Today we will be voting for the last player to make our 2012 Top 50, which is perfect timing as I am about to leave on that long road trip home.
The players who won the four preliminary rounds are Jairo Perez, Javier Pimentel, Steve Hirschfeld and Luis Nunez. Considering this is the fiftieth top prospect, that is four excellent players from which we can choose.
Perez was one of the top hitters in the organization and the Midwest League at Beloit. Yes, he is older which is due to his missing all of 2010 following surgery. Pimentel is a shortstop who signed for about $700,000 a year ago, which is a lot of money for the Twins. In a move not often made by the Twins, they promoted him from the DSL Twins to the GCL Twins last summer when he was only 17 years old. Hirschfeld is a veteran minor league pitcher who was one of the most effective starters in the Eastern League last year. Although the Twins signed more than a dozen AAAA pitchers this winter, Hirschfeld is close and could work his way up to the Twins in the next year or two. Nunez returned to the GCL Twins last year where he was their closer. He was also very good and could become a very good short reliever over the next few years.
This round will remain open through tomorrow morning when my weekly Minor League Report will recap our 2012 Top 50. I hope you all enjoyed this process this winter. If you have any suggestions on how to make next year's better, please leave them in the comments.