SB Nation User Blog: hotshotschamp

minor league question for Roger

hotshotschamp — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:45:28 -0000

If you have any insight please feel free to add it to this thread.

I was wondering if you had an official list of players Twins signed in the International signing period. I know of Sano 3.15 mill, Kepler 800 k roughly, and Jorge Polanco 750 k. I know we signed some kid named Jonatan Yonojoso or something like that, another SS. Do you know how much we paid him, and if we signed anyone else.

Also, do you think Kepler, Sano, and Polanco will all start in the GCL? Those kids are awfully young, I remember reading Polanco was still 15, as of July 1st, had to wait to sign. Do you think they will start Polanco in the DSL or bring him over to Florida, 750 k is quite an investment, I have the feeling they may bring him over? Also do you have his Height/weight I can't seem to find it.

Any insight is appreciated.

Which Twins prospect would you rather have

hotshotschamp — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:09:25 -0000

1.) Aaron Hicks- 2008 1st round pick out of Highschool. He's a very toolsy kid, plays a premium position CF and plays it well, with a well above average arm, and a good approach at the plate.

2.) Miguel Angel Sano- Recent Latin signee, out of the DR. He's 16 or 17 years of age, and probably projects as a 3rd basemen or corner outfielder. He's drawn some lofty comparisons but again, he's so far away from the bigs.

Would u rather have Hicks, who is a bit more proven/polished with a huge upside in his own right or take a gamble on Sano?

Which young CF prospect would you rather have in your organization?

hotshotschamp — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:37:49 -0000

1. Jared Mitchell- 1st round pick 2009 by the White sox. He has speed for days, looks to be a top of the order type hitter. Pretty good outfielder, can play the CF or corner spots.

2. Aaron Hicks- A little bit younger than Mitchell. He may have more "tools" better arm and probably more projection as a hitter, but not quite the speed of a Mitchell.

Which player do you build around if you can pick 1.

Thanks!

Can Joe Mauer take a run at .400?

hotshotschamp — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:16:06 -0000

As of right now he's at .431 and will soon qualify for enough at bats to be league leader in batting average. This guy has one of the purest swings, and best plate approaches I've ever seen at the professional level. He simply will not take many bad pitches, he makes the pitcher work.

Also his ability to go opposite field is just amazing, and now that he's put on the "man muscles" those long fly ball outs are leaving the park, going slightly over the left field wall.

I for one think he will fall short, for a few factors, as the season wears on, especially for catchers there is more wear and tear on the body, and temperatures get hotter and so forth. I realistically think he can hit around .365 though. What are your thoughts, is it possible or a pipe dream?

Twins 2009 draft

hotshotschamp — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:39:38 -0000

So the draft is only a few weeks away now, and the twins have the #22 pick in the 1st round and the 46th pick in the supplemntal round for Fatty Reyes.

It's silly to guess what the twins will do in the draft, because they almost always surprise us, and pick someone you wouldn't expect.

I think we should stay away from High School pitching early on at least. Look at the track record. ( baker, slowey, blackburn, perkins) 4 of our drafted starters all are college pitchers, who had good polish. Guys like JD Durbin, Tyler Robertson, Jay Rainville and Kyle Waldrop all didn't work out so well....... Anthony Swarzak is the one HS pitcher drafted recently who has a chip and a chair to be a pretty decent option as a future Twins SP. We will have to see what this pitcher from Iowa does that we drafted last year, I forget his name, gave him 600k well oer slot. But overall high school pitching just seems to risky, unless it's a porcello and we aren't goin to pay that kind of money if someone slips of that caliber.

Some players I would look at....

- Bobby Borchering - 6"4 3rd basemen out of HS, many say he's the best prep bat int he draft, a real masher, needs to work on D. He'd be 3-4 years off at least.

- Max Stassi- A very polished young catcher. Yes i know it's not the biggest need, but by all accounts this kids a pure player, born to play baseball, with a good bat and very good behind the plate. You never know if mauer will forsure stay and you don't know how ramos will pan out. You can never have enough good catchers.

- Mychael Givens- HS SS/Pitcher ...Something about him screams twins pick to me... He's pretty toolsy and he can also throw mid 90's from the mound.

- If we go college pitchers, maybe look at a guy like Mike Leake, james paxton, eric arnett, mike minor.

Also, I think the twins would be well served to grab a bullpen arm possibly with the 46th pick, if there is a good one out there, possibly a guy who would be ready later this year or next year to come in and get some outs from the pen. There are some out there in this years draft,.

So you always take BPA of course, but Twins should definitley lean towards college pitching, middle infielders and im convinced you can never have enough catching. Outfield/1st base in my opinion are positions we don't really need to address early, of course unless someone really jumps off the page.

Is GO/AO a pretty important pitching stat??

hotshotschamp — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:03:14 -0000

I'll admit I don't know much about this stat, and it's impact on a pitchers performance.

Does anyone have any examples of pitchers in the history of MLB with threat GO/AO rates.?

Are they usually sinkerball pitchers.?

Can a high GO/AO every be a bad thing?

I know Twins prospect Carlos Guttierrez has about a 5+ ratio of Ground balls to fly outs. I'm not sure if that's good or bad....

Basically I'm just asking if GO/AO is a stat people put much value on, or is strike outs much more important, or how do you view it.

Kevin Slowey v Andy Sonnanstine revisited.

hotshotschamp — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:17:09 -0000

I remember this generating a lot of posts last year, and early this year. They are similar pitchers who rely on control, and both had good minor league numbers.

Andy Sonnanstine (13-7)

IP 175

197 hits allowed, 30 bb, 108 k's

4.47 era, 1.3 whip, .285 opponent batting average

Kevin Slowey (12-9)

IP 146 ( missed a little time with injury)

140 hits allowed, 19 bb, 111 k's

3.63 era, 1.09 whip, .250 opponent batting average

It's safe to say that Sloweys numbers across the board in every category except wins have been better, and wins are usually team based. This is not meant to rip Andy Sonnanstine, as I think he's a quality pitcher, and the Drays have had a better year than the twins. I just think Slowey has clearly put himself in a better class than Sonnanstine. His K ratio is marketably better, as is his hits per inning.

I think slowey is making a case for a #2 type SP in the AL, while Andy Sonnanstine projects more as a #4.

Angel Morales an emerging prospect?

hotshotschamp — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:28:02 -0000

He was a third round draft pick by Minnesota in 2007, he is from Puerto Rico. He's a speedy CF who is 6"1 about 180. Before the draft most the publications said he lacked power.

Angel who is only 18 years of age, in the Appy League, one of the younger guys in the league now leads the league in Home runs with 15, after hitting 4 Homers in his past 3 games, including 2 tonight. He has had some problems with strikeouts but still maintains a .420 on base % and .330 average.

The twins must be thrilled with this pick so far, if he can clean up his strikeouts a bit he looks to have unlimited potential as 5 tool prospect.

Twins depth in CF is pretty nice in the minors ( ben revere, angel morales, aaron hicks) all in the lower levels. Watch out Carlos Gomez.....

my top 20 twins prospects.

hotshotschamp — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:28:55 -0000

and yes i know it will look nothing like Johns.

1.) Ben Revere - Hitting roughly .400, very good contact hitter good speed, future lead off.

2.) Shooter Hunt- Yes I know we just drafted him, but I see him being the next big Twins pitcher. I loved him before the draft, and was stoked to see us land him. He hasn't let me down at all with his hot start.

3.) Aaron Hicks- This pick is based more on potential. He's a terror on the bases, he has some pop and is considered by all to be a 5 tool talent. With a unlimited upside. He's doing well in GCL ball.

4.) Michael Mccardell- Big tall, righty who is with Beloit. I got the chance to see him live this year and he just dominated. A solid fast ball, with devestating off speed stuff. I'm telling you this kid is one to keep your eye on.

5.) Anthony Slama- He has been virtually unhittable as the closer for Fort Myers. Baseballamerica rated him top closer recently in minors so far this year. His stat line is just silly.

6.) Luke Hughes- He really has emerged as a prospect this year. He hit a big homer at the all star game for AA tonight, and has really come on this year. Twins will give a look next year i'd imagine. We could use an Aussie!

7.) Tyler Robertson- He's currently injured but this kids really good. He is repeating the success he had last year, with another big season. He is tall, and a lefty and projectable. We could see him in 2010 or 2011.

8.) Carlos Gutierrez- Twins just drafted this kid out of Miami where he had a excellent career. He could either be a future RP or a SP. He throws 93-94 with great sink. He could be fast paced to the bigs

9.) Jonathan Waltenbury- Big Canadian 1st basemen....hmmm we've done okay with those! This kid can hit too, he's hitting around .350 in Appy ball and showing some doubles/HR power. Twins brass is said to be very high on this kid as a hitter also. Possibly a future DH as well.

10.) Dan Valencia- I've always been high on this kid. 3rd basemen who tore up FSL this year and is holding his own in New Britain, he's got pretty hot as of late. I think he could push for a position next year possibly.

11. ) Kevin Mulvey- . I see him as a back of the rotation starter, who can give you innings. We all know he came over in the Johan trade. He's not exactly dominating AAA, but he's doing okay.

12.) Angel Morales- We drafted him the other year out of Puerto Rico I believe it was. He's another one who plays CF but probably projects more to LF. He is in the Appy league this year, and surprisingly is showing major pop with 6 Hr's already and a great batting average. He needs to cut down on his K's a bit, but looks promising forsure.

13. ) Trevor Plouffe- This kid is still young. Former first round draft pick back in 2004 I believe it was. He's now in AAA and holding his own. I think he will have a legit chance at some point next year to make the twins. He's not exceptional at anything, but very solid in most aspects of the game. I think he'll have a long MLB career, maybe with many teams, but he'll play ball somewhere.

14.) Wilson Ramos- He plays catcher for the Miracle. He is great defensively. He needs some work at the dish, his average is only around .250 but he does have some pop with 8 homers or so. I can see him making a future great back up catcher with Mauer of course the main guy. It would be nice to keep the great defensive catcher tandems going.

15.) Deolis guerra- Another SP we got in the trade for Johan. He is currently in Fort Myers, with the miracle. He's having a solid year, but not spectacular. He's been inconsisent. Shows lots of flashes. People need to remember he was born in 1989, so he's a very young kid still. I think he could pan out, he may not be the ace some thought, but should be a MLB pitcher.

16. ) Chris Parmelee- This kid really needs to get going. He does show lots of pop, but K's too much. He has around 15 hr's this year in Beloit. He could be a future DH type, but by no means is he going to have a career at 1st base where he currently plays. I still hold out hope for him, but he needs to fire it up soon.

17.) Jeff Manship- Had a pretty good year at High A ball, with the Miracle, however is struggling a bit in AA, but that's too be expected. I think he'll turn it around.

18.) Michael Gonzalez- Big 6"6 Juco kid drafted this year, from California area. He's only hitting .450 + with the GCL team. He's one to watch!

19.) Bradley Tippet- Starting pitcher for the Appy team. Has some pretty dominant numbers so far this year, and twins brass I've heard likes him a lot as well.

20.) diebenson romero. 3rd basemen from Beloit. Has a pret

Looks like Liriano could almost be back!

hotshotschamp — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 00:55:56 -0000

his last 2 starts he has shown signs of dominance.

Last start he went 7 innings, 3 hits, 9 k's with a walk, 0 runs

Today he went 6 innings, 3 hits, 7k's, 0 runs

This would be big for the Twins down the stretch if his arm is indeed ready. They could trade that slug Livan Hernandez who is on pace to give up like 280 hits this year. Yeah I know his record looks okay, he's just lucky he's got some pretty good run support.

Baker, slowey, blackburn, liriano, perkins could be pretty good. Lets hope Liriano has no setbacks this time!!!!