The best arm in the Twins minor league system

For years the Twins minor league system has been rich in pitching prospects, resulting in the current rotation of the young brothers at arms of the major league team.

There is a new crop of pitching prospects in the minors, waiting for the opportunity to knock, be it a trade of one of the young major league starters (like Garza's trade last post season) or a vacancy in the pen.

Who of all of those prospects has the best potential in the organization?

It is not Anthony Swarzak, who seemed rejuvenated in Rochester, after a luck laster performance in New Britain. It is not even one the twin closer duo of Robert Delaney (1.46 ERA 0.86 WHIP 7 BB 64 K in 55.2 innings in A+ and AA) and Anthony Slama (0.89 ERA 0.93 WHIP 21 BB 92 K in 61 innings in A+). How about the resurrected Jose Mijares of 1.54 ERA 0.99 WHIP 5 K 26 BB in 23.1 innings in Gulf Coast, Ft. Myers and New Britain. No. Tyler Robertson (2.72 ERA 1.32 WHIP 31 BB 73 K 82.2 innings in Ft Myers?) No. His teammate Cole DeVries (2.85 ERA 1.30 35 BB 96 K WHIP 126.1 innings?) Not quite. How about the recent draft pick with the name made for the bigs, Shooter Hunt ( 1.95 ERA 0.96 WHIP 18 BB 55 K 32.1 innings in Gulf Coast and Beloit?) No, not yet. Ok, how about the crown jewel of the Santana trade Deolis Guerra? He changed his delivery and has 4.75 ERA 1.53 WHIP with 57 BB and 58 K in 113.2 innings in Ft. Myers. Hard time finding the plate this year, but it's close because the pitcher with the best potential in the Twins' minors system is:

Guerra

not Deolis but Pedro Guerra

I am sure that most Twins' fans do not know that there is a Pedro Guerra in the Twins system. Who is he?

He is a 18 year old righty kid, in his second year as a starter in the Dominican League Twins. He has a 2.05 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP in 70.2 innings accompanied by only 9 BB and 63 K. Has given only 3 home runs for the season.

Now you have it.

As a matter of fact, the best rotation in the Twins system is not in the majors or in Ft. Myers. It is in the Dominican:

Pedro Guerra, RHP, 18, 2.05 ERA 0.94 WHIP, 7-2
Eliecer Cardenas, RHP, 21, 1.84 ERA 1.01 WHIP 5-1
Ramon Acosta, RHP, 21, 0.00 ERA 0.64 WHIP 5-0 (*)
Adrian Salcedo, RHP, 17, 1.60 ERA 0.79 WHIP 2-4
Orlando Villaroel, RHP, 18, 2.34 ERA 1.32 WHIP 3-4

I hope that the kids in the Dominican get a little more exposure in the future, because they truly deserve it


(* by far the best ERA in the organization and I could have easily picked him instead of Guerra; however, he is 3 years older and last season was not the best for him. I'd love to see him in Ft. Myers next season)