Monday, July 30, 2018

The trades and the prospects

OK, let's talk the Escobar and Pressly trades.







Three outfielders, two pitchers. Unstated in Berardino's tweet: Alcala has reached Double A. Celestino was in the short-season A level NY-Penn League, a level for which the Twins have no direct equivalent; he may well be assigned to Elizabethton in the Appy League, a half-step down.

A couple broad points: None of the five must go on the 40-man roster this winter. This is a contrast to the Jamie Garcia dump trade of last summer, in which the Twins landed two Rule 5-eligible players (one of whom has since been outrighted). None of the five are particularly close to the majors.

The consensus is that four of the five go directly into the team's top-30 prospects list but none go into the top 10.

MLBpipeline.com puts Alcala as Minnesota's No. 11 prospect. His deal is velocity; he's hit 101 at times as a starting pitcher, but his secondary offerings are inconsistent. Baseball America's report on Alcala suggests that he's most likely destined for a bullpen role. He just turned 23.

Celestino is 19 and was putting up good numbers in the NY Penn League. MLBpipeline makes him the Twins No. 14 prospect. He's a centerfielder now, but the BA scouting report suggests that he may not stick there. (MLBpipeline ranks four or five outfielders ahead of him, depending on whether you regard Brant Rooker as an outfielder or a first baseman.) Good arm, good bat speed, appears to have good pitch recognition.

Marcel, also 19 and a centerfielder but a level ahead of Celestino, is a switch-hitter out of Brazil. Celestinto appears to have a broader set of quality tools; Marcel is a burner without much power. MLBpipeline makes him No. 17 on the Twins list.

Duran, 20, is a raw RHP. He projects as a mid-rotation starter, assuming he puts everything together. Mid-90s velocity with the makings of usable breaking ball and change, but he's inconsistent with command and quality of everything. MLBpipeline puts him at No. 22.

The Twins assigned De La Trinidad, who had been in the Midwest League, to Fort Myers in the higher Florida State League. He's a 22-year-old left-handed outfielder who is the one drafted player in this haul (19th round out of UNLV). Good numbers in the Midwest League, but a bit old for the level.

I haven't (yet) made my annual jaunt to Cedar Rapids, but it appears that at least three of the five will be with the Kernels the remainder of the summer, depending on what they do with Celestino.


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