Twins Daily 2022 Draft Coverage, May 5

Curious if the Twins have considered Kumar Rocker. His situation is interesting and I wonder if a discounted deal (Boars) could be struck .. Clearly they have a good relationship in some capacity (Correa)

16 minutes ago, Tim said:

Curious if the Twins have considered Kumar Rocker. His situation is interesting and I wonder if a discounted deal could be struck .. Clearly they have a good relationship in some capacity (Correa)

Interesting thought, but I can't help but wonder if many teams may be a little shy about spending a high pick on him given how last year played out.  I'd bet that many if not most teams are interested, just to what degree remains to be seen.

Just to be clear, I think he is a good pitcher, just not sure how good at the pro level he will be ?‍♂️.

53 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

It'd be an awfully impressive move to go from being drafted 10th overall to not signing because of physical concerns to not playing for a year (to my knowledge he still isn't playing anywhere, but maybe I missed a story on that) to being drafted 8th overall. I'd love Kumar in the second, but taking him 8th would be pretty frustrating.

I think this years draft presents a unique opportunity to really capitalize on elite pitching talent. So many guys are recovering from TJ or going under the knife soon. Taking a risk and signing below slot value to try and nab 2 elite pitching prospects within the first few rounds seems like a pretty sweet gamble.

If you could walk away from the draft with 2 of Rocker, Lesko, Prielipp, Hughes, Pallette, Whisenhunt or Tidwell, it's a massive W.

@Jeremy Nygaard - What are your thoughts on Cam Collier?  I see Keith Law just dropped his top 100 board and has him ranked second, although obviously not a mock draft.  Would you expect Cam to be in the running for the top 10 and the Twins pick?  (Sorry if you have mentioned him before.)

Looks like Cross is ranked 9th by Law, but Berry is down at 23 due to no future position despite a top 10 bat.

https://theathletic.com/3291481/2022/05/05/mlb-draft-prospects-ranking-druw-jones/

27 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

It's an interesting situation, right? I certainly don't think that's a bad strategy. It's not the way I'd go as I want more "certainty" (there's no such thing in a draft, but relative certainty) with a top 10 pick. I'd rather take a supreme, up the middle positional talent at the top over an arm. I just think it's harder to find a Byron Buxton type later in the draft (Mike Trout being the obvious counterpoint there). 

I wouldn't be mad or call for Falvine's collective heads if they follow the strategy you laid out. It certainly has merits. I wouldn't predict it, though, as they believe it's easier to find successful arms outside the top of the draft (which I agree with) than it is to find difference making bats. I think they need to work on their process for picking which bats to take early, but I think the overall strategy is sound. Jackson Holliday is the kid I want (with a realistic chance of being around at #8) as of today. I just think that the plan is to not be in the top 10 again for years and a positional superstar is worth more than a pitching ace so I want to take my chance at an up-the-middle star when I'm this high. Now if there's nothing but corner bats available at 8 I change my strategy and a Lesko type becomes a possibility, but if there's a potential star SS, CF, or C available I'm taking them.

Holliday(SS) would be my 1st choice and if he's not available then I'd hope for Susac(C), We have enough corner OFs/ 1B/ DH types, I'd certainly would want to go there 1st round.

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

It's an interesting situation, right? I certainly don't think that's a bad strategy. It's not the way I'd go as I want more "certainty" (there's no such thing in a draft, but relative certainty) with a top 10 pick. I'd rather take a supreme, up the middle positional talent at the top over an arm. I just think it's harder to find a Byron Buxton type later in the draft (Mike Trout being the obvious counterpoint there). 

I wouldn't be mad or call for Falvine's collective heads if they follow the strategy you laid out. It certainly has merits. I wouldn't predict it, though, as they believe it's easier to find successful arms outside the top of the draft (which I agree with) than it is to find difference making bats. I think they need to work on their process for picking which bats to take early, but I think the overall strategy is sound. Jackson Holliday is the kid I want (with a realistic chance of being around at #8) as of today. I just think that the plan is to not be in the top 10 again for years and a positional superstar is worth more than a pitching ace so I want to take my chance at an up-the-middle star when I'm this high. Now if there's nothing but corner bats available at 8 I change my strategy and a Lesko type becomes a possibility, but if there's a potential star SS, CF, or C available I'm taking them.

Yeah I absolutely agree with you in that the current regime clearly has a strict blueprint for the 1st round.

I could see teams following what the Pirates and Orioles did last year and "reaching" with a college bat in the top 10 well below slot value to take the gamble in later rounds. That hypothetically could cause one of the prep bats to fall.

Though more highly regarded, I look at the Dylan Lesko situation much like JT Ginn's in 2019. Mets took him in the 2nd for about 3mil , TJ was the issue.

I think taking Lesko or Rocker at #8 and offering something like 3.5 - 4 mil is an interesting concept. Even if they don't end up signing, you get the #9 pick next year, plus the opportunity to buy value in the following rounds.

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

It'd be an awfully impressive move to go from being drafted 10th overall to not signing because of physical concerns to not playing for a year (to my knowledge he still isn't playing anywhere, but maybe I missed a story on that) to being drafted 8th overall. I'd love Kumar in the second, but taking him 8th would be pretty frustrating.

He was supposedly finalizing a deal with an independent league team last week.  Of course every team will be attending his starts once he starts pitching but I'd be pretty surprised if the Twins had a ton of interest in him compared to other teams.  So far college pitching appears to be this front office's least likely type when it comes to first round picks.

1 hour ago, Tim said:

Yeah I absolutely agree with you in that the current regime clearly has a strict blueprint for the 1st round.

I could see teams following what the Pirates and Orioles did last year and "reaching" with a college bat in the top 10 well below slot value to take the gamble in later rounds. That hypothetically could cause one of the prep bats to fall.

Though more highly regarded, I look at the Dylan Lesko situation much like JT Ginn's in 2019. Mets took him in the 2nd for about 3mil , TJ was the issue.

I think taking Lesko or Rocker at #8 and offering something like 3.5 - 4 mil is an interesting concept. Even if they don't end up signing, you get the #9 pick next year, plus the opportunity to buy value in the following rounds.

If they don’t sign you also lose the ability to apply value to later rounds. 

1 hour ago, Tiantwindup said:

If they don’t sign you also lose the ability to apply value to later rounds. 

or you just take the risk and bank on the fact collegiate pitchers coming off TJ dont have a ton of options