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Cade Horton wasn't on our radar when we mapped out our draft coverage. And he probably doesn't need to be now.
But we didn't want to leave any stone unturned and when we've heard #8 mentioned as Horton's ceiling... well, that makes our ears perk up.
Who is He?
Cade Horton is a right-handed, two-way, draft-eligible redshirt freshman for the Oklahoma Sooners. He's less two-way now and more pitcher, but that's really ambitious to say about a guy with all of 53 2/3 collegiate innings under his belt (as opposed to 168 plate appearances). Horton, though, took the world by storm by dominating in the College World Series. Years prior, a post-draft performance like that propels him to the top of the 2023 mock drafts. But because the draft is later now, Omaha heroics can pay immediate dividends.
Horton, the prospect, is a 20-year-old, just over six foot, power arm who is less than a year and a half removed from Tommy John surgery. He's possesses a mid-to-high 90s fastball with movement, a potentially devastating near-90 mph slider and a curveball that isn't great, but is there.
Why Will the Twins Draft Him?
The upside is incredible and this meteoric rise didn't come from nowhere. He was a potential first-day pick in 2020, but had an enormous price tag. Now healthy and given the opportunity, he's everything scouts believed he could be.
It's no secret the Twins are led by a group that cherishes pitching - and if you don't believe that, go look at prospect lists from the mid-2010s - and Horton may have the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the entire draft, college or pro.
Horton, like Connor Prielipp, just needs an extended opportunity to show that, when and if healthy, he can be one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
Why the Twins Won't Draft Him?
52 2/3 college innings. About 17 months removed from Tommy John surgery. Bonus demands that don't seem to have come down from when he was a high schooler. Putting your faith in a 6' 1" pitcher to be a frontline guy...
Want me to go on?
There's a number of reasons to not draft him, but the reality is that you can find warts on every prospect. A wise baseball man once told me that "players get told their whole lives what they can't do, we're drafting players based on what they can do" and what Horton can do - albeit in a small sample size - is very impressive.
The mention of the price tag in almost every draft report doesn't go unnoticed and may mark Horton as a prime example of someone who is going to drop a little and then sign for way over slot. Could a team like the Royals have a replay of their 2013 draft? One that saw them draft Hunter Dozier at #8, pay him mid-first round money, only to turn around and give 34th overall pick Sean Manaea the fifth biggest bonus of the draft? Horton, in this example, is Manaea... and I would guess not the Royals given they just traded the prime pick (35) to make this happen.
Do the Twins get crafty with #8 (Jett Williams and $3.2 million?) and then play the waiting game on Horton at #48 (and $4 million?), because that would be quite a feat. (And is completely conjecture before anyone flies off the handle.)
What do you do? Interest in Horton or just a flat pass?
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