The Twins have been much better than expected this season, yet some people still lament what has happened to the team. The Twins have a decent offense, but some of their best prospects are also offensive players, many of whom are ready to emerge on the scene very soon. We have already seen glimpses of Aaron Hicks, Oswalo Arcia and Chris Herrmann.We have seen longer looks at Chris Parmelee, and while all of these guys are promising, they don’t even begin to eclipse the talent that Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, seen above, seem to possess.
Terry Ryan has taken some heat for the assembled roster. That said, his first task was rebuilding an enfeebled farm system, which by almost all accounts, he has done. Sure, we haven’t seen any major pitching prospects emerge, but that’s because the added pitchers all came in the lower levels of minor league ball, and the recent history of pitching prospects in the Twins system has been littered with major arm injuries.
It’s good that Ryan has gone for quantity when it comes to the Twins system and pitching prospects given the team’s recent history. I don’t trust pitchers until they have been in the Major Leagues for at least a couple of years, so I like the volume of young arms in the system. Kyle Gibson is ready to come up soon, and Liam Hendriks and Vance Worley are still possibilities to compete for regular spots in a Major League rotation. Guys like Jose Berrios, Alex Meyer, Trevor May, or a whole litany of top 20 prospects have been playing well in the lower levels. Draftees Kohl Stewart and Ryan Eades will join the organization fairly soon as well to deepen the pitching pool. The point here, unfortunately, is that pitching prospects are fickle, and they stand vulnerable to lack of development or injury. Note that Alex Wimmers is not on the list of prospects any more. It’s best to fill the prospect pool and hope one or two works out.
So long as they can avoid personal demons, position players are much more reliable, and the average fan can see those guys coming. Consider the catch from Byron Buxton, or how long Miguel Sano has been coming. They showed us Buxton on FSN today when they aired the Cedar Rapids Kernels game because watching him is the clearest vision of the future for Minnesota. The minor leagues are now properly stocked, and all we can do is wait patiently.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
