How the Twins Top 30 Prospects from 2017 Performed in 2022

It’s been six seasons since the Derek Falvey and Thad Levine regime in the Twins Front Office began. When they took over in 2017, they inherited a farm system that Baseball America ranked as 21 out of 30 in Major League Baseball. A system ranked 10th best in 2016 during Terry Ryan’s last season as the general manager. 

The top 30 Twins prospects from 2017 on MLB.com’s list have all made their way to different levels of the game. Some finished their season at the Major League level, others hurt but played at the Major League level for the season, or found themselves out of professional baseball completely this year.

Here’s how the top 30 Twins prospects from 2017 had their 2022 seasons end up. 

On Active Rosters for the end of 2022
1. Nick Gordon
The Twins' top prospect in 2017 had his best season in the Major Leagues for 2022 during his sophomore season. For a while, it seemed that the Twins’ first-round pick in 2014 might not make it to the big leagues. 

Fortunately, Gordon appears to have reached his potential this season. He played in 138 games around the diamond for the Twins and had a triple slash of .272/.316/.427 (.743).

Gordon’s future with the Twins seems all but secured until his free agency year in 2028. The team will likely look to him to be their super utility player. 

10. Lewin Diaz 
The Twins parted ways with Lewin Diaz in July of 2019 when they acquired Sergio Romo from the Miami Marlins. Diaz has remained in the Marlins system since that time and played in 58 big-league games this season. 

Diaz has not seen too much success at the Major League level since first being called up in 2020. Although he played his most career games this season, Diaz had a .169 batting average in 174 plate appearances with five home runs and 11 RBI. He is a plus-plus defensive first baseman.

Diaz has yet to find success in the Majors, but it's possible he can turn his career around at age 26 with the Marlins in 2023. 

11. JT Chargois 
JT Chargois made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2016 and pitched in 25 games with 23 innings of work that season. However, the low amount of innings kept him qualifying as a rookie in 2017 and on the Twins' top prospect list. 

Chargois was claimed off waivers to the Dodgers in 2018 and made a career as a journeyman reliever including spending time in Japan. This season he spent with the Tampa Bay Rays and had his best year yet. Chargois pitched in only 21 games but posted a 2.42 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and walked only five batters in 22.1 innings of work with the Rays. Knowing how the Rays are with improving random relievers, Chargois may continue thriving in Florida as long as he remains with the Rays. 

13. LaMonte Wade Jr.
The Twins traded LaMonte Wade Jr. to the San Francisco Giants for reliever Shaun Anderson. The deal was certainly was a flop in 2021. Wade Jr.’s 2022 didn’t pan out as well as the previous season. He played in only 77 games and posted a triple slash of .207/.305/.359 (.665). 

Wade Jr. seems to remain in the Giants' plans as a backup outfielder and first baseman which may soon include the likes of Aaron Judge. He’ll certainly hope to improve in 2023 as he enters his final season in his 20s. 

24. Jose Miranda
Jose Miranda turned into the biggest rookie asset to the Twins' offense in 2022. He played in 125 games and split time between first and third base. Even with a slow start in his first 19 games, Miranda still slugged 15 home runs and led the Twins in RBI with 66. Miranda has lived up to expectations of being one of the Twins' top prospects in recent years but exceeded the expectations of someone ranked 24th in the system in 2017. 

There is still room for growth for Miranda as he looks to continue splitting time at the corners for the Twins in 2023. 

Baddoo played in just 73 games for the Tigers in 2022. His numbers completely plummeted, dropping to a triple slash of .204/.289/.269 (.558) in 225 plate appearances. The athletic outfielder is still very young and has much time ahead of his career having just turned 24 in August.

28. Luis Arraez
Luis Arraez used to be an overlooked prospect in the Twins farm system. Now he is an American League Batting Champion. 

With one batting title now on his resume, many expect more from Arraez. The only question surrounding Arraez for 2023 is where he will play in the field? His versatility at different positions is not the same caliber as Nick Gordon, but he is proven capable at multiple positions. 

30. Griffin Jax
The most improved pitcher on the Twins 2022 staff, Captain Jax made a complete turnaround in the Twins bullpen this season. Pitching in 65 games for the Twins, Jax posted a 3.36 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 3.17 FIP in 72 1/3 innings pitched. He will certainly be a key asset to the Twins' bullpen plans for 2023, likely continuing his role of high-leverage opportunities to start the season. 

Played in 2022 but were mainly hurt
3. Alex Kirilloff
His wrist injury continued to plague Alex Kirilloff in 2022. It kept him at St. Paul for some time in May and June. Having played in only 45 major-league games this year, Hopefully, Kirilloff's July surgery will have him ready for everyday play in 2023. The health of Kirilloff’s wrist will be the biggest concern in 2023, but as long as he remains strong, he can expect his first season with over 100 games in the big leagues. 

15. Mitch Garver 
Garver was traded to the Texas Rangers before the season for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. The former Silver Slugger had season-ending surgery in July to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm. Prior to being sidelined with the torn tendon, Garver played in 54 games with the Rangers having caught in only 14 of those games. 

23. Huascar Ynoa (Braves)
Only making two starts with the Atlanta Braves, the former Elizabethton Twins pitcher that was traded for Twin-for-a-day, Jaime Garcia, had his 2022 season end with Tommy John surgery. Having the surgery done on September 7, Ynoa will not be returning to the Braves pitching rotation until 2024 in hopes of resurging his career from a successful 2021. 

Played in 2022, mostly in the Minors, Japan, or Indy Ball
2. Stephen Gonsalves 
This former top Twins pitching prospect had a short-lived 2022 season in the minors pitching in only eight games Triple AAA for the Iowa Cubs. His season ended early with Tommy John surgery. Gonsalves last pitched in the big leagues with the Red Sox for three games in 2021. 

4. Fernando Romero 
Fernando Romero was once a high-hope pitching prospect for the Twins rotation. His 2022 was spent between Japan's Central League and Eastern League. Romero pitched in 28 games between the leagues with a 4.49 ERA. 

5. Tyler Jay 
The Twins' top pick from 2015 had taken a leave of absence from baseball in 2020 and 2021. This year he found himself in Indy Ball playing in the Frontier League. He worked in 22 games and posted a 2.05 ERA with the Joilet Slammers. 

7. Travis Blankenhorn 
Travis Blankenhorn got a cup of coffee with the New York Mets this season, playing in one game in July. Other than that, the majority of his season was spent at Triple AAA Syracuse where he played in 91 games. 

12. Ben Rortvedt 
Flipped with Josh Donaldson to the New York Yankees in March, Ben Rortvedt battled injuries that kept him off the Major League active roster all season. When he was healthy, he spent his time between three of the Yankees Minor League affiliates playing in 48 games across the minors. 

14. Daniel Palka 
Daniel Palka hasn’t played in the Major Leagues since 2019. He spent 2020 in Korea and has been working his way back to the big leagues in 2021 and 2022. This season Palka was with the Mets organization and played 109 games with Syracuse. 

17. Wander Javier 
Wander Javier remains the only player from the Twins top 30 prospect list in 2017 that is in their farm system and has yet to make his major-league debut. Javier spent the majority of the year at High-A Cedar Rapids and finished the season playing seven games with the St. Paul Saints. He will become a minor-league free agent. Will the Twins bring him back? 

18. Lewis Thorpe 
This former farmhand’s story isn’t pretty in 2022. Lewis Thorpe made one start with the St. Paul Saints in April and found himself let go by the organization he joined in 2012. After being cut, Thorpe spent the remainder of the season with the Kansas City Monarchs (American Association). He made 16 starts and posted a 4.96 ERA for the season.

19. Trevor Hildenberger
One of the better minor-league stories of the season belongs to Trevor Hildenberger. Although he did pitch six games across the Giants system, he played a larger role toward the season’s end helping in the unionization of Minor League Baseball players. Hildenberger has been an active advocate in the unionization of Minor League Baseball for years and over the course of August, he spoke with many other minor league players to help advocate for them to vote yes for an election to make the unionization official. 

20. Jake Reed
Another former prospect who spent some time in the Majors this season with three teams, the Mets, Dodgers, and Orioles. In his 18 games in the big leagues, Reed posted an ERA north of 7.00. He pitched in 20 games between the Dodgers and Orioles minor league affiliates this season. He recorded his first MLB Save with the Dodgers this year. 

Out of Baseball by 2022
The list of players here did not play professionally at all in 2022 and have listed their last season playing professionally. 
6. Kohl Stewart (Hasn’t pitched since 2021)
8. Adalberto Mejia (Hasn’t pitched since 2021)
9. Felix Jorge (Hasn’t pitched since 2018)
16. Nick Burdi (Hasn’t pitched since 2020), spent 2022 on the IL. 
21. Mason Melotakis (Hasn’t pitched since 2021)
22. Zack Granite (Hasn’t played since 2021)
26. Lachlan Wells (Hasn’t pitched since 2019)
27. Randy Rosario (Hasn’t pitched since 2021)
29. Engelb Vielma (Hasn’t played since 2019)

Here are the totals for where the Twins top 30 prospects of 2017 ended up with their careers in 2022. 

Totals: 
8 players on Active MLB rosters
3 players who could be on Active Rosters but are hurt
10 players who are in the Minors, Japan, or Independent Ball
9 players completely out of baseball in 2022

The majority of these players are still in professional baseball, but only around a third of them (11 total) played roles on Major League rosters this season. 

Some of these players still have great chances of long careers (Arraez and Gordon). Others, not so much, but how do the current career payouts of these 30 players so far look to Twins fans? Leave your thoughts below.