Twins Daily 2016 Top Prospect Recap

Twins Daily Top 20 Prospects For 2016

20. Jake Reed, RHP

19. Randy Rosario, LHP

18. Lewin Diaz, 1B

17. Engelb Vielma, SS

16. Taylor Rogers, LHP

15. JT Chargois, RHP

14. Jermaine Palacios, SS

13. Wander Javier, SS

12. Lewis Thorpe, LHP

11. Adam Brett Walker, OF

10. Nick Burdi, RHP

9. Kohl Stewart, RHP

8. Alex Meyer, RHP

7. Jorge Polanco, SS

6. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP

5. Tyler Jay, LHP

4. Nick Gordon, SS

3. Max Kepler, OF

2. Jose Berrios, RHP

1. Byron Buxton, OF

Positional Breakdown

Right-handed Pitchers: 6

Left-handed Pitchers: 5

Infielders: 6

Outfielders: 3

Catchers: 0

System Ranking Among MLB

Baseball America: 10th out of 30

ESPN: 3rd out of 30

MLB.com: 5th out of 30

No Park?

One thing that differentiates our top prospect listing from many other sources is that we elected not to include Byung Ho Park. We certainly could have, since he qualifies for this conversation based on his MLB rookie eligibility. Ultimately we decided that given his status as a 29-year-old longtime pro from Korea, and considering the lack of any common baseline to compare him against the prospects we were profiling, we'd be blindly guessing even more than usual by trying to rank him.

Reinforcements In The (Red) Wings

The Twins are going to be heading into this season with their top three prospects on the verge of the major leagues. Buxton, Berrios and Kepler could all be reasonably written into the Opening Day lineup, even if two or all three are likely to open in Triple-A. Few if any other teams can boast that level of MLB-ready impact talent, and it bodes well for Minnesota's chances heading into a season with some question marks in the rotation and outfield.

Glaring Weakness

The one thing that sticks out from an otherwise fairly balanced positional breakdown is the lack of any catchers. Mitch Garver and Stuart Turner are viewed as the best prospective backstops on the farm but they would have appeared in the 20-30 range if we extended out our list. It's simply not a position that the Twins have prioritized; since 2010 they have drafted a catcher in the first five rounds only once (Turner was a third-rounder in 2013). This increases the pressure on the John Ryan Murphy move to pay off. John Hicks, claimed off waivers from Seattle in December, is also one to watch. He had been ranked by Baseball America as the best defensive catcher in the Mariners system and he has shown offensive ability at times in the minors.

Strong At Short

Of the 20 players on our list, four are shortstops – at least currently. Not all will stick there, but starting at the highest end of the defensive spectrum is a good thing. This represents a very welcome changing of the tide for a Twins organization that has been dreadfully ineffective at producing quality shortstops over the years. The fruitless pipeline has led to a revolving door on the big-league roster. Gordon, the most promising name among this group, is still multiple years away from the majors, but with Eduardo Escobar's emergence (and Polanco on hand at Triple-A), the Twins can afford to be patient.

Heat Rising

During his brief MLB debut last year, Alex Meyer's average fastball velocity of 95.3 MPH, per FanGraphs, was the highest for a Twins pitcher since Juan Morillo's 97.6 in 2009. Meyer's arrival was only a taste of what's to come. Nick Burdi (10) has reportedly been hitting 99 on the radar gun repeatedly here in the first week of spring training games. Jake Reed (20) can touch the upper 90s. Tyler Jay (5) and Lewis Thorpe (12) are rare lefties who can push it to 95-plus. Never before has this club seen an infusion of power arms quite like this.

Arrival Timelines

Based on our ETA projections, here's a loose timeline of when you can expect the top 20 prospects to start helping the big-league club.

2016: Buxton, Berrios, Kepler, Polanco, Meyer, Burdi, Walker, Chargois, Rogers

2017: Vielma, Rosario, Reed

2018: Gordon, Jay, Gonsalves, Stewart

2019: Thorpe, Palacios, Diaz

2021: Javier