Article: No Surprise: Top Prospects Excelling In AFL

[Nick Nelson]

The Minnesota Twins sent several players down south to play for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. Among them are two fast-rising talents that are arguably the top prospects in the organization, and unquestionably two of the most critical.

 

Nick Gordon and Stephen Gonsalves have both looked good, building on strong 2016 campaigns in the minors.It's unclear what the Twins are going to do at shortstop in the short term, but Gordon is widely viewed as the team's future at the position. Questions have emerged in some corners about his ability to stick permanently at the infield's toughest spot, although ESPN.com prospect wonk Keith Law dismissed such talk as "ridiculous."

 

The former fifth overall draft pick has certainly been making strides toward erasing any questions surrounding his bat. This year at High-A Fort Myers he slashed .291/.335/.386 with 32 extra-base hits and 19 steals. His .721 OPS was nearly 50 points higher than the league average and he was the league's second-youngest starting shortstop.

 

Gordon, who turns 21 on Monday (cheers!), has carried his upward momentum to the desert. Through six games he has gone 9-for-24 (.375) while drawing four walks and swiping a pair of bags. The lefty swinger has proven adept enough at making contact and spraying line drives all over the field that he has established a reasonably high offensive floor. His ceiling will be dependent on the development of his power.

 

A wiry and quick specimen, Gordon is listed at just 160 lbs despite standing six feet tall. His weight is a bit higher now, and his body is a stage where muscle and strength tend to gain fast. He hit only three home runs with the Miracle this year but that's one more than he totaled in his first two pro seasons combined.

 

Just one of the shortstop's nine hits in the AFL has gone for extra bases (a double), but there is plenty of reason for optimism that he'll continue to progress with his pop and overall game.

 

Gonsalves has only made one appearance thus far with the Saguaros. He started on October 13th and tossed three innings. He gave up one run on a solo homer but attacked the zone, throwing 24 of 34 pitches for strikes. Josh Norris of Baseball America, who was in attendance, dubbed the lefty's performance "excellent."

 

Gonsalves didn't appear in BA's midseason Top 100 but he'll certainly be present in the 2017 rankings following a dominant late-season run at Double-A. I'll be curious to see how high he can climb.

 

He hasn't pitched in 10 days due to a mild back strain. A cautious approach is being taken with the 22-year-old southpaw, and for good reason. His 140 innings in the regular season were already a career high. The AFL schedule runs through mid-November so he has plenty of time to get more work in.

 

Right now, Twins news is mostly at a standstill as the team awaits its new baseball ops leader. The franchise has been in a holding pattern while Derek Falvey's Cleveland Indians have steamrolled their way to the big dance.

 

But the long baseball season is reaching its conclusion. The World Series could wrap up in less than a week. At that point, the offseason will really get going.

 

With Gordon and Gonsalves capping off very encouraging seasons on positive notes, the Twins will step into winter on the right foot.

 

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[theBOMisthebomb]

The big question is whether they have played against Tim Tebow yet and if so how they did.

[dougd]

Twins players have performed very poorly the past week in the AFL.

[SadMinnySportsFan]

Would be totally ok if we give Polanco a run at SS and have him hold it down until Gordon is ready. We know Polanco's bat will stick and his defense is sketchy but who knows? Maybe he plays ok and by the time Gordon comes up we could have Polanco swing to 2nd base (assuming Dozer is traded) and have them as the double play duo!