Article: Twins Minor League Report (8/13): Twins Acquire Miguel Sulbaran

[Seth Stohs]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2226-Twins-Minor-League-Report-(8-13)-Twins-Acquire-Miguel-Sulbaran

[clutterheart]

Danny Santana

He was recently names as the best defensive SS in the eastern league by opposing managers:

Double-A 2013 Best Tools - BaseballAmerica.com

(even though he has a hell of a lot of errors)

 

He has a decent BA average, not a lot of power, 23 Stolen Bases and he doesn't strike out too much, nor does he walk much.

 

Offensively he looks pretty good, and if his defense is that good, why is he not getting more hype as a prospect? - not just locally but nationally. Usually a SS who can hit and play outstanding defense shoot up the prospect rankings.

[Old Twins Cap]

How many errors does he have?

[Seth Stohs]

I've liked Santana since seeing him in Beloit in 2010 and 2011. He was so young, but you could just see the tools and the talent. The guy has tremendous range and a very, very strong arm. He has about 29 errors. I've heard (And Terry Ryan even spoke once of) how the New Britain infield isn't as well kept as Ft. Myers or many other fields. I haven't seen him for a couple of years to know whether the errors are routine balls or throws or if they've been because of trying to do too much.

 

Offensively, he's certainly not an ideal leadoff guy as he is very aggressive. He also loves taking really big swings and when you're a little guy, maybe 5-9, 175, with his kind of speed, he should try to get on base more. But, he can hit. He's got some pop.

 

He has a chance, but he's a ways off. I've probably got him ranked somewhere in the 15-20 range for Twins prospects.

[Otwins]

Did I read this right ?

 

The Twins received a pitching prospect that is 2 months younger than Berrios and has similar stats in the same league. For Butera?

 

I realize that it is A ball but that looks to me like a very good trade for Terry Ryan.

 

Are the Dodgers interested in anyone esle?

[Seth Stohs]

Thanks for pointing this out. He's two months older than JO Berrios, but yeah, he's 20...

 

"Another edit is necessary... he's 19, not 20."

[clutterheart]

Did I read this right ?

The Twins received a pitching prospect that is 2 months younger than Berrios and has similar stats in the same league. For Butera?

 

He now has the 2nd most SO's for Kernals - 7 behind Berrios.

 

its a very low propbability that he ever makes the MLB club, but really its pretty amazing.

[B Richard]

 

He has a chance, but he's a ways off. I've probably got him ranked somewhere in the 15-20 range for Twins prospects.

 

 

How far is a ways off if he is at AA this year and showing promise? Is this about fielding? Is there a shot he makes the bigs at all in 2014?

[SurroundedByTigers]

What's the upside on Reynaldo Rodriguez? He's putting up some decent numbers at AA, with like 17 HRs and 26 doubles.

[Boone]

Great return for Butera. Supposedly Sulbaran is in the low-90s with his FB and spent almost all of last season in the Arizona League (which I think is similar to the GCL), which makes his numbers in the MWL that much more impressive. He's just 5'10", which will hurt his upside in the eyes of most scouts, but he's posted a better K/BB this year than Berrios in about the same amount of IP (3.15:2.2.71). Check out Sulbaran's line since the start of June:

12GS 59IP 1.83 ERA 1.03WHIP 52K 11BB 7.9K/9 4.7K/BB

 

The one area of concern is that Sulbaran has allowed just 3HR despite having a GB/FB ratio under 1. Expect some regression in that respect going forward.

 

Now I'm very excited to see who the PTBNL is in the Carroll trade.

[Boone]

What's the upside on Reynaldo Rodriguez? He's putting up some decent numbers at AA, with like 17 HRs and 26 doubles.

 

He's already 27 so not much. He might become a bench player but, especially with the amount of corner infielders in the organization (Plouffe, Parmelee, Colabello, sometimes Mauer, Sano, Vargas, and Harrison), it's doubtful that he ever becomes a starter for the Twins.

[Seth Stohs]

How far is a ways off if he is at AA this year and showing promise? Is this about fielding? Is there a shot he makes the bigs at all in 2014?

 

I think he could be a September call up next year. I also don't think it would hurt him to get another half-season at AA New Britain next year. Defense is part of it. Although I can look past the errors for the long-term, his defense will have to be cleaned up. And, offensively, it would be nice for him to control the strike zone a little better. He's all about tools, and I think he's a case where patience will be important.

[Seth Stohs]

What's the upside on Reynaldo Rodriguez? He's putting up some decent numbers at AA, with like 17 HRs and 26 doubles.

 

As was stated, he is 27 and been in AA for awhile. That said, there's nothing wrong with having guys like this around. As we've seen, the path to the big leagues is not always fast and not always direct. He's earned his playing time. Initially signed to fill a gap, he's also allowed Kennys Vargas to stay at Ft. Myers. As nice as Vargas's numbers are, there's a lot of value to him staying where he's at, working on the plate discipline, developing the all-around offense by working with Jim Dwyer, and getting time with Doug Mientkiewicz at first base. Since he's missed so much time the last two seasons, it doesn't hurt him at all.

 

Rodriguez was brought in as a filler, but he's earned his way. That's a good thing.

[Jorkal]

Seth,

 

Any chance you could post Sano and Buxton's triple slash lines each day? I read these recaps faithfully and appreciate hearing about all of the Twins' prospects but I can't be the only one who's most-anticipated blurbs are the references to these two.

[scottsilvi]

Seth,

 

Any chance you could post Sano and Buxton's triple slash lines each day? I read these recaps faithfully and appreciate hearing about all of the Twins' prospects but I can't be the only one who's most-anticipated blurbs are the references to these two.

 

While I love the entire minor league report, I can't help but gloss over some things until I get my daily update on sano & buxton. I know I could certainly look it up (and often do), but it would be great to have that in the same place.

 

Seconded

[Oldgoat_MN]

While I love the entire minor league report, I can't help but gloss over some things until I get my daily update on sano & buxton. I know I could certainly look it up (and often do), but it would be great to have that in the same place.

 

Seconded

 

You just click on these every day. Then you would have slash line data and lots more.

 

Miguel Sano

Byron Buxton

[nicksaviking]

He now has the 2nd most SO's for Kernals - 7 behind Berrios.

 

its a very low propbability that he ever makes the MLB club, but really its pretty amazing.

 

Not as low of a probablity as Drew Butera had of making the club. I remember seeing the return for Luis Castillo and thinking there was a slim chance Dustin Martin would someday make the club but no way in hell was a guy putting up the terrible numbers Butera did in the low minors ever making it to the majors.

[Steve Lein]

How does Baxendale give up 3 HR's and only 1 earned run! That's cooking the books when they didn't come after an error on the potential 3rd out!!! q; )

 

Sano now slugging over .800 in August. Wonder if TR will reward him in September ala Benson/Parmelee of 2011. Sano certainly has better numbers than they did in AA before the cup of coffee.

[tjsyam921]

I read in the comment section of the Butera/Sulbaran trade article on MLBtraderumors that Sulbaran could be hurt, possibly needing TJ surgery. Obviously this could be false info but Im curious if this could be true.

[gunnarthor]

Mayo updated his Twins team prospect ranking and had Sulbaran #13, which was a lot higher than I would have guessed.

 

2013 Prospect Watch | MLB.com: News

[nicksaviking]

If he's #13 in the Twins system but #14 in the Dodgers, I guess it means the Dodgers farm is better. Back to the drawing board.

[hansob]

If he's #13 in the Twins system but #14 in the Dodgers, I guess it means the Dodgers farm is better. Back to the drawing board.

 

Was the 14 a pre-season ranking? Maybe he'd be top 10 for the Dodgers now.

 

In any regard, it baffles me that the Dodgers would trade any sort of top 20 prospect for the right to defensively substitute Drew Butera for a month.

[gunnarthor]

Was the 14 a pre-season ranking? Maybe he'd be top 10 for the Dodgers now.

 

In any regard, it baffles me that the Dodgers would trade any sort of top 20 prospect for the right to defensively substitute Drew Butera for a month.

 

No, Mayo did a recent re-ranking of all teams just before the trade.

 

In any event, I like our system but it is top heavy and after 1-8 or so, it's not all that special anymore. I suspect a lot of teams #15 best prospect would be better than our #15. But nobody has a better 1-2 than us, which matters more.

[Erock]

I think our 10-20 is about where it should be. Outside of the top 10, depending on the list you have a couple of Josmil Pinto, Adam Brett Walker, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas, Niko Goodrum. The MLB.com list is kind of crap. No Walker, Mejia, Tonkin and a few others.

[diehardtwinsfan]

No, Mayo did a recent re-ranking of all teams just before the trade.

 

In any event, I like our system but it is top heavy and after 1-8 or so, it's not all that special anymore. I suspect a lot of teams #15 best prospect would be better than our #15. But nobody has a better 1-2 than us, which matters more.

 

Rosario and Meyer would be #1 prospects for a lot of systems, and most systems aren't special after 8. This is a pretty deep system with tons of raw high upside guys at lower levels as well.