There are honestly too many choices to list! Burn it hard pressed, my top 3 are probably:

 

1] Gonsalves: I think he's the real deal. Will take some lumps.

2] Thorpe: Just how good can he be fully healthy and back?

3] Rooker: His bat looks legit. How quickly can he adapt and climb?

 

My dark horse is Stewart. Left unprotected and undrafted, still young and with a big arm, is this the year where it suddenly comes together?

Agree that there’s a ton to watch this year. Some will take a step back but others could really break out and it will be a lot of fun to see

 

Blyleven and his curve ball made his debut as an 18 year old.  OK, that was a different time.  But is it unreasonable to believe that Enlow could rocket thru the system next year all the way to AA.  He could then begin 2019 in AA before moving up to AAA and the Twins in August, 2019.  I can dream, can't I?

 

I like Enlow, but that is insanely aggressive... especially considering he's likely to start in EST and play in the Appy league this summer. He might taste Cedar Rapids if things go well, but I don't see him making it to FTM or Chatty this year.

 

There are honestly too many choices to list! Burn it hard pressed, my top 3 are probably:

1] Gonsalves: I think he's the real deal. Will take some lumps.
2] Thorpe: Just how good can he be fully healthy and back?
3] Rooker: His bat looks legit. How quickly can he adapt and climb?

My dark horse is Stewart. Left unprotected and undrafted, still young and with a big arm, is this the year where it suddenly comes together?

 

I like your choices except for the Dark Horse.  I am pretty low on Stewart after 2017.  The guy can't get anyone out.  I wouldn't necessarily give up on him in AAA but he has A TON to prove in 2017 to get himself back on the prospects radar and i'm not confident he has it in him to do it.  

 

 

I'm eager to see if Rooker can sustain the hype and hope at the next level. Very intriguing power. But the player that I'm most excited about, only from reading about him, is Akil Badoo. Hey, all of a sudden there are a LOT of very good prospects in the Twins system to get excited about!

One of the things I keep thinking about is how few of our top prospects turned in disappointing performances last year, injury cases excepted. It really was an exceptional year in that regard. Was it luck? If it's a reflection of talent alone, we're going to be getting increasingly excited about the combined talent in the system and on the big club.

 

I mean, I can remember years when, looking back on the season, half or more of the prospects on Seth's list had at best rather listless performances.

 

Maybe it's just me, but this talent pool, while maybe lacking that one more prospect who projects to be a perennial All Star, is full of high-ceiling talent.

 

A decade ago, the OF/1B prospects on Seth's list were, in order, Ben Revere, Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee, Jason Pridie, Erik Lis, Brock Peterson, David Winfield, and Dustin Martin. 

 

I like today's alternatives strictly on the basis of their better tools alone: Alex Kiriloff, Brent Rooker, Akil Badoo, Lewin Diaz, LaMonte Wade, Jacob Pearson, Zack Granite, and Aaron Whitefeild.

 

On the basis of really fun names, 2018 is the clear winner.

Twins could have a top 5 farm system by midyear.  Lots to look forward to this year.

Rooker, Enlow and Baadoo are the three I will be watching closely.

 

Rooker, Enlow and Baadoo are the three I will be watching closely.

 

Twins could have a top 5 farm system by midyear.  Lots to look forward to this year.

 

Yeah for sure.  A ton of young prospects too.  The Cedar Rapids team could be stacked with prospects early in the season.  Few guys I think could end up there:

 

1) Baddoo
2) Enlow
3) Lewis (perhaps, to start the year at least)
4) Javiar
5) Kiriloff
6) Graterol
7) Miranda
8) Bechtold
9) Jovani Moran
10) Leach (perhaps, late in year)

Twins could have a top 5 farm system by midyear. Lots to look forward to this year.

This is possible, but woild probably require Javier to really emerge as an elite bat, as well as Lewis.

 

They do have depth of potentially solid propsects but the system is light in elite (or even potentially elite) guys.

 

Yeah for sure.  A ton of young prospects too.  The Cedar Rapids team could be stacked with prospects early in the season.  Few guys I think could end up there:

 

1) Baddoo
2) Enlow
3) Lewis (perhaps, to start the year at least)
4) Javiar
5) Kiriloff
6) Graterol
7) Miranda
8) Bechtold
9) Jovani Moran
10) Leach (perhaps, late in year)

Thanks for the Jovani Moran reminder.  He's intriguing as well.

 

This is possible, but woild probably require Javier to really emerge as an elite bat, as well as Lewis.

They do have depth of potentially solid propsects but the system is light in elite (or even potentially elite) guys.

Disagree with this.  With Lewis, Gordon, Rooker, Enlow, Baadoo, Javier and others probably reaching the top 150 if not the top 100 and Gonsalves and Romero close the Twins are getting close to as much talent as the truly elite systems.  

How much of this talent will grow is the issue.

My guess is that we have a top 10 system right now but not top 5. A year from now, it might be top 5.

Lewis Thorpe-He did great pitching last year coming off of Tommy John surgery and mono. Now we will see how improved Thorpe will be since he actually had a full off season.

 

Fernando Romero-Over all last year was a successful one for Romero, however he ended poorly last year and was on the DL with shoulder impingement. It will be interesting to see how much better Romero can be, especially if his secondary stuff is better.

 

Tyler Wells-If Wells is healthy this year he may very well be knocking on the door to AAA by years end. When healthy last year he was absolutely dominant pitching for Cedar Rapids. Not only was his stuff pretty good, but for a 6’8” pitcher his control and command was pretty good as well. I could see him succeeding in both Ft Myers and Chattanooga so long as he is healthy.

 

My guess is that we have a top 10 system right now but not top 5. A year from now, it might be top 5.

 

Gonna be hard if Gonsalves and Romero gradutate to have a top five, imo. It's also possible Gordon gradutates, though that is less likely, I believe.

 

Gonna be hard if Gonsalves and Romero gradutate to have a top five, imo. It's also possible Gordon gradutates, though that is less likely, I believe.

True, but even with those three gone, our high end youngsters (Graterol, Baddoo, Kiriloff, Miranda, Javier) might more than make up for it. I'm really high on that 2016 draft group. Probably unrealistically so.