SethSpeaks.net Top Ten Twins Prospects

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

After looking at Twins prospects 36-50 Tuesday, and 21-35 Wednesday, and Prospects 11-20 yesterday, it is time to look at my choices for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. Again, let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy this and again, please feel free to comment.  

What is a prospect and how do I rank them? First of all, prospect ranking is far from an exact science. The top prospects do not always pan out, and frequently other players seemingly come out of nowhere. I do this as much to recognize players as anything else. But I also have been following the Twins minor league system for several years now and have tried to learn what I can about how they operate, and what is needed for promotions, and what skills are important. I have not included players from the Dominican Summer League in these rankings because they need about 7 promotions before they would get to the big leagues. I daily review box scores from the games. I keep up with stats and some trends. For hitters, I like to look at OBP and SLG, but specifically at 2B and 3B coupled with body type to try to determine if HR are in their future. For pitchers, I will look at WHIP and innings and consistency and opponent’s batting average. One of the key stats I look at for both hitters and pitchers are walks and strikeouts which I think tell a lot about a player.

Now, sitting in Minnesota, I have little opportunity to actually see many of these players play. When it comes to prospects, you have to try to look beyond the stats. I have developed sources in and around the Twins farm system to try to get a closer perspective on the players, what their skills are, what they need to work on. I think it is vital to look beyond the stats to try to give a fair perspective. You also have to consider age and level of competition. You have to weigh potential ceiling with likelihood of reaching that ceiling.

With that, I am curious your thoughts on my top ten Twins prospects, or any of the top 50. Who is missing? (Note – I made a concerted effort not to include Jose Mijares just because I think he is now pretty established as a big leaguer.) In the comments, share your top 10, top 20, or whatever you like.

And again, to read much more on all ten of these players, go to www.SethSpeaks.net.

#10 – Rene Tosoni – OF – 22 (7/2/86) 

#9 – Kevin Mulvey – RHP – 23 (5/26/84) 

#8 – David Bromberg – RHP – 21 (9/14/87 

#7 – Carlos Gutierrez – RHP – 22 (9/22/86)

#6 – Anthony Swarzak – RHP – 23 (9/10/85)

 #5 – Angel Morales – OF – 19 (11/24/89) 

#4 – Wilson Ramos – C – 21 (8/10/87)

#3 – Danny Valencia – 3B – 24 (9/19/84)

#2 – Ben Revere – OF – 21 (5/3/88)

#1 – Aaron Hicks – OF – 19 (10/2/89)

So there you have it, my selections for the Top 10 Twins Prospects. What do you think? I would love your feedback and input. Who did I have too high, or too low? If you have any comments, opinions or suggestions, please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

While You’re Waiting…

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The SethSpeaks.net Top 50 Minnesota Twins Prospects rankings will be posted around 11:00 this morning, maybe earlier. It’s in queue and just waiting for its designated time. But until then, here are some links that you may enjoy.

• First, it has been a rather busy week for me, here are some of the audio and video links from this week:
  • On Monday, I joined Jim Rich, Seth Kaplan and Doogie Wolfson on Fox9’s Sports on Demand. We talked Twins for enough time to create six full segments in their Archives.
  • Monday night, I hosted the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. The guests included Beloit Snappers’ 1B Jonathan Waltenbury, Ft. Myers Miracle OF Evan Bigley, and Thrylos from The Tenth Inning Stretch.
  • On Wednesday, I was on for quite some time with Mark Healey on the Baseball Digest Live podcast.
  • Wednesday night, I hosted a Twins Live Game Chat throughout the Twins game and for awhile after. Check out that transcript here.
  • Last night, I was joined by Justin Murphy of seamheads.com on the MNGameNight.com podcast. He is also one of the writers for the Twins page at BaseballDigest.com. We talked about the Cleveland series, looked ahead to the Seattle series, and other baseball topics.
• In addition, please be sure to check out the excellent City Pages story on Mike Redmond in which I was quoted.
• If you would like to prepare for the unveiling of the Top 10 Twins prospects list, you can check out Part 1 (36-50), Part 2 (21-35) and Part 3 (11-20).

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Thursday Game Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

• Justin Murphy writes for seamheads.com, but he also writes for the Twins page of BaseballDigest.com. He was at all three games of the Cleveland series, and posted his Game Recaps. Here is his recap of the Twins 11-3 win on Thursday afternoon. Then to top off his week, he joined me as the co-host of last night’s MNGameNight.com podcast, so be sure to listen in to that as you have time.
• Just a few notes:
  • I didn’t realize what a slump Jason Kubel had been in. In his previous six games, he went 1-17 which dropped his batting average from .340 to .311. He also had not homered since May 13^th and that was his only home run in his previous 30 games, since he hit two home runs against Cleveland on April 25^th.
  • The 2-3-4 hitters came through big time in this game. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel combined to go 9-11 with four walks, a double, three home runs, nine runs scored and nine RBI. I have not received confirmation yet that they also picked up all the groceries in the morning and made everyone pancakes, eggs, hash browns and various juices for breakfast, or that they piloted the team charter to Seattle after the game.
  • Scott Baker earned his third win with seven solid innings. He gave up three runs (2 earned) over seven innings. He had excellent control and movement. He struck out ten hitters. He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.
• Alright, I now need to finish up my Top 50 Twins Prospects ranking by posting my Top 10. So please check back in a little bit to see how they rank.

Here are the minor league game notes for Thursday:

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Brock Peterson, Rochester Red Wings

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Armando Gabino, Rochester Red Wings

RETIREMENT – I heard from Nick Papasan on Thursday afternoon. He was the Twins 24^th round pick in 2006 out of Granbury (TX) high school. He fell in the draft because many teams believed he was headed to Texas A&M. He signed with the Twins, and when he was able to play, he could certainly hit. Unfortunately, he has fought injuries since signing. The most recent was a hand injury that kept him from being able to grip a bat. He told me that he suffered yet another injury on Thursday and decided to pull the plug. I’m sure he was very frustrated by the injuries. Obviously we with Nick the best in his future endeavors, whatever they may be.

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday –Rochester 5, Gwinnett 12 – Jason Jones had his worst start yet. In just three innings, he gave up eight runs (7 earned) on 11 hits and two walks. He didn’t strike anyone out. Armando Gabino continued to pitch well. He gave up just one run on one hit over four relief innings. Juan Morillo came in and gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in an inning. He did strikeout three. Finally, Rob Delaney pitched a scoreless inning in his AAA debut. Brock Peterson went 3-4 with his fifth double. Steve Tolleson hit his first AAA home run.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Thursday – New Britain 4, Connecticut 8 – In a game that started in the morning, the Rockcats fell 8-4 to Connecticut. Jay Rainville started and gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits and a walk. Zach Ward came in and gave up two runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. Frank Mata gave up two unearned runs on two hits in an inning. Yohan Pino threw a shutout inning. Rene Tosoni went 2-3 with a walk and his ninth double. Wilson Ramos was 2-4. Juan Portes went 1-3 with a walk and his second home run, a two run shot that tied the game in the middle innings. 

MIRACLE MEMOS

Thursday – Ft. Myers 9, Clearwater 8 (10 innings) – Glen Perkins made his first rehab appearance. He was on a 70 pitch limit. In four innings, he gave up five runs (3 earned) on six hits and a walk. He struck out five. After the game, he told me that his arm felt good, but he was a “little rusty.” He will likely make at least one more rehab start before getting back with the Twins. Steve Hirschfeld threw two scoreless innings. Santos Arias gave up a run to blow the save, but he went 2.2 innings and that was the only run he gave up, so when the Twins scored in the bottom of the tenth, he got the win. Deibinson Romero went 3-5 with his 12^th double. Evan Bigley was 3-5 with his second double. Chris Cates was 3-5. Nick Romero and Rene Leveret were each 2-5.    

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Thursday – Beloit 1, Peoria 4 – Another game and the Snappers bats managed just four hits. Ramon Santana hit his first triple. Brad Tippett started and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks over 5.1 innings. He struck out four. Blake Martin came in and struck out the two batters he faced. Steve Blevins and Bruce Pugh each gave up two hits in a shutout inning.  

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.