Seth Stohs

I had Palka at 11, Vielma in the low 20s, Chargois 9 or 10. Jorge 9 or 10. Romero 7 or 8. Wander around 15. Prospect rankings don't have much to do with proving anything. It's fun to get the vote from the crowd too.

You voted JT Chargois as the team's #10 prospect... Let's keep this going... who is #11? As always, need names.

Everyone hated it initially, but it couldn't have turned out better for the Twins in 2015. Unfortunately, Jepsen's been a bust in 2016... but for 2015, it was what was needed and almost helped them get back to the playoffs. I can't complain too much about that trade at this point. We knew Hu might be a potential big league starter...

Berrios has also pitched in and started the last two Futures Game. I have no problem with him not going. I have no problem with Jay not going yet. I just think the Twins should have more than two... but i'm fairly biased.

No one would, but as written in the article and throughout the comments, that's not why he's included.

For the world team, I'm sure there is some effort to get various countries represented.

It's about the top prospects. I'm not sure who does the selection, but I believe the Twins submit several names for consideration each year. At one point, this is probably 5 years ago, the Twins had a policy that guys drafted the previous year weren't eligible (If tha'ts still the case, that would explain Tyler Jay not being on it). I don't know if they still have that criteria. But it's about prospect status as much as stats. In fact, it has pretty much nothing to do with 2016 stats. But again, that may depend on the team.

MLB Network announced the rosters for the Futures Game this afternoon. If I read the rosters correctly, it appears that the lone Minnesota Twins representative in the game will be JT Chargois. I was hoping that Stephen Gonsalves would be added and get to pitch in his hometown for that game, but at least as of right now, doesn't look like it. Maybe they'll need a replacement. Interesting to note that Chih-Wei Hu was selected to the World Team. The former Twins prospect from Taiwan is now with the Rays.

I can't disagree with that, and if I replaced someone to add him it would likely be Taylor Rogers.

I just think the game has changed. Teams now need starters to go 6 innings and then turn it over to the bullpens. I think May and Pressly and Chargois and Burdi can be dominant bullpen arms. May and Pressly already are pretty close to that. And, like I wrote, I think May could still move to starting, but they just have to commit to that.

For a little perspective, here is a page which shows all of the players selected in the 1997 draft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Major_League_Baseball_expansion_draft

The Florida State League did a nice story on the Vavra family. They interviewed Trey on playing with Tanner and playing for his dad in Australia. He talked about how much he's learned, a little about hockey. IT's just a nice story. Maybe 2 minutes so take a listen. http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?sid=milb&content_id=867696983

Just to point this out though... they're all two-sport guys in high school. Sure, there are some guys who specialize in just baseball, but that's rarely a good thing. I'm encouraged by what he's done this year. I like how he doesn't get hit real hard still. He's a 21-year-old in AA. That's pretty good. Though most of his career, he's been a half-year ahead of Gonsalves. Can't help but wonder what type of numbers Stewart would have if he'd gone on the same schedule as Gonsalves. I don't know the answer, but would be interesting.

An expansion team wouldn't select him, but it "MAY" be a requirement to include such a player in the 15 to remove the possibility. It's all hypothetical.

I mean, you're going to lose one guy after round 1, and then be able to protect three more. You'll lose 1 guy after round 2. And, almost a 50/50 chance of losing someone in round 3. So, in theory you could lose someone in your 16-18 range and someone (or two) in your 20-22 range. And even then, it depends on if the expansion team chooses big league talent or prospects.

Jay doesn't have to be added since he was drafted in 2015 (unless he's called up before the end of the year - he won't be).

The 10-and-5 rule means that he has more than 10 years of MLB service time and 5 with the current team. Once a player passes those two milestones, they automatically have a no-trade right.

Pretty much... and, it is fairly timely with the NHL announcement just last week.

Out of options... clearly behind Kepler, Buxton and Grossman. Wasn't playing. Wasn't going to play much... and that's fine. Good for Arcia to be let go. He'll hit once in awhile, but generally, he'll be what he is. Like I wrote, maybe he becomes Danny Valencia in a few years. If so, that's fine.

There's no comparison between Burdi and those three. Maybe Bullock since he was a high draft pick who threw in the upper-90s, but Slama and Delaney weren't high prospects and they didn't throw hard. Johnson was a starter. If Burdi doesn't make it, it'll likely be solely about health.

The NHL announced expansion to Las Vegas last week. With that came news of an Expansion Draft. You may have seen AJ Mansour’s article at Vikings Journal where he asked What Would Happen If The NFL Held An Expansion Draft? It was a very interesting article, and of course, it got me thinking about what the Twins would do in the event of further expansion. The last time MLB held an expansion draft was in November of 1997 when the league expanded to 30 teams. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the league the next year. Both teams were able to pick 35 guys from other organizations. The draft went three rounds: Round 1 - the 28 current MLB teams were able to protect 15 players from the entire organization (40-man or not). Each team could only lose one player in the round. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams) Round 2 - each team can protect three more players and then the same guidelines apply. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams. Round 3 - each team makes seven more selections. In that November, 1997 draft, the Twins lost Outfielder Brent Brede in the first round. In the 2nd round, Damian Miller was the selection of the Diamondbacks. Of course, he went on to a terrific career catching the likes of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson to a World Series championship. Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, USA Today The NHL announced expansion to Las Vegas last week. With that came news of an Expansion Draft. You may have seen AJ Mansour’s article at Vikings Journal where he asked What Would Happen If The NFL Held An Expansion Draft? It was a very interesting article, and of course, it got me thinking about what the Twins would do in the event of further expansion. The last time MLB held an expansion draft was in November of 1997 when the league expanded to 30 teams. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the league the next year. Both teams were able to pick 35 guys from other organizations. The draft went three rounds: Round 1 - the 28 current MLB teams were able to protect 15 players from the entire organization (40-man or not). Each team could only lose one player in the round. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams) Round 2 - each team can protect three more players and then the same guidelines apply. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams. Round 3 - each team makes seven more selections. In that November, 1997 draft, the Twins lost Outfielder Brent Brede in the first round. In the 2nd round, Damian Miller was the selection of the Diamondbacks. Of course, he went on to a terrific career catching the likes of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson to a World Series championship. There were some exceptions, players that could not be selected. Players drafted in the previous two drafts could not be selected. Neither could players signed the previous year when they were under 18. Players who were free agents were not eligible for the expansion draft, which makes sense since, they are free agents at the time of the draft. --------------------------------------------------------- So, let’s pretend for a moment that there was going to be MLB expansion and a draft held following the World Series this fall. Which 15 players would (or should) the Twins protect? First, let’s look at the players who would not have to be protected without fear of losing them. Players the Twins drafted this June. So, they wouldn’t have to worry about losing Alex Kirilloff or Ben Rortvedt or Tom Hackimer. Players the Twins drafted last June (2015). So, they don’t have to protect the likes of Tyler Jay, They wouldn’t need to protect LaMonte Wade, Trey Cabbage or Travis Blankenhorn. Guys signed internationally in 2015 would also not need to be protected. In other words, the Twins don’t have to decide whether or not to protect 17-year-old Wander Javier, who they gave $4 million just one year ago. Players who signed in 2014 under the age of 18. This includes international signings from that year like Huascar Ynoa, Lachlan Wells, Jean Carlos Arias, Brusdar Graterol and Jorge Munoz. I lumped in guys who could be non-tendered following the season into the free agent exception. I’ll include Fernando Abad, Tommy Milone, Kevin Jepsen Trevor Plouffe, Juan Centeno and Kurt Suzuki in that group that won’t need to be included. You can also probably add the likes of Buddy Boshers and Darin Mastroianni to this group as well as they are likely be be free agents by the end of the season. ----------------------------------------------------------- There are still a lot of players who will be eligible to be selected if not added. There are some givens to protect but after that, there are going to be some really tough decisions. THE FIFTEEN I WOULD PROTECT I’m just going to start by posting all fifteen that I would protect. Some are quite easy choices. Others take a little more thought. And, even with that, there are another few dozen I wish I could protect too. Let’s start with The Givens. As we know, the phrase “Givens” means different things to different things to different people. However, in my mind, it would be inexplicable for the Twins to not protect the following 11 players. In other words, I saw that these guys would be eligible to be selected, I immediately put them on the list to protect (in alphabetical order). RH SP Jose Berrios RH RP Nick Burdi OF Byron Buxton RH RP JT Chargois 2B Brian Dozier OF Max Kepler 1B Joe Mauer RH RP Trevor May IF Jorge Polanco RH RP Ryan Pressly 3B/OF/DH Miguel Sano I guess some may read a name or two on that list and be a little surprised. First, let’s get this out of the way, Joe Mauer would most likely need to be protected due to his 10-and-5 rights. Brian Dozier is really the only other veteran presence on this list. He’s been the Twins best player, or right there, the last three years. So even if you plan to eventually trade him, you protect him. Other than that, there are young players who the organization has deemed the building blocks. Whether or not they all pan out is not known, but they must be protected. That includes the likes of Buxton, Kepler, Sano, Berrios and Polanco. I’d put Pressly and May in the same category, along with Chargois and Burdi. We have seen the value of a strong bullpen and those four could be a great start to that over the next couple of years. By having several of them, if you’re the GM you could still push for May to start. The Other Four So, I have to come up with four more names to protect, and this is where it gets difficult. How do you pick? Does salary come into it? What will the expansion team draft? Prospects or proven players? Maybe some combination, but it’s so hard to know. So, here are the four players that I would (probably) add to the protected list before a (hypothetical) expansion draft. 12. Tyler Duffey 13. Taylor Rogers 14. Nick Gordon 15. Stephen Gonsalves So as you can see, I’m choosing to protect pitching and prospects. I’ll briefly touch on each. Tyler Duffey - I don’t know if he’ll be a starter long-term, or if he’ll eventually (maybe likely) wind up in the bullpen. I do know that he’s done enough to show that I want him in the future plans of the organization. Taylor Rogers - I think he can be a long-term, left-handed reliever with the ability to really dominate left-handed hitters. Nick Gordon - There just aren’t a ton of shortstop prospects who people believe can stick at shortstop. Gordon can be a solid, every day shortstop who will play solid defense and hit too. He’s two years out, but you don’t want to lose a guy like this. Steven Gonsalves - There are several pitchers who fit into this range. Gonsalves has produced at each level he’s pitched at, and he just made the move to AA. Who Is Left Unprotected (in my scenario)? As a reminder, following the first round, in which the Twins would lose no more than one player, they will be able to protect three more players. At most, the Twins would lose three players. It wouldn’t be the end of the world. But, they would lose two or three players and the hope would be that you’ve protected the right people. But it’s very likely you’ll lose someone who will become a solid major leaguer. The High-Priced Pitchers - I’ll lump Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco and now probably Glen Perkins though he will miss time next season and isn’t making an excessive amount. I would be very surprised if an expansion team would take on these salaries. They would not get selected, and frankly, if they did, would we be disappointed? The Prospects - There are a bunch of quality prospects that I believe are not protected and eligible to be selected in my fake expansion draft scenario. Here is a list of prospects that I would unfortunately leave unprotected. Kohl Stewart, Fernando Romero, Randy Rosario, Yorman Landa, Mason Melotakis, Pat Dean, Alex Meyer, Adam Brett Walker and many more. There were many other tough decisions too. For instance, would you protect Kyle Gibson as he is coming off of injury and will go to arbitration for the first time in the offseason? How about Michael Tonkin? With all the power arms in the system, would he be one you’d protect? Eddie Rosario is still pre-arbitration and plays good defense, but will his lack of plate discipline mean he isn’t on your list? What about the Eduardos, Nunez and/or Escobar? How about Byung Ho Park? Do you protect him one year after investing about $25 million on him? How about a catcher? Would you want to protect John Ryan Murphy? Maybe Mitch Garver or Stuart Turner? This is not an easy exercise, but it can be a lot of fun. Thinking about 2016 and going forward. What are the priorities? Which players are automatic protect guys for you? ----------------------------------------------------------- YOUR TURN OK, now it is your turn. Considering everything you’ve read above, which 15 players would you protect? Let’s discuss. View full article

Palka wins #9... let's vote for #10. As always, add names who should be considered.

I struggle with that first point. Dozier is arguably their best player. Crazy streaky, but productive non-the-less. I don't like easily getting rid of those types of players, especially since he's locked in for 3 more years at fair rates. Polanco, he might be as good as Dozier overall someday. Maybe. I'd rather throw him at short and hope.

He had elbow surgery about a month ago to remove some bone spurs in his elbow. Extended Spring Training is over, yes. Anyone who is not on a short-season roster could be there rehabbing, but it's not Extended Spring.