The Top 20 Minnesota Twins Assets of 2019: Part 1 (16-20)

I stopped reading when I saw you have Cron as more valuable than Gordon.

I get it. Its a long offseason and you are struggling for content. But you might want to think it through a bit.

It's interesting to me how many people complain when threads go off on the business side of MLB, yet we refer to players as assets.

(Sadly, they are. Come to think about it, I wish my employer would call me that...)

My employer always called me an abbreviated term of asset.  Just ASS.  Actually, several employers called me by that term.  So glad I'm retired.

I stopped reading when I saw you have Cron as more valuable than Gordon.

I get it. Its a long offseason and you are struggling for content. But you might want to think it through a bit.

I agree that Gordon should be higher than Cron. The way I look at it is, right now would a team be able to trade C.J. Cron for Gordon? Probably not. Would a team be able to trade Gordon for C.J. Cron? Probably. So I would probably put Gordon higher on the list than Cron.

Just breaking them down as you presented them.

Gordon: I wasn't a fan of his selection so early as he didn't posses a single tool, IIRC, beyond 55 on the 20-80 scale. I still have doubts, but have come around. My reasoning is beyond bloodlines or his off season work with former MLB greats. Honestly he's still relatively young. And it seems we've seen half season flashes of his potential the past couple of seasons. Does he wear down as the season goes on and just has to grow in to his body more? Is it promotion and adjustments? A combination of both? 2019 is big to determine if he's an eventual starter or a nice utility guy.

Cron: He is a mystery. The Twins had a need at 1B with only the unproven Austin available. Forgetting college, draft status, or milb numbers, he has been a decent ML hitter with power never exceeding 409 AB. It appears be was often lost in the shuffle a bit with previous teams who had other options. He tweaks his approach, gets 500 AB for the first time, and puts up a career season. Rocco is obviously familiar with him. Some of the LH options that could be a better "fit" weren't available when he was. It was an inexpensive and smart move at the time. Late bloomer who made adjustments and finally got a chance? We shall see.

Mejia: Really liked what I saw of him in 2017. Only problem was, it just seemed like he threw too many pitches and just didn't know to finish a batter/inning. IIRC, he had an injury to begin 2018 and started slow, and began with Rochester. He looked good when finally brought up, but got hurt again. Forget LH and breathing, he's still learning but has good stuff. Starter, designated starter or pen, you make room for a talented LH arm like his.

Cave: I like this kid! He has good speed, real power, and just seems to love playing the game. He made some great plays in the OF, and some bad ones as well. His contact issues need to be addressed. Some talk about regression. But what about "progress"? He was still only a rookie after all. He still has to prove some things. Jury is out. But I liked a lot of what I saw.

Javier: What do I know about him except for what I read? While injuries were devastating for the ML club, they seemed sympathetic to the milb system. The exception was Javier. From every single thing I read and hear, this kid is a potential stud at SS with all the tools. At worst, he's a legitimate 3B with glove, arm and bat, especially if Lewis stakes his claim at SS. What a problem to have right? If you gave me a top 5 to watch for in the system for 2019, he's in there.

Fun topic. Also fun to look at last year’s list. A notable miss from last year’s list was Escobar, whose great four months netted him a big return. Turns out he had a lot of value, especially if Duran turns into a frontline starter.

In terms of Javier moving up two spots, I’m trying to reverse engineer that move. Without going name by name, I see 12 players who should be clearcut top 15 ahead of him (and that includes May). That leaves 3 spots for Rogers, Rooker, Larnach, Thorpe, Garver, and Austin. Which three are top 15, and which are outside the top 20?

Players should be viewed as assets by the organization, with some exceptions. With regards to Cron being valued higher than Gordon...

Only a Twins fan could possibly think Gordon has more value at this stage. The important thing to remember here is value as seen through the eyes of other organizations. This ignores what we are hopeful for as fans. After last season Gordon has little value. That can change, but he took a step backward and as a guy who hasn't ever plate appearance. He isn't noted as a good fielder and his minor league OPS is barely over .700

Expect Javier to be the big mover this year.  Also expect this list to look much different next year.

Do not know  if Cron was the correct pickup, but going into 2019  with Austin as the main option would have been difficult.  I hope Austin turns out, but his swing may have enough holes to be difficult to fix. 

Gordon is a difficult call.  He still ranks as a prospect to be a major league player.  It is starting to look more like a moderate floor with the ceiling being a slightly above average major league player.  This is not bad, since he will have a career, but he is not the player to be a leader on a good team. 

What does it say about an organization when the 19th best asset was available on waivers? What does it say about Gordon who sits behind at 20?

In ranking players would it be reasonable to ask the question, “Would I trade number 20 to get number 19?” Would the Twins have traded Gordon for Cron this winter? If offered a Gordon for Cron today, would the Twins take the deal?

Cron has done nothing this winter to increase his value. He can hit but very similarly skilled players have been easily available.

It's not exactly easy to compare 29-year-old MLB first basemen with 23-year-old middle infield prospects, but that's the bit here.

 

Exactly my point. You need a "bit" so you wrote it. But its silly to suggest that a top 10 23 year old AAA SS prospect has less value then a waiver wire Pickup.

Nick's rankings appear to be biased more to a "present value" look at things, whereas in the trading environment, teams are calculating future value all the time. Teams are generally looking to get a discount due to the future nature of things on one hand and looking for a premium for the present value they're trading away. So presently, Cron's value can arguably be greater than Gordon's, to the Twins. I doubt they would have given up Gordon to acquire Cron despite this.

This is a fun series, Nick. I'm with others - Gordon ranks higher than Cron for me. Six years of a 23 yr-old, near-ready middle IF is my preference. 

I can't wait to see the higher ranks. Should make for good debate!

The last two years Gordon has had excellent first halves of the season. Then in the second half he was bad two years ago and worse last year...at least with his bat. Does that mean that scouting reports/pitchers are catching up with him? Or does it mean his body wears down as the season goes on? Or maybe, some combination of the two.

One thing he can do to get stronger and more durable is work harder all winter. Maybe he does. But when blogs highlite photos of his rap endeavor, some of us see them and wonder whether he is working as hard as he should on his main profession. As I said, I have no way of knowing if he is, or isn't.

I am of the opinion that the fact the Twins got Cron for nothing enhances his value to the team.  Thus, I agree that he has a lot of value to the Twins.  And lets remember where he came from, Tampa, who has a history of waiving/trading fine players for nothing or nearly nothing (think the Odorizzi trade).  

Prior to last year, my problem with Mejia was his not being able to finish batters and being unable to get into the fifth inning, much less getting thru it.  I also thought his fielding in 2017 left a lot to be desired.  Although he missed a lot of last year, I saw improvements in both of my concerns.  Personally, am looking forward to his being the fifth starter with Romero coming on at the start, or end, of the fifth inning and closing out the games with four-five innings.

I wouldn't have Javier as one of the 20 most valuable Twins.  You referred to his playing shortstop in the DSL in 2016.  What you didn't mention was that his season lasted 9 games (I thought it was 3, but looked it up and it was 9).  So in his three professional seasons he has missed all or almost all of two of them.  To me, that cuts into his value greatly.  Can he recover by staying on the field in 2019? Certainly, and I hope he does and has a season to remember.  But valuing assets needs to be done at the time of the valuation...today.  Thus, Javier would not be on my list.

Where does Nelson Cruz fit on this list? ;-)

Finished my list. Here's 16-20:

16 - Javier. So much upside but I know nothing about him except from reports.

17 - Mejia. League average starter with 5 yrs control. Health issues.

18 - Gordon. See above.

19 - Rooker. Potential power but limited in the field. I trade 2 yrs of Cron for 6 of Rooker if I'm building for the future (like the Twins).

20 - Garver/Astudillo. Catchers don't grow on trees. Both have shown they can hit MLB pitching, years of control. Garver has concussion issues.

Honorable Mention - Thorpe, Cron, Schoop, Pineda, Duran

As far as Gordon's rap career goes he needs to focus on either baseball or rap music. This idea that people can't have an opinion about his rap music there's a bunch of baloney. He puts it out there for opinions to be had end it works both ways.

I think he needs to focus on getting a little bit stronger. He is so thin It doesn't look like he's worthy of a full season of major-league baseball.

I love this approach to rankings, Nick. Glad you're doing it again this offseason.

It's obviously a challenge to make asset ranking decisions between current MLB players with multi-million dollar salaries and unproven prospects who cost nothing, but I think it's a useful exercise. Prospect rankings and Under 25 rankings look at only a slice of an organization's strength; this tries to put it all together in one list. I wish there were more team and organizational lists that took this approach.

The Cron vs. Gordon discussion hinges on a few factors: (1) when you think the Twins' competitive window is, (2) how much you think Gordon's stock has fallen in the last year or so, and (3) what you make of other teams passing on Cron on the waiver wire. I'd probably put Gordon ahead of Cron, but it's definitely debatable.

Trying to decide if it's an ominous sign that Javier has climbed two spots after missing a year. Does that suggest the Twins' assets are overall less valuable this year than last? Or is it more of a fluke? Not sure. Something I'll be thinking about as the list moves forward.

I stopped reading when I saw you have Cron as more valuable than Gordon.

I get it. Its a long offseason and you are struggling for content. But you might want to think it through a bit.

Cron hit 30 hr last year. LoMo II or reached his potential? Gordon Below average fielder an hitter or slow developing. Cron has been a replacement level 1b/dh with one good season. For 2019 that has value.  On the other side of the debate is all about potential and a failure at AAA. You could probably get a plyer that has put up Gordon like numbers for Cron, just not the pedigree

Look the kid had a 900 OPS in Chatty last year which is better than Rooker did at that level last year and he is younger than Rooker. Wade is supposedly other worldly with the bat and he struggled when moved up to AAA as well. Blaming his performance issue in AAA on rap seems pretty weak to me.

To me he is a talented baseball player and if he wasn't committed to that he would have given it up and started a rap career already. All players have interests outside of baseball. They need to spend time with their families and they do other things than just baseball. You can lift weights hit the ball around and still have a life or find time to rap. In fact I thought one of the reasons the Twins liked Baldelli so much was because he wasn't so completely focused on baseball that he had other interests so that he could better relate to the players.

Is Gorden spending too much time creating and promoting his rap music? I honestly don't know the answer to that. All I know is he had a fantastic start to the season last year, has been young for each level he has been at and IMO he is likely to fulfill his potential as an average shortstop who will likely get better with age. I don't think his rap music will keep him from reaching his potential.