Shane Wahl

Dug up my old blog post from last year where I wrote about SOLARTE, not Ortiz or LeCroy!: "In the 2011 season, the New Britain Rock Cats featured a dynamic lineup for the second half of the season which consisted primarily of Brian Dozier (SS), Chris Herrmann (C/LF), Chris Parmelee (1B/RF), Joe Benson (CF), and Yangervis Solarte (2B/LF). None of these five would see any AAA time in 2011 and only Parmelee and Benson saw September action with the Twins. After the season, the Twins committed to Brian Dozier going forward and Yangervis Solarte left as a minor league free agent, signing with the Texas organization. Here I would like to compare Dozier with Solarte. First they are physically similar, being 5'11" and about 190 pounds. They are both now in their age 26 seasons, with Solarte actually being almost two months younger than Dozier. Solarte is a switch-hitter who has played most of his time at second base but has seen some time in left field, at third base, and at shortstop. In that 2011 season, Solarte found his groove and posted a .329/.367/.466 (.834) line with 36 doubles, 3 triples, and 7 homers. He didn't walk (24) or strike out (38) much. Dozier was stellar for New Britain, posting a .318/.384/.502 (.885) line in about 2/3 of the season. Since that time, Dozier has found himself with the Twins for what amounts to close to a full season now with a demotion to AAA in 2012 where he struggled. Dozier is the primary second baseman for the Twins, almost by default, though his defense there has been great. Solarte has been in AAA for the Rangers organization ever since and is doing well this year in particular. His slash is .296/.337/.440 (.777) and has 12 doubles and 8 homers. He has been a super utility player, playing the three skilled infield positions and left field while posting decent numbers at all of those positions defensively. While Dozier has been handed a job, Solarte has the great misfortune of being in an organization with Elvis Andrus, Jurickson Profar, Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, and Mike Olt. Solarte has performed well in AAA and looks projectable for the majors, but is extremely blocked. Meanwhile, Bran Dozier's career is hanging almost exclusively on a combination of his defensive abilities at second base and the fact that there is no one better, somehow, to take his position. If only the Twins had sweetened the deal for Solarte either by showing commitment to him with either a AAA promotion in 2011 or a September call-up, or by offering more money to stick around and re-sign with the organization. It looks like it would have served both Solarte and the Twins well."

The animosity towards Pedro Florimon, the best defensive shortstop the Twins have had in a very long time and one of the top 5 defensive shortstops in all of baseball, is interesting. There have been seven games, and he should have been DLed due to not being ready after his appendectomy in the first place. Nunez's glove is well-known to be abominable. I give him a chance to utility it up in Rochester for awhile and see if he really is better than Beresford and Santana (clearly Bartlett will be sent down or he will opt to, like, retire or something).

I don't think it is all that premature. To me adding Nunez is a little weird given Romero-Santana-Beresford. All three of them, I think, might actually provide more overall value than Nunez!

Here is my updated prospect list given the recent trade, releases, and injuries. This will be the last time Josmil Pinto appears on my prospect list. In two years he has moved from 50 to 5. This is yet another justification for building out long prospect lists like this. 1. Byron Buxton 2. Miguel Sano 3. Alex Meyer 4. Kohl Stewart 5. Josmil Pinto 6. J.O. Berrios 7. Eddie Rosario 8. Jorge Polanco 9. Stephen Gonsalves 10. Max Kepler 11. Trevor May 12. Lewis Thorpe 13. Adam Walker 14. Travis Harrison 15. Jorge Felix 16. Danny Santana 17. Kennys Vargas 18. Michael Tonkin 19. Dalton Hicks 20. Zach Jones 21. Sean Gilmartin 22. D.J. Baxendale 23. Niko Goodrum 24. Randy Rosario 25. J.D. Williams 26. A.J. Achter 27. Yorman Landa 28. Tyler Duffey 29. Tyler Jones 30. Aderlin Mejia 31. Adrian Salcedo 32. James Beresford 33. Matt Summers 34. Amaryus Minier 35. Nate Roberts 36. Danny Ortiz 37. Deibinson Romero 38. Levi Michael 39. Fernando Romero 40. Ryan Eades 41. Lester Oliveros 42. Alex Wimmers 43. Mason Melotakis 44. Luke Bard 45. Logan Darnell 46. Brett Lee 47. Jason Wheeler 48. Edgar Ibarra 49. Dan Rohlfing 50. Kyle Knudson 51. Cole Johnson 52. Nelvin Fuentes 53. Brian Navaretto 54. Zach Larson 55. Mike Kvasnicka 56. Stuart Turner 57. Matt Koch 58. Aaron Slegers 59. Taylor Rogers 60. Steven Gruver 61. J.T. Chargois 62. Kuo Hua Lo 63. Tyler Grimes 64. Lewin Diaz 65. Hudson Boyd Honorable mention: Chih-Wei Hu, Brandon Peterson, Josh Burris, Jorge Fernandez, Madison Boer

I will say that I honestly think that overall Eduardo Escobar and even James Beresford are likely just as good if not better. Certainly both are leaps and bounds better defensively.

Name: Daniel Ortiz Position: OF Hand: Left Height: 5'11" Weight: 175 DOB: January 5, 1990 POB: Caguas, Puerto Rico Shane's Prospect Rank: 36 2014 start: New Britain 2013 statistics (New Britain): 521 plate appearances, .258/.301/.405 (.706), 27 doubles, 4 triples, 12 homers, 27 walks, 88 strikeouts, 1 steal, 4 times caught stealing. Ortiz has always really been a fringe mid-tier prospect. After a very strong start in 2013, Ortiz really cooled off and ended up with only a .706 OPS. In 2012, his numbers alternating hot and cool months, but last year he just fell off consistently each month. The thing is that he is still a decent hitter and he plays all three OF positions. He has the clear LH/RH split, so it is easy to see Ortiz destined to be a 4th OF. Given the Twins history with this, however, one wonders if Ortiz isn't following the Evan Bigley path as the Twins continue to waste time bringing in OF filler to AAA. I think Ortiz has the potential to be a very good 4th OF option, and at 24, there is no guarantee that his ceiling couldn't be higher.

It's hardly debatable, barring a complete collapse.

Put it this way, he's better than Bartlett at the plate. He also is terrible in the field.

I agree with you. It's weird. The vilified offense (irrationally vilified) has produced like crazy and the complaining can't end. Anyway, one would think that those who dislike Florimon so much for his bat would like Herrmann being on the roster (and ultimately instead of Bartlett) because it can free up Pinto to pinch hit.

Herrmann's minor league time in the outfield absolutely shows him to be an above average-to-good corner OF, and he likely really could fill in in an emergency in CF. This gives them more options with Pinto right now, and that is good. I would imagine tomorrow's lineup to be: Dozier, 2B Mauer, 1B Colabello, DH Plouffe, 3B Pinto, C Kubel, RF Hicks, CF Herrmann, LF Florimon, SS

I can update on now non-true-prospect Chris Herrmann too.

Cedar Rapids has almost zero real offensive prospects playing right now.

No way. Bartlett shouldn't even be on the roster, much less starting!

That little RF in Fenway is nice like that. Still doesn't mean he couldn't have been pretty great, I suppose. Potentially some managerial issues as well?

I do think that Chris Herrmann should be up instead of Bartlett in order for Pinto to get more ABs. Other than that, I have no complaints.

Hell, guess who else plays for Jacksonville . . . Nick Wittgren! Be careful what you wish for, Jokin. Be careful what you wish for.

He has been both extremes. He has smacked the ball pretty hard at times but also has some bad strikeouts.

Likely correct, though I hope they have Saturday games on the network at least some of the time going forward, especially given the MLB.tv blackout Saturday's that otherwise all but eliminates my Twins viewing (Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Cardinals, and Tigers get first dibs here in Northwest Indiana).

I think they are just as irrelevant. And I wasn't joking about the cold and Arcia. I also think that nothing is keeping Gardy from putting Colabello in the lineup right now.

Good stuff, here. I get queasy when human "worth" is reduced to $$. I think Glunn dominated in #124, and Mr. Brooks's points 4 and 5 in #139 did too. Beyond that, it is likely in my best TD-infraction interest to stay the hell away from some of these comments.

He also clearly has issues with the cold . . .

Name: J.D. (JaDamion) Williams Position: OF Hand: Switch Height: 5'11" Weight: 183 DOB: November 20, 1990 POB: Odessa, Florida Shane's prospect ranking: 24 2014 start: Fort Myers (DL) 2013 statistics (Cedar Rapids/Fort Myers): 486 plate appearances, .265/.372/.403 (.775), 17 doubles, 6 triples, 9 homers, 26 steals, 13 times caught stealing, 66 walks, 105 strikeouts. Williams obviously dominated Cedar Rapids and struggled in Fort Myers, but given how repeating A ball in 2013 worked, I am confident that Williams will figure out the FSL. I like the approach with Williams, and wish the Twins would do it more often . . . promote a guy 2/3 of the way through the season so he gets a taste of the next level before starting the next season there. Williams is a speedster who can play all three OF positions. He also really loves to play baseball and he has that Revere-esque smile. Fortunately, he can actually hit for some power. He starts on the DL in a Fort Myers OF featuring Buxton, Kepler, and Walker. If he can continue to handle the bat, Williams provides another long-term OF option. I would certainly like to see at least one Twins game in a few years with a Williams-Buxton-Hicks OF.

Exactly. We know so little about these players' lives (especially those from Latin America) that it could be just about anything.

Name: Aderlin Mejia Position: SS/IF Hand: Switch Height: 5'11" Weight: 170 DOB: May 12, 1992 POB: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Shane's prospect ranking: 30 2014 start: New Britain 2013 statistics (Fort Myers): 328 plate appearances, .308/.359/.349 (.708), 10 doubles, 1 triple, 0 homers, 14 steals, 10 times caught stealing, 26 walks, 30 strikeouts, .973 fielding % at SS. Mejia played 50 games at SS, 13 at 2B, 8 in LF, 1 at 3B, and 1 in RF in 2013. Mejia is a great story. In August 2012, he wrapped up his GCL season and stuck around Fort Myers. When the Miracle needed a player the end of 2012, Mejia was the right guy in the right place. He then stuck on after EST in Fort Myers last year and performed very well until tiring at the end of the season. Now, it is 2014 and Mejia will get his first real full season of pro ball in AA, of all places. It seems that Mejia is pretty skilled defensively. He is also a slap hitter with very good plate discipline. Currently, there is no slugging occurring, though he did show doubles power early in 2012. His story is pretty unusual and it will be interesting to see how this season plays out. If he holds his own at AA at 22, the Twins may have another mid-tier prospect in the middle infield, and one who appears to be able to play SS well.

Danny Ortiz.