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Prospect season is upon us. After Thanksgiving we'll be starting our yearly community vote for the Twins' best prospects, but in the meantime let's take a look at how Baseball America sees Minnesota's farm system. It's interesting.
- Byron Buxton, CF
- Miguel Sano, 3B
- Jose Berrios, RHP
- Kohl Stewart, RHP
- Alex Meyer, RHP
- Nick Gordon, SS
- Nick Burdi, RHP
- Jorge Polanco, SS/2B
- Trevor May, RHP
- Eddie Rosario, OF
There aren't a great many surprises here. Berrios had one of the best seasons as a pitcher in the whole of baseball's minor leagues and at a very young age. Stewart and Meyer could be turned around, and even flipped with Berrios, and I'm not sure there'd be much nitpicking to be done. Gordon at six is about right and speaks to the depth of the system. Burdi was the fast riser and pleasant surprise as June's second round pick. Polanco treads water around seven, May technically didn't blow his rookie status and so slides in at nine, and Rosario's down season can only sink him so far.
Want more proof of the depth of Minnesota's farm system? Lewis Thorpe doesn't make the Top 10. You remember him, right? The 18-year old Australian lefty who struck out 10 batters per nine innings in a league where the average player was four years older than he was?
Berardino gives the system a solid run down after touching on the addition of Paul Molitor. I suggest you read Berardino's full review, but in case you don't have a Baseball America subscription Brandon Warne has you covered for best tools:
Best tools, Twins org: Buxton - hitter for avg, fastest baserunner, best athlete, best OF D, best OF arm.
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) November 12, 2014
Best tools, Twins org (2): Miguel Sano - best power hitter Jorge Polanco - best K zone discipline Nick Burdi - best fastball, best slider
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) November 12, 2014
Best tools, Twins org (3): Alex Meyer - best curve Trevor May - best change Berrios - best control Stuart Turner - best catcher D
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) November 12, 2014
Best tools, Twins org (4): Engelb Vielma - best IF D Niko Goodrum - best IF arm
— Brandon Warne (@Brandon_Warne) November 12, 2014
We're just getting underway with prospect season, but if you'd like to compare BA's Twins prospect list to another just to see where the similarities and differences are here's an excellent and in-depth rundown from FanGraphs: Buxton, Sano, Berrios, Gordon, Stewart, Meyer, Polanco, Thorpe, May, and Burdi (Rosario falls to 16).
What are your takeaways from Berardino's prospect listing for Baseball America? It looks more or less as I expected it would. Do you think anyone should have been ranked higher, lower, or do you have another quibble? If so, let us hear it below, but you should also be sure to join him for his Twins chat this afternoon!
I will take your questions starting at 1 p.m. Central: "@BaseballAmerica: 2015 #MNTwins Top 10 Prospects Chat http://t.co/hCPp9S9DHf"
— Mike Berardino (@MikeBerardino) November 17, 2014