AaronGleeman.com

Coming into the season the Twins were universally regarded as having one of the truly elite farm systems in baseball, boasting plenty of star-level talent and impressive depth. I called it the best crop of Twins prospects in my decade-plus writing about the team and nothing has changed since then, as consensus top-25 prospects Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are off to amazing starts and most of system's other significant prospects have played well.

I've written plenty about the Twins' prospects as part of my annual rankings, so there's no sense in revisiting everything a month into the season, but I thought it would be interesting to examine the recent history of Twins prospects. This year the Twins had six prospects in Baseball America's top 100 list, including Sano and Buxton in the top 10 and Oswaldo Arcia in the top 50, but what exactly has it meant to be a Twins prospect in the Baseball America top 100?

I wanted to focus on how prospects were perceived nationally at the time, rather than local hype or how I personally viewed them or how they actually turned out--no Johan Santana, in other words--so I relied on BA's list. On a season-to-season basis prospect crops vary wildly, so not all rankings are created equal, but below you'll find my best estimate of the highest-rated and/or most-hyped Twins prospects since 2000 (minus current prospects) and where they stand now.

1. Joe Mauer: #7 in 2002, #4 in 2003, #1 in 2004, #1 in 2005

Joe Mauer was basically as good as prospects get. He was a multi-sport superstar in high school, got drafted No. 1 overall, had immediate success hitting .400 at rookie-ball, thrived at every stop in the minors despite being young for the level of competition, was named Baseball America minor league player of the year, and reached the majors two weeks before his 21st birthday. Mauer was arguably the best MLB prospect of the 2000s and has obviously lived up to the hype.

2. Francisco Liriano: #83 in 2003, #6 in 2006

When the Giants traded Francisco Liriano to the Twins he was a former top 100 prospect who'd fallen off the list due to arm problems in the low minors, but two years later he re-emerged as the best pitching prospect in baseball. He showed why with one of the most dominant rookie seasons ever, but that was cut short by elbow surgery. Liriano has found some post-surgery success, but he was never the same and is a prime example of the volatile nature of pitching prospects.

3. Justin Morneau: #21 in 2002, #14 in 2003, #16 in 2004

Coming up in the same farm system at the same time as Mauer made Justin Morneau somewhat overshadowed, but he was definitely an elite prospect. Not only did Morneau rank among Baseball America's top 25 prospects in three straight seasons, he put up big numbers at every level in the minors and debuted in the majors a month after his 22nd birthday. Injuries have unfortunately kept Morneau from realizing his full potential, but he obviously lived up to the hype.

4. Michael Cuddyer: #36 in 1999, #18 in 2000, #55 in 2001, #27 in 2002, #17 in 2003

Michael Cuddyer was the ninth overall pick out of high school and cracked Baseball America's top 50 a remarkable five times, peaking at No. 17 the same year Mauer was No. 4 and Morneau was No. 14. He doesn't have an MVP, but Cuddyer has played 13 seasons as an above-average corner outfielder and occasional infielder, hitting .272/.342/.457. Everyone should be thrilled if similarly hyped prospects turned out as well as Cuddyer.

5. Jason Kubel: #17 in 2005, #58 in 2006

Oh, what could have been. Jason Kubel hit .352/.414/.590 with 16 steals between Double-A and Triple-A at age 22, hit .300 in a 23-game September debut, and ranked 17th on BA's list. Then a gruesome collision destroyed his knee, knocked him out for an entire year, and turned Kubel from an athletic, high-average hitter with good speed to a plodding slugger. And yet Kubel has still managed a decade-long career as an above-average corner outfielder not far off from Cuddyer.

6. Matt Garza: #21 in 2007

Matt Garza made just one Baseball America top 100, but that's because he went from first-round pick to the big leagues in one year. After some initial struggles Garza made 15 starts with a 3.69 ERA as a 23-year-old, at which point the Twins traded him for Delmon Young. Young is one of the biggest prospect busts of the 2000s whereas Garza had a five-season run as a solid No. 2 starter, but injuries have derailed him at age 29.

7. Michael Restovich: #50 in 1999, #26 in 2000, #63 in 2002, #37 in 2003

Drafted in the second round out of a Minnesota high school, Michael Restovich was a 6-foot-6 slugger who put up big power numbers in the minors and ranked among Baseball America's top 100 prospects four times. He debuted with the Twins at age 23 after hitting .286/.353/.542 at Triple-A, but never got an extended chance despite generally faring pretty well. He was lost on waivers in 2005, bounced around a ton, and ended up with just 297 career plate appearances.

8. Carlos Gomez: #60 in 2007, #52 in 2008

Carlos Gomez twice cracked Baseball America's top 100 in the Mets' system and was arguably the centerpiece of the Twins' haul for Santana. He debuted at age 21 and was the Twins' starting center fielder at 22, but rushing Gomez through the minors left him as mostly a mess offensively. Traded to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy after the 2009 season and now 27, he's finally becoming an impact hitter to go along with what was always excellent defense.

9. Adam Johnson: #41 in 2002, #85 in 2002

Adam Johnson was the No. 2 pick in 2000 draft out of Cal-State Fullerton, but Baseball America projected him as a mid-first rounder and the Twins were criticized for making a "signability pick." Johnson predictably fared well in the low minors against less experienced competition and cracked the top 50 in 2002, but things fell apart once he advanced past Single-A. He posted a 10.25 ERA in 26 innings as a major leaguer, washing out at age 23.

10. Luis Rivas: #70 in 1997, #55 in 1998, #63 in 1999, #86 in 2000, #93 in 2001

Luis Rivas ranked as a top 100 prospect in five straight seasons, but in the early days of this blog I wrote often about how his actual performance never matched the hype. He never hit well in the minors, yet the Twins made him their starting second baseman at age 21 and stuck with him as a regular for five seasons despite a .262/.307/.383 mark and iffy defense. He played 565 games for the Twins through age 25, but totaled just 83 more games after they finally let him go.

11. Wilson Ramos: #71 in 2009, #58 in 2010, #96 in 2011

While never quite an elite prospect Wilson Ramos typically ranked among the top five catchers and was a good enough prospect for long enough to create questions about how the Twins could make room for him and Mauer in their long-term plans. Ramos was a top 100 prospect three times and debuted with the Twins at age 22, but was traded to the Nationals for Matt Capps later that season. He's still just 25, but looks headed for a lengthy career as an above-average catcher.

12. Glen Perkins: #91 in 2006, #66 in 2007

Glen Perkins starred for the Gophers, made the top 100 twice, and debuted for the Twins two years after they made him a first-round pick. He was billed as a mid-rotation starter and looked the part as a 25-year-old rookie, but then struggled for two seasons as injuries derailed him. Perkins was demoted to the minors at age 27 and returned as a reliever, throwing harder than ever and quickly moving into the closer role.

13. J.D Durbin: #66 in 2004, #70 in 2005

J.D. Durbin threw hard and talked a good game, nicknaming himself "The Real Deal." He debuted in 2004 with all kinds of promise at age 22, but didn't make it back to the majors until 2007 and all that prospect shine had worn off by then. His strikeout rates and overall numbers in the minors never quite matched his hype and once he got to Triple-A poor control further did him in. Last year Durbin spent his 13th season in the minors, compared to 73 total innings in the majors.

14. Deolis Guerra: #35 in 2008

Deolis Guerra is technically still a prospect in that he's only 24 years old and hasn't reached the majors, but between his on-field struggles and recent health problems he's looking like a long shot to have a big-league career. Once upon a time many people felt that Guerra, not Gomez, was the best prospect in the Santana package, but like Gomez he wasn't helped by being rushed through the minors in the Mets' system and has had little success above Single-A.

15. Matthew LeCroy: #44 in 2000

Matthew LeCroy was a first-round pick out of college and crushed minor-league pitching while moving quickly through the Twins' system, debuting as their Opening Day catcher in his third pro season. He struggled offensively and proved to be a liability behind the plate, but after a demotion back to the minors he returned as a good platoon bat versus left-handed pitching at designated hitter, first base, and occasionally catcher.

16. Kevin Slowey: #71 in 2007

Kevin Slowey was an oft-debated prospect because his ridiculously great numbers in the minors didn't match his underwhelming raw stuff. Baseball America tends to skew heavily toward stuff over stats, so the fact that Slowey still made the top 100 shows just how silly his numbers were. He debuted at age 23 after posting a 2.28 ERA and 159-to-31 strikeout-to-walk ratio between Double-A and Triple-A, and split the difference by becoming a decent mid-rotation starter.

17. Ben Revere: #59 in 2009

Ben Revere was viewed as a reach in the first round of the 2007 draft, but started to get some prospect hype after he hit .379 at low Single-A in 2008. That was his only year appearing in the top 100, which isn't surprising considering prospect rankings are all about upside and Revere's complete lack of power and arm strength limited that even in optimistic scenarios. He's more or less become the flawed but useful player his minor-league track record suggested.

18. Jesse Crain: #89 in 2004, #63 in 2005

Jesse Crain was a college reliever and second-round pick who moved quickly through the Twins' system, debuting at age 23 after 162 innings in the minors. While the shape of his performance has changed over the years, Crain was a good setup man immediately and has remained so for a decade with a 3.18 ERA that includes just two seasons above 3.60. Relievers are rarely considered elite prospects, but Crain's career has gone almost exactly as hoped.

19. Matt Moses: #81 in 2004, #75 in 2006

Billed as a "pure hitter" coming out of high school as a first-round pick, Matt Moses got by on that reputation for quite a while before everyone finally realized that he couldn't actually hit. He cracked Baseball America's top 100 twice, peaking at No. 75 on a 2006 list that had Jay Bruce, Dustin Pedroia, and Kendry Morales in the next three spots, but never advanced beyond Double-A and hit just .249/.304/.374 in the minors overall before washing out at age 24.

20. Nick Blackburn: #56 in 2008

I disagreed so much with Baseball America ranking Nick Blackburn as the Twins' top prospect in 2008 that I made a bet with the magazine's editor, John Manuel, that Blackburn wouldn't get 70 career wins. I'm feeling pretty safe about the bet now with Blackburn stuck on 43 wins and his career at a crossroads, although in retrospect he did turn out better than I expected even if 819 innings of a 4.85 ERA is nothing special.

This week's blog content is sponsored by Curt's Salsa, a locally owned salsa company that believes in fresh ingredients and rooting for the little guy. Please support them for supporting AG.com.

• LaVelle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Justin Morneau approached the Twins during spring training about a contract extension and they weren't interested, which is the right stance to take. Morneau is an impending free agent, but even setting aside his extensive injury history signing a good but not great 31-year-old first baseman to a multi-year contract isn't a great idea unless he were to take significantly less than his current $14 million salary.

Morneau hasn't topped an .800 OPS while playing more than 100 games since 2009 and while his .267/.333/.440 production in 134 games last season was encouraging after back-to-back years ruined by a concussion it was mediocre for a first baseman. Among the 29 regular first basemen he ranked 14th in batting average, 15th in on-base percentage, and 16th in slugging percentage. Toss in the health question marks and that's an awfully shaky investment.

There's also a chance of Morneau upping his production to pre-concussion levels, but even then they'd have an appealing option of tendering him a one-year "qualifying offer" that was worth $13.4 million this winter. If he accepts they get Morneau back for his age-32 season at a similar salary without a long-term commitment. If he declines and signs elsewhere they get a first-round draft pick. If he isn't traded by then, of course, which is another reason to avoid an extension.

• Scott Diamond's delayed comeback from December elbow surgery created an opening in the rotation before the season had even started and Samuel Deduno's groin injury ruled him out, so the Twins turned to Cole De Vries ... and he had to be placed on the disabled list with a strained forearm before his first turn came up. Already scrambling for starters, the Twins called up Triple-A left-hander Pedro Hernandez, who had the benefit of being on the 40-man roster.

Hernandez was acquired from the White Sox along with Eduardo Escobar for Francisco Liriano in July and ranked 35th on my annual list of Twins prospects. He's a soft-tossing control artist with extreme platoon splits that could make it tough for him to stick as a starter, but the 23-year-old fared well enough in his Twins debut. Assuming that Diamond avoids further setbacks Hernandez may not be needed again for a while.

• One side effect of Ron Gardenhire holding Glen Perkins back for "save situations" that may not actually arrive is that lesser relievers are forced into pressure-packed spots. For instance, in the eighth inning Friday left-handed Orioles slugger Chris Davis came up with the bases loaded and one out in a tie game. Situations don't get any more important and if there was no such thing as the "save" statistic Perkins--being the best reliever and a lefty--would be the obvious choice.

Instead, with the game in the balance, Gardenhire called on 25-year-old rookie Tyler Robertson, who served up a grand slam and was promptly demoted to Triple-A the next day. He barely made the team out of spring training, has yet to show he can consistently get big leaguers out, and was apparently one bad pitch from going back to the minors, yet the manager chose Robertson to face Davis while Perkins watched. And people say guys like me are obsessed with statistics.

Since taking over for Matt Capps as the Twins' closer Perkins has converted 18 of 20 saves with a 2.01 ERA and 45-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 45 innings. That's incredibly good pitching, but the role change has also made Perkins less of a weapon thanks to such strict usage. And because the Twins' overall bullpen depth is weak and their only other standout reliever, Jared Burton, needs regular days off holding Perkins back for save situations will lead to some ugly matchups.

• J.J. Cooper of Baseball America put together a list of the youngest prospects at each level of the minors, which includes Miguel Sano as the youngest player in the Florida State League and Oswaldo Arcia as the sixth-youngest player in the International League. Age relative to the level of competition is an extremely important factor in evaluating prospects, so keep that in mind when looking at their raw numbers this season.

• Here's where the Twins' top 20 prospects are beginning the season (Rochester is Triple-A, New Britain is Double-A, Fort Myers is high Single-A, and Cedar Rapids is low Single-A):

 1. Miguel Sano      Fort Myers       11. Max Kepler       Cedar Rapids
 2. Byron Buxton     Cedar Rapids     12. Luke Bard        Cedar Rapids
 3. Oswaldo Arcia    Rochester        13. Travis Harrison  Cedar Rapids
 4. Aaron Hicks      Minnesota        14. Mason Melotakis  Cedar Rapids
 5. Alex Meyer       New Britain      15. Jorge Polanco    Cedar Rapids
 6. Kyle Gibson      Rochester        16. J.T. Chargois    Cedar Rapids
 7. Eddie Rosario    Fort Myers       17. Niko Goodrum     Cedar Rapids
 8. Trevor May       New Britain      18. Hudson Boyd      Cedar Rapids
 9. J.O. Berrios     Cedar Rapids     19. Levi Michael     Fort Myers
10. Joe Benson       Rochester        20. Chris Herrmann   Rochester

No big surprises, although Byron Buxton moving to low Single-A and full-season ball at age 19 instead of spending more time in rookie-ball is noteworthy, as is Trevor May repeating Double-A at age 23 after spending all of last season there in the Phillies' system. Max Kepler will eventually join Buxton in the Cedar Rapids outfield, but for now he's rehabbing an injury in extended spring training. And some of the pitchers, including J.O. Berrios, will have their 2013 debuts delayed.

• Wilkin Ramirez making the Opening Day roster as the designated "bench bat" based on a good spring training was an odd choice because he's 27 years old with a decade of awful plate discipline and underwhelming overall production in the minors. In adding Ramirez the Twins needed to clear space on the 40-man roster and they did that by designating Alex Burnett for assignment, which exposed the 24-year-old reliever to the waiver wire and got him claimed by the Blue Jays.

I'm hardly a big Burnett fan and praised the Twins for finally deciding he was better off at Triple-A, but losing him for nothing in order to add Ramirez is different. They thought Burnett was worthy of a bullpen job in 2010 at age 22 and worth keeping in the bullpen in 2011 and 2012, but in 2013 he's not worth a spot on a 40-man roster that includes Drew Butera, Caleb Thielbar, and Tim Wood? All so they could add a 27-year-old corner outfielder who's hit .255/.310/.430 at Triple-A.

• Tuesday morning the Twins sent out a press release announcing an "early entry program" at Target Field offering fans the chance to pay an extra $15 for the ability to get in 45 minutes early to watch batting practice. About five hours later they issued another press release retracting that offer because it was "not fully vetted across the Twins organization" and "we apologize for a lack of internal communication which led to the premature release of this misinformation." So ... yeah.

• Through eight games Twins pitchers have the fewest strikeouts in baseball with 38, which is 4.9 per nine innings. They also ranked dead last among all teams in strikeouts in 2011 and 2012 while averaging 6.0 and 5.9 per nine innings.

• Josh Willingham has already been plunked twice and is well on his way to extending his streak of ranking among the league's top 10 in hit by pitches every season since 2007. Willingham has a career on-base percentage of .362, but if you removed the hit by pitches it would drop to .346.

• Kevin Correia isn't missing any bats, but he induced 12 and 15 ground-ball outs in his first two starts after getting 12 or more ground-ball outs just three times in his final 13 starts last season.

• Joe Mauer moved past Gary Gaetti for sixth place on the Twins' all-time hit list with 1,277. In getting those first 1,276 hits Gaetti made 1,077 more outs than Mauer. Seriously.

• Aaron Hicks joined Rich Becker in 1993 and Butera in 2010 as the only Twins position players to strike out three times in their MLB debut.

• Butera broke his left hand at Triple-A, so now he'll make $700,000 on Rochester's disabled list.

• "Roy Smalley's Fist List" is a thing, apparently.

• Ben Revere is learning some very important things in Philadelphia.

• On this week's "Gleeman and the Geek" episode we talked lots about Hicks' slow start, Perkins' excellence, and Gardenhire's decision-making.

This week's blog content is sponsored by Territory Train, which takes the heavy lifting out of planning and executing Twins road trips. Please support them for supporting AG.com.

Also in this series: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40.

My annual series ranking and profiling the Twins' top prospects concluded last week, so here's the complete list of 40 players along with links to each individual write-up and an overview of the farm system as a whole:

 1. Miguel Sano, 3B                21. Michael Tonkin, RP
 2. Byron Buxton, CF               22. Amaurys Minier, SS
 3. Oswaldo Arcia, RF              23. Zack Jones, RP
 4. Aaron Hicks, CF                24. Daniel Santana, SS
 5. Alex Meyer, SP                 25. Nate Roberts, LF
 6. Kyle Gibson, SP                26. Adam Walker, RF
 7. Eddie Rosario, 2B              27. Corey Williams, RP
 8. Trevor May, SP                 28. Tyler Duffey, RP
 9. J.O. Berrios, SP               29. B.J. Hermsen, SP
10. Joe Benson, CF                 30. Kennys Vargas, 1B
11. Max Kepler, CF                 31. Madison Boer, SP
12. Luke Bard, RP                  32. Tyler Robertson, RP
13. Travis Harrison, 3B            33. Adrian Salcedo, SP
14. Mason Melotakis, RP            34. Jason Wheeler, SP
15. Jorge Polanco, SS              35. Pedro Hernandez, SP
16. J.T. Chargois, RP              36. Alex Wimmers, SP
17. Niko Goodrum, SS               37. Josmil Pinto, C
18. Hudson Boyd, SP                38. Deolis Guerra, RP
19. Levi Michael, 2B               39. Eduardo Escobar, SS
20. Chris Herrmann, C              40. Ryan Pressly, RP

In one year the Twins' farm system improved from mediocre to elite, adding high-end prospects via the draft (Byron Buxton, J.O. Berrios) and trades (Alex Meyer, Trevor May) while top-10 holdovers (Miguel Sano, Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Eddie Rosario) further improved their stock. To refill the talent pool it took losing 99 games and two prominent free agents in 2011 and trading away two good center fielders this offseason, but the water is plenty deep now.

In fact, this is the best collection of prospects the Twins have had in the decade I've been writing about them. And they've had plenty of top-drawer prospects during that time, from Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel, and Michael Cuddyer among hitters to Francisco Liriano and Matt Garza among pitchers. However, the depth of this current group is unmatched with a pair of consensus top-25 prospects and as many as seven names regularly appearing in top-100 lists.

No other team boasts a clearly superior prospect duo than Sano and Buxton, in whom the Twins invested a combined $9.15 million and their first top-10 draft pick since selecting Mauer first overall in 2001. They're both still teenagers, which means they're several years from potentially even entering the Twins' plans and far from sure things to develop into superstars, but in terms of raw upside there aren't a dozen better prospects in baseball.

Sano and Buxton would each be the No. 1 prospect for most of the other 29 teams, both Arcia and Hicks would hold the top spot in quite a few organizations, and Meyer, Rosario, and Kyle Gibson would probably garner top billing in a few farm systems. There's also improved depth behind those front-line guys thanks to the Twins having six of the top-100 picks in June's draft and high-upside teenagers Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco taking big steps forward in the low minors.

All of which is the good news. The bad news is that while the overall talent level has skyrocketed in the past 12 months only a handful of the Twins' top 20 prospects are close to MLB-ready. Hicks and Gibson figure to play substantial roles this season and Arcia, May, and Joe Benson could as well, but none of Sano, Buxton, Meyer, Rosario, Berrios, Kepler, Polanco, Luke Bard, Travis Harrison, Mason Melotakis, and J.T. Chargois have played above Single-A yet.

Help is definitely on the way and some of it will begin arriving this season and next season, but the full scope of the farm system's dramatic improvement probably won't begin showing itself in Minnesota until 2015 or 2016. And there are plenty of stumbling blocks for those many low-minors prospects to avoid between now and then, although it's also worth noting that in three months the Twins will be adding the No. 4 overall pick in the draft to their prospect stockpile.

Liam Hendriks, Brian Dozier, Chris Parmelee, and Scott Diamond all graduated from last year's top-40 list by exhausting their prospect status with regular action in the majors, but only Diamond can be considered an established major leaguer at this point. Hendriks just turned 24 and would rank in the 8-12 range if he retained prospect status, so he (and to lesser extents Parmelee and Dozier) shouldn't be forgotten as part of the Twins' collection of young talent.

Interested in sponsoring a week of AG.com and advertising your product, service, local business, or website directly to thousands of readers each day? Click here for details.

Also in this series: 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40.

5. Alex Meyer | Starter | DOB: 1/90 | Throws: Right | Trade: Nationals

YEAR     LV      G     GS      ERA        IP       H     HR      SO     BB
2012     A-     18     18     3.10      90.0      68      4     107     34
         A+      7      7     2.31      39.0      29      2      32     11

Alex Meyer split his pro debut between two levels of Single-A, posting a 2.86 ERA and .211 opponents' batting average with a 139-to-45 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 129 innings. And then 17 months after giving Meyer a $2 million signing bonus as the 23rd pick in the 2011 draft--seven spots ahead of where the Twins took infielder Levi Michael--the Nationals sent the 6-foot-9 right-hander to Minnesota in exchange for Denard Span.

Meyer regularly works in the mid-90s, topping out close to triple-digits, and Baseball America's season review of the South Atlantic League praised his "wipeout slider in the mid-80s" and noted that his changeup "could become an average third pitch." Keith Law of ESPN.com described Meyer as a "potential frontline starter," writing that "his slider is filthy, a bona fide out pitch" and "his changeup has improved to the point where it's probably a future-average pitch."

His control was very shaky at the University of Kentucky, but Meyer's walk rate was a respectable 3.1 per nine innings in his pro debut and he also induced 52 percent ground balls. Expectations should be held in check considering Meyer hasn't even thrown a pitch above Single-A yet, but he immediately becomes the Twins' top pitching prospect and is arguably the organization's best, highest-upside pitching prospect since Matt Garza in 2006.

4. Aaron Hicks | Center Field | DOB: 10/89 | Bats: Switch | Draft: 2008-1

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2010     A-     518     .279     .401     .428      8     41     88    112
2011     A+     528     .242     .354     .368      5     41     78    110
2012     AA     563     .286     .384     .460     13     45     79    116

Last year at this time Aaron Hicks' stock had gradually slipped due to questions about his low batting averages, modest power, perceived passiveness at the plate, and lopsided splits as a switch-hitter. He answered all those questions and then some at Double-A, batting .286 with 13 homers, 45 total extra-base hits, 32 steals, and 79 walks in 129 games while posting an .828 OPS from the left side and an .881 OPS from the right side.

His season was so encouraging that the Twins surprisingly traded both Denard Span and his assumed center field replacement Ben Revere, suggesting they believe Hicks will be ready for the majors in 2013. Whether that's Opening Day or midseason or September remains to be seen, but the former first-round pick has the range and arm strength to be a defensive asset right now, at age 23, and made major strides offensively in New Britain.

His defense has always gotten very positive reviews, as Hicks combines plus range with an arm that had some teams liking him more as a pitcher coming out of high school. He strikes out quite a bit and may never hit for great batting averages, but Hicks has drawn a ton of walks at every level and has the speed to take advantage of his on-base skills. If last year's power development sticks he has a chance to be a star and if not he should be a solid regular for a long time.

3. Oswaldo Arcia | Right Field | DOB: 5/91 | Bats: Left | Sign: Venezuela

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2010     RK+    283     .375     .424     .672     14     42     19     67
2011     A-      81     .352     .420     .704      5     14      9     16
         A+     227     .263     .300     .460      8     24      9     53
2012     A+     235     .309     .376     .517      7     26     23     45
         AA     299     .328     .398     .557     10     35     28     62

Generally speaking few organizations promote prospects slower than the Twins, but every once in a while they veer from that approach with a special player and that's how Oswaldo Arcia reached Double-A a month after his 21st birthday last season. Arcia has produced at every level since the Twins signed him out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old in 2007, hitting .314/.371/.535 in 374 career games despite constantly facing older, more experienced competition.

For much of that time he put up big numbers despite ugly strikeout-to-walk ratios, but that's not uncommon amid aggressive promotions and last season Arcia walked more and struck out less to cement his status as an elite hitting prospect. He batted .328/.398/.557 in 69 games at Double-A, becoming the first prospect to top a .950 OPS in the Eastern League at 21 or younger since David Wright in 2004. Wright is now 30 years old and a six-time All-Star.

Arcia still has some work to do in terms of making consistent contact and handling left-handed pitching, but everything else about his performance and age relative to the levels of competition suggest he'll develop into a middle-of-the-order bat. And while he had to shift to right field after starting out as a center fielder he should add some value defensively too, with solid range and a strong arm.

2. Byron Buxton | Center Field | DOB: 12/93 | Bats: Right | Draft: 2012-1

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2012     RK-    102     .216     .324     .466      4     11     11     26
         RK+     87     .286     .368     .429      1      8      8     15

Given their choice of college starting pitchers with the No. 2 pick in June's draft the Twins went for long-term upside over short-term need, taking Georgia high school center fielder Byron Buxton. He hit over .500 as a senior and struck out 18 batters in a seven-inning complete game to win the state championship as a pitcher, with Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB.com all ranking Buxton as the best player in what was considered a weak overall draft class.

Buxton signed quickly for a $6 million bonus that's the highest in franchise history and played in two levels of rookie-ball for his debut, totaling 19 extra-base hits, 19 walks, and 11 steals in 48 games at age 18. He also struck out 41 times and hit .248, but the power, patience, and speed were all very encouraging considering the pre-draft questions about the low level of competition he faced in high school and the fact that he was picked mostly for his physical tools.

He'd be the clear No. 1 prospect for many and perhaps even most teams, but my rankings tend to be somewhat conservative with players who've yet to face full-season competition and ... well, the guy in the Twins' top spot is pretty good. Buxton has immense upside as a potential five-tool center fielder, the early returns are positive, and the Twins were right to pass on non-elite college arms for him, but he's still a very long way from the big leagues and very far from a sure thing.

1. Miguel Sano | Third Base | DOB: 5/93 | Bats: Right | Sign: Dominican

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2010     DSL     80     .344     .463     .547      3      6     14     17
         RK-    161     .291     .338     .466      4     18     10     43
2011     RK+    293     .292     .352     .637     20     45     23     77
2012     A-     553     .258     .373     .521     28     60     80    144

After crushing rookie-ball pitching to establish himself as an elite prospect Miguel Sano moved up to full-season competition at low Single-A and had the second-highest OPS in the Midwest League. He got off to a huge start, slumped for a couple months, and then finished strong while the Twins opted against a second-half promotion to high Single-A. His high strikeout total and low batting average were disappointing, but Sano had 80 walks and a league-leading 28 homers at age 19.

To put that production at Sano's age in context, consider that since 2000 only seven hitters have topped his .893 OPS as teenagers in the Midwest League, including Mike Trout, Prince Fielder, and current stud prospects Wil Myers and Oscar Taveras. That doesn't guarantee stardom, but it shows just how rare it is for a 19-year-old to be among the best hitters in a full-season league and why there's no reason to fret about a .258 batting average or lack of consistent contact yet.

There is reason to wonder about Sano's long-term home defensively, as reviews of his range and glove at third base are mixed at best and given his size a move to right field or first base looms as a strong possibility. For now the Twins will give him more time at third base in the hopes that his arm strength and athleticism can carry him, but ultimately Sano's ceiling is so offense-driven that sliding down the defensive spectrum won't change much. He's the real deal.

This week's blog content is sponsored by Rotoworld's annual "Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide," which is available in both magazine and online versions. Please support them for supporting AG.com.

Also in this series: 1-5, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30, 31-35, 36-40.

10. Joe Benson | Center Field | DOB: 3/88 | Bats: Right | Draft: 2006-2

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2010     A+      96     .294     .375     .588      4     16      8     21
         AA     423     .251     .336     .527     23     50     39    115
2011     AA     472     .285     .388     .495     16     48     56    109
         MLB     74     .239     .270     .352      0      7      3     21
2012     AA     157     .184     .268     .305      3     10     13     43
         AAA    108     .179     .269     .316      2      7     11     27

Joe Benson jumped from Double-A to the majors in September of 2011, appearing in 21 games for the Twins and mostly struggling at age 23. He headed to Triple-A for the first time to begin last season, seemingly on the verge of reaching the majors to stay after cracking Baseball America's top-100 prospects list in back-to-back seasons, but instead Benson had an absolutely miserable year filled with injuries, demotions, and horrible production.

He hit .179 through 28 games in Rochester, got demoted back to New Britain for a third season at Double-A, and then two weeks later Benson broke his wrist. He returned two months later, only to undergo season-ending knee surgery in August. So the final tally on Benson's nightmare season was one demotion, two major injuries that required surgery, and a .182 batting average in 65 games. It would be hard for a prospect's stock to drop further in the span of six months.

And yet he's still just 24 and could be one good spring training away from getting an opportunity with the Twins following the Denard Span and Ben Revere trades. It remains to be seen how much of a toll last year took on Benson, but before the injuries he had 25-homer power, enough range to play center field, and enough arm to be an ideal right fielder. He's one year removed from hitting .285/.388/.495 in 111 games at Double-A, so don't write off Benson yet.

9. J.O. Berrios | Starter | DOB: 5/94 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2012-1

YEAR     LV      G     GS      ERA        IP       H     HR      SO     BB
2012     RK-     8      1     1.08      16.2       7      0      27      3
         RK+     3      3     1.29      14.0       8      1      22      1

Byron Buxton being the focus meant No. 32 pick J.O. Berrios got considerably less attention than previous Twins first-rounders in the 20-30 range, but in a draft where Carlos Correa was the first Puerto Rican player to be the top pick Berrios also became the highest drafted Puerto Rican pitcher of all time. Baseball America ranked Berrios as the 49th-best player, including 25th among pitchers, while ESPN.com ranked him 73rd overall and 27th among pitchers.

That suggests the Twins may have reached a bit, although that's much more common in MLB than other sports and the scouting reports are encouraging. Baseball America noted that he added significant muscle to his 6-foot-1 frame and "his fastball now sits in the 93-95 mph range." ESPN.com had a similar review of his raw stuff, noting that "he'll touch 96 and works at 92-94 with a hard downward-breaking curveball at 80-82 and a straight changeup in the same range."

And then Berrios quieted any talk of a reach with a spectacular debut in rookie-ball, posting a 1.17 ERA in 31 innings with a 49-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .140 opponents' average. Rookie-ball performances should always be taken with huge grains of salt, but Berrios was every bit as young as his competition at age 18 and ... well, it's just hard to pitch any better than that. He's a very long way from entering the Twins' plans, but so far so good.

8. Trevor May | Starter | DOB: 9/89 | Throws: Right | Trade: Phillies

YEAR     LV      G     GS      ERA        IP       H     HR      SO     BB
2010     A-     11     11     2.91      65.0      51      3      92     20
         A+     16     14     5.01      70.0      53      7      90     61
2011     A+     27     27     3.63     151.1     121      8     208     67
2012     AA     28     28     4.87     149.2     139     22     151     78

Trevor May was the Phillies' fourth-round pick in 2008 and emerged as a top prospect in 2011 by leading all of the minors with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings, whiffing 208 in 151 frames at high Single-A. He ranked 69th on Baseball America's overall top prospect list coming into last season, drawing praise for a mid-90s fastball with "heavy life and great angle," but May's stock dropped as he moved up Double-A at age 22 and struggled with his control.

He walked 78 batters and plunked 11 more in 150 innings on the way to a 4.87 ERA and May's strikeout rate declined by 27 percent. Of course, 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings for a 22-year-old at Double-A is still plenty good and no Twins pitching prospect with 100 or more innings managed a strikeout rate of even 7.0. And then in December the Phillies sent May to the Twins along with Vance Worley in exchange for Ben Revere.

May must improve his control considerably to avoid eventually winding up in the bullpen and stumbling at Double-A means he's no longer a consensus top-100 prospect, but he's not that far off and is exactly the type of big, hard-throwing, bat-missing pitcher the Twins misguidedly shied away from for so long. He doesn't have quite as much upside as Alex Meyer, who was acquired a week earlier from the Nationals for Denard Span, but May could reach the majors sooner.

7. Eddie Rosario | Second Base | DOB: 9/91 | Bats: Left | Draft: 2010-4

YEAR     LV      PA      AVG      OBP      SLG     HR    XBH     BB     SO
2010     RK-    213     .294     .343     .438      5     16     16     28
2011     RK+    298     .337     .397     .670     21     39     27     60
2012     A-     429     .296     .345     .490     12     48     31     69

Eddie Rosario had a monster 2011 season, hitting .337/.397/.670 with 21 homers in 67 games alongside Miguel Sano in rookie-level Elizabethton's lineup. His move to full-season competition last year began with a switch from center field to second base, was derailed for six weeks by a line drive to the face in mid-June that led to surgery to insert a metal plate above his lip, and finished on a positive note.

Overall he batted .296/.345/.490 with 48 total extra-base hits in 95 games at low Single-A as a 20-year-old, which would have gotten more attention if not for his ridiculous 2011 production setting an awfully high bar and Sano putting up even bigger numbers for Beloit. Rosario has done nothing but hit since the Twins took him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of Puerto Rico, but his permanent home defensively is in question.

Reviews of his defense at second base were mixed at best and Rosario ended up playing 19 games back in center field, suggesting the Twins are still unsure where he fits. Rosario has Aaron Hicks ahead of him and Byron Buxton behind him on the path to play center field in Minnesota, so second base would certainly make things much easier and right now at least he looks capable of having enough offensive upside to shift to a corner outfield spot if needed.

6. Kyle Gibson | Starter | DOB: 10/87 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2009-1

YEAR     LV      G     GS      ERA        IP       H     HR      SO     BB
2010     A+      7      7     1.87      43.1      33      2      40     12
         AA     16     16     3.68      93.0      91      5      77     22
         AAA     3      3     1.72      15.2      12      0       9      5
2011     AAA    18     18     4.81      95.1     109     11      91     27
2012     RK-     9      7     2.45      14.2       9      1      16      4
         A+      2      2     2.57       7.0       6      1       7      1
         AAA     2      2     9.45       6.2      11      1      10      1

Kyle Gibson was on the verge of the majors in early 2011 when the former first-round pick started getting knocked around at Triple-A and was shut down with elbow problems, eventually undergoing Tommy John surgery in September. He returned ahead of the standard 12-month recovery timetable, making his first post-surgery appearance in July, and worked his way up from rookie-ball to Triple-A.

Overall he threw 28 innings with a 4.13 ERA and 33-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio and then kept racking up strikeouts in the Arizona Fall League with a 28/6 K/BB ratio in 23 innings. Gibson wasn't really a strikeout pitcher before the injury, averaging 7.9 per nine innings in his first two seasons, but in addition to all the missed bats during his comeback the 6-foot-6 right-hander also flashed increased velocity.

Throwing harder after Tommy John surgery isn't totally unheard of, but it's too early to say for sure if going under the knife has actually improved Gibson's raw stuff. Before blowing out his elbow Gibson projected as a No. 2 or No. 3 starter who balanced mediocre strikeout rates with good control and lots of ground balls, so an extra mile or two per hour on his fastball could have a huge impact considering he's already 25 years old.

This week's blog content is sponsored by Rotoworld's annual "Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide," which is available in both magazine and online versions. Please support them for supporting AG.com.