Seth Stohs

In 2009, the Miguel Sano signing got most of the headlines, but earlier that summer the Twins signed shortstop Jorge Polanco from the Dominican Republic for $750,000. At the time, he was 5-10 and maybe 150 pounds. Maybe. He was known primarily for his terrific middle infield defense. The last couple of seasons, he has figured things out with the bat. He became the youngest player promoted to the Twins since Joe Mauer in 2004 when he was called up in June, directly from Ft. Myers.Age: 21 (DOB: 7/5/93) 2014 Stats (Ft. Myers/New Britain): .288/.353/.395 (.748) with 23-2B, 6-3B, 7-HR ETA: early 2016 2014 Ranking: #8 What’s To Like Patience was a necessity as he grew and developed. It took him two years of struggles in the Gulf Coast League before advancing to the Appalachian League. He hit .318/.388/.514 (.903) with 22 extra base hits in 51 games at Elizabethton. In the talent-laden 2013 lineup, Polanco batted third and hit .308/.362/.452 with 47 extra base hits in 115 games. Who would have guessed that Polanco would be the first player from that Cedar Rapids roster to get to the big leagues? The reason that the Twins called him up for two short stints in 2014 was primarily because of 40-man roster issues. However, the Twins brass would not put a guy in a situation that they don’t believe he could handle. People frequently talk about his intelligence, maturity and poise. What’s Left To Work On Though he was originally signed as defensive-minded shortstop, he had spent most of his career starts at second base. However, in 2014, he made the move to over to shortstop. He struggled early in the year and ended with 35 errors in 119 games at the position. He’ll need to clean that up some, but he has the tools to be a quality shortstop, though many feel his best position may be second base. After hitting .291/.364/.415 (.780) with 29 extra base hits in 94 games with the Miracle, Polanco hit .281/.323/.342 (.665) with seven extra base hits in 37 games with the Rock Cats. He will have to show some more plate discipline in Chattanooga in 2015. He has never been one to walk a lot, but to be successful, I believe he will need his IsoD (Isolated Discipline = On Base Percentage minus Batting Average) to be at least 0.060, particularly if he is going to hit near the top of the order. What’s Next Polanco has the tools. He can play defense and has a good arm. He can hit, takes quality at-bats and runs well. He will never be a 20+ home run hitter, but he can hit a lot of doubles. He has the tools, though none of them are in the elite category. He has a pretty high floor meaning that he should be an everyday player somewhere in the middle infield. He has the chance to be a long-time major league starter. He should spend the majority of the 2015 season at Chattanooga where he will most likely again play primarily at shortstop. He should continue to get time at second base. And, should the Twins need a middle infielder, he will again be just a phone call away. TD Top Prospect #10: Nick Burdi TD Top Prospect #9: Trevor May TD Top Prospect #8: Eddie Rosario TD Top Prospect #7: Jorge Polanco TD Top Prospect #6: TD Top Prospect #5: TD Top Prospect #4: TD Top Prospect #3: TD Top Prospect #2: TD Top Prospect #1: Click here to view the article

I missed the first segment of tonight's Twins Hot Stove show and the interview with Paul Molitor. But on twitter (Twins Radio), they posted:

Aaron Gleeman started his Top 40 Twins prospects series last week and continued this week. I'll continue to update this as he adds updates: Part 1: 36-40 Part 2: 31-35 Part 3: 26-30 Part 4: 21-25 Part 5: 16-20 Part 6: 11-15 Part 7: 6-10 Part 8: 1-5

Agreed... the power-by-position thing is pretty old-school, but it's wise that Cody brought it up because it is a topic that comes up here a lot. Some still think corner infielders and corner outfielders have to have big home run power. It's obviously nice, but it shouldn't be a deal breaker by any means. Rosario's definitely not perfect, but he can be what Danny Santana was last year, with more power. He's also a very good defender. With Santana, we see the lack of walks, but at least in 2014, he showed a very good strike zone knowledge. With Rosario, we see the lack of walks in the minor leagues too, but it'd be interesting to see over several big league games if he can control the strike zone in the same way. That'll be important.

Berrios, Stewart, Meyer is how I ranked them 2 months ago in the MN Twins Prospect Handbook. Nothing has happened to this point for that to change, but that is always subject to change. I believe I had them 3, 5, 6 overall.

Yeah, May can hit 95 at times, but he'll sit 91-93 most of the time... That he's 6-5 has little to do with it. Every arm is different. I keep bringing it up, but his walk/K/IP splits from his first 3 MLB starts to his final 7 starts tell the whole story for me... night and day. And, Rick Anderson deserves a ton of credit for the change. May gave him a lot of credit when I talked to him at Twins Fest, mechanically and mentally

Picture tweeted from the Ft. Myers Miracle account... of some Batting Practice on a back field.

I would agree with that completely. However, the Twins continue to say that he is going to be given an opportunity. I think the tone of the article indicates how little I believe that it really could happen.

Terry Ryan and Rob Antony are as straight-forward as it gets. My guess is that they said that he'd be given an opportunity, but I'm sure they also made it clear that they had Milone and Pelfrey and May and Meyer as well. That said, the Twins gave him 2.2 million good reasons to come in as well...

Because he'll be given an opportunity and you never know what will/could happen. Weird things happen.

Last week, we looked at a couple of the Twins fifth starter candidates, Mike Pelfrey and Alex Meyer. This week we will continue to look at the Twins fifth starter candidates. Today, we will take a look at one of the newest pitchers in the Twins organization, Tim Stauffer.The Background Just before the holidays, the Twins signed 32-year-old, right-handed pitcher Tim Stauffer to a one-year contract worth $2.2 million. Though he has worked out of the San Diego Padres’ bullpen the past two seasons, he was told that he would be given an opportunity to start. Was that just something he was told by the Twins to get him to sign with them, or will he really be given a shot to leave Ft. Myers as the team’s fifth starter? Well, fortunately pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks, so we’ll find out what kind of opportunity he really gets. Stauffer was the first-round pick of the Padres in 2003. He was the fourth overall pick out of the University of Richmond. During his first professional season (2004), he started in High-A and pitched at three levels. By mid-May of 2005, he had made his major league debut with San Diego. He pitched mostly in AAA in 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately, he had shoulder surgery and missed the entire 2008 season and almost half of the 2009 season. He returned to the Padres and made 14 starts that year. In 2010, he posted a 1.85 ERA, mostly out of the Padres bullpen. That led to his best seasons, 2011, when he made 31 starts. He went 9-12 with a 3.73 ERA in 185.2 innings. He was set to be the 2012 Opening Day starter, but instead he had surgery on his flexor tendon and made just one appearance all year. And that brings us to the 2013 season and he’s been a pretty solid bullpen performer the last two years. He combined to go 9-3 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. He’s also struck out 131 batters in 134 innings. What is he? Stauffer is a typical, standard, middle-of-the-road, back-of-a-rotation starting pitcher in terms of his stuff. He has a good mix of pitches. His average fastball sits between 90 and 91 mph, and he throws it a little over half the time. He has added a cutter in the mid-80s which helps him get a lot of ground balls. His change-up sits around 80 mph, so it’s a good velocity difference from the fastball. He also has a slow curveball in the low-70s that he doesn’t throw a ton. Parker went into great details on what Stauffer is and what he throws in December. Be sure to read that here. He needs to have very good control, and his career walks per nine average is at 3.0, which is really average. His career strikeout rate is 6.8 per nine, which again, is very average. In other words, if he were to be the Twins 5th starter, and last the whole year, he would probably be... OK. Stauffer Percentage The hope, if Stauffer were named fifth starter, would be that he could work 185 innings like he did in 2011. Well, that may not actually be the goal. Stauffer, or others mentioned in this fifth starter debate, would presumably be just a stop gap. The bigger goal may be to have Trevor May or Alex Meyer fully ready for the role before midseason. Stauffer would then fall back into the Anthony Swarzak role. He’d be capable of pitching in long relief or 7th inning situations. If I were to guess the odds that Tim Stauffer begins the season as the Twins fifth starter, I would probably put the odds at less than 1%. Previous 5th starter candidate stories: Mike Pelfrey Alex Meyer Click here to view the article

There are plenty of potential real reasons that it won't happen, but I personally think he'll be up.

I don't think Shooter Hunt is a good example just because Steve Blass Disease isn't even really about control, it's about so much more. Bullock is a good example. I always figure you can count on a pitcher's walk rate going up 15-20% as he moves up each level just because hitters are smarter about the strike zone. Just a rough number, but something.

I was curious, so I googled the article/blog I wrote at SethSpeaks.net when Joe Mauer Finally signed that long-term contract. I thought it would be fun to read again what my initial thoughts were, just about five years ago now. I think that it has played out as was or should have been expected... This is the reality of long-term deals. They are what they are.

Just to put some additional information in this thread for people to discuss: Year FanGraphs Dollars Value Mauer's Salary 2004 $ 3.7 M $0.325 M 2005 $ 11.4 M $ 0.325 M 2006 $ 23.1 M $0.4 M 2007 $ 12.7 M $ 3.75 M 2008 $ 26.5 M $ 6.25 M 2009 $ 34.4 M $ 10.5 M 2010 $ 20.8 M $ 12.5 M 2011 $ 6.0 M $ 23.0 M (knee injury) 2012 $ 21.0 M $ 23.0 M 2013 $ 25.6 M $ 23.0 M 2014 $ 10.4 M $ 23.0 M (late '13 concussion) Total $195.0 M $ 126.0 M

I like this ranking...

I'm assuming the Hoey stuff is a joke... it's weird to bring up, but some like bringing up negatives a lot. The two aren't really comparable in any way. Hoey threw 97. Burdi is consistently above that and has secondary pitches. This guy has some elite talent.

His slider between 89-91 is pretty devastating.

I'll go with Ricky Nolasco and Joe Mauer... Runners-up are Kyle Gibson and Oswaldo Arcia.

Heard him speak once at a banquet thingy in St. Paul. I think Mr. Bonnes was there too. He talked for about 45 minutes and had the crowd rolling, laughing hysterically most of that time. It was one of his first speaking gigs after recovering from the concussions. I've seen him around Target Field and in the clubhouse a couple of times. He's always got his boys and they're playing and active. It's great to see.

Paul Feiner doesn't really like to talk about it a lot, but he is the one pitcher who struck out Joe Mauer in high school. The Elk River alum struck out Mauer in a state tournament game in 2000. Sports Illustrated talked to him for this story. We've likely heard it before ,but it's still fun.

I don't know. If I lived semi-close to the Twin Cities, I'd be all over this. It isn't just for casual fans, but real Twins fans can get the same price. And then hang out at Target Field watching Major League baseball every Sunday afternoon! Well, when there was a home game, of course.

Definitely seems like a good guy, and has a great story. More important to the Twins, he seems like someone who will be able to relate to the the pitchers well. And, he's got a terrific track record of getting guys to the big leagues ready to go. Hopefully he can help the Twins pitchers.