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  • TD Top Prospects: #8 Eddie Rosario

    Cody Christie

    By Cody Christie

    The Twins used their first three draft picks in 2010 on pitchers Alex Wimmers and Pat Dean along with shortstop Niko Goodrum. However, Eddie Rosario, the team's fourth round pick that year, has become the most highly touted prospect. The Puerto Rican outfielder signed for $200,000 and in his second season with Elizabethton, he led the Appalachian League with 21 home runs.

    From 2012-13 he continued to move up the ladder while showing a tremendous hit tool. While many of the Twins top prospects missed time in 2014 due to injury, Rosario's situation was more self-inflicted. Leading into the 2014 season, Rosario was suspended for 50 games after a second positive test for a drug of abuse.

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    Age: 23 (DOB: 9/28/1991)

    2014 Stats (A+/AA): .243/.286/.387, 20-2B, 3-3B, 8-HR, 40 RBI

    ETA: 2015

    2014 Ranking: 5

    What’s To Like

    Rosario’s hit tool has always been his ticket to the big leagues. Entering the 2014 season, he was a career .307 hitter in the minors. Last season saw a dip in his average (.243 over 346 AB) as he struggled to adjust to Double-A pitching after missing the season’s first 50 games. Even with the rough numbers, he’s still gotten on base over 34% of the time during his career.

    His quick hands allow him to hit the ball to all fields and he’s shown the ability at times to drive the ball. After heading back to the Arizona Fall League for the second straight year, he shined by hitting .330/.345/.410 with four doubles, two triples, 18 RBI and 10 steals. A few years after being asked to switch to second base, Rosario is back playing as an outfielder. He’s shown the ability to play all three outfield positions and his arm is strong. His flexibility to play multiple positions could help him in the long run.

    What’s Left To Work On

    One of Rosario’s calling cards has been his aggressiveness at the plate. This served him well in the lower levels of the minors but he’ll need to be able to improve his walk rate to keep his OBP higher as he moves through the system. With other stronger defensive center fielders in the system, it seems likely that he’ll have to play a corner outfield spot in Minnesota. That means he’ll have to show he can hit for power.

    This past season at Double-A his home run total doubled (from four to eight) in only 27 more at-bats. However, his slugging percentage dipped by 70 points. Another thing to keep an eye on is the fact that he came back from his drug suspension and for the first time in his career, didn't hit. His AFL numbers offer some promise that he might have come out of his slump but there is definitely some cause for concern.

    What’s Next

    Rosario will likely be headed back to Double-A to start next season with the assumption that he’ll move up to Triple-A at some point during the year. Minnesota’s outfield situation is a little murky so there’s a good chance he’ll make his big league debut in 2015 after being added to the 40-man roster. In the majors, he could be used at all three outfield positions but it seems likely that he’ll be slotted into a corner outfield role with Byron Buxton the likely center field option.

    If Rosario’s personal issues are behind him, he should get his professional career back on track in 2015. He has a great ability to hit the ball and he can use his speed to be an above average outfielder and a threat on the bases. His hit tool might be the best in the Twins system and that should be enough to get him to the major leagues. He might never win an MVP but he could make an All-Star team or two if he continues to progress.

    Cody Christie is a Twins writer and content contributor. His writing can be found exclusively at Twins Daily and his voice can be heard on radio stations throughout the Upper Midwest. Outside of the Twins, he is a father, high school teacher, and avid runner.
    Follow Cody Christie on Twitter: nodaktwinsfan

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    Featured Comments

    Dantes929

    Dantes929 4,529

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Confused.

     

    I don't like pot. I don't advocate pot. But I don't hold it against those that do like it. And honestly, I don't care if Rosario tokes off the Diamond. But unless things like counting push-ups by 5's is just his sense of humor, I might just have a problem with Rosario's attitude.

     

    I am a big believer in what Rosario offers. I have been since the beginning. I hope I'm right. But I'm really confused how he can miss 50 games last season, never really seem to hit a groove when he comes back and put up mediocre numbers, and yet have TR and Molly both speak in terms of him being a viable candidate for the CF job. Is this some sort of secret motivational coach/GM speak for all the guys involved? Or do the "slow to promote" Twins actually feel Rosario is that close?

    I don't think they are basing their comments on the minor league season.  You miss 50 games their and we are starting to talk small sample size.   Even smaller sample size in the AFL but if he didn't do well there I don't think they would have been talking him up.   His performance there simply put him back in the mix.    

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    Dantes929

    Dantes929 4,529

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Not a deal breaker, but when you move a player down the defensive spectrum, it means he's now competing for a job with players who are there more for their bat.  Guys who can track a ball in the outfield, say, but lack the elite speed/vision/arm to play CF.  Better defense in LF may play a small role in roster decisions, but not like it would have in CF. 

     

    I don't think anyone is saying Rosario should change his batting approach if he's in LF; he should do whatever works best.  But his batting skills may not be elite enough, compared to other options of players for that same position.  And power will be one of the big difference makers.  That's the sense I take such statements as "That means he’ll have to show he can hit for power."  Not so much he should change, but can he do it?

     

    As for table setters for the power hitters who follow, I'll be happy to see the team solve that problem once it proves to be one. :)

    I like your last sentence and will apply it to your first sentence.  Since the Twins have struggled to find one, much less three, outfielders to hit or play defense I'll be happy to see the Twins   solve the problem of having a very productive power hitter versus having a good defensive guy that hits with just decent power once it proves to be one.     If Rosario plays good defense and hits .300 with gap power (I know its a big if but we are talking about him hitting well without power as the premise)  I want him to be centerfielder this year and move to a corner when Buxton comes up.   If we happen to have a guy in the future that he competes with that can be more productive with power, then great.   Right now we have Hunter, Hicks, Schaeffer and Arcia. 

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    Brock Beauchamp

    Brock Beauchamp 39,328

  • Administrator

    • Posted

    I am a big believer in what Rosario offers. I have been since the beginning. I hope I'm right. But I'm really confused how he can miss 50 games last season, never really seem to hit a groove when he comes back and put up mediocre numbers, and yet have TR and Molly both speak in terms of him being a viable candidate for the CF job. Is this some sort of secret motivational coach/GM speak for all the guys involved? Or do the "slow to promote" Twins actually feel Rosario is that close?

    We sometimes overlook the fact that we don't know these kids while Ryan & Co know them quite well (or at least their MiLB coaches know them and pass information to Ryan & Co).

     

    Meyer didn't get promoted but Polanco and Santana did last season. Rosario has been mentioned as a possible CF candidate in 2015.

     

    There's a lot more to these guys than a stat line and that factors into promotion schedules. That doesn't automatically mean Ryan & Co. are right - obviously, they were very wrong with Hicks - but it does mean they're privy to information we do not have.

     

    To us, Rosario seems a bit aloof and out of touch. Not unlike Aaron Hicks, really... But maybe he's entirely different in person. The Twins get to see that difference while we may not.

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    Richie the Rally Goat

    Richie the Rally Goat 9,100

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

    I don't doubt Rosario long term. I am referring to being a CF candidate NOW. A disappointing year last season has been replaced by renewed optimism for this year based solely on his quality AFL? Really?
    im optimistic about Rosario because his AFL showing in a very small sample size, a resiliency. He had a crap season in 2014 that appeared in large part due to rust. He looked more like his minor league track record in the AFL statistically which is really encouraging. Compared to the options available, Rosario might be the best major league CF the Twins have. This is as much an indictment of TR as it is a compliment to Rosario.
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    jokin

    jokin 4,237

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted (edited)

    We sometimes overlook the fact that we don't know these kids while Ryan & Co know them quite well (or at least their MiLB coaches know them and pass information to Ryan & Co).

     

    Meyer didn't get promoted but Polanco and Santana did last season.

     

    There's a lot more to these guys than a stat line and that factors into promotion schedules. That doesn't automatically mean Ryan & Co. are right - obviously, they were very wrong with Hicks - but it does mean they're privy to information we do not have.

     

    To us, Rosario seems a bit aloof and out of touch. Not unlike Aaron Hicks, really...

     

     

    I'm not overanxious to give them too much credit on Santana.  They were actually as wrong on him as on Hicks, just in the opposite way.  Santana did have a terrific ST, it was obvious that Florimon could not play and that Santana should be brought north on a trial basis, if/until Florimon regained his health and/or semblance of playing ability.  But then, only when circumstances were forced on them by continuously disastrous moves concerning Bartlett and a parade of claimed/lost CFers, did Santana rather accidentally/inadvertently become the answer at that position.  (Admittedly, his MiLB track record wasn't much help in predicting outcomes, but Santana's sparkling rookie results should have been less of a surprise, and an "easy call" to the braintrust as compared to the average informed fan).

     

    In this case, I hope their high opinion on Rosario is correct... the situation in the OF for 2015-  is still pretty thin and shaky, at best.  Sconnie said it correctly in the post above, the high opinion on Rosario could just as easily be due to the lack of solid readily available alternatives in CF.  I have a feeling the MLB opportunity will inevitably be his for the taking with even just a decent start in AA or AAA, but for him to come in and solidly steal the spotlight like Santana did in 2014, is much more of a wish than a forecast.  Down the road, presumably, LF opens up in either late 2015 or the start of 2016, with Hunter gone, and Rosario getting the first crack at the spot, with Buxton taking over in CF. 

    Edited by jokin
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