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Stacey King -> RE: Players and prospects III (10/29/2014 9:51:02 AM)
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Family Matters For Twins
October 26, 2014 by Phil Miller
MINNEAPOLIS—Baseball is a family game, and to the Twins, that philosophy applies on the field as much as in the stands.
“We believe in bloodlines, definitely,” vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff said. “Guys who grew up around the game have an automatic feel for how to be a professional, for how to handle themselves in the clubhouse and on the field.”
Their faith in pedigrees was obvious at Rookie-level Elizabethton, where Nick Gordon, son of former major league righthander Tom Gordon and brother of Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon, played shortstop, and Dereck Rodriguez, son of former American League MVP Ivan Rodriguez, pitched out of the bullpen.
Another ballplayer-by-birth, one without such a well-known surname, played first base and the outfield for the E-Twins: Trey Vavra, 23, son of Twins’ third-base coach Joe Vavra. “He’s a natural, just like the others,” Radcliff said. “His hitting has been impressive.”
It’s not entirely unexpected considering his father’s skill, though he never reached the majors as an infielder in the Dodgers system and spent seven seasons as the Twins’ hitting coach. (The elder Vavra’s future with the team, however, is uncertain after manager Ron Gardenhire was fired following the season.) But 33rd-round picks, as Vavra was in June, don’t normally break into the pros by slashing 20 doubles in 209 plate appearances.
“He’s got great mechanics, of course. He knows what he’s doing at the plate,” Radcliff said. “He can use the whole field, and he’s got power to his pull side, to left field.”
Vavra’s brother Tanner was selected by the Twins a year earlier, and played second base at low Class A Cedar Rapids. Trey is bigger and has more power, but the Twins haven’t settled on a position for him. .
TWIN KILLINGS
Center fielder Aaron Hicks elected to play the first several weeks of the Venezuelan League. Hicks, who is playing for Bravos de Margarita, disappointed the Twins last winter by choosing not to play winter ball.
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