Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Baseball America's Top Ten Minnesota Twins Prospects

Baseball America released their top 10 Minnesota Twins prospect list today:
1. Aaron Hicks, of

2. Ben Revere, of

3. Wilson Ramos, c

4. Jose Mijares, lhp

5. Danny Valencia, 3b

6. Anthony Swarzak, rhp

7. Shooter Hunt, rhp

8. Kevin Mulvey, rhp

9. Carlos Gutierrez, rhp

10. Angel Morales, of

I can't say I disagree with it much. I'm not as high on Gutierrez as they are. I like that they rated Mijares that high, he will be a huge help to the bullpen next year. My view on the Twins farm system is that it is very deep, much deeper than in years past, but that it isn't very top heavy, in other words they don't have a top prospect like a Mauer, or a Liriano or Garza or a Young or Morneau sitting there. These guys are probably more like a Kubel, a Slowey, a Casilla, a Bartlett, potential to be good, but maybe not all-stars. But then again, I do have high hopes, especially Hicks should be an all-star, maybe Revere, Ramos, or Morales. I don't know. Nobody does. Nobody knew Span would all of a sudden break out. I guess most these guys won't be helping the team within the next 2 years so we will be able to better judge them as time goes on. But it sure is fun, even though every fan overvalues their team prospects.

Here is Baseball America's former top 10 picks for Twins top prospect:
1999 Michael Cuddyer, 3b
Twins
2000 Michael Cuddyer, 3b
Twins
2001 Adam Johnson, rhp
So. Maryland (Atlantic)
2002 Joe Mauer, c
Twins
2003 Joe Mauer, c
Twins
2004 Joe Mauer, c
Twins
2005 Joe Mauer, c
Twins
2006 Francisco Liriano, lhp
Twins
2007 Matt Garza, rhp
Rays
2008 Nick Blackburn, rhp
Twins

Blackburn was a weird choice, but he was solid last year. Ouch, Adam Johnson was a big bust.

And here is what they think our lineup will look like in 2012:
Catcher Joe Mauer
First Base Justin Morneau
Second Base Alexi Casilla
Third Base Danny Valencia
Shortstop Trevor Plouffe
Left Field Ben Revere
Center Field Aaron Hicks
Right Field Delmon Young
Designated Hitter Jason Kubel
No. 1 Starter Francisco Liriano
No. 2 Starter Scott Baker
No. 3 Starter Kevin Slowey
No. 4 Starter Nick Blackburn
No. 5 Starter Glen Perkins
Closer Joe Nathan

I like it. Plouffe is the worst guy on that list. I'd sure like the Twins to trade for a shortstop like Yunel Escobar or JJ Hardy this winter. But the Twins immediate and long-term future looks very bright.

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