Shane Wahl

Before jumping into 1990's class, I have to add in a player born in 1988 who I mistakenly skipped over. 50. Lester Oliveros, RHR, DOB: 5/28/88 AAA, but 2013 GCL: 6.1 IP, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks. Oliveros is making his way back from injury but is still a promising reliever. He should be off to AAA to start 2014 with a chance to make it again with the Twins soon. Now, getting on with it. There are 13 players born in 1990 who make it on my top 80 Twins prospects list. 1990 (13): 16. Danny Santana, SS/2B, SH, DOB: 11/7/90 2013 AA: 587 plate appearances, .297/.333/.386 (.719) (.712 career), 22 doubles, 10 triples, 2 homers, 24 walks, 94 strikeouts, 30 stolen bases, 13 times caught stealing Santana is still mistake-prone at shortstop but the Twins seem set on keeping him there. He went through some natural growing pains in 2013, but had quite similar numbers to his 2012 season in Fort Myers. The power is not there, but the stolen base total is climbing. Santana should begin 2014 with Rosario and Beresford in the Rochester middle infield. 36. Daniel Ortiz, OF, LH, DOB: 1/5/90 2013 AA: 521, .258/.301/.405 (.706) (.725), 27-4-12, 27-88, 1-4 Ortiz has a tendency to start out seasons very well and then get progressively worse as the season goes on. A great April was followed by consistent decline every month, with a bad August to wrap up the season. Ortiz is very much like Santana, but with some more pop, less contact, and a lot less speed. He might be served best by starting out in New Britain again for 2014 and then work to earn a promotion to Rochester. It is hard, at this point, to imagine Ortiz as anything but a fourth OF, but it will be interesting to watch his power numbers going forward. 3. Alex Meyer, RHS, DOB: 1/3/90 2013 GLC/AA (AA statistics): 70.0 innings pitched, 3.21 ERA, 10.8 K/9, 3.7 BB/9 (10.4/3.3 career) Meyer gave everyone a scare with an arm injury this year, but things are back on track and he is heading to the AFL to get some innings. Hopefully this will put him on a course for 150 or so innings next year. Meyer appears to be the real deal and it is exciting to see him now on the cusp of competing for a Twins rotation spot. Hopefully the Twins do not repeat the Kyle Gibson experience by not limiting Meyer's AAA innings early in the season. There is no reason that if Meyer dominates AAA that he shouldn't be called up to the Twins for 100 innings or so. 22. DJ Baxendale, RHS, DOB: 12/8/90 2013 A+/AA (combined stats): 150, 3.90, 112/33 (7.6/1.9) Baxendale was great for Fort Myers at the beginning of the season and a lot of people got very excited about his potential. This was tempered, somewhat, by his struggles at AA. He has good enough stuff to get his strikeout rate back to around his career level. Look for Baxendale to return to AA and hopefully push his way forward for a serious look in the AFL after next season. 19. Dalton Hicks, 1B, LH, DOB: 4/2/90 2013 A-/A+ (combined stats): 576, .289/.358/.468 (.826) (.824), 39-0-17, 56-123, 0-2 Hicks earned a promotion well into 2013 and did fairly well after the move. His 56 extra base hits are impressive and hopefully he can work on improving his BB/K rate with a return trip to Fort Myers to start 2014. I would expect Hicks to earn a promotion for the second year in a row at some point during the season. He is a solid all-around prospect who could soon make us forget about Chris Parmelee. 17. Kennys Vargas, 1B, SH, DOB: 8/2/90 2013 A+: 520, .267/.344/.468 (.813) (.861), 33-1-19, 50-105, 0-0 Vargas felt the effects of fatigue in his first season with more than 191 plate appearances. The power is there but dropped off considerably in the second half of the season. This is really not something to be too concerned about. Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario also left him for New Britain, so he lost some help in the lineup. He just turned 23, so the majority of his age-24 season will be in AA. 2014 might be telling for Vargas' future in the organization. 28. JD Williams, SH, LF/CF DOB: 11/20/90 2013 A-/A+ (combined stats): 486, .265/.372/.403 (.775) (.729), 17-6-9, 66-105, 26-13 Williams was looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2012 and he really did so in Cedar Rapids, posting an .852 OPS. His numbers really fell after his promotion to Fort Myers 2/3 of the way through the season. There is still quite a bit of promise and Williams is perhaps only second to Buxton in speed in the organization. Much of the drop at A+ came in slugging, so we will see if Williams can get that pop back and force a promotion about 2/3 of the way through 2014. 52. Jason Wheeler, LHS, DOB: 10/27/90 2013 A+: 143.1, 3.70, 91/58 (6.2/3.0) Wheeler walked more and struck out fewer in fewer innings at Fort Myers than his 2012 effort in Beloit. He has logged 300 innings in the past two seasons with a 3.57 ERA. I have to imagine he is heading back to Fort Myers to improve his K/BB rate in 2014. 72. Taylor Rogers, LHS, DOB: 12/17/90 2013 A-/A+ (A+ stats): 130.2, 2.55, 83/32 (7.4/2.3) 2013 was an impressive season for the lefty. His K rate fell dramatically but he really kept the ball in the ballpark, giving up only five homers in A+. It was a solid step forward for Rogers and some more time in Fort Myers could really help him develop further. 24. Tyler Duffey, RHS, DOB: 12/27/90 2013 A-/A+ (combined stats): 121, 3.64, 91/23 (7.6/1.6) Duffey was dominant for Cedar Rapids in the first half of the year. He went through a rough patch in Fort Myers, but that was to be expected. They moved him between the rotation and bullpen, but he still ended with a solid number of innings. He will start next season back in A+. 20. Zach Jones, RHR, DOB: 12/4/90 2013 A+: 48.2, 1.85, 70/28 (13.6/5.1) Jones is off to the AFL after a dominant performance out of the bullpen for Fort Myers. The strikeouts are huge. The walks are also huge, but that comes with the territory sometimes. Jones doesn't give up many hits at all so his WHIP remains low. Should be the closer for New Britain next year. 43. Corey Williams, LHR, DOB: 7/4/90 2013 A+/AA (A+ stats): 45.1, 5.16, 43/23 (9.3/4.7) Williams has stagnated on this list due to a subpar performance in 2013, though I am confident that he can make headway, even by being promoted to the AA bullpen at the beginning of 2014. The lefty had big trouble with the long ball this year, and when a pitcher also walks to many, it is a recipe for disaster. 2014 is an important year for Williams. 45. Luke Bard, RHR, DOB: 11/13/90 2013 GCL/ELZ/A+ (combined stats): 12.1, 3.65, 9/9 (7.4/7.4) Bard has been a disappointing injury case. Now, in 19.1 career innings, he has 16 strikeouts and 16 walks. He remains an interesting prospect but needs to remain healthy in 2014 or his stock will drop even more dramatically. There is the 1990 group. Careful observers will note the fact that J.T. Chargois is not listed. This isn't a mistake. He has thrown 16 professional innings and will be basically 24.5 years old by the time he even gets going again in the 2015 season. I am going to keep him off my list until he comes back.

Kazmir MLBTR estimate 2/16.

What, by playing Joe Mauer there so much this year? By ending Doumit's time behind the plate? Drew Butera is the worst offensive player in all of baseball and his defense is not longer "elite" by the way.

MLB Trade Rumors expects 3/39 for Jimenez, 2/24 for Arroyo, and 2/17 for Feldman. 5/65 for Jimenez seems to be pretty out there . . .

And yes, Doumit needs to go away. It amazes me that this is in dispute. Oh well.

Three million bucks isn't an issue for this team?

Plouffe needed the bases empty there to do anything worthwhile. So . . . a strikeout instead. A RIDICULOUS strikeout, actually.

That works.

Predicting a Dozier homer right now. Callin' it.

Like Pinto or Herrmann or Arcia or Hicks or Parmelee or Colabello? Right. Even aging Colabello is younger than Doumit and way less money would be spent on him. Money that could, you know, go towards starting pitching.

Fair enough. This entails keeping Pinto and/or Herrmann down OR keeping Arcia in the OF which has ramifications for Parmelee, Presley, and/or Hicks. I am not sure that the value POTENTIALLY gained is worth it.

Yeah, aside from just looking at Hendriks' performance, you have to have empathy for a guy who went through the system, was actually good-great throughout and then for whatever reason has faltered big time in the majors. Given other debacles on this staff, I am not willing to simply give Hendriks the blame here. And I do feel for the guy, as dumb as it sounds, for these big struggles. If you have listened to interviews with Seth, he knows the game well. And he WAS hitting 93-94 Monday night. I don't know. Clearly the Twins can shed some bullpen money (Burton) to then spend on starters, so Hendriks to the 'pen seems like a legit move.

I think the Twins are fine with Pinto and Herrmann sharing the majority of catching duties. Not a true platoon, of course, since Pinto's offensive upside is big. Cathing 100 games between the two of them, with offensive performance, makes Mauer shifting the majority of his time to first base quite palatable.

Please say more about this! Your input is so good and important around here.

It's more objectively true too, though Pinto is definitely an adequate defender at the least. And it appears that he wants to learn how to be better. I do find it odd how he ends up stretching a leg out while the pitch is being delivered. Perhaps more catchers should do that, however, to help their poor knees.

Cue the need for Brian Harper as assistant hitting coach.

I second this completely. All of your post is quite true.

That is correct, as Jeremy's page clearly indicates. Option him if need be and let him work out of the 'pen in Rochester. Seriously.

For that matter, Polanco is pretty much Rosario-esque in so many ways outside of OF capability. Look at Rosario's 2012 numbers at A- and Polanco's 2013 numbers there.

What of the SS position for the future with regard to Polanco? Seth, do you think that the Twins are just playing Santana and Goodrum at SS instead of Beresford and Polanco, respectively, because they know the latter two can play SS but they think the ceiling is higher for the first two and SS is in dire straights? I do think that Polanco is firmly above Goodrum at this point overall, so that question kinda doesn't make sense. But still, what gives? Is Santana really going to be a SS? If it doesn't work there for him, then he seems to be immediate trade material. Same for Polanco. I *really* like Polanco though. He is still very young and the bat has not only come around, but and thensome.

Also, in the Arcia thread I just asked a question about his OF defense in the minors. Do you have any insight on that? The question is about whether or not the indecisiveness and clumsiness (the Delmon factor) was common in the minors or if this MLB Arcia defense is different than his previous time out there. I like to know from people who have seen him . . .

Finally, I have said this before: there are two prospects in this organization who I think can straight up skip AAA if needed. Those two are Buxton and Sano. Other than that there is value in seeing AAA pitching since it is going to be different than AA pitching. It's like in The Sopranos: breaking balls once in awhile is a necessary thing. Seeing more breaking balls in AAA is a necessary thing . . .

Leave April out of the picture and doesn't the picture change with regard to Hicks? If that were his full season, wouldn't you not mind it so much as a rookie skipping a level?

I was being provocative in order to get a good response like this from you (and you in particular!). I understand completely. I also think that there is something amiss with Gardenhire and co. with regard to dealing with youth. Gardy seems to be weird about certain people and who knows what goes on behind the scenes with regard to that. That said, I like the homer power that even Hicks displayed through all the badness. Arcia, Colabello, and even Herrmann did that too. That's something to look at aside from overall performance.