GKuehl

"He makes it look easy" is one of the highest compliments you can pay a person when it comes to something so immensely challenging as playing baseball at the highest level. 
And yet, that's Brooks Lee in a nutshell. The 2022 first-round pick has handled everything thrown at him with such a sense of grace and nonchalance that it's easy to see why the Twins keep throwing more.
Selected eighth overall out of Cal Poly, Lee impressed the organization enough with his smooth transition to the pro game that they advanced him rapidly over a two-month span. Following a brief opening stint at rookie ball, where he batted .353 in four games, Lee skipped right past Low-A and went straight to Cedar Rapids. 
In 25 games with the Kernels, the switch-hitter slashed .289/.395/.454 with four home runs and an 18-to-16 K/BB ratio. His performance was so impressive that he received a late promotion to Double-A, where he went 11-for-26 (.423) in six contests, including four playoff games.
This spring, the Twins are showing a ton of faith and belief in Lee. Oftentimes when a prospect drafted nine months earlier is invited to big-league camp, it's used as an opportunity to soak in the experience and acclimate to major-league surroundings. 
Not in Lee's case. They're throwing him right into the fire. Through the first four days of spring training games, Lee made three starts and handled the assignment with aplomb, notching four hits in nine at-bats.
"He’s clearly not overwhelmed with the situation," observed manager Rocco Baldelli after Lee went 2-for-3 against the Braves on Tuesday. 
For his part, Lee says he wasn't quite expecting to get this much early-spring action ... not that he's disappointed. "It's pretty surprising, but I signed up for it. I'm having a lot of fun."
For those familiar with Lee's background, his ability to take it all in stride and enjoy the moment shouldn't come as a huge shock.
The Coach's Kid 
The narrative about a coach's kid with supernatural baseball aptitude can be an overplayed trope, but in Lee's case it is impossible to deny. After starring for San Luis Obispo High School in California, he was considered a top name in the 2019 draft, but withdrew his name the day before, informing teams he intended to play at Cal Poly for his father Larry, who'd served as Mustangs head coach for nearly two decades. 
A 2020 season lost to injury and COVID was followed by an excellent 2021, where he batted .342 with a 1.010 OPS, and then an even better 2022, which featured a .357/.462/.664 slash line and cemented his status as a top-10 draft pick. 
Growing up as a coach's kid creates a deep and unique connection to the baseball field, and the fundamentals of the game. It's apparent to Lee's current manager, who himself was coached by his father as a youth. Rocco has credited Dan Baldelli with developing his love for the game, so he can relate to this special aspect of Lee's makeup.
"He’s a very relaxed guy when he’s at the ballpark," Baldelli said. "He gives off the impression that he is a coach’s son and he spent many, many, many years of his life at a baseball field, and he knows everything that goes on at the baseball field. It doesn’t feel like there’s a ton going on here that he’s completely unfamiliar with."
In particular, Baldelli has been impressed by Lee's ability to process information and adapt on the fly.
"The at-bats look good. He makes really good adjustments during at-bats, he finds a way to get his barrel kind of on a good plane. Depending on what’s going on in the count, depending on the pitcher he’s facing, he’s not a one-trick pony at the plate, that’s pretty clear from watching him."
This crucial quality helps explain why Lee emerged as a top 2022 draft prospect – MLB.com had him ranked as the fifth-best draft prospect ahead of time – and why the Twins were so delighted to get him with the No. 8 pick. 
So far he's been everything they could've hoped, with his initial performance standing out so much that Lee managed to sneak (ever-so-slightly) past Royce Lewis to claim the No. 1 spot on our latest Twins prospect rankings. 
Now all he has to contend with is a troubled history for those who've been in this position before.
Breaking a Pattern of Top Prospect Letdowns
I wrote recently about the track record for Twins prospects who've topped our rankings over the past 10 years. It's a list that includes:
Most recently, Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff, who are both grappling with potentially career-threatening health issues as we head into this season.  Austin Martin, who plummeted in the rankings following a tough encore season at Double-A in 2022. Fernando Romero, who fizzled out and never came close to reaching his high-end starter potential. Byron Buxton, whose career thus far has epitomized the disruptive power of uncontrollable forces impacting elite athletes, even when their on-field play matches their promise. Can Lee break the spell? His skill set is so advanced, balanced, and resilient that it feels almost impossible to envision a Martin-esque performance drop-off. Injuries are of course less predictable, and Lee hasn't been able to totally avoid their grip – he suffered a hyperextended knee in 2020 that required surgery – but he's fully healthy and without any restriction this spring.
That differentiates them from so many other players in camp, and has probably contributed to the number of opportunities available to him here in the first week of games.
The natural question now, for The Natural, is what comes next.
What's Ahead for Brooks Lee?
I'm assuming Lee will open the year at Double-A. That's a semi-aggressive assignment on its face, but so send him back to Single-A would feel almost unfair to the pitchers there.
Once he's settled in Wichita, Lee is instantly in range of a big-league promotion, and his showing this spring helps build confidence he'll be ready for the call whenever it comes. "Offensively, defensively, everything we’ve thrown at him, he’s handled it, done it, excelled at it, and he looks good," said Baldelli.
Assuming he picks up where he left off in the minors, it becomes a matter of when and where Lee's opportunity will arise in the majors. The Twins are hoping it won't come anytime soon at shortstop, where Correa is penciled in for years to come. 
The more imminent opportunity figures to come at third base, and it sort of feels like the organization is planning around such a scenario, maybe sooner than later. Playing third would be a relatively new experience for Lee, who played shortstop exclusively in college and has yet to appear anywhere else defensively as a pro. 
He said short is his favorite position, but added, "I love third too." Maybe it's meant to be. After all, Lee was named after legendary Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson. In the past, he's set his sights on an accordingly ambitious career path.
"Honestly, I think I should be a Hall of Famer when I grow up and be in the talk for one of the greatest of all time," Lee said back in 2021 as a redshirt freshman at Cal Poly. 
These days, he's a little more subdued in his goal-setting. Asked what he hopes to accomplish this year: "Just be satisfied with how I did at the end of the season, that’s all I care about. Haven’t really thought about stats or anything like that, or where I’m gonna be."
Sounds like a coach's kid. And while he doesn't have his dad in the dugout anymore, Larry is never too far away – Brooks says he talks to him "every day." Upon reaching the big leagues, Lee will have the luxury of a more contemporary mentor close at hand.
After Correa exited his spring training debut on Wednesday, I asked for his impressions of Lee thus far. 
"Man that kid is a stud," Correa said, with an added emphasis on the last word. "I really, really, really like this kid. I’m very high on him. Don’t be surprised if we see him up this year, he’s very, very good man. Everybody I talk to about him, it’s high praise. I don’t get impressed very easily. That was definitely a great pick by the Twins."
Just a couple of first-round shortstops who make it look easy.

We’ve received more straightforward news on the Max Kepler front these last few days. After speculation grew regarding the Twins possibly keeping the left-handed outfielder, Dan Hayes reports that Kepler sticking around is likely at this point. It’s been discussed how Max Kepler still has value in the right role to help the Twins if he stays. This news does make us second guess parting with Gio Urshela earlier this winter, however.
The Twins decision to trade Gio Urshela was straightforward at the time. Jose Miranda is getting a fair crack at being the everyday third baseman, and Urshela’s projected arbitration salary was a bit high for a player whose role wasn’t certain. They followed it up by signing Joey Gallo to a one-year, $11 million prove-it deal. This all but cemented the fact that Max Kepler was on the way out, as six left-handed corner outfielders on the 40-man roster is beyond excessive. With the addition of Gallo and Kepler apparently staying around, however, the Twins may have misplayed their hand.
It appears the plan with Kepler still being in the mix is for Joey Gallo to play a lot of first base in 2023. With Alex Kirilloff’s health being in question and Gallo having some experience there, it makes sense given the state of the current 40-man roster. Consider however that given Joey Gallo's recent offensive struggles, a fair bit of his floor value comes from his defense in the outfield. Perhaps his offense rebounds to passable levels for a first baseman, but his ability to cover ground and throw out runners on the base paths would be all but nullified by a move to first base. 
Make no mistake, the debate didn’t have to be Urshela vs Gallo for the first base platoon role. It seemed that the plan was to trade Max Kepler for much of the offseason. The Twins asking price appeared to have been high all along, but given the level of player Kepler is at this point and the context of the roster, it’s confusing why they’d play hardball on his price on the trade market.
Urshela was a far more valuable player than Kepler in 2022 by any Wins Above Replacement measure and was essentially given away for free because of his redundancy with Miranda moving over to the hot corner. The irony in this is that the Twins now have Gallo, Larnach, Gordon, Wallner, Kirilloff, and Kepler as left-handed corner outfield options and it appears they haven’t lowered their asking price at all. Kepler has a $10 million option for 2024, but do the Twins really plan on paying that if Kepler’s performance from the last two years continues?
The Twins current roster includes a massive left-handed logjam with players like Joey Gallo out of position where his skillset isn’t being maximized. Several young players such as Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner who should be nearing their chance to show what they can do are now pushed further down the line by the excessive outfield depth chart. They could have a better platoon partner for Kirilloff and one more right-handed bat in Gio Urshela for less money, but instead, they traded this scenario away for a 19-year-old pitching prospect in the low minors.
It’s hard to say there weren’t miscalculations on the Twins part this offseason. Looking at the roster now, it becomes clear that Urshela’s value to the team exceeded the value he carried on the trade market. This is further exacerbated by the Twins appearing to overvalue Kepler on the trade market despite the obvious lack of need for him on the roster. If they valued Kepler this highly, why sign Joey Gallo at all as opposed to keeping Gio Urshela or designating that $11 million to a right-handed hitter with more experience at first base?
It’s possible Max Kepler is still traded before the season and that the roster makes a lot more sense on Opening Day. As things stand now, however, it sure looks like dumping Gio Urshela for anything they could get was a mistake. Do you agree?
 
 
 

When I published these rankings for the sixth time this year, I mentioned how much more challenging I found the exercise than in the past. 
"For one thing," I wrote, "it feels like we're in the midst of a slow-developing offseason journey with big twists still ahead. I have a strong feeling there will be noticeable changes to this list by March 30th."
Sure enough, we've seen plenty of upheaval since, and it's not even January 30th yet.
The blockbuster moves that took place within the past two weeks have shaken up the franchise's talent layout in profound ways, to the extent that it feels worthwhile to revisit those rankings. 
The Twins shattered their precedent by signing Carlos Correa to a $200 million deal. They traded an controllable young All-Star and batting champ in Luis Arraez for a new pitcher. How do these additions fit into the overall hierarchy of talent in the organization?
Let's take a look.
The Original Top 20 Twins Assets of 2023
The idea of these rankings was to provide a relative view of Twins players and prospects by appraising their big-picture value to the organization. The goal was to answer this question: Which current players in the organization are most indispensable to fulfilling the vision of building a champion?
I published my latest annual rankings at the beginning of January. You can read the explanations for each in that four-part series of articles ... 
Part 1: #20-16 Part 2: #15-11  Part 3: #10-6 Part 1: #5-1 ... But to summarize, here are the original 2023 rankings as I had them laid out:
Byron Buxton, CF Brooks Lee, SS Joe Ryan, RHP Jorge Polanco, 2B Royce Lewis, SS Bailey Ober, RHP Jhoan Durán, RHP Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF José Miranda, 3B Luis Arraez, IF Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Connor Prielipp, LHP Austin Martin, OF Trevor Larnach, OF Ryan Jeffers, C Alex Kirilloff, OF/1B Jorge López, RHP Sonny Gray, RHP Louie Varland, RHP Matt Wallner, OF Now the Twins have re-signed their reigning team MVP to a six-year contract, and traded the player previously ranked #10 for a pitcher and two prospects. How do these game-changing moves affect the big picture? I took a shot at updating my rankings and here's where I landed:
The Revised Top 20 Twins Assets of 2023
Byron Buxton, CF Carlos Correa, SS Brooks Lee, SS Joe Ryan, RHP Jorge Polanco, 2B Royce Lewis, SS Bailey Ober, RHP Jhoan Durán, RHP Pablo López, RHP Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF José Miranda, 3B Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP Connor Prielipp, LHP Austin Martin, OF Trevor Larnach, OF Ryan Jeffers, C Alex Kirilloff, OF/1B Jorge López, RH Louie Varland, RHP Matt Wallner, OF There are a few significant changes in this update, including a shakeup in the top 10. Here's a look at the additions and subtractions, and how the thought process played out:
Correa is in at #2. Locking up a superstar player for six years at age 28 on a contract like this, with team-friendly terms at the back end, can't be viewed as anything more than a huge win. I contemplated putting him ahead of Buxton but Correa has his own unique heightened injury risk attached and his deal isn't quite so favorable to the team as Buck's. Either way, these are clearly their two foundational assets going forward. Pablo López is in at #9. This felt like the right spot to me. He's got two years of control remaining compared to five apiece for Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober, so I don't view him as quite the same level of value even if he's probably a cut above in terms of talent. Still, a big addition for a franchise that really needed more controllable starting pitching. Previously I had Arraez ranked as the #10 asset, so this looks like a winning trade through that lens even before you account for prospects Jose Salas and Byron Chourio, who would likely fall in the 25-35 range. Gray drops out from #18. The addition of Lopez also makes Sonny Gray a bit less indispensable, in my mind. I had him 18th in the original rankings because, "As things currently stand, Gray is the only pitcher in the organization who can credibly be looked at as a dependable frontline starter for 2023." That's no longer the case. With López aboard, and under control for an additional year, I actually think the Twins could feasibly trade Gray if the right offer came along, which wasn't much of an option before. (That's not to say I would advise it.) When I assembled these rankings the first time around, I was feeling pretty decent about the state of the Twins franchise both today and going forward. Needless to say, I'm feeling even better now. While the loss of a top-10 asset in Arraez hurts, the Twins recouped that value and then some by acquiring López and a pair of high-upside teenaged prospects. 
Meanwhile, the stunning Correa signing reshapes this franchise's future, embedding another true MVP-caliber talent in his prime alongside Buxton to lead the way. Simply put, the Twins are in a significantly better place now than they were a month ago.
Catch up on past editions of the top 20 Twins asset rankings:
Top 20 Twins Assets: 2018 Top 20 Twins Assets: 2019 Top 20 Twins Assets: 2020 Top 20 Twins Assets: 2021 Top 20 Twins Assets: 2022

Jovani Moran is far from a Twins top prospect. He’s slowly worked his way up the system since being drafted in 2015 and will be 26 years old in 2023. He averaged just a bit above 93 mph on his fastball and lacks the nasty wipeout slider to truly dominate same handed hitters as you normally see in left handed relievers. He’s not currently an impactful part of the 2023 Twins pitching staff, but he could be.
By now we all know the deal with Jovani Moran. He walks too many hitters and his main out pitch is a changeup, making him almost more of a right handed reliever due to the pitches harsh splits against right handed hitters (.458 OPS allowed in 2022). He’s a bit of an enigma due to his lack of velocity and pitch mix that still resulted in an incredible 32.9% K rate. With being somewhat of a unicorn, can Moran continue succeeding at the MLB level if he’s given a true opportunity in 2023?
We’ve seen the worst of Moran, at times appearing to have no idea how to find the strike zone. This is easily the number one concern, as on occasion we’ve seen him walk the bases loaded and look completely uncompetitive. It’s always been a part of his game and his 11% BB rate in 2022 was a bit of a tightrope act. Consider however that that 11% rate was his best since 2019 in AA, and was a significant improvement on his 18.4% BB rate in 2021. Moran appears to have improved, and while his career has been up and down, it’s at least encouraging to see.
Some would argue that Moran’s 2.21 ERA in 2022 was unsustainable not only because of his walk rates, but because he performed much worse with a 6.00 ERA in AAA which could be the true indicator of his abilities. Consider however that the 6.00 ERA in AAA was backed up by a 3.01 FIP and 2.75 xFIP. Moran had an unsustainable 65.4 left on base % and 16.7 homer to flyball rate. While he walked more batters with the Saints, it looks like what could go wrong did. Furthermore, his 2.21 ERA with the Twins was backed up by a 2.28 xERA, 1.78 FIP, and 2.88 xFIP. These aren’t predictive stats, but looking at his ERAs in AAA and at the MLB level, it sure seems the latter was the more legitimate outcome.
It’s hard to call Moran the second lefty in the Twins bullpen, and he certainly shouldn’t be trusted in high leverage immediately. Moran has earned an opportunity to be a bullpen regular however. Any pitch with a near 50% whiff rate should immediately earn a pitcher an extended look, and Moran’s changeup has posted this mark in both of his MLB seasons. In 2022 the pitch allowed a .101/.158/.139 line, and his fastball was a great pitch as well. He also gets a decent amount of ground balls and he’s allowed just 14 homers in his entire 200+ professional innings. With such standout characteristics in his profile, Moran should easily be ahead of relievers such as Trevor Megill for low leverage spots.
This isn’t a call to make Moran a featured reliever out of the Twins bullpen in 2023. He has several elite skills however and if he can improve on his walk rate just a bit more, he’s flashed the ability to thrive in a high leverage role. Being used as he was in 2022 however will certainly not bring that possibility to fruition. As a home grown talent on a team that doesn’t invest in the bullpen, there’s simply no reason to continue bouncing him in between the majors and minors while giving fringe MLB pitchers opportunities.
2023 should bring opportunity for Jovani Moran who arguably should’ve earned more of it in 2022. If he even hits his 60th percentile, the Twins would have a unique weapon out of the bullpen and would make playing the matchups an absolute nightmare for opposing clubs. It’s time for Jovani Moran to get some respect.

Before we talk about Joey Gallo at his worst, let's talk about Joey Gallo at his best, which is the form he'll seek to recapture in a make-good contract with the Twins.
From 2017 through 2021, Gallo slashed .208/.338/.485 with 110 home runs in 428 games. He was an All-Star twice and won two Gold Gloves. He was worth 3+ fWAR in three of four non-COVID seasons, and 2.8 in the other. For reference, here are the Twins players who have managed to put up 3+ fWAR in a season over the past two years: Byron Buxton (twice), Jorge Polanco, Carlos Correa, Luis Arraez, Josh Donaldson.
Gallo was at his absolute best in 2021, despite a .199 batting average that will cause many old-schoolers to roll their eyes. He led the league in walks (and yes, strikeouts) while blasting 38 home runs for the Rangers and Yankees. Gallo is a three-true-outcomes guy, but when it's clicking – as it was pretty consistently for five seasons ahead of 2022 – he's perhaps the best there is in that mold. 
Which helps explain why he's been acquired over the past two seasons by a couple of the foremost championship contenders in Major League Baseball: the Yankees acquired him from the Rangers at the 2021 deadline, and the Dodgers acquired him from New York this past deadline.
Of course, that brings us to the present situation. Gallo was straight-up horrible in 2022. There's simply no way around it. And it happened in the worst setting possible. Maybe you've heard: Yankees fans aren't too forgiving.
When he was dealt away from the Yankees this year, a New York Post article reflected on "Gallo’s nightmare tenure in The Bronx," suggesting he would "go down as one of the biggest trade busts in Yankees history." 
The experience was none too pleasant for Gallo himself.
"I don’t go out in the streets," Gallo said in an interview upon departing from New York. "I really don’t want to show my face too much around here."
"I went through a lot of adversity and I really had to question myself a lot," he added. "My confidence suffered. I would say I hit rock bottom for the big leagues. So for me, I just was trying to remember to be a good teammate, play the game the right way, play the game hard and not do something stupid that I’d regret. I learned a lot about myself, I guess. Baseball is a tough game. But it definitely made me stronger because not many people have gone through what I’ve gone through."
Unfortunately, things didn't improve much for Gallo in Los Angeles, where the expectations and pressure didn't exactly diminish. He slashed .162/.277/.393 in 44 games with the Dodgers, finishing the year with a miserable 0.6 fWAR and 0.2 bWAR, and with that, it was off to free agency for the first time.
Needless to say, Gallo didn't find a very receptive market. And that's how he wound up on the Twins with a one-year, $11 million deal, looking to make good and rebuild his market. He likely would've made more than $100 million had he reached the open market last offseason, adding to the frustration he's no doubt feeling.
A big payday remains possible for Gallo. He needs to earn it, and he knows that. So he chooses to head to the more easygoing, low-pressure environment of the Twin Cities in hopes of rebuilding his value. Sounds familiar, huh?
We saw a similar narrative play out just a year ago when the Twins acquired Gary Sanchez from New York in the Josh Donaldson trade. In that case, going to Minnesota wasn't the player's choice, but the storylines about a return to prime form after escaping from the bright lights of the Bronx naturally took shape. Sanchez had his own public drama with Yankees fans and media.
As we now know, the Sanchez's redemption story with the Twins didn't quite play out as he hoped – it was another sub par campaign that reaffirmed his fade from glory and now leaves him struggling to market himself in free agency. 
There's good reason to believe Gallo will be a different story: namely, his peak performance is not so dreadfully far in the rearview mirror. Whereas Sanchez came to the Twins with just one decent year in his past four, Gallo's been good-to-great every year BUT one. 
It's somewhat rare for a former standout player to re-emerge as a star after many consecutive years of below-average performance. It's fairly common for steadily productive players to rebound after one down year. As poorly as Gallo played in 2022, that's all it was at this point. Now he enters his age-29 season with huge personal stakes.
Signing Gallo is hardly a worthwhile signature move of the offseason, but it does represent the first true effort by the front office to raise the 2023 team's ceiling, as opposed to filling holes and bolstering its floor. We need more of that going forward.

The 2022 season was a characteristic one for Max Kepler: solid yet underwhelming. He was a fairly valuable overall player, posting 2.0 fWAR thanks primarily to his elite defense in right field. His offense, as usual, was suppressed by a debilitatingly low BABIP as opposing defenses suffocated him with the shift.
There's encouraging news on that front, which could enhance Kepler's marketability. But more on that shortly. The bottom line is that, even if his luster has largely worn off in the eyes of Twins fans, Kepler IS a quality asset with appeal to many contending teams in need of a lefty corner outfield bat.
There are several such clubs, and one of the best ways to identify them is by following who is pursuing (and missing out on) free agents that share the same profile. 
Among them: the Seattle Mariners.
There are a few different reasons the Mariners stand out to me as a logical trade partner for the Twins and Kepler. The first is that their general manager is Jerry Dipoto, one of the most prolific wheelers and dealers on the GM circuit. Trade speculation is always valid when Jerry's involved.
Seattle's specific situation also frames them as a practical landing spot for Kepler. The M's got horrible production from both outfield corners in 2022, and it was one of the biggest flaws on a 90-win team that made the playoffs but couldn't push deep.
Mitch Haniger's injury-plagued year put right field in limbo for Seattle, while Jesse Winker was a defensive disaster and mediocre bat in left. Haniger's now gone, with Teoscar Hernandez acquired from Toronto to replace his powerful right-handed bat. It still seems as though Dipoto and Seattle are still seeking another lefty-hitting outfielder to complement Hernandez and Julio Rodriguez, as illustrated by their reported pursuit of Brandon Nimmo (who re-signed with the Mets) and Andrew Benintendi. 
The Mariners are looking for assurance and Kepler offers it. He's been worth two or more Wins Above Replacement in every full season of his career. Entering his age-30 season, he's a safe bet to at least be a solid fixture and a big upgrade over what the Mariners had last year. The new defensive shifting limitations, along with the outfielder's stellar Statcast measurables, could hint at legitimate upside.
Kepler's contract situation – one more guaranteed season at $8.5 million with a 2024 team option at $10 million – is part of what I see as making him attractive to Seattle specifically. They have a pair of top prospects who happen to be lefty-swinging outfielders: Jarred Kelenic (23) and Taylor Trammell (25). Both have struggled to turn the corner in the majors, but its too early to give up on either.
And by following this route, the Mariners wouldn't need to. The flexible control over Kepler's next two seasons enables Seattle to keep the door open for both, while gaining reliable veteran stability as they push to take the next step in the interim.
From Minnesota's perspective, what makes Seattle an intriguing partner is their abundance of young pitching. In addition to veteran stalwarts Robbie Ray and Marco Gonzales, as well as deadline acquisition Luis Castillo, the Mariners had three different pitchers 27 and under in 2022 who made 25+ starts with an ERA of 3.73 or lower (George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Chris Flexen).
Kirby or Gilbert would likely not be on the table unless Minnesota offered significantly more than Kepler. But Flexen seems attainable, if not one of Seattle's many relief arms or mid-tier prospects. 
 
What do you think? Which teams strike you as the best trade partners for Kepler, and what would a realistic return look like? 

Noah Cardenas

For my life, I can’t figure out why Noah Cardenas isn’t well-regarded as a prospect. Catchers who can hit are rare; catchers who can hit and field well are unique, and Cardenas might be that kind of player. Let’s start with the bat: his .302/.407/.426 line at UCLA has translated well to a .261/.421/.413 one over his first full season in professional ball, 99 games with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Despite a hitting environment that favors pitchers, Cardenas rode his excellent feel for the plate to an 18.2% walk rate, good for 3rd in the Florida League; his .421 OBP placed him 4th.
Fielding is more difficult to analyze—even major league stats remain shaky these days—but Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin refer to him as a “glove-driven” catcher, and the Pac-12 honored Cardenas with an honorable mention on their All-Defensive Team in 2019. 
He’s a touch older than your typical A-ball player—he celebrated his 23rd birthday on September 10th—but Cardenas should remain firmly on your radar over the next few years.
Cody Laweryson

“Fun” is seldom a word that describes a prospect, but the word fits Cody Laweryson’s bill perfectly. A 14th-round pick out of Maine in 2019, Laweryson shocked with a monstrous 15-strikeout performance to end his time in rookie ball but entered a hiatus thanks to the canceled minor league season in 2020. His 2021 season was forgettable, but he returned with a dominating 2022 campaign. Laweryson silenced bats with a 1.62 ERA, flipping between starting and relief, striking out 30.2% of hitters while walking just 7.2%. He even stepped up his game at AA, holding a 1.06 ERA over 59 ⅔ innings in a hitter-friendly environment.
Laweryson’s secret sauce is deception, a crane-like delivery with slanted arms and raised elbows that would fit perfectly next to Michael Jackson in the Thriller music video. Hitters can barely see the ball as a barrage of limbs fly toward the plate, masking Laweryson’s pitches until too late. The Twins chose not to protect Laweryson in the upcoming Rule 5 draft, opening up the chance for another team to poach him.
 
Brent Headrick

In May, Matthew Lenz told us we should start noticing Brent Headrick. He was on to something.
After struggling with command in 2021, Headrick shifted into high gear in 2022, punching out batters at an elite rate—31%, to be exact—while limiting walks with Joe Musgrove-esque control. Even a promotion into a hitters' lion's den—the Texas League—couldn’t slow down Headrick’s reign; his K-BB% barely budged after joining the Wind Surge. While not a velocity expert, Headrick works with a deceptive delivery, placing pitches in their proper location before punching out the batter with a high fastball or a diving breaking ball.
The Twins agree that Headrick is fascinating; the team chose to protect him in the upcoming Rule 5 draft, perhaps paving a path for the Illinois State product to pitch for the major league club in 2023. 
Others

Prospect evaluation is far from perfect, but one can often parse through the noise, instead focusing on the statistical freak shows who have become major league stars in recent seasons. Steven Kwan rode an elite contact profile to a 4.4 fWAR season; our own Luis Arraez broke out and won a silver slugger in 2022; Cristian Javier’s absurd minor league K numbers have translated to a career 30.9% K rate in the majors. These players were dinged for other drawbacks, but their outlier abilities have carried them to major league success. Here are a few guys in the Twins organization who stick out:
Jaylen Nowlin

Jaylen Nowlin struck out 35.9% of hitters in 2022. His command was dreadful enough to omit from this paragraph—his walk rate could scare the less courageous among us—but that punch-out rate will keep him around, maybe translating to major league playing time.
Austin Schulfer

The nearly 27-year-old Austin Schulfer is knocking loud enough on the Twins’ door that the neighbors are starting to get irritated. His strikeout and walk rates moved in the wrong direction in 2022, but his groundball rate jumped from average to 58.3%, good for tops in the system amongst all pitchers with 50 innings. Only seven qualified MLB relievers could claim a better penchant for grounders in 2022.
Noah Miller

19-year-olds aren’t supposed to walk 16.2% of the time in their first full season in professional baseball, especially when they play in an offensively stunted environment. Noah Miller’s extra-base authority lagged, but his feel for the zone is already elite.

Relief prospects rarely get a whole lot of hype, which may be why Jovani Moran seemed to come out of nowhere in 2021 when he dominated AA and AAA by limiting homers and striking out everyone in sight. As the Twins approach the trade deadline that hopefully brings several acquisitions to their MLB bullpen, Moran has proven to be one of the only current relievers that has proven he needs to stick around for the long haul.
Moran is something of a unicorn. Throwing left-handed and averaging around 93 mph with the fastball, he’s not exactly Aroldis Chapman blowing smoke by batters en route to his current 37% K rate. Nor does he attack hitters with a lights-out breaking pitch to take advantage of lefty on lefty matchups. Instead, he just pairs his modest fastball with a changeup of all pitches and has absolutely dominated the majors so far this season.
Moran has translated this dominance into a 0.96 ERA. He’s been lucky, although just to a small extent. His xERA is 2.40 and FIP is 1.88, both numbers would be much preferred to any other option in the bullpen aside from Jhoan Duran. His track record of high strikeouts and limiting homers has shone brightly with a 13.50 K/9 and having not allowed a single long ball in 18.2 innings.
The common knock on Moran is obviously his walk rate. His 14.7% mark in the MLB thus far is actually one of his better jobs of limiting free passes in recent years. It’s hard to deny that this can be a significant issue. Unlike pitchers such as Emilio Pagan however, Moran doesn’t allow historically high home run rates to pair with it which can only result in disaster. In fact, Moran has allowed less than 4.0 hits per 9 innings so far this season which is why despite the walks, his WHIP is still a fantastic 1.02. Many great relievers get by allowing high home run rates while avoiding free passes to get by. While unusual, it appears Moran is capable of dominating by doing the opposite.
In short, Jovani Moran has essentially duplicated what he’s been able to do in most of his MiLB career on the biggest stage. Despite a glaring flaw in his skillset, the rest of his abilities appear to outweigh his deficiency. He was a high-leverage, back-end of games type reliever in AA and AAA, and although it remains to be seen whether he can fill that role against the game's best hitters, it appears he can be an effective and dominant reliever in some fashion as is.
In a time where praise is hard to come by in the Twins bullpen, Jovani Moran deserves some attention. Not just for being flat out dominant, but for doing so in such an interesting way. Despite his limited and scattered opportunities, he’s been worth the same amount of Wins Above Replacement (0.4) as Griffin Jax and Caleb Thielbar. He’s been more valuable than several starting pitchers who have thrown many more innings such as Devin Smeltzer, Chris Archer and Josh Winder.
This isn’t necessarily a call for Moran to be moved into the 7th or 8th inning. Fill those spots at the deadline with proven options. Instead, it’s worth recognizing him for what he is: One of the few middle relievers who has actually done their job for the Twins this season. If he can stay right where he is and continue his absolute dominance, the Twins just may hold on to win some games in the second half. And that would be pretty cool.
 

Michael Helman is not used to the frigid Minnesota cold which is why he was thankful to be called up the St. Paul Saints on May 31 instead of in April. Although he grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, the cold there never reaches the frigid temps it does in Minnesota. 
Helman was drafted by the Twins in the 11th round of the 2018 MLB June Amateur Draft as a second baseman out of Texas A&M. Now he finds himself playing almost every position as the Twins organization has developed him into a super utility player at both Double-A Wichita and Triple=A this season. 
Helman spoke on the shifts around to different positions as the season has gone on saying, “I always feel comfortable in the outfield. Third base, I'm starting to feel a lot more comfortable there and actually starting to get some shortstop now [including tonight], which is just definitely new and I'm not opposed to trying every single position.”
Last night, Helman played his first game at shortstop for the season. He has only played 15 games at the position professionally and while he is still making adjustments to the position, he is ready to take on the challenges ahead to become the super utility player he hopes to be. 
“I would say it's mainly just you're clocking in and field. At second base, I feel like I usually have a lot more time. Same with third base because everything's usually hit pretty hard. Shortstop is a little different, where you have to have good rhythm, timing, getting to the ball and getting it out quick,” said Helman. 
Current manager for Helman, Toby Gardenhire, spoke on the greatness of having him as a versatile utility player, "That's the goal with the way baseball is heading nowadays. To be able to put different guys in different positions on any given day based on who the pitcher matchups are and you see teams like the Dodgers do a really good job of that there. If you can get guys like Michael to play  in the outfield, sometimes at the corner positions, you can do so many different things. All it does is help you out when you're trying to make out a lineup because, I can speak for example, when I'm making a lineup I don't really worry about where Helman or Soto are. I just worry about the rest of the guys and I figure out where we don't have a guy and then I put down Helman there, and that's a really nice thing about him."
Along with covering every corner of the diamond, Helman has had his best season at the plate in 2022 too. In 77 total games this season, Helman is hitting .284/.370/.470 (.840) with 12 home runs, 39 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. Helman has attributed his hitting success this season and in 2021 to Twins Minor League Hitting Coordinator Bryce Berg.
Berg has spent three seasons with the Twins organization, originally hired to be the Cedar Rapids Kernels hitting coach for the 2020 season. With that season canceled across the minor leagues due to COVID-19, Helman was able to get a lot of one-on-one mentorship with Berg that has shaped him into the hitter he is today. 
“Having 2020 off was kind of a big refresher because I just came off a tough year with the Miracle. Going into that spring training, I felt the best I've ever felt. When they ended up canceling the season that hurt. But at the same time, I built off what I was feeling and/or doing during that spring training and just worked out through 2020 with Bryce Berg, our hitting coordinator now. He had a lot of good things to help me with and everything just clicked,” said Helman. 
"Mike's journey was was pretty fun to work through. I think the best testament to him was just the fact that from a growth perspective, he was always open to grow. He was always open minded about new things, which was going to be really helpful for him, he came off of a season in 2019, where he got hurt. He's done a great job throughout his career of making contact, not striking out," said Berg on his experience mentoring Helman since 2020. 
Helman went into sharing the small details where he really felt helped with his hitting from Berg saying, “It was mainly timing with my swing and being able to get ready earlier in the box than I usually expected. Working with Bryce, I found I needed to have a more vertical swing path. We did a lot of drills that helped with that.” 
In addition to Berg, Helman has received mentorship from current teammates John Andreoli and Mark Contreras. Being around these two and other teammates with Big League experience has helped him grow a lot in his short time with the Saints. 
“I played with Mark before our time here. A lot of these guys I've played with earlier in my career, and it's just nice to have them around and be able to talk to them about certain things that they've seen coming up through the system. Mark talks to everybody, and he's shared everything on his time with the Twins this year. He's a great guy who loves to make friends around the clubhouse, and now he shares his experiences and I think it's definitely worthwhile to listen in.”
The month and a half that Helman has spent on the Saints roster has been the longest amount of time he has spent in Minnesota in his life. He did make a trip up to the state as a kid for a softball tournament his sister participated in and made a stop at Mall of America during that time. 
Now, he’s becoming accustomed to the state and fully aware the warm weather won’t be around forever as his Saints teammates who played frigid games in April have reminded him.
“I am from Nebraska. I’ve played in cold weather, snow and everything else there. But after going out to Texas for school and coming back, I mean, I don't know what it’s like playing in the cold weather anymore.” 
No matter how the weather is on game days for the remainder of the season, Helman is excited to see what comes his way. Whether it's trying to play as many different positions in the field as possible, bringing his season totals at the plate to all-time career highs, or finally making his MLB debut. Helman has nothing but high hopes for the remainder of the 2022 season.