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Perfect Game All American (best high school players in the country) expert notes: Chris Crawford: "I had a chance to sneak down to San Diego for the weekend to check out the Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego; and I think the overall talent was a notch-above what we saw last year, particularly on the mound. I wasn’t in love with everything I saw, especially in the field, but there were some clear first-round guys that stood out over the weekend. These events are far from a perfect look — several of these kids are clearly worn down from the season and the other events — but it’s a good chance to see some of the better talents in the class face off against each other, and several players stood out over the two days I was there." Notes to his article on the players: http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2013/08/thoughts-on-perfect-game-all-american-classic/ Matt Garrioch : "The Perfect Game All-American Classic in San Diego last Sunday was a high scoring game, but didn't have a lot of offense. It ended at 8-6 with the West on top but it was a sloppy game and was much more showcase than game. Many of the better players played showcase games to show off what they had, tools wise, than a baseball game to show their ability.That is typical of these games and of many of the games that I see. I don't get the chance to sit on a lot of games in season for these guys as I am in the north and most of the best players are in Cali, Florida, Georgia and Texas. For that reason, many times, it's hard for me to get a grasp on the level of polish that a player actually has. The way I approach these games is watching to see what level of tools and ability a player has and what he could do with them if it works out right and less on how likely a guy is to work a count, hit the cut off man or make a productive out. This is finding how much "clay" a player has to work with. Will player development have enough to make a statue or just a small bowl? Like I said, the game wasn't that great. It was sloppily played. Catchers got crossed up. There were errant pick off moves and catcher interferences and so on, but it still had a pile of talent." Notes to the article on the players: 2013 Perfect Game All-American Classic Recap - Minor League Ball

Which would be a funny but poor argument. Playoff teams, this year, have thrown out position players after being blown out. While not common it is always awesome! Even if teams were tanking, which they are not, no one can out suck the Astros! Luckily for bad teams there look to be multiple studs up top. Turner has been one of my personal favorites but Kolek has been killing it lately! Dude hit 99 last week.

Abreu and it isn't even close for me. I love his bat and even if 1B is easier to fill that doesn't change we will have a gap there next year.

While this is true, a team with the least amount of K's, second highest BBA, and 5th highest ERA should worry about poor defense.

The worst possible spot, draft wise, is to end up at 11. Not only will your pick not be protected but you won't actually have the 11th pick. The Blue Jays failed to sign their first round pick, 10th overall pick, so they will get the 11th pick. Any team that finishes 11th or worse, better in reality, will get bumped down a spot.

I wouldn't throw out the possibility of there ever being a draft lottery but there has never been any public talk about it. In the NBA and NFL you have a possibility of drafting a player who could immediately come in and be a starter while in baseball even the best prospects have to spend time in the minors. Not only does this increase the possible length of a rebuild but decrease the immediate financial incentive to tank. Tanking and rebuilding are often confused to be one and the same. Players and couches play for the now while GMs have to keep one eye on the present and one on the future. Also, while the NBA does have a draft lottery has it ever stopped teams from tanking?

As of this morning the Twins are 54-69 and if the season ended today would have the 6th overall pick in the 2014 mlb draft. Why should fans pay attention this early to something that is 9 months away? While giving his top 10 draft prospects for next year Jim Callis at BaseballAmerica proved why it is at least reasonable to care about early lists: "Much can happen between the end of the summer circuit of college leagues and showcase circuits and the draft nine months later. Players can progress and regress, they can get hurt, they can emerge from relative anonymity, they can develop signability concerns. That doesn’t stop us from projecting future drafts well in advance, however. Here at Baseball America, we rank everything. We usually line up the next year’s draft prospects in a College Top 100 and a High School Top 100 in the fall, then combine them in one list for our Early Draft Preview in January. I can’t review past combined overall Top 10s from this time of year, but I can look back at our recent college and high school lists from the fall before the next year’s draft: 2013 College Top 5: Mark Appel, Sean Manaea, Ryne Stanek, Colin Moran, Jonathon Crawford. Appel and Moran went in first six picks, while No. 6-rated Kris Bryant was second overall choice. 2013 HS Top 5: Austin Meadows, Clint Frazier, Trey Ball, Reese McGuire, J.P. Crawford. First three guys were among top seven selections, McGuire and Crawford went in the teens. 2012 College Top 5: Mark Appel, Deven Marrero, Mike Zunino, Chris Beck, Kevin Gausman. Zunino and Gausman were first college players taken, Astros considered Appel at No. 1. 2012 HS Top 5: Byron Buxton, Lucas Giolito, David Dahl, Walker Weickel, Stryker Trahan. Only Buxton and Dahl cracked first 10 picks, Giolito would have if he hadn’t blown out his elbow. 2011 College Top 5: Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, Matt Purke, Taylor Jungmann, George Springer. Cole was No. 1 overall choice, Rendon was No. 6, Springer and Jungmann went 11th and 12th. 2011 HS Top 5: Bubba Starling, Daniel Norris, Archie Bradley, Dillon Howard, Dylan Bundy. Bundy, Starling and Bradley were first three prep players selected, signing for $18.725 million. Of the last 30 players to rate among our top five college or high school overall prospects in the fall before their draft, half of them became top-10 picks. That includes two of the three No. 1 overall selections (Appel in 2013, Cole), with 2012′s first choice (Carlos Correa) ranking No. 11 on our High School Top 100 the previous fall. Manaea, Giolito and Purke almost certainly would have gone in the top 10 if healthy, and Giolito was one of six of the players mentioned above taken in the 11-20 range. Overall, that looks like a pretty good track record to me. But I suspect that Bill and most of you reading this are more interested in my projections for 2014, so let’s get to those." Jim Callis goes on to list his top 10 prospects (5 college/5 HS) which using his basic analysis we can guess 5 will go in the top 10 next year, 1 will go in the teens, and 4 should fail to produce or get injured. Obviously this isn't an exact science and a lot could happen but I think this proves that following prospects this early isn't a complete waste. Here is his list: "1. Carlos Rodon, lhp, North Carolina State Spectacular summer with Team USA cements him as clear top prospect for now. 2. Jeff Hoffman, rhp, East Carolina Starred in Cape Cod League last two summers with mid-90s fastball, big-breaking curve. 3. Tyler Kolek, rhp, Shepherd (Texas) HS His size (6-foot-6, 250-pounds), consistent upper-90s fastball make him the top prep prospect. 4. Trea Turner, ss, North Carolina State More than just a burner, he also offers hitting prowess and the ability to stick at shortstop. 5. Alex Jackson, c/of, Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego Plays a premium position, has some of the best power potential in the 2014 crop. 6. Jacob Gatewood, ss, Clovis (Calif.) HS Put on a show during Home Run Derby at Citi Field, may wind up at third base down the road. 7. Tyler Beede, rhp, Vanderbilt Can make hitters swing and miss with three pitches but can’t always control and command them. 8. Touki Toussaint, rhp, Coral Springs (Fla.) Christian HS Has struggled with command this summer but his premium stuff is impossible to deny. 9. Brady Aiken, lhp/of, Cathedral Catholic HS, San Diego Projectable athlete could have three plus pitches in time, reminds me of Trey Ball at same stage. 10. Aaron Nola, rhp, Louisiana State With his solid fastball, plus changeup and impressive pitchability, he’ll move quickly in pro ball." He lists 7 pitchers, 2 possible SS, and 1 possible catcher. All are need positions for the Twins. Till the end of the regular season I plan to update this thread on the Twins current reverse position and post updates on not only the players posted above but other top prospects for those interested. (P.S. I know I copy and pasted a lot of the article but I felt it was too good to chop up. For those interested in the full article Callis goes on to talk about the newly acquired Miguel Sulbaran. Well worth the read. Link here: http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/ask-ba-2014-draft-top-prospects/)

Great read. Real informative. Thanks for posting.

Oh I don't know....maybe because while they both are coming back from TJs one had pitched ~900 innings in the bigs while the other hadn't even had a cup of coffee. I know Machado, Trout, and Harper made the transition to the bigs look easy, but it's not. After two 90+ lose seasons and a chance to have our third I understand why people lack patients. Doesn't change the fact the we should have it when it comes to these prospects.

Yeah, those stupid prospects messing up their time lines! Gibson has pitched almost 150 innings this year after only throwing 28.1 last year while recovering from TJs. Hicks, a historically slow starter/slow developer, didn't set the world ablaze after a massive ~300 ABs. Bunch of bums! World is going to end!

Once again, do people actually like this guys scouting reports? Obviously the Twins do because they are in on him but come on. Signing him just spend money is dumb. Use money wisely.

The Twins are one of four teams still in on Cuban "SS" Guerrero. If they sign him the would give us two guys who profile as 2B but could be below average defensive SS and a top 50 2B prospect. That would give us 3 true 2B with questions surrounding them.

Dodgers are going to resign Kershaw at some point so there is no way they will trade him. Pitchers who fit the bill as front of the rotation starters whom have been rumored to be on the market is pretty thin. Only two I can name are Price and Lee. Both which come with a big price tag prospect and salary wise.

The Twins best move could be trading for a expensive pitcher who will be a FA in 2015 (ala E.Santana) and isn't performing up to their contract. Good gamble with no long term risk. Problem is I don't see any guys that fit that bill or if they do they are on teams who aren't trading pitchers. List from mlbtraderumors: Brett Anderson (27) - $12MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout Homer Bailey (29) Josh Beckett (35) Chad Billingsley (30) - $14MM club option with a $3MM buyout Joe Blanton (34) - $8MM club option with a $1MM buyout Wei-Yin Chen (29) - $4.75MM club option with a $372K buyout Kevin Correia (34) Johnny Cueto (29) - $10MM club option with an $800K buyout Ryan Dempster (38) Yovani Gallardo (29) - $13MM club option with a $600K buyout Edgar Gonzalez (32) J.A. Happ (32) - $6.7MM club option Luke Hochevar (31) Hisashi Iwakuma (34) - $7MM club option with a $1MM buyout Jair Jurrjens (29) Kyle Kendrick (30) Clayton Kershaw (27) Aaron Laffey (30) John Lannan (30) Justin Masterson (30) Brandon McCarthy (31) Brandon Morrow (30) - $10MM club option with a $1MM buyout Charlie Morton (31) Jeff Niemann (32) Ross Ohlendorf (32) Felipe Paulino (31) Jake Peavy (34) Clayton Richard (31) Max Scherzer (30) Chris Volstad (28) Carlos Villanueva (31) Full list of (what looks to be a very poor free agency class) here: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/02/2015-mlb-free-agents.html

Beat me to it. The other thing that should be noted about Cingrani is he is mostly a two pitch pitcher. He has an above average fastball/change up but his breaking ball is still below average. I would expect some regression once the league sees him a few more times unless he develops a good third pitch. If you move Sano/Buxton, as Brook said, you expect an ace back. David Price might be an option next year.

If the Twins moved Sano or Buxton they would bring back a pitcher a lot better than him.

I like the improvement by Dozier but I'm still not sold on him. Start Rosario in AAA next year till Dozier either loses his job at 2B or cements it. Rosario will only be 22 next year so there is no rush to get him to the bigs.

For those draft followers I found this list on the top 50 draft prospects for 2014. While I don't know who wrote it most of the information seems accurate. Good read for people trying to figure out the main names to watch for: 2014 MLB draft: Top 50 prospects | Sports

After his 4 inning, 5 hit, 1 ER, 5/1 K/BB game on Thursday Kohl gets promoted to Elizabethon today.

Buxton is a beast. He is as untouchable as they come. He had a chance to make it to the bigs next year at 20.

I don't understand how anyone can think this is a bad thing. I love the fact Gonsalves has a chip on his shoulder. His tweet wasn't disrespectful to any of the opposing players. Go get um!

His height is the only real "negative" he has. Even if he ends up just a lefty out of the pen the trade will still be a success in my eyes. Very good return for a few months of Butera.

I'm just not as sentimental as everyone around here I guess. Trade him for what you can get and move on.

Haha, nailed it. I cracked up.

Angels.