Buxton, Sano & Co. -- the Twins' 2013 Minor Leaguers

[catman]

Jonathan Mayo has posted his top 100 prospects for this year and the Twins have 6 of them (4 in the top 50).
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/mlb/p...2013/index.jsp
Sano is #12, Buxton is #19, Meyer # 40, Gibson # 49, Arcia # 93 and Hicks # 98.
By the way, could a mod please stick this thread and unstick the 2011 thread? Thanks.

[catman]

Eddie Rosario, while not making the top 100 list, is the #6 2B prospect.

[nicksaviking]

BA and Keith Law's lists will come out soon, Law said in an interview not long ago he expects at least 7 Twins on his list. Law loves Kepler.

[catman]

I'll let everyone know what I think of Kepler this summer. He's scheduled to play at Cedar Rapids.

[biggsohnasty]

Im definitely a fan of having 6 guys in the top 100, and quite honestly I was suprised by a few not being on the list. Rosario and May were both top 100 guys last year, and while May struggled, Rosario was excellent. I'm surprised Gibson is a top 60 prospect given his injury situation last year and him being 25 yrs old.

I'd be curious to see where Mayo has Rosario, May, Berrios, and Kepler without our system and if any of them could get into the top 100 as we graduate players this season.

[nicksaviking]

I think we are all excited about Berrios, but I'd bet he is least likely to make any lists, mostly because he is so far away and we've seen very little of him.

Even with the hype, I have to say I was shocked at what Kepler did in Rookie ball last year. I wasn't expecting that kind of plate discipline from a guy who has played very little organized baseball. It sounds silly, but he certainly could turn out to be the best prospect in the system, he has the physical tools. Cat, you'll have to let us know if he reminds you of Josh Hamilton at all. It's obviously wishful thinking, but he looks similar at the plate and when he fills out, they'll have the same build and they already seem to share the same physical gifts.

I think Rosario should be on any top 100 list. His position scarcity should boost his stock, he's a stud athlete, I have no fear that he won't figure out 2B. He has hit at every level and is playing great in Winter League. What seperates him from guys like Span and Revere, who were also very good pure hitters, is that Rosario also has surprising pop for a little guy. It will likely decrese quite a bit at Ft. Myers (everyone's does) but he can still have better than average power for a middle infielder.

May is another guy who's stock could rise again. His numbers took a hit in the move to AA, but then again, so did Taijuan Walker and his stock keeps going higher and higher. Walker is obviously younger and has more upside, but encouragingly, May improved towerd the end of his 2012 season, while the extended workload took a much bigger toll on Walker.

I don't know that the Twins have ever had a more loaded top 10 prospects. I certainly think it's possible these four guys should be on top 100 lists, but the people who put them together start counting and think, well, there can't be 8 or 9 or 10 Twins on the list. Perhaps if they played for a prospect lacking team like the White Sox or Angles, they'd all have a better chance at making these lists.

[specialiststeve]

Hardest part is waiting, I also saw an an article that suggest Dominic Brown get traded to the Twins as they are too loaded in the OF with the additions of the former Twins. I would take him as he would fit our upcoming youth movement.

[nicksaviking]

I saw that mentioned and thought it odd. I'd certainly take a look at him, but there's not much room. I can't remember the blurb, probably saw it in MLB Trade Rumors. The thing that made me discount that was that it wasn't a rumor but some baseball analyst that said it could happen. That made me think the guy who said it probably just assumed since the Twins lost Revere and Span they needed outfielders and was unfamiliar with the Twins system. I can't find the article so I don't remember who opined the move.

[catman]

I'll give a report on what I see in Cedar Rapids this summer. I'm sure it'll be an interesting summer.

[trevhipp7]

I would be all over Brown if given the opportunity to get him. He would come at a cheaper price than he should and would be ready to play right now. Brown, Hicks, Arcia with Willingham at DH is pretty nice... Then when Buxton is ready we move Arcia to DH and Hicks to RF...


But just looking at our current situation we should be very excited about the young talent in this organization. From the high ceiling guys like Sano, Buxton, Meyer, to the guys that should help the club this year like Gibson, Hicks, and Arcia, who happen to have relatively high ceilings as well, we have a lot of talent at the top of our lists. And we also have a lot of depth, Rosario should be a top 100 spec in my opinion... May, with a bounceback year would be one next year, Berrios if he keeps things up could be a top 50 prospect next year. Kepler and Harrison could be top 100 guys next year as well. We drafted some electric arms that project to help the bull pen in the future. All in all we have just about everything in this system. We could use a shortstop and or a catching prospect, but we have this daft and in-season trades to possibly target those positions.

[catman]

Lets see what Daniel Santana can do at SS. He profiles as a decent hitter with minimal power, but above average speed. I could see him as a fairly good #2 hitter.
The catching crop is pretty deep this season. Denney, an Oklahoma highschooler, looks to be the best of that group.
For now, I like Florimon at short. He just needs to slow the game down a bit and he should be at least adequate.

[biggsohnasty]

Lets say for arguments sake our top prospects continue their upward trends and meet their reasonable potential. Our lineup in 3-4 years could be pretty darn scary.

1. Hicks
2. Buxton
3. Mauer
4. Sano
5. Arcia
6. Harrison
7. Rosario
8. C to be named later
9. Santana

Rotation:
1. Meyer
2. Gibson
3. Manaea
4. May
5. Worley
6. Berrios

BP: Hard to project but we've got about 10 flamethrowers that all profile as strong setup type guys

Its a slow day in the Twins forum, and has been for a while, but thinking about how good we could potentially be in a few years is exciting. We have some legitimately high upside players in our system.

[catman]

I like that lineup and rotation. Maybe Scott Diamond at #5 and Worley out of the rotation via a trade for a catcher?

[nicksaviking]

If by some chance they all reach their potential that would be a fun lineup. If that is 2016, the front office would like that very much considering that of those players on the list, only Mauer and Worley would be getting paid more than their rookie contracts. A sub $40 million payroll sounds pretty good to the Pohlads.

If the front office gets extremely comfortable with the minimal payroll the team will surely field in the comming years, I wonder if they will be ever willing to get back to the $100-120M range to extend these guys. They will all become arbitration eligible and free agents around the same time. The front office better be prepared to step up if enough of these guys become super stars.

[Vikes ball boy]

I thought Levi Michael was supposed to be a safe pick and someone who within two years could start with us.... What happened. Ik not much upside but 1st rd pick, I wanna see him in the middle infield!