Twins Prospect #26 (Poll)

by SethSpeaks on Oct 30, 2008 4:48 PM EDT Comment 23 comments

The vote for #25 was an easy runaway for Rob Delaney, so we will continue with prospect #26's vote. I'm just going to leave all of the same players on the ballot. However, I will add Cole Devries. Like I've said, I am going to go with this to #30. If someone else would like to take over at that point, that would be great.

Danny Valencia, 3B
Ben Revere, OF
Aaron Hicks, OF
Angel Morales, OF
Wilson Ramos, C
Jose Mijares, LH RP
Anthony Swarzak, RHP
Tyler Robertson, LHP
Deolis Guerra, RHP
Luke Hughes, 3B/2B/OF/DH
Shooter Hunt, RHP
Kevin Mulvey, RHP
Trevor Plouffe, IF
Jeff Manship, RHP
Chris Parmelee, 1B/OF
Carlos Gutierrez, RHP
Anthony Slama, RH RP
Philip Humber, RHP
Brian Duensing, LHP
Steve Tolleson, IF
Rene Tosoni, OF
Michael McCardell, RHP
Deibinson Romero, 3B
David Bromberg , RHP
Rob Delaney, RH RP

Off the ballot (for this round) - None

On the ballot - Cole Devries

Again, please vote for the player that you think is the Twins top prospect among those remaining on the ballot. Poll will be up approximately 24 hours. Please vote, but also discuss your selection and the players available. Finally, if there are names you feel should be added to a ballot, mention them as well.

Not to self-promote, but here is the link to my Prospect choices for 11-20 (http://www.sethspeaks.net/100108.htm). All of the top ten are already chosen. This link provides some information on the players you are voting for.

Poll

Who is Twins Prospect #26?

Joe Benson

22 votes

Alex Burnett

3 votes

Cole Devries

12 votes

Tyler Ladendorf

8 votes

Tim Lahey

2 votes

Dustin Martin

13 votes

Charles Nolte

4 votes

Dan Osterbrook

10 votes

Jason Pridie

17 votes

Steve Singleton

5 votes

96 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 23 comments

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Comments

Benson

Sticking to the “it’s about upside” philosophy, the choice is Benson… but solid arguments could be made for several others.

by SethSpeaks on Oct 30, 2008 4:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Martin is a solid prospect...

…but changed my mind and went with DeVries this time. Cole has pitched so well, gonna be great to see how he adjusts to the next level in 2009….if he does well, he is for real.

by roger13 on Oct 30, 2008 5:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

martin

Had to go with him as I think he is for real as a solid 4th OF or a Randy winn clone

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5998/career;ylt=AkVkSKCXDoMKIXsI4C4eomFCLcF

by doofus on Oct 30, 2008 6:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Benson

Though if he wants to stay in CF this will have to be the year to produce.

"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"

by maxisagod on Oct 30, 2008 7:40 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

who is Tyler Ladendorf

and why is he getting any votes. he didn’t hit that great this season. At least Osterbrook struk out 104 in 77 innings.

Benson hasn’t shown anything at all with his potential. Something should click and soon. Can’t justify him in the top 30.

and who is Nolte?

by doofus on Oct 30, 2008 7:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

thoughts

by SethSpeaks on Oct 30, 2008 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oops, wrong button... thoughts (continued)

This is the purpose of these rankings…

Ladendorf was the Twins 2nd round pick in 2008 out of Howard College. He was set to go to Oklahoma or Oklahoma State. This year in college, he hit 16 homers and stole 65 bases. He’s got potential… poor first showing though in the GCL.

Benson is all about tools and athleticism. I believe that he’ll make adjustments, but soon would be good.

Nolte was a reliever for Beloit all year. He was very good.

by SethSpeaks on Oct 30, 2008 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Benson

Again, I don’t know what you see in him Seth. He has never shown much ability to make consistent contact, which is one tool you can’t teach IMHO. I can take a 25% strikeout rate from Parmelee because he hits a lot of homers and he walks a lot. But a 25% K rate from a speed guy with limited power and a low walk rate is a bad sign. The last three years, his K rate has been 23, 25, 25%. He’s not making much progress in the contact area. And that’s after repeating low A ball as a 20 year old. I can’t help but wonder where he would be if he had taken that football scholarship.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 30, 2008 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Torii Hunter....

….is who some people compare Benson to. Ex football star that was all set to go to a major college in football and hadn’t played a lot of baseball compared to others. That is what some have compared Benson to, would like to see him start making that journey and was hoping that last year would be the year……then he joined the infirmary in Beloit where nearly the entire team went on the DL with injuries. But CMath you are right, he better start showing some solid improvement soon….hopefully, 2009.

by roger13 on Oct 31, 2008 7:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hunter

I suppose it’s a valid comparison. But Hunter hit .293/.358/.439/797 as an 18 year old in the Midwest league. Benson hasn’t come close to that as a 20 year old. I would never call Hunter a disciplined hitter, but his K rates were consistently in the 15% range and his BB rates were consistently better than 10, compared to the 6-8 range that Benson has demonstrated. As raw as Hunter was, Benson is even more raw and is two years older.

The other thing is, Benson is now behind three much more talented players on the depth chart in center field and I don’t see him developing the power of a corner outfielder like Parmelee. Two years ago at this time it looked like he might have a similar path to the majors that Hunter had despite less than stellar numbers. Now he will have to beat out three top prospects just for playing time in the minors. I don’t like his chances there at all. I see him as the regular left fielder in Fort Myers, but I fear his numbers will be far from stellar as a left fielder, particularly in that league.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 31, 2008 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't

I don’t mean to play “gotcha media” with you cmath, but what are the differences, to you, about Gomez’s problems with hsi very very high K rate (and low walk rate) and Benson’s? Gomez’s K numbers aren’t as poor as Benson’s, but Gomez definitely falls into that category of speed guys (even "more power keeps him relatively modes,t and that may be years away).

I guess, Gomez, to me, could be pretty well fitted by that description too, why is he different for you?

"You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all."
~ Earl Weaver
"In God we trust. All others must provide evidence."
~ Billy Beane

by AdamOnFirst on Oct 31, 2008 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Big difference

As a 20 year old, Gomez hit .281/.346/.423/769 for AA Birmingham with a 20% K rate and an ISOP of 142 and 41 SBs.

As a 20 year old, Joe Benson hit .247/.323/.380/703 for Low A Beloit with a 25% K rate, an ISOP of 133 and 17 SBs.

Benson has a lot of catching up to do if he’ll ever be as good as Gomez is right now, and Gomez still has upside Benson can’t touch. For one thing, Gomez is a few tenths of a second faster from home to first than Benson. If Benson had Gomez-like tools, I would be higher on him. There’s only one other player in the organization who has Gomez-like tools—Aaron Hicks—and I rate him #1 on my list.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Oct 31, 2008 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I agree there is obviously a huge difference between the two of them, but still, some of your descriptions of the blanket player types that concern you apply to Gomez. More than why Gomez is better than Benson, which is obvious, I guess I’d just like to hear a bit about why you think Gomez can overcome those limitations (most concerning is your assertion that contact isn’t a teachable skill, a skill Gomez simply has to improve greatly before he can become an acceptable MLB hitter).

I’m not really trying to argue a lot, I’m just curious to hear what you think about it.

by AdamOnFirst on Nov 1, 2008 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gomez

I’m not entirely confident that Gomez will ever attain the contact skills of, say, Denard Span. He seems to struggle with pitch recognition, which is not something guys typically learn. But I think he can develop the contact skills of, say Torii Hunter. He has shown at the lower levels about the same K rates as Hunter did. So there is hope for him to be at least adequate from a contact perspective. And that is good enough with his tools.

On the other hand, Benson has shown a much higher K rate at the lower levels than either Gomez or Hunter. Until he shows better contact skills, I am skeptical that he’ll ever make it.

If you hit in the minors, there’s a chance you’ll hit in the majors. If you can’t hit in the low minors, there’s no chance you’ll hit in the majors, none. Gomez and Hunter showed they could hit in the minors. They both struggled with the transition to major league pitching. Hunter eventually got it. Gomez has yet to, but his minor league track record suggests that he probably will. Benson has a poor minor league track record. At this point, I don’t like his chances.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Nov 2, 2008 1:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pridie

He should be way up this list.

by Twins win on Oct 30, 2008 9:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Pridie

I would have voted for him earlier of there was a need for outfielders but there just isn’t a need and he is older.

by WITwinsfan on Oct 30, 2008 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pick your poison...

…among Pridie, Martin, Benson. All get strong grades for athleticism, speed, size, defense. Pridie and Martin project as #4 OF’s, right? As I recall, People have described Benson’s ceiling as being higher. But Benson’s bat needs to become real next season. If not, this year’s naysayers will have been on target.

Am I imagining it, or has the team, just in the last two years especially, begun to stockpile some position players at Advanced A and below?

by birdofprey on Oct 30, 2008 11:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Definitely

I think they recognized that they did have an abundance of solid pitching prospects, but needed some bats. I think they’ve addressed that through the draft more. OF course, development of those prospects is what will make the difference. THey’ve shown the ability to develop pitchers, how about hitters?

by SethSpeaks on Oct 30, 2008 11:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Osterbook again... sorry, I got him confused with the new Iowa pitcher.

I am just getting old.

by Beerbear on Oct 31, 2008 12:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Could you after #30 just say...

the winner is #30 and then count down the rest of them from there (doing run-offs if there are ties).

I.E. in the poll for #30, Joe Mauer gets 40 votes so he is #30, Justin Morneau gets 35 votes so he is #31, Manny Ramirez gets 27 votes so he is #32, etc. (just pulled random names out of the air there, in case you couldn’t tell)

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by joeiscool12 on Oct 31, 2008 12:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Seth....

….why don’t you keep this going, but as joeiscool suggests make it quicker and easier. After we have #30, add a list of another ten or twelve with the goal of taking the top five in order as #31-#35. When that is done, add another five and do it a second time. Four more votes and we are at your Top 50. I for one believe there will be a lot of good young players that need to be ranked left on the table when we get to #50.

by roger13 on Oct 31, 2008 7:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs