Twins Minor League Report (9/8): Ft. Myers Wins Florida State League Championship

I've said it before, but it bears repeating.... the core of this Miracle group is due for promotion to AA in 2015, and joining them, at least to start out the season, will likely be Sano, Buxton and Polanco.  This promises to be a ridiculously good lineup for AA, with a possible scenario of legit major-league-starter prospects at every position in the field, and a relief pitcher crew that very well may be the best in all of the minor leagues at any level (and you might even see Reed added to this group- he seems way advanced for A-level ball!).  And AA is the level where players are literally a phone call away from moving to the Twins, finally! Congratulations, guys.

C: Stuart Turner

1B: Dalton Hicks/Mike Gonzales

2B: Eddie Rosario

SS: Jorge Polanco, Aderlin Mejia

3B: Miguel Sano, Niko Goodrum

LF: Travis Harrison

CF: Byron Buxton

RF: Adam Walker

 

By midseason, with promotions, guys like Kanzler and Garver could be there too.

 

SP: Berrios, Lee, Wheeler, Baxendale,  

RP: Zack Jones, Nick Burdi, Brandon Peterson, DJ Johnson, Todd Van Steensel, Tyler Jones

 

And I know I'm missing guys... but this is pretty impressive bunch.

And with solid performances from three guys going to the AFL- 

1)  Max Kepler plays 1B/OF in place of Gonzalez and, 

2) Jake Reed joins the six you listed in the relief corps- that is a potentially unreal 7-man relief crew.

3) And I would assume Jason Adam would be the 5th starter?

Forgot Michael at 2B and Kepler at 4 OF spots and 1B... Top of head doesn't always work.  Just a lot of talent!

I think there's a decent chance that Michael moves on up to Rochester to play 2nd, and possibly some SS if Florimon leaves the organization.

Regarding Kepler.....It was really a tale of two seasons for Max at Ft Myers.  Perhaps he was (finally) free of injuries, perhaps he altered his approach at the plate, or perhaps he's finally maturing, or maybe all three, as the contrast in these numbers is stark:

April 1-July 11:    K% 22.5%  OPS .622 ISO .099  wRC+ 80

July 13-Sep 8:     K% 11.0%  OPS .835 ISO .142 wRC+ 140

Max is on the (roster) clock,  I'd really like to think that July 13 was the jump-off point to the acceleration phase in his career trajectory.  I hope that both he and the club have the sense of urgency to build on these last 2 months and produce a very solid offseason, starting with the AFL, and looking to not be left behind the rest of the Miracle championship crew going into 2015.

It will be interesting to compare the (potential) 2015 Rock Cats with the 1999 Rock Cats that had at least 6 position players that not only went on to have MLB careers, but each played for at least 10 years!  This group includes: Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz, Jacque Jones, Cristian Guzman, AJ Peirzynski and Chad Moeller. Despite their lofty accomplishments, the only one of the bunch that was rated in the BA top-100 was Guzman at 68. There were several other position players that got cups of coffee in the show, as well as future coaches Chad Allen and Jeff Smith. The pitching corps was much less impressive, but still included 4 players with significant longevity: Mark Redman (10yr.), Mike Lincoln (9 yr.), Joe Mays (7yr.) and JC Romero (14 yr).

 

Let the eternal debate over ceiling vs. floor begin yet again!

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