Minnesota Twins Season Goals for Success in 2017
By Tim Boyle
Add Young Minor League Talent
By now, the Minnesota Twins should have a fully loaded farm system. Losing as often as they do typically results in some great draft picks. At the very least, they should have minor leaguers acquired in trades for big league talent. This is not the case for the Twins as they do not have any phenomenal prospects knocking on the door.
In the Twins’ defense, many of their recent top farmhands are in the big leagues already. However, many have struggled. Most notably it has been outfielder Byron Buxton and pitcher Jose Berrios who have looked like the bigger busts. Buxton did manage to finish the 2016 season on a hot streak so there is hope he pieces keeps some momentum going forward.
Even if Buxton and Berrios become stars there are few reinforcements in the minor leagues. Shortstop Nick Gordon is their best prospect, but ranked 50th overall in MLB by MLB.com. He is at least another year from making it to the big leagues. Pitcher Stephen Gonsalves is on a similar timeline with a lower ranking on prospect lists.
Hopefully, by trading away their MLB talent, the Twins can do a little more to their farm system. They are building a strong young core with Max Kepler, Miguel Sano, and others at the center of it. However, they still appear far from competing.