Thrylos

I am starting to change my mind about Salty, because his spits are incredibly different: Career as a LHB: .263/.327/.469, 115 OPS+ Career as a RHB: .206/.267/.332, 64 OPS+ Play him against Righties and Pinto against lefties and you got something. These splits are real and repeat season after season.

way to go John!

That's part of the reason I don't want the Twins near Saltalamacchia...

Ask him what's the coldest temperature he has experienced and if he has even a remote understanding of what the temps are going to be like come Winter Caravan time...

Speaking of his power and lack of contact, his numbers really remind me of those of a certain catcher who went .191/.252/.389 with 16 HRs in a particular special Twins' team... Drew's dad was his backup. I'd so pass.

Jeff Francoeur & Eddie Chavez. (and trading Willingham and something else maybe -Parmelee?- to the Mets for Daniel Murphy; need to clean house too.) You got the makings of a decent OF rotation, some power and bench versatility this way. And this team needs a lefty in the rotation, so with Kazmir gone, I'd take a flyer on Chris Capuano in an 1+1 year deal.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- This is the second segment of the 2014 off-season Twins top 40 prospects, counting down prospects 31 to 35. Prospects 36-40 are here and you can find all segments in reverse order here. I feel I need to make a couple of clarifications about this list (which is a bit different that others.) First of all, I consider players who have played in the majors, as "graduating" from prospect status. You made big league money, you are not going to be in this list. Andrew Albers, Oswaldo Arcia, Chris Colabello, Chris Herrmann, Aaron Hicks, Kyle Gibson, Ryan Pressly, Caleb Thielbar and Michael Tonkin belong in this category. Secondly (and thirdly) my criteria are slightly different that others' (e.g I value actual results at a higher competition level more than most) and the Twins have such a deep system, that some players who are listed in other lists and/or have been drafted in early rounds recently or have received large international signing bonuses will be conspicuously absent from this list. I am also more open to include international players who have not played in the US yet more than others. I am open to discussion about why and how, with the idea that it is just a point of view that is up to debate and not something that is either "right" or "wrong". Here are the number 31 to 35 off-season 2014 Minnesota Twins prospects: 35. Adrian Salcedo, RHSP, DOB: 2/5/1991. 6'4", 175 lbs. Adrian Salcedo was signed by the Twins as a 16 year old out of the Dominican Republic in July of 2007. There are some parallels between Salcedo's and Wimmers' career with the Twins, which took both from being top prospects to being unprotected for this December's rule 5 draft due to injuries. Adrian moved to the States and the GCL in 2009 after a single DSL season in 2008 and established himself as one of the top rotation arms in an arm-depleted Twins system. His best season was in Beloit in 2011, where in 135 IP, he accumulated a 2.93 ERA, walking 27 and striking out 92. His WHIP was 1.17. He was set for a great age 21 season in Fort Myers, but he was an injury magnet: He was hit on the face by a ball and broke his nose, he developed finger blisters, has elbow tenderness and went to the DL and while trying to rehab the elbow in the GCL, he developed shoulder pain and was shut down. He returned to Fort Myers in 2013 where he was used exclusively as a reliever pitching 58.3 innings in 34 games with a 3.70 ERA, striking out 54 and walking 15. Salcedo is at the crossroads of his career, but he is still young. His main weapon is his mid 90s fastball with a lot of movement and great command. He has an average slider and a work-in-progress changeup. He is very lanky. I suspect that he will stay at Fort Myers as a starter for the beginning of the 2014 season (his age 23 season) with a mid-season promotion to New Britain, if everything goes well. His injuries and the influx of a lot of good arms in the Twins system, has dropped him in the prospect lists. 34. Fernando Romero, RHSP, DOB: 12/24/1994. 6'0", 215 lbs Fernando Romero was signed to an Amateur Free Agent contract by the Twins on October of 2011 with a $260,000 bonus out of the Dominican Republic. After spending the 2012 season in the Dominican Summer League, he made the jump to the Gulf Coast League in 2013. He pitched in 12 games (6 GS) for 45 innings to a 1.60 ERA and had 47 strikeouts and only 13 bases on balls. His WHIP was 1.00 and K% a very impressive 26, while his K/BB was 3.62. Romero is a big guy and an extreme ground ball pitcher. That compared to his striking out pretty much every fourth batter he faced, is very promising. His heavy fastball is in the low 90s but he is still very young and can pick velocity. He has a slider and changeup that are works in progress. A former Twins' comparable would be Carlos Silva at his best. Romero does have mid rotation potential, depending on development of his secondary pitches and staying healthy. He will likely begin 2014, his age 19 season, in Elizabethton where he will alternate between the rotation and pen until extended. 33. Miguel Gonzalez, RHSP, DOB: 10/12/1994. 6'1", 180 lbs Miguel Antonio Gonzalez was signed by the Twins on July 2, 2011 (to a $650,000 bonus) from the Dominican Republic and was on the top on his international free agent class as far as pitchers were concerned. Very young and still growing (was 5'11" when signed) he has a lot of potential, mainly because he has a good feeling of the art of pitching. Not to be confused with the 26 year old Cuban defector RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez or the Orioles Mexican RHP Miguel Gonzalez. Gonzalez pitched in the same teams that Romero did, DSL Twins in 2012 and GCL Twins in 2013. He was used exclusively in the pen in the GCL (but started in the DSL) where he accumulated a 1.05 ERA in 20 games, striking out 33 and walking 9 in 25.7 innings (31.1 K% and 3.67 K/BB) with only a 1.13 WHIP despite a .328 BABIP. Gonzalez has an plus fastball, average slider and above average changeup. He really mixes his pitches well and has great command. A lot of room to develop still and the potential for a top half of the rotation arm. He will likely begin 2014, his age 19 season, in Elizabethton where he will alternate between the rotation and pen until extended. 32. Deibinson Romero, RH, 3B/1B, DOB: 9/24/1986. 6'1", 215 lbs Romero at 27 is the oldest player in this list and he is about to enter his prime, and many can argue that he too old to be a prospect. He was signed by the Twins in early 2006 as a 19 year old out of the Dominican Republic. Romero quickly moved up the Twins system and showed enough promise to be added to the 40 man roster after the 2009 season (his 4th pro season) to be protected from the 40-man draft, but was removed a year later after an average .252/.348/.363 6 HR, 54 RBI repeat season at Fort Myers as a 23 year old. His breakthrough season was 2012 where he hit .267/.356/.441 with 19 HRs and 78 RBI in AA New Britain. This earned him a non-roster invite to the 2013 Spring Training and a potential challenge to Trevor Plouffe for the Twins' starting 3B position. However luck did not want that to happen: His work Visa to the US was delayed until the end of April because a storm damaged his town's courthouse destroying birth records, including his. He stayed at Fort Myers for extended Spring Training and moved to Rochester with a stop of eight games at New Britain, where he hit the cover off the ball (.355/.429/.710; 3 HR). In Rochester he hit a respectable .266/.369/.421 with 10 HRs and 50 RBI in 86 games; continuing to put better than average power numbers. He is an average third baseman with somewhat limited range, but his hands have been improving. Romero is entering his prime and has earned a 2014 Spring Training invitation where he would likely battle Chris Colabello, Chris Parmelee, Jason Bartlett and others for a spot on the Twins' bench, where he could be a spot starter at the corner infield positions, esp. third base and a bat off the bench. Otherwise he will provide depth in Rochester. He is not on the 40-man roster and thus he is eligible for the 40-man draft with some likelihood of being selected by a team that needs corner IF depth. 31. Mason Melotakis, LHSP, DOB: 6/28/1991. 6'2", 206 lbs Mason Melotakis was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2012 draft from the Northwestern State University of Lousiana. He was one of the power relief arms the Twins selected in that draft with the intention of converting them into starters. He split the 2012 season between Elizabethton and Beloit, where he pitched in 20 games (24 innings) in relief to a 4-2 record, with an 1.88 ERA striking out 34, walking only 6 and having a miniscule 0.958 BABIP. 2013 in Cedar Rapids was his first season as a starter and it was a major disappointment, if you ingore ERA and W-L record. He pitched in 24 games (18 as a starter) for 111 innings to a 11-4 record with a 3.16 ERA. However he had only 84 strikeouts and walked 39; his WHIP was 1.31 with normal BABIP (.293). His K/BB ratio decreased to 2.15 from the 5.67 the previous season and his K% decreased from a remarkable 37.5% to an unremarkable (unless you are an MLB Twins' starter) 17.7%. His relative ineffectiveness as a starter likely came because his secondary pitches are raw. He has an excellent mid 90s fastball that spikes up to 98 and it is a weapon late in the game when the starter has not been throwing that hard. His curveball is at best average and his changeup is a work in progress; if you have only one plus pitch, no matter how good it is, hitters will be able to time it, especially as one moves up in a system. 2014 will be a crucial year for Melotakis. I think that he would be given the opportunity to start at Fort Myers for his age 23 season. Depending how he performs (and how his secondary pitches have developed) he will continue the season as a starter or move to the pen. http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5152/7098789651_02fb66b359_z.jpg Next: 26-30

Herrmann is potentially better with the stick, is more versatile, has more upside, as a LHB provides complement to Pinto, and was the Twins' organization best defensive catcher according to BA.

Slim pickings for Salty (not sure that I like him in more than an one year deal) so the Twins can either drive the price up for the WSux or they can have him in an one year bargain deal in February. I am perfectly fine with Doumit/Herrmann/Pinto at this point. I'd rather see them add another arm, maybe a corner OF (Franceur) and maybe a LH Platoon 3B/PH/DH (Chavez)

I love that picture, btw My huge thanks to Boston.

This content is behind BA's pay wall. Totally uncool to copy and paste and you can get the guys who are running this site in trouble...

Ray is much more than a middling prospect (would probably be in the Twins' top 20, which would make him a Tigger's top 10 prospect) and Krol is not a prospect but a decent set up guy. Cannot see the Tiggers using him as a closer though...

Comparing Diamond to Duensing is naive. Duesing hits 94 mph with his fastball and pops it up to 96-97 (ok Hammond stadium radar for the last figure). He also has a pretty nasty slider for lefties. Diamond's FB sits in the high 80s and low 90s if the wind blows the right way, and he is trying to get hitters out with his curve. Totally different pitchers. If one wants to replace Thielbar with Diamond, that might make sense.

Steve Lombardozzi, Ian Krol, and Robbie Ray. Bet some will be flipped for a closer

Did Willingham's and Doumit's ? 2013 OPS+ : Plouffe: 94 , Willingham: 98, Doumit: 96 And he has higher upside than both (he is entering his prime while the others have exited it) and will cost just a fraction... I just don't get the Plouffe hate.

January 17th to be exact. I got all the important off-season dates here.

There is exactly the same awards for Catchers as there is for first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops and outfielders: a. The silver slugger awards are position based and are the only awards that differentiate between different position players. b. the gold glove awards, for every position including catchers Evaluation for this awards is exactly the same as for all other post-season awards and HOF induction: how a handful or two people feel like, unfortunately... There a whole bunch of metrics for catcher performance some of them in B-R (btw, such as PB, % runners thrown out, errors - includes throws at CF instead of 2B etc) some of them are more "advanced" like Revized Zone Rating, Ultimate Zone Rating (you can find those at fangraphs), and some metrics about "pitch framing" that different PitchF/X outlets show. Oh. Pitcher ERA by catcher is another (and you can find that at B-R at each pitcher's splits pages). Bill James still publishes his plus-minus metrics too. As all defensive metrics these are just guides and you are looking for trends vs. absolutes...

I hear you on Kazmir and he really fits what the Twins are doing this off season, but Rajai Davis? I used to really like him when he came up with Pittsbugh last decade, but he will be 34 and right now the Twins have Alex Presley and Mastroianni who both are probably better than Davis at this point. I have mixed feelings about Pierzynski, both because he is what he is and because his ability has been diminishing. I'd rather see a Herrmann/Pinto platoon. One thing that most people do not know or ignore, is that Herrmann was listed as the Twins' organization best defensive C in the BA 2013 prospect list. I'd rather see the Twins spend the $ to improve their bench signing someone like Chavez as a 3B platoon/DH/PH and a corner OF bat like Jeff Francoeur (who believe it or not will be just 30) and go from there...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- I have not attempted a full detailed one of those, but I think that with the Twins getting better this off-season and the possibility of trades of prospects for established players being a true possibility, I thought that it might be a good idea. There are a lot of prospect lists out there and they are all slightly different because different people value different qualities in a player, but they all serve a great singular purpose: to get to know the minor league players in an organization who otherwise would just be names in old draft boards and rarely seen box scores. My list will be long, forty names long and I will be presenting profiles of the players in fives pretty much every work day starting this week. I will be done in time for the Rule 5 draft on December 12th. I also do include recent international players who have not made the trip to the United States, so there will be a few new names there. You can see all the segments, in reverse chronological order here. There are the number 36 to 40 off-season 2014 Minnesota Twins prospects: 40. Alex Wimmers, RHSP, DOB: 11/1/1988. 6'2", 195 lbs. Wimmers was the Twins' first round pick (21st overall) in the 2010 draft out of Ohio State University. He missed all but 5 innings in 2012 and 15 rehab innings in the Gulf Coast League in 2013, due to elbow issues and Tommy John surgery. Additionally, he had further surgery to decompress the nerve in the same elbow this off-season. There are a lot of expectations for a first round pick, but Wimmers has effectively not pitched (other than 4.3 innings in 2012) above the high A Florida State League, where he amassed a 4-3 record, with a 3.20 ERA (4.20 FIP), 1.08 WHIP (.211 BABIP), 9.9 K/9 and 2.3 K/BB in 56.3 innings spread along 2 seasons. His stuff before his elbow troubles was a plus two seamer with excellent movement in the low 90s, complemented by a plus changeup and an plus plus breaking ball, which he needs to command better. I watched Wimmers during the 2012 Spring Training before his injury and you can read the report here . Wimmers is a big enigma in the organization that left him unprotected for the Rule 5 draft. 2014, his age 25 season will be a make or break season for him. Depending on the elbow, he will start either at extended Spring Training or at New Britain with a potential call up to Rochester later in the season depending on health and performance. 39. Tyler Jones, RHRP, DOB: 9/5/1989. 6'4", 215 lbs. Tyler is the older of the two Jones' (the other one is Zach) at Fort Myers the second half of the 2013 season. He was drafted by the Twins at the 11th round of the 2011 draft out of Louisiana State University. In 2011 and 2012 he was primarily a starter at Elizabethton and at Beloit, with mixed results (5-5, 4.67 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.442 WHIP, .357 BABIP. 10.6 K/9, 26.6 K% and 2.91 K/BB in 86.7 Midwest League innings.) This season the Twins transitioned him to the pen, where his high strikeout rate as a starter really increased to a strikeout machine level. At high A Fort Myers, this season he struck out 33.3% of the batters he faced, while at Cedar Rapids, where he started the season, he strick out 29.9%. His FIP was 1.27 and 2.21 at A+ and A levels, respectively. When a third of the batters you face strike out, you have a serious advantage as a pitcher and belong in a top prospect list. Unlike his namesake who has an impressive fastball, Tyler Jones fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 95, but has a tremendous movement and he complements it well with above average changeup and slider. Command of his fastball had been an issue, but he seems to have improved last season. He will likely start 2014 at Fort Myers (maybe taking over the closer duties) and end the season in New Britain. Will be interesting to see how his stuff looks against tougher competition next season and if the strikeout rate holds up at AA. I expect him to be a big mover in this list next year this time. 38. Tyler Grimes, RH, C, DOB: 7/3/1990. 5'10", 187 lbs. Tyler Grimes was drafted by the Minnesota Twins at the 5th round of the 2011 draft from Wichita State University as a Shortstop. At 5'10 and 187 lbs (in actuality closer to 200), he does not have the optimal body for a shortstop and it showed at his limited range and error-proneness on the field. Last off-season the Twins transitioned him into a Catcher role. He did also spend some time at second base (13 games) and at shortstop (1 game) but middle infield is not in his future. Grimes played all of his pro seasons in the Midwest League (Beloit and Cedar Rapids) so far and he has shown a steady improvement the last season on the plate, hitting .256/.377/.382 with 6 HRs and a 45/87 BB/K ratio in 356 plate appearances. He is still learning how to call a game, but his strong SS arm translated into C where he threw out 44% of the would be base stealers. Grimes would likely spend (his age 23) 2014 season in Fort Myers. 37. Logan Wade, SH, IF, DOB: 11/13/1991. 6'1", 190 lbs. Logan Wade was an international (Brisbane, Australia) signee of the Twins in the Spring of 2012 and he reminds me of a fellow Australian with the Twins, Luke Hughes. He started his professional career as a middle infielder with the Gulf Coast League Twins in 2012 where he hit .234/.301/.371 in 138 PAs as a 20 year old. This season he played in Elizabethton where he hit .303/.333/.455 in 106 PAs. His power (IsoP) for a young middle infielder (.137 in 2012 and .152 in 2013) are very impressive and his hit tool improved last season. His pitch recognition needs work (5/33 BB/K in 2013) but he potentially has future as a utility player or better, especially if he can keep the power numbers at higher levels and improves his pitch recognition and glove. His glove plays better at 2B than SS, but he has played both corner infield positions and LF. He will likely spend the 2014 season at Cedar Rapids. 36. Zach Larson RH, OF, DOB: 10/8/1993. 6'2", 185 lbs Zach was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 20th round of the 2012 draft out of Lakewood Ranch High School in Bradenton FL. He played only in 15 GCL games in 2012 and his transition to the wooden bat was unremarkable (.250/.318/.325) However, 2013 was a great season for him. He started the season repeating the Gulf Coast League where he hit .317/.382/.467 in 137 plate appearances and moved up to Elizabethton without slowing down (.301/.407/.438 in 86 PA) He can play all 3 OF positions and he played exclusively at CF in high school, but his arm plays better at LF. He does make good contact, has gap power, is pretty selective (19/39 BB/K last season,) and his 19 year old frame will fill. Has decent range and speed as well, even though the last has not translated much into stolen bases. Depending on his Spring Training, he will likely start 2014 in Cedar Rapids. Next: 31-35 http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8607105322_69cb607a83_o.jpg

I love Jorge A's stuff, but that was written 40 days into the 2013 season and contains this: which might have been true in early May 2013, but looking at pitch values, it was a horrible pitch for him as a whole for 2013.... And he did not stop throwing the curve. He threw 222 of them, as well as 603 sliders. The ratio of curve/slider was reversed and then some from 2012 Just another indication that coaches have messed up with the guy.

Good stuff. A few more points: - getting out of New York City, by itself, can do wonders for one's career (ask AJ Burnett and Carl Pavano and even Javier Vasquez - twice) - In addition to the general Yankee Stadium Mark III vs Targer Field numbers, lefties hit .298/.354/.509 (that would be .219 IsoP, and if a qualified batter had that IsoP, he would rank 20th in the majors last season; Mike Napoli territory) last season off Hughes. I suspect that this would be suppressed at Target Field as well. Do not have his HR/FB by LHB numbers, but I suspect that was high as well. - His complementary pitches have been an interesting story. That curve-slider change is not totally accurate. He is a different P against LHB and RHB (and you can see the data here): In 2012 he threw his fastball and curveball pretty much equally to lefties and righties but his slider/cutter (which I think that it is the same pitch based on the fact that the Vs of what PitchF/X calls a cutter are more like those of a slider) pretty much exclusively to righties and his change pretty much exclusively to lefties. In 2013 He started throwing the slider to everybody and he kept the slow curve pretty much exclusively for lefties. I don't know how much difference that made, because all his secondary stuff have been pretty much horrible, but the point is, that if you look at pretty much every season, he has changed his pitching mix often. To me this says that a. he is not comfortable with his secondary stuff and/or someone has been "messing" with him (pitching coaches, teammates etc.) and once he finds and gets the feel for a good secondary pitch (or 2, paging Bobby Cuellar), he will be better.

I think that they all will settle. Duensing was the best LHP in the pen (other than Perkins) and Swarzak is a great guy to have around, since he can do many things. People do not realize Plouffe's value. If you look at this OPS+ in 2013, a down season, it was close to Dozier's and Willingham's. This team does not have many power RH hitters. I just wish that Gardenhire played Plouffe at a corner OF position instead of third base and I bet that he would be better with the glove than Willingham/Doumit/Parmelee/Colabello/Arcia who played out there last season. Maybe this will happen when Sano is ready. The other thing that needs to be mentioned is that these guys are nice guys, which goes long ways.

The biggest issue that most people had last off-season was that Correia was the best (healthy) pitcher the Twins have signed. His numbers indicated that he will be a good #4-5 pitcher in a competing team and he performed as such and was paid as such. The problem was that, if your best pitcher is a number 5, you will go as far as the Twins did in 2013... That was the issue most people had. Not the signing, but the whole picture and where he fit.

Not sure about you , but the Twins have not offered arbitration to anyone of the 3 (Duensing, Plouffe, Swarzak) yet. The deadline is tomorrow. But I think all 3 should be a non-brainer compared to the likes of Albers, Colabello, Mastroianni et al.