From Achter to Zarzuela: the 48 Twins players eligible for the Rule 5 draft

This week the Twins have added several players to their 40 man roster to protect them from the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. 

The rules of eligibility are fairly convoluted and gets really complicated with the AAA and AA portion of the draft.  A primer of the Rule 5 can be found here. 

Here is the list of the Twins players (48 in all) who are not eligible for the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft.  Some of them will be placed on the AAA roster (protecting them from the AAA portion) or the AA roster (protecting them from the AA portion but exposing them to the AAA portion of the draft.)

I do not list 2013 Twins' players like Tom Stuifberger, Manuel Soliman, Cole DeVries or Jhon Goncalves who are unsigned minor league free agents and eligible for the draft regardless the team they sign.  Recently signed, or re-signed minor league free agents like Jason Bertlett or Wilkin Ramirez are eligible for the MLB portion of the draft.

Here is the list (which is subject to change based on minor league signings before the draft) :

Edit 1:  (Thanks Seth!) :  Jhonatan Arias was released late last season, Caleb Brewer retired, and Angel Morales is not re-signed, so the list gets trimmed to 45

Edit 2: After this was posted the Twins announced that they have released  Andy Leer, Rory Rhodes and  Kelvin Ortiz, further trimming the list to 42.  They also released Rick Schwarz who was not eligible for the Rule 5 draft

A.J. Achter RHP
Tim Atherton RHP
Jason Bartlett IF
James Beresford IF
Evan Bigley OF
Brad Boyer IF
Pat Dean LHP
Dallas Gallant RHP
Jose Gonzalez LHP
Mike Gonzales 1B/DH
Deolis Guerra RHP
Mark Hamburger RHP
Nate Hanson IF
Matt Hauser RHP
B.J. Hermsen RHP
Romy Jimenez OF
Jonatan Hinojosa IF
Mike Kvasnicka OF
Jermaine Mitchell OF
Lester Oliveros RHP
Ryan O'Rourke LHP
Danny Ortiz OF
Adonis Pacheco OF
Candido Pimentel IF/OF
Michael Quesada C
Wilkin Ramirez OF
Lance Ray OF
Hein Robb LHP
Nate Roberts OF
Reynaldo Rodriguez 1B
Jairo Rodriguez C
Chad Rodgers LHP
Kris Rhal OF
Rory Rhodes 1B
Dan Rohlfing C/OF
Deibinson Romero 3B
Adrian Salcedo RHP
Aaron Thompson LHP
Virgil Vasquez RHP
Dakota Watts RHP
Alex Wimmers RHP
Ezequiel Zarzuela RHP

Five Potential Targets in the upcoming Rule 5 draft for the Twins

With the Winter Meetings (December 3 to 6, in Nashville, TN) just around the corner and the Rule 5 draft highlighting the last day of the meetings, here is a look at potential targets for the Minnesota Twins.

As a reminder, here is a primer on the rules of the Rule 5 draft from last season, which are somewhat convoluted...

The Twins' 40-man roster is full for the time being; however, several players could be designated for assignment without much pain and potentially a trade of two before the draft could alleviate the logjam.

The Twins have been collecting middle infielders via the waiver wire, and SPs via the Rule 5 draft and I feel that they will try again their luck for a starting pitcher.

Here is a list of five SPs who might interest the Twins (in alphabetical order; the ages are for the 2013 season) :

Chad Bell (Rangers)  23, LHP.  A lot like Scott Diamond, jumped 3 levels in 2012 from High A Myrtle Beach to AAA Round Rock.  Low 90s fastball with good command, plus curve, plus change.

Scott Gorgen (Cardinals) 26, RHP. A year back from surgery and a lost 2011, he had a solid 2012 in AA and AAA.  Gorgen has a low 90s FB, an average curve ball and a plus plus change up.  He is a control pitcher very much fits the Twins' mold.  

Kyle Lobstein (Rays) 24, LHP.  Kyle is one of those guys who what scouts love does not aptly translate into statistics on the field.   He made it up to AA last season but there are scouts who believe that he can hold on his own at the back end of a major league rotation at this point.  Soft tossing lefty (mid to high 80s FB) with plus secondary offerings.  Excellent command and control, which spells T-W-I-N-S.

Kyle Stroup (Red Sox) 23, RHP.  This is all about potential.  The big righty with the big mid to high 90s fastball and 3 average to plus secondary pitches missed all of 2010 and 2012 seasons with ACL tears both times on different knees.  He tore his left ACL in 2011 and spend all 2012 rehabbing it in EST at Fort Myers and the Twins know a lot about him.  His arm is healthy and could possible hide in the back of the Twins' bullpen in 2013 and produce better than Jeff Gray, while putting a stake in the ground for the 2014 rotation.  Not quite a safe "Twins-like" pick but a great upside.

Nick Struck (Cubs) 23, RHP.  Nick Struck spent the whole season in AA Tennessee Smokies and had a great season, rebounded from a bad AAA half season in 2011 as a rushed 21 year old.  He played in the Arizona Fall League and pitched a full 155 innings this season as a 22 year old.  Command and control guy with a two seamer as his primary weapon with a decent change and plus breaking stuff.  The Cubs' 2012 MiLB pitcher of the year.

Potential Rule 5 Draft Targets for the Twins

The Rule 5 Draft occurs at the final day of the Winter Meetings, Thursday. Previously, I listed the Twins' liabilities in the draft (The link contains a detailed explanation of the rules for both the major and minor league parts of the Rule 5 Draft as well.) Here I am attempting to present potential players who might interest the Twins in the major league portion of the Draft. I feel that the Twins (who are picking second; and last time they picked second they selected Johan Santana - via a switch with the Marlins) will look at either a middle infielder with sure hands or a pitcher. Here is a list of potential targets with the two most likely highlighted:

Position Players

Ryan Flaherty (Cubs) IF/OF



2008 Cubs suplemental pick SS Vanderbilt 6'5" 220 lbs, bats left, throws right, 25 years old. 175 games at 2B (.984 FP), 111 games at SS (.940 FP), 102 games at 3B (.904 FP), 4 games at 1B and 41 games at OF (1.000 FP). Sure handed especially at second base, some pop with the bat, limited range. His potential ceiling is Dan Uggla, but profiles nicely as a utility bench player with occasional starts at second base. Career minor league line .278/.346/.462, never played lower than low A, last season split between AA Tennessee and AAA Iowa: .280/.347/.478, 19 HR, 88 RBI, 74 R at 530 PA.

Others (alphabetically) :

Nick Noonan (Giants) 2B/SS
Gustavo Nunez (Tigers) SS
Tony Delmonico (Dodgers) IF/C
Reynaldo Rodriguez (Red Sox) 1B/OF - if the Twins think out of the box and try to fill their OF need via the Rule 5 Draft.


Pitchers

Tyler Cloyd (Phillies) RHP

2008 Phillies 18th round pick. PHR. 6'3" 190 lbs. Out of Bellevue, NE. Attended University of Nebraska, Omaha (suspended for academic reasons after his sophome season.) 24 years old. Mainly a starter, career MiLB performance: 3.63 ERA, 1.243 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 3.84 K/BB. Last season in AA Reading 2.78 ERA, 1.088 WHIP, 8.4 K/9 and 6.60 K/BB in 17 starts. Very much a Twins' type of pitcher. Low 90s FB, impeccable control, paints the corners and uses his off-speed stuff often. Also gets a lot of ground balls. Projects either as a mid rotation starter or as a set up guy.

Others (alphabetically) :

Cesar Cabral (Boston) LHP
Dayan Diaz (Astros) RHP
John Ely (Dodgers) RHP
Paolo Espino (Cleveland) RHP
Charlie Haeger (Red Sox) RHP
Ethan Martin (Dodgers) RHP
Diego Moreno (Pirates) RHP
Brad Meyers (Nationals) RHP
Erasmo Ramirez (Mariners) RHP
B.J. Rosenberg (Philies) RHP
Ryan Searle (Cubs) RHP
Cole St. Clair (Dodgers) LHP
Mickey Storey (Astros) RHP
Phillip Valiquette (Mariners) LHP
Pat Venditte (Yankees) Switch Pitching (he will certainly draw fans just to watch)

If you want to follow the Winter Meetings and specific the Twins activity, here are a few places that will worth your time:

• Each night, Seth Stohs and Fanatic Jack have a winter meetings podcast discussing happenings at the meetings with their guests. These podcasts are for an hour starting at 10 PM EDT/9 PM CDT and started last night


• The folks over at Knuckleballs have a nightly Twins' fans chat between 8-10PM EDT/7-9PM CDT every night of the meetings


• Last but not least, ESPN 1500 Twin Cities is live streaming their broadcasts, so if something happens you will here it there