 18 and struck out 51 batters. 

Jack Noble (RHP, 24) 
Noble signed as an undrafted free agent following the 2022 season at Long Beach State. He pitched in just two games that year in the FCL. In 2023, he pitched three times in the FCL (1.72 ERA) and 10 games (9 starts) for Fort Myers (3.38 ERA). He began the 2024 season in Cedar Rapids, but by the first weekend, he moved up to Wichita where he pitched once and gave up one run in three innings. He spent most of the season in the Fort Myers bullpen where he went 8-2 with a 4.78 ERA over 58 1/3 innings. The highlight may have been his immaculate inning. 

Liam Rocha (RHP, 22) 
Rocha signed with the Twins after his 2023 season at California Baptist where he was teammates with fellow Twins prospects C.J. Culpepper and Spencer Bengard. He pitched twice for the FCL Twins in 2023. He made 10 appearances in the FCL this season, five starts and five relief appearances. He was 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA with a 1.71 WHIP in 29 1/3 innings. 

Danny De Andrade (SS, 20)
De Andrade is a legit prospect. The youngster signed from Venezuela in January of 2021. He had a solid debut in the DSL that season. In 2022, he came to the States and posted a .704 OPS in 48 games in the FCL. He moved up to Fort Myers in 2023 where he posted a .750 OPS in 105 games. He showed some pop with 21 doubles and 11 homers. The Twins promoted him to Cedar Rapids this year. Unfortunately, he played in just 29 games before his season came to an end with an ankle injury. De Andrade is young and has all the tools to be good, so getting him ABs will be important. 

Ben Ross (UT, 23)
Ross was the Twins fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Division II Notre Dame College in Ohio. He played 22 games in Fort Myers to end that season. In 2023, he played in 103 games for Cedar Rapids and hit .240 with 25 doubles and 19 home runs before ending the season with 10 games in Wichita. He spent the full season this year in Wichita and played 123 games. He struggled offensively the first half of the season, but was much improved as the season went along. He ended the year with a .212 batting average and a .626 OPS. He had 18 doubles, 11 homers and also stole 20 bases. Maybe as important, he is a really good defensive player, particularly in the infield. He remained in the lineup most days despite his offensive struggles, because of his defense.   

Kala'i Rosario (OF, 22)
Rosario played in the AFL last year. In fact, he and Aaron Sabato tied for the league lead in Home Runs, and Rosario was the winner of the Home Run contest. The Twins fifth-round pick in 2020 out of high school in Hawaii was the Midwest League MVP and led the league with 21 homers and 94 RBI in 2023. He moved up to Wichita this season. In 67 games, he hit .235/.321/.405 (.726) with 19 doubles and eight homers. He missed about three months of this season due to a fractured elbow. Fortunately, he came back late in the season and looks to be back to himself. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on the Twins contingent to the Arizona Fall League. We'll provide updates on them once the season gets started. 

Interested in learning more about the Minnesota Twins' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!