Twinkie Town Prospect Vote: Round 5

Alex Kirilloff won round #4 handily. I have added two players to round 5. One of them is several years away and the other made his MLB debut already.

Twins top 30 prospects for 2017

1. Stephen Gonsalves - 52% (Gordon 34%, Kirilloff 8%, Jay 7%)
2. Nick Gordon - 73% (Jay 15%, Kirilloff 13%)
3. Tyler Jay - 46% (Kirilloff 29%, Romero 17%, Stewart 4%, Mejia 4%)
4. Alex Kirilloff - 51% (Romero 35%, Stewart 9%, Mejia 6%)

Here are the choices for round 5:

Wander Javier, SS
2017 Age: 18
2016 High Level: Dominican Summer League (Foreign Rookie)

The Twins signed Javier as an international free agent in the summer of 2015. He was ranked by Baseball America as the #9 international prospect and #8 by MLB.com. The Twins gave him a $4M signing bonus which was all of their international free agent budget. He made his debut with the Dominican Twins last summer and had a very strong but very short performance. In 9 games he hit .308/.400/.654 and then injured his hamstring and didn't play again until fall instructional leagues. Scouts love his righthanded power and ability to play the position. He may end up playing rookie ball at Fort Myers this summer.

J.T. Chargois, RHP
2017 Age: 26
2016 High Level: Twins (MLB)

J.T. Chargois was a second round draft pick from Rice University in 2012. Soon after he was drafted he injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery, missing two full seasons. He has used a 97 MPH fastball to strike batters out in the minor leagues, posting a 10.6 K/9 against a 3.5 BB/9 in three minor league seasons. After a rocky debut Chargois settled down and pitched well for the last month of the season. If he can repeat his line over Sept/Oct of 2016 (9.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 2.84 ERA) he will be a contributor in the 2017 MLB bullpen.

Fernando Romero, RHP
2017 Age: 22
2016 High Level: Fort Myers (A+)

Romero was signed by the Twins as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2012. He missed all of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery but came back strong in 2016 getting promoted to Fort Myers from Cedar Rapids. In his 90 combined innings last season he had 9.0 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and a 2.09 RA. He will be expected to build up his stamina in 2017 and a promotion to AA is possible. Romero was added to the 40 man roster to keep a team from picking him in the Rule 5 draft even though he has yet to see AA. Romero barely made our top 30 last year; we will see how far he moves up this year.

Kohl Stewart, RHP
2017 Age: 22
2016 High Level: Chattanooga (AA)

Stewart was the team's first round pick out of high school in 2013. He has steadily moved up the ladder and has been one of the youngest players at each level. His strikeout rate has been a concern but he performed well at Fort Myers posting a 7.7 K/9 to go with a 3.3 BB/9 and a 3.31 run average. He earned a promotion to AA and hit the wall with his K rate plummeting to 4.6 K/9. Scouts still like his stuff and he doesn't give up many home runs but Stewart needs to strike out more batters if he is going to advance past AA.

Adalberto Mejia, LHP
2017 Age: 24
2016 High Level: Twins (MLB)

Mejia was signed as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic by the Giants in 2011. He worked his way through the Giants system as a starting pitcher quickly reaching AA in his third season in the system. He stalled out a bit at AA but took a step forward last season with 2.0 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9 and a 3.14 RA across AA and AAA. Mejia was dealt to the Twins for Eduardo Nunez in July. He made his MLB debut with the Twins in August, then returned to AAA where he finished the season after 150 innings pitched. Mejia projects as a back of the rotation lefty or perhaps a strong bullpen arm and is likely to begin the season back in Rochester.