Article: Twins Minor League Report (5/5): Berrios Baffles Bats

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1669-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(5-5)-Berrios-Baffles-Bats

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

So Buxton's streak swells to 28 now.

[silverslugger]

Seth, shouldn't the score of the CR game show CR 8, South Bend 4 in 9 innings?

[Seth Stohs]

Seth, shouldn't the score of the CR game show CR 8, South Bend 4 in 9 innings?

 

Corrected. thank you!

[glunn]

Great article. Lots of good news. Thanks, Seth.

[mnfanforlife]

How good does Sano's production have to be, in order to move on to AA?

[mnfanforlife]

How good does Buxton's production have to be, in order to move on to A+?

[Mike Sixel]

I don't think their production has to be better, I think it has to last another month.......

 

Seth, is Berrios dominating with a FB, that younger players can't hit, or is there more to it? In other words, is he the Delmon Young of minor league pitchers? I really have no idea, if his stuff is really good, or if he's just a better athlete than the guys he is facing right now.

[pioneers3]

Mike-Berrios has a plus plus fastball and flashes A plus to plus plus slider and has started to develop a quality change up. He is the real deal. You got to remember, he is very young for this league, most guys are 20-22 year old with college experience.

[amjgt]

Whenever they start moving Buxton and Sano up, I hope that they move Buxton up before Sano, even if it's just a week. Give those guys a week together to connect, push each other, generate a friendly little rivalry, and push for the big leagues.

 

That would be a fun week in Ft Meyers.

[Badsmerf]

Its not about production for Sano and Buxton. The Twins want to see how they adjust to adjustments. They will be moved in another month.

[Seth Stohs]

I really do like that the Twins typically promote their top prospects after the Midwest League and Florida State League all star games. That's mid-June. That way, instead of just having a nice month, they've had two months. Generally, the league is going to make some adjustments and that second month will allow the player to make some adjustments too.

 

There will be exceptions. There will be older players moved up because, well, they have to push those guys to see what they have. But they're not going to do anything that they think will hurt a top prospect in any way. Waiting an extra 4-6 weeks isn't going to hurt anyone.

[Seth Stohs]

Re: Berrios - pioneers is right. He has shown a plus breaking ball already. Listening to his last couple of innings yesterday, he got a couple of strikeouts on it. Fastball was sitting 92-93 in his 5th and 6th innings. He's pretty legit. I don't think that the changeup is too far off either.

[Mike Sixel]

Thanks for the update, encouraging news.

[mnfanforlife]

Does any other organization allow players to totally dominate at the lower levels for years and years?

[jokin]

Does any other organization allow players to totally dominate at the lower levels for years and years?

 

It appears to be an institutional economic decision- ie, generally, with some few exceptions, regardless of your Minor League performance, you follow a career path of 5-6 years in the minors, 3 years to Arb-eligibility, 6 years in the majors before reaching Free Agency. Perhaps there are other mid-market teams that do it the same way, but it shouldn't be this way in Minnesota- based on the rationale the Twins put forward once they got their new stadium- and particularly now that there appear to be multiple fast-track candidates in the system.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I'm perfectly fine letting them shine in the minors before giving them a job in the majors. Stadium or not, it is generally good business sense to make sure your guys are going to be good contributors before you call them up. No reason to waste years that could have been spent in development.

[jokin]

No reason to waste years that could have been spent in development.

 

The thinking and logic on this can easily go both ways. No reason to waste years playing above your skill level that could have been spent helping the major league club.

[mnfanforlife]

The thinking and logic on this can easily go both ways. No reason to waste years playing above your skill level that could have been spent helping the major league club.

 

Yeah, its getting ridiculous with Sano and Buxton. They are not ready for MLB yet, but both are ready for AA right now. Just look at how long Harper "shined" in the Nats system. They were not f-ing around with him. Harper's minor league struggles probably helped him more than the Twins' coddling approach