Jonathon Zenk

I gave you the first half of my top 10 Twins prospects yesterday, headlined by Kohl Stewart and Wander Javier. Now, it is time to reveal my top five prospects in the organization. Nobody should be surprised by who makes up the final five prospects on this list, but the question is which order will they be in. So, with that being said, here are my top five prospects for the Minnesota Twins. 5. Tyler Jay, SP/RP Much like Stewart, Jay is an interesting pitcher as well, albeit for different reasons. First off, Minnesota needs to determine whether it wants the former first round pick as a starter or reliever. Jay was a reliever at Illinois, but the previous regime wanted to convert him into a starter. After not starting one game with the Fort Myers Miracle in 2015, Jay started 13 games for the Twins High-A affiliate last season and went 5-5 with an ERA of 2.84. That earned him a promotion to Chattanooga, where he pitched in five games (two starts) before being shut down the final month of the season. I believe he could be a solid starter, maybe a No. 3 starter or so, but he could be a dominant reliever. People will criticize the pick of a first rounder on a reliever, but I would much rather get a potentially dominant relief pitcher with a top 10 pick than a player who won’t even make it up to MLB. I don’t know what the Twins will do, but Jay in the bullpen could be a real asset to the team and he would then make an appearance at some point this upcoming season. In his three relief appearances with the Lookouts, he allowed one run on three hits in four innings. It will be interesting to see where they want Jay pitching. If it is as a reliever, expect to see him with the Twins this summer. 4. Nick Gordon, SS To some people, this might be a little low for Flash Gordon’s son. Maybe it is just me having too high of expectations for him, but it is a bit disappointing that he has not hit .300 in any level of the minors. Granted, he has never had a “bad” year and has hit at least .290 in two of the three years, but it is just a bit concerning to me that he has yet to really dominate a level. One thing he does have going for him is that he is almost always younger than the competition, and that will only help his development. In the Arizona Fall League, Gordon was one of the younger players and slashed .346/.418/.444. It is a small sample size, but hopefully his great play carries over to the season with Chattanooga in his first season at Double-A. He may not be able to stay at short, but only time will tell. I think he will have a season around .300. Hopefully he is able to flash more power as well, as he only has hit five homers in his minor league career thus far. 3. Fernando Romero, SP Out of all the starting pitchers in the Twins minor league system, I think Romero is the one pitcher who has a chance to be a real ace. After missing two years due to multiple surgeries, he came back better than ever in 2016. After returning in May, he went 9-3 with an ERA of 1.89 with a WHIP of 0.90 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 90/15. He was promoted to Low-A Fort Myers in June and dominated. The 22-year-old will likely return to Fort Myers to begin 2017, but if he pitches well again, he will move up to Double-A Chattanooga. I think he will be up with the Twins sometime in 2018. 2. Stephen Gonsalves, SP After being considered a solid prospect through 2015, he took off in 2016. After going 7-2 in 2015 for Fort Myers, he picked up right where he left off. In 11 starts last season with the Miracle, he went 5-4 with a 2.33 ERA. But he pitched even better after being promoted to Chattanooga. In 13 starts at Double-A, Gonsalves went 8-1 with a 1.82 ERA. However, his walks were a bit concerning with the Lookouts. In 74.1 innings, he had 37 walks. He had five games in which he had at least three walks, including a game in which he allowed seven free passes. He will return to Chattanooga, for at least the first part of this season. If he continues his strong play in April and May, he will be promoted to Rochester. I could see him making his Twins debut in September with strong play with the Red Wings. I don’t think he has the potential of Romero, but I think Gonsalves will be a solid No. 3-4 starter. 1. Alex Kirilloff, OF In this year’s Twins prospect handbook, all three of the main contributors picked different players for their No. 1 prospect. That is how close it is at the top. I am going to agree with Jeremy here and have Kirilloff at the top in my Twins prospect list. Last year’s first round pick started out in Elizabethton and knocked the cover off the ball. He struggled in the month of August and he ended up hitting .306 for the season. In the 55 games he played, he hit seven homers, as an 18-year-old. I think he will hit 25+ homers in the major leagues. He will start the season in Iowa with the Kernels, and if he performs there, he may be in Fort Myers by the end of the season. He could end up being a middle of the order slugger for the big league club. To round up the top 10, here it is: 10. Lewin Diaz 9. Adalberto Mejia 8. Travis Blankenhorn 7. Wander Javier 6. Kohl Stewart 5. Tyler Jay 4. Nick Gordon 3. Fernando Romero 2. Stephen Gonsalves 1. Alex Kirilloff

Pitchers and catchers have recently reported and thus, baseball season is underway. This is subject to change, obviously, especially with the top pick in June’s draft coming into the system. Many people have their top prospect list of the Twins, so here is mine, starting with Nos. 10-6. 10. Lewin Diaz, 1B The 20-year-old slugger finally came into his own last year. The 6-4 Diaz hit .310/.353/.575 and had 26 extra base hits, including nine homers. But Diaz struggles with strikeouts, much like other Twins minor leaguers, as he struck out nearly 19 percent of his at-bats a season ago. However, in his first three seasons in the minor league system, he hit .244 with 18 homers. The question with him is if last season was a mirage or if he will improve upon those numbers. He will have to cut down the strikeouts. Diaz will start the season in Cedar Rapids. He has the potential to be a great power hitter and was named the Twins Daily short season Minor League Hitter of the Year. 9. Adalberto Mejia, SP Mejia will enter his first full season with Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings after coming over from San Francisco’s organization in a trade for Eduardo Nunez last July. In four games with the Red Wings, Mejia went 2-2 with an ERA of 3.76. He also made his big league debut last season, starting one game. He did not have a decision in the game, allowing two runs in 2.1 innings. Mejia was in Baseball America’s top 100 last season, but failed to make it this season. In 146 at-bats, lefties slashed at a .205/.247/.303 clip. He will likely start the season as a starter in Rochester, but will be in Minneapolis at some point this season. He has four solid pitches, but I would not consider any truly dominant. I don’t see him as a top end starter, but he has the potential to eventually make it in the Twins rotation. 8. Travis Blankenhorn, 2B/3B After struggling in his rookie season, not hitting higher than .250 in either of his two stops in 2015, he had a very solid 2016, hitting a combined .293 between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids. He hit just three homers in the 53 games as a rookie, but blasted 10 last year. The 20-year-old returned to Elizabethton to start the season, hitting .297/.342/.558 for the Twins Rookie ball club. Blankenhorn had nine homers in 34 games before being promoted to the Low-A Cedar Rapids Kernels. In 25 games for the Kernels, he had just one homer, but still did slash .286/.356/.418. That is despite Blankenhorn being 2.5 years younger than the competition. There is no reason to think he can’t improve upon those numbers this season. He’ll make a return trip to Iowa and start the season for Cedar Rapids. If he puts up nice numbers once again, he’ll be in Fort Myers by the end of 2017. I am a huge fan of his and I think he has a chance to be a very good infielder for the big league club. I think he will be a perennial 20+ homer hitter in the bigs, barring injury of course. My prediction is that he will crack the top five prospect list for the Twins in 2018. 7. Wander Javier, SS I mentioned I think Blankenhorn will be in the top five of the Twins prospects starting next season. Well, Javier could also be in that same boat. He has the potential to crack the top five, but he has to stay healthy for the full year. Last year for the DSL Twins, Javier only played in nine games and had eight hits in 26 official at-bats for a .308 average. The high-priced 2015 International free agent will make his debut in the United States this season for the GCL Twins. He will need to add strength to his frame, but should be able to do that. If he has a nice start at the GCL, I could see the 18-year-old end the season in Elizabethton. 6. Kohl Stewart, SP Stewart is an interesting prospect. He was drafted in the top five in the 2013 draft and has really pitched well in the minors. In his four years in the minors to this point, his worst season was 2015 when he went 7-8 with an ERA of 3.20. That is solid production, but there is something missing. Last season, he was terrific in High-A Fort Myers, going 3-2 with a 2.61 ERA before being promoted to Double-A Chattanooga. With the Lookouts, he went 9-6 with an ERA of 3.03, but also a 1.47 WHIP, which was his highest in the minor leagues. He will go back to Chattanooga to try to improve those numbers and maybe be promoted to Rochester at some point in 2017. However, like I said, something is missing. I see him as a back-end start for the Twins, perhaps in 2018. Stewart can get people out in the minors, but he cannot miss bats, as they say. He really hit his stride at the end of the season, allowing just 11 earned runs over his final six games (38.2 IP), but he struck out just 16 batters and had 21 walks. That is not a good recipe for success. He could get away with that in the minors, but would pay dearly in the bigs. In April last season, Stewart was able to strike out 26 batters in his four starts (23.1 IP), but only struck out more than five in a game once in his last 21 starts. He will need to be able to prove he can strike out more batters in order for me to move him higher. If he doesn’t, he will be surpassed fairly quickly this season by Javier and Blankenhorn. The top five will be posted tomorrow. It is good to be back talking Twins baseball after me focusing on football the past several months.

Minnesota has a number of problems this season, as its record indicates. People are focusing most of the blame on General Manager Terry Ryan. I am here to tell you that while Ryan deserves his fair share, it is not just him. He gets the most heat, and rightfully so, since he is the general manager, but there is much blame to go around. There is a phrase that is going around when talking about the Twins, and that is ‘Total System Failure.’ Those three words seem appropriate considering where the Twins are, having the worst record in the league at 27-55, a game and a half worse than the Atlanta Braves, who have the second worst record. People criticize Ryan for everything, even things that are not his fault. However, he does sign the free agents and the results have been abysmal. Ervin Santana, Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes were brought in to try to stabilize the starting rotation and they have done anything but. Those three combine to make nearly $35 million this season, and Santana has done the best out of the three, going 2-7 with an ERA of 4.50 so far. That tells you all you need to know. Hughes, before he was injured, had an ERA of nearly 6. Those three pitchers have combined to go 6-21 with an ERA of 5.16. Ouch! These signings, along with the contract of Joe Mauer, have hurt the Twins recently. The problem has not been the unwillingness to spend money, but moreso that the players who have received the big money from the Twins have fallen flat on their faces. Minnesota will need to spend money more wisely moving forward. What Ryan has done well at in his return is drafting. Obviously, the players have to perform at the big league level, but a number of Ryan’s draft picks have done very well in the minors and are top prospects in the Twins organization, and the Twins have needed them to since the system was void of many top prospects when Ryan returned in November 2011. In his first draft. three of the Twins first five picks were Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and J.T. Chargois and those three are three of the top young players in the Twins organization. Ryan has also drafted other top prospects in the organization as well, such as Tyler Jay, Nick Gordon, Kohl Stewart and Stephen Gonsalves. People will rip Ryan by saying that top draft choices should be big time prospects, but some just don’t pan out. Look at Mark Appel for example. He was a huge prospect, but has been terrible so far in his minor league career. However, when looking at reasons why the Twins are terrible, Bill Smith should get some of the blame as well. Even though he has been gone for nearly five years, his poor drafting remains a cause for Minnesota’s disastrous season. Brian Dozier has easily been the best player Smith drafted, but they missed out on some top picks like Levi Michaels and Alex Wimmers. Draft picks take awhile to develop and the Ryan picks need a few more years to say if those picks are good or not. But virtually all of Smith’s picks have been a disaster. Also, many of the Twins fans complain about Joe Mauer's contract, and his contract is among the worst in the league, and it was Smith who gave him the big deal. Although, I don't blame Smith for that as the same people who complain about his contract would also be the first to rip the Twins for not re-signing the home state hero. It won’t happen, but I believe Ryan should go be a scout for the Twins. He is really good at drafting, but I do believe it is past time for a change. Minnesota needs to go outside the organization for a new general manager. The Twins need to get new blood in the organization and step outside of their comfort zone. It has not been just one person who has contributed to this catastrophic season they have had, but like has been pointed out by numerous fans, it has been a total system failure.

Thank you sir! I would like to see him move up as well and get rid of random guys like Logan Schafer. I don't think that will happen, though.

Last month, I compiled a list of my top five players who should be promoted. A little more than a month later, all five of those prospects have either been promoted or, in J.T. Chargois’ case, spent time at the next level. With those promotions, I thought it would be a good idea to give an updated list, so here is an updated version of my top five prospects who should be promoted: 5. Trevor Hildenberger, RP, Chattanooga I debated whether or not I should include Hildenberger on this list for the simple fact that he has only been in Chattanooga for two months. However, in those two months, he has been nothing short of dominant for the Lookouts. With Chattanooga, he has thrown 28.1 innings and has only allowed three runs on 15 hits for an ERA of just 0.95. He started the season in high-A Fort Myers and allowed one run in 9.1 innings, but he has elevated his game to another level. After allowing an opponents batting average of .282 with the Miracle early in the season, he has allowed teams to hit at just .156 clip since the move up to Double-A. His WHIP is also outstanding at 0.67 and he has a strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.8. His walks per nine innings is also solid at 1.3. I don’t know if they would promote him so shortly after being at Double-A for only two months, but I would expect him to be promoted to Triple-A Rochester by the end of the season. 4. Tyler Jay, SP, Fort Myers After going six starts with only allowing three runs combined, Jay has allowed eight in his previous eight innings (two starts). But still, he has done enough to be able to be promoted to Chattanooga. Jay has had two starts where he was hammered, which has inflated his ERA. His ERA is still a very solid 3.02, but has allowed 11 earned runs combined in two starts and 11 in the other 10 starts. His opponents batting average is .247, which needs to improve, as does his WHIP of 1.22. He still has a bit of work to do, but he deserves a promotion. Since he was a reliever at Illinois, Jay will be on an innings limit this year, so he could move up to Chattanooga and be in the bullpen. 3. Sam Clay, SP, Cedar Rapids Clay has struggled recently, having allowed 19 earned runs in his last six starts (28.1 innings) after having given up just five earned runs in his first 41 innings this season. That raised his ERA by two full runs. Perhaps his recent struggles is the reason that Fernando Romero was promoted before him. Maybe Miles Nordgren could pass him up too, but as of right now, I have Clay here. His opponent’s batting average is .226, which is solid, and his 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings rate is good as well. His WHIP of 1.33 needs to improve, as does his poor 4.7 walks per nine innings rate. He could move up to Fort Myers, along with Nordgren if both Jorge and Jay are promoted by the end of the season, which seems likely. 2. Felix Jorge, SP, Fort Myers Despite only being on Fort Myers for this year, it is about time to move up Jorge. He is destroying High-A right now. He has not allowed more than three runs in any one start this season, and he has allowed three in just one start. Jorge is coming off a start in which he had a season-high 10 strikeouts against Palm Beach. His strikeouts per nine innings rate is less than ideal at 7.7, but in every other statistic, Jorge dominates. He has an opponents batting average of .224 and a terrific 0.94 WHIP. He has also only allowed just three home runs on the year and his walks per nine innings rate is just 1.2. His 1.67 ERA leads the entire Twins system, so I expect Jorge to be in Chattanooga by the end of the season. 1. J.T. Chargois, RP, Rochester While Chargois did make an appearance with the big league club last month, that stay lasted only three days and he only made one appearance......and it did not go well. However, many players who went onto nice careers were shelled in their debuts. I believe he has earned another stint with the Twins, especially since their bullpen is a dumpster fire. Since being optioned back to Rochester, Chargois has picked up right where he left off. Since being recalled, he has allowed one run in nine innings. His opponent’s batting average is still very good at .190 and he has a WHIP of 0.94. He still has a strikeouts per nine innings rate of an impressive 11.8. With the Twins out of contention and in need of bullpen help, Chargois needs to be recalled so the big league club knows what they have in him to see if he will be a big part of future plans.

I have always been enamored with the history of sports, so I thought I would do a top five unbreakable records in Major League baseball. I cut it off at since 1930, so I have not included the Cy Young’s 511 wins, Charles Radbourn’s 59 wins in a season in 1884 or Will White’s 75 complete games in 1879 since those records are impossible to break. There are many records that most likely won’t ever be broken, but I narrowed it down to just five and here they are: 5. Nolan Ryan’s 2,795 walks This is a longevity record as much as anything. Ryan also holds the records for most strikeouts and no-hitters. It is like Brett Favre’s interception record in football. If you play long enough to be able to shatter a dubious record, you have to be a great player. Ryan played a major league record 27 years and had an incredible 2,795 walks. Nobody else even has 2,000 career walks. In fact, he nearly has 1,000 more walks than anyone else in MLB history. The next closest is Steve Carlton with 1,833 walks. Now that A.J. Burnett is not playing any more, there are now no active players even in the top 100 all-time in that category. To break this record, someone would have to have an incredibly long career and be great throughout his career, and I doubt anyone will even come close to touching this record. 4. Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak (1941) It was extremely hard to order these since this is one of those that will never be touched as well. The only recent player to even come close is Pete Rose in 1978, who had a 44-game hitting streak. Willie Keeler had a 45-game spanning two seasons in the late 1800s. One thing I think is interesting about his hitting streak is that the day after his hitting streak was broken, the Yankee Clipper started a hitting streak of 16 games. In 73 games, DiMaggio had a hit in 72 of them. Think about that. There have been only six 40+ game hitting streaks. Current Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura said it best when he said “With pitching the way it is—specialty guys, closer and setup guys—you’re not going to have a chance to get four at-bats against one guy. On one night, you might face four different guys. I'm still amazed DiMaggio got to 56. I’m amazed now when somebody gets to 30.” 3. Hack Wilson’s 191 RBI in a season (1930) Having more than an RBI a game is really impressive. Of the 21 players who have had 160 RBI in a season, only two have come since 1939, 165 by Cleveland’s Manny Ramirez in 1999 and 160 by Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs in 2001. Only Lou Gehrig’s 184 RBI in 1931 and Hank Greenberg’s 183 in 1937 were the only ones that even drove in 180 runs. Considering all the great players the past 75 years and no one has threatened Wilson’s record, I really do not see this record even threatened, much less broken in the future. 2. Nolan Ryan’s 5,714 strikeouts The walk record probably is the least likely, if you will, of the many Ryan records, but since that record is more dubious than this one, this lands at No. 2. Of course longevity is a major reason this record is so out of reach, but he still had more than 300 strikeouts six times and had at least 200 strikeouts a remarkable 15 times. Second on this list is Randy Johnson, and ‘The Big Unit’ is still 839 behind Ryan. Johnson is the only one within 1,000 strikeouts of Nolan and I don’t see this record being challenged ever again. 1. Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive games When Ripken passed Gehrig in consecutive games, there was no way anyone would surpass either one of them again. To get close, a player would have to play all 162 games for 16 consecutive years. Luck has as much to do with this streak as anything. One minor injury or one day feeling sick and the streak is over. That is what makes this streak that much more incredible. Gehrig, who used to have the record, played in 2,130 consecutive games. After that, the next closest player is Everett Scott, who had a streak of 1,307, which is not even half of Ripken’s streak. Only seven players have even had a streak of 1,000 consecutive games. Not many players even play 162 games in a given year, so I find it impossible to see a player play every single game for more than 16 consecutive seasons. As always, I always welcome feedback. I know I had to leave off some unbreakable records, so I would like to hear your opinion. What are some of your favorite unbreakable records?

The Chattanooga Lookouts are playing as well as any team in the minor leagues, having won 13 of their last 18 games. The catalyst has been slugger Daniel Palka, but others have chipped in as well to help the Lookouts go from seven games below the .500 mark to one game above. In the month of June, Palka has been unstoppable, leading Chattanooga to an 11-4 start to the month. The 24-year-old outfielder has a .288 batting average (15-52) with nine homers and 19 RBI. Palka was acquired in an offseason trade for catcher Chris Herrmann. He has been a big reason for the recent surge by the Lookouts, but not the only reason. The middle infielders have both been impressive over the past several games. Engelb Vielma, who many consider to be the best fielder in the Twins system, is hitting the ball extremely well. Since his return to Chattanooga, he is hitting at a .414 (12-29) clip. He won’t keep this pace up, but if he bats around the .300 mark all season, with his glove being arguably the best in the Twins system, he could work his way up the system and perhaps make the big leagues in either 2017 or 2018. Brazilian infielder Leonardo Reginatto has been even outperforming Vielma the past few weeks. Earlier this season, he had a 14-game hitting streak and has at least one hit in 18 of his last 21 games. Of those 18 games, Reginatto has multiple hits in nine of them. Since the hitting streak started on May 22, Reginatto has a batting average of .369 (31-84), rasing his season batting average 36 points in the process. Center fielder Zach Granite has been gold for the Lookouts this month. He has only been held hitless twice in the month of June. In said month, Granite has a .375 batting average (21-56) with seven of those 21 hits going for extra bases. He also has nine multi-hit games. His batting average was .255 at the start of the month and now it is at .283. As the weather has warmed up, so has Ganite’s bat. Finally, we cannot forget about the pitching staff. In the 14 games this month, the Lookouts have given up more than three runs in just four games and in two of those four that they did give up more than three, most of the runs were unearned. Chattanooga is on a current streak of nine consecutive games without allowing more than two earned runs in a game. This month, the Lookouts pitchers have an ERA of just 2.30, and just a 1.56 ERA in the past nine games. It would make sense why Chattanooga has won seven of those nine. Despite the loss today, Chattanooga still is second in the division in the Southern League North Division. It will be interesting to see if the Lookouts can keep it going or if they are just all hot at the same time, but right now, Doug Mientkiewicz has his team playing extremely well.

This is not a “story” as much as it just a rant. It is about the baseball draft. I have to mostly refrain myself from viewing comments on Twitter and Facebook and then also responding to the people who actually do make the comments. First of all, the MLB draft is about the future......as in three or four years from now. The number of people who complained about the first round pick of the Twins because their major league pitching staff is not any good makes my head spin. I don’t think any of them realize that most of the best prospects in the Twins organization are pitchers. Minnesota has Jose Berrios, Kohl Stewart, Tyler Jay and Stephen Gonsalves, just to name a few. The number of hitters toward the top of the prospects list is few and far between now that Byron Buxton and Max Kepler are up in the majors. Nick Gordon is near the top of the list, as is Jorge Polanco. But other than that......not much. In Seth’s midseason prospect rankings, there were only three non-pitchers in the top 10, and one of those (Kepler) was recently called up. When drafting in the MLB draft, teams have a number of factors to consider. For instance, if a player who drops quite a bit in the first round or maybe even into the second round and beyond, signability becomes a major concern. Unlike other drafts, there is a certain amount you can’t go over without sacrificing cash and drafting a lesser player in the next few rounds. So most often, you can’t just draft the best player available, especially if that player is a top-tier player and a high schooler, in the second or third round because that player will probably not sign. This goes along with what agent the player has. A Scott Boras player may be tougher to sign than another player who has a different agent. Teams will look at their board and see who they think is the best player available is. One of my biggest pet peeves, and this is about any draft and not just the MLB Draft, is when people complain when General Managers talk about how they drafted the player they feel is the best one available and they disagree. Those people see that a certain player is ranked higher by one of the draft experts than the player drafted by the team and they throw a fit. People seem to think they know more than people who, ya know, are paid to scout for a living and don’t just look at two clips and go off what the MLB Draft “experts” think. I, honestly, have never seen any of these players play either live or on television, and I am sure 99 percent of Twins fans are the same way, so I leave it to the people who are paid to make these decisions and so should the fans who are complaining. Okay, that should do it for my rant post. I feel a lot better now that I was able to get this off my chest.

The Minnesota Twins have been out of the playoff race since the first two weeks of the season and may be in position to trade some assets to contenders. I don’t think the Twins will be major sellers, but if the opportunity arises to trade a productive player who may not be in the long-term plans, the team will take a look into that. Here, I will give you my top five players who could be dealt by the Twins: 5. Fernando Abad, RP Abad has been lights out coming out of the Twins bullpen this year. The 30-year-old relief pitcher has pitched 22.2 innings so far and has an ERA of just 0.79. Since he is 30, I doubt he has much of a future with the Twins and he just signed a minor league contract this past offseason. A team that is in desperate use of a relief pitcher could come calling for Abad. I don’t think he is a likely trade candidate, but if the right deal presents itself, I would hope Terry Ryan would listen. Minnesota needs bullpen help in the worst way, but Abad is not in the Twins future plans. I doubt the Twins would be able to get a good prospect for him, but it is better to trade him now than lose him for nothing. 4. Brian Dozier, 2B Dozier is another one I do not see moving, but I would definitely make him available. The one negative is that he is having a rough year. He is hitting just .230 with seven homers and 25 RBI. However, he has hit better of late, having registered a hit in all but one game this month and is hitting a robust .350 in the month. If he gets his average to between .250 and .260 and has 13-15 homers before the deadline, he could be a valuable commodity to a team needs middle infield help. Also, the Twins are unsure if Jorge Polanco can be the every day shortstop as he commits too many errors. They might experiment with him at second base when he gets back up to the majors. Polanco’s bat is ready for the big leagues, but he needs work in the field. 3. Trevor Plouffe, 3B The Miguel Sano in right field experiment is an absolute disaster. I am not going to blame his injury on playing right field, but he makes the most routine plays look difficult. He just looks lost out there. He does not belong there. He should be playing third base like he had all throughout the minors. The only reason he is not at third right now is because Plouffe is there. Like Dozier, he has struggled this season. The California product is batting .239 with just four long balls and 16 RBI. A trade of Plouffe would allow Sano to come and play third and Eddie Rosario can play right field. With his contract of north of $7 million and having such little production, I doubt he will garner much attention in the trade market without the Twins willing to eat much of his salary. 2. Ervin Santana, SP Like the previous two, Santana has been a disaster this year. Santana is 1-6 with an ERA of near 5. For any player, let alone a pitcher who was supposed to be the ace of the staff, that is unacceptable. It will be tough to unload a pitcher with those stats, especially one with a contract as high as his is. I doubt Santana will be moved because of what I just mentioned, but the Twins should be open to dealing him. He is not as bad as his statistics show, though. It is just a matter of time before he turns it around and is respectable again. 1. Eduardo Nunez, SS There is not one player on the Twins who has more trade value right now than Nunez. He may be the All-Star representative for the team. According to MLB.com’s stats, Nunez is second in baseball among shortstops with a .327 batting average. His homers, slugging percentage, OPS and on base percentage are all in the top five as well among shortstops. Quite simply, he has been one of the best shortstops in the league this season. Nunez may never have more trade value than he has right now and a lot of teams would like a middle infielder like Eduardo on their team. I think he is the most likely to be traded and I do believe that he would fetch the most in return.

We are about a month away from the All-Star game, but it is about the time we can start thinking about who will be the Twins' representative for the All-Star game. There are no clear-cut favorites at this point, especially given the team's horrid start. However, even though the team is terrible, there have been a few bright spots on the team. I will give you a top three. 3. Joe Mauer, 1B If you were to ask this question a month ago, Mauer would probably have been No. 1 on this list. He got off to a terrific start, but cooled down considerably for a good portion in the month of May before turning it on the past few weeks. He has raised his batting average to .281 and has six homeruns, but just 21 RBI. Kansas City's Eric Hosmer and Detroit's Miguel Cabrera are having fantastic years, but after that it is a toss-up. He has the third highest batting average among American League first basemen, but I think his lack of homeruns and runs batted in will hurt him. However, if he keeps playing like he has the past few weeks, I see no reason why Mauer could not vault himself up to the top spot on this list. 2. Eduardo Nunez, SS Most people would put him as No. 1 on this list and I would have no complaints with that. Nunez has had a career year for the Twins. He is No. 2 in the entire league in batting average among shortstops at .337 and among the leaders in homeruns for a shortstop with nine. His lack of runs batted in may hurt, as he only has 24, but some of that has to do with players in front of him in the lineup not getting on base and leadoff hitters don't get many RBI chances. Ultimately, I believe the biggest reason he might not be the Twins All-Star representative is his position. There are so many great shortstops in the American League that it will be tough to beat out some of the others. It will be difficult for Nunez to beat out Francisco Lindor, Xander Bogarts, Carlos Correa and especially Manny Machado. 1. Fernando Abad, RP This may be a surprising choice for the top spot, but I think he is more than worthy. Abad has been a revelation this year after signing a minor league contract this past winter. In an otherwise leaky bullpen, he has stood out. He has only allowed two earned runs in 20.2 innings for an 0.87 ERA. He also has 21 strikeouts. In recent years, it seems like All-Star managers have been more willing to take set-up men. Even though there a number of good set-up men in the American League, Abad is certainly worth a roster spot and that is why he takes over the top spot. Feel free to rip away if you disagree...

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about who the top five prospects who should be promoted are. Earlier this week, two of them indeed were promoted when Kohl Stewart was promoted from Fort Myers to Double-A Chattanooga and Randy LeBlanc was promoted to High-A Fort Myers to take over Stewart's place in the rotation. Stewart had a bit of a rough last few starts in Fort Myers, giving up seven earned runs in 11 innings over his last two starts. But before then, he was lights out. He finished this season in Fort Myers at 3-2 with an ERA of 2.61. Even with the ERA like it was, the reason why he was promoted was he strikeout totals. They are vastly improved over a year ago. So far, Stewart has 44 strikeouts in 51.2 innings compared to just 71 over 129.1 innings in 2015. As for LeBlanc, he was nothing short of incredible for the Kernels this year. He ended up going 6-2 with an ERA of 0.74. He is not much of a prospect for the Twins, but he needed a new challenge and with Stewart's promotion to Chattanooga, the door opened for his promotion as well. As for who is next, conventional wisdom would think that one of the Fort Myers southpaws will be next, but not sure if it will be Stephen Gonsalves or 2015 No. 1 pick Tyler Jay. As of a few weeks ago, Gonsalves had the edge by a wide margin, but he has struggled his last two starts while Jay has surged. The last two starts, the San Diego product has allowed six earned runs in 11 innings and has allowed 13 hits. Jay is coming off his best start of the season, throwing eight shutout innings allowing two hits and he struck out 11 in a win vs. St. Lucie. Gonsalves still has better overall numbers in 2016, but the gap is closing quickly. In Jay's last five starts, he has allowed no runs three times and has not allowed more than two in any start since being roughed up on April 28. When Gonsalves or Jay is promoted, the biggest beneficiary will be Sam Clay. The Cedar Rapids southpaw has only allowed more than one run in a start once this season. He has an ERA of 2.13 and is need of a new challenge, much like his former teammate LeBlanc. However, he needs to lower his walk rate. He has walked 27 in 50.2 innings, a 4.8 walks per nine innings rate, which is way too high. He will need to work on that when he gets promoted to High-A Fort Myers. It amazes me that J.T. Chargois still has not made his big league debut yet. He has been lights out for the Red Wings so far. On Thursday, he finally allowed his first run for Rochester. In nine games, he has pitched 10 innings, allowing the one run on six hits while striking out an incredible 19 batters. In total this year, he has pitched 21.2 innings and has allowed three runs while striking out 33. With Minnesota's bullpen being a disaster, you'd think the Twins would try to do anything to fix the problem, but they have not. When he does get called up, Trevor Hildenberger will likely get a promotion from Double-A Chattanooga to Rochester. In 13 games for Chattanooga, Hildenberger has allowed two runs on nine hits in 17 innings for an ERA of 1.06. He has struck out 16 batters. Cedar Rapids' Michael Theofanopoulos is another relief pitcher who could be promoted soon as well. As far as hitters, LaMonte Wade is first in line for a promotion. Wade has cooled off recently, but is still hitting .320. He has struck out just 22 times in 172 at-bats and has walked 36 times. He has just 16 extra base hits, but that may eventually come as he matures. The 22-year-old may be down in Cedar Rapids, though, this entire year, as Edgar Corcino in Fort Myers is having a solid year and he is the starter in center for the Miracle. I think he will eventually be promoted, this year, though.

I think Tyler Jay could be moved up by the end of the season too. He has been pitching really well in the month of May, having allowed only one run in 19.1 innings so far...

I don't think Gordon should be moved up yet, personally. He has only been in Fort Myers for a month and a half, so I would like him to prove this isn't just a hot stretch and he can play this well for a whole season. He is only 20, so there is no rush to promote him...

We are a month and a half into the baseball season and the Minnesota Twins are a woeful 10-31, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in the league. Right now, most Twins fans should turn their attention to minor league baseball. There are a handful of minor leaguers in the Twins system who deserve a promotion. I tried to avoid players, especially younger ones, who have been at their respective level for only this season. Here are my top five:5. LaMonte Wade, OF, Cedar Rapids Wade has been tearing it up in Cedar Rapids so far this year. After having just a .143 batting average in Cedar Rapids last season (granted, it was just a four game sample size), he is is hitting at a .325/.421/.472 clip this season. He has shown to have a very good eye at the plate, striking out 18 times in 123 official at-bats and has more walks (22) than he does strikeouts. The 2015 ninth=round draft pick is also 22, so if the Maryland product keeps this up through the month of June, he is worthy of a promotion. His .893 OPS is also leading all of the Twins minor leaguers and his slugging percentage is third, behind only teammate A.J. Murray and top prospect Byron Buxton. 4. Randy LeBlanc, RHP, Cedar Rapids LeBlanc has been nothing short of incredible for the Kernels this year. He has allowed four earned runs in 46 innings. Yes, four! That is good enough for a microscopic 0.78 ERA. He had a solid season for Cedar Rapids last year, going 9-5 with an ERA just north of 3.00, but he has been even better this season. Now, I would not call him a great prospect, considering he is already 24 and still in Low-A ball, but he absolutely deserves a promotion, especially when one of the Fort Myers pitchers is promoted within the next few months. His WHIP of 0.87 is second in all of the Twins system and he has an opponents batting average of just .196. If he ever wants to sniff a chance at the majors, he needs to improve his strikeout total, as he just has 28 in his 46 innings. But with an ERA of less than 1, he needs a new challenge and will soon get it. 3. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP, Fort Myers If anyone has been more impressive than LeBlanc this season, it has been Gonsalves. After dominating in Cedar Rapids early last season, Gonsalves was promoted to Fort Myers and pitched well, registering a 7-2 record with a 2.61 ERA. He has been nothing short of incredible this season, going 5-1 and having an ERA of 1.27 in seven starts. If you dig into his stats a little more, it makes his season that much more impressive. He has a WHIP of 0.84, which is tops in all of the Twins system and an opposing batting average of .152. After a season-opening start in which he gave up three runs in six innings in a loss to Bradenton, the southpaw has given up only three runs total in his last six starts (36.2 innings). His K/9 from Cedar Rapids was unattainable in Fort Myers as he struck out 77 batters in just 55 innings, but this season's 8.02 K/9 in still very solid. If there is room in Chattanooga, Gonsalves will be promoted shortly. 2. Kohl Stewart, RHP, Fort Myers Last year in his first season at High-A, Stewart pitched decently for Fort Myers, but still had a high opponents batting average and was still not striking out very many. A year ago, the 2013 first-round pick struck out just 71 batters in 129.1 innings for just 4.94 strikeouts per nine innings. This year has been a complete turnaround. Not only has he had his way with opposing hitters, his strikeouts per nine innings rate is miles better than 2015. He has struck out 37 in 40.2 innings so far for an 8.19 K/9 to go along with his 3-1 record with a sparkling 1.77 ERA. His opponents batting average also stands out at .185 with a WHIP of 0.98. His major improvement from 2015 has earned him a promotion that will likely come this summer. 1. J.T. Chargois, RHP, Rochester It is unfortunate that he has to settle for being on this list, considering he has done more than enough to be a part of the big league club. Chargois has been lights out for Chattanooga and Rochester this season. So far on the year, Chargois has pitched 17.1 innings split between the two teams and has allowed a total of two earned runs. In Rochester, he has pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and has allowed just two hits, while striking out an incredible 13. Obviously that won't hold up, but that is an eye-popping 20.65 strikeouts per nine innings. Even if you include his stint in Chattanooga this year, his K/9 is still 14.02. For a team that has a bullpen as bad as the Twins, there is no reason that Chargois should not be on the big league club and I have a feeling if he keeps it up, he will be up sooner rather than later. What do you think of this group of five, and are there other minor leaguers you feel are ready or in need of a promotion? Click here to view the article

We are a month and a half into the baseball season and the Minnesota Twins are a woeful 10-30, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in the league. Right now, most Twins fans should turn their attention to minor league baseball. There are a handful of minor leaguers in the Twins system who deserve a promotion. I tried to avoid players, especially younger ones, who have only been at their respective level for only this season. Here are my top five: 5. LaMonte Wade, OF, Cedar Rapids Wade has been tearing it up in Cedar Rapids so far this year. After having just a .143 batting average in Cedar Rapids last season (granted, it was just a four game sample size), he is is hitting at a .325/.421/.472 clip this season. He has shown to have a very good eye at the plate, striking out 18 times in 123 official at-bats and has more walks (22) than he does strikeouts. The 2015 ninth round draft pick is also 22, so if the Maryland product keeps this up through the month of June, he is worthy of a promotion. His .893 OPS is also leading all of the Twins minor leaguers and his slugging percentage is third, only behind teammate A.J. Murray and top prospect Byron Buxton. 4. Randy LeBlanc, RHP, Cedar Rapids LeBlanc has been nothing short of incredible for the Kernels this year. He has allowed four earned runs in 46 innings. Yes, four! That is good enough for a microscopic 0.78 ERA. He had a solid season for Cedar Rapids last year, going 9-5 with an ERA just north of 3.00, but he has been even better this season. Now, I would not call him a great prospect, considering he is already 24 and still in Low-A ball, but he absolutely deserves a promotion, especially when one of the Fort Myers pitchers is promoted within the next few months. His WHIP of 0.87 is second in the all of the Twins system and he has an opponents batting average of just .196. If he ever wants to sniff a chance at the majors, he needs to improve his strikeout total, as he just has 28 in his 46 innings. But with an ERA of less than 1, he needs a new challenge and will soon get it. 3. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP, Fort Myers If anyone has been more impressive than LeBlanc this season, it has been Gonsalves. After dominating in Cedar Rapids early last season, Gonsalves was promoted to Fort Myers and pitched well, registering a 7-2 record with a 2.61 ERA. He has been nothing short of incredible this season, going 5-1 and having an ERA of 1.27 in seven starts. If you dig into his stats a little more, it makes it that much more impressive. He has a WHIP of 0.84, which is tops in all of the Twins system and an opposing batting average of .152. After a season-opening start in which he gave up three runs in six innings in a loss to Bradenton, the southpaw has only given up three runs total in his last six starts (36.2 innings). His K/9 from Cedar Rapids was unattainable in Fort Myers as he struck out 77 batters in just 55 innings, but this season's 8.02 K/9 in still very solid. If there is room in Chattanooga, Gonsalves will be promoted shortly. 2. Kohl Stewart, RHP, Fort Myers Last year in his first season at high-A, Stewart pitched decent for Fort Myers, but still had a high opponents batting average and was still not striking very many out. A year ago, the 2013 first round pick struck out just 71 batters in 129.1 innings for just 4.94 strikeouts per nine innings. This year has been a complete turnaround. Not only has he had his way with opposing hitters, his strikeouts per nine innings rate is miles better than 2015. He has struck out 37 in 40.2 innings so far for an 8.19 K/9 to go along with his 3-1 record with a sparkling 1.77 ERA. His opponents batting average also stands out at .185 with a WHIP of 0.98. His major improvement from 2015 has earned him a promotion that will likely come this summer. 1. J.T. Chargois, RHP, Rochester It is unfortunate that he has to settle for being on this list, considering he has done more than enough to be a part of the big league club. Chargois has been lights out for Chattanooga and Rochester this season. So far on the year, Chargois has pitched 17.1 innings split between the two teams and has allowed a total of two earned runs. In Rochester, he has pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and has allowed just two hits, while striking out an incredible 13. Obviously that won't hold up, but that is an eye-popping 20.65 strikeouts per nine innings. Even if you include his stint in Chattanooga this year, his K/9 is still 14.02. For a team that has a bullpen as bad as the Twins, there is no reason that Chargois should not be on the big league club and I have a feeling if he keeps it up, he will be sooner rather than later.