Sleepers: Minnesota Twins
By Adam Forsyth
The Shallow
Denard Span – Outfield (CF/RF)
Leading the charge of an under-rated Minnesota Twins offense heading into this season may be their expected new lead-off man, Denard Span. Problem is that, should Span get off to a slow start, or has an injury nip him along the way, there are three legitimate major league outfielders ready to step in and push the 24-year old former first round pick out of the line-up. It’s a tough position to put Ron Gardenhire in, but a great one if you are a Twinkie fan. Considering Span may fall into a platoon situation, battling the likes of Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer and Carlos Gomez for regular at-bats, he can be considered a good fourth OF or UTIL spot for those in deep 12-team mixed leagues.
I feel that the Tampa Florida native will be the one that comes out of that group with the most fantasy upside, and expect him and his ability to play all three OF positions well (for those in LF, CF, RF leagues) to provide him comfortably with 550 or so at-bats in 2009. If the 347 AB that he had in the 2008 season are any indicator of his abilities, we are in for a very nice season, with contributions to three major stat categories.
Never one to knock the ball out of the yard, Span hit six HR’s in his first exposure to major league pitching, for a greater total than he had in six previous minor league seasons. What Span brings to the table is exactly what Minnesota Twins baseball is all about. He uses his speed to get on base, runs well, makes contact, carries a good OBP (.355 in the minors and .387 last year in his 93 game debut), and understands the game well.
You won’t catch him making Carlos Gomez type base-running errors that cost the team valuable runs, and while his career SB success of 66 percent is a low number success rate for someone with such great speed, his selection of when to run and how to read pitcher's motion may be the stumbling block. Should he be able to work that small bug out, he will become a much more effective catalyst to the Twins offensive charge.
Span should easily score 100 runs if he stays in the leadoff spot in Minny, and pop 10-15 HR’s, while stealing 25 bags. Nice numbers for a guy that is basically going late in mock drafts, in the same rounds that most managers are filling in spots with more familiar names.
The Deep
Danny Valencia – Third Base
Typecast as the potential third baseman of the future, Valencia could have had a much quicker path to the majors, considering all of the concern the Twins had through spring training. That is, until Twins brass went out and signed a hopeful power-hitting Joe Crede to a one-year deal. By "hopeful" I am suggesting that they, along with the 31-year old Crede who is recovering from off-season back surgery, can regain some of the power that he displayed when healthy in Chicago.
With neither of the original roadblocks at the hot-corner performing well, some thought that the 24-year old Boca Raton, Florida native may be able to at least make the roster in a primary back-up role to start, and have the potential to steal some starts here and there. With Crede in the mix, it appears that his jump is delayed by the one-year tenure of that deal, which should be able to get him 300+ AB’s at the AAA level after having a decent amount of success at the AA level.
Valencia has some potential pop in his bat after smacking 15 HR’s in his 460+ combined AB’s in 2008, but won’t be a big threat on the base paths. He could definitely work on his patience and plate discipline as his 2.5K/BB broadcast; however, the kid can hit the ball. His career .305 BA and .846 OPS justifies any questions as to him being able to handle himself at the dish. Being the fifth ranked prospect in the well respected Twins organization speaks volumes of his abilities as well.
Look for Valencia to get a call-up at some point during the dog days of summer, when the Twins will be able to feed him some much needed major league chew. But until then, skim through the stats of the minor league baseball website to keep an eye on this talented young prospect.
