clutterheart

My one lowly contact on the Twins says Ryan is high on Santana. Likes him a lot. I have also heard Ryan speak well of him on radio. If Santana bats with a reasonable average, and cuts down on errors he is on the team by mid 2014

Great post. Interesting they expect 1/2 the team return. Im looking forward to seeing which pitchers from High A make the jump I like that the Twins are in the NE for the AAA & AA. I really hope they stay there. It gives their players experience playing in colder weather, the ball parks are generally neutral so stats are more meaningful and they have active local media to cover the games.

Do you really think the Twins would keep players like Bernier & Bartlett at AAA over Santana?!?! God I hope not. That would be a terrible signal. Bernier has no future with this club. He does not deserve to block a quality prospect who is on the 40 man roster and is wasting service time repeating a level he did respectable in last year. Santana is the best chance this organization has at developing a quality inhouse SS for the next 3 years.

Santana was named the best Defensive Shortstop (could be based on tools, I dunno) in the eastern league by opposing managers. This is one reason to have him so high. SS is premium position and if a guy can hit just a little and play good D he has value. Furthermore he is a threat on the base paths with his speed. He has + Speed, + Arm, + Range and his bat is not a huge -. If he could take walks he would be a top 100 prospect.

Guerra could get a chance this year but only if Ryan makes some trades. But I would love it if Hicks could step up and make the club and be not terrible at the plate batting 8th or 9th and playing good D.

Ryan's going to trade one or two of these pitchers...right?

I have heard that they assured Kubel he makes the team out of spring

Chances are you are right. There are very few sure things when it comes to prospects. But it would be interesting to know why you say that. Lots of folks who have seen him think he could be a good one. He's young, doesn't have much experience, good athlete and has shown a decent eye with some power. Staying healthy and getting AB's has been his challenge to date.

The pessimist in me is starting to come out. All of this national love for the twin's system is just making me damn nervous. Let's hope they stay healthy.

Where does Kyle Knudson fit? He hit .295/.382 /.352 in 28 games at AA last year He doesn't have much power but looks to be able to avoid the SO, take a walk now and then and get a single or two. What's his D like?

Get Sano's butt to Fort Myers, get it looked at and get him out of the DR where they have no control over what happens to him Its Sano's right to refuse this, but I can't believe that he would. This is simple stuff here. I can't understand the Twins sometimes...

Whatever. Lots of kids do stuff when they are in their early 20's. He learns from it, or he doesn't. Its all part of the learning process. I am most concerned about his production in Arizona and Winterball. His offseason line: .201 / .255 / .293 Not good for a top prospect who played at 70 games at AA last year.

More than anything else, Kepler needs at bats. Another early season injury would be a major bummer.

Fun Post I also like how the NRA has an ad on this post - likely due to the NRA reference to the Hicks gif. Kinda creepy how that works - not the politics but the advertisement keywords.

Florimon is an above average defensive SS and a very below average hitter. He has value, but as he gains service time and he gets paid more, his value compared to salary will decrease and I would guess he has 1 or 2 years left with this team. If Santana could learn how to take a walk he would be the long term replacement. Otherwise we will have to wait for Polonco who may or may not be able to field the position.

Albers and Theilbar might have got called up on any team if the injury situation presented itself.

Playing serviceable D at High A but now blocking prospects like Polanco. I have to think he gets moved up to AA this year just because of the investment. Not because he deserves it.

This is a fun area scout to read about. I assume who took over from the guy who scouted Berrios and Rosario? If so, big shoes to fill for this guy!

This seems early. Every year there is a guy like Gray or even Bryant to a lesser extent who dominates to the extent they move up from 1st rounder, to top Pick. I will wait until mid-college season to get too excited

I wouldn't say many of CR's top prospects moved up. Some did. More didn't. He ended the year with Walker, Polonco, Goodrum, Berrios, Boer, Boyd, & Harrison on his team. Most of those guys were considered top prospects at the start of last year. - but Boyd & Boer have dropped off. In my opinion, Glennn is the one who deserves the award (and the publicity.) I wish he was in the running for Gardy's job.

If its performance only, I would say even a candidate like Matt Summers is more deserving than Rogers. He pitched 120 IP in the FSL and got more Strike Outs, had a better BB% and had a better Batting Ave against. Furthermore, why wouldn't you go with Albers who was better than Rogers in most measurements except ERA. Rogers is just such an odd choice to me.

Would an outside candidate for GM even be able to succeed in the Twins org? That FO has to be so damn insular, full of guys who came up together and trust eachother. An outside GM would get steam rolled by the ol' boys club that likely dominates that office.

Great! Glad this book is out. Quibbles: Rgers as Pitcher of the Year has me scratching my head. In high A he pitched 103 innings but only got 83 SO. He gave up a fair amount of hits and I am not sure how much of a prospect he is. He is fine depth and could get a cup of coffee but at best he is a left handed PJ Walters. He did do OK vs lefties and he has a chance as LOOGY guy but...not sure he outpichted Berrios, Baxendale and a few others. Mauer over Gene Glynn? This one I can't abide. Are you trying to keep the Cedar Rapids PR staff on your side? Glynn's team took a big crap out of the gate. He held them together got some pieces and his team made a huge playoff run with a very small amount of top prospects. He has now done this two years in row and he should be in the running for Manager of the Future. Mauer had the creme of the prospect crop, over used his best pitcher - Berrios and got drummed out of the playoffs despite a talented roster. He already got demoted from High A to Low A, so why he deserves praise is beyond me.

Wow, you like your young untested pitchers. I like some of those arms too, but you have 6 arms who haven't pitched above Rookie Ball. Upside is nice but that seems too heavy to me.

Danny Santana - 30? After the season, I got really high on him. I have soured a bit as I think about his weaknesses, but 30 seems low. He needs to be better at getting onbase and way too many SO, but his bat looks capable as shown by a .297/ .333 /.386 and has +SS tools if he can put it together. He looks to be the best internal hope for SS competency in the next 2 - 3 seasons and I expect him to be on the MLB team sometime this year - barring injury I would've put Eades in Santana's spot - (way too many unknowns about Easdes right now to be 11th in a system like this) and put Santana somewhere around 15 or so. But fun list, thanks for sharing.