Twins Top 100 Prospects

As I mentioned elsewhere the top 100 lists often miss players. But Jim Crickett over at Knuckle Balls points out that almost every star player shows up on the top 100 lists at some point. While that is true, there are a lot of players who appear one year and then disappear when they don't live up to the early hype. Its not unusual for those players to break out later. So instead of looking at the top 100 list for this year, I thought it would be useful to see who has been listed over the last ten years. Here is the list of players in the Twins system who were on Baseball America's Top 100 list during the last decade:

Miguel Sano (2012,2011,2010)
Aaron Hicks (2012,2011, 2010)
Kyle Gibson (2011,2010)
Joe Benson (2011)
Ben Revere (2009)
Wilson Ramos (2009)
Nick Blackburn (2008)
Carlos Gomez (2008)
Delios Guerra (2008)
Matt Garza (2007)
Glen Perkins (2007, 2006)
Kevin Slowey (2007)
Chris Parmelee (2007)
Francisco Liriano (2006)
Jason Kubel (2006,2005)
Matt Moses (2006,2004)
Anthony Swarzak (2006)
Joe Mauer (2005,2004,2003,2002)
JD Durbin (2005,2004)
Jesse Crain (2005,2004)
Justin Morneau (2004,2003,2002)
Michael Cuddyer(2003,2002,2001,2000,1999)
Michael Restovich(2003,2002,2000,1999)
Adam Johnson (2002,2001)
Luis Rivas(2001,2000,1999,1998,1997)

I didn't list players who only appeared on the list before 2001.

The players currently on the major league roster include Mauer, Morneau, Perkins, Swarzak, Blackburn and Revere.

The players still in the Twins minor league system include: Parmelee, Guerra, Benson, Gibson, Hicks and Sano.

Players not on that list include Denard Span, Scott Baker, Brain Duensing, Danny Valencia, Alexi Casilla and Trevor Plouffe.

There are an obvious group of clunkers: Johnson, Restovich, Durbin and Moses. Rivas and Gomez were disappointments, given the expectations. The final jury is still out on Ramos, Revere, Swarzak and Perkins. Blackburn, Slowey and Liriano have been up and down in the rotation. Crain, Garza, Cuddyer and Kubel have been solid major league contributors. Mauer and Morneau are obviously superstars.

So the 25 players on the lists have produced 4 wash outs, 2 disappointments, 4 uncertain, 3 semi-reliable starters, 4 major league regulars and 2 superstars. And there are 6 players still in the minor league system.

Of course during that time a lot of players who have come and gone who were never "top 100 prospects" but have contributed to the Twins success. In fact, the Twins success as an organization that "builds from within" may have less to do with those top 100 lists, than their ability to develop those other guys and find productive roles for them in the big leagues.