Don’t miss a word of Brandon Warne’s 2018 Minnesota Twins Guide.

• SEASON OVERVIEW
  
• 2017 IN REVIEW
• 2018 OPENING DAY ROSTER/LINEUP
• PROSPECT RANKINGS
• OLD FRIENDS
• SEASON PREDICTION

2017 Player Grades (End of Season 40-Man Roster) w/ Short Synopsis

• Matt Belisle (B+): Solid season overall with horrible first half (5.82 ERA), strong second (1.71). On Opening Day roster with Cleveland.
• Jose Berrios (A-): Terrific breakout season for the youngster, who ran out of gas a bit down the stretch. Future is very bright.
• Buddy Boshers (B-): Useful when kept inside comfort zone (.655 OPS v. LHH), brutal when not (.904 v. RHH). Not on Houston’s Opening Day roster.
• Alan Busenitz (B+): Was very, very good as a rookie (1.99 ERA) but showed signs of potential regression (4.20 FIP, 6.5 K/9, 37.5 percent GB rate). Opening year in Rochester.
• Bartolo Colon (C+): Tremendous August (3.40 ERA) kept Twins afloat when they needed it, but easy to forget how bad he was overall (6.48 ERA, minus-2.2 bWAR). Still awaiting 2018 status.
• John Curtiss (C-): Big-league numbers bad (8.31 ERA), minor-league numbers terrific (1.28 ERA). Future is bright for pitcher with big fastball and solid slider.
• Tyler Duffey (C+): Peripherals were good for Duffey, but didn’t have the ERA (4.94) to match. Has gotten rocked out of the stretch, which hurts him being trusted to pitch in tight spots. Opening as long guy at Rochester.
• Dietrich Enns (Inc.): Lotto ticket lefty in Garcia trade hasn’t been healthy long enough to get a read. Has put up numbers everywhere he’s been (1.88 MiLB ERA), but turns 27 in May.
• Dillon Gee (B+): Did a very nice job when called upon, signed in Japan when pitching market was frozen midway through winter. Thoracic outlet survivor who might find future guaranteed MLB work difficult to come by, but capable in right spot.
• Kyle Gibson (C-): Gets an F for his early work and an A- for his late work. Average it out, and you have a 30-year-old righty who is in a pivotal season for not only his Twins future, but MLB as well.
• Trevor Hildenberger (A): Hard to envision a better debut for a reliever than Hildenberger’s 2017. Doesn’t throw 90 and has a little funk, but is firmly in the mix with Addison Reed for late-inning work.
• Phil Hughes (F): On guts alone he deserves a much higher grade, and he can’t help that he got hurt again, but the on-field production wasn’t very good. Here’s to hoping one of the best guys in a clubhouse full of them can get back on track.
• Felix Jorge (C+): Got knocked around in the big leagues, didn’t look great in Rochester and was merely decent in Chattanooga. Will be interesting to see how Falvey/Levine view him moving forward since he’s a holdover from the Ryan regime.  
• Trevor May (Inc.): Tore his UCL against the Pirates last spring and had Tommy John surgery. Won’t pitch before June 1 this year, and role is TBD.
• Adalberto Mejia (B-): Has issues going deep into games (98 IP in 21 starts) but the blueprint is there for success. Not many 24 y/o carry average rates in big leagues, and there’s room for improvement. He’ll have to earn it starting in Rochester, however.
• Gabriel Moya (B+): Relief prospects by rule are usually not terribly interesting, but Moya brings funk, flair and goofy hair from the left side. In return for John Ryan Murphy, a catcher Arizona may lose via waivers this spring, that’s a hell of a coup for the Twins.
• Ryan O’Rourke (Inc.): Another TJ surgery victim. O’Rourke is terrific when used mostly against lefties and a great guy to boot. He’ll look to resume his career after signing MiLB deal with Baltimore this winter.
• Glen Perkins (Inc.): Happy trails to Perkins, one of the finest closers in club history. Impossible to grade based on on-field exploits this year, as he worked his ass off to get back. Enjoy retirement, sir.
• Ryan Pressly (D+): Had a very similar year to Duffey but without as much homer luck. The pieces are in place for him to be a devastating late-inning reliever, and there’s no pressure with guys in front of him. Don’t sleep on this guy.
• Taylor Rogers (B+): Excels against lefties but still, despite improvement, is not trustworthy against righties. That limits his ceiling overall, but he’s very useful either way.
• Fernando Romero (B+): Other than allowing a few more baserunners than one might like, Romero was terrific in his year-long stint with Chattanooga in 2017. Probably the highest ceiling of any Twins pitching prospect, and he was very good in four spring appearances as well (0 ER, 8-1 K/BB ratio in 8 IP).
• Randy Rosario (C): Not fair to grade him on a very, very brief big-league stint (eight earned runs in 2.1 innings across two appearances), but he was only so-so in Chattanooga last year. In this case, since Rosario signed back in 2010, he became a victim to 40-man limbo. Now with the Cubs after he was claimed on waivers over the winter.
• Ervin Santana (A-): When you evade shaky peripherals for a month, you’re lucky. When you do it for a half, you’re blessed. When you do it for a full year, you might be a wizard. Santana put together his second strong year in a row despite not blowing up in any single statistic, and suddenly is on the verge of being a legitimate feather in Terry Ryan’s cap for the four-year deal signed prior to the 2015 season. Not only has the righty provided tremendous value, but he’s the bulldog at the front of a rotation that expects to pitch in October — once he’s healthy. That can’t come soon enough.
• Hector Santiago (F): Hands down one of the best guys in the clubhouse to chat with, but 2017 was a disaster. Couldn’t get anyone out, gave up tons of loud contact and only lasted 70.1 innings before he was shut down with a back issue.
• Aaron Slegers (D): Slegers was terrific in Rochester (3.40 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 1.8 BB/9) but was throttled in the big leagues. Going to have to work hard to shed a possible Quad-A image as he’s already heading into age-25 season. There’s some encouragement in 44.5 percent groundball rate at Rochester last year, but it’s been higher in the past.
• Michael Tonkin (F): Was absolutely smoked in the big leagues early in the season, cleared waivers and worked late innings with great success in Rochester. Headed to Japan as a 28-year-old with a big arm but not much in the way of secondary pitches.
• Nik Turley (F): The minor-league numbers jump off the page (2.05 ERA, 12.1 K/9, 1.01 WHIP) almost as much as the MLB ones do (11.21 ERA, 2.15 WHIP).
• Jason Castro (B): Gave the Twins exactly what they signed up for — a league-average offensive catcher who was solid behind the plate. May work in a bit of a platoon with righty Mitch Garver this year, but that should only help cover up each other’s weaknesses.
• Mitch Garver (B-): Showed very little in the bigs last year but was terrific in Rochester. Crushed lefties and might find that as his first path to legit playing time in big leagues. Underrated defensively.
• Chris Gimenez (B): Had moments where his defense was iffy behind the plate, but all in all he was everything one could hope for in a backup catcher in every sense of the word. Twins clubhouse was better for having him come through it.
• Ehire Adrianza (B+): Can pick it at short and is pretty good defensively at a handful of other spots. Offense (.265/.324/.383) was a pleasant surprise. Basically, he’s everything the Twins ever wanted Danny Santana to be.
• Brian Dozier (A-): Will test free agency after the season and is set up for a monster walk year. This is his age-31 season, and he’s coming off back-to-back 5.0-plus WAR seasons with a Gold Glove to his credit now as well. The Twins should ask him nicely to let them know what his best offer is next winter, and attempt to match/top it.
• Eduardo Escobar (B+): Locked in a grudge match with Scooter Gennett for who had the most unlikely 20-homer season last year, but Escobar is a tremendous utility player who won’t hurt a team if he’s pushed into regular duty. That’s the case this year, as he’ll open as the everyday shortstop. Like best pal Dozier, he’s a free agent at season’s end.
• Joe Mauer (A-): He wasn’t vintage Mauer — that ship has sailed — but it was easily his best season since suffering the concussion that set him back basically three full seasons and cost him his catcher’s mitt. Now the question is, can he get an extension past 2018, and for how much?
• Jorge Polanco (C+): Terrible start and terrific finish, which led to an overall iffy season. Was more good than bad in the field, and overall looks like he could be Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right Now at short. Of course, that’s all before considering he’s suspended for basically the first half of this season.
• Miguel Sano (A-): It’s not his fault he got hurt, but the numbers were pretty solid for Sano through 114 games. The defense got better and still could improve — in theory, since nobody’s totally sure what the ceiling is — and he should have no problem slugging higher than last year’s .507 mark. He’s a good player, but a bit more of a wild card than one might like with this much on the line.
• Byron Buxton (B+): Non-hyperbole alert: He will win the MVP if he repeats his second half from last year for an entire season. He’s in that freaky class of defenders with Andrelton Simmons and Nolan Arenado, runs the bases with the speed of Billy Hamilton and when he connects can hit the ball a long way. There’s never been a more physically gifted Twin. Is this the year he takes it to that level? We’ll see.
• Niko Goodrum (D): It’s been a slow burn for the toolsy 26 year old everywhere he’s been, and that continued with a 1-for-17 cup of coffee with the Twins in September. He can hit lefties, play in the corners and isn’t a bad option for a utility guy on a bad team. What’s that? He made the Opening Day roster for the Tigers? Perfect.
• Zack Granite (C): He’s not terribly different from Ben Revere, and that’s not exactly a good thing. He can really run, is great in center and makes a ton of contact, but the lack of pop makes his ceiling as a really good fourth outfielder. That’s probably on a different team though, since all three starters can play center, and two of them hit left-handed.
• Robbie Grossman (B-): If there was a “Takes Good At-Bats” contest in a skills competition, Grossman would be a candidate to win it every single year. He was more or less league average at DH — AL average was a 99 wRC+ with emphasis on power, Grossman was 102 but had a .361 OBP — and is pretty rough in the outfield. He’s got value while he’s cheap, but it isn’t hard to see why the team signed Logan Morrison to DH, either.
• Max Kepler (C+): It’s way, way too early to call him a platoon bat. He just turned 25 in February, and took a huge step forward against southpaws in Double-A when he won the Southern League MVP. He could still do something like that in the big leagues. If he doesn’t, his ceiling is significantly stunted. There’s a lot more hitting talent in here than a .239 career hitter, though.
• Daniel Palka (B-): Palka had a fine offensive season at Triple-A (.274/.329/.431) once he finally got on the field, but it wasn’t enough to stay on the 40-man roster when housecleaning started after the season. Palka is a poor defensive outfielder with too much swing and miss in his profile. He’s now with the White Sox, which is a much better fit for him to get a chance at the big-league level.
• Eddie Rosario (A-): Rosario’s work with hitting coach James Rowson paid big dividends, as he walked a career-high 5.9 percent of the time and hit a solid .290/.328/.507. Few guys in the organization have better bat-to-ball skills; he just needs to focus on what he can and can’t hit with authority. This past season was a step in the right direction — and a big one.
• Kennys Vargas (C): Kung Fu Kennys is who he is at this point — a DH-only thumper with a lot of swing and miss and the potential to carry an average walk rate. A career line of .252/.311/.437 in 236 MLB games shouldn’t make anyone think about David Ortiz, and that he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester suggests that’s probably true across the league. The power potential will entice teams for a while yet.

  Check out the rest of Brandon Warne’s 2018 Minnesota Twins Guide.

   

• SEASON OVERVIEW
  
• 2017 IN REVIEW
• 2018 OPENING DAY ROSTER/LINEUP
• PROSPECT RANKINGS
• OLD FRIENDS
• SEASON PREDICTION

Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne covers the Minnesota Twins for Zone Coverage and is also the site's senior editor. He hosts the Midwest Swing podcast for the site as well. He and his wife Amanda live in the outer Twin Cities suburbs with their daughter, Harper.

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