Angel Morales an emerging prospect?

Response

Morales’ K/BB ratio has improved greatly over the past 2 months, but his 40% or so K rate is still alarming. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in full season ball!

http://baseballhandyman.blogspot.com/2008/08/impress-your-buds-angel-morales-of-min.html

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 17, 2008 8:13 AM EDT reply actions

Nice Blog

I suggest for everyone to read into it.

by cwhitman412 on Aug 17, 2008 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Very exciting player

I remember being very high on him last year, and it seems like he’s beginning to realize his potential even earlier than many predicted. If the power is legit he really has unlimited potential.

Founder of the Rowdy Hardy Fan Club

by eazyb81 on Aug 17, 2008 11:53 AM EDT reply actions

Twins have the potential

for a very strong defensive outfield in a few years.

Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted.

by t ball on Aug 17, 2008 8:04 PM EDT reply actions

Twins probably have the best CF depth of any system

*Denard Span (24): Good defense, good hitter, gap power, good on-base skills, good speed (still needs refining). AAA: .340/.434/.481 Majors: .315/.394/.451
*Carlos Gomez (22): Could be 5-tooler, great tools → poor skills, great arm, lightning speed. Majors: .250/.286/.338
*Jason Pridie (24): Great defense, good power for CF, good speed, bad on-base skills. AAA: .279/.315/.449
*Dustin Martin (24): Good all around player though not great at any single aspect. AA: .289/.356/.443
*Ben Revere (20): Great hitter with lots of contact, gap power, good defense (minus arm), great speed. A: .379/.433/.499
*Angel Morales (18): Series 5-tool potential, showing outstanding power, good speed, solid defense with cannon arm, on-base skills too! R: .329/.431/.683
*Aaron Hicks (18): Series 5-tool potential, good power (maybe), good speed, great defense, great on-base skills. R: .303/.397/.467

Certainly a lot to look forward to for Twins fans. Having 3 of those guys in the same lineup would be one thing, but think about if you could have 3 center-fielders patrolling the Minnesota outfield? Also be nice for management to have some tradable assets that aren’t pitchers.

Gardenhire's major league career: Banjo hitting, futility infielder who couldn't lick it.
Rick Anderson's major league career: Strikethrower who never made it happen with his sub 90's fastball.
Really gives a new definition to living vicariously through other people, don't it?

by caseintheface on Aug 17, 2008 10:19 PM EDT reply actions

Remember Joe Benson...

I miss that guy. Another five tool center fielder with promise, but with so much talent coming up behind him, he’ll have to figure things out in a hurry or play a new position.

"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"

by maxisagod on Aug 17, 2008 10:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Skeptical about Twins with hitting prospects

The Twins are always sort of guilty until proven innocent with me when it comes to hitting prospects. I mean, in the last ten years, they’ve developed what? Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Casilla? Mauer was drafted 1-1, they dragged their feet with Morneau, and it’s miraculous that Cuddyer’s worth anything after they jerked him around so much (he’d sure be more valuable if they had just given him a chance at 3B). They have a lot of these very athletic guys now, and Revere and Morales look great, but I have little faith in the Twins with young hitters. It would also be nice if the Twins would give Gomez some time in the minors rather than completely ignoring his lack of ready-now skills like the Mets did.

by aap212 on Aug 18, 2008 2:30 AM EDT reply actions

Alarming Gap

There’s a big gap between their developed major leaguers and the hitting prospects they now have who are all in the very low minors. Casilla and Span are okay, but these guys aren’t difference makers.

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 18, 2008 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe

I’m not sure what you would classify as a “difference maker” but Span and Casilla could both provide average to above-average defense, excellent speed, and above-average on-base percentages. If they can each get on base at a 36-37% or higher clip ahead of Mauer/Morneau, that seems to be an outstanding top 4 of the lineup. Span this year has an OBP of .394 and his career minor league OBP is .355. Casilla this year has an OBP of .351 and his career minor league OBP is .367, so neither of those projections appear too far out of line. Plus, Casilla and Span are only 24, so they could easily improve over the next few years.

by Diggity Dino on Aug 18, 2008 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Solid regulars

I don’t mean to knock Casilla and Span. I like those guys, even if I’m not totally sure I buy Span’s strong season given his track record. I’m just saying, the Twins have had a much greater knack for pitchers, and have had alarming attrition rates with their young hitters, so I’m skeptical about the young toolsy projects.

by aap212 on Aug 18, 2008 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Skeptical

Sure, the Twins have had great success developing pitchers. But when I look at the current team, I see quite a bit of success developing hitters.
(all ages provided by b-ref.com)

Mauer – 25 year old, developed by the team, career 127 OPS+
Morneau – 27 year old, developed by the team, career 122 OPS+
Kubel – 26 year old, developed by the team, 121 OPS+ this year.
Cuddyer – 29 year old, developed by the team, 106 OPS+ including 2 years at 124 and 111 before injuries knocked him down this year.
Span – not terribly impressive in the minors, but could get a very high OBP with above average D. Only 24.
Casilla – acquired in trade, only 23 (just turned 24), also could provide huge OBPs.

That is 6 regulars who could all be above average at their positions, all under the age of 30. And that doesn’t even include Carlos Gomez or Delmon Young, two 22 year old outfielders (and Delmon is at least a league-average hitter this year). That pretty much only leaves 2 positions that are below-average, all with guys under the age of 30. Knock the Twins offense all you want, but there is some serious potential there.

by Diggity Dino on Aug 18, 2008 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow I dunno about that.....

The twins are a 17 game over .500 ballclub who has put up good batting numbers, runs scored numbers. So they don’t have home run numbers, they still score plenty of runs.

The main parts of the offense revolve around guys they have developed….

-Morneau
-Mauer
-Kubel ( yes he’s been very good this year )
-casilla
-Span
-Cuddyer ( hurt)

That is pretty much their core, with Delmon Young who is showing signs of turning the corner and Carlos gomez who is not….

I think the twins do just fine producing hitting prospects, they may not all be the sexy 40 hr guys but they do have a batting champ and MVP and good filler around them. Denard Span is looking freaking great as a leadoff guy right now. Such a patient hitter who can hit for average.

by hotshotschamp on Aug 18, 2008 4:03 AM EDT reply actions

+1 on the response

They have developed some nice bats, but the next wave are very far away. I always believed that Johan should have been dealt for bats with their ability to develop pitching. I think they missed an opportunity there.

Mike Newman
baseballhandyman.blogspot.com

by Baseball Handyman on Aug 18, 2008 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions

But...

The names mentioned above are all signed through 2011. Technically they need a 3B and a SS and they are pretty set.

3B – Current is a platoon of Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris. AAA includes Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Matt Macri. AA has Danny Valencia. In other words, no sure thing, but enough to hope that one of them or a combination of two of them can be league average. I suppose Matt Tolbert is in that picture too.

SS – Current – Adam Everett and Nick Punto – it’s all about defense there. AAA has Sergio Santos, Macri and Ploufe. AA has Steve Tolleson who is greatly underrated at this point. Certainly that is a position of need.

But if a team is pretty well set for the next 3-5 years at 9 out of 10 positions and has five starting pitchers under the age of 27 who would all be under control for at least three or four more years (Liriano, Baker, Perkins, Slowey, Blackburn) with guys like Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak in the wings. Joe Nathan is set up for another three years.

In other words, there may not be a lot of high ceiling prospects in the Twins system right now, but that next wave will be ready (hopefully) by the time that several of them hit free agency.

by SethSpeaks on Aug 18, 2008 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

I was just going to mention Luke Hughes as well. Another interesting thought as to what the Twins might do next year for SS. I don’t see Plouffe being ready yet as he’s not even hitting extremely well at AAA this year. He needs another year there so I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Twins possibly resign Adam Everett to a one year deal. I’d rather have that than Punto and with the way Everett has played since finally coming off the DL I don’t know that it would be that awful of an idea. Keeping the MI a strong point defensively could go a long way in keeping their young pitchers confidence up and stopping them from falling apart mentally.

The other option would be for the Twins to possibly package a young starter at AAA (Duensing, Swarzak, Humber, Mulvey) and one of their toolsy outfield prospects for a young but major league ready SS. I’m not sure who that would be as I’m not too familiar with other teams farm systems.

I like what they’ve got for 3B between Harris/Buscher and then Hughes and Valencia waiting in the wings. Hughes could use more time at AAA but would be a platoon option with Buscher early to mid 2009. Valencia should spend all of next year between AA and AAA and be ready sometime in 2010. I’m ok with a Harris/Buscher platoon until that time.

Peyton's good but have you ever heard of Jeff George?

by halfchest on Aug 18, 2008 5:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Elvis Andrus

In AA in the Texas system and only 20 years old (do well to stay with our theme of young talent). He’s young for his level but he’s gotten better every month this year except he’s tailed off a bit in August. He would solve our SS problem for many years, though he probably wont be ready until at least half way through next year. Leadership skills are off the charts (which is a must with Gardy) and is a top tier defender. Right now he’s a singles hitter with amazing speed and already posses great base-stealing instincts. Like Revere he might eventually develop average power. Texas should be set with the relationship Young and Kinsler have developed at the major league level. Texas obviously needs starting pitching help and could probably use another solid outfielder. Looks like a good match to me!
AA: .287/.344/.362 w/ 48 SB’s in 63 attempts

Gardenhire's major league career: Banjo hitting, futility infielder who couldn't lick it.
Rick Anderson's major league career: Strikethrower who never made it happen with his sub 90's fastball.
Really gives a new definition to living vicariously through other people, don't it?

by caseintheface on Aug 18, 2008 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions

so your suggesting..

An Elvis Andrus swap for a couple of young Twins pitchers?

Like Maybe Humber and Swarzak?

I don’t know, I think Elvis Andrus is being rushed through the systems he’s been in to this point, a la Carlos Gomez.
I would prefer Carlos Truenefel of the Mariners even though he projects as a third basemen now a days anyway….

With Bill Smith at the helm, from my point of view theres almost certainly going to be more hot steamy action coming again this off-season. Duensing, Manship, Humber, Mulvey, Swarzak a combo of 2 or 3 of those guys should draw league-wide interest in another trade for a Good Young hitter, Just Not Elvis Andrus.

Good Thoughts good

BTW, Angel Morales needs someone to tell him NOT to take any pointers from watching Carlos Gomez’ and Delmon Youngs’ Strike Zone judgement ….because if he does Morales would be royally screwed.

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Aug 18, 2008 11:46 PM EDT reply actions

SS

I would suggest aiming at the Dodgers, particularly Ivan DeJesus—great range, nice speed, great OBP. Hell, if they’re willing to deal Carlos Santana and Meloan for Casey Blake, you could probably get DeJesus and Austin Gallagher for Boof Bonser, Swarzak and Joe Benson.

by gogotabata on Aug 18, 2008 11:57 PM EDT reply actions