[SPEAKER_01]: everybody, JJ Cooper Ian Cunderle here, another other baseball America prospect podcast, deep dives today.

[SPEAKER_01]: We are talking all about the Minnesota twins and what timing?

[SPEAKER_01]: We actually have a move to analyze, not exactly earth shattering, although

[SPEAKER_01]: You have to hold twins fans a couple of years ago that Edward Julian is being traded.

[SPEAKER_01]: You might have been like, oh, that's a big move.

[SPEAKER_01]: But no, it's kind of a roster clearing exercise as Eddie Julian and Pearson all have been sent to the Rockies in return.

[SPEAKER_01]: They get Jason Kaminska and cash.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not exactly a move that we will probably, you know, there will not be a 30 for 30 about this, you know, 15 years from now and everything like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what was your sense?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I do feel like that the twins are kind of clearing out a little bit of a roster space here.

[SPEAKER_01]: For whatever reason I don't know, but it seems like this is kind of a winter January cleaning in some ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it's, you know, they made a couple small moves in free agency.

[SPEAKER_00]: They signed Victor Carrotini'd be back up catcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's just they're just kind of reorganizing the back end of the 40 man roster, making room for those free agent signings.

[SPEAKER_00]: And just, yeah, I think though the Julian part is the most interesting, because obviously he was someone who looked like a few years ago, that he could be a key contributor going forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think with the emergence of Luke Kieschel next year, as they're kind of franchise now every day second basement.

[SPEAKER_00]: uh... there's just not a spot for him really on the roster anymore and he's obviously had a struggle to last couple of seasons so i think it's it's makes sense that with someone like him if if he doesn't fit on the current roster which he doesn't really give in the way that's constructed then it's best to move on and uh... get reasonably interesting pitchers coming off Tommy john but was one of the better pitchers in the colleague in twenty twenty four and i think getting pitchers out of colorado can be uh... can be a good strategy given we've seen some guys you know go elsewhere who

[SPEAKER_01]: I also, I tweeted this out, but this is a very good move to me for the Rockies perspective, not because these are different makers, but the bottom of the Rockies roster has been the worst bottom of any, and I'll be roster, I would say in the last couple of years.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so players who, like, in Julian's case, this is the example of the danger of a poor glove that, you know, I hit first guy who really can't feel at the end of the day,

[SPEAKER_01]: His bat, I know his bat has really tailed off.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's obviously the most important thing here.

[SPEAKER_01]: But even when he was hitting, you always face this challenge of, how do you get his bat in the lineup because he was a really below average second base and he really wasn't even good at first base.

[SPEAKER_01]: Got to come to challenge.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're the Rockies, hey.

[SPEAKER_01]: He could fit on your roster.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like, do you have had negative two war players playing regularly for you in Colorado?

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, figure out what Pearson all can do for it.

[SPEAKER_01]: These are just the kind of moves that they should be making.

[SPEAKER_01]: I promise you we're gonna talk about more impactful prospects the rest of the way here.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as we kind of dive in, we ask the question, we start these every time.

[SPEAKER_01]: How difficult was the decision to rank Walker Jenkins at one?

[SPEAKER_01]: Walker Jenkins is one of the top prospects in all of baseball.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one else on this list is currently in that criteria.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's talk a little bit about Walker Jenkins.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then let's talk about, I would say that maybe the decision at two, at three, four was probably a little tougher than one.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll get to that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But let's start with, I'm just going to put it this way, a little bit different way of Walker Jenkins.

[SPEAKER_01]: We haven't yet seen him have a fully healthy season and see what he could do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Unfortunately, it's kind of been the story last couple years.

[SPEAKER_01]: How concerned good twins' fans be that this is kind of the MO for Walker Jenkins or how much should they be?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's been unfortunate that this has happened, but this is not really a long-term concern.

[SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, we don't think it's very long-term concern because we have him literally ranked as one of the top prospects in the game.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think it's long term concern, because I think when you look at the tracker going to injuries, a fair amount of them are pretty flukey things, like it's a spring day and goal, you know, a hip-end pinchman, it's not we're not talking about a lot of, you know, strain groins or kind of things that we've seen have a big chronic conditions or chronic issues with players.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think with Jenkins case that you've got to trust the athleticism here, this is the first thing talking to scouts that they want to talk about is this is one of the best athletes in minor league baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's if the term physical specimen was used, people were just blown away with his build and I think you just got to trust that an athlete like that is eventually going to have a healthy season and I think when he does have that healthy season.

[SPEAKER_00]: The fact that he's this highly regarded, and he's missed so much time, shows the talent is there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that it's only a matter of time before he puts it together, and it's why I think the twins have kind of, their future is largely built on him.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is their future franchise cornerstone.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the moves they've made and the way they've constructed this roster, there's a clear lane for Walker Jenkins to step into a prominent role very quickly.

[SPEAKER_00]: Kind of like I think what we saw last year with the Red Soxwood Romani at the

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I don't think it's going to be on opening day, but I think at some point over the summer, there's going to be a path for Jenkins to come up.

[SPEAKER_00]: And once he's up, I could easily see him slotting in the top of that lineup immediately because as you said, this was he, there wasn't really discussion and some other systems, you know, especially ones that have multiple top tier prospects, there can be a really good debate.

[SPEAKER_00]: There wasn't a debate here every single person I talked to when I was working on the twins for the handbook had Jenkins number one.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's, you know, I don't use this term often, but he's a true.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think five to a player.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's one of the highest graded hit tools in the handbook.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think we put a 70 on it, because it's a combination of pure hit ability, but also on base percentage, very patient hitter, puts together good quality of the bats.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's got power.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the part that I think is the area that remains to be seen as how much power.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can talk to some evaluators who think it's potentially maybe a 60 in the future.

[SPEAKER_00]: There are others who I think are more closer to the 50.

[SPEAKER_00]: he hasn't showed it in game.

[SPEAKER_00]: The EVs are not at the same level.

[SPEAKER_00]: I would say is the top top prospects of at comparable age of his and in game it's translated.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's never hit a home run off the left.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is a professional.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's only hit.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think his career high in home runs is in the teens.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we're still waiting for that power to come and I think that's something that twins know and they're working on.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to improve his angles.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got to get more consistent pulling the ball on the air.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think if you can take that step forward with the power when you combine and tell those are probably the two main things, that's the pathway or the lane that gets him to being that potential role 60 or higher player that we all think he can be.

[SPEAKER_01]: You said like there's a clear path for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: in the outfield with with on a team with Byron Buxton, where is that most likely landing spot?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is that right field or how do you where you see him fitting?

[SPEAKER_01]: Is he the backup center field or what he comes up?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because obviously Byron Buxton is not someone who's known for or playing 140, 150 games a year in center field.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where do you see him kind of fitting?

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, what you can defensively, how much impact is he going to make?

[SPEAKER_00]: I think that he has a chance to be an above average plus defender and I think that he could put a place on our field.

[SPEAKER_00]: Talking to scouts, a lot of people think that it's a Southern field ability.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's above average speed in the outfield.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was in the 65th percentile for sprint speed for outfielders, 75th percentile for throws.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you're talking about a guy who, you know, above average or plus arm, above average plus speed in the outfield.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think the question is, is it worth moving him to a corner to protect his health?

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's where why he would end up in a corner to me.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not so much that he couldn't play centerfield.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's that, hey, we have Byron Buxton, who is the face of the franchise right now, is very good centerfield, they're defensively.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, why don't we bring in Jenkins as a corner outfield?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or where there is a much easier pathway right now?

[SPEAKER_00]: I think right now it's projected.

[SPEAKER_00]: I believe it's like Austin Martin and some combination of Matt Walner, and a few other players in the corner outfield.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's going to be more opportunity there, but I think you also, he could still see, you know, you could get a split where he plays 120 games in the corner in the other 30 to 40 in center, because they're going to want to get bucks in office, VKDH is a fair amount.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's a way to break him in playing both, and then you kind of make that determination.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think going forward, bucks in is getting into his, you know, he's in his 30s already.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think there's a way that you can kind of hedge it for now, and then in the future, make the ultimate determination of, hey, this is a guy we think is a future center field,

[SPEAKER_00]: he shows up and performs at the major league level.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, at spot two, the manual Rodriguez is there.

[SPEAKER_01]: The, okay, anything we just said about Walker Jenkins and Walker Jenkins has then had that year of full health to see what he can do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Take that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cube it, don't multiply it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cube it, like multiply it by itself in the multiply it again.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then you get a manual Rodriguez, who has been really solid, most of the time, he's on the field and has had injuries pretty much every year of his pro career, how will what difficult was the decision about picking him at two versus Kail and Colt pepper versus Connor Prielett?

[SPEAKER_00]: This was definitely a debate.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think, depending on who you talk to, you could get some different answers here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Rodriguez, the raw talent is, I mean, if he was healthy and there was confidence in his hit tool, he'd probably be in the top 20 top 10 prospects in all of baseball, because his power combination of power and played approach is remarkable, you know, people don't run the walk rate, his ability to get on base and his raw power is, you know, up there with anyone else you put in minor league baseball.

[SPEAKER_00]: Problem is last year and this was great stat, I found when I was working on this 20% of his

[SPEAKER_00]: When he is on the field, the contact is a major issue.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, he's near the bottom percentile for contact rate and all of mine are basically not just the twin system.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there was not a lot of confidence in the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's why this is a hedge because there's so much to like with.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's actually a pretty good defender.

[SPEAKER_00]: He can run.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got power, he's got on base.

[SPEAKER_00]: The hit tool might be a 30, it might be a 20, it might be a 40, and where that ends up on, where it ends up is gonna determine his future value because it's all tied up in the hit tool in terms of his ability to reach his ceiling.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you talked to some scouts and they think he's probably a 2 10, 2 20 hitter.

[SPEAKER_00]: They still really like him because of the secondary skills.

[SPEAKER_00]: There, if you're more bullish on him, you think he could maybe get to 2 30 to 2 40, then that's the pathway to him to be coming, you know, a fringe all star probably because if he does, if he gets 2 30 to 2 40, he's going to hit 25 to 30 home runs and run up.

[SPEAKER_00]: on base percentage in the mid 300s and that's still a very valuable players we've seen in this stage because then the day if you're getting on base teams don't care as much about how you're getting there you know obviously if you can impact the baseball and you can get on base via the walk that can kind of stay off any issues you have with you know the singles and get it and other getting on base via the hit so he he's a fascinating prospect and I think that this year is a

[SPEAKER_00]: they've got to figure out what the plan is with him and with Jenkins also there now, you know, it's card to create two full-time spots in a major league outfield within season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I don't know if there's a path for both of them to get up and take a prominent role.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think one of them is going to separate themselves early and Jenkins has to be the leader in the clubhouse there given his pedigree.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when you look at this farm system, that is your first year doing the twins.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I did the twins before and we've had a lot of conversations about twins.

[SPEAKER_01]: This should be a better system right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I say that from a standpoint of, they took their bullpen at the deadline and they basically said, well, everyone must go, we'll figure it out after this.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they traded, not a reliever.

[SPEAKER_01]: They traded their closer, their other closer slash setup man, their other setup man, they pushed, you know, a basically said, look, let's move on.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's see what we can do.

[SPEAKER_01]: So y'all under angry, griffin jacks, multiple, and they brought in talent in return.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say like if you're watching this, you're going, but you haven't mentioned it either those prospects in the top five.

[SPEAKER_01]: None of them are in the top five.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'd say there's a couple of these moves where you could say... Well, one is fifth, one is fifth.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's hard, tight, tight is fifth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the case we roll houses eight, but what I would also say

[SPEAKER_01]: A couple of these moves for players who are no longer prospect eligible, but I would say it also, some cases where we're gonna see whether they fit this year, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like they move, again, you're moving relievers, but we'll see where Alan Roden fits on this team.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see there's multiple outfathers they brought in who will see where they fit in the roster.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is this a better system now because, especially because of the moves they made last year?

[UNKNOWN]: Great.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it is because you have a combination of at the trade deadline, as you said, they did bring in a several guys, Tosh Bradley, Mick Abler, and other couple of James Altman who are not prospect eligible, but they got at what our title, Kendra Rojas, Hendry Mendez, you know, they brought in.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's three or four top 20 prospects.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the other area that, when you combine that with their strong draft, they have four guys who they drafted who rank inside the top 20.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the DSL classroom last year looks really promising.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think there was a really big influx of talent in 2025.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think also that players took a step forward, Jason Hill had a very good season, moving a little further down the list.

[SPEAKER_00]: Granted, that is offset a little bit by Charlie Soto, who only pitched a few innings, but was done hurt.

[SPEAKER_00]: But they had other guys, Gabriel Gonzalez had a really nice bounce back season after being acquired in a trade a couple of seasons ago, whereas you look at last year's handbook and understandably Gabriel Gonzalez near the back of the 30.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's jumped all the way into the top 10, and he's another major league borderline major league ready outfielder that they have in their system.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think they had enough guys take a step forward and you combine that with the influx of town at the deadline, a strong DSL class and a promising draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think, you know, it has to be, it makes up for the graduations like Luke Kieshal, which was really the big one.

[SPEAKER_00]: After that, I think that you can look in and things are really trending in the right direction.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have depth at multiple positions.

[SPEAKER_00]: They've brought in some nice mix of ceiling and more kind of safer prospects.

[SPEAKER_00]: I look at one of the trade, the trade with the cops are really faster.

[SPEAKER_00]: They got Ryan Gallagher.

[SPEAKER_00]: How much ceiling there is there?

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, but is he someone who I could see pitching in the big leagues in pretty short order, maybe not in a season, but probably next season.

[SPEAKER_00]: definitely like this is you know he's got MLB caliper traits and I think that they did an nice job balancing that in those trades granted they also obviously had some pretty big financial savings which I think was a big part of it as well but yeah I think that the system is definitely training in the right direction and has taken a step forward from where it was last year.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can very confidently say that you just laid out that we expect Walker

[SPEAKER_01]: We're talking about another year with injuries for occupying the healthy walkers and kids should graduate this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who then is the most likely number one on this top 30 next year?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a very interesting question because if you look at the top of the list, a lot of their their higher rank prospects of already matriculated in the upper minors and there's there's definitely a possibility that their top four guys could all be in the big leagues by the end of the season.

[SPEAKER_00]: Um, I think of that group, Kael and Cole Pepper is the least likely.

[SPEAKER_00]: He, I don't, he's not going to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't need to be at it to the 40 man next off season.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's just he breached double a last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I think, but we've seen college draft these in their second year, make the big leagues pretty often.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, and so I think that.

[SPEAKER_00]: he might graduate to and pre-lip Connor pre-lips on the 40 and in triple A so he's MLB depth already.

[SPEAKER_00]: So to me it comes down to two people that leaves Eduardo Tite and Jason Hill.

[SPEAKER_00]: Those are the next highest rank guys.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's one wild card here which is their draft pick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how I believe it's number three.

[SPEAKER_00]: They picked third.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have the third pick and looking at the top of the draft, there's some really exciting players up there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that that would probably be my favorite right now would be the number three pick to be the top prospect next year.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I could see a world where one of tight and he'll take some major step forward.

[SPEAKER_00]: With tight question is going to be the hitting ability and Kenny catch talking to scouts and part of the reason that we're a little lower on him is that there was not a lot of confidence in his catching ability.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think there's a pretty big split between internal and external evaluations with him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And similarly the hit tool.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's some really serious contact concerns as Chase Raid is around 40% really struggled against velocity last year and there was just when you talk to scouts there was just a mixed bag of evalous about his hitting ability and.

[SPEAKER_00]: If he's not a catcher, he's going to have to hit because we've seen the bar at first base is getting higher.

[SPEAKER_00]: And yes, he has power.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's it's really impressive power.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's mb quality eggs of velocities at such a young age.

[SPEAKER_00]: But at first base, if that's with a 30 hit tool, that's just a type of player we've seen, especially if you're a below average athlete that major lead teams just don't value that much anymore.

[SPEAKER_00]: You need to be able to bring more than the table than just power as a first basement and we've never seen a play there or the defense of first base we don't know about he's never not going to be much speed and if he's not going to hit that much if it's you know a 30 hit tool something like that then I'm not sure that's a player that you want is the top ranked prospect in your system.

[SPEAKER_00]: Flipside is though, if he takes a step forward with his approach this year, shows more contactability, then you're talking about a 19-year-old because he's very young for his age who's going to be in high-a probably to start the season, showing legitimate MLB quality raw power.

[SPEAKER_00]: on base ability, some hit a hit ability, and then maybe there's a chance to stick a catcher.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a guy who I could envision being the number one prospect in the system.

[SPEAKER_00]: For him, I think it's just continuing what he did last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Dase and Hilly, he got stronger, he added, this is, he's extremely skinny still.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's 66, probably 180 pounds right now, which is a huge improvement over where he was when he was drafted.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was around.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think 160 pounds when he was drafted.

[SPEAKER_00]: So he he's put on really good weight.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's always going to be on the tall and he's side, but his stuff when it's on is electric.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a, the chance right there with at least, you know, three to four above average pitches, fastball.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can run it up.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's been up to 99 this off season.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's got a curve ball change up in two breaking balls.

[SPEAKER_00]: As we were also, and you look, you know, there were some really good underlying data with his pitches last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's just with him.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just command is going to be the key.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's a lot of moving parts in his delivery.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not the cleanest delivery, so I think there is some reliever risk and that was something talking to scouts.

[SPEAKER_00]: Why he kind of is a little lower on the list is not everyone's convince he's a starter, but he has some traits, the size, the pitch mix to be a potential starter.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if he can take a step forward with this command and kind of show that he can repeat his delivery consistently, then he's somewhat, I think, could be in consideration for them proper aspect in the system next season.

[SPEAKER_01]: You mentioned that Kail and Cole, Pupor graduate.

[SPEAKER_01]: The thing I'll just point out here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Still January, right, as we're recording this, it's possible that our further moves to be made.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm just gonna say right now, the Minnesota Twids do not have a short stop right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I do mean, Brooks Lee is not a short stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sorry, but there is no logical path where you say Brooks Lee's going to be defensively what you want to get from an MLB short stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's no one Orlando, RCA, who they signed as a minor league for you, you know, as I'm basically invite is non-Roster and IT is, is the next candidate at short stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I would say at this point in Orlando, RCA's career, that's not a plan, that's not a plan really either, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't even think Kael and Cole peppers are shortstop.

[SPEAKER_01]: We could get to Merrick Houston, who is, we don't know how much he's going to hit.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Merrick Houston is 100% is a shortstop.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, the best shortstop the twins have at this moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's so much better defensively than Brooks Lee right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: If he jumped straight to the Major League's basically from Lake Forest, he would be three graves better than Brooks Lee.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's with Brooksley healthy, which Brooksley, as we know, has health issues that not even whether the sideline him, which they have sideline at times, but also could be things that limit him, range wise, his ability to play shortstop.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just, when we call pepper, I could see call pepper up because unless they make other kind of moves, they may just be like, well, we gotta try something here because we don't have a shortstop again, especially, Brooksley spent time on the I.L.

[SPEAKER_01]: If Brooksly goes on the I.L.

[SPEAKER_01]: and he said, what are you doing?

[SPEAKER_01]: You can go for a land of ours.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but you're not going to do that for long before you say it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is there a better plan here, especially at this team to send a rebuild?

[SPEAKER_01]: I just think that's an interesting one as well, just to watch because this is the team that doesn't really have a short stop right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, what do you think?

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I agree and that was that's part of why I didn't put him in the conversation was because I do think there's a pretty good chance he graduates and the twin showed last year with Luke, he showed that they're willing to be aggressive.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's the last year had or I believe he had to play 28 games in Triple A before he was promoted to the majors and so if culp upper comes out this year and shows improvement at shortstop because he has the arm it's just it's a range question and actions question.

[SPEAKER_00]: Talking to scouts about him that a lot of them thing you can play third base and so if you can stay on the last side of the infield There's a way there's a pathway and I think that he has that drive that he wants to stay at shortstop So if he comes out, you know hitting really well kind of caring over what he did in the first half of last season before he got a little tired at the end of the season and had some struggles in double a I think that's definitely in play

[SPEAKER_00]: There's no reason not to for the reasons.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's no blocking it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So there's no reason if he's hitting like we think he can Then you might as well give it a shot because it's a it would be a really good test for them to to know what they have with him because if he's your everyday short stop It changes the calculus with someone like Mary Houston as you said Whereas if he's not and you know early enough then maybe you be a little more aggressive with Houston because his defenses and you and I have we've watched a lot of cut-ups of his defense of plays.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's

[SPEAKER_00]: There's the way he moves is a six foot three player, a short stop, it's just so unique.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you don't see that type of range, that fluidity, his ability to go down and die for a ball and then just get up in one motion and make that throw is just it's such a unique trade and it's something that I just can't wait to see at the major level.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you know that copepers not going to be the long-term sure stop, then it's a lot easier I think to push used and quicker because hey, I hit tools a question, but how much is it going to improve in the minors?

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you might as well just push it more aggressively.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you know that he's MLB quality ready, a defense already.

[SPEAKER_01]: Then the way I put it is, so I built, I looked at.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, best plays basically for every short stop in our top hundred and then the guys kind of within the range of the top hundred sent that out you watched them to

[SPEAKER_01]: and Maricustin is the best.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like if I'm now again, this is best place.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is not, if you said, well, but so and so might be a little bit more reliable or whatever, that's not what we're looking at.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're looking at what I can make plays that most short stops can't make.

[SPEAKER_01]: Maricustin makes plays on the other side of second base.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like you said, where's like, how did he get to that ball?

[SPEAKER_01]: How is he gonna get his body in position to throw?

[SPEAKER_01]: How did he make that throw?

[SPEAKER_01]: He does check, check, and check.

[SPEAKER_01]: And by the way,

[SPEAKER_01]: everyone else, most everyone else we were looking at had a sample of the whole season.

[SPEAKER_01]: Marick Houston had this little snippet of time and he had by 30 games.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and he had by far the best place.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's something to watch for.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do want to move us on so we don't go too long here.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I will ask you the final portion of the question for the video portion, which is, what is this organization good at developing?

[SPEAKER_00]: I, it's pitching and it's more specifically it's players who kind of undervalued pictures or pictures that aren't necessarily the biggest signing bonus or the highest pedigree they do a really good job of elevating pictures and you know you look and I think the trade deadline last year is just a great example of that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yo Hans Iran was someone they acquired and betrayed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't even believe he was the the bit largest piece in the Eduardo Escobar trade with Arizona.

[SPEAKER_00]: They turned him and they were able to flip him for you know the top five prospect in a

[SPEAKER_00]: They've done a really good job over the years of just drafting and developing pitching.

[SPEAKER_00]: And starting pitching wise, we're starting to see some of those guys matriculate up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Zebi Matthews got up to the Big League's David Festa was up in the Big League's last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: have those guys, you know, they, those guys need to take a step forward, especially with their health in order to reach their potential.

[SPEAKER_00]: But both of those guys, you know, they didn't have to use hydraft picks on them.

[SPEAKER_00]: They didn't have to give them big signing bonuses.

[SPEAKER_00]: The twins pitching dev is very good.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's, they do a great job of elevating their pitchers.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that that's something that they have a build on.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's something they've really leaned into when you look at, especially like with their draft last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they went up when they were accused in the first round.

[SPEAKER_00]: But after that, Riley quick really low mileage armed with a ton of really

[SPEAKER_00]: just a unique athlete.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was a college footballer.

[SPEAKER_00]: He could have played in the SEC in football.

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he decided to pursue baseball, but he's, you know, 6, 6, 250 pounds with not a ton of mileage on his arm because he missed a year with Tommy John.

[SPEAKER_00]: Going a little further down the draft, some of their other bigger bonus guys, James L. Winger, really high octane arsenal.

[SPEAKER_00]: I believe he's Dallas Baptist, then you've got Matt Barr, who was one of the big pop-up prospects at the Draft Combine, who has outlier feel first spin, and sits, you know, is already in the mid-90s with an extremely predictable frame.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jason writes, another outlier size, he's six foot 11, I believe he's from a university organ, another guy that has really interesting traits, and

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, they get up, they have a ton of those guys that just have really interesting traits to build on and they trust their pitching devs so much that it's hey, you know, we have this guy that we really like this area this year, this other area that still needs work, but we're confident in our ability to turn them into a quality major leader and I think their track record shows they've done that and now the talent level that they're bringing in is higher, I think than what they've already elevated, you know, when you look at like a Zebi Matthews and a David Festa, those guys,

[SPEAKER_00]: they obviously have taken them a very long way, but when they came in, there was not a lot of buzz behind them.

[SPEAKER_00]: The guys that are bringing in now have some buzz already and I think if they can take them to the next step, that's the key and kind of turning them this into one of the big pitching devil works in the league where they can constantly turn and turn out, you know, quality major leagueers, both for their major league roster and potentially for other deals, especially if they're in a competitive window.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that wraps up the video portion of the baseball American twins, deep dive.

[SPEAKER_01]: But we are going to keep going on the podcast for a little while longer, talk about some sleepers, a couple other questions as well, and we'll do that right after this break.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we're back and we always start podcast extra bonus part with who are some sleepers after the top 10. Who are some guys who, again, don't give up everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you want everything, go to baseball america.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: We updated our top 30s now.

[SPEAKER_01]: There are international free agent signings from January 15th.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm the list.

[SPEAKER_01]: We reflected new moves all that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's over at baseball america.com, but who are a couple of guys who really jump out to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think one that we haven't mentioned from last year's draft, and he actually wasn't in the article either, so little off the list is Quint Young.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was there, he was draft last year, I believe in the second round.

[SPEAKER_00]: Got a big bonus fair familiar name.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is related to the nephew of Dalman and Dimitri Young.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think the thing that really stood out in Quentin Young, he had a very short debut only played in five games, but his defense is way more advanced, I think than people thought at the time of the draft.

[SPEAKER_00]: He actually looked like he has a good chance to stay on the infield, and he is a unique athlete, six, six, two hundred and fifty in pounds.

[SPEAKER_00]: So with someone like with that type of athleticism, that type of size, and he's got legit raw power.

[SPEAKER_00]: Can he hit, I don't think anyone knows yet.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the million dollar question.

[SPEAKER_00]: If he does hit, he's a ceiling here might be the highest of anyone in the system.

[SPEAKER_00]: and so if you can hit he could be number one next year yes yes if you were moving down the list and you had to you know who's who you who's your lottery ticket guess for who could be number one in the system will be him because if he comes out and hits

[SPEAKER_00]: his rise is going to be very quick in the system.

[SPEAKER_00]: Moving a little further down, though, I mentioned the draftees from last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think map R and James L when you're both pretty good sleepers.

[SPEAKER_00]: Another one would be Santiago Castellanos.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was when Josh North did his DSL prospector rankings.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was one of the highest rated pitchers, which I think the most impressive part was he's also five foot 10, five foot 11, which is not an arc type of pitchers that I think get a lot of love, especially when they're in the DSL because

[SPEAKER_00]: The track record of those guys is just not great, but it just shows the raw talent that he was ranked as high as he was You know, this is a guy with really advanced arsenal for his age really good feel for spin Fastballs already in the load of mid-90s and I think he's coming states side this here He's someone who could take a big step forward if he continues on the trajectory.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's on So I had a kind of a bigger picture question though that I also wanted to ask I think this is a fun and useful topic for the twins right now as you look at it

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'll kind of share my thoughts too, because I can say I've done the twins this for a long time.

[SPEAKER_01]: I follow it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is this a rebuild?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I say that logically in some ways the answer probably should be yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a team that is not making any big moves to try to largely fix a team that let's just be clear.

[SPEAKER_01]: was not heading in the right direction before they did the sell-off and then they kind of very much fell apart after the sell-off.

[SPEAKER_01]: But this is a team that, you know, to just lay that out, like, pray it away most of their bullpen last year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they haven't spent the off-season saying, hey, okay, for us to contend, we're gonna have to very much bear down and go spend money to rebuild that.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're seemingly largely trying to rebuild from within, which they have some arms that maybe could do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Is this more of like, this is a team that's looking to contend in 26 or a team that's probably looking more to kind of rebuild to get back in 27 or 28.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think if and they had some quotes around the deadline last year that it was a retool not a rebuild and I think if if the Joe Ryan is the big thing that's keeping me from calling it a pure rebuild here because that's your best asset.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was their best trade asset.

[SPEAKER_00]: That was the player they could have got the largest return for the return for Joe Ryan would have a clips to ran substantially and they didn't trade him.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's still there.

[SPEAKER_00]: He only has two years left on his deal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does that mean you know he still obviously could be trading the future but

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't, I hesitate to call it a rebuild as long as he and Pablo Lopez also are still on the roster, because those are guys that are not under team control very long, and are two of the better pictures in the American League.

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you have that anchoring your rotation in healthy, and you get, you know, they've had some, I think some shrrew for agent signings.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like the Victor Carrotini signing that mentioned earlier.

[SPEAKER_00]: I like the Josh Bell signing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think he's, you know, quality major league first basement, which is something they desperately needed.

[SPEAKER_00]: because they were not getting much production from that position last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you add those two to the lineup.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have Luke Keechow, back healthy.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have Byron Bucks, then you have Royce Lewis, again, health major question there.

[SPEAKER_00]: They and Trevor Larnick had a decent year, Matt Walden.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have some interesting pieces that I don't know if they can contend for the division, but

[SPEAKER_00]: maybe they can push for a wild card.

[SPEAKER_00]: This isn't I don't see this as a team that's going to be you know 60 and 102 or something like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think this is a team that can push for 500 and you know you get to the deadline and you decide which way to go.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's probably where it's going to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be similar to last year where they made the determination last year that this was not our year.

[SPEAKER_00]: and it's time to cash in, and if you're gonna do that, I don't hate the strategy of trading your bullpen arms.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've seen the volatility of bullpen arms from year to year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Things can change so quickly for the relievers.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the amount they got back for, go hand to hand, and Griffin Jax, Louis Varlan, guys like that, you know, they got some pretty strong returns there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so now it's, can they backfield that bullpen?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the major question.

[SPEAKER_00]: The bullpen is probably the weakest part of this team.

[SPEAKER_00]: They do not have a lot of big names out there.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have some interesting prospects in there.

[SPEAKER_00]: In AAA, especially, we didn't mention them, but Connor Prilup, for example, if there's not a pathway to the rotation to start the season, I do don't think it's out of the question that maybe, hey, we'll break him in in the bullpen and kind of a multi-ending relief role.

[SPEAKER_00]: But they have some interesting guys in AAA to like Marco Raya who didn't make his debut last year, even though he's on the 40 largely, I think, cuts up health.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he's got some interesting stuff.

[SPEAKER_00]: They added John Klein to their 40-man roster.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's another interesting lever.

[SPEAKER_00]: So they have some internal relief options coming.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a question of how, do you go with those guys or is this more, do you look for more veteran options?

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think if they start turning over the bullpen to the young guys, they bring up Walker Jenkins,

[SPEAKER_00]: And they trade that starters.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's the rebuild.

[SPEAKER_00]: But until you get to that point, I still think it's more of a re-tool and they're going to try and kind of walk that fine line of Let's not bought them out.

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's stay, you know, not competitive necessarily, but in in the, you know, around 500 range with the eye towards in a year or two taking a step forward once those those top prospects that we talked about that are all in the high miners kind of matriculate up in our established big leaders.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I don't want to say, yeah, to be your point on that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like they did sign Josh Bell, which does seem like the move that teams make every free agency now when it's like, we're not contending, but at the same time, we're also not tanking.

[SPEAKER_01]: So they sign Josh Bell, as you know, they've signed here a teeny, they have held on so far to Ryan and Lopez.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do agree with you that that's kind of the one that we'll see if they move either of those.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the sign that this is moving into a whole different level of that,

[SPEAKER_01]: either one or both and this becomes a rebuild and not and the other one says this if they move Ryan Jefferson when they sign keratinny you know it does Jeffers is also coming near the ender you know coming near the end of his contract that would be another guy who I'd say just logically would be another sign of a rebuild you know you do at least Austin also bucks that would be the one I think you know bucks didn't that would be the one yeah

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think they can do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I really don't, but that would that would be a different, that would be a whole different level.

[SPEAKER_01]: But the last question I want to ask you is, is you mentioned the Twins DSL class?

[SPEAKER_01]: Twins haven't been producing a ton internationally in recent years, but you're really intrigued by this DSL class.

[SPEAKER_01]: What is it about the Twins DSL players that really jumped out to you?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that was something that I, as you said, their track record hasn't been great there, especially because they've had some very high profile guys that haven't really worked out the way that I think people expected.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I think none more so than Miguel Sinal, probably.

[SPEAKER_00]: Though he is still in the back of the way, so it's been a key winner.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, he is a different way.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was such a...

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's a lot of other guys I would say that at least he was.

[SPEAKER_01]: He had some productive years in the big leagues.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is true.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would say that there's a list of guys who got big money since then, who you kind of forget where did they go after they got to able.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, but yes, that's true.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, that is fair.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I think that it's a very strong class and I think it extends beyond the guys we have ranked in the top 30.

[SPEAKER_00]: We have four of their DSL players from last year in the top 40 right now, or she's me top 30.

[SPEAKER_00]: We mentioned Santiago Castellano is but also moving a little further down.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's hearts in Castillo, Jeremy Valoria and Teyán Serano.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think all of them are just really intriguing in their own route and their own right.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're very different profiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: Castillo's more of you know, glove first in field.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're really good athlete, really good contact skills.

[SPEAKER_00]: Valoria is a six foot four projectible starting pitching crossback to they got at the deadline.

[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's part of the Harrison Bader trade last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then Sorano is a very interesting one.

[SPEAKER_00]: He was actually going to sign with the Dodgers before they needed money to sign Roki Sasaki.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so the twins were able to scoop him up late in the process.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he's got really intriguing power upside power speed combination.

[SPEAKER_00]: But you go outside that there's some players in the 31 to 40 range.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yordi Hose is a left hand or up to 97 already with a really good breaking ball.

[SPEAKER_00]: He signed late in the window as an 18 year old last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: And all these names, we haven't even talked about two of the bit larger seven figure bonuses they gave out last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Santiago Golione.

[SPEAKER_00]: And

[SPEAKER_00]: Carlos Tavares were two of their bigger bonus guys last year and neither of them are on the list, but both, you know, showed some intriguing characteristics and traits last year.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even going further, join her Perez another, you know, he's not your typical profile, but he might have it.

[SPEAKER_00]: He has a chance to hit.

[SPEAKER_00]: They've got another sleeper outfield there in Yofani, Duran.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's just a very promising class and just talking and, you know, when talking to scouts and looking around, it was just impressive that the depth of names they had.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it was like, you know, I got between six to 10 guys to investigate further when I was depending on who I talked to.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I just thought it was a very outlier, like number of players compared to what I was expecting when I went into the process because I was obviously not very familiar with those guys because I see a lot of, I see the twins every spring training but the DSL guys obviously are not going to be over for spring training.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I didn't really know what to expect and it was just impressive that each time I talked to someone another name would pop up.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that is a deep dive into the Minnesota twins farm system.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look, and we'd mean deep dive.

[SPEAKER_01]: We went from the top to guys who are probably six years away if everything breaks right in the DSL.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for joining it.

[SPEAKER_01]: By the way, if you enjoyed this,

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, please, you know, like and subscribe, obviously to the podcast, also to our YouTube feed baseball America on YouTube and most importantly, make sure you check it out all the great content at baseballamerican.com.

[SPEAKER_01]: As we mentioned, we do have EMS been ranking every prospect traded in the off season.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's something definitely to look for.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have just updated our top 30s.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not only do we have the top 30s, the scouting reports for all third

[SPEAKER_01]: We've had them up so long that we've updated them twice.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we reflected the moves that have been made in the set late December, early January.

[SPEAKER_01]: And now we've updated them again to reflect the signings of the 2026 International Class, now that we're past January 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you can see what players your team added to their top 30s and where they added them, which gives you a good idea.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, did we get one of the best players in the class or did we get someone kind of at a lower level that kind of thing?

[SPEAKER_01]: That's over at baseballamerica.com right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Check all that out.

[SPEAKER_01]: For Ian, I'm JJ.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a long everybody.