Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch

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I usually start and post my top 60 Twins' prospect list a bit earlier that this (last year the first post was January 10th) because I want to pay full attention to Spring Training when that starts, and it starts soon. However, I waited longer this season because I expected the Twins to make moves that may affect this list. They really did not. If such a move occurs, and a newcomer is ranked 35th, I will keep the original list intact, rank the newcomer 35a and the previous number 35 prospect 35b. It will be interesting to see what the future brings as far as this aspect is concerned. I will be posting in reverse rankings starting next week, from number 60 to number 1, in chunks of 5, and a final summary post, total 13 posts. I am hoping to be posting up to 3 a week to finish by the end of February.

The inclusion criteria from my list is different than those for most prospect lists that include everyone with rookie eligibility as a prospect. As far as this list is concerned, anyone who has made it to the majors has "graduated" from prospect status, so is ineligible. I am including an additional criterion this year: everyone for whom 2018 will be his age 26 or older season, will be excluded because he "came of age" to be regarded as a prospect.

As a baseline here is the Twins 2017 off-season top 60 prospect list, and here is that summary with links to individual profiles and scouting reports.

There is a lot of churn in the Twins top 60 from 2017 to 2018. Only 27 players are returning from the 2017 list and there are 33 new comers, and some highly ranked.

Here are the players who were in the 2017 list, but dropped for reasons other than performance, with their 2017 ranking in parenthesis, and the reason they were dropped:

Daniel Palka (7) OF, - claimed on waivers

Adalbelto Mejia (9) LHP, - graduated

Mitch Garver (10) C, - graduated

Nick Burdi (12) RHRP, - selected on Rule 5 draft

Engelb Vielma SS (14), - claimed on waivers

Mason Melotakis (18), LHRP, - came of age

Amaurys Minier (19) OF/1B, - released

Huascar Ynoa (20), RHSP, - traded

Justin Haley (21) RHP, - returned from Rule 5 pick

Felix Jorge (23), RHSP, - graduated

Niko Goodrum (26), CF/IF, - graduated, left as a MiLB FA

Trevor Hildenberger (27) RHP - graduated

D.J. Baxendale, (28) RHP; - came of age

Dereck Rodriguez, (34) RHP – - came of age, left as a MiLB FA

John Curtiss, (35) RHP; - graduated

Travis Harrison (37), OF/1B, - released

Aaron Slegers (38), RHP - graduated

Levi Michael (40), 2B, - came of age

Brandon Peterson (42), RHRP, - came of age, left as a MiLB FA

Zach Granite, (43) OF, - graduated

Jason Wheeler (51) LHP, - graduated, traded

Michael Cederoth (60) RHP - Released

The following 4 players came to the organization too late to be included in the 2017 list, or were not there for other reasons, but they are excluded from the 2018 list:

(--) LHP Gabriel Moya - graduated

(--) LHP Dietriech Enns - graduated, came of age

(--) RHP Nick Anderson - came of age

(--) C Wynston Sawyer - came of age

As last season, unless he becomes a full-time professional baseball player, Griffin Jax will not be included because of high risk

The following 10 players were included in the 2017 list (ranking in parenthesis) but dropped from the 2018 list, due to performance, progression, and/or better newcomers:

Michael Theophanopoulos (33), LHP

Brandon Lopez (41) SS

Humberto Maldonado (44) OF

Tyler Benninghoff, (46) RHP

Taylor Clemensia (48) LHP

Eduardo Del Rosario (49) RHP

Jordan Balazovic, (50) RHP

Zander Wiel, (53) 1B

Colton Davis (56) RHP

Williams Ramirez (57) RHP

Next: Twins prospects 56-60