Whether it was holding off on big trades or high priced free agent signings, it feels like most of the last decade for the Minnesota Twins was spent waiting for the future to arrive before anything can truly happen.
It finally feels like the future is now.
Minnesota has prided itself on having one of the best farm systems in baseball, and the latest crop of up-and-coming core prospects is on the verge of potentially paying off. Hope is a hard sell these days, as the Twins struggles have forced fans to once again consider what might be just over the horizon waiting to give them salvation.
According to the latest MLB ranking of top prospects, four of the best young players in the game are waiting to rescue Twins fans.
MLB Rankings: Twins have 4 prospects listed in latest Top 100
MLB.com released its updated list of the Top 100 prospects in baseball, and four of them are in the Minnesota Twins system.
Two of them are already logging time at the Major League level.
Edouard Julien was called up for the first time in his career back in April, while Royce Lewis joined him a month later. It marked the second time in his career that Lewis has been called up, and it looks like he’s finally fulfilling a prophecy that false started after an ACL injury last season.
Next to Lewis, Julien was the next top prospect expected to make his debut this season and he’s made the most of it so far. While his defense leaves a lot to be desired, Julien has hit four home runs this season and is slashing .265/.351/.442.
Top 100 Rank | Player | Position | Expected Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
20 | Brooks Lee | SS | 2024 |
22 | Royce Lewis | SS | Active |
63 | Emmanuel Rodriguez | OF | 2025 |
69 | Edouard Julien | 2B | Active |
Brooks Lee carries the torch as the next highly touched and hotly anticipated Twins prospect in the farm system. He was Minnesota’s Top 5 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft and is already impressing during his time in the minors.
While it took a bit for Lewis and Julien to make their debuts, there’s a decent chance that Lee is fast-tracked and gets called up by the Twins in 2024. Some even believe there’s a chance he’s a September call up and gets service time before this current season is over, which would be insane.
That’s how good Lee is as a prospect, and why there’s so much hype. He’s what Byron Buxton was in the mid-2010s and what Royce Lewis has been since 2017, and the expectation is he’ll be the next great Twins player.
Emmanuel Rodriguez, while ranked higher than Julien, is a bit further off in his development. He’s still at High Single-A and isn’t expected to be considered for a call up until at least 2025, but simply gives him more time to marinate his talents and rise in these rankings.
A lot needs to happen for everything to come together, but it looks like the next Twins core is shaping up well. Each player in the Top 100 for the Twins is slated to hit the bigs before the contracts of Buxton, Correa, Joe Ryan, and Pablo Lopez run out which puts Minnesota in a prime position to finally have the promise of tomorrow delivered upon.