With the Winter Meetings and Rule V draft rapidly approaching, the Twins reworked their 40-man roster on November 20th.  As you all know by now, they added six players including four who were expected, Deolis Guerra, Rob Delaney, Alex Burnett and Danny Valencia.  Loek VanMil was a surprise to some and shortstop Estarlin De Los Santos was a surprise to most.  To make room for the six, Deibinson Romero was optioned to Rochester where he will be exposed to the major league segment of the Rule V draft.  The Twins have also released GCL Twins outfielder Hyun-wook Choi. 

Other than Romero, who is at risk of being lost?  Ryan Mullins and Matt Fox were amongst the best starters in the EL this past season, yet, would either stick with another major league club's roster for an entire season?  Perhaps there is a bigger risk that Kyle Waldrop could be used as another club's long reliever for a season.  Erik Lis, Whit Robbins, Brandon Roberts and Juan Portes are all fine players who could see a promotion to Rochester, especially with Justin Huber gone to Japan and David Winfree and Brock Peterson free agents.  Would another team take any of the four in the draft?  Two of the better middle infielders in the system are New Britain's Steve Singleton and Brian Dinkelman.  The Twins must believe that Estarlin De Los Santos has a higher upside.  With Matt Tolbert and Steve Tolleson already on the 40-man roster, losing one of the two is a risk they appear willing to take.  A couple other pitchers deeper in the organization who may be of interest to some clubs and at some risk are Santos Arias and Winston Marquez. 

The Twins 40-man roster is full, thus, if they want to be in position to select someone they will need to make another move between now and the draft.  They also will need to make another move prior to signing any free agent pitcher or third baseman.  Will the Twins complete some type of trade during the coming weeks to clear a spot or two on the roster?   

Meanwhile, several prospects are working on their skills in Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.  Angel Morales is playing for Ponce in his native Puerto Rico.  For the first ten days of the season he was limited to an occassional at bat while not playing in several games.  Morales is a very young player for the winter leagues and isn't likely to see a lot of playing time, yet, playing against the caliber of pitching he will face is extremely important to his development.  In his first start last Monday, Morales was 1-2 with 2 walks, a double and 2 runs scored.  He is now 2-12 with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts.

Justin Jones has started 6 games for Aragua in the VWL.  He has a 0-1 record with a 7.11 ERA in 25.1 innings with 12K/6BB.  Dustin Martin, who has been the Tigres regular center fielder, is hitting .283/.399/.457 in 127 at bats with 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 22 RBI.  

Top prospect Wilson Ramos continues to be one of the top hitters in the VWL.  In the Tigres last eight games, Ramos was 2-5, 1-4, 2-4, DNP, 1-4 with his 7th home run, 2-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI, 0-3 and 1-4.  Ramos, who is splitting his time between DH and catching, is hitting .362/.425/.615 in 130 at bats with 10 doubles, 34 RBI, 14 walks and 26 strikeouts.

Estarlin De Los Santos is hitting an excellent .280/.321/.320 in his first 50 at bats with Gigante of the Dominican Winter League.  As is often the case however, young players like De Los Santos see less playing time as players with some major league experience report to their winter teams.  Since Alexi Casilla reported, De Los Santos playing time has been very limited.  Casilla is hitting .224/.308/.293 in 58 at bats.  Jose Lugo, who is being used very effectively as a LOOGY, has a 3-1 record for Toros with a 2.03 ERA in 15 games (13.1 innings) with 13K/5BB.

I will soon be doing something that I have never done when I release my Top Twenty Twins Prospects.  I should have it completed and posted sometime next week.