Seth Stohs

Here is some video from Mike Berardino on Chargois's first bullpen on Monday: http://player.tout.com/twincities/97gm9q

According to Berardino's article on the TV deal a couple of weeks ago, it's believed that the Twins are closer to $40 million, though the Twins policy is not to talk about the specifics. So, that's all we've got. Bill Smith was very good at his job too before he became GM. He's also done great work for the Twins since he lost the GM title. He's contributed a ton to the organization in his 30ish years. He wasn't a good GM necessarily, but he was very good at his job. I think Rob Antony is very good at his job as well.

In my opinion, player development is the most important thing for any baseball team. I would argue even those teams in major markets need to rely primarily on player development. I go back to the Yankees. They won their four consecutive World Series primarily due to the development of their core. Once they changed the game's economics and started buying players left and right, they haven't been as successful. Having a core of home-grown players is, in my opinion, vital to sustaining winning. Look at the Twins rosters in 1987 and 1991. Led by home-grown players and supplemented with 1-2 acquisitions that paid off. In 1987, it was getting Gladden and Reardon via trades before the season. In 1991, it was adding Mike Pagliurulo, Chili Davis and Jack Morris, three free agents that weren't at the top of the free agent class that year. It was also about adding Shane Mack in the Rule 5. But the core of Puckett, Hrbek, Gagne. In 1987, it was Viola, Brunansky, Gaetti. In 1991, it was Tapani, Erickson, and Knoblauch emerging from the minor leagues.

Depends on the team. Tony Larussa is Director of Baseball Operations for the Diamondbacks (or some title like that), and Dave Stewart is the GM. I'm guessing Larussa isn't the one in charge of the stadium, marketing, sales, merchandising, and all that other stuff like St. Peter is. I'm kind of guessing that he got exactly market value for the TV deal... And, I don't know where the Rob Antony comment came from, but by all accounts, he is very good at the responsibilities that he is given (contracts, negotiations, etc.).

I'll disagree on both counts. Terry Ryan will always be a scout, and trust his scouts, but he's also said to listen to the stats guys and every other piece of information he has available to him. He's a very smart guy. Also, Dave St. Peter doesn't need to know the baseball side of the operation. He needs to run the program. Baseball background has nothing to do with that job.

Twins pitchers and catchers reported to Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers on Sunday. On Monday, those pitchers and catchers participated in their first practice of the year. Pitchers fielding practice (PFP) is already in full effect. Also on Monday, Nick began our Twins Daily Top 20 Prospect Rankings by providing us with more information on our choices for Prospects 16-20. Today, we continue that list by reviewing our Prospects 11-15. This group contains a couple of pitchers with upside coming back from Tommy John surgery. There are a couple of very young middle infielders who have strong offensive potential. We also have a hitter who is just plain strong.Let’s get to the list. 15. JT Chargois - RHP Age: 25 2015 Stats (Hi-A/AA): 48.0 IP, 2-1, 15 Saves, 2.62 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 53/25 K/BB ETA: 2016 Chargois (pronounced Shag-waa) was the Twins second-round pick in the 2012 draft out of Rice University. In college, he played first base, DH and was the Owl’s co-closer with current Twins starter Tyler Duffey. He worked 16 innings for Elizabethton that summer and then missed two full seasons with injury including Tommy John surgery. He returned to the mound in games in 2015, throwing as hard as ever. “Hard as ever,” for Chargois means frequently hitting 100 on the radar gun. He began the season with the Miracle but spent the second half of the season in Chattanooga where he was the closer for the Southern League champion Lookouts. In November, he was added to the Twins 40-man roster. Blessed with a big fastball, Chargois also throws a slurve and has a change-up. He will occasionally have trouble finding the strike zone, but often is able to work out of trouble with a strikeout. He will compete for a Twins bullpen spot in spring training. Although he is maybe a long shot to be on the Opening Day roster, we can expect to see Chargois pitching for the Twins in the 2016 season. Photo: William Parmeter 14. Jermaine Palacios - SS Age: 19 2015 Stats (rookie): .370/.398/.540, 3 HR, 37 RBI, 36 R, 9/13 SB ETA: 2019 Signed in July of 2013 out of Venezuela for just $70,000, Palacios was not a highly touted amateur. When he signed Palacios was long, but very thin, weighing in at just 145 pounds. He spent the 2014 season in the DSL where he hit .270/.404/.399 (.802) with 11 doubles and six triples. He had 35 walks to go with 37 strikeouts. The performance allowed him to come to the States in 2015. He is stronger now, though still real thin. He was supposed to spend the full short season in the GCL, but through 26 games he was hitting .421 (1.061 OPS) so he was promoted to Elizabethton. In 31 games there, he hit .336. Though he didn’t walk much, he had 18 extra base hits. He committed quite a few errors, but many believe that he can become a solid shortstop, though a move is possible. He should start the 2016 season as a 19-year-old in Cedar Rapids. 13. Wander Javier - SS Age: 17 2015 Stats: Did Not Play ETA: 2021 In 2009, the Twins signed Miguel Sano, then 16 years old, to a $3.15 million bonus, their largest given to an international player. In July of 2015, the Twins broke that record by handing shortstop Wander Javier a $4 million signing bonus. While Sano was signed as a shortstop too, the general belief is that Javier will be able to stay at shortstop. Javier is already 6-0 and 170 pounds. He is described as a plus fielder with a plus arm from shortstop. Though he’s not big now, people talk about his great bat speed which could potentially generate very good power. But he’s very raw and hasn’t played a ton of baseball. Most likely, Javier will spend the entire 2016 season in the Dominican Summer League, but it’s possible he could surface in the GCL late in the year. 12. Lewis Thorpe - LHP Age: 20 2015 Stats: Did Not Pitch ETA: 2019 Two weeks ago, Lewis Thorpe threw pitches off of a mound. For most pitchers at this time of the year not a big deal, but for Thorpe it was a big deal after having Tommy John surgery last April. His rehab program will continue into the 2016 season. However, he could return to game action by June. Thorpe burst onto the prospect scene in 2013 when, as a 17-year-old, he went 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA in the GCL. In 44 innings he walked six and struck out 64. The following season, he was promoted to Cedar Rapids in May and experienced some ups and downs in the Midwest League. However, he struck out 81 batters in 71.2 innings while being almost four years younger than the average player in the league. While it’s difficult to know with complete certainty how a player will come back after Tommy John, Thorpe says he is feeling strong and hopefully will be back to what he was. That was really good. He had a fastball that touched 94-95. He has a good curve ball, and his best pitch could be his change-up. In spite of his youth, the southpaw has a very high baseball IQ and knowledge of pitching. Photo: William Parmeter 11. Adam Brett Walker - OF Age: 22 2015 Stats (AA): .239/.309/.498, 31 HR, 106 RBI, 75 R, 13/17 SB ETA: 2016 The Twins invited Milwaukee native Adam Brett Walker to Target Field days before the 2012 MLB Draft. The Jacksonville University player had posted an OPS of over 1.000 in all three of his college seasons. The Twins selected him in the third round, with the 97th overall pick that year. Since then, the 6-5, 230 pound outfielder has done everything big. He has hit with big power. Walker has played at one level in each of the four seasons since signing. He has led that league in home runs and RBI each year. In 2013 in Cedar Rapids, his 109 RBI were one less than Dalton Hicks for most in minor league baseball. Despite his size, Walker is a good base stealer. In college, he was successful in 40 of 41 attempts. In minor league ball, he’s 36 for 45. Walker has also has increased his walk rate each season, from 5.6% to 7.9% to 9.1% in 2015. But obviously we have to get to the other thing that Walker does big, strikeouts. While his walk rate has gone up each season, so has his strikeout rate. He struck out 20.8% of the time in Low A. With the Miracle, he struck out 28.2% of the time. In 2014 with Chattanooga, he struck out 34.8% of the time. Defense and specifically throwing are also a concern for Walker. Will Walker be able to make an adjustment to cut down on the strikeouts? If so, he can be a solid power producer in the middle of a big league lineup. If not, he will struggle mightily with big league pitching. Most likely, he’ll be somewhere in between. Click here to view the article

Assuming Reed starts in Chattanooga he'll get to continue working with Ivan.

Correction... #5 for hitters.

MiLB.com just named the Twins #2 in terms of hitting prospects in baseball, behind only the Red Sox.

That would be my assumption too... I don't spend much time reviewing other organizations, certainly not that deep. I am of the belief - without any real research - - that the Twins not only have several high-ceiling prospects (including a couple who just graduated), but a terrific amount of depth. That, to me, is a differentiater.

nicksaviking wrote it and deserves all the credit. When I promoted the blog to an article, I forgot to change the name, but corrected it right away...

The signing of Brian Duensing with the Kansas City Royals closes the book on a story that was started in 1989. In the first round of that year's draft, the Twins selected Texas A&M shortstop Chuck Knoblauch who would go on to spawn the trade that would put Twins GM Terry Ryan on the map and the fruits of that trade would be felt until 2015. After seven seasons of what looked to be the beginning of a HOF career, Chuck Knoblauch and his 37.9 WAR wanted out of Minnesota and to a contender. Well that's how the fans knew it anyway, back before internet media was a thing. While largely unpopular at the time, the Twins received Brian Buchanan (0.3 WAR), Christian Guzman (7.5), Eric Milton (14.7) and Danny Mota (-0.1) in what would be the branches of our Knoblauch trade tree.THE BRIAN BUCHANAN BRANCH Brian Buchanan had some nice power potential and looked the part of a middle-of- the-order bat. Unfortunately for him, he found himself in a roster crunch as he was competing for the RF/DH spot with Michael Cuddyer, Dustin Mohr, Bobby Keilty, David Ortiz and Matthew Lecroy. Buchanan found himself shipped off to San Diego and in return the Twins received shortstop prospect Jason Bartlett (8.9). Bartlett would go on to play four seasons (initially) with the Twins before getting traded to Tampa Bay with Matt Garza and Eddie Morlan for Delmon Young (1.0), Brendon Harris (-0.6) and Jason Pridie (-0.2). Pridie teased Twins fans with his potential but never put it all together and was soon DFA'd. Brendon Harris found himself a mostly every day super-utility role for the Twins before being traded for Jim Hoey (-0.6) and Brett Jacobson. Jacobson never made it to the majors, Jim Hoey and his disastrous 24.1 innings unfortunately did. Delmon Young played three and a half mercurial seasons with the Twins, seemingly breaking out in 2010 and being a large reason for the team's division title. Alas, it was not to last and the following year he was traded to Detroit for Cole Nelson who never appeared in a MLB game and Lester Oliveros (0.0). Oliveros would tease with his potential, but he never got much of an opportunity to make it at the MLB level and was recently picked up the Royals. THE ERIC MILTON BRANCH That wraps up the Buchanan wing of the Knoblauch trade tree, so let's head back to the top and check in on Eric Milton. Milton pitched six seasons for the Twins, six seasons that saw an All Star appearance, a no-hitter, and a questionable contract extension. Despite that contract extension, the Twins were able to move him to Philadelphia for a package that included Carlos Silva (9.0), Nick Punto (10.3) and Bobby Korecky (0.2). Silva pitched four solid seasons for the Twins before signing a nice free agent contract with Seattle, but most interesting for Silva was his 2005 season when he set a modern day record of 0.4 BB/9. Seriously, that is bizarre. Check out the single-season leader board and the next closest modern day player was Brett Saberhagen with a 0.65 BB/9 which is almost a 40% increase: http://www.baseball-...ne_season.shtml Nick Punto just announced his retirement but played seven super-utility seasons with the Twins before leaving and winning a World Series with St. Louis in 2011. Bobby Korecky, we hardly knew you, except for that time in 2008 when the Twins lost their DH and you had to come to bat in the 11th inning. Of course in that 11th inning you not only got a hit in your only career AB but also the win. That has to be worth more than 0.2 WAR, which surely proves WAR is worthless. THE DANNY MOTA BRANCH Back to the top and we get to Danny Mota, who would do next to nothing for the Twins, appearing in all of 5.1 innings at the MLB level. THE CRISTIAN GUZMAN BRANCH The last branch on the Knoblauch trade tree begins with Cristian Guzman. The speedy shortstop made one All-Star Game and led the league in triples three times. He left as a free agent to Washington, but in doing so, the Twins were rewarded with a compensation draft pick. Not a first-round pick because that was protected. Not a second-round pick because that was already lost, but a third-round pick in the 2005 draft which the Twins used to select Brian Duensing (6. 2WAR). Duensing was an unheralded prospect who made an immediate impact in 2009 and found himself pitching Game 1 of the ALDS against the Yankees. It did not go well. Duensing had another nice season in 2010 as a swing man before settling in as regular out of the pen. His seven years with the Twins matches Punto and Knoblauch himself in terms of number of seasons played for the Twins. SUMMARY In total, 19 players were acquired due to the first-round selection in the 1989 draft and a total of 94.6 WAR was gained. These trees can be found throughout baseball, and surely there are others as fruitful, but this one has interested me for a long time. All of the comical propositions of tossing Duensing into trade proposals the last couple of years were serious by me because I wanted this tree to keep growing. It, however, will not. EPILOGUE The Twins 1989 draft was fantastic. They drafted three players with career WARs over 20 in Knoblauch, Denny Neagle and Scott Erickson. They also drafted Marty Cordova, Mike Trombley and Denny Hocking. Some of these players produced unexpected fruit. The trade of Erickson for Scott Klingenbeck and Kimera Bartee is one of Ryan's best known failures. In 1992, Andy McPhail made a trade of Denny Neagle that would live on for years. In trading a top prospect in Neagle (something unbelievable for the Twins today), the Twins received John Smiley, a very good, but not great pitcher whom the Twins wanted/needed to replace the departed Jack Morris. Smiley pitched one fine year for the Twins before leaving, and in his place the Twins got a compensation pick in 1993 which they used to select Torii Hunter. When Hunter left, the Twins used his comp picks to select busts Carlos Gutierrez and Shooter Hunt. Also, while the Twins didn't get a comp pick for losing Marty Cordova (even though he had an .828 OPS the prior year), they did get one for losing Mike Trombley in 2000. They used that pick to select Aaron Heilman, who had a really nice MLB career, just not with the Twins because he refused to sign with them. Click here to view the article

There definely is some quality middle infield depth in the organization. Quality depth and just quality talent too. Polanco, Vielma, Gordon and Palacios are likely to be the full-season shortstops with Javier in the Dominican this year. Michael can play shortstop in the same vein that Brian Dozier can play shortstop. He didn't look good in that half season a few years ago, but he can play the position. Michael would likely be the same. In other words, probably fine as a utility guy if he can hit. When healthy, he puts together some quality plate appearances and good OBP. He's got a little pop too. Not a Top 40 for me, but doesn't mean he can't play a role with the Twins at some point.

Well he certainly was better than #19... ha!

Yeah... just so people know... my Top 4 Twins prospects that year (2008) were: 1.) Deolis Guerra, 2.) Tyler Robertson, 3.) Anthony Swarzak, 4.) Kevin Mulvey... at 5, I finally put Trevor Plouffe, 6, Ben Revere... So, yeah.

Yeah, his 11-19 is an interesting mix, maybe some guys he heard some good things about and wanted to include?

to be fair, it was Baseball America that ranked Blackburn #1... I had him at #19 in the Twins system and I think Gleeman had him in the low 20s.

Hayes was just so skinny. As others have said, similar type of player. Kepler's just so much bigger and stronger, and I think he'll hit more homers, but of course, we shall see. It's an old comp, but physically, Kepler looks so similar to Justin Morneau in so many ways. Kepler's probably a little bit bigger. And yeah, if he can have that type of career, we'll all be thrilled.

OK, yup... poor usage of the term floor. Should have gone with a floor of AA reliever or something.

Yeah, he could be in there too. He's eligible and he's profiled in the Prospect Handbook.

Yeah, maybe a little low on him, wondering if he'll be able to make that transition to starting. A lot of people think he can. We'll see. Dominant lefty relievers include Will Smith, Glen Perkins... Matt Thornton 8-10 years ago. Obviously his floor isn't that high, but people definitely believe in that slider and the fastball gets up to 96-97 out of the bullpen. I'd just say any left-handed reliever that you'd be comfortable in the 8th or 9th innings.

The Twins do their physicals and they have an official record. I don't know how it gets out to Baseball Reference or MILB.com, or fangraphs or other places. My source was Kepler, but that was probably last August. Like I said, I think he actually looks bigger, stronger now.

Yeah, Rosario's always been a starter, so they'll definitely keep him there... at least for the foreseeable future.

Some interesting stuff here though. Rodriguez should probably be included in the Honorable Mentions. He was named the Appy League Pitcher of the Year, and he's only been pitching for two years. 2016 is a big year for him though. Finally should get to full season ball, and we'll see how it goes. Cabbage and Blankenhorn will likely be tied together for years. Law is the one that was so high on Vielma a couple of years ago, ranking him 12th or something, and now that Vielma is on most prospect radars, he isn't in his top 19? I like Quezada. I think Jeremy had him just inside his Top 30. Another high-upside pitcher who has grown a lot and now has an upper-90s fastball. However, he was 21 in the GCL and still not great... 12 walks, 23 K in 21 IP with a 3.80 ERA. Minier is a guy that the Twins obviously liked enough to give a big bonus to, but he hasn't hit, and he hasn't been good at 3B or LF defensively. Probably just a DH.