Twins Draft Class 2022 Update

Thanks for the recap, Jeremy.  
 

Appeared on draft day that many of the guys drafted 4-10, were selected higher than rated by the various sources.  Expect that was done to have the dollars to go over slot on the top two.  Strategy worked and couldn’t be happier with the first two signed, sealed and delivered.  I am hopeful that Prielipp becomes the Twins version of Chris Sale and is pitching at Target Field late next year.

One question on the dollars for Prielipp.  Saw I think in the first tweet about his signing that his slot was $1,622,000 or so.  With them well under, it no longer makes a difference unless they want to take a run at one of the last two.
 

First thank you Jeremy for all the work you put into the draft with articles, video's and comments!!  It was very insightful and I for one really enjoy the kind of info and content you bring to Twins Daily. So thank you!

I am thankful the Twins got the two high schoolers signed.  They both have really good tools and project well especially with their arms and defense.  Hopefully their hit tools will end up plus but we will have to wait and see.  They both appear athletically gifted so just need to hit the ball to succeed. 

Have to say I was surprised Prielipp made it to the second round and that he ultimately did not quite get first round money.  That leads me to question if other teams see him more as a reliever than starter? I know Fangraphs did so it will be interesting to see how things ultimately turn out.  Still, likely elite reliever in the second round would not be a bad get either.

As usual I really don't understand draft rankings when it comes to pitchers past the second round.  Just given the comments and where Morris was ranked I didn't see him commanding the $500,000 bonus he got.  I thought it would be in the 3 to 4 hundred range tops.  I don't have the info the Twins do though so obviously they feel like he was the best pitcher available at pick number 4.

Happy to see both catchers getting the max they could get in the 11th and 12th rounds as I like both and I think they deserved even more but at least they gave the slotted value there.

Is Garrett McMillan worth going over slot for?  He wasn't ranked in the the top 300 that I could see.  I guess I don't see the attraction there but maybe someone can fill me in?  

Dickerson is interesting and the Twins didn't get much in the draft for outfield prospects but with the swing and miss he seems like a long shot to me.  Still if they had to put that money on just one player I would go with Dickerson.

I know I complained about all the shortstop\utility player picks but I really like what they did in this draft.  They got a couple of high schoolers with good projection (i.e. not slow footed position less players). They got arguably the best bat in the draft.  They grabbed an elite arm in the second and under rated player with their supp pick. I am interested to see how how the smaller school Ben Ross does at the pro level and if his bat plays the Twins might have a legit shortstop there. I think Morris and Lewis are interesting arms and I really liked both catchers they drafted after the first ten picks.

To recap they got high upside early in the draft and still found talented bats late in the draft along with two high school shortstops.  I think they did pretty well this year.

As with Dman I also offer thanks to Jeremy and others that provided superb draft coverage all along the way. Maybe I didn’t pay as much attention to prior drafts or just can’t remember very well, but I think this year’s effort sets a new standard for the draft. Kudos to all from TD who contributed!

Excellent work and a fine draft - excited to see how Lee and Prielipp work out.

These unsigned 19 and 20 guys are probably better off going to college to play for the next year. 

I would love to hear the conversations that happen when the selection gets stiffed his slotted bonus.

So here are my thoughts. The Twins obviously liked their first 2 draft picks as they very rarely go overslot on their early picks they are usually trying to gain money to use later in the draft. 
 

2. Someone posted Priellip was closer to 48 than 28. Base on the contract I think that is a fair assessment. It’s not to say he doesn’t have high upside, but due to his injury he was lower on peoples boards than many of us anticipated and he commanded much less dollars to sign.  
 

3. This is another year where the day 2 signings are more interesting to me than the day 2. On day 2 currently only the knuckleball pitcher and the volts 2nd baseman look like they have a reasonable shot at the MLB.  We are also getting a couple high school athletes as lottery tickets. This was one hell of a draft.  

53 minutes ago, Jeremy Nygaard said:

The day after he was drafted I was told he was going to JC and would be treated as a draft-and-follow.

Something changed over the last week, apparently. So that was kinda surprising, but it could have been as simple as his rep telling the team that his number came down.

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My guess is he decided he would be better off immediately going to the twins organization to get healthy and get stronger for next year.  He is one heck of a lottery pick.  

Going to echo great thanks for some amazing hard work by you Jeremy, and  Jamie. Much appreciated!

Lee is going to stick at SS for at least a couple of years. And why wouldn't you see what he can do there? Arm and hands and instincts all say he can play the spot well, if not really well. Lack of great speed or, supposedly, great quickness says he moves one day. But I've seen a lot of really, really fine SS that lacked that extra quickness factor that were fine ML SS due to those instincts, hands, arm, and good positioning. Names like Ripken, Blauser and Correa pop in my head.

Totally understand some scouts and pundit experts looking at Prielipp and thinking possible BP piece. But every single draft pick for as long as I can remember...with only a few exceptions every draft...is almost always "mid rotation starter with BP floor". Prielipp was an outstanding HS performer and top prospect. What he did at Alabama in his one year was SICK. Yes, it's going to take a couple years to be 100% physically, 100% in regained feel, 100% for a solid 3rd offering (or more), and a few years to rack up the innings. So what? Kid is quite young and has amazing potential. Still stunned he lasted until the Twins pick in the 2nd. Should have been gone late 1st, or top of the 2nd. Also surprised he didn't demand $2M+, which is what I thought. 

No question the Twins probably drafted at least a few guys over slot in order to under-sign to give them flexibility. Doesn't mean they drafted poorly, or guys who don't have futures. Very interesting to me that virtually all the position players, despite different levels of experience, seem to have good "hit" and contact tools, usually with some power. There's even some speed mixed in there. The Twins love their power, as all teams do, but over their last 5 drafts, they've also drafted some athletes with hit/contact. Just felt like a little more concentration this year. 

I just love drafting so many SS because they will stick or move to 3B, 2B, OF, and use their skills to starters or good utility players. And again, no way to predict who will turn out, but all these guys show athleticism, hit tool, and some projectability. Nice!

But big shout out to 6th round pick, 2B, Jorel Ortega. One year wonder? Or a finally healthy hitting stud? Potentially huge steal there.

3 catchers selected in 2021 and 2 more this year. This organization values catching. They understand the importance, even if they aren't dropping TOP draft selections for them. But then again, who is? And how many TOP, can't miss catching prospects are there each year? Not sure I don't like Cossetti and Baez more than the 3 guys picked last year. Said it before and will say it again; you can more easily teach a catcher who hits to be better defensively than you can teach a defensive catcher to be a good hitter.

I understand OF Sayre was a small school 17th round pick and his conference player of the year, but I'd sure like to know if there's something to like there. Nothing just seems to stand out from the small reports I've read other than solid hit tool. Untapped potential?

Johnson and his entire scouting department could fall out of bed tomorrow, hit their heads, have concussions and amnesia and still know more than I do about scouting and projection. But why is it I look at numbers, and length, and reported stuff, and past examples, and find myself more intrigued by Matthews and Lewis than Morris and Jones, drafted before them? I kinda like the long, young, and less experienced Culpepper a bit as well. Possible surprise?

Tell me LHP Zachary Veen and his amazing control didn't make you wonder for a moment? A couple MPH on his fastball has to have you thinking LH BP help, right?

Pleasantly surprised it looks like both HS SS, Daniel and Ortiz, are both in the fold. Both well recruited and projectile. I thought the injury to Daniel might push him to a pro **** and some bonus $. But thought it would take more. And to get both? Awesome!

Not sure what to think of SP McMillan from Alabama. He was their Friday starter, but his numbers were nothing special. A flier considering, as mentioned in the OP, because the Twins have a good relationship with the school and think he's ready to take another step?

HS OF Dickerson sounds like a great recruit that might be a stud in 3yrs. But you draft him on a WTH whim "just in case". Well, based on available $ left and the 5% allowable overage, there is some REAL $ left to sign either McMillan or Dickerson, or both potentially. And I well remember Julien signing for over slot money at the last moment. Turned out to be a good move for the Twins, right. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of these guys still signed.

Overall, liked the approach of arms and SS and a pair of catchers with some worthwhile HS talent worth taking a shot on. Time will tell if this draft is anything beyond the first two selections, but the plan looks to have been a good one.

Thanks Jeremy. Pretty nice to get your first 18 of 20 signed sealed and delivered, even sneaking a few HS players in there on day 3.

And thanks Doc for a great post

Nice to have you back, you did an excellent job. I wouldn't doubt that Preilip would start out in the BP but hope eventually make it into the rotation. Happy that we signed who we've sign already

31 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I'll echo everyone else, great stuff.

McMillan must have some pretty decent projectable attributes to go back to school as his numbers don't exactly scream 6th round money.

Assuming, of course, that he actually does return to school. There's a whole lot of money still available on the proverbial table for another signing, or two.

According to MLB draft tracker, Daniel signed for $232,800.

Is 9 pitchers enough? Half the roster is pitching and pitchers flame out more often than position players. The Twins don't sign much pitching in the international free agent market. Pitchers are also the most common currency at the trade deadline.

A draft with 12-14 pitchers seems more prudent.

I think its fairly evident the Twins liked Priellip much more than the rest of MLB.  Could be our relationship with the program,  could be we are projecting him much higher than most.  We paid him overslot,  but not crazy overslot money.  Even still I think we can comfortably say he was likely the highest rated pitcher they had on their board from what we can gather.   As to how good he will be that is comes down to how healthy he is and can he perform even close to his first season in college.  If so we have a pretty dynamic arm.  It is a high upside gamble on an injured arm.  We have plenty of those throughout the system.