twinkiesfan11

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-international-prospects-rankings-2021 MLB Pipeline posted their top 50 list and have Mercedes ranked 17th. The Twins are also listed as favorites to sign the 34th ranked player Yilber Herrera, a Dominican shortstop compared to Jorge Polanco and the 39th ranked player Bryan Acuna, a Venezuelan shortstop and little brother of Ronald Acuna Jr. Looks like an exciting class to follow!

I was initially surprised that Winder didn't rank higher but upon further review I can see 11 making sense. I assume the top 10 includes Balazovic, Canterino, Cavaco, Duran, Lewis, Martin, Miranda, Petty, Ryan and Woods-Richardson in some order. I think you could easily justify ranking Winder as high as 5th in that group or as low as 11th, all depends on taste. Just an exciting group in general. Now that we're 2/3 through the list and the makeup of the top 10 is pretty clear I'm surprised Emmanuel Rodriguez didn't make the top 30. Pedigree as a top Intl FA signing is similar to Urbina, both are outfielders with lots of tools to dream on and a long ways away. Urbina put up impressive numbers in the DSL in 2019 and overall has been disappointing in Low-A. Rodriguez skipped the DSL and has been fairly impressive so far in the FCL. Did he get any consideration toward the back end of the top 30?

Will we see any of the 2021 draftees debuting soon? Any word on Marco Raya?

Has anyone read or heard of any assignments to the 2021 draft picks or that most will be shut down? Obviously a lot has changed with the reduction in teams, later draft, etc. Just seems like you'd start seeing some of these names showing up in box scores by now.

Yeah - I'm running with the assumption that Miranda, Ryan and Moran are on the active roster by the end of the season so it's more like 7 prospects to me. I have a hard time giving up on Javier quite yet, he's just lost so much development time and there are so few legitimate shortstops in the organization right now. I don't disagree that using a 40 man roster spot on him is kind of a waste either, just glad I'm not in the position to actually have to make that decision!

Barring any trades I’d protect (referencing your chart): - 40 Man locks: 17 - Prospect Locks: 6 - Notable Rule V: 6 - Less Notable Rule V: (Vallimont, Javier, Palacios, Moran) 4 - Middling veteran/prospect: (Rooker, Gant, Stashak, Thorpe) 4 - Fringe Prospect: (Gordon, Jax) 2 Leaves one spot for the rule v draft. This means Rijo, Funderberk and Maciel are exposed to the rule v draft. Also allowing everyone from the likely gone plus Refsnyder, Cave, Astudillo, Smeltzer, Garcia, Coulombe, Burrows and Garza DFA’d.

I was just thinking the same at first glance but it's hard to nitpick over the number 20-30 prospects in any system, just comes down to how you evaluate their stats and scouting profiles and how you weigh projection vs production. I do agree with other posters that I don't consider Nick Gordon a prospect and am very down on Aaron Sabato (and wasn't a fan of the pick at the time). Overall I can see the justification placing this group over the 26-30 group but other than Varland I find this group less interesting than the 26-30 group.

This seems like a pretty damned solid #26-30. Admittedly biased but the depth of this system still seems to be a major strength.

This is a fun topic, a positive outcome from an otherwise lost season. Picking in the top 5-10 is exciting enough but having 3 picks in the top 40-50 should really provide a jolt to the talent pipeline. If I had to pick a couple of targets nearly a year out I'd be focused on high upside high school hitters that project to be strong defenders at premium positions. The college hitters don't look all that exciting presently but a lot could and probably will change over the next year. Elijah Green obviously if he somehow fell to them but at this point that looks unlikely. Andruw Jones Jr. followed by Temarr Johnson and Jayson Jones in that order would probably be my targets.

I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for another season. There are several of the first wave of arms drafted and/or mostly developed by this administration on the cusp of call up. The jury is still out on notable early position player draft picks Rooker, Larnach and Jeffers but they'll all get plenty of opportunity to play the rest of 2021. Royce Lewis would probably be right there with them if it weren't for an oblique injury followed by a pandemic followed by a freak accident. The track record with free agent signings and fringe prospects on the margins is really frustrating and needs to be addressed as these trends have been present for the majority of their tenure. The offense really nosedived in 2020 but seems to be in better shape in 2021. Pitching at the major league level was exceptional in 2020 and a train wreck in 2021. The inconsistency is odd and and can only partially be explained away by injuries. Adjustments need to be made from the top down but there do seem to be reasons to be optimistic about the future.

Excited to see Ober, Jax and Barnes continue to get some innings and hoping to see Winder, Balazovic, Moran, Cano, Hamilton get a little run before the season is over. Also really hoping to see Miranda up before the end of the year. It's time to evaluate anyone who is on or will need to be on the 40 man roster.

Seems like Buxton is the only player listed that is likely to have a significant market this winter, if he comes back healthy and avoids the IL the rest of the year. Donaldson and Kepler apparently didn’t generate a lot of interest at the trade deadline and Rogers may be done for the year. All seem like better candidates to keep around in an effort to either remain competitive or rebuild value for trades next summer. It feels like they should make another push to extend Buxton. He’s probably the only potential superstar in the entire organization at this point. That being said, If they can’t work out a deal they should absolutely pursue a trade in the winter. Hate to be cynical but if he’s not under contract I wouldn’t want him in the opening day roster, too much risk of another lengthy injury and losing him for nothing or close to it.

Couldn’t agree more

I'm not criticizing the FO for trading Berrios, if my post came off that way it was either unintentional or you're reading into something that isn't there. Check my posts from last week, I was in favor of trading Berrios, Buxton, Donaldson, Maeda and anyone else that could return value. I don't see any way this team is competitive in 2022 with or without Berrios and all the others that were or could have been traded. With that in mind I don't see the point in signing a big ticket free agent pitcher as this article suggests. Maeda and Pineda should provide some stability and possible trade assets at the 2022 deadline, then roll with the prospects to see what you have. I don't see competitive baseball in 2023 being out of the question which would make a big FA signing next offseason make more sense. Berrios would be a great target both from a productivity and feel good/fan perspective.

Intriguing list but guessing the Twins will be aiming a little lower than this for 2022. Why trade Berrios if they are willing to invest heavily in veteran pitching? Reading the signs I'd assume they retain Pineda and roll with a rotation fronted by Maeda, Pineda with maybe a low cost upside gamble or token washed up innings eating veteran followed by a patchwork of Dobnak, Ober, Jax, Barnes, Balazovich, Winder, Ryan, Strotman, Sands, Duran and Canterino if they're healthy. It seems unlikely the Twins will seriously be competitive in 2022 with or without Buxton so might as well give the young guys a chance to see what they have to work with for 2023 and beyond. Maybe re-sign Berrios in 2023? That'd be neat