Highlighting top Twins prospects for '10

We break down the top five prospects for each organization for 2010, taking into consideration: games, at-bats, innings and major-league service time. We expect these players to have rookie status remaining heading into next year.

According to MLB rules: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list)."

Note: Statistics are those at each stop in the minors this season and age represents how old they will be on opening day 2010.

Minnesota Twins

For a team that hasn't won anything in some time now, the Twins sure don't have a whole lot of immediate help available on the farm. It could be a function of them being good enough to compete, but not great enough to win. There are some intriguing long-term prospects here, but nothing really to make your mouse jump at this point. The Johan Santana trade was supposed to stock the system, but Carlos Gomez has been a no-hit reserve outfielder and the best pitching prospect in the trade needed a trade back to Class A. Also, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber were designated for assignment. They needed at least one of those guys to hit. Nada.

1. Aaron Hicks, OF, 20

It wasn't a real impressive first full pro season for the 2008 No. 1 pick. The fact we keep him atop the Twins prospects board says a lot about the quality of their system and Hicks' hype. He has a high ceiling, but his low Class A campaign (.251 average, 4 homers, 29 RBI, 43 runs, 10 steals, .353 OBP and .382 SLUG) leaves plenty to be desired. He could be pushed to high Class A in 2010, but clearly he is years away from reaching the majors -- much less being Fantasy viable.

2. Ben Revere, OF, 21

Calling him a potential Juan Pierre is a bit too easy at this point. Revere is just 5-feet-9, 166 pounds and a .300-hitting basestealer. He went .311-2-48-75-45 (.372-.369) in 121 games in the Florida State League (High Class A). That will get him a start in Double-A and there is a chance he could spend time in the majors as a reserve next season. Long term, he is an idea leadoff-type, boasting a 34-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Sans power, he gets the bat on the ball and runs like the wind. Rotisserie owners will find him a useful stashee.

3. Wilson Ramos, C, 21

All dressed up and no place to go. That is Ramos' story in this organization, which boasts the incredible power breakthrough of Joe Mauer -- this writer's pick for AL MVP. Ramos is an aggressive hitter (i.e., few walks) but he does a good job getting the bat on the ball. He went a combined .317-7-35-35-0 (.339-.496) in 224 at-bats between low Class A and Double-A.

4. Danny Valencia, 3B, 25

As blocked as Ramos might be, Valencia has a door waiting for him to walk through. The power potential is pretty impressive, even if the homers haven't come in bunches yet. He combined to go .285-14-70-79-0 (.337-.466) between Double- and Triple-A in 487 at-bats. The really important number, though, is the 38 doubles. A year ago, he hit 37 doubles. If you follow this writer, you know we are big fans of the "Minor league doubles become big league homers" mantra. Valencia fits that to a "T" -- err a "3B" -- and could be a sleeper to surprising in 2010. Stash him in AL-only leagues as a potential keeper flier.

5. Tyler Robertson, SP, 22

Baseball America wasn't jazzed about this guy a year ago, ranking him 12th in the organization, whereas we saw him in their top five. BA's ranking should rise after he went a solid 8-8 with a 3.33 ERA, 103 strikeouts and a .259 batting-average against in 143 1/3 innings in high Class A. Robertson should open in Double-A, but seeing the Twins rotation fall apart this season makes us believe he will be in the majors before the end of 2010.

Best of the rest: Carlos Gutierrez, SP; Kyle Gibson, SP; Matt Bashore, SP; Luke Hughes, 3B; Angel Morales, OF; Phil Humber, SP; Armando Gabino, SP; Jeff Manship, SP; Shooter Hunter, SP; Deolis Guerra, SP; Chris Parmelee, OF; Mike McCardell, SP; David Bromberg, SP; Joe Benson, OF; Angel Morales, OF; Erik Lis, OF; Bradley Tippett, SP; Ryan Mullins, SP; Trevor Plouffe, 3B; Joe Gaetti, OF; Rob Delaney, SP; Tim Lahey, SP; Steve Tolleson, 3B; Dustin Martin, OF; Juan Portes, 3B; Drew Butera, C; Loek Van Mil, SP; Alex Burnett, SP; Oswaldo Sosa, SP; Jair Fernandez, OF; Rene Tosoni, OF; Estarlin De Los Santos, SS; Deibinson Romero, 3B; James Beresford, SS; Tom Stuifbergn, SP; Jose Lugo, RP; Anthony Slama, RP; Matt Moses, OF; Billy Bullock, SP; Ben Tootle, SP; Derek McCallum, 2B; and Juan Morillo, RP.

2009 rookies to exhaust eligibility (expected): Jose Mijares, RP; Brian Duensing, SP; and Anthony Swarzak, SP.

Last year's top five here: Hicks, Revere, Kevin Mulvey (now with the D-Backs), Robertson and Hughes.

You can e-mail Emack your Twins prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.