Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch

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This is the last segment in the 2018 Twins top 60 prospect list. You can find the introductory segment that discusses qualifications to be on this list and presents the players who were on the 2017 list but are not in this list here. You can find the list of the previous rankings here: 56-60, 55-51, 46-50 , 41-45, 36-40, 31-35, 26-30, 21-25, 16-20, 11-15, 6-10, and 1-5. You can find all segments in this series here.

Here is the list of the Twins top 60 prospects, with last year's ranking in parenthesis; if not ranked in 2017 this is indicated by (--). I also indicate their position and ETA to the majors:

1. Royce Lewis (--), SS/OF, 2020

2. Wander Javier (1), SS, 2020

3. Brusdar Graterol, RHP, 2020

4. Brent Rooker (--), 1B/LF, 2018

5. Fernardo Romero (4), RHP, 2018

6. Rainis Silva (32), C, 2020

7. Blayne Enlow (--), RHP, 2020

8. Zack Littell (--), RHP, 2018

9. Stephen Gonsalves (6), LHP, 2018

10. Lewin Diaz (3), 1B, 2020

11. Akil Baddoo (24), OF, 2020

12. Tyler Jay (2), LHP, 2018

13. Alex Kirilloff (8) OF, 2020

14. Luis Arraez (11), IF, 2019

15. Michael Montero (--), RHP, 2021

16. Nick Gordon (5), IF, 2018

17. Tyler Wells (54), RHP, 2020

18. Jose Miranda (--), IF, 2021

19. Jean Carlos Arias (36), CF, 2020

20. Jermaine Palacios (31) SS, 2020 traded to the Rays

20. Jovani Moran (--), LHP, 2020

21. Lewis Thorpe (30), LHP, 2019

22. LaMonte Wade (22), OF, 2018

23 Yunior Severino (--), IF, 2022

24. Chris Paul (--), UT, 2019

25. Landon Leach (--), RHP, 2021

26. Andrew Bechtold (--), 3B, 2020

27. Travis Blankenhorn (15), 3B/1B/OF, 2020

28. Charlie Barnes (--), LHP, 2020

29. Tyler Watson (--), RHP, 2020

30. David Banuelos (--), C, 2020

31. Ben Rortvedt (16), C, 2021

32. Kohl Stewart (17), RHP, 2018

33. Alberoni Nunez (--), OF, 2021

34. Derek Molina (--), RHP, 2021

35. Bryan Sammons (--) LHP, 2020

36. Bailey Ober (--), RHP, 2020

37. Pedro Garcia (45), RHP, 2021

38. Lachlan Wells (29), LHP, 2020

39. Wander Valdez, (--) 3B, 2021

40. Aaron Whitefield (59), OF, 2020

41. Ricky De La Torre (--) SS, 2021

42. Jake Reed (25) RHP, 2018

43. Jacob Pearson (--), OF, 2022

44. Yeltsin Encarnacion (--) IF, 2022

45. Ryley Widell (--) LHP, 2022

46. Andrew Vasquez (52), LHP, 2019

47. Tom Hackimer (--), RHP, 2019

48. Kerby Camacho (--), C, 2021

49. Hector Lujan (--), RHP, 2020

50. Colton Burns (--), OF, 2021

51. Cody Stashak -(55), RHP, 2019

52. Jaylin Davis, (39), OF 2019

53. Alex Robles, (--), OF, 2022

54. Ruben Santana, (--), IF, 2022

55. Carlos Suniaga, (--), RHP, 2022

56. Sandy Lugo, (--), RHP, 2020

57. Nelson Molina, (47), IF, 2020

58. Ben Rodriguez (--), C/1B, 2022

59. Carson Crites (--), 2B, 2022

60. Jesus Toledo (--), LHP, 2022

Re-arranging the list based on when players would be ready to help the Twins in the majors, will make look something like this:

4. Brent Rooker (--), 1B/LF, 2018

5. Fernardo Romero (4), RHP, 2018

8. Zack Littell (--), RHP, 2018

9. Stephen Gonsalves (6), LHP, 2018

12. Tyler Jay (2), LHP, 2018

16. Nick Gordon (5), IF, 2018

22. LaMonte Wade (22), OF, 2018

32. Kohl Stewart (17), RHP, 2018

42. Jake Reed (25) RHP, 2018

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14. Luis Arraez (11), IF, 2019

21. Lewis Thorpe (30), LHP, 2019

24. Chris Paul (--), UT, 2019

46. Andrew Vasquez (52), LHP, 2019

47. Tom Hackimer (--), RHP, 2019

51. Cody Stashak -(55), RHP, 2019

52. Jaylin Davis, (39), OF 2019

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1. Royce Lewis (--), SS/OF, 2020

2. Wander Javier (1), SS, 2020

3. Brusdar Graterol, RHP, 2020

6. Rainis Silva (32), C, 2020

7. Blayne Enlow (--), RHP, 2020

10. Lewin Diaz (3), 1B, 2020

11. Akil Baddoo (24), OF, 2020

13. Alex Kirilloff (8) OF, 2020

17. Tyler Wells (54), RHP, 2020

19. Jean Carlos Arias (36), CF, 2020

20. Jermaine Palacios (31) SS, 2020

20. Jovani Moran (--), LHP, 2020

26. Andrew Bechtold (--), 3B, 2020

27. Travis Blankenhorn (15), 3B/1B/OF, 2020

28. Charlie Barnes (--), LHP, 2020

29. Tyler Watson (--), RHP, 2020

30. David Banuelos (--), C, 2020

35. Bryan Sammons (--) LHP, 2020

36. Bailey Ober (--), RHP, 2020

38. Lachlan Wells (29), LHP, 2020

40. Aaron Whitefield (59), OF, 2020

49. Hector Lujan (--), RHP, 2020

56. Sandy Lugo, (--), RHP, 2020

57. Nelson Molina, (47), IF, 2020

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15. Michael Montero (--), RHP, 2021

18. Jose Miranda (--), IF, 2021

25. Landon Leach (--), RHP, 2021

31. Ben Rortvedt (16), C, 2021

33. Alberoni Nunez (--), OF, 2021

34. Derek Molina (--), RHP, 2021

37. Pedro Garcia (45), RHP, 2021

39. Wander Valdez, (--) 3B, 2021

41. Ricky De La Torre (--) SS, 2021

48. Kerby Camacho (--), C, 2021

50. Colton Burns (--), OF, 2021

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23 Yunior Severino (--), IF, 2022

43. Jacob Pearson (--), OF, 2022

44. Yeltsin Encarnacion (--) IF, 2022

45. Ryley Widell (--) LHP, 2022

53. Alex Robles, (--), OF, 2022

54. Ruben Santana, (--), IF, 2022

55. Carlos Suniaga, (--), RHP, 2022

58. Ben Rodriguez (--), C/1B, 2022

59. Carson Crites (--), 2B, 2022

60. Jesus Toledo (--), LHP, 2022

There is a solid pipeline of talent ready (ETA 2018) and close to ready (ETA 2019) that can help the Twins this season; albeit other than a couple of cases (Rooker and Romero), it is not top talent. The majority of top talent will be ready around 2020, close to when the current young Twins core is coming to its arbitration eligible stage. For 2021 and further there is not much at this time, but a. many of these prospects will rise in the rankings and b. will be supplemented in the 2018-2020 drafts.

The Twins system is its stronger and more balanced that it has been in years. The years when Sano, Polanco and Buxton were the top prospects, the quality of position players prospects was probably higher than now, but with Lewis, Javier and Rooker on the top 5, this might be challenged as well. The quality of pitching and the potential of pitching prospect is much higher than previous years.

Also this team has a nice core of prospects from 8-15, and some of that group are regarded much higher in the National lists, which can serve as the basis for trades to bring in ready now top of the rotation talent, something that the Twins lack.