The Minnesota Twins are off to a somewhat surprising 13-14 start this season and have largely played at or even slightly above the expectations that many fans and experts had for them. At this point in 2012, the team was 7-20 and the season was essentially over.
With the team floundering so early in 2012, the front office decided to make a few more roster moves than normal. They promoted Scott Diamond from the minors on May 8th, Darin Mastroianni on May 10th while DFA-ing Matt Maloney and optioning Danny Valencia on the all in the same day as Mastroianni’s promotion.
If you go back to the archives of this blog, you’ll see I was calling for Diamond and Mastroianni’s promotions and Maloney’s demotion (along with Jeff Gray). I admittedly didn’t see the Valencia move coming. My point with those promotions was simple, these players are carving up the minors and the big league boys are struggling. Let’s make a move.
With the 2013 Twins playing much better baseball and very few players struggling mightily, I don’t think we’ll see any big roster moves to speak of in the near future. That being said, let’s look over each of the Twins’ minor league affiliates and pick out the players who could be seeing a promotion in the near future.
Low A: Cedar Rapids Kernels
20-8, 1st Place
Promotion Worthy:
Byron Buxton(OF): Last year’s #2 overall pick has been destroying the low A competition so far this season. He’s batting an absurd .378/.492/.663 with 5 HR, 24 RBI and 12 stolen bases in just 27 games. The 18 year old is much too talented for this level of competition and will likely see a promotion to high A Fort Myers later this month or by June at the latest.
Jorge Polanco(2B): While’s Polanco’s numbers are not as nasty as Buxton’s his triple slash of : .339/.378/.495 is impressive for a young 2B. He’s played well enough that he’ll earn a promotion when the Fort Myer’s crowd gets promoted (more on that in a minute).
Jose Berrios(SP): Another one of the top picks from the Twins’ 2012 draft, Berrios is quickly proving that he’s much better than the Midwest League competition. The 18 year old flame thrower boasts a 2.51 ERA with an impressive 21 strikeouts over 3 starts. It’s a small sample size, and he’ll likely be given at least half the year in low A to develop, but he’s too talented to be here all year. Look for a July or August promotion to Fort Meyers.
The Kernels are LOADED with talent right now and there are a multitude of players who could see promotions this season. I’ve highlighted only 3, but there are at least 3 others; Tyler Duffey (SP), Adam Walker (OF), Mason Melatokis (RP) who I could see being promoted this year as well.
High A: Fort Meyers Miracle
23-6, 1st Place
Promotion Worthy:
Miguel Sano(3B): Buxton’s breakout start has been overshadowed by the OTHER future star for the Twins – Miguel Sano. Sano has a ridiculous slash of .385/.456/.761 with 10 HR and 30 RBI in 29 games. Let me point out that the Florida State League REPRESSES stats – IE batters typically put up their worst numbers in this league’s large ball parks. If these are Sano’s worst numbers…whoa buddy! Like Buxton, Sano is simply playing too well to only advance one level per year. Look for him in New Britain by June.
Eddie Rosario(2B): Rosario would be the top prospect in many team’s farm system. Fans would be following him intently and not-so-patiently, awaiting for his promotion to the big league club and his shot to stardom. Unfortunately for Rosario, the Twins aren’t most big league clubs and the talented youngster is often forgotten under the names of Sano and Buxton. Rosario’s slash of .339/.371/.521 speaks for itself, however. Rosario will likely be promoted with Sano sometime in June to AA. (That’s what is helping Polanco be promoted in Cedar Rapids by June).
DJ Baxendale(SP): Another 2012 draft pick, Baxendale is a flame throwing prospect that the Twins are trying to convert into a starter. His 2012 debut saw him make 17 appearances, while posting a microscopic .96 ERA. He was rewarded by jumping to high A in 2013, to which he’s responded by allowing his ERA to double…all the way to 1.84. Baxendale has 25 strikeouts over 29.1 innings of work and has only walked 6 batters. If he keeps this up, he’s not long for Fort Myers. The Twins seem to be willing to promote their college arms faster than usual over the past few seasons – a September call-up to the big league team would be totally unexpected in Baxendale continues to carve up opponents.
Like Cedar Rapids, Fort Myers is simply stacked with talent. Other players to watch out for mid season promotions include: Matt Koch (C), Kennys Vargas (1B), Cole Johnson (RP), Taylor Rogers (SP) and Zach Jones (RP).
AA: New Britain Rock Cats
15-15, 3rd Place
Promotion Worthy:
Josmil Pinto(C): While New Britain isn’t as stacked as the two lower levels, it does have some surprising talent on the roster, including 24 year old catcher, Josmil Pinto. Pinto’s put up great numbers in 29 games this season, posting a slash of: .325/.408/.518 while hitting 5 HR and 25 RBI. Pinto’s been a longtime member of the Twins’ farm system (signed in 2006) and had never really swung the bat well. It’s starting to look like he’s figured that part of his game out and with sustained success could see a promotion to AAA Rochester by July with a big league September call-up not out of the question. The Twins need catching depth that can also hit, as Ryan Doumit will not be around for the next youth movement. With continued success, Pinto has the chance to fill that role.
Alex Meyer(SP): What New Britain lacks in batting talent, it more than makes up for in pitching depth. Meyer, the player the Twins received for longtime CF Denard Span, has looked every bit the top tier talent the Twins had hoped he’d be. Meyer has started 6 games in 2013, and has posted a 3-1 record with a 3.31 ERA and 40 strikeouts over 32.2 innings pitched. Meyer has things he needs to work on, but he’s not as far from Minnesota as some fans may think. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Meyer finish 2013 in Rochester with a chance to win a rotation spot in 2014’s spring training.
Trevor May(SP): The OTHER top tier pitcher the Twins acquired this offseason when they traded their OTHER CF, Trevor May has been just as good as Meyer in the early season. May is 1-1 with a 3.90 ERA in 32.1 innings this season. May has tabbed 27 strikeouts, but has walked 18. His control issues were the knock on May coming into this season and for the most part, he’s been able to keep the ball in the zone. I look for May and Meyer to follow each other through the levels of the Twins’ system. Look for May to finish 2013 in Rochester, and have a shot at the big league rotation in 2014.
Logan Darnell(SP): Darnell has been overshadowed by Meyer and May in New Britain, but only because of their buzz worthy acquisitions this offseason. Statistically, Darnell has actually been better than both Meyer and May so far this season. Darnell is 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 33.1 innings. He’s stuck out 27 and only walked 14. Darnell ahs been in the Twins system for the past 3 seasons, slowly working his way up the ladder. His strong start could see him promoted to Rochester by July or August and he may be given a call up in September when the roster expands.
New Britain isn’t as exciting as Cedar Rapids or Fort Myers…yet. When Sano, Rosario and other make the jump, look for the Rock Cats to become a whole lot more interesting. Even when they lose Meyer, May or Darnell to promotions, they’ll likely gain Baxendale, Rogers and other hard throwing talented players to fill out their rotation.
AAA: Rochester Red Wings
12-18, 5th Place
Promotion Worthy:
Clete Thomas (OF): I can’t believe I’m writing this, as we supposedly saw everything Clete Thomas had to offer in Minnesota last season. He strikes out too much to make his power and decent defense worth keeping on a big league roster – or so we thought. Thomas has excelled in AAA this year, hitting .365/.453/.662 with 6 HR and 16 RBI in 74 plate appearances. Yes, Thomas has struck out 19 times, but that’s the type of player he is (aggressive). His strikeout numbers are down and his power numbers are up – the only think keeping him off the big league roster is the fact the Twins won’t give up on Aaron Hicks (a correct decision) and Wilkin Ramirez has proven to be solid enough on the bench so far. That said, the first injury or Ramirez slump will likely see Clete get one more shot with the big boys.
Chris Colabello (1B): I really thought the Twins would use Colabello as their bench bat coming into 2013, but they instead opted for Wilkin Ramirez who gave them a bit more defensive flexibility. Colabello’s slash of .330/.386/.559 is certainly impressive, but he’s blocked by Justin Morneau, Ryan Doumit and to some extent, Oswaldo Arcia (as he can DH). With other catching depth available, Doumit’s slump could see him sent to the DL for some make believe malady – but there isn’t any other catching depth available, meaning the guy who has regularly been the DH will continue to DH. Sorry Chris. Except for injury or a Morneau trade, I can’t see Colabello being called up any time soon.
Kyle Gibson (SP): Gibson had a chance to make the rotation out of spring training, but was just shaky enough that the Twins opted to get him some more seasoning. His 4.26 ERA and 1-4 record don’t due him proper justice – Gibson has pitched very well in Rochester over his past few starts. In 31.2 innings of work, Gibson has struck out 27 and walked only 9. His last start (May 3) was one of his worst, so Gibson clearly needs to work on consistency, but he’s got the talent to be a solid #4 starter in the big leagues. The first rotation arm to flounder likely is replaced by Kyle Gibson.
Rochester is void of big time young talent, a reflection on how poor the farm system was for the Twins over the past few years. The youth movement is coming, however, and the Red Wings will likely see some great talent make quick stops in Rochester before the year is over. Samuel Deduno, who was just added to the Red Wings roster last week, will likely be promoted to Minnesota by June and Liam Hendriks, who started the year in the bigs, could see another promotion if a long reliever (Swarzak) were to go down with injury. Other than those two, there’s little to be excited about in AAA right now.
As you move up the ladder, the teams get less and less talented. What’s that mean for the Twins? There’s little in the way of immediate help available should the team start to lose games in bunches. Outside of one or two hot bats, AAA has nothing that would improve the big league club right now. AA has pitching talent that may be a bit too green to use yet and low and high A have the offensive talent, but they need at least one more good year of seasoning before they make the jump. The Twins’ farm system is a great representation of the past few years – barren (AAA) with a few fringe prospects (AA) but now an infusion of talent (AA pitching, A offense) has their farm looking as formidable as it was in the early 2000’s.
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