Article: Official Twins Daily Day Two Draft Thread

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Have you had a chance to wrap your head around everything that happened Thursday? No? Me neither. But whether you're ready or not, Round 3 will start at noon on Friday. Twins Daily is the place to be to get you through the day.If you didn't keep up on all of Thursday's happenings, I'll throw a whole bunch of links at you. You could start with the Day One Thread. It might take you an hour (or four) to sift through all the information.

 

If you just want the cliff notes versions, read all that's been written about the four players already selected: Alex Kirilloff, Ben Rortvedt, Jose Miranda and Akil Baddoo.

 

And if you don't want all the facts to help color your narrative, pass on the clicks and I'll tell you how to feel below.

 

Before that though, don't forget that the Godfather John Bonnes and myself will be broadcasting on KFAN on Friday night from 7-8. We'll be recapping the Top 10 rounds.

 

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As the draft had approached, it never offered much clarity as it got closer. I knew the Twins had always like Kirilloff, but the talk on the national-level always focused on power-pitchers. As prep arms started to price themselves out of the Twins price range, I broadened the search to include college arms. To be completely honest, there weren't a ton of pitchers that I really liked: Braxton Garrett, Cal Quantrill, Ian Anderson and, towards the end, Justin Dunn.

 

Anderson went off the board at #3, Garrett at #7 and Quantrill at #8. When it came time for the Twins to read off their card, I figured it was between Dunn and Kirilloff and I had come around to prefer Dunn, which is odd because I typically prefer high-ceiling preps over stale collegiates.

 

It didn't take me too long to come back around on the only hitter I liked at #15. Kirilloff is going to be a very good player. Twins made comps of Christian Yelich and Todd Helton, but when I heard the Max Kepler comp, I thought that made sense. (Probably because I had that comp earlier in the process.) Kirilloff isn't close and he doesn't need to be, but he adds a high-ceiling prospect to the stable. And the value is in his bat, which seems to become a trend later in the day.

 

There have been many complaints about the lack of catching in the organization and I understand it, though I don't necessarily agree that it's as empty as many claim. I thought they'd pop a guy sometime on Day 2, but they were able to get the top prep catcher in the nation, Ben Rortvedt, at #56. He profiles as a catcher who could stick and also have a decent bat while doing it, so that's great. What I worry about it that a majority of fans have already written his name in stone as the "future catcher". He's no where near that. He's four, maybe five years from contributing. Rortvedt, no matter how good he is - and he can be really good, isn't going to solve the problem we're watching on TV every night.

 

The Twins got the neat opportunity to draft two players consecutively at the end of the night. These are picks awarded, potentially, to teams who receive part of the league revenue (revenue-sharing). Having already taken two prep players, I figured we'd see the franchise transition to safer (college) arms with lower mileage (relievers!).

 

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Brad Radke call off two more prep names: Jose Miranda, a high-ceiling Puerto Rican shortstop who probably plays third but has the bat for it, and Akil Baddoo, a plus athlete who profiles as a left fielder but will someday hopefully fill the charismatic void that Torii Hunter left when he retired. Baddoo also has the makings of a good hitter. Both players are 17 years old.

 

All in all, there's nothing to not like about Day One (without getting nit-picky). The Twins will make eight more picks on Friday, with the first pick probably coming between 12:15pm and 12:30pm.

 

It's going to be another fun day. Chime in below. Share your thoughts. Ask questions (though I apologize, I can't respond to nearly as many as I'd like too.)

 

Twice as many picks on Friday. Twice as much fun.

 

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[tytybuckets]

I really liked what we did day one especially the pick of Baddoo, He was compared to Carl Crawford on the broadcast which was music to my ears even though it is unlikely he reaches that level of play. The one pick I question is Kirilloff which isn't because I don't think he is good I just really wanted Dalvin Perez who I think has a chance to be great. One other guy I fell in love with recently is Peter Alonso after his performance coming back from the wrist injury. I know we don't need anymore 1B/DH types but boy does his bat look good. I haven't heard your thoughts on Alonso Jeremy, what are they?

[diehardtwinsfan]

They needed some higher ceiling guys and they weren't going to get them from college players.  It doesn't mean that they found the catcher of the future just yet, but I like the idea that they are stocking the lower minors with some high ceiling talent.  It will be interesting to see if they need to grab a couple of cheap college signs today or if they are comfortable that these kids will all go slot.

[zenser]

Would Funkhouser be an option if he is still available in the 3rd round?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Would Funkhouser be an option if he is still available in the 3rd round?

 

Wasn't he considered a potential 1st rounder a few years ago?  If so, not a bad guy to take a flier on, but then again, he's not being considered in the 1st now b/c he didn't do well against advanced competition.  I'd be curious what the reason for that was.

[markos]

 

Wasn't he considered a potential 1st rounder a few years ago?  If so, not a bad guy to take a flier on, but then again, he's not being considered in the 1st now b/c he didn't do well against advanced competition.  I'd be curious what the reason for that was.

He was a late-1st rounder last year, but could agree with the (I think) Dodgers and went back for this senior season. He was pretty crappy this year, though I guess he was better lately. I would definitely take a flyer on him. 

[SirLoin]

Any chance they go after Prior Lake's Nick Hanson?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

 I haven't heard your thoughts on Alonso Jeremy, what are they?

 

I don't know that I would have drafted Alonso yet just because he's a first-base only guy and unless your power is so impressive, you can find those pretty much anywhere. I really liked the Wiel pick last year, but that was after the first 10 rounds. I think Alonso will be a decent player, but wasn't a Day 1 guy for me.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Would Funkhouser be an option if he is still available in the 3rd round?

 

Funkhouser is a Boras guy and I'm sure Boras is working the phones right now to get his client more money than he turned down last year. Twins will stay away, I'm sure. He'll probably call the Nationals and cash in a favor for signing the Strasburg extension.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Any chance they go after Prior Lake's Nick Hanson?

 

If he's signable still, I think he'll be someone that comes off the board early today.

[gunnarthor]

Reds nabbed Hansen. They are having a nice draft 

[SirLoin]

 

If he's signable still, I think he'll be someone that comes off the board early today.

 

That escalated quickly....

[operation mindcrime]

I like those comps for kirilloff!

[operation mindcrime]

Thank God for central air!

[d-mac]

Is there an outage with the draft system or something? Nothing has happened for a while.

[SirLoin]

Any chance Jared Horn or Zach Jackson are on the Twins radar?

[operation mindcrime]

I watched Baddoo hit on YouTube last night he looked pretty good!

[SirLoin]

Griffin Jax....  I guess we won't see him in the GCL until 2022....

[d-mac]

Signability pick? His strikeout numbers are awful coming from a poor conference, and were downright bad in the Northwoods league. 

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Signability pick? His strikeout numbers are awful coming from a poor conference, and were downright bad in the Northwoods league. 

 

quite possibly.  they may need to punt on a pick or two to make sure they get everyone from yesterday under contract.

[operation mindcrime]

Jax was rated ten picks higher so I guess that's something.

[diehardtwinsfan]

just looked him up.  Not the worst pick.  Probably a ceiling of a back end starter but his K and BB numbers improved in his 3 years at airforce.   He did a good job keeping the ball in the park too.

[dgwills]

The person who made this mock draft https://baseballdraftreport.com/tag/griffin-jax/  must be loving what the twins are doing.  

[operation mindcrime]

Jax was rated ten picks higher so I guess that's something.

[drivlikejehu]

 

Signability pick? His strikeout numbers are awful coming from a poor conference, and were downright bad in the Northwoods league. 

 

The MWC is a solid baseball conference. By the 3rd round virtually all prospects need major improvements to profile as a good big leaguer. Jax seems to have the command needed to succeed, so it's just a matter of whether his stuff continues to improve.

[d-mac]

The MWC is a solid baseball conference. By the 3rd round virtually all prospects need major improvements to profile as a good big leaguer. Jax seems to have the command needed to succeed, so it's just a matter of whether his stuff continues to improve.

 

It's not in the top few tiers of college conferences. He had 6.6k/9 in the Northwoods league, and a little better 7.0 K/9 as junior. He didn't see top quality college hitters and still didn't get swings and misses. He will struggle to get outs in professional ball with the lack of an out pitch. The Twins could have gotten better value at #3 still.

[Bob Sacamento]

 

Griffin Jax....  I guess we won't see him in the GCL until 2022....

They'll hopefully get his military commitment deferred but it could cost the Twins.

 

What BA says about him:

 

Jax would be a sure bet to go in the top two or three rounds this year pending a decision by the Air Force regarding a possible deferral of his military commitment. The 6-foot-2, 195 pound righthander has been the Falcons' top starter this year, with a sterling 8-2, 1.91 mark with 76 strikeouts through 81 innings. While still a bit inconsistent, Jax has the best arm strength of any starter in the West, with a quick arm delivering a fastball that sits around 92 and gets up to 94-95 mph. His three secondary pitches are all average offerings at their best, with a focus on his mid-80s slider and low-80s changeup. The question as to what it will cost to get Jax away from his service commitment, assuming he is ready to choose professional baseball as his avocation.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2016 by Bob Sacamento

[gunnarthor]

 

It's not in the top few tiers of college conferences. He had 6.6k/9 in the Northwoods league, and a little better 7.0 K/9 as junior. He didn't see top quality college hitters and still didn't get swings and misses. He will struggle to get outs in professional ball with the lack of an out pitch. The Twins could have gotten better value at #3 still.

mlb ranked him #82 overall.  

[Bob Sacamento]

 

mlb ranked him #82 overall.  

BA had him at #100

[Bob Sacamento]

Twins go with a college senior with their fourth round pick in RHP sidearm reliever Thomas Hackimer.  Got a twitter page, apparently loves Game of Thrones so he can't be that bad right?

 

Here's what BA had the rated #191 prospect:

 

Hackimer's performance out of St. John's bullpen has been exceptional. With an ERA just a smidge over 1.00, Hackimer is one of the most dominant closers in college baseball. Many teams were interested in Hackimer last year, when he ranked No. 346 in the BA 500. The Mets selected him in the 15th round last year but could not sign the academically inclined closer. A converted shortstop, he throws from an unconventionally low arm slot, slightly lower than sidearm. He pitches mostly in the 88-91 range and touched 92, with quality movement on his fastball, and he mixes in a frisbee slider to keep hitters guessing. Hackimer is a strike-thrower with a proven track record of getting good hitters out. Not only has he dominated for the Red Storm, but he also had an exceptional summer pitching for the Bourne Braves of the Cape Cod League. He could be a quick-moving reliever.