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Minnesota Twins Prospect Vote: Round 15

Tonkin? More like...TonkWIN.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Future bullpen All-Star Michael Tonkin won Round 14, earning the number 15 spot on our prospect list with 29% of the vote. Travis Harrison was hot on his heels with 25% of the ballot. Moving into the last quarter of our Top 20 prospects, the Twins still have a remarkable amount of depth for being so deep into the system.

Twinkie Town Top 15 Prospects for 2014

  1. Byron Buxton, CF
  2. Miguel Sano, 3B
  3. Alex Meyer, RHP
  4. Eddie Rosario, 2B/OF
  5. Kohl Stewart, RHP
  6. Josmil Pinto, C
  7. Jose Berrios, RHP
  8. Jorge Polanco, 2B/SS
  9. Max Kepler, CF
  10. Lewis Thorpe, LHP
  11. Trevor May, RHP
  12. Adam Brett Walker, RF
  13. Felix Jorge, RHP
  14. Stephen Gonsalves, LHP
  15. Michael Tonkin, RHP
Your rules:
  • For each round, a certain number of players will be presented with statistical history, a brief overview, and other basic information such as age and level.
  • Once on a ballot, players will remain on the ballot until they eventually win a vote. Barring something drastic, like a trade.
  • Sometimes no players will be added to subsequent ballots. Sometimes more than one player will be added. Early rounds will have fewer players for which to vote, and later rounds are more likely to have more.
  • Share with your friends! Let's get as many votes as possible.
  • A general list has already been assembled, and players are slated to join the voting at a specified time, but you are welcome to recommend players that you think should be added in the following round.
Players up in Round 14: Travis Harrison, Danny Santana, Miguel Sulbaran, Kennys Vargas, Ryan Eades, D.J. Baxendale, Zack Jones

(Two or three players will be added for Round 16)

Travis Harrison, 3B
2014 Age: 21
2013 High Level: Cedar Rapids, 537 PA (Single-A)

Year Age Tm Lev G PA H 2B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
2012 19 Elizabethton Rk 60 253 66 12 5 27 24 51 .301 .383 .461
2013 20 Cedar Rapids A 129 537 114 28 15 59 68 125 .253 .366 .416
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/16/2013.

Harrison's triple slash doesn't look as impressive as his short-season Rookie league debut in 2012, but there are a number of things to keep in mind. First, he definitely slowed in the latter part of the season as his body wore down. That will balance itself out. Second, while his strikeout rates jumped from 20% to about 23%, his walk rates also bumped - from a good 9.5% to an impressive 12.7%. His isolated power was basically identical. What also went up, though, was his percentage of poorly-struck balls. Let's see how he performs this season; the power is real, and that's exciting.

Danny Santana, SS/2B
2014 Age: 23
2013 High Level: New Britain, 588 PA (Double-A)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev PA 2B 3B HR SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG
2008 17 Twins DOSL FRk 219 6 10 1 15 4 20 38 .274 .343 .426
2009 18 Twins GULF Rk 185 7 5 3 12 1 8 27 .265 .302 .418
2010 19 2 Teams 2 Lgs Rk-A 288 12 4 4 15 8 10 70 .252 .287 .370
2011 20 Beloit MIDW A 409 15 5 7 24 15 25 98 .247 .298 .373
2012 21 Fort Myers FLOR A+ 547 21 9 8 17 11 29 77 .286 .329 .410
2013 22 New Britain EL AA 588 22 10 2 30 13 24 94 .297 .333 .386
6 Seasons 2236 83 43 25 113 52 116 404 .274 .318 .394
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/2/2014.

Santana actually got better as 2013 went along. He took a few more walks, and yes it's all relative and yes he needs to do it more often, but he also improved as a defender at short, cutting down on his early-season errors. He's a strong contact hitter with good speed but no power, so unless he gets better either patience or pitch recognition or both his ceiling will be limited - but his floor is starting to look like a versatile, capable utility type who is good enough to stay with the big league team for the long haul. There's a lot of value in that, especially while the player is under team control. Another guy with maybe not the highest celing, but a pretty good floor.

Miguel Sulbaran, LHP
2014 Age: 20
2013 High Level: Cedar Rapids, 20 IP (Single-A)

Year Age Tm Lg Lev Aff ERA G GS IP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
2011 17 Dodgers DOSL FRk LAD 2.81 13 11 57.2 0.954 5.8 0.3 2.8 8.1
2012 18 Ogden PION Rk LAD 5.40 1 1 5.0 1.200 9.0 1.8 1.8 7.2
2012 18 Dodgers ARIZ Rk LAD 2.51 11 11 57.1 1.151 8.9 0.3 1.4 9.7
2012 18 Great Lakes MIDW A LAD 15.00 2 2 6.0 2.833 19.5 3.0 6.0 4.5
2013 19 Great Lakes MIDW A LAD 3.01 23 16 92.2 1.252 8.6 0.3 2.6 8.3
2013 19 Cedar Rapids MIDW A MIN 2.70 4 4 20.0 1.300 9.4 0.0 2.2 7.2
3 Seasons 3.17 54 45 238.2 1.198 8.4 0.4 2.4 8.4
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/2/2014.

Yep. This is the guy the Twins landed for Drew Butera. His strong command has helped him to this point, but as he rises through the system the strikeout rates will drop and, at that point, he should be moved to a bullpen role. Scouts seem to like his breaking balls already, so the added velocity on the fastball in short bursts could help him maintain his stock as a prospect down the line.

Ryan Eades, RHP
2014 Age: 22
2013 Top Level: Elizabethton, 15.2 IP (Rookie)

Year Age Tm Lev ERA G GS IP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
2013 21 Elizabethton Rk 4.60 10 0 15.2 1.596 7.5 0.0 6.9 7.5
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/13/2014.

Eades was Minnesota's pick in the second round of the 2014 draft, getting in ten relief appearances for the Elizabethon Twins. There isn't much to go on here except projectability and upside, but Twinsbaseball.com sees him as the organization's number ten prospect. Twins scouts believe he has the potential to become a number two type, with his fastball, breaking ball, and changeup all looking like they could be plus pitches, but his status as a prospect will depend greatly on how he follows up on 2013's debut campaign.

Kennys Vargas, 1B
2014 Age: 23
2013 High Level: Fort Myers, 520 PA (Advanced-A)

Year Age Tm Lev PA 2B HR BB SO BA OBP SLG
2009 18 Twins Rk 130 7 3 17 34 .257 .369 .404
2010 19 Twins Rk 160 15 3 13 40 .324 .388 .507
2011 20 Elizabethton Rk 191 11 6 15 50 .322 .377 .489
2012 21 Beloit A 186 10 11 28 41 .318 .419 .610
2013 22 Fort Myers A+ 520 33 19 50 105 .267 .344 .468
5 Seasons 1187 76 42 123 270 .291 .370 .491
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/13/2014.

Vargas was added to the 40-man roster this season due entirely to his power potential. It was easy to look past him to the higher-caliber prospects in Fort Myers this year, but the fact that Minnesota was willing to stick with him in spite of being one-dimensional and considering the tight space on the 40-man roster speaks to how highly they're buying into that power. He'll be 23 years old and hopefully at Double-A this season.

D.J. Baxendale, RHP
2014 Age: 23
2013 High Level: New Britain, 92.2 IP (Double-A)

Year Age Tm Lev ERA G GS IP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
2012 21 Elizabethton Rk 0.00 6 0 7.2 0.261 1.2 0.0 1.2 18.8
2012 21 Beloit A 1.64 11 0 11.0 1.182 9.8 0.0 0.8 12.3
2013 22 Fort Myers A+ 1.10 9 9 57.1 0.785 5.3 0.3 1.7 7.5
2013 22 New Britain AA 5.63 16 16 92.2 1.424 10.7 1.3 2.1 6.2
2 Seasons 3.58 42 25 168.2 1.138 8.4 0.8 1.9 7.6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/13/2014.


The Twins had Baxendale on the fast track through his first two seasons in the system, which is exactly what you love to see from a collegiate pick. He struggled a bit in Double-A in 2013 though, so he's likely to start there again this season - particularly in light of the number of pitchers in the upper levels of the system. He seems to be the second-best pitcher from the 2012 draft, behind Berrios, meaning that - compared to our prospect list last season - he's leapfrogged fellow draft mates J.T. Chargois (#12), Mason Melotakis (#16), and Luke Bard (#17).

Zack Jones, RHP
2014 Age: 23
2013 High Level: Fort Myers, 48.2 IP (Advanced-A)

Year Age Tm Lev ERA G GF SV IP WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9
2012 21 Elizabethton Rk 0.00 6 4 0 6.0 1.000 3.0 0.0 6.0 13.5
2012 21 Beloit A 3.21 12 10 4 14.0 1.143 5.8 0.6 4.5 16.1
2013 22 Fort Myers A+ 1.85 39 35 14 48.2 1.151 5.2 0.4 5.2 12.9
2 Seasons 1.97 57 49 18 68.2 1.136 5.1 0.4 5.1 13.6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/13/2014.

Jones is already a reliever, which hurts his draft status since everyone loves starting pitchers. But in his second season as a professional pitcher, Jones continued his penchant for domination of minor league hitters. He should be coming out of the bullpen in New Britain this season, at age 23, and a strong season could put him in Rochester and just one phonecall away from the Twins. A strong fastball and slider lead a power arsenal. He made the list of our ten un-ranked pitching prospects in September.