Shane Wahl

Am I going to be that guy who says that he would put Mauer instead of Oliva . . .

Meyer, May, O'Rourke, and Rogers might be a pretty viable foursome to put in front of Perkins in the playoffs for 7th-8th situations. And with the usage for all four this year, I think they will all have some left in their arms, unlike Boyer and company.

It's Berrios and Polanco. Then Kepler and Walker. Then . . . I honestly like Brandon Peterson to emerge past Burdi (already) and Reed (essentially has already) as a lights out setup man. Polanco should be starting at SS after the All-Star break.

The natural Hicks timeline was basically always projecting out to 2015 as his solid MLB season (2013 AA/AAA, 2014 AAA/MLB).

Also, as the season goes on, Dozier is probably going to need some time to rest too. Rosario as the backup second baseman 3-4 games the rest of the year (coming into 2015, TR or Antony has indicated that Rosario would get 2B time in the minors, so it isn't out of the question).

Buxton and Arcia up for Robinson and Santana (even though maybe Danny is slowly getting the kinks out of his bat? In which case, Nunez . . .) is pretty obvious. Rosario-Buxton-Hicks-Mauer-Plouffe-Sano-Arcia: 7 legit MLB players for six starting spots. You want to win in 2015 right now? Best bet, by far. You want to develop for 2016 and beyond? Best bet, by far. Edit: clearly Torii is involved here too, though in a smaller and smaller role.

Rogers and Milone don't belong in the same sentence when it comes to actual stuff though. Wimmers has a higher ceiling still than Baxendale. I don't care about Wimmers' age as much here. Maybe I am just a bit too low on Baxendale. I have to assume that they will get Cody signed, right? Or else that is even freaking worse for Deron Johnson. I think you are right about his ineptness.

Have to see a full season or close to that. I don't know if he is even going to be sent to Florida this year at all.

Well he is a bit old. And LOOGY's are never really going to be high on such lists, even though they can be effective on MLB rosters.

I am willing to give Meyer 2016 to still be a great prospect (not elite anymore). Stewart is fine, but the lack of strikeouts points to an actual problem.

Just bizarre comments. Bizarre.

Reposting from my blog. No one reads the blogs anyway unless they magically become articles, so here goes. Hopefully the formatting carries over . . . It is time to re-evaluate the top pitching prospects in the Twins system. Trevor May graduated, and the 2015 draft brought in three fresh pitchers to this list. 1. Jose Berrios (1): RHS, 5-27-94 2015 status: Strong improvement over 2014 AA numbers. Promoted to AAA. ETA: essentially MLB ready now. 2. Tyler Jay (NR): LHR, 4-19-94 2015 status: Sent to Fort Myers to the bullpen, likely for the remainder of 2015. Starting ability in question. ETA: 2017 3. Stephen Gonsalves (5): LHS, 7-8-94 2015 status: Totally dominated A ball, hitting a learning curve in A+ ball, but it should only be a matter of time. Perhaps A+/AA split in 2016. ETA: 2018 4. Alex Meyer (2): RHS, 1-3-90 2015 status: Struggled in AAA as a starter, converted to reliever temporarily, promoted to Twins as such, optioned back to AAA. Maybe he works on a few things and is back relieving for a playoff Twins team. Otherwise, they have to move him back to try starting one more time. ETA: should be back in 2015. 5. Taylor Rogers (9): LHS, 12-17-90 2015 status: Strong AAA time, replicating his AA numbers from 2014. I would like to see a playoff push involving Rogers as a lights out LOOGY. ETA: 2015 as a reliever, 2016 as a starter. 6. Chih-Wei Hu (15): RHS, 11-4-93 2015 status: Hu has finally given up some home runs, but that is about all that has changed from his excellent production in 2013 and 2014. He is an 8.6 K/9, 2.2 BB/9 kind of guy. It will be interesting to see how they manage his innings for the rest of the season, since I doubt that he is going to be top 110 innings or so and he is at 66.2 right now. ETA: 2017. 7. Kohl Stewart (3): RHS, 10-7-94 2015 status: A mediocre strikeout rate has actually fallen sharply in 2015. There is a lot of hand-waving about it as though it doesn't matter, but I think some caution is warranted here. Clearly, Stewart will be in Fort Myers again in 2016. ETA: 2018. 8. Tyler Duffey (10): RHS, 12-27-90 2015 status: Like Hu, Duffey is producing at his current level with very similar numbers as his overall minor league career numbers, and that is telling. He has been excellent this year, and I almost placed him ahead of Stewart. ETA: 2016. 9. Lewis Thorpe (7): LHS, 11-23-95 2015 status: The Twins and Thorpe decided to not have Tommy John surgery last September and this amounted to long delay of the inevitable,as Thorpe's April surgery will mean that he is out until at least mid-season 2016. He will only be about 20 and a half when he returns in 2016 (I would assume GCL/Fort Myers) so his status is still top-10 worthy. ETA: 2019 with level/year development. 10. Brandon Peterson (13): RHR, 9-23-91 2015 status: Peterson did not get the attention that Nick Burdi and Jake Reed did after last season. Then the Twins kept him down in Fort Myers for some inexplicable reason. Now, he is up in Chattanooga and he has not missed a beat at all. The 13 K/9 coupled with an acceptable 3.3 BB/9 makes him an elite reliever prospect. ETA: 2016. 11. Zach Jones (12): RHR, 12-4-90 2015 status: Jones was dominant until his last two appearances and is now on the DL. When he gets healthy, the Twins should consider promoting him to AAA. ETA: 2015 or 2016. 12. Nick Burdi (4): RHR, 1-19-93 2015 status: Things started poorly, got significantly better for a little bit, then went so poorly that the Twins actually just demoted Burdi back to Fort Myers, in a move that is rather perplexing, even with his bad performance. His mechanics have been altered significantly, and this might be the problem. ETA: 2017. 13. Jake Reed (8): RHR, 9-29-92 2015 status: Like Burdi, the stock is falling here for Jake Reed. He has struggled in AA and should remain there well into next season. ETA: 2016 only if all goes well. 14. Kyle Cody (NR): RHS, 8-9-95 2015 status: Still unsigned, for whatever reason. I am personally not very enthused with this draft pick. ETA: 2019 15. Felix Jorge (20): RHS, 1-2-94 2015 status: He's back and pitching very well. The strikeout rate has dropped, but so has the walk rate. He is also not giving up very many hits. I think he likely moves to A+ when the Twins move Hu to AA. ETA: 2018. 16. JT Chargois (HM): RHR, 12-3-90 2015 status: Chargois is back after not pitching in 2013 or 2014. He is doing very well, though his control is an issue. It was rather shocking how he dominated A+ ball though, and he is up to AA. ETA: 2016 if he remains healthy. 17. Alex Robinson (NR): LHR, 8-11-94 2015 status: After being drafted in the fifth round, he headed off to the Elizabethon bullpen. ETA: 2019. 18. Michael Cederoth (11): RHP, 11-25-92 2015 status: He has struggled a bit in A ball this year, walking a lot of guys as a starter. He moved to the bullpen and has been excellent. I imagine he stays there. ETA: 2018. 19. Mat Batts (HM): LHS, 7-6-91 2015 status: After a very strong start to the 2015 season in Cedar Rapids, Batts was promoted to Fort Myers where he continues to be fantastic. ETA: 2018. 20. Cameron Booser (24): LHR, 5-4-92 2015 status: Strong for Cedar Rapids, but he is walking an awful lot of guys. He strikes out a ton too, though. ETA: 2018. 21. Trevor Hildenberger (NR): RHR, 12-15-90 2015 status: Hildenberger has been out of control dominant for Cedar Rapids. It isn't clear why he is not in Fort Myers by now. ETA: 2017, if the Twins are at all serious about him. 22. Aaron Slegers (HM): RHS, 9-4-92 2015 status: Slegers is a solid starting pitching prospect who might continue to climb the prospect rankings, but shouldn't fall far. Very good K/BB rate. ETA: 2018. 23. John Curtiss (14): RHS, 4-5-93 2015 status: I was too high on Curtiss going into the season. He has been hit pretty hard in A ball this year. The strikeouts are still there, but it is going to be a slow ascent in the system. ETA: 2019. 24. Alexis Tapia (NR): RHS, 8-10-95 2015 status: Very young, but with good strikeout and walk numbers. Could climb fast. ETA 2019. 25. Alex Wimmers (NR): RHS, 11-1-88 2015 status: It is fantastic that Wimmers has gotten back into the swing of things. That he is starting again and striking people out is a testament to his perseverance. ETA: 2016 if the Twins are aggressive. 26. Randy Rosario (22): LHS, 5-18-94 2015 status: Hopefully, a healthy Rosario can get on track and return to showing the promise of his pre-2014 career. ETA: 2019. 27. Todd Van Steensel (HM): RHR, 1-14-91 2015 status: Van Steensel is a strikeout machine for Fort Myers. Undoubtedly, he will finish the year in AA if some of the pitchers in AA and AAA get promotions. ETA: 2016. 28. Ryan O'Rourke (25): LHR, 4-30-88 2015 status: O'Rourke has just been promoted to the Twins. He has been hit hard by right-handed hitters this year again, but the strikeout numbers against lefties are astounding. He could make it as a dominant LOOGY. A Twins playoff bullpen with Rogers and O'Rourke would negate left-handed hitters in the late innings. ETA: right now. 29. Luke Bard (NR): RHR, 11-13-90 2015 status: Bard is back healthy and looks to get his career on track. I am placing him above some honorable mentions here because he was the 42nd pick in the 2012 draft. ETA: 2017 if he stays healthy and the Twins are aggressive with him in 2016. 30. DJ Baxendale (NR), RHS, 12-8-90 2015 status: Shows what I know. I thought Baxendale was a slightly better version of BJ Hermsen after his bad 2014 in AA. He returned there and has been solid. He just needs to stay healthy and fine-tune things and he could be another starting option in 2016. ETA: 2016. Honorable Mentions: Yorman Landa, Ryan Eades, Kuo-Hua Lo, Mason Melotakis, Corey Williams, Alex Muren, Fernando Romero, Jason Wheeler, Brett Lee, Adrian Salcedo, Tim Shibuya, Matt Summers This is an extensive list, ending with a lot of "C" prospects who could still develop and move up this list. I tend to value progress up into the higher levels of the minors a bit more than ceiling, until high-ceiling pitchers actually get to A+ ball and succeed. Breaking this down by ETA: 2015: 1. Berrios. 4. Meyer. 5. Rogers. 11. Jones. 28. O'Rourke. (3 SP, 2 RP) 2016: 8. Duffey. 10. Peterson. 13. Reed. 16. Chargois. 25. Wimmers. 27. Van Steensel. 30. Baxendale. (3 SP, 4 RP) 2017: 2. Jay. 6. Hu. 12. Burdi. 21. Hildenberger. 29. Bard. (2 SP, 3 RP) 2018: 3. Gonsalves. 7. Stewart. 15. Jorge. 18. Cederoth. 19. Batts. 20. Booser. 22. Slegers. (5 SP, 2 RP) 2019: 9. Thorpe. 14. Cody. 17. Robinson. 23. Curtiss. 24. Tapia. 26. Rosario. (4 SP, 2 RP) Not all thirty (42) are going to actually arrive in the show, but each one of these guys could realize his potential and get there someday, with some team. There is also adequate depth, clearly, to trade from as the Twins become serious contenders in 2016 and beyond.

Screw it, I am going to just post this in the forums too.

Other than injury or suspension issues relating to one month+ quiet threads, I think I will go through and update those threads that haven't had an update since June 10. Maybe I will get around to opening up a few new ones too.

The last 28 days have been ugly. 14 strikeouts in 12 innings, but also 13 walks. He is going to have to figure that problem out before he gets promoted, I think.

Continues to be a struggle for Granite (though this is true of everyone, pretty much, on the Fort Myers roster this year). Seems to be handling CF well, though. He still is two months from 23, so no worries here yet.

You know, I would have started Peterson in AA anyway, and he probably would be in AAA by now. And, then, who knows? He could have been a Twin after the All-Star break in that world.

That will happen. Give it another week and things will turn around for him again.

I am in the minority here who would just turn it over to Polanco and let him improve his defense. Santana can take over Escobar's role.

Ok, I think I see the above then . . . Yes, you are right. This is clear. There is room on a good team to *have good players fill the roster* or at least 23/25 of one if you want one position player like a backup catcher or a speed/defense only guy, and then one mop up/long relief guy. A bench of Fryer, Nunez, Santana/Escobar, and Robinson is just horrific.

See this is why there needs to be some kind of sarcasm meter on posts. Because I just don't know.

I would trade Eduardo Escobar for Benoit in a heartbeat if the Twins are really contending in 20 days. Keep in mind that if a better than Benoit option comes around for the same price, that would clearly be better.

If you guys can find a better trade candidate than Benoit for some redundant Twins player(s) then go ahead. I know that Casey Fien looks done and I don't know if I will ever trust that Boyer's next appearance won't be the one that turns that all south . . . and then there is Graham, who is actually still a mystery given pretty consistent low-leverage usage.

No it doesn't address Benoit, but it addresses the overall goal they have at the damn deadline!

There are weird things being said around here lately. Escobar has very limited value. His bat is only acceptable because he can play 4 positions, some of them above average.