Double-A Team
Gabriel Moya, RP – Before the Twins acquired Moya from the Diamondbacks for catcher John Ryan Murphy, Moya was already having an excellent season for Jackson in the Southern League. He simply moved to another roster in the same league and finished the season performing even better than he was before the trade, which is saying something, since he was sporting a 0.80 ERA at the time of the deal!
On his combined season between Jackson and Chattanooga, Moya appeared in 47 games, throwing 58 1/3 innings, finishing with a 6-1 record, 24 saves, a 0.77 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, a 15/87 BB/K ratio, and a .150 average against.
Others who could have been considered
Jonathan Rodriguez, 1B – After 8 years in the Cardinals organization, Rodriguez signed with the Twins this fall, and it may be the best decision he made for his career, as he had a huge season, hitting .309/.414/.525 for Chattanooga with 31 doubles, 21 home runs, and a pair of stolen bases. He capped off his season with a walk off home run to clinch the co-championship for Chattanooga. Certainly, Rodriguez’s numbers would be better than either the first base or DH choice for the AA team by Baseball America.
Stephen Gonsalves, LHP – Gonsalves missed nearly two months recovering to open the season. Once he was on the hill, however, he was one of the best in all of minor league baseball each time out, not just the Minnesota Twins system. Gonsalves made 15 starts with Chattanooga, going 8-3 over 87 1/3 innings, with a 2.68 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and a 23/96 BB/K ratio. While his short season could be used against him, two of the five pitchers in the AA rotation for the BA team did not pitch the full season at the AA level. He certainly had the dominance numbers as well, as only one pitcher on the roster had a better K/9 rate.
Next: High-A