Minnesota Twins Top 20 Prospects

Francisco Liriano
Minnesota Twins Top 20 Prospects for 2006
- Francisco Liriano, LHP, Grade A
- Scott Baker, RHP, B+
- Anthony Swarzak, RHP, B+
- Matt Garza, RHP, B+
- Matt Moses, 3B, B
- Jason Kubel, OF, B
- Jay Rainville, RHP, B (grade change from book, increase from B- to Grade B)
- Kevin Slowey, RHP, B
- Adam Harben, RHP, B
- Boof Bonser, RHP, B-
- Jose Mijares, LHP, B-
- Alex Romero, OF, B-
- Glen Perkins, LHP, B- (grade change from book, increase from C+ to B-)
- Trevor Plouffe, SS, C+
- Kyle Waldrop, RHP, C+
- Denard Span, OF, C+
- Brian Duensing, LHP, C+
- J.D. Durbin, RHP, C+
- Ryan Mullins, LHP, C+
- Juan Portes, 2B, C+
Breakout candidates for 2006 include lefty Brian Duensing and infielder Juan Portes.
The Twins have tremendous pitching depth, but are weaker on the positional side. Moses and Kubel are the only two guys with plus power potential, and both have health questions.
Feel free to critique.
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Finally here!
I don't remember how it was done last year, but whoever figured the way to rank the total farm system with a points system, i hope you're here to do it again.
by ohad @ Minor League Ball on Feb 6, 2006 1:20 PM EST reply actions
Kubel
Well
by Tettleton @ Minor League Ball on Feb 7, 2006 11:42 AM EST up reply actions
Prospect Eligibility
What??
"Borderline"
Where do Developing Major League Players Fit?
The Twins have several players who are in somewhat the same boat as Baker. Tiffee, Bowen, Rodriguez and Bartlett all fit in the category of not yet major league players but no longer minor leaguers either. I'd be curious as to where they fit into the top 20 prospects. My guess is that Bartlett, at least, would be somewhere on that list if he had played a bit less in Minnesota and a bit more at Rochester last year.
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 8, 2006 10:10 AM EST up reply actions
Works for me.
Duensing
What changed you grade on Rainville?
Also........
Duensing was NU's ace Friday starter before his injury, completely dominant. Tabbing him as a breakout for 2006 is a great call by John.
Kubel's rank, plus power potential
I cannot see anything other than Kubel just raking at the big league level, once he gets back his timing. For that reason, I cannot really understand why he would be sixth instead of third. Garza (wow, you must know something here) and Swarzak (especially) are top prospect pitchers, but they're pitchers, and they've never pitched above A ball, and Garza's only pitched 10 games at low A as a "college" pitcher. It's possible, but I doubt that Moses will ever hit as well as Kubel will on some of Kubel's "average" years. Swarzak at A+ at 19 yrs was kind of sick, though he will be back at Ft. Myers.
As for plus power potential, you mention only Kubel and Moses, but what about Romero? I know the knock, but you realize he hit most of his 15 homers (in a pitcher's league) and started killing the ball after changing his mechanics midway through 2005. Seems there could well be plus power potential there, too.
Something tells me Juan Portes will have some serious smack (please let it be the good kind) in his bat, too. And don't forget Henry Sanchez, who was coming off a hand injury AND who played without his contacts (they are special, apparently) the first part of his short, short season.
by tmelander on Feb 6, 2006 1:41 PM EST reply actions
Alexi Cassilla and Justin Jones
Casilla and Jones
by tmelander on Feb 6, 2006 2:13 PM EST reply actions
i think
yeah, here it is: http://www.minorleagueball.com/story/2006/2/3/121356/4734
He rates Casilla a C+, and questions his bat.
by Azteca on Feb 6, 2006 2:24 PM EST up reply actions
Portes
I'm also curious about the reason for having Garza, Slowey and Duensing from this year's draft on the list, but not Sanchez, Kelly and Thompson. Is the fact that the first three guys are college players the only reason? Do you think the Twins overdrafted the three high school kids?
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 6, 2006 2:20 PM EST reply actions
Liriano/Baker
Questions and Comments
Out of curiosity, where did Alex Smit fall? A-level relievers don't constitute top-20 prospects, but from what I can tell he has some dang good stuff, and is pretty young. He may go Franciso Rodriguez on baseball one of these years.
One nit-pick, and it truly is: I am somewhat surprised that Liriano is a solid A prospect. Given that 2005 was his first healthy year basically ever, I'd think he'd warrant an A-.
Liriano is already
And then the same for Baker. Learning from Radke and all. DARNIT!
The Twins staff is sick. Not that Radke is top tier anymore, but a back to back Johan/Liriano with Baker and Radke in the mix?!?!
I'd stil take the A's with more depth (in the majors), but Liriano/Santana makes me wanna sh** my pants. And they got more on the way.
by ohad @ Minor League Ball on Feb 6, 2006 2:34 PM EST reply actions
it's really absurd
apropos of nothing, i find it mildly interesting/bizarre that liriano and baker are so similar (at least potentially) to santana and radke. they might have a rotation consisting of santana, radke, santana v2.0, radke v2.0, and perhaps my favorite, carlos silva.
Silva...
by abbreviatedman on Feb 6, 2006 8:04 PM EST up reply actions
But what about hitting
If the Twins don't get some offense, those guys made need to throw a shut out most nights.
by picard on Feb 7, 2006 11:20 AM EST up reply actions
Twins hitting
Mauer, Kubel and Morneau imo will be good MLB hitters, all are young, I expect morneau to bounce back this year, mauer will only become better and kubel will be a beast.
Some OF prospects like Span and Alex Romero have the makings of solid players, and they aren't far off.
Castillo is a good 2nd basemen and has probably 4-5 years left. At 2nd base they have some solid prospects in Juan Portes ( big bat ) and alexi casilla.
SS- they got some players at lower minors who are 3 years off probably, in plouffe, paul kelly, andrew thompson. Bartlett could emerge as a good hitter as well also.
3rd base- Matt Moses, and David Winfree ( big bat, voted twins best minor league hitter) offer lots of hope for that position, those guys should be ready in 1-3 years.
1st base/DH- Henry Sanchez could be osmething in the future, danny matienzo has a chance to be a solid DH.
They don't have any delmon youngs waiting...( well kubel aint 1/2 bad) but they have some guys coming up who give hope and mauer, morny, kubel, hunter is a solid core as of right now.
by hotshotschamp on Feb 7, 2006 11:38 AM EST up reply actions
Castillo
Players like Castillo age rather poorly. It's likely he'll fall off a cliff hear in the near future.
i agree
all that said, i like castillo for this year and maybe even next year. but when his legs go, he'll go from good to awful overnight.
Expanding the definition further
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 8, 2006 11:10 AM EST up reply actions
wrong about biggio
Orlando Hudson=.219
Coco Crisp=.259
Biggio=.283
So even though his average has slipped he steals bags with tremendous precision gets on enough and slugs with the big boys.
sorry
offense
But you're right about the weak offense. FWIW, a company line this offseason was that a big reason the offense faltered was the pressure and expectations placed on the young guys Mauer and Morneau (I think this angle has been overblown, but there's probably some truth to it, especially with Morneau). Well, even after all the offseason machinations, those two will still be expected to shoulder much of the task. I still think Morneau might be the team's biggest wild card.
The Twins take a wise approach with pitching by valuing quantity. Terry Ryan's been quoted a couple of times saying something to the effect that if you have 10 pitching prospects, 2 of them might end up being decent. Would it help if Ryan had a little bit of Schurholtz in him when it came to dealing prospects? Maybe, but who knows? I also think the quality of the Twins system might have actually hindered them in their trade attempts this year. That is, when you're talking with the Twins, close-to ML-ready guys like Perkins, Bonser, Durbin, etc. who otherwise might be intriguing don't seem nearly as much so because Baker and Liriano are in the fold. And indeed, two widely reported targets Ryan discussed this year--Hank Blalock and Lyle Overbay--went nowhere because the Rangers and Brewers wanted one of those two in the deal.
Your sample hitters
It's a good question, but don't prejudice the answer by asking the question too narrowly.
This team scored the fewest runs of any team in the league last year and still managed to win 83 games. Upgrading several positions in the order will help it win a lot more games (Rivas-Castillo, LeCroy-White, Jones-Kubel, Castro-Bartlett, a full year of Hunter [hopefully], and expected upgrades for Mauer and Morneau based on age and experience). It's tough to project regression, but I would expect Stewart to stay steady state based on better protection in the order. And Ford is a good injury replacement for Stewart. Batista is a big fat question mark, but worst case you stick Cuddyer back there and project some improvement based on age and experience.
My answer is it is enough offense to add 10-15 wins to the 2005 totals, depending on situational hitting. That puts the team in solid contention for a wild card, if not the division.
Boof Bonser
Glen Perkins
Perk at play
I thought he showed a lot of his talent in the AFL. He is a quality college lefty. Just being a lefty should help him to some degree.
Bonser
As ohad said, this system is DEEP in pitching, although there is a gap. There are seven or eight guys (from Santana to Bonser) starting or probably ready to start in the bigs, but then the next wave (a much bigger wave at this at this point) is a group headed by AA newbies Perkins (only sort of a newbie), Jones, and Harben. From there on down, the system is FLUSH.
I'll repeat the Midwest League mgr who said that normally has five players overall who can be considered legitimate prospects--the Beloit Twins had ten pitchers.
by tmelander on Feb 6, 2006 3:39 PM EST reply actions
Oops
by tmelander on Feb 6, 2006 3:42 PM EST up reply actions
Durbin
Durbin vs Bonser
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 6, 2006 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
Jason Grove's Status
When he was re-assigned to Trenton last spring, Grove asked out of his contract and was granted his wish, only to find there was no need for his talents in other farm systems.
Now 27 (or soon-to-be), and on the extreme upper-end, in regards to age, of most prospects, I'm curious to know if there is any speculation on Grove's arrival to the Twins organization.
It seems reasonably certain he'd not have made John's book, after a year removed from the game - but is there a reasonable chance he could still progress past AAA?
Anything could happen, but...
by tmelander on Feb 7, 2006 2:46 PM EST up reply actions
Lists
That poll
People get their hopes for rookie prospects up so high sometimes. There is usually anjustment period you know, though Liriano has got some of that out of the way alreaduy
That's minor league followers for you.
by abbreviatedman on Feb 6, 2006 9:17 PM EST up reply actions
190 innings?!
Innings Pitched
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 6, 2006 10:17 PM EST up reply actions
Ceiling?
Thanks for the rankings... it's awesome to see, as are the comments from others.
Swarzak and Garza
I'm really curious to see what Kevin Slowey does next year.
Romero
by joeywyen @ Minor League Ball on Feb 7, 2006 12:45 AM EST reply actions
Eduardo Morlan
There are also not 19 guys id rather have in my system then Henry Sanchez based on potential...which prospects really are.
Any insight
Certainty v Ceiling
I don't think Portes, Bonser, Mullins or Romero belong on the list above him and I think you can say the same thing about Kelly, the Twins second round choice this year.
The Twins are deep enough though that you can probably take any four prospects on the list and its very likely at least one of them will contribute at the major league level at some point. Romero and Bonser are certainly more likely to be one of those at this point than Sanchez or Kelly.
There is always a balance between skills and tools. John's evalutations seem to give more weight to certainty (developed skills) rather than ceiling (tools). I assume that is why Kelly and Sanchez aren't on the list, but guys like Romero and Bonser are.
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 7, 2006 9:40 AM EST reply actions
Bonser
As for Morlan, I rank him as the 10th best pitching prospect in the Twins system, based more on tools (99 MPH fastball) than skills at this point, though he did dominate in the Midwest League last year. Considering that there are only eight position players in my top 20 (counting Romero), Morlan ranks 18th on my list, one ahead of Bonser and two ahead of Durbin.
Bonser
by TT @ Minor League Ball on Feb 7, 2006 11:45 AM EST up reply actions
Liriano Vs. Papelbon
It was a 10:00 am start at Double-A New Britain for Liriano vs. Papelbon. It was one of the best pitching duels I saw all year (majors included).
Both pitchers looked downright overpowering. I would say I was a little more impressed with Liriano. He was painting corners with a 97 mph fastball and made it look easy. His offspeed stuff made good prospects like Pedroia, Ramirez and Moss look downright silly. Although I think Pedroia had an infield hit.
Both pitchers had no hitters trough 6.
Truly a beautiful thing to watch.
in my opinion
by calabrohuaca on Dec 21, 2006 9:53 PM EST reply actions

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