It¡¯s a simple formula, really, one the Twins have used with great success for a long time now: scout, draft and/or sign, develop and bring to the big leagues. Rinse and repeat.
The Twins are coming off back-to-back American League Central titles, playing over .600 ball in 2019 and 2020 combined. And they did it with a very large foundation of homegrown talent.
While the Twins don¡¯t currently have a top 10 farm system, it¡¯s still a solid and fairly deep one that will keep sending talented players up to the big leagues to help them continue competing. Even with the season-ending knee injury to top prospect Royce Lewis, four of the Twins¡¯ top six prospects should be ready to contribute this season, with several others beyond that prepared to chip in as well. That group is highlighted by No. 2 prospect Alex Kirilloff, who made his big league debut in the postseason last year, and No. 6 Ryan Jeffers, who was the starting catcher in that playoff series.
All of this points to another strong season in Minnesota, with a third straight division title a distinct possibility.
Here's a look at the Twins top prospects:
1. Royce Lewis, SS (MLB No. 17)
2. Alex Kirilloff, OF/1B (MLB No. 26)
3. Trevor Larnach, OF (MLB No. 80)
4. Jordan Balazovic, RHP (MLB No. 97)
5. Jhoan Duran, RHP
Complete Top 30 list ?
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2020 preseason list to the 2021 preseason list.
Jump: Josh Winder, RHP (2020: 30 | 2021: 15) -- Strength added during the offseason and shutdown led to velocity gains for Winder, now armed with a fastball touching 98 mph and a harder curve with more spin.
Fall: Wander Javier (2020: 8 | 2021: 23) ¨C One of the top international prospects in the 2015-16 class, Javier has struggled to stay healthy and has only shown glimpses of the tools that made him rank that high.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools -- 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 -- Alex Kirilloff (Royce Lewis)
Power: 60 -- Brent Rooker (Aaron Sabato)
Run: 70 -- Royce Lewis
Arm: 65 -- Matt Wallner
Defense: 60 -- Ryan Jeffers (Gilberto Celestino, Wander Javier)
Fastball: 70 -- Jhoan Duran
Curveball: 55 -- Matt Canterino (Blayne Enlow, Josh Winder, Jose Rijo)
Slider: 60 -- Edwar Colina (Matt Canterino)
Changeup: 55 -- Bailey Ober (Cole Sands)
Control: 65 ¨C Bailey Ober
How they were built
Draft: 21 | International: 5 | Trade: 4
Breakdown by ETA
2021: 13 | 2022: 6 | 2023: 7 | 2024: 3 | 2025: 1
Breakdown by position
C: 2 | 1B: 1 | 2B: 1 | 3B: 2 | SS: 5 | OF: 8 | RHP: 11