Multiple MN Twins Prospects Land in ESPN Top 50

With the dust settling after Major League Baseball’s trade deadline, multiple outlets have taken a fresh look at their top prospect lists. Recently MLB Pipeline said the Minnesota Twins have the second-best system in the majors. That’s a good thing considering how much talent they just offloaded.

Regardless of whose top 100 prospects you choose to look at, there will be a degree of similarity among each of them. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN remains among the most plugged in across the sport. He has previously worked for the New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Atlanta Braves, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Six Minnesota Twins prospects among Kiley McDaniel’s top 100

If you’re going to have one of the best systems in baseball, then you’re certainly going to have a number of top prospects. It’s good to have quality depth behind the best names, but it’s those at the top that can carry a future. Six different prospects made Kiley McDaniel’s in-season top 100.

Today ESPN's @kileymcd updated his top 100 prospects. Twins on the list:

11. Walker Jenkins
26. Eduardo Tait
30. Luke Keaschall
57. Emmanuel Rodriguez
82. Connor Prielipp
98. Charlee Soto

— Ted (@tlschwerz) August 20, 2025

McDaniel also breaks down his group as a whole into tiers. 60 future value is generally seen as a prospect that has the likelihood of being a star. While the scale is 20-80, few talents ever graduate prospect status sitting above the 60 mark.

Of the Twins mentioned, Walker Jenkins is the lone candidate in McDaniel’s 60 FV Tier. The 20-year-old is already at Double-A, and despite having missed time this year due to injury, he is batting .304/.411/.480 across 46 games. It’s likely that Jenkins will be up to Triple-A St. Paul by Setepmber.

Walker Jenkins delivers his fifth 3-hit game for Double-A @WindSurgeICT in the past three weeks ⚡️

MLB's No. 11 prospect (@Twins) is hitting .336 with a .998 OPS during the second half of the season: pic.twitter.com/eSvcxaSbgZ

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 10, 2025

No Minnesota prospects sit in the 55 FV Tier, but McDaniel has newly acquired Eduardo Tait and Luke Keaschall in the 50 FV Tier. Tait was the second-best prospect dealt at the deadline, and the Twins would love to see him become their catcher of the future. Keaschall has had a nice start to his career and will likely exhaust rookie status by the end of the season.

There is no specification for prospects beyond Keaschall, but just a handful of months ago Emmanuel Rodriguez would have been on the same level. Injuries have derailed his ascent to the big leagues, but all the tools are there. A consensus top-50 prospect coming into the season, Rodriguez has played just 51 games while dealing with thumb and muscle injuries. He got 47 games in last year while struggling with durability as well.

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As a whole, the showing is incredibly strong for the Twins farm system. McDaniel is clearly high on the group as a whole.

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McDaniel has been high on Charlee Soto for a while. It’s interesting to see him still make the cut after throwing just 13 innings this year, and having his season end with a surgery.

Still, it’s beyond reasonable then to suggest that McDaniel could have had seven Minnesota Twins prospects in his top 100. Kaelen Culpepper has torn up Double-A with Walker Jenkins, and the 2024 first round pick will be in St. Paul soon as well.

Kaelen Culpepper looks like he'll be our next Top 100 prospect very soon!@AramLeighton8 explained into his impressive season and profile on The Call Up⬇️ pic.twitter.com/zRADtO0OKt

— The Call Up | An MLB Prospect Podcast (@The_CallUpPod) August 20, 2025

The 22-year-old owns a .318/.382/.514 line across 41 games for Wichita. He has nine Double-A dingers, and 18 on the year. With Carlos Correa having been dumped back to Houston, Culpepper could challenge Brooks Lee for time at shortstop in Minnesota next season.

Outside of just Culpepper, there’s potential consideration for Mick Abel too. He is previously a top 50 prospect that is now in the post-hype phase. He has shown incredibly well since joining the organization at Triple-A St. Paul. Minnesota is also very high on left-handed pitching prospect Kendry Rojas, who was enough to get Louie Varland from them.

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You have to go this far down before you even get to 2025 first round pick Marek Houston who just earned a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids. Dasan Hill has shown up on top 100 lists as well, and Gabriel Gonzalez was a top 100 prospect when acquired for Jorge Polanco prior to last season.