Rosterman

If he shows up as a late season callup in 2025, we should all be glad. Of course, he needs to stay healthy and throw innings. Picture he will stay in instructional ball to start 2022 and probably pitch in short season, just so they can watch him make adjustments. Although having the low-A team also in Ft. Myers can be for his benefit. Petty will get a call-in there if the opportunity arises. 2023 is still all Ft. Myers so they can watch and work with him. If he shines, look for him to make a game jump to high-A or even AA JUST TO FACE SOME OLDER TALENT. 2024 he WILL SPEND THE SEASON AT HIGH-A BALL. 2025 HE WILL SPEND THE SEASON AT AA BALL. Sadly he will probably need Tommy John surgery or something like that right when the Twins need to consider adding him to the 40-man. But, if not, the Twins MIGHT see him on the major league roster in 2026, as he would probably have been added to the 40-man in the off-season. Vut he will spend most of the time at AAA ball, unless he has refocused into a bullpen arm by then. That means the Twins, under current MLB contracts, would have control of him up into the 2032 season. But I can only wonder "What If" he shines and comes to the majors at age 21 or 22.

The plus is: He is a starter and just needs the work, even if limited to 3-4 inning starts to begin his season. But this is the type of guy that will be hurt more with the lockout (not to mention any other arm prospect on the 40-man), since they have to go thru a training period before even reporting to Triple-A, which means they will get screwed on development when the major league club is trying to get the north 26 play. Balazovic and Strotman will start at St. Paul, but again , pushed back. Duran, Sands and Vallimont might all start, sadly, at AA ball. What a mess. Not to mention if Jax is a rotation or bullpen arm for the Twins. Players already hurt by a non-esixtent 2020 are getting killed with any lockout. Major league baseball is a broken broken mess...money rules.

Draft them young. A BIG International Signing. Throw them together in a competitive game where everyone wants to be a winner, a star, and you gotta see who succeeds, who listens, who works, and how they adapt. And then, in this list, you have two names: one who wasn't going to continue to find a 40-man spot for another team because he was being pushed by more talented arms, and one who you just hope will settle down and become a big-leaugue contributor. Those two, Vallimont and Strotman should pretty much be guarantee a chacne to pitch in the majors in 2022 (why Strotman didn't in 2021 is beyond me, giving innings to Albers and others). But then, again, the Twins seem to have too many names like that on the roster right now...will they shine in 2022 and be long-term Twins, or are they just placesetters: Thorpe, Dobnak (despite his contract), Jax, Stashak, Thielbar, Garza Jr. And waiting in St. Paul: Smeltzer, Coulombe, Sammons, Mason, and any number of minor league free agent signees hoping to take starts away from Balazovic, Sands, Winder and maybe Duran. Moran will be an interesting watch when spring training happens, as he needed more exposure last August and September but was kept back so we could see Barraclough, Coulombe, Farrell, Law, Minaya, Gibaut (especially him), Vincent, and Albers. There's not a lot of bullpen relief if people go down on the 40-man, unless you look at Thorpe or Jax coming out of the pen, so suspect there will be rotating 40-man chairs as the Twins finally take a look at Cano or Hamilton, amongst so many others. The pain there is you havce to add carefully if you want to keep the guy and he doesn't quite produce, or is forced back to the minors when the injured come back. Right now, I'm counting 152 names on Twins minor league roster after the jettisons of the Fall. Probably 20-30 or so will be gone by the end of spring training, and the Twins can still add another dozen or so minor league free agents depending on needs in the higher leagues. Always fun to see these annual lists and look back 3-5-7 years and see who continued in the organization, departed quickly, or are playing elsewhere, still.

I love it when we complain about first year (or even second year) guys not producing big numbers in the minors. Hey, once you leave the realm of high school, or college, you are suddenly playing with the best guy from everyteam on your team or an opposing team. Even in the majors, you can be a Denny Hocking and have a career because you fill a skillset. And you have to be darn good to hold your own at every minor league level, as you adjust to pitchers with control, great video, and the day-to-day of having fun but improving your skills. It is a job now and you have to come to the field everyday to work, work, work. If you don't you get passed by as 300 top names are added to teams systems every single season. That said, some rich names here. Enlow is the one that excites me the most, but we won't see him in action until mid-season. He might make his debut in 2023. Spencer Steer is a perfect example of a player who has improved. He is one of those surprise guys that could get a call if someone goes down and find himself in a major league career because he is ready to play in a variety of positions. Same for Eduoard Julien. You hate the thought that top prospects might be all-around good utility guys, but that can be valuable to a team. Maybe they can hone their skillset to fill just one position. No one here will help this year. Enlow maybe the next. We will see what 2024 ranks the others.

The whole age thing? You see enough to develop the player in your own way. Do they need a college program (and metal bats)? Right now, the Twins have Royce Lewis and Austin Martin. Both roughly the same age. They have to protect Lewis. But both, if Lewis hadn't missed a season, would be at the same level, fighting for the regular job at AAA. Hey, Lewis would be in the majors if he didn't m,iss a year to COVID, except for the slight setback at the plate in 2019 before Fall League play. Sands will get an opportunity in 2022 because he could be considered as much a relief arm as a starting arm. The question will be where does he pitch. In AA he will be able to start regularly as the mound will be full at AAA. Varland and Wallner need not be protected until next winter. Which means, beyond a mirale need, neither will see major league play until 2023 at the earliest (sadly, maybe). Celestino now has three more years of develoopment before needing to be a regular. The Twins will keep him as backup for Buxton and have him play his heart out in centerfield at St. Paul. If Buxton stays well, Celestino is still the choice to come up if Kepler would also go down (because he can play center as a backup). But the Twins can carefully watch and see him develop his skills further (at age 22 only here) to be a possible regular in a year or two or three. Who knows if Buxton will still be in center come 2025? Noah Miller is one of those guys. You don't know where he will be in 5-6 years. Will Martin or Lewis be our shortstop? Will Wander or Keoni be our shortstop? We have three solid bonus names in the system, still so young, still so far away from being called upon to be a regular. Remember, five years in the minors before needed a 40-man add. They four more years in the system playing backup. Do we want to push a Miller to be a star at 20, at 22, be happy at 24, by okay at 26?

Yep, didn't want to pay big money in a year or so to Hicks and they needed a catcher.

Elizabethton, which was the short season stop for so many of these players in 2017, has quite a current alumni list going into the six summers since. Colina was 20 (3-5, 3.34). Griffin Jax was an old 22 (0-3, 3.86). Bailey Ober, 21 (2-2, 3.21). Randy Dobnak, 22 (2-0, 2.39). Huascar Ynoa, only 19 (0-1, 5.20) and traded to the Braves where he pitched in the majors in '22. Jovani Moran, 21 (3-1, 0.36). Charlie Barnes, 21 (2-0, 1.19). Brusdar Graterol, 18 (2-4, 3.92). Bryan Sammons and Melvi Acosta still remain Twins pitching prospects. Rickey Ramirez was on the team, taken last year by the Orioles in the Rule 5. Calvin Faucher was traded to the Rays. Moises Gomez is in the Seattle system, Ryley Widell is in the Dodgers system. Juan Gamez is in the Cubs system. Jose Miranda was 19, Brent Rooker 22, and Akill Baddoo 18. Baddoo was lost in the Rule 5 and made the majors with the Tigers. Mark Contreras, Wander Javier and Andrew Bechold are still considered Twins prospects. Jordan Gore was a 22-year-old shortstop who is still a Twin prospect, now as a bullpen arm. Trey Cabbage signed with the Dodgers in the off-season. 20 others who were searching for the dream are no longer in any minor league system, although a couple played indy ball last season. Pretty good odds that over half of the players on that low-level team would still be playing after five years in organized ball, many drafted the previous season.

Yeah, Fernando Martinez instead of Gomez. Martinez did nothing, ended up being claimed on waivers by the Astros. The Twins also wanted Mike Pelfrey instead of Humber. Over in Boston Land, the Twins wanted Ellsbury and Jon Lester. Red Sox wouldn't give both. Countered with Coco Crisp. Then Bucholtz got added into the offer instead of Lester. Also as part of the package would've been infielder Jed Lowrie, and pitcher Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden. The Twins wanted Hughes and the Yankees were willing to add Melky Cabrera. But the Twins wanted more, asking for Ian Kennedy or another top prospect (Alan Horne or maybe Alan Jackson). Joba Chamberlain was also a mention. It was thought that the Yankees and Red Sox were going to outduel each other for the pitcher, but it also came down to money...did they want to add a $20 million a year arm to their alredy high payrolls. Here's an interesting look after-the-fact. https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/15979/baseball-proguestus-lose-lose-situation-revisiting-the-johan-santana-trade/ The Dodgers didn't thinbk they could pull it off, what with contract and DID Santana want to go West Coast. https://www.espn.com/blog/los-angeles/dodger-thoughts/post/_/id/1632/why-johan-santana-isnt-a-dodger And then later, there was talk of another Santana blockbuster deal as he wound-down his tenure in Mets-land. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/615792-mlb-trade-rumors-10-johan-santana-deals-that-make-sense-when-he-is-healthy

Yep, Danny Thompson, who played out the season, hung up his spikes, and passed on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Thompson_(baseball)

Most all of these guys would be reporting to spring training right now and getting a jump on getting in shape with hopeful early game action. The fact that they can't even play in minor league games will hurt them. And that they have to go thru spring training before they can report to AAA/AA ball.

Don't forget Jim Mudcat Grant had a music career (with His Kittens, I think they were called). Also, I remember seeing Denny McLain play at the local Diamond Jim's during the off-season. Electric organist!

Well, with the hint that it is a million dollar contract, sounds like they would have him on the 40-man if possible right now. I don't really see him taking a paycut and working in St. Paul. The Twins have Palacios at shortstop there, possibly Austin Martins, and maybe Royce Lewis fast-tracked after starting in Wichita. By most account, I sadly expect Miranda to start the season at AAA until the Twins sort out Sano, Kirilloff, Garver and Donaldson for who plays when and where. The Twins could also advance Bechtold or Speer to St. Paul. And, heaven forbid, they need a spot for Gordon if they don't find room for him on their bench. So shortstop will probab,ly be Beckham's job to lose. And this makes me think the Twins will be dumpster diving for castoffs if and when spring training happens.

Enlow and Lewis, if they stay healthy, will come back. We keep forgetting that 2020 was a lost season for MOST ALL minor league players. All they did was get older, and lockup minor league service time towards their own free-agency. But MOST ALL flooundered by not advancing that season that they would've with competitive play., Keoni is 20 years old. Maybe he will blossom. The Twins have two more seasons to hope he thrives and they need to add him to the 40-man or lose him.

Well, they got their temporary shortstop on the cheap, and got him signed so he can work out early if there is still a lockout. Don't picture them signing anyone else. They think they got the one the need for a...bargain.

I'm more worried abaout Top Prospect of 2022, and sad that Martin and Leis probably won't happen until 2023, as well as a host of potential pitchers.

Sadly, I would picture Odorizzi just getting cut at some point if he can't work out of the pen and if there is no spot for him in the rotation. The Twins benefitted bigtime in 2020 with the shorten season and the need NOT to pay Odorizzi $19 million. Is he worth $8 million a year for the next two seasons? Maybe. But I see a guy who would be hard-pressed to pitch 150 innings. And he can't seem, to get out of the fifth inning and into the 6th with any consistency. Maybve this is a guy that gives you the best results if you have an opener pitching to the first 4-6 batters in a game. But trading anyone of value? No. And not sure the Astros need to take a Thorpe or Rooker or anyone else on the fringe of our "need to play" or "need to protect soon" or we lose them forever and ever guys.

C'mon, You expected him to jump right to the Big Leagues? He got his feet wet in Ft. Myers. The Florida Leagues were notorious last season for pitching starters 3 innings, soemtimes 4 at the most. You were seeing such a wide variety of pitchers. Yes, it wasn't the Instructional League, but still...everyone of those guys you are facing are equal (and some better) than you. Plus you are adjusting from collegiate bats to the wooden ones. He advanced to Cedar Rapids, made some adjustments while facing more seasonsed (okay, that is an understatement) pitchers and did well. 2022 will be a good year to see what he does, starting with spring training, hopefully at Cedar Rapids, and then a kick to Wichita, maybe sooner rather than later if the Twins can stop signing minor league free agents. He has to learn to stay away from his weakness swings (like Sano), but is showing that he can at least get a base-on-ball. Coaches, film will hopefully make that better. Will he be a big bopper than can hit for average? Let's wait until he has at least two seasons under his belt.

Ultimately, the Twins need pitchers that will throw innings. You pay him for NOT pitching in 2022, and who knows what he will pitch in his walk season. You give up a player/s for someone you need to add to the 40-man until you can injure-reserve him come SPring Taring end. He contributes nothing for 2022. You lose out on players (unless you are trading, say, a Lewis Thorpe who needs to make the majors in 2022). Again, the Twins need to develop pitchers that can throw innings, as well as add pitchers as free agents who can also throw innings.

Grienke should be able to get a competitive offer from anyone but the Twins. A team would welcome him. Because he is a known innings eater. If he signs with a lesser team, it would behoove that team to flip him at the trade deadline if need be. Pineda has enjoyed success with the Twins. How much is he worth? I wondered after the Twins failed to find any takers at the tading deadline. I imagine he wants a multi year deal (two years with a third year option minimum). See if that happens. The Twins have to find a way to egt Arraez and Polanco and Donaldson and maybe Gordon and Miranda in the line-up. What all those names alck is shortstop ability. Watch the Twins pick up the lowest available opportunist that they can to fill this hole. I still feel the Twins need a bonafide closer...unless they have no desire to compete at all in 2022. Then, they can stick with what they have, tryout Alcala for the job, maybe even showcase Duran for their future.

I think Sano was always figured to be a permanent DH at some point in his Twins career. The question is, will he have a longtime career similar to Ortiz at Boston, or is his perceived value as a DH makes him a more movable commodity once DH is added to the National League and there is a sudden surge (need) for players that can just hit. Yes, Sano makes outs when you don't need an out. He is streaky. Does he stay in shape? Is playing in the field a way to keep him in the game and also in shape? Right now, he is more valuable because he is a bat thaty can also play first and, in a pinch, third. Yet the DH just being a bat is a problem. How many times did you want to play Nelson Cruz or Jim Thome in the outfield. When you play games with a National League team in the past, the DH became basically a bench bat. Sure, they were going to be used because you ended up pinch-hitting at least once for a pitcher. The Twins have a bunch of DH guys. Fist, Mitch Garver. The guy will be lucky if he could catch 80-100 games. But if his bat remains, it would be nice to get him into more games rather than sit on the bench. He ahs also been used at first, although I doubt that he would be a regular there like Mauer. We have Josh Donaldson. Age alone people think he should DH more. Maybe, but as long as he can play third base, he is the Twins best option there. Of course, the Twins may have Miranda or Lewis or Arraez or Martin needing a position, and any of those could factor into third, and all are expected to be Twins for the foreseeable future. Donaldson could also transition into a first baseman. Again, if he is a DH, does he suffer conditioning wise, because he does seem to enjoy staying in the game on the field. Alex Kirilloff. Pencilled-in as a future first baseman. But the Twins still need a corner outfielder to start the season. Musical chairs, perhaps. I would vote to let Alex play at first as much as possible. He is the future. I would ake the chance that there is another corner outfielder coming up in the system (Wallner, Celestino, Martin, Lewis, whomever). Sadly I don't want to see a replay in 2022 of Refsnyder, Cave, Garlick or any host of otehr guys not part of the future Minnesota Twins. And then we come to Rooker. This is his last chance to claim the fourth outfielder position. He is also a butcher at first. He could be a power bat threat. He is still cheap. Is he worthwhile to keep. Do we need a true cenetrfield backup option, or can we live with Kepler and Nick Gordon if need be, while Celestino plays everyday in the minors for another season. I like Sano. But I sometimes fear he is more Oswaldo Arcia than David Ortiz. That right now, he could be more valuable as a tade chip (probably tagged with another system player). Him gone would allow the Twins to cycle all of the above names thru the DH hole, getting them in the lineup. With him here, two just become bench bats in every game, compared to one.

You can keep track of other minor league free agent signings, as well as movements of former Twins into other minor league systems, at this long running link.

One and done, a snub for sure. That third Cy Young should've clinched it for Santana, but then even people would argue about longevity. (Us Twins fans still wonder what would've been Santana's career if he had stayed a Minnesota star forever rather than go to Big Market land). Players stay on the ballotting for multiple years because there is something to discuss regarding their careers. You can make many pros on factoring Santana as a Hall of Famer, but now it is moot. Especially for Joe Nathan. Criteria has to be established over every decade about the importance of relief pitchers (anyone want to talk about the sheer dominance, late in his game, of Al Worthington out of the pen, in multi-inning stints, during his Twins career and stats compared to msot relievers of the time?). More discussion needed to be made about Nathan and the save, but closers get shafted...forget about being a dominant relief pitcher who maybe closes some during a career. We can argue about how writers get to make this call. I like how many do share their picks (and why). But now we do have a players choice sub-committee that reconsiders people down-the-line.

Well, he is one of those guys you expect to be dazzling on the bases if he can get on base. Doesn't matter if he has power, but he can turn a walk or a single into an extra base when no one is looking. Unfortunately, more people are looking in the big leagues, and even if your BB/K ratio is betetr than most, you still need the occasional single to put you in a position to score. Is there a learning curve for any prospect? Sure there is. Gomez, Hicks, Buxton all started off slow. Celestino got some licks in, but at least he has shined at AAA so he isn't on the "let's move on" list -- yet. And, no matter how good a Granite may rock in the minors, you still get a bit more time if you are a bigtime bonus draftee. Granite was a fourth outfielder. You have to produce when called upon, or are replaced by the Grossmans or Caves of this world.

Back when Scouts had to visit small towns and more local games, rather than competitive showcases. Dick has always been a wonderful Minnesota Twins alumni. As an autographer, he was always kind to fans requesting his signature. And was a mainstay at every TwinsFest since they began, until newer fans started NOT knowing who he was. There is so much charm from players from the early days before big salaries and such. They really enjoyed playing the game and it was heartfelt when they no longer could and had to walk away, back into their real world. Often their communities where they were absorbed into the everyday workforce.

Brian Dinkelman, who was actually a second baseman and outfielder and split his time at each position for the 2011 Twins. He hit a whopping .301, which was higher than anything he ever hit in abseball before and definitely afterwards. He stayed with the Twins after retiring and will be starting his ninth in the organization, 4th as a minor league manager. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=dinkel001bri