Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #28-#27

#28.  Mike McCardell, Pitcher – McCardell is an excellent microcosm for the Twins farm system as a whole.  He’s a pitchability right-hander who doesn’t have electric stuff, but projects as a quadruple A or bullpen-type pitcher.  The Twins system is full of these guys, and as a result I have purposefully kept many off of this list, instead choosing to go with higher risk and higher reward players.  McCardell is one of the few that I deemed good enough to sneak his way onto the bottom of this list.  McCardell was a fifth round pick in the 2007 draft and will probably start next season in double A. While McCardell lacks an above average fastball, his curveball ranks as one of the best in the system.  McCardell is one of these guys who is loved by scouts not because of his projectability or pitching arsenal, but rather because of his savvy and toughness.  McCardell experienced the first real struggles of his professional career in 2009, posting a 3.98 ERA across two levels of the minors.  The Twins will look for McCardell’s numbers improve as he becomes more accustomed to the upper levels of the minor leagues.  Don’t expect McCardell to be anything better than average, but come 2011 he could be useful to the Twins organization as a spot starter or a long reliever.

#27.  Deolis Guerra, Pitcher – In five years, people will look back on the Johan Santana trade and rank it near or at the top on the list of worst trades of all time.  The Twins received four minor league players in return for their ace: Kevin Mulvey, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Guerra.  Mulvey scuffled through a season and a half in the Twins minor league system and was eventually traded midway through the 2009 season to the Arizona Diamondbacks for reliever Jon Rauch.  Gomez, who was considered the gem of the deal, really struggled at the major league level.  While he demonstrated that he was one of the fastest players in the game, his hitting was so erratic and inconsistent that he was unable to utilize his speed on the base paths.  The Twins realized that they had better internal options, Denard Span, and dealt Gomez this offseason to Milwaukee for J.J. Hardy.  Humber, once a first round pick for the Mets, was an absolute disaster when given a chance to claim one of the relief spots for the Twins this past season.  Despite being out of options, Humber was still designated for assignment and removed from the 40-man roster.  No team chose to claim him so he will continue to try to improve his play at triple A in order to make it back to the majors, though his numbers since his demotion suggest that this is a long shot.  The final player acquired in the deal was young pitcher Deolis Guerra.  Guerra, like the others, has really suffered in his time with the Twins.  Guerra entered the 2008 season at High A ball with big time expectations, after hitting 95 mph on a gun in New York and showing a plus change up.  Unfortunately Guerra completely lost his command, posting a 5.47 ERA.  2009 was not much of an improvement for Deolis, as he floundered down the stretch to a 4.89 ERA across two levels.  Guerra is still only twenty years old and is still highly regarded due to his potential and electric arm.  Guerra is the last chance for the Twins to make the Johan Santana deal look validated, so they will give him every opportunity to succeed.