2005 Twins Rookie Cards
I have written a couple of times in the past about baseball cards. I have also written about how I love talking about minor leaguers, prospects and rookies. What is the common ground? Of course, I am a big fan of Rookie Cards. I used to buy a lot of cards. In recent years, I have bought just one or two boxes of cards a year. First, the town I live in really doesn’t have any, and also because I just can’t really afford it! I have decided to buy a box of Bowman, the self-proclaimed Home of the Rookie Card, each year. They're fairly expensive, but aren't as much as the Bowman Chrome or many of the other premium card sets. Primarily what I do now is try to find 'lots' of rookie cards of Twins players on ebay. I prefer lots of at least 10 or more. However, if you want autographed cards, you'd likely have to by singles.
I have been subscribing to
Beckett Baseball Card Monthly since December of 1988. For
the past seven years, they have added a Rookie Card Rolodex. The
newest issue (Feb. 2006) contains the 2005 Rookie rolodex;
information on all 374 players whose rookie cards came out in 2005!
Now, if you go back to the previous paragraph and add that my
favorite team is the Minnesota Twins, what better for me to discuss
than the 2005 Minnesota Twins rookie cards. If you’re interested in
collecting Twins baseball cards, and want rookies, check out this
list! (Here are the 2003 Twins rookie cards,
and the 2004 Twins rookie cards.)
In all, 18 players in the Twins organization had their first
appearance on a major league baseball card in 2005. You won’t find the
likes of Matt Moses (2004), JD Durbin (2003), Joe Mauer (2002), Justin
Morneau (2001), Michael Restovich (1999) or Michael
Cuddyer (1998) on this list, however, because they had major
league cards in previous years.
Beckett does some analysis on each player. They discuss where the
player was drafted or signed out of, how they did in 2005, their
prospects for the 2006 season and Analysis of what the player could
become. They list out each of that player’s rookie cards (I will
just give the number of cards for the year). Although it is
subjective, my favorite part of the analysis is the "Best Compared
To" information. It is pretty self-explanatory, but it is basically
giving the name of one major league player that the rookie is most
similar to. It is pretty honest, as you will see from the Twins
rookies. For instance, former Twins draft pick and the Mariners top
2005 pick Jeff Clement is Best Compared To Victor Martinez. However,
Angels 3B "prospect" Matt Brown is Best Compared To
Denny Hocking. I don’t know if I would be real excited about
collecting his cards! The funniest one this year is:
Tony Arnerich. He was signed by the Royals in 2001 and by the Marlins in 2004. In 2005, he batted .212 with no homers and 14 RBI with the High Class A Jupiter team before being released. Worked as an assistant coach at Sonoma State University before being named manager of the 2006 St. Cloud River Bats franchise, a club in the collegiate summer Northwoods League. Seriously, how did the people at Topps (Bowman) decide to give this guy a card. It makes me wonder how Chris Coste has still not had a major league baseball card!
So, let’s get to the analysis from Beckett Baseball Card Monthly’s Rookie Card Rolodex on the 16 players in the Minnesota Twins organization who had rookie cards in 2005 (in alphabetical order). For further information on some of these players, be sure to check out my thoughts in my Top 26 Twins Prospects.
Scott Baker - 24 year old right handed pitcher out of Oklahoma State University
2005 - 5-8, 3.01 with 107 Ks and 26 BB in 134.2 IP at AAA; 3-3, 3.35 with 32 K's and 14 BB in 53.2 IP with Twins.
Prospects for 2006 - Minnesota
Analysis - Starting rotation, Great command
Best Compared To - Derek Lowe
Rookie Cards - 10.
Ricky Barrett - 24 year old, 5-11 left handed pitcher was the 7th Round pick in 2002 out of U. of San Diego
2005 - 5-4, 5.36 in 80.2 IP between AA and AAA
Prospects for 2006 - Triple-A
Analysis - Lefty Specialist in bullpen who could spot start
Best Compared To - Terry Mulholland
Rookie Cards - 6
Daylan Childress - 27 year old righty was the Reds 5th round pick in 200, claimed by Twins '05.
2005 - Combined 3-5, 5.93 with 75 K's and 41 BB in 91 IP between AA and AAA
Prospects for 2006 - AAA
Analysis - Middle Reliever.
Best Compared To - Scott Linebrink
Rookie Cards - 1
Matt Garza - 22 year old right-hander was Twins 1st Round Pick in 2005 out of Fresno State University.
2005- Combined 4-4, 3.57 with 89 K's and 21 BB in 75.2 IP between rookie league and Low Class A Beloit.
Prospects for 2006 - High Class A
Analysis - Top of the rotation starter
Best Compared To - AJ Burnett
Rookie Cards - 5
Dave Gassner - 27 year old 2B who signed with the Twins as free agent in 2002 from Australia.
2005 - 8-8, 4.95 with 64 K's and 33 BB in 22 games (20 starts) at AAA: 1-0, 5.87 in two starts with Twins
Prospects for 2006 - Triple-A and Minnesota
Analysis - Fifth starter
Best Compared To - Nate Robertson
Rookie Cards - 20
Adam Harben - 22 year old, 6-5 righty was the Twins 15th round pick in 2002 out of Westark CC, Ft. Smith, AK
2005 - 10-5, 2.66 with 119 K's and 62 BB in 135.1 IP (25 games, all starts) at Class A Ft. Myers
Prospects for 2006 - Double-A
Analysis - Mid-rotation starter
Best Compared To - Jon Lieber
Rookie Cards - 4.
Garrett Jones - 24 year old, 6-4 left-handed 1B was signed by Twins as free agent in 2002
2005 - .244-24-72 in 488 AB at Triple-A
Prospects for 2006 - Triple-A with possible call-up to Minnesota
Analysis - He's got power. He just needs to find some consistency at the plate and could be a DH-type contributor
Best Compared To - Randall Simon
Rookie Cards - 13
Paul Kelly -21 year old righty-hitting SS was the Twins 2nd round pick in 2005 out of Flower Mound (TX) HS
2005 - .281-3-24 in 153 AB between GCL Twins and Low Class A Beloit
Prospects for 2006 - Low Class A
Analysis - Some guys are just gifted on teh diamond, and Paul is one of them. Good power in high school, great instincts in the field and a player who thrives in competition.
Best Compared To - Alex Gonzalez
Rookie Cards - 5
Frank Mata - 21 year old righty-hander was signed as free agent by the Twins from Venezuela in 2002
2005 - Did not pitch. Recovering from Tommy John surgery
Prospects for 2006 - Low Class A, if healthy
Analysis - Big-time fastball, will be looked at as potential closer
Best Compared To - Ugueth Urbina
Rookie Cards - 4
Justin Olson - 25 year old right-hander from U. of Illinois had his contract purchased in 2003 from independent Rockford
2005 - 9-8, 4.77 with 103 K's and 49 BB in 109 IP at Double-A
Prospects for 2006 - Double-A/Triple-A
Analysis - Spot starter/innings burner
Best Compared To - Jeff Shaw
Rookie Cards - 1
Glen Perkins - 22 year old 5-11 lefty was Twins 1st round pick in 2004 out of University of Minnesota
2005 - 7-6, 3.76 with 133 K's and 48 BB in 134.1 IP between Class A Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain
Prospects for 2006 - Double-A
Analysis - Twins paid a lot in bonus money to sign hometown kid, so he'll get long looks as #2 or #3 starter
Best Compared To - Horacio Ramirez
Rookie Cards - 11
Luis Rodriguez -25 year old infielder was signed out of Venezuela by Twins in 1997.
2005 - .269-2-20 in 175 AB with Twins
Prospects for 2006 - Minnesota
Analysis - Played well in his big-league debut.
Best Compared To - Luis A. Gonzalez
Rookie Cards - 10
Henry Sanchez - 19 year old right-handed 1B was the Twins supplemental 1st round pick in 2005
2005 - .229-2-11 in 70 AB at GCL Twins
Prospects for 2006 - Short-Season Class A/Low Class A
Analysis - His weight remains a concern with Twins, but this is a big man who can move a little bit; he hammers the baseball with a quick bat.
Best Compared To - Cecil Fielder
Rookie Cards - 3
Errol Simonitsch - 23 year old, 6-3 lefty was Twins 6th round pick in 2003 from Gonzaga.
2005 - 14-8, 3.40 with 124 Ks and 40 BB in 159 IP between Class A Ft. Myers and Double-A New Britain
Prospects for 2006 - Triple-A
Analysis - Added to Twins 40-man roster in November and likely figures in club's plans in 2006.
Best Compared To - Odalis Perez
Rookie Cards - 5
Kevin Slowey - the 21 year old right-handed pitcher was the Twins 2nd round pick in 2005 out Winthrop University.
2005 - 3-2, 2.12, 1 save and 84 K's and just 8 BB in 72 IP between rookie-league Elizabethton and Low Class A Beloit.
Prospects for 2006 - High Class A
Analysis - Great control and manages to come out throwing strikes
Best Compared To - Mike Mussina
Rookie Cards - 4.
Alexander Smit - 20 year old 6-3 lefty was signed in 2002 as undrafted free agent from The Netherlands
2005 - 7-10, 4.06, 3 saves, 140 K's and 40 BB in 95.1 IP between rookie-level Elizabethton and Class A Beloit
Prospects for 2006 - Class A Beloit
Analysis - After a mid-season demotion, completely dominated the Appalachian League out of the bullpen and was named the top lefty in the league.
Best Compared To - JC Romero
Rookie Cards - 6
Drew Thompson - the 19 year old SS was the Twins 2nd round pick in 2005 out of Jupiter Community HS in Tequesta, Florida.
2005 - .262-2-21 in 122 AB between GCL Twins and High Class A Fort Myers
Prospects for 2006 - High-Class A
Analysis - Good-hitting middle infield prospect who will likely move to 2B at some point.
Best Compared To - Very much like his father, former major league second baseman Robby Thompson
Rookie Cards - 3
Kevin West - 26 year old right-handed hitting OF was Twins 16th round pick in 1999 out of Mendocino (CA), CC
2005 - .271-20-64 in 425 AB at Triple-A Rochester
Prospects for 2006 - Triple-A/Minnesota
Analysis - Reserve OF
Best Compared To - Jeff DaVanon
Rookie Cards - 9
SETH’S THOUGHTS
First things first, isn't it exciting to read about the pitching
prospects in the Twins system, and who they compare to. I mean, we
get the names of Derek Lowe, Mike Mussina, Odalis Perez, AJ Burnett
and Jon Lieber. Of course, we don't know if any of that will ever
fully happen, but again, it is a testament to how deep the Twins
minor league pitching system is. Even if just a few of these guys
reach #2 or #3 potential, that would be huge!
I remember when it was cool to get a rookie card of a player that had "no major league experience" written on the back of the card. I remember the Donruss Rated Rookie cards from ’88 and ’89 of Mark Grace, Roberto Alomar and Ken Griffey Jr. They were special. Normally a player had to at least make a brief appearance in the big leagues first. Now, it is unusual that a rookie doesn’t already have a few years of cards. I also remember in 1988 when Topps first started putting a few first round draft picks into their regular set. Then in 1990, Score included mug shots of all of the first-round picks from the 1989 draft. I loved that concept. A couple of years ago, sets like Bowman Draft Picks and eventually regular, late-season sets started including draft picks that signed. This year, I see that there are cards of players that were drafted not only in the first few rounds, but as low as the 14th round, maybe lower. That seems to be a bit excessive.
I’ll be honest, I don’t like that very much. However, the rules of the Rookie Card have changed. The Major League Baseball Players Association apparently didn't like it either. So, in order to continue to get licensure, the players decided to do something about it. There is now a rule that a player must be on the team's active roster before they can have a card. That just changed for 2006 cards. That is a huge change. Now, Rookie Cards will have a logo on them to designate that they are, in fact, rookie cards. Bowman, again the Home of the Rookie Cards, will have a dilemma, but I think they have a plan. There can not be regular base set cards of guys who are not on the 40 man roster. However, Bowman will still be able to issue cards of very young players as inserts. They will not be rookie cards, but it will be interesting to see how price values for these cards compare to the new Rookie Cards. I am intrigued.
I do like that there are so many Twins draft picks in these sets
though. The Twins had a lot of extra draft picks in 2005 because of the
losses of Corey Koskie, Cristian Guzman and Henry
Blanco. From the
analysis and projections for the guys that the Twins took, they did
very well! Matt Garza, Henry Sanchez, Paul Kelly,
Kevin Slowey, and Drew Thompson. They also drafted
college pitchers Ryan Mullins and Brian Duensing in the early
rounds. They don't have cards, but they do have big potential. I understand that these guys are all
young and the whole concept that there is no such thing as a
pitching prospect. But the Twins have strength in numbers and top
level pitching prospects at each minor league level, and numbers are huge!
I am surprised that Scott Baker did not have rookie cards before this year.
THE OTHER
PERSPECTIVE
I showed above who Beckett compared the Twins rookies to. Well,
let’s turn that around and look at which prospects were compared to
current (or recent, former) Twins players. I won’t include the Twins
rookies mentioned as comparable to other Twins as they are already
mentioned above:
TJ Beam, P - New York Yankees - LaTroy Hawkins
Scott Blue, RHP - Boston Red Sox - Kyle Lohse
Andy Boeve - OF - Pittsburgh Pirates - Bobby Kielty
Adam Bostick - LHP - Florida Marlins - Eric Milton
Matt Brown - 3B - Los Angeles Angels - Denny Hocking
Cesar Carillo - RHP - San Diego Padres - Johan Santana
Travis Chick - RHP - Cincinnati Reds - Joe Mays
Shane Costa - OF - Kansas City Royals - Lew Ford
J. Brent Cox - RHP - New York Yankees - Joe Nathan
Ryan Goleski - OF - Cleveland Indians - Chad Allen
Brett Harper - 1B - New York Mets - Terry Tiffee
George Kotteras - C - San Diego Padres - AJ Pierzynski
Tommy Mendoza - RHP - Los Angeles Dodgers - Jesse Crain
Norihiro Nakamura - 3B - Los Angeles Dodgers - Glenn WilliamsEric Neilsen - OF - Toronto Blue Jays - Dustan Mohr
Tyler Pelland - RHP - Cincinnati Reds - Kenny Rogers
PJ Phillips - SS - Los Angeles Angels - Cristian Guzman
Elvys Quezada - RHP - New York Yankees - Juan RinconJonathon Sanchez - LHP - San Francisco Giants - Francisco Liriano
Erik Schindewolf - 2B - Arizona Diamondbacks - Luis Rivas
Mike Spindale - OF - Chicago White Sox - Chad Allen
Any thoughts on Beckett’s
analysis, or my thoughts, or any of these players? If there are bloggers from other team’s web sites who would like similar analysis
for player’s in their organization, please let me know.
E-mail me.
:
THE TERRY RYAN CHAT
Last week, Terry Ryan had a live video online chat with Twins season ticket holders and answered a lot of their questions. Over the weekend, the chat became available to the rest of us common folk. I had a chance to watch it, and it is really good. Whether you agree with Terry Ryan's decisions on personnel or not, he is always a great interview. I really enjoy hearing him talk about his team because he is so honest. If someone asks him a question that he completely disagrees with, he will flat-out explain his thinking. He doesn't shun any questions that he is able to answer, and gives very thoughtful answers. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, be sure to check it out. To do so, go to the Twins homepage, and click on the Twins GM Ryan participates in historic chat. There is a Watch the Archive option there. The Twins, Terry Ryan and Fox Sports North hope to do a number of these chats for season-ticket holders throughout the season. Living 6+ hours from the cities, I have not become a season-ticket holder. Just can't justify it. However, this would be fun to watch live. However, I will wait a day or so to watch the Archive, as long as it remains free and available.
By the way, if you would just like to read the crib notes of the chat, our friend "cmathewson" over at Twinkie Town did a great analysis of the entire chat, capturing many of the highlights, and there are other great comments to read.
What do you think about this? E-mail me.
DODGERS/DEVIL RAYS TRADE
On Saturday night, the Dodgers and Devil Rays completed a trade that I thought was very interesting. The Rays send closer Danys Baez and reliever Lance Carter and a little bit of cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for highly touted starting pitchers Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany. You know me, I'm a big fan of prospects, especially young starting pitching, so I think that this was a wonderful trade for the Devil Rays. The Dodgers acquired Baez as an 8th inning guy setting up Eric Gagne, but also because of Gagne's injury-history the last year or so, he also provides needed insurance. Carter is more like a 6th or 7th inning guy.
I could understand the Dodgers parting with one of their pitching prospects for a couple of relievers. However, how do you deal two? Remember Edwin Jackson's debut in September of 2003. He was barely 20 years old and he beat Randy Johnson. His age and upper 90s fastball made him one of baseball's top prospects. Much was expected of him in 2004, and he really just was not ready. He regressed further in 2005 when he struggled mightily in AAA, but the Dodgers did the right thing by sending him back down to AA to regain some confidence. So clearly, Jackson is anything but a sure-thing anymore, but it is important to remember that he is still just 22 years old.
Chuck Tiffany is a pitcher that I think really has a chance. The left-hander will turn 21 years old next week. He was a 2nd round pick in 2003. In 2004, he notched 141 strikeouts in just 99.2 innings. This year, in the Florida State League, he had 134 strikeouts in 110 innings.
Young pitching is worth acquiring. The Devil Rays are not likely to compete with the Yankees for the AL East crown in 2005. They are also not going to compete for an AL Wild Card spot either. Danys Baez is very good (5-4 with 41 saves and a 2.86 ERA in 2005), but he won't pitch more than 75 innings for the Rays in 2006. He isn't going to make or break the season for them. And, he will make over $4 million this year. Lance Carter is one of the worst "All Stars" in recent history. He made the All-Star team in 2003 because, well, I really don't know why because the Rays had a few other options! He too is capable of pitching 80 innings and maybe having an ERA around 4.50. He also is about to get more expensive as his arbitration days are near.
The Rays only real way to compete in the AL East or just in general is to build from within and through prospects. They certainly have a wealth of hitting prospects, some of which have already contributed to the team. Guys like BJ Upton, Delmon Young, Joey Gathright, Jonny Gomes, Elijah Dukes, Jorge Cantu and more. Carl Crawford and Rocco Baldelli are still young and were signed to long-term deals. Why do you think that they want to acquire Andy Marte from the Red Sox in a Julio Lugo deal? A year ago, the Rays stole Scott Kazmir from the Mets for Victor Zambrano, but to compete, they do need more pitching. Should Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany develop into what they could become, that would give them three very strong starting pitchers who will all still be under 25! Once they build that nucleus, then the task would be to try to retain as many of them as possible. That is when the team should start spending money.
The Dodgers get a couple of guys that they want in their bullpen, guys which should help them be a little bit better in 2006. But they did give up a lot to acquire them! Any thoughts? E-mail me.
Seth's Predictions
Seattle Seahawks 41, Washington Redskins 3
Denver Broncos 20, New England Patriots 30
Indianapolis Colts 44, Pittsburgh Steelers 31
Chicago Bears 15, Carolina Panthers 9
Actual Results
Seattle Seahawks 20, Washington Redskins 10
Denver Broncos 27, New England Patriots 13
Indianapolis Colts 18, Pittsburgh Steelers 21
Chicago Bears 21, Carolina Panthers 29
So, after getting three out of four right during the Wild Card weekend, I accurately predicted just one of four games this weekend. I don't think that the Broncos win was an upset at all. The Panthers beating the Bears wasn't a great surprise. Their quick start really propelled them. The lone question from that game was, Is Steve Smith the most exciting, electric player in the NFL? And, the Steelers became the first 6 seed to advance this far after beating the #1 Colts. Now, normally, I get annoyed when people/analysts say that a QB can't 'win the big one', and Peyton Manning has been unjustly blamed for his team's defeats in the playoffs in recent years. And, of course, this game can not be solely blamed on Manning either. However, how much did he step up when the team got the ball back with 2:40 left in the game? Let's see. First play, he gets a three yard completion. The play was done with about 2:22 to go. They did not get another play off before the 2 minute warning. What terrible clock management! And then when the defense somehow got Jerome Bettis to fumble at the goal line, Manning made a couple of nice passes. However, they got the ball inside the 30 on 2nd and 2, and they went deep three straight times rather than just getting the first down. They had about a minute to go and all three time outs. That was terrible! So, the Colts can be disappointed, and obviously they went through a lot of unfortunate situations in the last month or so. But none of that affected this loss!
What do you think? Any thoughts on any of the games? E-mail me.
On that note, I am going to call it a day. I hope you have a great week! If you have any comments, opinions, or ideas for future articles, please e-mail me.
|