Thrylos

The press? Do you remember the pressure by the press when the Twins had Liriano lights out in AAA while Livan was stinking up the place in the majors in 2008? The "pressure" was from some fans (not the majority) and by Liriano's agent. The press does not pressure the Twins. And there is a large (thankfully smaller after 99+96+96+93) portion of the Twins' fanbase who think that the front office is knowing what they are doing and Terry Ryan can do no wrong...

The question you are trying to answer for 2017, is similar to the one I have been trying to answer for 2016, since most people's prospects for 2016 have graduated my list, as they have played in the majors. I posted 6-10 today, and 1-5 tomorrow (so go there in a day to see it,) and will let that stand as an answer. The only additional comment I have is if Buxton has not graduated as a prospect already, I see Berrios and Kepler having hard time graduating as prospects with the same criteria. Kepler will not be a fourth outfielder and Berrios will not be in the pen. And a lot of changes, including trades and/or injuries will have to happen for those two to make the Twins in 2016, before the "consider a prospect" deadline...

I'd applaud this move, if the Twins' scouting first approach yielded results. And it has not, since 1994. So: one of the same. And I'd love to see a list of the talent that Walt Burrows has discovered/signed...

It's more than PAs. Bastardo's BBs are of the 4-0, 4-1 variety. I'd give the hook after 8 balls in a row and the Catcher should know what is going on as well.

Payroll numbers are good to see, but they do not really mean that much. As a matter of fact, I'd rather see them have Burdi and/or Chargois than Fien in their pen for considerable savings and for better results. And I'd rather see them have Melotakis or Rogers than Bastardo for considerable savings and for better results. On the other hand, I'd love it had they added someone like Chapman or Heyward or Price. you can have an $100 million payroll with 25 players at $4 million each or with 3 superstar players at $20 million each, supplemented with 3-4 good veterans at 10 million each and cheap good young players. The second way is way more effective in my book than targeting mediocrity just to say that you spent $.

6-10 are up here.

Not the way that works. Polanco is a shortstop whose seat Escobar is keeping warm. If they (and they should mid-season) sell high on Dozier, Michael should be the starting second baseman. Santana is a utility player like Nunez...

Twins' next Hall of Famer? Tony Oliva Veteran's Committee.

That does make sense, but some pitchers like Bastardo will have 3 great games in a row and in the fourth they will walk 3-4 in a row. That was his biggest issue in Philly. Of course, if he does not have "it" one day, it should be obvious to the manager that he does not and get him out of there long enough to make enough damage (which was not always the case in Philly; and based on the way Perkins was handled in the second half, I suspect will not be the case with the Twins.) You cannot really see this in cumulative numbers, other than individual game performances...

Re: Michael. He is MLB-ready as far as I am concerned. He really 'clicked' this season, and starting getting the game. In previous seasons he was very tentative; that is gone now. Mientikiewitz had him lead off or in the 9th spot (about half time each) for 80% of the games. As a lead off hitter he hit .250/.383/.375. When he led off an inning (no matter what position in the order he was playing, he hit .286/.435/.449. Situationally, with bases empty, he hit .252/.377/.400. He gets it that if nobody is on, a walk might be as good as a hit, if you are not going to hit it out of the park; and he is not. If you like composite hitting metrics, he had a .375 wOBA , and 131 wRC+ ; Buxton's were .381 and .135. wOBA and wRC+ do not work on comparing different kinds of players, i.e. a comparison of Michael with a power hitter like Sano or Vargas or Walker (because it favors power hitters), but it works in comparing similar players. He matured all over this season and, if healthy, he will be a Twin sooner than later. Re: Harrison: He is the same age and has played at the same level as Max Kepler, with slightly better results than Kepler, other than this season. Kepler "got it" this season. Harrison is due. I think that staying healthy and having a single position to play will do wonders for him. Another comparable: Gordon. And I would argue that Harrison has done better than Gordon (other than fielding) in their first 2 pro seasons. Really feel that Harrison will have a great 2016.

Cannot compare Bastardo to that whole slew of pitchers, because, y'know, most of them are righties. The Twins need a lefty set up guy. Three ways to skin that cat: a. Go outside the organization. If that is the case, I would be talking to the Rays about Jake McGee who apparently is available, before I sign Bastardo (and I have seen enough of Bastardo with the Phillies and their AAA and AA affiliates to say, that I'd rather see Duensing than him.) b. hope that one of Rogers/Melotakis or the 4 LHRP MiLB they signed wins the job in Spring Training c. Hand the job to Perkins and look for a closer. It it were me making the decisions, I'd go for c, but the Storen bird flew and there are not many in play, other than the aforementioned McGee (and Boxberger; and he scares me). (And McGee scares me for that -3 mph too). So: Hand the closer job to Phil Hughes (remember he was lights out setting up Rivera for a year), have Perkins and Jepsen as the LH and RH set up men and b. above, hope that one of those 6 arms has an amazing Spring.

Using Polanco as a utility player is like using Buxton as a fourth OF. Sub "Santana" for "Polanco" and I might bite. If they cut Nunez before ST ends, they owe him nothing btw...

Enjoy your laugh. Every single team could have added Mike Schmidt, Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux in the Rule 4 draft, but they passed; most just once. Some twice. Means nothing.

they are up here. Meyer and Park are not eligible as prospects in my list

I think that he would be the Twins' number 1 position player prospect if HRs and RBIs were all that important (and if he had a position.)

I don't disagree with you. You really arguing my point. Part of which is that floor and results matter and I find the Meyer and Buxton cases more similar that non-similar. If Meyer don't not fix his fatal flaws (a. mechanics b. staying healthy) his floor is not that high. If Buxton does not fix his fatal flaws (a. hitting the breaking stuff b. staying healthy) his floor is not that high. Buxton probably has the highest ceiling in the list as far as position players go, but Meyer does too, as far as pitchers go. My problem is with the inconsistency here for including Buxton and excluding Meyer. That's all

So, if that were the case, why is not the pitcher with the highest upside, potential and stuff in the list?

Given that only the following would satisfy my criteria: 2.) JO Berrios 4.) Nick Gordon 5.) Tyler Jay 8.) Kohl Stewart 9.) Stephen Gonsalves 10.) Nick Burdi I'd say Gordon and Stewart are way too high. Stewart has re-invented himself as a pitch to contact guy. Even Nic_ Blac_burn had a higher K% rate in AA in 2006 than Stewart did in A+ last season (14.3 vs 12.8%). Sorry, if you are striking out as many as Blackburn, you should not be that high in that list. Gordon second season in a row under .700 OPS, second season in a row under .970 fielding percentage, not sure if his focus is baseball or celebrity; the only thing I hear about this guy is a. excuses about his performance ("started cold", "had a bad month", etc) b. how much potential he has and c. bloodlines. Speed was supposed to be a virtue: He stole 25 bases (75% success rate) in 535 PAs. This is right at Daniel Palka (24 SB, 77% success, 575 PAs) vs Ben Revere (44 SB, 77% success, 374 PAs in Midwest League in 2008) Even trying to think where Park might rank in this list is kind of a silly exercise because he is not a prospect. He is a guy with a major league job and a 4-5 year major league contract. Mike's list seems to want to be a potential and stuff vs actual results and injury proneness list, but if you go that way and include players who, you got to have Alex Meyer pretty close to the top, for the same reason you got Buxton up there... Meyer has the best stuff by far in the organization, but last year he had issues (which cost the AAA pitching coach his job, and hopefully will be fixed with a new coach.) Buxton cannot hit the curve and has hard time not hurting himself. Something gotta give ranking those guys that far apart. I don't care what approach one is using, if it is consistent. And Mike's is not.

11-15 up now here. The rest next week, since I am hitting the road the rest of this week.

I see no reason where a former first round draft pick, with 2 consecutive seasons of >.800 OPS in AA should have to a. threepeat AA or b. have playing time taken away from a utility player like Beresford. Micheal should be the starting Rochester second baseman and, unless Polanco makes it as the Twins' starting SS out of ST, he should be the starting SS in Rochester. Beresford can give them breathers and play a bit of third base and OF and stuff.

Which part can I not believe? The fact that Duffey had better ERA, FIP and BB/9 than Berrios in AAA? Nothing to believe there... it's a fact.

Oh oh. According to this video his FB sits at 89-90 and tops out at 92.5 (149 mph)

This is comparing apples with pineapples because that July those Twins were hosed.

Depends. If you compete for a post-season you want Storen, rather than AA May who is 2-3 years away (which is what the Twins got for Revere then, plus Worley). Different circumstances for those teams when they traded the same player, so cannot really compare returns. Toronto can do nothing with a guy who is 2-3 years away right now, while they close a big hole in their pen with Storen.

Milone is a bad comparable as he is not an MLB-ready lead off OF who can play CF. This trade is between 2 contending teams that trading from surplus for MLB-ready players. Hicks could have been a pretty decent comparable to Revere (but the Twins did not have him). Maybe Rosario, but he is not suited for a lead off spot. I just do not see any comparables. Could the Twins better the deal by throwing in someone like Kepler? Sure, but I am not sure that a prospect is what the Nats would be looking for.