Composite Prospect Lists 2011, 2012

From Seth Stohs, Twinkie Town, and me:

2011

1. Aaron Hicks (OF)
1. Kyle Gibson (RHS)
3. Miguel Sano (3B/SS)
4. Alex Wimmers (RHS)
5. Joe Benson (OF)
6. Liam Hendriks (RHS)
7. Angel Morales (OF)
8. Oswaldo Arcia (OF)
9. David Bromberg (RHS)
10. Adrian Salcedo (RHS)
11. Max Kepler (OF)
12. Chris Parmelee (1B/OF)
13. Carlos Gutierrez (RHR)
14. Manuel Soliman (RHS)
15. Eddie Rosario (OF)
16. B.J. Hermsen (RHS)
17. Rene Tosoni (OF)
18. Pat Dean (LHS)
19. Daniel Ortiz (OF)
20. Niko Goodrum (SS/3B/2B/OF)
20. Trevor Plouffe (SS)
20. Scott Diamond (LHS)
23. Anthony Slama (RHR)
24. Kane Holbrooks (RHS)
25. Deolis Guerra (RHS)
25. Kyle Waldrop (RHR)
27. Dakota Watts (RHR)
27. Tom Stuifbergen (RHS)
27. Bruce Pugh (RHR)
30. Bobby Lanigan (RHS)
31. James Beresford (SS/2B)
32. Luke Hughes (2B/1B/3B)
33. Brian Dozier (SS/2B)
33. Nate Roberts (OF)
35. Danny Rams (C)
36. Anderson Hidalgo (3B)
37. Chris Herrmann (C/OF)
37. Evan Bigley (OF)
39. Brett Jacobson (RHR)
40. Michael Tonkin (RHR)
41. Lance Ray (1B/OF)
42. Logan Darnell (LHS)
42. Daniel Osterbrock (LHS)
44. Miguel Munoz (RHS)
45. Jorge Polanco (SS)
46. Daniel Santana (SS/2B)
47. Edgar Ibarra (LHR)
48. Matt Bashore (LHR)
49. Tony Davis (LHR)
50. Kennys Vargas (1B)

2012

1. Miguel Sano (3B)
2. Eddie Rosario (OF/2B)
3. Oswaldo Arcia (OF/DH)
4. Aaron Hicks (OF)
5. Joe Benson (OF)
6. Liam Hendriks (RHS)
7. Kyle Gibson (RHS)
8. Chris Parmelee (1B/OF)
9. Adrian Salcedo (RHS)
10. Brian Dozier (SS/2B)
11. Alex Wimmers (RHS)
12. Chris Herrmann (C/OF)
13. Max Kepler (OF)
14. Angel Morales (OF)
15. Travis Harrison (3B/1B)
16. Levi Michael (SS/2B)
17. Manuel Soliman (RHR)
18. Niko Goodrum (SS/2B/OF)
19. Hudson Boyd (RHS)
20. Madison Boer (RHS)
21. Tom Stuifbergen (RHS)
22. B.J. Hermsen (RHS)
23. David Bromberg (RHS)
24. Carlos Gutierrez (RHR)
25. Matt Hauser (RHS)
26. Logan Darnell (LHS)
27. J.D. Williams (OF)
28. Terry Doyle (RHS)
29. Nate Roberts (OF)
30. Scott Diamond (LHS)
31. Deolis Guerra (RHR)
32. Pat Dean (LHS)
33. Matt Summers (RHR)
34. Jairo Perez (3B/OF/DH)
35. Corey Williams (LHR)
36. Lester Oliveros (RHR)
37. Lance Ray (1B/OF)
38. Danny Rams (C/OF)
39. Daniel Santana (SS/2B/OF)
40. Tyler Robertson (LHR)
41. Angel Mata (RHS)
42. Tim Shibuya (RHS)
43. Daniel Ortiz (OF)
44. James Beresford (2B/SS)
45. Bobby Lanigan (RHS)
46. Dakota Watts (RHR)
47. Evan Bigley (OF)
48. Cole DeVries (RHR)
49. Matt Bashore (LHR)
50. Anderson Hidalgo (3B/DH)

Top 50 Twins Prospects 2012

I will be posting statistics and comments about each player on the list in the next few days, but I wanted to post the list (with last year's ranking in parentheses).

1.       Miguel Sano (2)

2.       Aaron Hicks (1)

3.       Oswaldo Arcia (10)

4.       Eddie Rosario (19)

5.       Liam Hendriks (7)

6.       Joe Benson (8)

7.       Kyle Gibson (4)

8.       Adrian Salcedo (12)

9.       Chris Parmelee (14)

10.   Brian Dozier (36)

11.   Alex Wimmers (5)

12.   Max Kepler (13)

13.   Chris Herrmann (35)

14.   Angel Morales (5)

15.   Manuel Soliman (16)

16.   Travis Harrison (NR)

17.   Niko Goodrum (24)

18.   Hudson Boyd (NR)

19.   David Bromberg (11)

20.   Levi Michael (NR)

21.   Madison Boer (NR)

22.   B.J. Hermsen (18)

23.   Nate Roberts (27)

24.   JaDamion Williams (NR)

25.   Carlos Gutierrez (15)

26.   Jairo Perez (NR)

27.   Tom Stuifbergen (32)

28.   Matt Hauser (NR)

29.   Deolis Guerra (39)

30.   Lance Ray (41)

31.   Pat Dean (23)

32.   Scott Diamond (26)

33.   Danny Santana (50)

34.   Tyler Robertson (NR)

35.   Terry Doyle (NR)

36.   Corey Williams (NR)

37.   Matthew Summers (NR)

38.   Tim Shibuya (NR)

39.   Logan Darnell (48)

40.   Bobby Lanigan (40)

41.   Danny Ortiz (21)

42.   Danny Rams (46)

43.   Rory Rhodes (HM)

44.   Angel Mata (NR)

45.   Evan Bigley (42)

46.   Bruce Pugh (34)

47.   Dakota Watts (29)

48.   James Beresford (30)

49.   Anderson Hidalgo (31)

50.   Jorge Polanco (NR)

Honorable Mentions: Matt Bashore, Danny Lehmann, Josmil Pinto, Nick Lockwood, Kennys Vargas, Anthony Slama, Kane Holbrooks, Kyle Waldrop, Brett Jacobsen, Matthew Koch

Jason Marquis

The Twins spent $3 million on Jason Marquis, which I don't fully understand. Why not just have a competition for the fifth spot between guys making 500k (Doyle, Diamond, Hendriks, DeVries, etc.)?

The self-imposed $100 million spending cap seems to be for real and that is a pretty low move for an organization in the third year of a new stadium.

Willingham on the horizon

It looks like Josh Willingham is going to sign for 3 years and $21 million. This means that Michael Cuddyer will be going elsewhere and it means that the Twins will get compensated with two picks. Add in the likelihood that Jason Kubel goes elsewhere and the Twins will be getting three compensation picks. This should mean five picks in the first 55-65 picks taken, which is huge for replenishing the minor league system.

In other news: Jose Mijares was non-tendered, which is something that I like (though I would have preferred a trade). The Twins have Perkins and Duensing in the bullpen and have no need for a third lefty. I would assume that the emergence of Tyler Robertson in the second half of the season in New Britain might be a factor in this decision.

Capps, Slowey, and Cuddyer

I have waited awhile before posting about the Matt Capps signing. It still does not make a lot of sense to me, but the following seems clear:

1. The Twins wanted the cheapest "proven closer" out there. Many things about this are preposterous, but this means that they are paying about 1-1.5 million more than the other viable (and a few of them, better) relievers on the market, but none of those guys are "proven closers" (Dotel, Hawkins, Coffey). 

2. The Twins are being very loyal. They love Matt Capps and he is a great guy. So they wanted him around for that reason.

3. The Twins don't care about having a bunch of draft picks in this draft. Consider the first two rounds of the 2012 draft. With the normal two picks, the one coming for Capps, the one coming for Kubel, and the two coming for Cuddyer, the Twins could have had 6 of the top 60-65 picks (depending on how big that supplemental round will be). I suspect that the Twins are going to end up with only three of them now. Maybe this is a financial decision. 

4. The Twins are serious about the recent bullpen arms they have added (Gray, Maloney, Burton, Vasquez, etc.). 

The trading of Kevin Slowey was inevitable after a *ridiculous* year last year. There is no reason whatsoever to have Nick Blackburn starting instead of Slowey. Slowey fell victim to a dumb contract given out of the blue to a 6th starter in Blackburn. The treatment from Souhan and Blyleven, etc., was appalling. What a disgrace. Souhan is a total joke on every level, and Blyleven needs to find a new job.  I wish Kevin the best in Colorado.

Cuddyer will be a Twin next year. The market fell out and no one else wants him. They know that Cuddyer is due for an average year. It's unfortunate that Cuddyer is coming back, but I don't know if I trust the Twins to properly replace him anyway (Derrek Lee and Andruw Jones/Jonny Gomes on one year deals with option years). A three-year deal is a problem. I think that it should be clear now that players like Rene Tosoni, Chris Parmelee, Joe Benson, and even Ben Revere could be playing this year to show potential and to develop serious trade value.

Bullpen

I have changed my mind about the path the Twins ought to take. I have been convinced by Seth Stohs here that Brad Lidge is a worthwhile pickup (instead of Dotel). I think the Twins should groom Gutierrez as the closer, and Robertson and Guerra as setup men in Rochester. I would like to see Alex Burnett start at Rochester and Jose Mijares to be traded (packaged with Slowey?).

The Twins bullpen would look like this, then:

Long: Swarzak
M: open
M: open
LOOGY: Duensing
SU LH: Perkins
SU RH: open
Cl: Lidge

Scared about rumors

There is a lot of talk about the Twins "madly" pursuing Cuddyer and "strong interest" in Capps. Cuddyer at 2 years, 22 million isn't terrible. Maybe even 2/24, but that is it. Capps should in no way, shape, or form be re-signed given that the Twins would get a pick (around 60-65) when he signs elsewhere. It makes absolutely no sense to think of Capps as anything, much less a 4+ million dollar closer!