Tom Froemming

I think this is an area of strength. Not many teams have this kind of depth at the position. I'm a big fan of Mitch Garver, but if it was up to me I'd send him to Rochester to start the year. He's been working hard on his framing, a big area in need of improvement. If he's only going to catch half the time or less with the Twins, send him down and get those good habits cemented with a nice stretch of regular playing time with the Red Wings. At the same time, that gives you some more opportunity to evaluate where Castro is at and just what the heck you have in Astudillo.

Just to add to what Parker said, the Astros also traded for Aledmys Diaz this offseason. He's both cheaper and a better shortstop than Marwin, making him a bit more of a natural fit for that super sub role. Diaz is a pretty solid hitter, too (109 career OPS+). Jose Altuve is going to start collecting $29MM per year starting next season, guys like Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman figure to get expensive via arbitration and I'm sure Houston would like to maintain some wiggle room for further Brantley-esque additions. I think that's a big reason why they also moved on from Charlie Morton and Dallas Keuchel (though he's still unsigned). Basically, the Twins had a lot of payroll to play with and the Astros did not.

The Twins opened spring training play this afternoon, meaning it’s time to start searching for the 2019 Sire of Fort Myers. You generally shouldn’t pay any attention to stats this time of year, but there’s always a population of players who have a ton to gain from putting together an impressive spring. This is their opportunity to show the Twins coaching staff what they can do, not to mention the other teams across baseball.So this spring, we will set out to identify those players who have the most to gain from posting impressive stat lines and eventually crown one of them Sire of Fort Myers. I know what some of you are thinking, “really, are we that desperate for baseball we’re going to keep an eye on a bunch of has-beens and never-beens?” Well first off, yes. It’s February and the snow piled around my house is taller than Michael Pineda, so I am that desperate for baseball. Secondly, how dare you speak ill of Sire Ryan LaMarre, he who smote the Clevelanders in the Battle of Puerto Rico. Lastly, this is like a really, really serious honor, OK? Show some respect. Last year was really the perfect time to debut this idea. Coming into spring, who could have seen LaMarre heading north with the Twins? Here’s part of what I wrote in my preview last year: “But, just to be clear, these guys' chances of breaking camp with the Twins are anywhere from remote to downright unthinkable.” He did it. Ryan LaMarre dreamed the impossible dream and made the team. That was crazy. So I’m not ruling anything out this time around. Who are the top contenders for this year’s crown? Let's go over who’s eligible first. Anyone who’s not on the 40-man roster is eligible, as well as the few players who are on the 40 man but haven’t made their MLB debut. So before anybody asks, no, Willians Astudillo (a 2018 Sire of Fort Myers honorable mention) is not eligible this year. Just a reminder, this isn't about identifying the player most likely to make the team, it's simply honoring the player who had the most impressive spring training performance. Without further ado, here’s who I think are the top 10 contenders for 2019 Sire of Fort Myers, in alphabetical order: Randy Cesar, 24, 3B/1B This guy seems interesting. Cesar hit .296/.348/.428 (.777 OPS) for Houston’s Double-A team and had a 42-game hitting streak last year. His BABIP dropped from an insane .444 through his first 64 games (which coincided with the end of that impressive streak) to just .277 over his final 52 games. So maybe his success was a complete mirage, but he’s a fun guy to bring in on a minor league deal. Cesar split time between third base and first base last year. Tim Collins, 29, LHP Remember this guy? Collins was a long-time member of the Royals’ bullpen before he had to suffer through not one but two Tommy John surgeries. He worked his way back to the big leagues for the first time since 2014, pitching to a 4.37 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with the Nationals last year. His fastball velocity was pretty much back to where it was when he was with Kansas City, averaging 92.5 mph. Chase De Jong, 25, RHP The Twins removed De Jong from the 40-man roster earlier this offseason, but he cleared waivers. Acquired in the trade that sent Zach Duke to Seattle, De Jong barely hits 90 mph but manages to induce a fair amount of weak contact. He had a 3.57 ERA in 17 2/3 innings with the Twins, 3.20 ERA in 39 1/3 innings with Rochester and a 3.80 mark in 120 2/3 innings with the Mariners’ Double-A team. Lucas Duda, 33, 1B Duda is hands down the favorite this year. He boasts a career 118 OPS+ and has hit 27 or more home runs three times in the big leagues. They’re trending in two different directions, but Duda’s resume is really even more impressive than that of projected starting first baseman C.J. Cron. The past few years have not been kind to one-dimensional players such as Duda. The fact he had to settle on a minor league deal illustrates that, but he still hit .264/.336/.477 (813 OPS) against right-handers last season. Ryan Eades, 27, RHP Eades was drafted in the second round in 2013 but his prospect shine faded fairly quickly. Last year was his second season pitching primarily out of the bullpen. Something clicked. After averaging 6.7 K/9 previously, Eades posted a 10.4 K/9 in 2018. He finished on a particularly high note, giving up just five earned runs over his final 30 1/3 innings (0.89 ERA) while holding opposing hitters to a .198/.244/.225 line, earning a promotion to Rochester in the process. Nick Gordon, 23, SS/2B Probably the most recognizable name on this list to Twins fans, Gordon’s stock dropped some after an uninspiring first showing in Triple A. In 164 games at Double A, however, Gordon hit .285/.350/.436 (.787 OPS) with 39 doubles, 11 triples and 14 home runs. He also stole 20 bases during his time in Chattanooga, had 86 RBIs and scored 102 runs. Even in a down season, Gordon posted his best OPS against left-handed pitching (.636) since his draft year. Mike Morin, 27, RHP Morin was a mainstay in the Angels’ bullpen from 2014-17, pitching to a 4.49 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 3.42 K:BB ratio over 177 appearances. He spent the majority of last season with Seattle’s Triple-A team, where he had a 3.86 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, though he also pitched in three games for the Mariners. Morin’s fastball sits 91.5 mph but he mixes in a changeup about a third of the time and relies on his slider for roughly a quarter of his pitches. I think he’ll get plenty of looks this spring, making him a strong contender for the crown. Morin was born in Andover but grew up in Kansas. Jake Reed, 26, RHP FREE REED! This guy has a 1.92 ERA in 89 career Triple-A innings. Considering some of the other guys the Twins have trotted out in their bullpen the past few years it’s pretty incredible he hasn’t had an opportunity to make his debut. The 26-year-old right-hander struck out 50 batters in 47 2/3 innings for Rochester last year. In 246 2/3 career innings in the minor leagues, Reed has surrendered just seven home runs. He’s faced 576 right-handed hitters and they’ve taken him deep just four times. That’s crazy. Here are the other non-roster invitees I didn’t include in the top 10: Preston Guilmet, Ryne Harper, Justin Nicolino, Brian Navarreto, Ben Rortvedt, Wynston Sawyer, Tomas Telis, Luis Arraez, Randy Cesar, Royce Lewis, Adam Rosales, Alex Kirilloff, Luke Raley and Brent Rooker. Just a couple quick notes on those included on that list above: I’d expect Lewis and Kirilloff to be among the first cuts. It wouldn’t surprise me if Arraez turned some heads, he just missed my top 10. Harper was another guy who just missed, he had an insane 8.60 K:BB ratio down on the farm for the Twins last year (65 IP, 86 K, 10 BB). Guilmet's another guy who could've very easliy been named in the top 10. He has some ugly MLB numbers but a 2.45 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 9.9 K/9 in 265 career innings at Triple A. Rosales is 35 now, but he’s coming off of somewhat of a power outburst, as he popped 18 home runs for Cleveland’s Triple-A team last year. There will be other minor leaguers who work their way in from time to time, especially on the days where the Twins have split squad games on the schedule, but I wouldn’t anticipate them getting enough playing time to be in contention for this most prestigious honor. So what do you think? I’ve tabbed Duda as the favorite among hitters and Morin among pitchers. Will anybody give either of those guys a run for their money? Click here to view the article

Power's not his calling card, but he's also not completely punchless. In 164 games at Double A, Gordon had 39 doubles, 11 triples and 14 home runs. He slugged .436 at that level. That's better than Eddie Rosario (.403 slugging in 149 AA games), Jorge Polanco (.380 SLG in 132 games), Jake Cave (.409 SLG in 225 games) and Mitch Garver (.419 SLG in 95 games).

This is an excellent way to look at it. You know you're going to deal with injuries, there's just no way of knowing where. Marwin will play regularly even when everyone is healthy, but he's able to step into so many spots should the need arise. Throw in the fact that his bat is platoon proof and this is a guy much more valuable to a team than you can gather by simply looking at his production, though that's nothing to sneeze at, either. This is my favorite signing of the offseason, to be honest. As far as roster moves go, Michael Reed is out of options and it's pretty much impossible to see him cracking the Opening Day roster. Might as well remove him from the 40 man now. I'd have to think Marwin would likely take Adrianza's spot on the 25-man roster if everyone heads into the season healthy, but much like what they're doing with Tyler Austin, might as well keep him around for now in case an injury creates a need.

And another one comes off the board. Nick Vincent signed a minor league deal with the Giants, here's the MLB Trade Rumors article. I know he's not a big name, but Vincent actually has a better fWAR (2.4) over the past two seasons combined than anyone in the current Twins bullpen (yes, including Taylor Rogers). I'm not that bullish on Vincent, but I am surprised he had to settle on a minors deal.

Well put. I agree that there's potential to be above average, and the silver lining is that bullpens are weird and often don't make a lot of sense. There's a lot of randomness, so really anything is possible. Parker is a nice addition, but he alone isn't going to do much. Fernando Romero has a lot of upside, but I can't shake the fact that after his final appearance with the Twins last season he pitched to a 4.76 ERA and only averaged 6.0 K/9 over 51 innings for Rochester. I love May, but he's never made more than 48 appearances in a season. Reed and Hildy's downturns are well-documented, but Parker also struggled some late last year, giving up six homers in 22 innings during the second half. That floor scares me.

MLB Trade Rumors recently published a 10 Forgotten Free Agents article. Sure enough, I forgot about Tyler Clippard! He had a 3.67 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 11.1 K/9 for Toronto last year and has some closing experience. He'd be another name to add to that potential upgrades pile. UPDATE Nevermind, he literally just signed with Cleveland per Jon Heyman

Building a bullpen is simple, you can just convert any of your excess starting pitchers into relievers, right? The Twins had better hope so. It’s already been confirmed Fernando Romero won’t be preparing as a starter, and if everyone stays healthy, one of Martin Perez or Adalberto Mejia will likely be joining him in the bullpen.Here’s hoping anyone who ends up converting takes quickly to the role. They won’t exactly be joining the most experienced bullpen out there. Take a look at the 40-man roster, there’s an alarming lack of arms with prior MLB experience pitching out of the bullpen. Here’s the entire list of pitchers with 10 or more career relief appearances in the majors: Addison Reed (465 games in relief) Blake Parker (229) Taylor Rogers (198) Trevor Hildenberger (110) Trevor May (100) Tyler Duffey (74) Matt Magill (45) Gabriel Moya (36) Also, bullpen coach Jeremy Hefner is in his first season. As is pitching coach Wes Johnson. And manager Rocco Baldelli too. What could go wrong? I’m not saying this current bullpen is completely doomed, but the floor is very low. If guys like Reed and Hildy can bounce back, as John wrote about earlier today, and Romero can take to his new role, this could be a pretty strong unit. On the other hand, just imagine the impact a Taylor Rogers injury would have. You can’t expect everything to go your way. If there was ever a team where some Fernando Rodney or Zach Duke types made sense, this would be it. There was a time when giving some fresh faces looks in relief would have made sense, but that seems like a poor plan to open a season in which you hope to compete. The perfect opportunity for guys to get their feet wet would have been at the end of last season. Andrew Vasquez got in there for a whopping five innings, that was nice, but this was also a team that dumped 23 2/3 innings into Matt Belisle. But here we are, it is what it is. That lack of established relievers also means even the bullpen reinforcements appear to be guys who are going to have to adjust to a new role. Zack Littell, Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves or even Lewis Thorpe represent the next in line, but some of those guys will need to stay stretched out in order to serve as rotation depth. Of course, they can always make changes to the 40-man roster, but the guys next in line either have never pitched in the majors (Jake Reed, Ryan Eades) or haven’t been effective for some time (Tim Collins, Mike Morin). Just a quick note on the opener, I don’t think we see the Twins do much with it in 2019 unless things go very poorly. Even if it’s something they implement on a regular basis, you still need a lot of traditional relievers in your bullpen anyway. I take a look at the current construction of this pitching staff and see far from an ideal situation to expect a rookie coaching staff to successfully navigate. My original intention of this article was going to try to make sense of what the front office is thinking in terms of the bullpen, similar to the article I wrote about their additions to the lineup, but I can't do it. There’s no way we’re looking at the final picture. No way. I don’t have any inside information, this is all just a hunch, but I cannot imagine the Twins enter the regular season with the bullpen as it’s currently constructed. Among the top free agents still available (STILL!?!?!?) are Craig Kimbrel, Bud Norris, Ryan Madson, Adam Warren and Nick Vincent. Kimbrel is obviously the marquee name of that bunch, but I believe any one of those five guys could help serve as a stabilizing influence for this Twins pen. There are also always trades. The Twins have the prospects to give up, but I’m not sure if most non-contending teams would be motivated to make a move now or rather hold on until the trade deadline. I’ve been drooling over the idea of the Twins nabbing Mychal Givens from the hapless Orioles, though I’m not sure if there’d be any interest from either side. But the Twins will do something. I mean, they have to ... right? Right? Click here to view the article

Good stuff. If anybody wants a look at Jeffers behind the plate, he was catching Jhoan Duran during the start I highlighted in his Prospect Spotlight Series video. Jeffers is a big guy but he does an incredible job at getting small and giving umpires a good window. It seems like both he and Swanson know the challenges he's going to face, and Jeffers doesn't sound like one to back down from a challenge. Excited to see Jeffers back there more often this season. He only caught in half of his games last season. I was griping about how relatively little Mitch Garver caught while he was down on the farm and I think they saw that come back to bite them a bit.

I did a big overview on how the new front office has gone about using all potential avenues to improve this minor league system for the Prospect Handbook. It was really, really good, probably worth the full price of the book on its own, lol I believe there are a few copies still available if you hurry! I always like to look at Seth's breakdown of where we each have these guys ranked individually. Being really conservative on Duran and Enlow ended up putting me as the high man on so many of the guys in the upper levels, though we were all relatively close in the grand scheme of things. I was in the middle of all the biggest splits we had among the top 10. Cody and I had a 10-spot disagreement on Enlow and Seth and I had a seven-spot difference on Duran. I was the low man on both of those guys, but then I was the highest on Thorpe, where Nick and I had a six-spot gap. Just an interesting observation ... probably just means I'm going to be wrong a lot, HA!

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Cleveland's staff is for the most part really tough on righties, but check this out: vs. current CLE pitchers Cruz .340/.386/.745 (1.131 OPS) in 101 PAs Cron .306/.390/.528 (.918 OPS) in 42 PAs Schoop .311/.317/.443 (.760 OPS) in 63 PAs Now those vs. pitcher splits may not be the most predictive numbers you can find, but you'd certainly rather see a good track record than not. Cron got hit by 17 pitches last year, third-most in the AL. He's averaged an HBP per every 46 PAs vs. RHP compared to one every 99 PAs vs. LHP, so that was a good hunch. It's certainly possible that was their motivation, but that's a poor overall way to build a team. I think you only do that if you're looking for guys to flip at the trade deadline. If you're trying to win, I think you have to focus on how guys fit into your current team and you need to look at your lineup as one singular element as opposed to a bunch of individuals. Again, not saying you're wrong, I just hope that wasn't the case.

Just an FYI, it can take some time to fully build up an article. I will often use that Breaking News image as sort of a filler just to get the headline/basic info into an article and up on the site. Then I circle back and go grab an appropriate image specific to the article. ... but I also still would say this is definitely breaking news.

Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reported on Twitter that the Twins are nearing an extension with shortstop Jorge Polanco. Polanco was set to make $575,000 this season and is currently under team control through 2022. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the contract extension will cover seven seasons.UPDATE 1 We have some specific numbers being reported. Jim Bowden of The Athletic reported Polanco's deal $25.75 million over five years and include two additional option years. The Twins have also reportedly reached a similar agreement with Max Kepler. According to Passan's reporting, the deal would guarantee five years and include two option years. Phil Miller of the Star Tribune is reporting the deal is expected to guarantee Polanco $25 million over those five seasons. Details on the two option years are not known at this time. 2:25 UPDATE: Here are the details of the Polanco deal, per Bob Nightengale: Less than a year ago, Polanco was suspended 80 games for testing positive for Stanozolol, a banned substance. When he returned, however, the 25-year-old had a productive half season for the Twins. His 110 wRC+ ranked 10th among the 38 shortstops who logged at least 300 plate appearances last season, per FanGraphs. Since the 2017 All-Star break, Polanco has hit .290/.351/.463 (.814 OPS) with 16 home runs, 69 runs and 85 RBIs in 140 games. If he were to maintain that level of production, Polanco would figure to make a decent amount of money through arbitration. With the Twins payroll surprisingly low heading into this season, could it be that we're going to see multiple extensions signed during spring training? Who knows, but that would certainly help explain why they were so relatively conservative on the open market despite there appearing to be plenty of wiggle room to be more aggressive. Star-Tribune scribe LaVelle E. Neal III wrote earlier in the week that the Twins hoped to finalize a couple of long-term contract extensionsas early as this week. So this could be the first of a few deals. The Twins signed Jorge Polanco as a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic in July of 2009. No current player has been in the organization longer than Polanco. He signed on July 2nd. Nine days later, the Twins signed Max Kepler. It seems with team starting to report to spring training we've also reached extension season. Yesterday, the Phillies signed starting pitcher Aaron Nola to an extension that has Twins fans wondering if Jose Berrios would take a similar deal. It was also reported that the Yankees have engaged in extension talks with starter Luis Severino. Click here to view the article

Considering the team's weaknesses, I was surprised by the type of hitters the Twins’ front office decided to bring in this offseason. I expected there to be a focus on signing high on-base percentage guys to multi-year deals. After having some time to digest things, I think I’ve identified a few things that may explain what the Twins were looking for.Usually I'd hash through everything and make you wait for the conclusion, but this thing got long. So instead, it's choose your own adventure! Here comes the conclusion, stick around for the more detailed analysis if you'd like. Nelson Cruz, C.J. Cron and Jonathan Schoop are all right-handed pull power hitters who are comfortably above average against right-handed pitching, making them particularly platoon proof. If you believe Target Field is a great place for right-handed hitters, it seems to make a ton of sense to seek out that profile. Also, if you’re inclined to carry a 13-man pitching staff, as is commonplace in today’s age, filling your roster with guys who can hit same-sided pitching makes a ton of sense. One-dimensional hitters really lose their value when you only have three bench spots. Alright, that’s the quick hit take. For those of you interested in a deeper dive, here we go ... The OBP Issue Take a look at how those new additions stack up against some of the key departures in terms of OBP over the past three seasons. OBP 2016-18 .371 Robbie Grossman .366 Joe Mauer .359 Nelson Cruz .336 Brian Dozier .319 C.J. Cron .313 Eduardo Escobar .304 Jonathan Schoop The added pop is welcome from the new faces, but the Twins ranked 16th in OBP last season as it was. They can ill afford a slip further back. This is still definitely a concern of mine. The Lefty Issue The Twins had a 91 wRC+ against lefties last season, which ranked 21st in baseball. To make matters worse, they also lost their best two hitters against lefties last season in terms of wRC+ (min. 100 PAs vs. LHP). Robbie Grossman led the club with a 147 wRC+ vs. southpaws while Joe Mauer finished second at 106. So these new right-handed bats will help solve that problem, right? Well ... it's interesting. Let’s take a look. Into the Splits Before we continue, I think it’s important to relay the league averages for context. Here are the league batting splits of right-handed hitters from 2018 per Baseball-Reference: RHB vs. LHP: .251/.330/.423 (.753 OPS), 21.3 K%, 9.8 BB% RHB vs. RHP: .246/.308/.403 (.711 OPS), 23.0 K%, 7.2 BB% So how do the new guys stack up? We’re going to first take a look at their career splits. I’ll touch on some interesting single-season trends a bit later, but it's worth pointing out an everyday player may only get around 150 plate appearances against lefties in a season. That’s not a very big sample, so I prefer to look at the bigger picture first. Nelson Cruz career vs. LHP: .290/.378/.549 (.927 OPS), 20.0 K%, 12.0 BB% vs. RHP: .269/.328/.507 (.835 OPS), 23.3 K%, 7.3 BB% Cruz has definitely been a lefty killer over his career, but there’s really nothing lacking about his slash line against same-sided pitchers. Last season, the league average OPS for a DH was .774, which he blows out of the water even against right-handers. Cruz ranks seventh in wRC+ vs. right-handed pitchers among the 150 right-handed batters with at least 600 PAs over the past three seasons. Even though he's hit lefties much harder, Cruz actually ranks 10th vs. left-handers among the 186 right-handers with at least 250 PAs last three seasons. Point is that Cruz is an uncharacteristically balanced hitter. Was that something the Twins found particularly attractive about him? Cruz is a great power hitter, has has a solid OBP and crushes lefties, so he checks all the boxes. But the curious thing to me is the Twins already had some interesting internal options to fill the DH spot. Tyler Austin has a career .937 OPS against lefties and Jake Cave has an .844 OPS against right-handers, making them appear to be perfect platoon partners. But in today’s age of the three-man bench, is it really optimal to try and deploy a platoon? The Twins didn’t seem to think so. Moving on … C.J. Cron career vs. LHP: .264/.313/.463 (.776 OPS), 21.9 K%, 5.9 BB% vs. RHP: .258/.311/.460 (.770 OPS), 22.8 K%, 5.2 BB% Take a look at that. Cron has essentially been the exact same guy against either side over his career. There’s certainly been some fluctuation year-to-year, more on that in a moment, but the grand totals are incredibly even. Cron appears to be a very steady option. This only adds steam to the theory that the front office was seeking out balanced hitters who do not need a platoon partner. OK, now let’s get weird … Jonathan Schoop career vs. LHP: .246/.292/.401 (.693 OPS) 24.9 K%, 5.8 BB% vs. RHP: .262/.294/.461 (.755 OPS), 21.7 K%, 2.9 BB% Huh? Schoop has actually been a good amount worse against southpaws over his career!? Does not compute. I had to triple check these numbers. Since the start of 2014, Schoop ranks 81st among 86 right-handed hitters in wRC+ vs. left-handed pitching (min. 600 PAs). Still, just like Cruz and Cron, Schoop is comfortably better than the average right-handed hitter against same-sided pitching. And there are some interesting things to observe in the single-season splits. Schoop has struggled against lefties for most of his career, but he hit .300/.361/.593 (.955 OPS) in 166 plate appearances against them in 2017. That was by far and away Schoop’s best season. The bigger sample doesn’t inspire confidence, but maybe the Twins expect a better performance against southpaws again in 2019. Cron has been solid against lefties, but in no means a lefty killer over his career. In 2018, however, he hit .307/.376/.553 (.930 OPS) in 170 plate appearances them. Hmm, so Cron’s best season against lefties also lines up with his career year. That’s an interesting coincidence. Again, keep those sample sizes in mind. When I think of Schoop and Cron in terms of their ceiling and floor, I think this splits conversation is a really good place to start. Both have shown the ability to consistently produce against right-handed pitchers. That helps give them a high floor. But what if they destroy lefties again? That’s how they could also have a high ceiling. Projected AL Central Rotations Let’s take a look around of rest of the division. According to Roster Resource, there are only five left-handed starters projected to occupy the rotation spots of the four AL Central rivals: Matthew Boyd and Matt Moore of the Tigers, Carlos Rodon and Manny Banuelos of the White Sox and Danny Duffy of the Royals. Not exactly world beaters. Cleveland is expected to have an all right-handed rotation of Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger and Shane Bieber. And remember, with the unbalanced schedule the Twins play nearly half their games against AL Central foes. So there wouldn’t be much advantage in the Twins adding hitters who just mashed lefties. Pull Power So why not just target left-handed hitters then? Well, balance for one thing. The Twins already have lefties Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler playing everyday and Jason Castro is expected to return as the primary catcher. Also, the switch-hitting Jorge Polanco has been much better from the left side over his career. That’s already almost half of your primary lineup. We’ve also seen right-handed pull power play up at Target Field. According to the data on FanGraphs, the league average pull rate was 40.3 percent last season. Over the past three years, Schoop is at 44.7 percent, Cron is at 41.6 and Cruz at 41.1. That's nowhere near as extreme as Brian Dozier (51.2) or Josh Willingham (49.7), but all three are still above average. Perhaps they'll even be encouraged to pull the ball more frequently this year. So How Does the Lineup Look? Here’s a list of Twins hitters who are above average versus each side. In 2018, all batters (regardless of handedness) combined for a .731 OPS against right-handers and a .720 mark against lefties. Twins hitters who are better than those averages against right-handers over their careers: .844 Jake Cave .835 Nelson Cruz .813 Eddie Rosario .802 Miguel Sano .776 Max Kepler .776 Mitch Garver .771 Jorge Polanco .770 C.J. Cron .755 Jonathan Schoop .739 Jason Castro That’s 10 guys! This Twins team is going to be able to field a very deep lineup against right-handed pitching. Twins hitters who are better than average against lefties over their careers: .937 Tyler Austin .927 Nelson Cruz .846 Miguel Sano .776 C.J. Cron That’s it. Considering the composition of the other teams in the division, however, this doesn’t seem like such a bad problem to have. While there are fewer guys who hold their own against lefties, those top three can really mash. And just imagine if Cron and Schoop can crush southpaws like they did in their career years. It's also worth noting Byron Buxton had a .792 OPS against lefties in 2017. But what about Willians!?!?!? His MLB samples are just so small, less than 100 total plate appearances, so I didn’t include him. But between the majors and minors last year Astudillo had an .800 OPS against right-handers (304 PAs) and an .830 OPS versus lefties (100 PAs). Lucas Duda’s not on the 40-man roster, but it’s worth mentioning he has a career .839 OPS against right-handers but just a .642 OPS versus lefties. But What About Those Short-Term Deals? That’s the one thing I don’t really have an answer to. I wouldn’t suggest the Twins should have signed any one of Cruz/Cron/Schoop to a long-term pact, but it seems like it would have made some sense to target at least one addition who would be around for the long haul. If not via free agency, then through the trade market. After all the one-year deals went so poorly last season, and the front office was open about how that may have been a mistake, I expected them to focus more on long-term assets. Schoop is on a one-year deal, Cruz has an option with a very modest buyout and Cron has one more year of arbitration eligibility after 2019. Click here to view the article

I was the only one not to have Graterol in my top 10 last year, placing him all the way down to 17th. As Law alluded to, I was also pretty confident Graterol was likely to end up in the bullpen. That's still a possibility, of course, but I don't see it shaking out that way anymore. The extra muscle and Berrios-like unquenchable work ethic have relieved a lot of my concerns. I'd still prefer he dial it back and take some of that stress out of his delivery, but he seems to be doing what he needs to make sure his body is able to handle that stress. There's also the intent. "I'm a starter." Not all pitchers have that conviction. Fernando Romero, for example, seems to be perfectly fine with a potential move to the bullpen if that's what gets him in the big leagues. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that stance from Romero, I'm just saying Graterol's determination to be a starter and understanding of what he needs to work on for that to become a reality are very encouraging to me.

Upside. And I like how you put it, extreme. It's extreme value put on upside. I like Balazovic a great deal, he was one of my breakout picks for the handbook, but I'm more inclined to be too low on a guy than too high. A lot of it can also simply be the timing of your exposure to a guy. I can't remember which start, but I caught one of Balazovic's later outings on MiLB.tv. My guess is Law might have seen him earlier in the year, or got his reports from someone who saw him during that time. Balazovic got off to such a phenomenal start (2.37 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in his first 38 IP) but then had a few clunkers from later on (6.46 ERA, 1.27 WHIP in final 23.2 IP). His K:BB ratio remained outstanding all the way through, he was just giving up a lot more loud contact (,303 SLG in first 38 IP, .444 SLG in last 23.2 IP). There could be a lot of reasons behind that weird split to his season. I'm willing to bet he was working on something specific, but that was enough to keep me from really rocketing him up my list.

I'd stick Pineda and Perez in the bullpen and put Romero and Mejia in the rotation.

Missing time alone shouldn't drastically alter a player's overall future outlook. Yes, I slid Javier down a few spots, but that was mainly because I'm a little more risk averse than the rest of the guys and I feel really good about the floor of the six players I put above Javier. But if someone wanted to make the case for Javier at No. 1, I wouldn't think it was completely outrageous. He has a better chance of being an above average shortstop than Lewis does. If you just want strictly performance information, we also do A TON of that. Seth does a great job with the minor league hitter/pitcher/reliever of the month through the season and we also have the year-end awards, which are 100 percent based on performance. Here are the links to those: Twins 2018 Minor League Hitter Of The Year Twins 2018 Minor League Starting Pitcher Of The Year Twins 2018 Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Twins 2018 Short Season Hitter Of The Year Twins 2018 Short Season Pitcher Of The Year 2018 Twins Minor League All-Stars

After winning the SEC triple crown and dominating the lower levels of the minor leagues in 2017, Brent Rooker was ready for a challenge. The Twins sent him straight to Double A for his first full season of pro ball. It was a tall order. Early on, it was looking as though that aggressive assignment may have been a mistake, but Rooker eventually powered through.Position: 1B/LF Age: 24 (DOB: 11/1/1994) 2018 Stats (AA): 503 PA, .254/.333/.465, 22 HR, 79 RBI ETA: 2020 2018 Ranking: 7 What's To Like Power. Rooker’s strong, but it’s not like he’s biggest guy around. Still, his in-game power is drool-inducing. He tied for the Southern League lead in doubles (32) and hit 22 homers in 2018, the most of any Twins minor leaguer. Rooker also led the Southern League in line-drive rate at 26.0 percent and he had the sixth-lowest groundball rate in the league at 34.3 percent, according to FanGraphs. The real kicker is it took him two months to really get going. Through May, Rooker was hitting just .240/.282/.411 (.693 OPS) in 49 games. He eventually found his footing. Over his final 81 games, he hit .264/.362/.498 (.860 OPS) with 15 home runs, 52 RBI and 48 runs. The big difference as the year progressed was in Rooker’s strike zone awareness and plan of attack. This is a guy who loves to hit, and can be caught being too aggressive at times. He walked in just 4.9 percent of his plate appearances through those first two months, but from that point forward he posted an impressive 12.7 BB%. What's Left To Work On There’s a lot of swing and miss in Rooker’s game, which is often cited as a concern, but the bigger issue may be his defense. Trying him out in left field is a bit of a stretch, but he’s not particularly stellar at first base either. It’s not that Rooker’s some out of shape beer league softball player, he definitely has some athleticism, but there’s just a stiffness to the way he moves. The Twins have given him 77 starts in left field and 55 at first base so far, maybe he would be better off focusing on one position? Back to the strikeouts, seeing 150 Ks on Rooker’s ledger is certainly eye-opening, but a 26.4 K% isn’t going to cripple his value. The concern, of course, is that rate will escalate as he climbs the ladder. To his credit, Rooker did cut his strikeout rate from 28.8 percent through June (313 PAs) to 23.5 percent from there forward (255 PAs), but that’s going to be an area he needs to continue to keep under control. While he eventually heated up after a slow start, Rooker cooled off again at the end of the season. In his final 30 games, he hit just .173/.298/.264 (.561 OPS). He was slated to get some more looks in during the Arizona Fall League, but was forced to sit out due to an ankle sprain. What's Next? It wouldn’t be a shock to see Rooker back in Double A to start the year, but he should see plenty of time in Rochester this coming season. If all goes well and a need arises, he’s a candidate to make his major league debut sometime in 2019. There’s already a bit of a roster jam at 1B/DH on the big club, but an injury could blow the doors wide open for Rooker’s arrival. Twins Daily 2019 Top 20 Prospects Honorable Mentions 20. Jose Miranda, 2B/3B 19. Jorge Alcala, RHP 18. LaMonte Wade, OF 17. Zack Littell, RHP 16. Gilberto Celestino, OF 15. Yunior Severino, 2B 14. Ben Rortvedt, C 13. Ryan Jeffers, C 12. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP 11. Nick Gordon, SS 10. Akil Baddoo, OF 9. Blayne Enlow, RHP 8. Lewis Thorpe, LHP 7. Jhoan Duran, RHP 6. Brent Rooker LF/1B 5. Coming soon Learn more in the 2019 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. It’s available in paperback or as an eBook. Click here to view the article