Who's Number One?: Minnesota's Top Prospect

So, no chance for Royce Lewis to take the top spot?  Interesting.

I won't lie...I think Rooker has a chance to be a slightly poorer version of Kris Bryant. Get him up to MLB by the end of the year!!

I would go with any of Gordon, Romero or Gonsalves cause they are all so close to the majors. Rooker and Lewis are close and may even be better but are far enough back, they have more hurdles to jumo to the bigs and i think that plays a role unless you have an obvious generational talent. I do think all 5 will play in the bigs at some point.

Always tough this #1. We have had Sano and Buxton...but Rosario has been the guy who has shined and he was never considered the Top Prospect in the system.

Us armchair general managers have to take a second seat to the real guys.

The majority of his (Gordon's) playing time has continued to be at shortstop but he might end up at second base in the big leagues.

 

If this is true, I can't see how Gordon is the top prospect - and could fall out of the top 4.  Modern day second basemen need to hit and hit with power.  He doesn't have the bat to play MLB second base....and those strike out numbers are scary.

If you think he can't stick at SS, he should plummet down the rankings 

Always tough this #1. We have had Sano and Buxton...but Rosario has been the guy who has shined and he was never considered the Top Prospect in the system.

 

Us armchair general managers have to take a second seat to the real guys.

Buxton had more bWAR this year alone than Rosario has in his entire career.

Brian Dozier hit  16 HR for his minor league career.  Nick Gordon is still younger than Brian Dozier was before he started playing professional baseball.  Altuve did not show much for power until he was 25. Odor was 22 when he started hitting for power. Schoop and Jose Ramirez  24,  Gordon just turned 22. Not saying Gordon is similar to any of them, just HR power comes later for middle infielders.

The bad part about this discussion is that given there are not any OMG prospects on the list there are not 5-10 names son the list.  As the new regime brings in new ideas we shall see if the prospects start improving.

For me, Nick Gordon being a top prospect revolves obviously around how he performs defensively as a SS, but offensively will he continue to develop plate discipline. His brother only walks around 5% of the time. To be a top performer, Nick needs to maintain the 9% he discovered this year, or preferably improve it while cutting down his strikeouts. He might improve his doubles power but he'll never be a slugger so he needs to get on base with solid contact and walks.

I don't get why Lewis Thorpe isn't even being mentioned here, but Romero had everyone drooling last offseason. Lefty starter and still just 22 next season, former nationally ranked prospect who had a great bounce back campaign after missing the previous two. And I've always heard that he has great stuff. What am I missing here?

I see arguments for and against all of these and I see arguments for others to be included on this list as well. I always have a bias towards those closer to the majors so I lean Gordon from your list. He is the most likely to make an impact at the majors based on skills demonstrated and nearness to actually making a debut. I will be disappointed if he does not get his first taste some time next summer (same with Gonsalves) I do not think he or Gonsalves  are close to the most potential though.

I would go with this.

1.  Gordon

2.  Romero

3.  Rooker

4.  Lewis

5  Baadoo

6. Gonsalves

I would go with this.

1. Gordon

2. Romero

3. Rooker

4. Lewis

5 Baadoo

6. Gonsalves

Lewis was the number one overall pick... in the entire draft. If he's 4th in our system, it was an awful pick.

Lewis was the number one overall pick... in the entire draft. If he's 4th in our system, it was an awful pick.

I factor into how close to the majors the player is.  Lewis is at least a couple of years away.  Talent also plays a part, but I would expect the first three will be with the Twins in 2018 or very early in 2019

There were a few 18-20 year olds in the rookie ball leagues throwing 92-93. There was something somewhere about Falvey and training methods that could add a couple mph to their pitches.  That could make for some interesting prospects in a couple of years.

The bad part about this discussion is that given there are not any OMG prospects on the list there are not 5-10 names son the list.  As the new regime brings in new ideas we shall see if the prospects start improving.

That guy is Graterol.

Well, and Lewis. Lewis is considered by many a guy who could play in the majors in 2019, which is remarkable for a high school talent. The biggest questions I got from other teams' guys who saw him in GCL or Cedar Rapids was whether he stuck at short simply because the nuance of the pro game at the position may not have time to develop before his bat is ready for the majors.

There were a few 18-20 year olds in the rookie ball leagues throwing 92-93. There was something somewhere about Falvey and training methods that could add a couple mph to their pitches.  That could make for some interesting prospects in a couple of years.

There were also a few that touched triple digits...