Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Travis Talks prospect list: Prospects 15-11

Today I will be continuing my Twins prospect list with players numbers 15-11. Tommorrow I will be bringing players 10-6 and then on Friday I will have the top 5 prospects in the organization. Hope you all enjoy and come back often.



15. Chris Parmalee 1b/Of 21 (2/24/1988)

2oo8 teams: Beloit Snappers


  • Chris Parmalee was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round of the 2006 draft out of high school in Chino Hills, California. After signing with the Twins Parmalee split the season between the GCL and Beloit. At GCL Parmalee hit .279 with 8hr and 32 rbi's along with 7 doubles in 45 games. This led to a promotion to Class A Beloit where in 22 games he hit .227 with 2 rbi's. Chris Parmalee spent the entire 2007 season in Beloit with the Snappers. In 128 games Parmalee hit .239 with 15hr and 70 rbi's along with 23 doubles. The average was not good, but the 43 extra base hits were impressive. With that I was surprised that Parmalee returned to Beloit for the 2008 season. Chris' 2008 season was ruined because of a wrist injury that lost him the whole second half of the season. In 69 games Chris hit .239 with 14 hr and 49 rbi's in only 226 at bats. Chris also hit 10 doubles and 3 triples for 27 xtra base hits and he missed the second half. This year Chris was promoted to Fort Myers and he has been very solid hitting .247 with 8 hr and 32 rbi's along with 10 doubles and a triple. Chris Parmalee has alot of power as his 44 homeruns in less than 3 seasons as a professional. He reminds many people of Adam Dunn as he will hit plenty of homeruns and has 126 career walks so his career obp is .346 which is great for a power hitter. His achilles heel is he will never hit for a high average as his .246 career average and he strikes out way to often as he has struck out 276 times. He reminds me alot of Dunn and also Jack Cust who hits alot of homeruns, but strikes out alot. I really believe he has a big league future as a DH who can play 1b and Rf. He will definately not be in for his defense, but his bat will keep him in the lineup most nights. I project Parmalee to be a 30 hr guy who will also strike out 100 times a year so that is what he is and that is not a bad thing because every team can use a guy who hits 30 hr.

  • 2009: Spend season playing 1b/of for Fort Myers

  • Projection: I project him to be a 30 hr guy for the Twins by 2013.

14. Jeff Manship RHP 24 (1/16/1985)

2008 teams: Fort Myers and New Britain

  • Jeff Manship was a 14th round draft pick by the Twins in the 2006 draft out of Notre Dame University. Manship split the 2006 season between GCL and Fort Myers were he only pitched in 6 games including 3 starts where he went o-0 with a 1.28 era in limited duty. In 2007 Manship split the season between Beloit and Fort Myers. In 13 starts with the Snappers Jeff went 7-1 with a very good 1.51 era. In 77.2 innings Jeff walked only 9 and struck out 77 with a very good 0.77 whip. That led to a promotion to Fort Myers where he went 8-5 with a 3.15 era in 13 starts. In 71.1 innings he walked 25 and struck out 59 with a whip of 1.43. Many felt after the 2007 season that Manship would go on to AA New Britain, but the Twins had other ideas. Manship started the 2008 season at Fort Myers where he went 7-3 with a 2.86 in 13 starts with the Miracle. In 78.2 innings he walked 2o and struck out 63 with a whip of 1.12. That led to a promotion after the all-star break to AA New Britain where he went 3-6 with a 4.47 era in 14 starts. In 76.2 innings Jeff walked 24 and struck out 62. This season back at New Britain Jeff has had another solid year going 5-4 with a 4.70 era in 12 starts. In 69 innings he has walked 18 and struck out 42. Jeff Manship has steadily moved through the system to become one of the top pitching prospects in the whole organization. Jeff has 3 quality pitches with a good fastball in the low 90's fastball with a very good curveball, and a improving changeup. He is struggling a bit at AA, but he is improving quite a bit after a rough start to the season. I really have high hopes for Manship and believe he can be a solid number 3 starter in the big leagues. I look for him to continue to improve and possibly be with the Twins sometime next season.
  • 2009: Spend season Pitching at New Britain and possible promotion to Rochester.
  • Projection: I project him to be in the Twins starting Rotation by 2011.

13. Dustin Martin OF 25 (4/4/1984)

2008 teams: New Britain

  • Dustin Martin was a 26th round pick by the Mets in the 2006 draft out of Sam Houston State. The Twins acquired Martin from the Mets along with Drew Butera for 2nd baseman Luis Castillo in 2007. After Martin signed with the Mets he was assigned to Class A Brooklyn where in 72 games he hit .312 with 2 hr and 35 rbi's along with 15 doubles and 7 triples with a ops of .843. For the 2007 season Dustin moved on to high A St. Lucie where in 93 games he hit .287 with 5 hr and 52 rbi's along with 22 doubles and 6 triples for a ops of .779. He was then traded to the Twins in midseason and was assigned to high A Fort Myers where in 32 games he hit .294 with 3hr and 19rbi's along with 8 doubles. Dustin was promoted to AA New Britain for the 2008 season where he hit .290 with 10hr and 72 rbi's along with a very good 34 doubles and 8 triples along with 22 stolen bases for a OPS of .802. This year Dustin moved up to AAA Rochester where he is doing very good hitting .254 with 1hr and 18 rbi's along with 8 doubles and a triple in 61 games. Dustin Martin has really floored me with how much better he has gotten in the last year and a half to become a legitimite prospect for the Twins. Martin has good speed, good defense, can play all three outfield positions. He is a very good line drive hitter and a doubles machine as his 34 doubles last year at New Britain last year would show. I see Dustin Martin as a possible starter for the Twins if some players don't pick it up or leave as free agents. If nothing else I see him as a good utility outfield who if there is an injury can help out seemlessly. The only thing that worries me is he is a little streaky. He is known to go through tough slumps and then get hot so consistancy is the biggest thing he needs to work on. Overall, I think Dustin is a very good prospect who next spring Dustin Martin will be the utility outfielder for the Twins.
  • 2009: Play Left Field for Rochester all season
  • Projection: I view him as a utility outfielder who could also become a solid starter at the big league level.

12. Rene Tosoni OF 22 (7/2/1986)

2008 teams: Fort Myers Miracle

  • Rene Tosoni was a 36th round pick by the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Chipola College. After signing with the Twins as a sign and follow pick and did not join the organization until just before the 2007 season. Tosoni spent the 2007 season at E-town where he hit .301 with 3hr and 31 rbi's in 63 games along with 13 doubles and 4 triples and a obp of .407. In 2008 Tosoni surprised many people by bypassing Beloit and moving on to Fort Myers for the 2008 season. That is something that many people were shocked by because not many people skip a level and Tosoni has proven to be the right guy for the job. If not for an injury Tosoni's 2008 with the Miracle would of been alot better. Tosoni was only able to play in 42 games and hit .300 with 1 hr and 19 rbi's along with 7 doubles. This year Tosoni moved up to AA New Britain where he got off to a horrible start, but has really rebounded and is hitting very well right now. Tosoni is hitting .254 with 8hr and 33 rbi's along with 9 doubles and 3 triples and an OPS of .821. Rene Tosoni is one of the best up and coming outfielders in the whole organization. He can do it all he can hit for power, hit for average, with good defense and a decent arm. He is only 22 years old and at AA so he is so young and is going to keep getting better. I view him as a future corner outfielder for the Twins. The only problem is staying healthy as he missed most of last year, but that was a freak injury. If he stays healthy I believe he will be a 20-25 hr guy with good obp and a strong ops. It will be interesting to see how good he can be.
  • 2009: Spend season in Rf for New Britain
  • Projection: I project Rene Tosoni to be a starter quality outfielder by 2013.

11. David Bromberg RHP 21 (9/14/1987)

2008 teams: Beloit Snappers

  • David Bromberg was a 32nd round draft pick by the Twins in the 2005 draft out of Santa Ana College. David started the 2006 season with GCL and went 3-3 with a 2.66 era in 10 starts along with 2 complete games. In 50 innings Bromberg walked 18 and struck out 31 batters for a whip of 1.18. For the 2007 David moved up to E-town where he went 9-0 with a very good 2.78 era in 11 starts. In 58 innings Bromberg walked 32 and struck out a very impressive 81 batters for a whip of 1.32. After the good 07 season Bromberg moved on to 2008 season with Beloit. Last year at Beloit Bromberg went 9-10 with a 4.44 era in 27 starts. In 150 innings Bromberg walked 54 and struck out an organization high 177 batters for a whip of 1.35. With that good season it earned him a promotion to high A Fort Myers. At Fort Myers Bromberg has been awesome with the Miracle. He is 5-0 with a very impressive 2.22 era. In 69 innings David has walked 33 and struck out 66. David Bromberg is another good Twins pitching prospect who is a strikeout pitcher as his 355 strikeouts in 324 innings would attest to. When he throws strikes he is unhittable, but sometimes he struggles throwing strikes and really that is the only thing holding him back from being the top pitching prospect in the organization. He has walked 137 batters in the 324 innings which is way too much. If can limit the walks than really the sky is the limit for Bromberg and would be in the top 2 or 3 in prospects for the organization. I really believe he is going to keep getting better with his low to mid 90's fastball and great offspeed pitches he will be hard to beat. I really believe the sky is the limit and we will see many good things from Bromberg in his career.
  • 2009: Spend season in rotation with Fort Myers
  • Projection: I project him as a number 2 or 3 guy in the Twins rotation by 2013.

3 comments:

SethSpeaks said...

Continued good work on the list. I know it's a ton of work to put this all together. I initially thought of having Martin ranked around 11-12, but pushed him down for a couple of reasons. First, reports that his defense isn't great, and second, he just isn't hitting, and third, he's already 25. I do see him potentially being a little better offensive threat than Jason Pridie, just not as good defensively.

Only question on Tosoni is your thought that he could be a starter by 2013. I think he can be a big league starter, but he's been pushed through the system and done well, and he's already in AA in 2009. I can't imagine him stagnating for four years and then being a starter.

Manship has been great of late!

Bill in Sarasota said...

Martin is rated too high. At best he's going to be a 4th OF. With his lack of power and the surplus of OF in the organization, he should be rated 5-10 slots lower.

For example, Slama will have a bigger impact than Martin.

Travis Aune said...

I thought about that, but then again everything I hear is the Twins are really high on him and until some outfielders pass him up he will continue to be highly thought of. Of course he has some negative things about him, but in early May when he was hitting .320 with 2 or 3 hits a game I did not hear anyone say he was overated. Thanks for the comment though I appreciate it.