Article: Twins Add Two More on Thursday Night

[Jeremy Nygaard]

With the 73rd and 74th picks of the night, the Twins drafted Jose Miranda, a prep shortstop from Puerto Rico, and Akil Baddoo, a prep outfielder from Georgia.Jose Miranda is a taller, bigger bodied shortstop that may eventually have to move. He's considered to have a good bat, though there's some mystery surrounding Miranda because he didn't travel off of the island as much as other Puerto Ricans. Miranda will start at shortstop in the Gulf Coast League.

 

Akil Baddoo is listed at 6-0, 195; he's not that big. Don't let the size fool you though. The 20/20 talk is probably his ceiling, but he gets compared to players like Carl Crawford, Ray Langford and Denard Span. Baddoo is going to be a fan favorite as a player that just seems to have fun playing the game. He'll get plenty of reps in centerfield to start his career, but may profile long-term as a left-fielder. One scout called him the "best pure hitter in Georgia."

 

 

Baseball America ranks Miranda #113, but MLB.com did not have him ranked.

 

"The strength of the Puerto Rican draft class this year is its infielders, and Miranda has emerged as one of the best following Delvin Perez. Miranda has a good approach at the plate and has an advanced feel for hitting, enabling him to make a lot of contact. He also shows some pop and projects to hit for average power as he physically matures. While Miranda plays shortstop now, his footwork and lower half will lead him to move off the position as a professional. He has an average arm and a good enough glove to stay in the infield, either at second or third base. There is still some rawness to the 17-year-old's game, but Miranda provides significant upside thanks to his offensive profile."

 

Baseball America had Baddoo ranked as their 54th best prospect.

 

"Baddoo combines plus speed with an intriguing feel for the barrel. He endeared himself to scouts on the national scene with a strong showing at the 2015 East Coast Pro event, where he showed off his quick hands and even quicker feet. This spring, while his team went just 9-16, Baddoo showed scouts strong bat-to-ball skills, leading some evaluators to believe he could develop a plus hit tool and hit at the top of the lineup. He's a lefthanded hitter (and thrower) with above-average bat speed and a short stroke, but he was pull-happy against quality pitching at East Coast Pro and at the WWBA Championships in the fall and will have to continue to prove himself against quality pitching. Baddoo's arm strength is below-average and his reads and routes lack polish, leading some to envision him as a left fielder long term, though scouts expect him to play center field to start his career. He is committed to Kentucky."

 

MLB.com ranks Baddoo #72.

 

"The Georgia high school ranks have produced 13 outfielders selected in the first two rounds in the six previous Drafts this decade, and Baddoo could add to that number in 2016. The Kentucky recruit has an intriguing power/speed combination and has improved in both departments over the last year.

Baddoo has made strides with his bat as well and has the potential to hit for both power and average. He has a loose, whippy left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed. Add in his plus speed, and he has the upside of a 20-20 player if everything comes together.Baddoo's quickness stands out more than his instincts in center field, so he could wind up on an outfield corner. With his below-average arm, that would mean shifting to left field, though scouts who like him think he'd still provide enough offense to profile there."

 

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[Monkeypaws]

Interesting to see 2 OF, 1 C, and 1 IF in the first 4 picks, and 0 P. Looks like hitters are the priority this year, and no quck fix college bats either. Very interesting indeed.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Interesting to see 2 OF, 1 C, and 1 IF in the first 4 picks, and 0 P. Looks like hitters are the priority this year, and no quck fix college bats either. Very interesting indeed.

 

And not just position players, but guys that profile as good hitters. All four of them. You think the organization is tired of seeing poor at-bats and hacking at breaking balls? 

[d-mac]

And not just position players, but guys that profile as good hitters. All four of them. You think the organization is tired of seeing poor at-bats and hacking at breaking balls?

 

I have my doubts about Kirilloff, though. His swing just screams contact issues to me- and his lack of bat speed is a red flag.

[rukavina]

Four prep guys.  Help from the first two rounds will likely have to wait until 2022.

 

Edited June 10, 2016 by rukavina

[shs_59]

I'm not too high on the Miranda pick but the Abdodoo pick is outstanding...

 

So my grades thus far:

 

(given the time and context of when and where each player was taken)

 

1.) Kirilloff - PA H.s. OF   =  B-

2.) Rodvert - Wis. H.S.  C = B

3B .) Miranda - Puerto Rico H.S. SS = C

4B.) Akil Abdoo - Ga H.S.  OF = A-

[jsteve96]

I see some are not fans of the Miranda pick but I like it. Good bat plus we shouldn't need him at short, We'll need him at 2nd most likely anyway.. Hoping Nick Gordon can be a major league shortstop and if he can't Wander Javier will be..  Rodvert and Abdoo look like above average picks. Kirilloff could be pretty solid too.

[IndyTwinsFan]

I don't see anything to absolutely dislike from the Day 1 selections.   Now that we seem to have started stockpiling some intriguing pitching prospects, time to start doing the same with decent and apparently projectable bats.   We'll see about Day 2.

[nicksaviking]

I like the handful of lotto tickets approach. Going the "safe" route never works outside of a very few can't miss guys who have gone 1-1 with a bullet, no one is actually a safe pick.

 

Get the highest ceiling guys available regardless of level. It's not like the Twins need guys who will be up in the next couple years, they still have high-ceiling young guys for nearly every position that need to audition as it is.

[diehardtwinsfan]

There's a place where college players make sense.  Today and tomorrow grabbing a few college bats the best baseball conferences is one of them as you have a better chance of finding that diamond in the rough, but when you're drafting late, those floors stop looking sexy so by all means go for the ceiling.  I'm glad the Twins did this (it's what I wanted) even if it wasn't all the players I wanted (though I'm ecstatic that they got Revoldt). 

[drivlikejehu]

Teams have a limited ability to project "ceiling" too. There was a good Fangraphs article about that the other day. Did anyone think Altuve was a guy with a really high ceiling?

 

Since 2003, the Twins have signed 2 draft picks that have produced more than 10 career WAR: Matt Garza and Brian Dozier. That's it. A few good years or 4-5 average years is what it takes to get to that mark, and they've managed it twice, and one of them they traded away for Delmon Young. 

[ericberget]

Love what I'm seeing in the Baddoo pick at #74.

Just watch this clip from his workout for the Twins: 

...and then consider that the kid in the video is 17 old. 

 

 

[twinsfanstreif]

I actually really like the profile of all of these guys as hitters and all should be plus defenders but besides the Catcher we took a bunch of corner guys which is a major plus in our system. I get that all of these guys are young and a lot of our corner players won't be around by time they get to the majors but it seems weird to draft against our weaknesses and just get more of the same. I hope it doesn't backfire on us

[drivlikejehu]

 

I actually really like the profile of all of these guys as hitters and all should be plus defenders but besides the Catcher we took a bunch of corner guys which is a major plus in our system. I get that all of these guys are young and a lot of our corner players won't be around by time they get to the majors but it seems weird to draft against our weaknesses and just get more of the same. I hope it doesn't backfire on us

 

How can having good players backfire? Worst case is that a team makes a trade.

 

The Twins desperately need talent, everywhere.

[DocBauer]

So far so good. Getting a little crowded in places near the top of the milb ladder, so replenish the lower levels with some talent with nice potential. We've been told the team might go a little position player heavy this year after concentrating a great deal on young pitchers as of late.

 

Nothing perfect or polished here, but young athletes with actual upside. I like it!

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

I actually really like the profile of all of these guys as hitters and all should be plus defenders but besides the Catcher we took a bunch of corner guys which is a major plus in our system. I get that all of these guys are young and a lot of our corner players won't be around by time they get to the majors but it seems weird to draft against our weaknesses and just get more of the same. I hope it doesn't backfire on us

 

This is probably more addressing a weakness in the low minors.  We have corner guys in the high minors galore, and several are very flawed in their approach.  There's not much for decent hitting in the low minors right now.

[twinsfanstreif]

 

How can having good players backfire? Worst case is that a team makes a trade.

 

The Twins desperately need talent, everywhere.

it doesn't work like that in baseball, guys have to prove it on the big league stage before they really become tradable commodities unless they can establish themselves as a top prospect and at that point very few teams are trading guys like that anymore. For instance we couldn't really get a whole lot in return for guys like Adam Brett Walker or Kepler or even Rosario. In Baseball you really have to either develop a prospect or pay for a free agent, it's not super common for big trades these days. Look at the past few years, there have been little to no blockbuster trades and the trades that do happen are more lateral moves for both sides