So, my guess is that those of you who have read my blog entries here at StarTribune.com or at SethSpeaks.net understand that I am no Charles Dickens. I have a feeling that nothing I've written will become a literary classic. I've never been to London or Paris, so writing about them wouldn't make a lot of sense, especially not on a sports blog. But bear with me as I try to tell a tale of three prospects and three cities. All three of these prospects are currently in Ft. Myers, Florida. It is possible that all three of them will begin the season in Rochester, New York. But it is probably that we will see all of them in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a Twins uniform sometime in 2010. Alright, we've got the three cities part talked about, so let's talk now about the three prospects: Danny Valencia As you know by now, Valencia was the Twins 19th round draft pick out of the University of Miami in June of 2006. Since then, he has hit .299/.354/.480 over his four minor league seasons. He has hit 54 minor league home runs. He has continued to improve his defense at third base through very hard work. After 57 games at Double-A New Britain last year, he moved up to Triple-A Rochester for the final 71 games. He hit .286, but walked just eight times in 282 plate appearances, something that alarmed many skeptics. But as you can see, a career Isolated Discipline of 0.055 indicates that he is not completely a free swinger. The Twins added him to their 40 man roster following the season. He came into spring training hoping for an opportunity to make the Twins ball club on Opening Day. He performed well. In just 22 at bats, he hit .273/.292/.636 with two doubles and two home runs. Obviously that is a very small sample size, but I think he showed enough to the Twins brass that, if needed, he can take over the third base duties sometime in 2010. Unfortunately, a detail in the Collective Bargaining Agreement forced the Twins to send him back to minor league camp a few weeks ago. I would expect to see the 25 year old in a Twins uniform by July. Wilson Ramos The only offensive spot open on the Twins Opening Day roster appears to be between Wilson Ramos and Drew Butera. The arguments have been made over and over for which one should head north with the Twins. Although Ramos is clearly a better hitter (historically and this spring), his defense has been greatly underrated to. I don't think anyone would suggest that Drew Butera is a better player than Wilson Ramos. Frankly, I think that Wilson Ramos is already better than Jose Morales. The Twins have a tough decision. By all accounts, Ramos has won the job. In 29 spring training at bats, he is hitting .379/.379/.621 with four doubles and a home run. The one knock scouts have on Ramos is his lack of walks. However, that is also something that really only started last year in New Britain when he hit .317 with an on-base percentage of .339. Because Ramos is valued so highly, I personally believe the right thing to do is to send him to the minor leagues and let him play. I would say that the worst thing that a young, 22 year old phenom is to bring him up and sit him on the bench four or five days a week, even for a short period of time. That is definitely not the way to set him up for future success. And, some seem to think that because Joe Mauer signed his long-term contract extension that it should change the thinking on Wilson Ramos. I disagree. I believe that Ramos should play every day in Rochester. He has just 54 games played in his career above A ball, so it will do him good. He can catch four games each week and DH the other games. Ramos will come up to the Twins in 2010, at some point. Anthony Slama For both Valencia and Ramos, I can think of reasons that they could use more minor league seasoning and experience, but when it comes to Anthony Slama, there really is little justification for him not being with the Minnesota Twins. Slama was the Twins 39th round pick in 2006 out of the University of San Diego. He chose to go back to school for his senior season and then signed with the Twins before the 2007 draft. Since then, he has dominated at every level of the minor leagues: · Low-A Beloit – 1-1, 10 saves, 1.48 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 39 strikeouts in 24.1 innings. · High-A Ft. Myers – 4-1, 25 saves, 1.01 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 110 strikeouts in 71 innings. · Double-A New Britain – 4-2, 25 saves, 2.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 93 strikeouts in 65.1 innings. · Triple-A Rochester – 0-2, 4 saves, 3.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 19 strikeouts in 15.2 innings. · Spring Training – 0-0, 1 save, 0.00 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, 9 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Some might look to the "high" numbers in Triple A and think that he "struggled" there. He pitched 11 games there. In one of those games, he gave up six runs in 0.2 innings. In the other ten games, he gave up no runs. The reality is the Slama will not break with the big league camp because there are only so many spots open. That's really it. Pat Neshek will see this week how his arm responds to pitching in back-to-back games. Clay Condrey has struggled most of the spring. If there is an injury or someone not performing, my guess is the Twins would not hesitate to bring the already 26 year old Slama up to the big leagues. Ron Gardenhire mentioned that he would likely begin the season with a closer-by-committee, until someone takes the reins. Slama will head to Rochester and likely dominate as the Red Wings closer. Do not be surprised if Slama fits into the Twins closer plans sooner rather than later. So there you have it, quick tales of three Twins prospects. What are your thoughts on these three prospects, or any other Twins prospects that you saw in spring training or are curious about? I will be happy to answer your questions in the Comments below. Here are some quick links for your day: · Last night, Seth was joined on The Show at SethSpeaks.net by Twins reliever Pat Neshek. The fan-friendly pitcher spent over 25 minutes answering questions from Seth and the audience. Some of the questions were even tough! · Parker went Around the Central, with notes and observations about each of the Twins AL Central rivals. · Nick posted some Odds and Ends. · Seth will be one of the guests on tonight's Travis Talks Minnesota Sports podcast which begins at 9:00 central time. On his blog today, Travis gives his thoughts on whether Francisco Liriano should be a starter or closer. · Seth went to the Gophers baseball game against Louisiana Tech on Saturday and posted some Target Field Observations. · Seth's Minnesota Twins 2010 Prospect Handbook is available at Amazon.com. Call to the 'Pen wrote a very nice review of the book here this weekend. Also over the weekend, High Heels on the Field wrote a review as well. Thank you to both of them. · Finally, please remember to mark your calendar for the next TwinsCentric Viewing Party. On April 10th, the TwinsCentric guys will be at Major's Sports Café in Blaine throughout the Twins/White Sox tilt. As they did at their last event, prizes will be given away.