Steve Lein

Sorry, but this is misleading. I've researched this before specifically for David Ortiz. While he does get plenty of "opposite field" hits, his power is significantly favored to his pull side. In 2013, 26 of Ortiz's 30 HR's were to the right side of dead center field (pull side). 16 of 23 in 2012. 19 of 29 in 2011. 27 of 32 in 2010. 19 of 28 in 2009. 19 of 23 in 2008... 27 of 35 in 2007. 45 of 54 in 2006... Definitely don't want Sano to pull everything (just like with pretty much any hitter), but I think it has been clearly demonstrated that Minnesota's "use the whole field" push with Ortiz was detrimental to his power development and antithesis to what made him successful in Boston. And Cabrera is great at this because he is also a great "hitter." I don't think we'll quite see that with Sano. So I say let him do whatever is needed for him to be successful in his own way, instead of trying to make him something he may not be, like they did with Ortiz.

1. Buxton - Tool Shed. 2. Sano - #PowerBanana 3. Meyer - Staff Ace. 4. Stewart - Phenom. 5. Rosario - Will hit enough to play wherever. 6. Berrios - Almost feel like this is too high on him for me at this point, but whatevs. 7. Kepler - I'm a big believer. 8. Polanco - Won't stick at SS, but guys who can hit find a spot, and I think he can. 9. Thorpe - Lefty in the 90's and growing? Sign me up. 10. Pinto - Should be a decent bat, but if he can't call a game... Just Missed: May, Santana, Turner, Gonsalves. And I would have Gibson (7), Hicks (8), and Arcia (4) all in this list if not graduated.

Haha, I feel like I've said the same exact thing around here about 10 times in the last week!

I've seen several guys say he'd be a 1st Round talent in this years draft. And Thorpe is already 6'2" 215 according to Baseball America, and still growing obviously. Hell, I was 6 foot tall as a senior in HS, am nearly 6'3" now. Wish I could pack on some pounds like he has though...

Just an FYI - Never trust the MLB.com's height/weight listings for prospect players. Thorpe has added significant weight from when he signed. Baseball America lists him at 6'2" 215 now, and he's gonna add even more.

I'm almost convinced he's going to end up on a Glen Perkins career path, ultimately ending up in the Bullpen. He'll certainly (hopefully) start games for the Twins, but I am convinced he will be a dominant reliever if he ends up there. Perkins averaged around 91 MPH with his fastball as a starter, and has averaged nearly 95 in relief. Same type of thing with Duensing. Applying this methodology gives May elite velocity in the 'pen. My only issue with the write-up is this statement: "Some have said if he can’t gain enough control, he could make a transition to the bullpen. That may be true, but I don’t know how many late-inning relievers are counted on if they can’t throw strikes in key situations." I love May's profile as a reliever, and hope it can work as a starter. There are examples of good relievers everywhere who have high walk rates, and I'm inclined to say his 4.0 BB/9IP is not an alarming rate in a reliever sense. It's still high, but if you're combining a walk rate near that with K-rate around 9.0+K/9IP, you'll find a lot of successful relievers in the Majors with those numbers. Many of whom who don't have the pure stuff May does. But the thinking is correct, there's no point in turning him into a reliever now.

rgvtwinstalk - I agree he might add even more. Though 6'2", 215 is already a large man and not even remotely "skinny" by any means! That's an extra 55 lbs from when he signed already, and quite a transformation if you look at pictures in a before and after fashion!

I asked Baseball America awhile back on how and/or why the Twins would add Max Kepler this year, and they took the time to answer. They may not answer your specific question (and they left some of my questions out), but I thought they gave an insightful answer into players in his situation. You can check it out here: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/ask-ba-2/

He last pitched on January 2nd, and his Melbourne team didn't make the playoff's (the championship is this weekend), so he's theoretically been resting for a month now. I would suspect, if they have plans to pitch him in Cedar Rapids this year, that he also doesn't start the year on their roster, but stays back in EST for a month or so. Not really any reasoning behind that other than they didn't move him up to E-Town at all in 2013, but it wouldn't surprise me.

From a velocity standpoint, yes. But it's also his fastball that can become very hittable (the whole height and no downward plane thing), that's my main comment about needing Radke's pinpoint command of all his pitches to be a front-line guy. It's his development in that area that will make or break him, not his stuff, is what I'm saying I guess.

I think Sano's spring with the big club will determine which roster he gets sent to. If he's doing well: AAA. If he has struggles: AA. But, despite the low-average at New Britain compared to Fort Myers, he still was punishing baseballs. Giancarlo Stanton had pretty much the same type of season in 2009 at A+ and AA, and came back to punish AA the next year, earning his callup and bypassing AAA entirely. I could see this scenario with Sano too, so if he's mashing, his promotion is going to be to the Twins no matter what level he starts at.

I'm a guy who loves talking prospects, so been reading all your entries. I just wanted to point out a few things you mention: On Lewis Thorpe: "Thorpe is young and continues to grow as he is 6’1 and a razor thin 160 pounds so he needs to get stronger." There is a lot of information out there about how Thorpe has added on significant weight since he signed, which resulted in his increased velocity and somewhat unexpected performance last year. Baseball America has him listed at 6'2" 215 lbs now, and I can say he's definitely not skinny anymore. On Alex Meyer: "However, once he gets to the majors a straight fastball will not be enough for him." The thing about Meyer's fastball, is it's NOT a straight fastball. It's not even a 2-seamer or a 4-seamer. He calls it a "No-seam Fastball" and has good arm-side run. -> http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/alex-meyer-progresses-impresses-in-arizona/ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120831&content_id=37671602&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

I'm a guy who loves talking prospects, so been reading all your entries. I just wanted to point out a few things you mention: On Lewis Thorpe: "Thorpe is young and continues to grow as he is 6’1 and a razor thin 160 pounds so he needs to get stronger." There is a lot of information out there about how Thorpe has added on significant weight since he signed, which resulted in his increased velocity and somewhat unexpected performance last year. Baseball America has him listed at 6'2" 215 lbs now, and I can say he's definitely not skinny anymore. On Alex Meyer: "However, once he gets to the majors a straight fastball will not be enough for him." The thing about Meyer's fastball, is it's NOT a straight fastball. It's not even a 2-seamer or a 4-seamer. He calls it a "No-seam Fastball" and has good arm-side run. -> http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/alex-meyer-progresses-impresses-in-arizona/ http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120831&content_id=37671602&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb

If Meyer fails, I think they will HAVE TO buy one... I like Berrios, but I'm not as big of believer in him as most around here. Think he could be a #3, but not a front-end guy like many are hoping for. His stuff has a whole lot of average in there, and he'll have to develop Radke-like pinpoint command of all his pitches to reach that. And this is more of a nitpick about how people talk about pitchers in a scouting sense, but don't believe the talk about him throwing mid-90's. He'll touch that, but sits around 91. I hate when people mention the top end number talking about a guy's velocity. Take Justin Verlander for example (and he actually does a good job of varying his velocity as part of how he pitches): we know he can touch 100, and that's what scouts mention when talking about his fastball. BUT, his average FB velocity last year was 93.3 MPH. So be wary of those velocity numbers that people throw out there, I don't think they actually represent what you will see from a guy. I think he's being overhyped right now. That doesn't mean I wouldn't put him in my own Top Ten (probably at 10) or believe he could live up to it, but it seems premature.

Man, I mean he must have one of the best gloves at SS in the minors if Keith Law places him at #11 on his Twins prospect list.

With those names I'd go Buxton, Hicks, Mauer, Sano, Arcia, whoever the DH is, Dozier, Rosario. But could flip around Rosario/Dozier/Hicks in pretty much any fashion. I think Sano is going to be your prototypical clean-up guy. He's not going to have the batting avg. (compared to Mauer) for the 3-spot, and Buxton/Hicks will score a ton of runs in front of them.

[h=4]Twins' Top 10[/h] [TABLE] Player, POS (Top 100 rank) [TR=class: last] 1. Byron Buxton, CF (1) [/TR] [TR=class: last] 2. Miguel Sano, 3B (8) [/TR] [TR=class: last] 3. Eddie Rosario, 2B/CF (49) [/TR] [TR=class: last] 4. Alex Meyer, RHP (62) [/TR] [TR=class: last] 5. Kohl Stewart, RHP (76) [/TR] [TR=class: last] 6. Jose Berrios, RHP [/TR] [TR=class: last] 7. Max Kepler, OF [/TR] [TR=class: last] 8. Josmil Pinto, C [/TR] [TR=class: last] 9. Lewis Thorpe, RHP [/TR] [TR=class: last] 10. Jorge Polanco, SS/2B[/TR] [/TABLE]

I follow it very closely, and he's not even a guy close to my radar...

I just thought this while reading his Organization top 10's: "Who is Engelb Vielma, and why does Law like him so much?!" That's one big surprise to me in his Twins notes.

Meyer: 9 (Need front-line pitching more than anything. See the teams/staff's led by Santana for the why) Sano: 9 (haven't had a Power-Hitting prospect like him since, ever?! Maybe Killebrew. The list of Twins hitters with 30+ HR in a season in the entire history of the franchise, is laughable) Buxton: 8 (There are plenty of OF-ers, none with his potential impact, but it wouldn't hurt the future potential of the franchise as much as the other 2) Stewart: 4 (too far away to really worry about this too much right now) Rosario: 4 (He's either a LF-er, which there are plenty of other guys for, or a 2B-man, and I like Dozier more than him there)

So outside of his injury riddled season, he expects Mauer to have his worst season ever after moving from catcher to 1B?! Count me in the corner of those who finds this laughable.

He didn't speak about a potential upside in the chat specifically, but did mention he could slip into the top 100. He is the #7 prospect on their list. On their Top 10 with scouting reports list though, they give the notes: "Some international scouts considered Thorpe the best prospect in years to emerge from Australia" and, "He projects as a mid-rotation starter."

There isn't really a "theme" to the chat, pretty much a line of individual discussions about several players, including many not in the top 10. Bullet points: Thinks Twins could have 7 players in the Top 100. Rates Adam walker as #17 (a placement I agree with, he shouldn't be near or in top 10, needs to work on a lot of his game. He's a 1-trick pony at this point) Would put Sean Gilmartin around #15 Eddie Rosario still fits better in the OF (he's not a CF-er though, but not like the Twins need that anyway) Will take a similar year to last season for Buxton to see the Twins in September. On Alex Meyer (my favorite quote from the chat): "I’m not sure when exactly the Twins will make their return to the postseason, but whenever that happens I fully expect Alex Meyer to start the opening game." Pinto is not in the top 10 because of his age and lack of pedigree (also a ranking I agree with, as I'd have a hard time fitting him in the top 10 even though he could be a solid player, and plays catcher). Still needs work. Has a good arm, but is lacking in the other aspects of the position. Pinto also doesn't appear on the top 15 players under 25 list, but he does say he'd be #16 there. Later says Pinto would be #14 on the normal top prospect ranking ladder. Was asked about a Sano to 1B, Mauer to 3B flip-flop in the future, his response: "Let’s see how things go for both Mauer and Sano this year. But starting in 2015? A corner flip wouldn’t surprise me one bit." (I don't think that's to say it's likely to happen) The Twins love Fernando Romero, his words: "Twins are VERY high on Romero. He has the potential for three plus pitches, and his fastball, which touches 97, is already a 7 on the scouting scale. He just turned 19, which only adds to the upside" Hard to project starting rotations at low-levels, the Twins have been stockpiling solid arms for those levels. Several "big" names may stay back at EST. Max Kepler would be #11. Obviously there is much more information than that discussed, and I highly recommend people get the subscription to Baseball America to read it and everything else they have to offer.

Because, as I posted earlier, I'm not basing my thoughts on him strictly by the stats he's put up. It's the old 'Scout' vs. 'Stats' argument, haha! I understand your thoughts, I just think they've taken it slow with him. I know he's young and has had injuries, but the 'young' part is based solely on the fact he was signed at 16 years old. He's been in the system just as long as Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, for example. And now that he's had to be protected on the 40-man, it becomes imperative that the Twins push him in to see if he can swim, otherwise they'll never even get the opportunity to use him if and when he were to make it to the majors, because those options will already be used up by then.

That's fair, and a thought I'm sure many share with you. But I outlined prior why I believe he didn't need a second trip through that league. But I'm glad you brought up the K-rate, I've always cited that and his IsoD as reasons for optimism with him. And he's not a Center Fielder, hasn't been for a few seasons now. Even though he's played it some both of the past few seasons, you could see he grew out of it 2 years ago.