After hanging around for sixteen rounds, Angel Mata captured the Forty-Ninth spot in this year's poll with 34 of 165 votes (20%).
We now move on to the first of four preliminary rounds for the Fiftieth ranked prospect in the Twins organization. Today we will vote on ten players who were with the four full-season teams this past year. Tomorrow, we will vote on ten players who were with the two rookie teams. Wednesday will be pitchers from the full-season teams and Thursday, pitchers from the rookie teams. Beginning Friday, we will have a run-off of the four winners.
The ten players eligible for the first preliminary round are Jairo Perez, Anderson Hidalgo, Danny Ortiz, Nate Hansen, Dan Rohlfing, Michael Gonzales, Tyler Grimes, Adam Bryant, Wang-Wei Lin and Danny Santana.
Perez was one of the top hitters in the Midwest League last year after missing a year with an injury. Perez hit .337/.992 OPS in 276 at bats with 15 home runs. Hidalgo, our 48th prospect last year, was the top hitter at Ft. Myers who was with the team the entire year at .274/.726. Ortiz, who was our 36th prospect last year, hit .239/.685 in 468 at bats with ten home runs. Hansen hit .267/.711 at Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain where he hit .238/.631. Rohlfing is one of the better defensive catchers in the organization. He hit .272/.687 in 173 at bats at Ft. Myers before moving up to New Britain where he hit .247/.587 in 166 at bats. Gonzales hit .289/.840 with 15 home runs for the Snappers. Tyler Grimes was this year's fifth round pick. He hit .225/.722 in 138 at bats with four home runs at Beloit. Bryant, this year's ninth round pick, hit .245/.699 in 208 at bats for the Snappers. Lin has consistently hit very well. In 413 at bats for the Snappers, he hit .276/.730. Santana is an exciting young shortstop who played a lot in center field late this season in Beloit. He hit .247/.671 in 365 at bats with 24 stolen bases and seven home runs.
This round will remain open through noon tomorrow.