2007 Minnesota Twins Prospects REMASTERED!

by John Sickels on Nov 18, 2025 5:57 PM EST in News

After thinking about it for a couple of days and considering your comments, I've decided that the Twins list needs revision. So, here it is, the

2007 Minnesota Twins Prospects, REMASTERED and in HIGH-DEFINITION

Matt Garza, RHP, Grade A- (grade A was too high)
Kevin Slowey, RHP, Grade B+ (no change)
Chris Parmalee, OF, B+ (no change)
Anthony Swarzak, RHP, B+ (no change)
Glen Perkins, LHP, B (no change)
Pat Neshek, RHP, B (increased from B-)
Alexander Smit, LHP, B- (no change)
Eduardo Morlan, RHP, B- (no change)
Alexi Casilla, 2B, B- (no change)
Paul Kelly, SS, B- (no change)
Jeff Manship, RHP, B- (no change)
Whit Robbins, 1B, C+ (no change)
Brian Duensing, LHP, C+ (no change)
Kyle Waldrop, RHP, C+ (dropped from B- and 12 which was too high)
Oswaldo Sosa, RHP, C+ (no change)
Zach Ward, RHP, C+ (no change)
Joe Benson, OF, C+ (no change)
Erik Lis, 1B, C+ (no change in grade but dropped from 13)
Jose Mijares, LHP, C+ (no change)
Garrett Olson, 3B, C+ (no change)
David Winfree, 3B, C (I might raise that to C+ but the fact is that I don't trust his plate discipline at all and makeup questions have to be addressed.
Matt Moses, 3B. Rating him below Olson is controversial I admit, but Moses looked terrible to me in the Arizona Fall League and I am souring on his bat.

Dan Valencia and Jay Rainville will also be in the book but grades are uncertain at this time. I will "pay" for getting extra Twins (and other teams) in the book by not having as many bad prospects from the Nationals system (and others as well). Because of space limits, I can't write about every single Grade C prospect in the universe, and while I try to keep things relatively even between organizations, it's possible to go too far in that direction, if you end up cutting guys who are interesting from one system in favor of guys who aren't in another.

I find it ironic that my Twins list proved to be the most troublesome of all the lists. I am most familiar with the Twins of all the organizations, being a life-long Twins fan, and I probably overcompensate for this to some extent by being harder on some of their prospects in order to avoid playing favorites. You guys helped me clarify my thinking about this. Thanks.

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Comments

Garza

He's a true A I think. He had Liriano-like numbers in the minors. The rise from A+ to AA to AAA to MLB in just his second pro season is meteoric and nearly unprecedented. He made huge strides in the stuff department this year, showing that he can indeed throw 94-95 regularly at the MLB level. If he had stayed at Rochester, there would be no questions about a straight A grade.

As it is, he was thrown into MLB action, and actually held his own very well, making 9 crucial starts in a pennant race. Despite his 50 innings at the MLB level capping a long 33-start season, he still managed to put up a 4.76 ERA with respectable strikeout numbers once he got past his first-start jitters.

Garza is unquestionably the best pitching prospect to debut last year, and the only two I think have legitimate claims to the #1 pitching prospect spot besides Garza are Hughes and Bailey (and personally I would put Hughes ahead of him and Bailey even or slightly ahead).

by limozeen on Nov 18, 2025 7:39 PM EST 0 recs

lim

See the problem with your POV. is the same as John's your a twin fan. As far as pure stuff is concerned i would put Hughes and Bailey way in front of Garza. I think an 'A' should be for a player who is going to come up and make a huge impact. Although Garza has had a great minor league career, i believe he doesn't project has high has many of the other top SP, IMHO. He gets people out at the minor league level, but idk how sucessful he will be in the Majors. I dont see him being a 1, or a 2... With that said you know i vaule your opinion, as i have said before.

70% of the earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by Endy Chavez.

by Metty5 on Nov 18, 2025 8:09 PM EST up 0 recs

Garza

I don't know what would make you say Garza's a #3. He's got four textbook pitches, with his fastball, slider, and curve all being true plusses. He throws with plus velocity and plus command of the strike zone when he's on. If anything he's a college-trained Hughes in terms of stuff and control (read: closer to passing the injury nexus). There's no reason Garza can't be an ace in this league.

If anything, I think John is overcompensating for his Twins love by minusing Garza's grade. Keep two things in mind: (1) at the beginning of the year, we'd have been thrilled if Garza had successfully transitioned to AA in his second pro season, let alone been a solid MLB contributor, and (2) Garza's numbers were arguably the best in the minors this year despite advancing two levels and making the AA transition.

by limozeen on Nov 18, 2025 8:30 PM EST up 0 recs

No way

He may have had Liriano-like numbers (debatable), but no one would say he has Liriano-like stuff (or Verlander-like stuff).

Given the fact people in the diaries were willing to say they'd take Santana and Liriano (but not Santana and Garza) over Cain and Lincecum is very telling.

I think John did the right thing.

by Jurgen on Nov 18, 2025 8:22 PM EST up 0 recs

RE

Cain and Lincecum. Cain is my favorite young righthanded pitcher. I vehemently argued giving him a straight A grade last year when most agreed with John's A-. But Santana is in a completely different league than Cain. There is no way you could argue taking Cain over Santana, even with the 6-year age gap. Would you take Zimmerman over Pujols? No way.

Re: Lincecum vs. Garza. New toys are often shiny. Hopefully they don't lose their luster (or break) when you take them out of the box.

by limozeen on Nov 18, 2025 8:33 PM EST up 0 recs

Trevor

I'd be curious if the Twins have any interet in letting Plouffe pitch (a la Saberhagen) or whether they just feel he needs to get stronger and develop. Scary he doesn't crack the Twins top prospects.

by Con on Nov 18, 2025 9:17 PM EST 0 recs

Romero

There's a side thread that espouses the virtues of Romero comparing him to Randy Winn or better.

John, I see you don't even have him top 20 and he's not even the top OF (by far) in the organization.

What are your thoughts about him?

I won't get married until the Red Sox win the World Series. AGAIN!!

by Shep on Nov 18, 2025 9:54 PM EST 0 recs

I think Garza should be an A.

Maybe you should create an A+ rating for people like Liriano, but I see nothing that should should result in Garza being anything lower then an A.

4 plus pitches? Check.
Complete domination of minors at 3 different levels this year? Check.

Looks like a grade A prospect to me.

by Justin & Joe on Nov 18, 2025 10:46 PM EST 0 recs

*3 plus pitches

by Justin & Joe on Nov 18, 2025 10:49 PM EST up 0 recs

Why wouldnt Garzas stuff be good enough to be a #1

Johan doesnt throw in the high 90s he tops out at about 94-95 usually, and his slider is decent. Its his changeup and control that make him so unhittable.

Garza thorws around 95 as well, and has great control and 2 other plus pitches. I see no reason why his ceiling in the majors isnt as high as a hughes.. i understand that bailey because of his upper 90s stuff will have higher upside.

I sitll think with prospects we always tend to look at raw stuff and "potential" and not at what they have actually done. I think we have seen enough hard throwing busts because they cant throw strikes to realize that throwing hard isnt the only way to be an ace. Obviously tools are very important (e.g. i had a great change, but i threw 84 and was righty... i would've been meat in the upper minors let alone the majors) but dont ignore Garzas ability to throw quality stikes with plus stuff.

"You also must admit, that outside of the facts, I made a compelling argument!"

by jbluestone on Nov 18, 2025 11:08 PM EST 0 recs

LOL

This talk of 4 plus pitches for Garza is a joke. He could eventually have 4 plus pitches, but he does NOT right now. His offspeed stuff was hung in the zone regularly in the majors and he got lit up each and every time. If you can't command those "plus" pitches in the majors, then they aren't really plus pitches. Not to mention, his fastball command goes in the toilet when he tries to crank it up to 96.

So yes, he can reach 96 but without great command. Yes, he has good movement on his offspeed pitches but major leaguers hammer his mistakes.

Right now, he's not an A grade pitcher. He didn't overpower major league hitters like Verlander and Liriano... he just showed flashes of greatness.

I also don't see an ace in Garza, but he could be a good #2. And yes, I know some of you are going to bring up his walk rates in the minors to defend his command, but the hitters in the low minors aren't the same as the hitters in the majors. Major league hitters will lay off some of those offspeed pitches with movement if they aren't in the zone... and that's why Garza ran into some problems.

If Garza is an A, then Rich Hill should have been an A going into this year with his utter dominance of AA and AAA... and we know he wasn't. A- is the correct grade and I'm glad John made the change.

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Nov 19, 2025 2:16 PM EST 0 recs

so

Good to see the straw men are out in force today. Rich Hill was 26 this year in his fifth pro season. Garza was 22 and was drafted last year. Most pitching prospects drafted last year are in A+ or AA right now. Garza was a productive MLB player. Garza transition four levels from A+ to MLB.

BA says that Garza's curve and slider are plus pitches, as is his fastball. BA also said Garza had the best control in the Eastern League. Yeah, that's the one Phil Hughes plays in too.

Maybe your definition of a Grade A pitcher is one who puts up Nintendo numbers in his first 50 MLB innings. But I think that a pitcher who advanced four levels, who has three plus pitches scouts rave about, whose tremendous control shows in both the numbers and the scouting reports, and who is light years ahead of the rest of his draft class is the definition of Grade A.

by limozeen on Nov 19, 2025 3:23 PM EST up 0 recs

grade

Grade A for Garza even though his minor league performance was matched by 20 year olds?

If you're going to give Hughes and Bailey A+, then Garza would be an A.

As it stands now, there is no A+ grade and therefore Garza is an A-.

As for this business of 3 plus pitches, I didn't see them when I watched him in the majors. I saw a curve that was consistently hammered and a fastball that lost command when pushed past 95MPH. When he used the fastball in the 93-94 range he was very effective and there were occasional innings where his curveball wasn't hung and was effective. The difference between a plus pitch and a potential plus pitch is how effective it is against major league batters... if his curve was inconsistent in the majors, then it's still a plus potential pitch.

So IMO he has 2 plus pitches and a third potential plus pitch. Still an outstanding prospect and an A- is nothing to scoff at, but not a pure A grade "top of the line Liriano/Felix/Verlander" pitcher.

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Nov 19, 2025 6:32 PM EST up 0 recs

Faulty logic

Bailey and Hughes are not A+ prospects. Hughes might be close, but he still hasn't even touched AAA yet. They are solid As. As is Garza.

High school and college pitchers are apples and oranges when it comes to age and league. Garza moved up the ladder as fast a college pitcher can (better performance at the high levels than Verlander last year despite starting a level lower and moving faster), he dominated a level higher than Hughes and Bailey did, and was productive in the majors, a level two above where Hughes and Bailey ended up.

Finally, A+ pitchers get A's, and so do A pitchers. John doesn't slide the whole scale down for a few exceptional prospects, and neither should we.

A plus pitch is a pitch that can be thrown for strikes and not get hammered at the MLB level. In Garza's first run through the league, he showed that his fastball, curve, and slider are all plusses when he's on. It's unreasonable to expect a pitcher just two years removed from college to dominate his first 50 MLB innings; some inconsistency is to be expected.

Using inconsistency to say that pitches are "potential plusses" and not "true plusses" is ridiculous. Under this logic it is impossible for any rookie (read: inconsistent) pitcher to have plus pitches. Guess what? Liriano, Cain, Billingsley, Verlander, and Hamels are possibly the five best recent pitching prospects to debut, and all were inconsistent in their first 30-50 innings at the MLB level. Do they all have "potential plusses" too? Of course not! This is ridiculous logic.

Garza didn't put up Nintendo numbers in his first run through the league, but that should never be the criteria for whether a pitcher has plus pitches or not.

by limozeen on Nov 19, 2025 7:41 PM EST up 0 recs

Overstatement

He did not hang his curve much. It's a hammer. Some umpires gave it to him and others did not. If he dd not get the pitch called, he strugged, because a fastball/slider pitcher with patient professional hitters will eventually get hit around. But when he got the curveball called, he dominated. He'd get hitters out front on the curve and late on the slider. He has three plus pitches, he just needs a track record so he gets the same treatment from every umpire.

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Nov 19, 2025 7:53 PM EST up 0 recs

Slowey Allure

Why does Slowey get a B+ grade when someone like Andy Sonnanstine grades as a C+ because John has "been burned a few too many times by these great K/BB guys"?

They seem like comparable pitchers; they have the exact same build and both use average stuff with pinpoint control. Sonnastine is older but has also had more succes at a high level.

I don't know, I like Slowey... but it seems like he is similar to other guys who have to "prove" that their stuff can play in the upper minor leagues before anyone takes them seriously.

by FI on Nov 19, 2025 5:44 PM EST 0 recs

Amen

Amen...

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Nov 19, 2025 6:27 PM EST up 0 recs

Slowey dominated

In the AAA playoffs. He's for real.

cmathewson

by cmathewson on Nov 19, 2025 7:54 PM EST up 0 recs

sure, but...

...and Sonnanstine went 2-0 (14 IP, 4 ER, 15 K, 3 BB) in the Southern League playoffs.

I'm not arguing that Slowey isn't "for real" or that he doesn't deserve a B+ grade. I guess I just don't understand why the two pitchers would be evaluated so differently.

by FI on Nov 19, 2025 11:38 PM EST up 0 recs

Sonny

I'm a pretty big Sonnanstine fan, but Slowey is a better prospect.

Slowey was a year younger, made the AA transition in-season, had a decently stronger K/9 ratio, and has continued to be effective in AAA and the AFL.

I still have my doubts about Slowey's ceiling, but he's better than Sonnanstine (maybe not by a full letter grade; I'd probably give Sonny a B- or B).

by limozeen on Nov 19, 2025 7:58 PM EST up 0 recs

Better? By How Much?

Well, I wouldn't argue that Sonnanstine is better than Slowey.
I guess I'm just trying to understand the difference of a B+ vs C+ grade when I see so many similarities between the two pitchers. If Slowey was a B and Sonnanstine a B- I wouldn't bring this up.

"...had a decently stronger K/9 ratio"
Not really; Slowey was a bit better at AA but Sonnanstine had the better K rate at A-ball and high A-ball so I don't think that's a discriminating characteristic.
They're both striking out about 7.5 guys per 9 innings and walking fewer than 2 batters per 9 innings in double-A. Sonnanstine's walk rate has been a bit better but, again, they're so close I don't think it's worth reading much into that.

And while I appreciate that Slowey had a nice little run during the triple-A playoffs, I think there's also something to be said for the fact that Sonnanstine was able to sustain his success for 185 innings; he didn't have the benefit of being unfamiliar to hitters all year long like Slowey did.

The average stuff, good command, excellent control, bit of deception in the delivery... it's all there for both pitchers. I think they're both intriguing but I don't see why one would be rated significantly higher than the other.

Maybe I'm just missing something.

by FI on Nov 19, 2025 11:32 PM EST up 0 recs

Well

Conveniently glossing over the year difference in age is something. Slowey's K rate being .5 K/9 greater is something not to be taken lightly. That's nearly 15 strikeouts over 200 innings.

by limozeen on Nov 20, 2025 12:07 AM EST up 0 recs

cherry picking small differences.

I didn't intend to "gloss over" the age difference, but there's just a lot of overlap. Both were in high class-A at age 22, Sonnanstine was a year older at the beginning of this past season but also started at a higher level which seems about right to me. So there's definitely a slight 'edge' to Slowey in this respect, but it doesn't seem like a huge difference. Both guys were facing age-appropriate competition.

And honestly, I think the 0.47 K9 difference in strikeout rates is to be "taken lightly" given that the pitchers' peripherals are so similar overall and if you wanted to cherry-pick small differences you could always look at Sonnanstine's slight edge in walk rate, HR rate, etc. to argue that the other pitcher is better.

by FI on Nov 20, 2025 3:42 PM EST up 0 recs

Sonnanstine

4 CG shutouts.... that's the definition of dominance.

I really don't see how Slowey ranks anything more than a half grade over Sonnanstine... but then again, John hasn't released his Devil Rays grades yet so I'll wait and see.

Also, this talk of Sonnanstine having weak stuff is off to me. He gets strikeouts and his FB velocity has been recorded at 92 but sits anywhere from 88-91. There have been plenty of successful major league pitchers who work in the low-90's.

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Nov 20, 2025 1:36 AM EST 0 recs

Robert Delaney - Prospect for 2007

Robert Delaney out of St John's was signed by the Twins last summer. Coming on strong in 2007 - see his stats in FLA. - Remember that was after many college innings and college preseason work.

Watch him this spring after some rest --at the Fort Myers Miracle. He's got a good 90 Plus fastball and a baseball head for the game. He's won some big games at St. Johns University.

Look for him to continue to climb through the Organization.

by Rock09 on Nov 20, 2025 2:22 PM EST 0 recs