TD 2017 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Recap

Agree, nice synopsis.  I love seeing the in depth looks at the Twins farm system.   Got to see a lot of the guys on the list this last season at Chattanooga and analysis was pretty spot on for those players.  

Especially a big fan of Granite, the kid has legit skills that will translate well to the majors.  He may not wind up being a superstar or even a full time starter (4th outfielder type), but the kid can play.

If everything works out, that's a serious glut of players coming next year.

It will be nice if the Falvey hiring really does pan out in the Twins' ability to develop pitchers. I'm not saying anything new, but there is definitely a difference between having talent and converting that talent to useful productivity. 

I'm really beginning to wonder what will come next year if guys like gonsalves, Romero, jay, Stewart, and Jorge are all ready for the majors. We will need rotation spots for berrios and may. Hughes, Santana, and Gibson will probably still be around, unless possibly traded. Also mejia could be in the running for a rotation spot. Pitching depth is good so this makes me happy. But it is also a good reason to trade Santana if a good offer comes around. I'm excited to see what comes of all of this and who stays and who goes, who produces and who fails to make. Hopefully all these guys succeed and for once we have too much pitching!

"There is a dearth of 1B/DH types"

Is it just me or isn't this a good thing?  I think we need to get beyond these one dimensional players and use this roster spot for more athletic players that can contribute more on the field.  There just ain't a lot of "Big Papi's" around.

I'm really beginning to wonder what will come next year if guys like gonsalves, Romero, jay, Stewart, and Jorge are all ready for the majors. We will need rotation spots for berrios and may. Hughes, Santana, and Gibson will probably still be around, unless possibly traded. Also mejia could be in the running for a rotation spot. Pitching depth is good so this makes me happy. But it is also a good reason to trade Santana if a good offer comes around. I'm excited to see what comes of all of this and who stays and who goes, who produces and who fails to make. Hopefully all these guys succeed and for once we have too much pitching!

I would suggest that, with new management, there will be less concern/commitment to veteran pitchers and more looking towards the future. 

I would also suggest that with Flavey and Levine at the helm, those young pitchers you mention will really have to prove themselves to be MLB quality, not just MiLB warriors. 

"There is a dearth of 1B/DH types"

 

Is it just me or isn't this a good thing?  I think we need to get beyond these one dimensional players and use this roster spot for more athletic players that can contribute more on the field.  There just ain't a lot of "Big Papi's" around.

Luis Robert is supposed to be about that good now.

Just a bit more. Here is a list of some guys who were very close:

 

Lewis Thorpe, Jake Reed, Trevor Hildenberger, Mason Melotakis...

 

And here are others that have shown up in rankings.

 

Trey Cabbage, Travis Harrison, Akil Baddoo, Jermaine Palacios, Aaron Slegers, Lachlan Wells, Luis Arraez, Griffin Jax,  Jose Miranda, Huascar Ynoa, Tanner English, Brusdar Graterol, Jordan Balazovic, Aaron Whitefield, Jaylin Davis, Randy Rosario... 

Love the fact you gave Arraez, Hildenberger, and Wells some love.  All three of those guys were borderline dominant in their respective leagues.  Dominant is a strong word, but look at their numbers.  I thought Arraez was worthy of a top twenty to be honest.  He's a hitting machine.  He takes defense for granted at times, but you can't deny that bat.  Not too keen on Palacios out of all of them.  He had a good Appy season in '15, but struggled to keep up in A ball.  I like Jaylin Davis and think he'll will be a mix between an Adam Brett Walker and a Zach Granite.

Don't forget about Zander Wiel.  He closed out the '16 season on a tear and led the Midwest League in RBI...ahead of Eloy Jimenez.

One more thing.  We have a plethora of bullpen arms in the minors.  A wise man once said, a bullpen guy is a guy who couldn't cut it as a starter.  After consistently drafting strong bullpen arms since '12 we're on the verge of seeing some these guys arrive.  We have Nick Burdi, Jake Reed, Mason Melotakis, J.T. Chargois, Trevor Hildenberger, Todd Van Steensel, Michael Cederoth, Michael Theofanopoulos, and an outside shot with Cam Booser.  The bullpen is all they've known.  Burdi & Chargois are on the list, and you could make an argument over some of the others.  How will this new wave of bullpen specialists actually pan out?  At the ceiling, with all the heat thrown, we have a bullpen stacked with young possible closers in Burdi, Chargois, Reed, Hildenberger, and Cederoth.  Floor?  We have erratic fireballers who could sink a ship.  Being the rube I am, I think it'll be closer to the ceiling.

Love the fact you gave Arraez, Hildenberger, and Wells some love.  All three of those guys were borderline dominant in their respective leagues.  Dominant is a strong word, but look at their numbers.  I thought Arraez was worthy of a top twenty to be honest.  He's a hitting machine.  He takes defense for granted at times, but you can't deny that bat.  Not too keen on Palacios out of all of them.  He had a good Appy season in '15, but struggled to keep up in A ball.  I like Jaylin Davis and think he'll will be a mix between an Adam Brett Walker and a Zach Granite.

Don't forget about Zander Wiel.  He closed out the '16 season on a tear and led the Midwest League in RBI...ahead of Eloy Jimenez.

One word on Palacios last year, he had some injury issues just when he was starting to come around. Yes he started real slow but I still look at last year as more a lost year then time to give up on him. He does need to step up this year though, (And stay healthy while doing it)

Luis Robert is supposed to be about that good now.

Is that the "best player on the planet, and that's no exaggeration." guy?  Yeah, read your blog on him yesterday.  If only......

Plus Byung Ho Park should be able to match last year's line for at least the next five years . . . 

I like Park a lot more than Vargas in the field.  And I think he'll hit better than him, too.  Just a hunch....

Love the fact you gave Arraez, Hildenberger, and Wells some love.  All three of those guys were borderline dominant in their respective leagues.  Dominant is a strong word, but look at their numbers.  I thought Arraez was worthy of a top twenty to be honest.  He's a hitting machine.  He takes defense for granted at times, but you can't deny that bat.  Not too keen on Palacios out of all of them.  He had a good Appy season in '15, but struggled to keep up in A ball.  I like Jaylin Davis and think he'll will be a mix between an Adam Brett Walker and a Zach Granite.

Don't forget about Zander Wiel.  He closed out the '16 season on a tear and led the Midwest League in RBI...ahead of Eloy Jimenez.

Is that Placebo, or did you really mean Palacios?

Wonderful summary!  Thank you.

When it comes to "Help on the Way", I strongly suspect Dozier and Santana (and maybe even Hughes) will not be in Twins uniforms come September.  Inevitable injuries among the competitors will lead to suitors and desirable prospects in return.  And open some rotation spots for whomever shines in AAA or even AA.