BP Twins Top 11

by phantom @ Minor League Ball on Nov 27, 2007 5:38 PM EST

Four-Star Prospects
1. Ben Revere, CF
Three-Star Prospects

Anthony Swarzak, RHP
Jeff Manship, RHP
Eduardo Morlan, RHP
Tyler Robertson, LHP
Nick Blackburn, RHP
Brian Duensing, LHP
Trevor Plouffe, SS

Two-Star Prospects

Chris Parmelee, OF
David Bromberg, RHP
Joe Benson, OF

Just Missing: Angel Morales, OF; Yohan Pino, RHP; Oswaldo Sosa, RHP

1. Ben Revere, CF
DOB: 5/3/88
Height/Weight: 5-9/175
Bats/Throws: L/R
Drafted: 1st round, 2007, Lexington Catholic HS (KY)
2007 Stats: .325/.388/.461 at Rookie-level (50 G)

Year In Review: A surprising first-round pick, Revere justified the selection with a dazzling showing in the Gulf Coast League, which included 10 triples and 21 stolen bases in 50 games.
The Good: Few players in baseball at any level can match Revere's game-changing speed. He turns ground-ball outs into singles, singles into doubles, and doubles into triples, and he covers a ton of ground in center field. He's also an adept hitter with a quick short swing and surprising pop for his size. He gets high praise for his makeup, and brings high energy to every aspect of his game.
The Bad: Small and slightly built, Revere will never develop more than his already-existing gap power. Profiling as a pure leadoff man, Revere needs to develop a more patient approach. His arm is below average.
Fun Fact: Revere's father was a 19th-round pick in 1972 by the Astros, and his older brother J.R. was a 49th-round selection by the Rockies in 2001.
Perfect World Projection: A dynamic leadoff man who is among the league leaders in triples, stolen bases, and hopefully runs scored on an annual basis.
Timetable: The Twins tend to let a player's talent dictate his timetable, and Revere's opening salvo showed the Twins that he's ready for a full-season league. He'll begin 2008 in the Midwest League.

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Comments

morlan is a better 'spec than manship

but everyone seems to underrate the value of a quality reliever.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEPTH REPORTS (link fixed)
variables don't; constants aren't

by overlord on Nov 27, 2007 5:31 PM EST reply actions

Wow

Everyone is REALLY down on Parmelee. Color me surprised, since his peripherals suggest he really did not have nearly as bad of a year as the stats suggest.

by guru4u on Nov 27, 2007 5:49 PM EST reply actions

Revere?

So everybody pans this pick when it was made and now, after one summer in the GCL, he's a 4 star? And what was Parmelee after his first pro summer?

by DrBGiantsfan on Nov 27, 2007 5:55 PM EST reply actions

yea...

well said about Revere. he's a decent prospect but one year in the GCL shouldn't change THAT much.

by doublestix on Nov 27, 2007 5:59 PM EST up reply actions

Oswaldo Sosa

Anybody else surprised not to see him rank as at best two-star honourable mention? Kevin Goldstein generally has pretty good reasons for raking players as he does. Sosa's stats have been pretty good (2.23 ERA / 7k/9 / 3bb/9 at High A; tailed off a little in 9 AA starts). I understand that he may not have an "out pitch", but he has, like seemingly all Twins pitchers, good control and also has a good ability to induce ground balls. I'd appreciate other people's thoughts.

by Mario66 on Nov 27, 2007 6:17 PM EST reply actions

Sosa

I have followed him awhile..and he is one of my guys I feel is way under the radar. I recall there being talk of him becoming a reliever..is he a closer type? what does everyone see him as? when will he be ML ready? Twins seem to really be patient with there pitchers..so likely he spends most of the year in AA

by NYSOX on Nov 27, 2007 6:22 PM EST up reply actions

To me

I rather have him in the top 10 instead of Parmelee.

by jahs34 on Nov 27, 2007 6:38 PM EST up reply actions

Revere

Is it just me, or does Ben Revere sound like he'd make for a new and improved Juan Pierre? Not that that's a bad thing...

Go Ben Revere!!!

by GuyinNY on Nov 27, 2007 6:29 PM EST reply actions

Revere

I think he has more pop than Pierre, and better baseball instincts (jumps on balls, etc.). He also has a stronger arm. I think Pierre represents the floor and Puckett represents the ceiling.

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Nov 27, 2007 7:02 PM EST up reply actions

thats generous

"Pierre represents the floor and Puckett represents the ceiling"

i would say Jason Tyner or Freddy Guzman for a floor.

Ceiling is tough because I doubt he ever hits 10 homers in a season. I could see him having offensive lines like Christian Guzman's better years where he hit 7 or 8 homers 25 doubles and 12 or 13 triples with a good average and OBP, but with more steals.

by kaisertown on Nov 27, 2007 7:29 PM EST up reply actions

Floor Vs Ceiling

Umm...

Floor = Denard Span, a 1st round bust and career minor league speedster

by ScottAZ on Nov 28, 2007 1:28 PM EST up reply actions

I don't see it that way

Span was pure tools. He's had to learn how to play baseball in the minor leagues. This precludes much success at any level of his progression.

Revere was an all-world high school baseball player before the draft. He has enough baseball skills to succeed as he progresses.

Three areas where Revere is way ahead of Span at this age are contact, power, and routes on balls. Revere hit 49 homers in high school. Span hit like two. Revere had way better contact numbers in the GCL than Span did in the Appy league (not quite Appys to Appys, I know). Revere has been praised by BA and others for his jumps on balls in the outfield. Span is still learning this knack.

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Nov 28, 2007 1:48 PM EST up reply actions

Response

I recall John mentioning that Revere could end up being something like this guy.

We'll have to see how he looks in full-season ball, but I think the fact that Revere is showing the ability to use what power he has warms a lot of people up to his prospect star. Other than that, he puts the bat on the ball a lot, draws a decent number of walks, and is incredibly fast. It's a pretty intriguing package out of a prospect.

by mrkupe on Nov 27, 2007 7:15 PM EST up reply actions

Matty never had 4.3 speed

He was a solid hitter, though. If you put Matty's bat on a kid with world-class speed, you've got Curtis Granderson.

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Nov 27, 2007 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

Matt Moses

I feel like he doesn't get enough love. There's going to be a place in the show for him, and last I checked his ARL and tools were still alright. I realize the numbers (and Mr. Sickels) have been down on him, but I think he's someone who could wake up and put it together. Am I the only one who thinks this way? I mean, if people are still holding out hope for Eric Duncan, why not for Matt Moses?

I think he could be a very good ballplayer, someday.

by GuyinNY on Nov 27, 2007 6:49 PM EST reply actions

yes

i think you're the only one

by wily mo on Nov 27, 2007 7:00 PM EST up reply actions

re

I think he gets all the love due a guy whose career minor league hitting line is .257/.312/.391. It's not like he's a toolsy guy who hasn't put it together either. He wasn't even on BA's list or best tools list in 2006. Besides 65 AB in rookie league and half a season A+ ball 2 years ago, he's been terrible. His 2007 line of 263/308/401 in AA is crappy enough, but when considering he was essentially repeating the level for the second time, it looks all the more worse.

by AucklandGM on Nov 27, 2007 7:03 PM EST up reply actions

is glen perkins

still a prospect?

--http://yankeesfuture.wordpress.com Bobby Mcnally (alias)

by bobbymcnally on Nov 27, 2007 9:22 PM EST reply actions

nope

spent most of the season up with the club (almost all of that on the DL) so he exceeded the number of big league roster days pretty easily

by Terry Ryan Jr on Nov 27, 2007 9:35 PM EST up reply actions

wow

despite knowing Georgia and Ga Southern sports I didn't realize til now that J.R was Ben's brother.

J.R was a HELLUVA quarterback.

by nms on Nov 27, 2007 9:23 PM EST reply actions

stars

So what does the star count mean? It doesn't relate to tools does it?

It is nice to see Plouffe going up the ladder somewhat. More improvement would be excellent.

Parmelee and Benson are young and if 2 stars is equivalent to a C+ prospect that sounds appropriate. Potential to be a really good player but they might not pan out.

by babaoriley7 on Nov 27, 2007 10:53 PM EST reply actions

Parmelee confusion...

The Parmelee grade surprises me as well. While he certainly didn't have a great year in terms of traditional statistics, as someone mentioned earlier, his peripherals suggest otherwise (over 40% of his hits were XBH). When you consider he's a 19 year old getting his first taste of full season ball (outside of the 22AB's he had at the end of 06), in the most difficult hitters league in A ball, if not all of minor league baseball, and coming off a very impressive showing in rookie ball after being a 1st round pick, I think KG missed the boat here. What's even more confusing is what he thought of Parmelee in August, when he named him as an "Honorable Mention" in his Corner Outfield Positional Rankings (http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6617).

by ftheyankees on Nov 28, 2007 5:59 AM EST reply actions

Well...

KG changes his mind all the time and never owns up to it, so no surprise there.

You and I both agree - Parmelee deserves a little downgrade, but nothing to the extreme that KG or even our own beloved JS gave him. But KG especially is very much a "what have you done for me lately" guy, so his downgrade does not surprise me one bit.

by guru4u on Nov 28, 2007 10:49 AM EST up reply actions