Shane Wahl

While I think it is silly to say that any one player is "most key" for a team, I think it is true about Nolasco when it comes to how the pitching shapes up. I fully expect Hughes and Santana to be good-to-very good and Gibson to be above average. Nolasco pulling it together and having even an average season for him would mean a lot.

Twins fans and the organization itself get too worried about high walk rates for gas throwing pitchers and high strikeout rates for power hitters. Full stop.

I think he should be in the Twins bullpen to open the season, then sent to stretch out in Rochester for a bit, and be up starting for the Twins the entire second half of the season.

It is so greatly improved from before that I don't really care. I do get curious about things like number of comments and views, so sorting by those things might be interesting. Oh . . . and there is the whole issue about getting blog posts promoted to become articles. Ahem . . .

Has Lewis Thorpe not been mentioned in the discussion? How!? His health is crucial right now. If he overcomes this injury without losing a season, he instantly becomes a top 5-7 prospect.

The truth is that very few organizations would have a Meyer and not put him in the starting rotation to start 2015.

These guys are probably 5-9 for most teams.

Pedro Guerra seemed like a good prospect. Also, I did start ranking Pinto after 2011, though I don't think it was public at that point.

Kepler without this last AFL showing is probably ranked lower. He has shown that he can hit and be an overall threat offensively. It's just a slightly different timetable.

Thanks. There is a lot of misinformation out there about this. I don't remember any talk about this at the end of 2013 when they were added.

I think Gonsalves has his fastball and a changeup already. Maybe I am wrong.

Also, if Pelfrey makes the team as anything other than a reliever, I will be shocked. And disgusted. It's unfathomable to me that he is a 20% contender for the fifth spot. I mean, good lord. Even before adding Santana, that seemed ridiculous. Now? Wow. It will be terrible if Pelfrey outperforms May and Milone in ST and the Twins roll with that.

That bullpen is crowded after adding Stauffer and Graham, while keeping in mind Pressly as well. I would absolutely like May to be the fifth starter, Milone to be traded, and Meyer to start in the bullpen for awhile. I don't think it will work out that way, though.

Rogers dwarfs the likes of DeVries. And I wasn't initially high on Rogers at all. He still might end up being an improved Brian Duensing, but whatever. I hope they push Walker to AA. Angel Morales stagnated big time in Fort Myers and the Twins waited too long to push him through to see if he could adjust and move on well. Gonsalves is going to be legitimate. Ironing out a third pitch is not a huge issue for where he is at right now. Seth: I don't think a lot of people understand the option situation for Kepler, so tell us that again. It was only clear in the Prospect Handbook. I had never seen that information before.

I want to compile a prospect list of all the various top 30 or whatever lists around (not the national ones, but the TD one, Jeremy's, Cody's, Thrylos', mine, and Gleeman if he gets that done soonish.

Well the 3 spot being the "best hitter" is just old adage gibberish now. The best three batters, overall, should be 1,2, and 4 with your 3 and 5 spots devoted to power guys. I think Dozier there against lefties is pretty solid.

He is the focal point for the resurgence of the Twins. He has 5 seasons of good productivity left, at least. He has consistently been an on base machine.

Mauer is easily going to bounce back with a .315/.405/.430 line. The concussion was an issue. And he just had one of those years. Players come back all the time with years of success after bad years. Let's just hope it's Santana-Mauer-Arcia vs. righties and Santana-Mauer-Dozier vs. lefties. Mauer remains as an almost prototypical no. 2 batter.

Nater, I agree with you. Thorpe is definitely at the top of my must-follow list with regard to his injury. It is a tough position to be in for the organization. He is young enough that it might really just heal fine and there are no real worries. On the other hand, maybe surgery should have just been done in October last year so that he is ready to start 2016? He is really, really young. I would definitely like to hear updates on this. He has Buxton-like potential in terms of changing the organization. If there were no injury concerns, I would have him no. 4 on this list, without a doubt.

I have Diaz at 11 here. I kept Jorge Fernandez off as a breakout player in my HMs. Because . . . well no real reason. I still like those four guys you mention at the end. At a certain point here I think one needs to just have guys who can play in the majors and that is why Beresford remains. I have a special spot for Williams, obviously. He can hit like crazy, but is so up and down. I am thinking 2015 is an up year for him and he moves up to AA after the AA-AAA or MLB promotions happen. With regard to Chattanooga, yes, it is loaded and congested. But keep in mind that the Twins clearly value AA time over AAA time. I don't see Rosario doing anything other than Chattanooga right now. Anyway, I do think that Dalton Hicks and Aderlin Mejia can be initial bench players, but worked in via a smart rotation of players. I am a fan of a rotation of players at all levels, actually. Off days are helpful. I wish there could be a study of this (for instance, Cal Ripken Jr. was great, but dear lord and a half if he only had some rest in there . . . ). Hicks and Mejia will get there time in the lineup. I guess Michael Gonzales would be on this team as well, especially since the Twins bothered with Brock Peterson (really?). I always liked Gonzales and maybe they should just send him to AAA. The guy still has a career .800 OPS in 2155 plate appearances. The signing of Brock Peterson has to just make him sick. I don't understand such a signing. Give your guys some hope and stop ramming players into AAA to bury marginal prospects out of the damn margins completely. I just despise that kind of management. Wow. Anyway, Diaz could fly up the list. I do think that one year from now Minier and Diaz are going to be with Gordon, Stewart, Thorpe, and Gonsalves near the top of the prospect list for the Twins in nationwide lists. Those two will keep the Twins up at the top of those rankings for awhile.

The White Sox are winning the division in 2015.

That is a good question. The bullpen is stocked with Burdi, Z. Jones, Peterson, Salcedo, and Van Steensel. Berrios is the no. 1. Brett Lee should be the no. 2 (let's see how that plays out). It's possible that the Twins push Alex Wimmers and Matt Summers back into the starting role. After that. who knows?

Thank you.

I agree with your incredulity with respect to Turner and Minier, and to some degree about Duffey. I do think that Duffey is a top 25 guy, though. That said, I really want the Twins to involve Duffey and Travis Harrison in some kind of trade.

And I am odd about catcher bats until AA. I still have Turner as the top-rated catching prospect of course. I also like the idea of Berrios-Turner working really extensively together. Of course, the idea of trading Suzuki is immensely appealing. They should have just paid him more money for one more year so he would be easier to trade. I am really not a huge fan of the guy. The bat explosion (for him) was remarkable, but that defense is still overrated. I have been wrong about Turner (and Taylor Rogers, but not Eades!). I do like a lot of Chattanooga time for him though.