Twins Top Prospect Brooks Lee Promoted to Triple-A

7 minutes ago, Karbo said:

Another infielder. So looking into the future we have Lewis, Lee, Julian, Martin AK, Polo, and Miranda. Looks like they better get some of these guys ready to play OF and clear up the DH spot.

As far as true INF we have Lewis, Lee, Correa, Polanco and Martin to play 3B, SS & 2B. Julien, AK, & Miranda are primary 1B. AK & Martin have played OF & should play a lot there, Julien should stay at 1B and Miranda can split some at 1B & DH. Once Lee establishes himself at 3B at the MLB level, Polanco is gone but not before.

16 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

As far as true INF we have Lewis, Lee, Correa, Polanco and Martin to play 3B, SS & 2B. Julien, AK, & Miranda are primary 1B. AK & Martin have played OF & should play a lot there, Julien should stay at 1B and Miranda can split some at 1B & DH. Once Lee establishes himself at 3B at the MLB level, Polanco is gone but not before.

There is also the possibilities of trades for areas of need as well.  Martin has shown ability to play OF, and Lewis could do it too if needed, despite the freak injury he got. 

I really like that he is a well rounded hitter. We need more of that on our big league club. 

This is great news.  They are doing well in the draft.  It's the trades that seem to be challenging part for this regime.

My hope is that Lee and Lewis might provide some pressure to Correa.  We're paying him $33M/Yr. and he's batting .220 with a lower OPS than Willi Castro.  We need better.  No need to move Lee off SS just yet.  It's good to have options.

It’s happening…….!

This is a great sign that the transition to a new young core is firmly on its way.  The old young core of Rosario, Sano, Kepler, Polanco and, yes, even Buxton did ok, but not great.  They were mostly competitive year-in and year- out and gave us one truly exciting season.  But they could never provide any post-season magic. A couple of them (probably Rosario and Polanco) came close to reaching their potentials, but no one ever truly became a dependable, multi-year close to star player.

2023 should represent the end of that core’s window. A new core of Lewis, Lee, Kiriloff, Julien, Wallner, and Jeffers should be fully arriving in 2024. With Correa, a hopefully a productive Buxton, and some decent controllable depth on the bump, this new core should play competitive, exciting baseball and open wide a new window for several years.  Perhaps a few others, like Larnach, Miranda, Martin, Gordon and Rodriguez (in ‘25) can join the band as well.

The key to making this all a reality, of course, is that these young players continue to improve once making the bigs.  It’s a fair question to ask whether Rocco is the leader to ensure that development not only happens, but is maximised to the greatest extent possible.

As a die hard Twins fan, I’m still excited to see where this season ends up.  But I’m also ready to get through this season of transition and “one and dones” to get to our exciting new era.

Going through the 2022 draft and the only player, at this moment, I would take over Brooks Lee is Jackson Holiday for obvious reasons.

Congrats to Brooks Lee, who certainly deserved the promotion.

His approach at the plate is pretty excellent, and I think there's still more to unlock there as he matures and gets more experience. There's still some additional power potential in there, but I wouldn't be surprised if he simply racks up some additional hits as well. he would look awfully good hitting behind Ed Julien and in front of Carlos Correa in the #2 hole next season, I think.

It will be interesting to see how they shuffle the infield a bit for next season. I think there's a real possibility that Lee slides to 3B and Lewis goes to 2B (my feeling is that Lee's arm plays better at 3B and Lewis' speed plays better at 2B, but they should both do fine at either spot). Would not mind at all an infield of Lee, Correa, Lewis, and Julien! (Kirilloff in LF and backing up 1B, Wallner in RF, hopefully Buxton back in CF, Martin as the super utility guy...there's some exciting possibilities if they can get/stay healthy)

Biggest thing Lee still needs to work on right now is his ability to attack LHP while hitting from the right-hand side. he's not bad or anything, but right now he's much more effective as a lefty hitter; if he can start punishing LHP he's going to be an incredibly tough out and a major asset at the top of the lineup.

I'm a big fan of Brooks Lee. Great prospect, can't wait to see him at Target Field.

Certainly he deserved it. His overall numbers from AA are good enough, especially for his age, but his recent numbers are even better. This promotion will give him time to acclimate to AAA and prove himself there with an adequate runway towards an early 2024 MLB debut.

I think he needed every AB he got at AA.  I don't see anything special in him (star-wise), but compared to the system he definitely stands out, including probably vs a number of MLB Twins hitters.  Keep an eye on his home/away stats when evaluating how he does at AAA.  CHS is a hitter's dream.

Am I right that Boras is not his agent, so the Twins have a chance of keeping him more than six years?  Unfortunately, Boras is still his quasi-boss, as he will determine his teammates, including the departures of Lewis and Kirilloff probably just about the time they get healthy in their careers.

2 hours ago, MNBearCat said:

Martin seems destined for a utility role, and if Miranda recovers well enough to factor into their infield plans, he will have surprised me.

Yeah Martin is definitely going to outfield and be a utility man. 

8 hours ago, Karbo said:

Another infielder. So looking into the future we have Lewis, Lee, Julian, Martin AK, Polo, and Miranda. Looks like they better get some of these guys ready to play OF and clear up the DH spot.

Lewis hasn’t been healthy for more than a few weeks at a time in 4 years. Polanco has injury problems.  Martin and Miranda stink.

Problem solved.

Are we the only fan base that is always agonizing about having too many players that aren’t any good?  Remember the outfield logjam hysteria of a couple years ago?  Now we have none.  You can never have too much depth.

11 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

No one has mentioned the promotion of Kiersey Jr. and Severino to the Saints.  Congrats to them also.

Yeah they’ve been excellent all year. Don’t know why they keep starting old/no potential guys like Contreras when they could’ve called up Kiersey Jr. along time ago. 

Congrats to Brooks Lee. Looking like the Twins IF of the future is almost all there.

I'd like to band wagon a little on the other two promoted to AAA. Severino if he keeps it up may have earned a 40-mam spot to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Also, one of the 1st international signings by this FO to get to the, may be an MLB material point.

Keirsey is old for a prospect but if I remember correctly had a substantial hip injury in college that set him back and sat through 2020. My point is his birthdate shouldn't mean anything other the number of candles on his bday cake.

I'm thrilled about Lees promotion. But the other two seemed far less likely to get to this point and I am excited to see what they can do as well.

16 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Congrats to Brooks Lee, who certainly deserved the promotion.

His approach at the plate is pretty excellent, and I think there's still more to unlock there as he matures and gets more experience. There's still some additional power potential in there, but I wouldn't be surprised if he simply racks up some additional hits as well. he would look awfully good hitting behind Ed Julien and in front of Carlos Correa in the #2 hole next season, I think.

It will be interesting to see how they shuffle the infield a bit for next season. I think there's a real possibility that Lee slides to 3B and Lewis goes to 2B (my feeling is that Lee's arm plays better at 3B and Lewis' speed plays better at 2B, but they should both do fine at either spot). Would not mind at all an infield of Lee, Correa, Lewis, and Julien! (Kirilloff in LF and backing up 1B, Wallner in RF, hopefully Buxton back in CF, Martin as the super utility guy...there's some exciting possibilities if they can get/stay healthy)

Biggest thing Lee still needs to work on right now is his ability to attack LHP while hitting from the right-hand side. he's not bad or anything, but right now he's much more effective as a lefty hitter; if he can start punishing LHP he's going to be an incredibly tough out and a major asset at the top of the lineup.

I'm a big fan of Brooks Lee. Great prospect, can't wait to see him at Target Field.

You're spot on, Jmlease!

14 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

No one has mentioned the promotion of Kiersey Jr. and Severino to the Saints.  Congrats to them also.

I didn't notice those moves yet, but more exciting news. And well-deserved promotions!