Jeremy Nygaard

Friday night didn't only signify the first time a Twins club started a season 4-0 since 1987. It also signified the first time CBO Derek Falvey got to see high school prep pitching phenom Hunter Greene in person. Falvey was one of five people representing the Twins organization, which also included scouting director Sean Johnson.According to various reports, Greene sat at 98-99 with his fastball. Some radar guns even flashed triple digits. Throughout his 91-pitch, 13-strikeout, complete-game outing, his fastball never dipped below 95. Greene also flashed a devastating slider. You can see Green throw one pitch, with the Twins crew in the background below: Greene has become the darling of the draft. He's helped the poor by doing a sock drive, collecting socks in exchange for autographed cards. (And I missed the deadline... but he still sent the cards.) He's gone through hard family times as his younger sister dealt with leukemia. He's shown his personality through his social media. On the field, he's proven to be, perhaps, the most unique prep right-handed pitcher in recent memory (or ever?) and strives to make history as the first ever high school right handed pitcher to go first overall. He's also a pretty darned good shortstop. In a draft that doesn't include any top notch college stars, Greene continues to shine brightly and is becoming a cult hero in Twins Territory. --- Check back for updates. Click here to view the article

Fair point. But 3/8 of the players mentioned are Rangers/Indians... which probably doesn't deviate far from the Falvey/Levine mode of thinking. I would imagine that the way Cleveland is and the way the Twins are under Falvey will be very, very similar.

When the Twins put Chris Gimenez in at third base and moved Miguel Sano over to first base on Wednesday afternoon, I jokingly said on Twitter that you can’t start thinking about 2019 (aka Year 1 A.7) too early. No, I don’t really know that the Twins will move Sano over to first base as soon as Joe Mauer vacates the position. But it did get me thinking about two years from now.Before I look ahead two years, though, I looked back at the Opening Day lineup from 2015, you know, the year the Twins won 83 and narrowly missed the playoffs. Beyond the top three (Danny Santana, SS; Joe Mauer, 1B and Brian Dozier, 2B), none of the other six remain with the Twins. (Kennys Vargas did DH and is with Rochester.) Will there be that much turnover again in two years? Jason Castro will enter the final year of his three-year pact. Assuming the Twins compete at some point between now and then, Castro will be the Opening Day catcher in 2019. The Twins hold an option on Ervin Santana for 2019 and Phil Hughes will be in the last year of his very questionably-signed extension. The only other player under contract for the season is ByungHo Park. As previously mentioned, Mauer and his $23 million will come off the books. At that point, you’d be hard-pressed to find a spot for Mauer. He’d have to re-sign for an amount significantly less than he currently plays for and agree to a huge reduction in playing time. Sure, I could find him some time to DH against right-handers… but it would be hard to forecast anything but retirement for number seven. Home run bangin’ Brian Dozier will earn $6 million this year and $9 million next year before getting the opportunity to test free agency for the first time. I’m sure the club will explore extending Dozier before then, but trading Dozier for important pieces (plural, yes) remains the most likely outcome. The outfield trio is going to remain affordable for the next few years. Eddie Rosario and Byron Buxton will likely be entering arbitration in advance of the 2019 season. Max Kepler isn’t scheduled to hit arbitration until the following season, 2020. As teams start to realize the value of locking up pre-arbitration players, look for the Twins to do their homework on Buxton and Kepler. Rosario, in my opinion, remains a player that Twins could look to move, maximizing his value at some point in the next couple of years. Moving into the infield, Miguel Sano is on the same schedule as Buxton and Rosario. Though his defensive home will be questioned, his true home is in the middle of the lineup. Park, under contract, and Vargas, with less than two years of service, could still fit into the equation. The middle infield is more interesting. Assuming Dozier moves on, does Jorge Polanco, who still has five years of team control left, slide to second? (This year will help answer that question.) Can Nick Gordon stick at shortstop? Does Engelb Vielma hit enough to be the everyday shortstop? Do the Twins pursue keeping Eduardo Escobar, who will also be a first-time free agent? The rotation could still include Santana and Hughes. The combination of youngsters Jose Berrios, Adalberto Mejia, Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Kohl Stewart, among others, will compete for rotation spots too. That makes no mention of Kyle Gibson, who will be arbitration-eligible for the last time in 2019. Then there’s the bullpen… Fortunately, there are more potential relievers than ever before. Without diving into the dozens of names, there is both power and depth from both sides of the pitching rubber. No matter how you look at it, it’s hard to imagine a lineup in early April of 2019 that doesn’t resemble this week’s club. That is very encouraging… and jibes well with the baseball operations crew looking at the team they inherited and not making significant changes. Of course, you can’t just wait for the future to show up. There’s always things you can do to improve the club… and over the course of the season we’ll look at some specific moves the Twins can make before 2019 to ensure meaningful October baseball. Click here to view the article

Gonsalves has the largest hands I've ever seen. So my amateur assessment is that his pinky just doesn't have anywhere to go.

You don't convince one of the Top 5 to take #5 money. For example, Carlos Correa wasn't a Top 5 lock, so the Astros saved money on him by taking him first... and Correa was going to take less cause he could have dropped to 5 or 6 or lower. (I think the Twins would have taken him had Buxton gone first.) Last year, you could negotiate with the guy you wanted first and say, "Listen, if you don't take $7.6m from us, you better hope you go second... or you might not make $6." The Twins could get someone to agree to $7m this year, but that's only banking $400,000, not $1,400,000.

2017 slots: 1 $7,400,000 Twins 2 $6,850,000 Reds 3 $6,350,000 Padres 4 $5,860,000 Rays 5 $5,435,000 Braves 6 $5,050,000 Athletics 2016 slots: 1. Phillies $9,015,000 2. Reds $7,762,900 3. Braves $6,510,800 4. Rockies $5,258,700 5. Brewers $4,382,200 6. Athletics $4,069,200 The talent gap was always much more narrow than the money gap. Now it might be the other way around. You could lose a few million dollars if you dropped from 2 to 5 before. Now it's half that.

Are you willing to take someone that isn't likely to go Top 5 first overall? To *maybe* get a guy that drops? Or would you rather have the guy you like the most and two other Top 40 talents? The Twins have always played the draft relatively straight and I'd expect that to happen again.

That's different than, "Should Greene go 1-1?" Greene's becoming a cult hero in the Twin Cities.

Before those things. But the scouting staff as a whole hasn't really changed. Three new guys replaced two guys that were let go.

He's still maturing physically. He's still developing as a starter after relieving his first season. I'd say he's got a ton of upside. When I did my fall "ask-around" (before the Twins clinched the #1 spot), one scout told me he'd take Wright first overall.

Two of the top 5? No. The difference between the first and second pick is only $550k, so there isn't this great incentive to take less money at #1 when you can get nearly the same amount at #2. End of the day, though, they could maybe save $400k. They do have some flexibility with having #35 and #37. Maybe they have a guy they really like that agrees to take $1m at #35 and then they have $2m they can spend at #37 (but that's only equal to the #31 pick). So long story longer, they do have some financial flexibility, but not enough to get two top 5 talents. They'd be better off banking it all until Round 11 and taking a Round 3-4 high school talent again like they did last year in Benninghoff.

That's the seven million dollar question. Short answer, though... yeah, they could pass on him. There are other players that have really high upsides. ...But his is the highest. As Thrylos has said before, Greene's secondary pitches aren't great. And honestly, that's what it's going to come down to. He's getting great coaching. If he's not able to show improvement over the course of this season, I think his upside gets knocked down a few levels where Lewis and Wright/Faedo become equally intriguing options. I'm pulling for Greene. And I try not to let that opinion jade things, so if it appears I'm anti-Greene at times, I'm really not. I'm just trying to present things fairly. Not that it matters, the Twins don't pay me for my opinion. Or care.

Baseball didn't get to where it is today by people thinking in the box. With that being said, you'll never unlock a guy's true potential if you let him split his focus. Best-case scenario for that to happen is if he doesn't pan out as a top pitcher and can become a reliever/infielder, which is far from the best-case scenario. It's not a thought that's never come up though, the Padres are planning to use Christian Bethancourt as a reliever, backup catcher and reserve outfielder. It would be extremely difficult to do something like that with a starting pitcher while trying to take care of his arm in between starts.

I think the answer to this question always depends on who you talk to. The Twins are going to the get the guy they like most out of everyone. That's a strength, though there isn't this elite, franchise-changing talent like a Bryce Harper. There are options at #1, so that's good for teams picking #2-5. There are deeper groups than others. But a lot will play out as the season goes. If a group of, say, 10 players separate themselves and then there's another group of 30 or so... that's great for the teams drafting at the top and not good for the teams drafting at the bottom. I think this draft pool plays out in a way that is good for the Twins. It would be less good if they were drafting in the teens.

Despite the snow that hit parts of the midwest and the return to winter for many of the rest of the reading area, baseball is back alive and well. As the Twins kicked off their exhibition season, many colleges and high schools around the nation also started (or continued) their seasons. That means draft season has officially kicked off. How did the top draft prospects do?Hunter Greene, RHP, California prep. Greene made his regular-season debut on Saturday and lived up to the hype. He struck out seven batters in five innings. He allowed two walks on the day and two runs on two hits (and a balk) in the first inning. His fastball was reportedly clocked as high as 97 mph. The highlight of the day, though, was when Greene hit a grand-slam to give his team a 5-2 lead. He finished the 10-3 win playing shortstop. You can follow Greene throughout the spring right here at Twins Daily. Judging by his team’s schedule, he will likely throw again next Saturday. The Twins were definitely in attendance on Saturday, though I was unable to confirm who was scouting the game. Kyle Wright, RHP, Vanderbilt. You might say that Wright has been up-and-down-and-then-back-up so far this season. In inning one of game one last week, Wright was mid-to-high 90s for an inning. But then he dropped to the low 90s for the next four innings, walking (three) more than he struck out (two). His outing was done after five frames and he didn’t show any sort of breaking ball. Friday night was a different story. Over 93 pitches in six innings, Wright struck out seven, allowing a run on four hits (but no walks). He worked in the low-to-mid 90s, touching 97 mph and showing a plus curveball. Wright has the stuff #1 overall draft picks (and front-end pitchers) are made of. For me, Wright is the leader in a very tightly-contested college pitching class. Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt. Kendall started off his weekend with a bang: a 436' bomb to centerfield. He added a hustle-double later in the game and finished 2-for-5. Saturday’s game highlighted the biggest issue that Kendall has: he struck out four times (twice looking, twice swinging) and was intentionally walked in his fifth plate appearance. On Sunday, Kendall went 0-for-5 with an extra-inning strikeout. He also failed to bunt successfully earlier in the game. Kendall was asked to bunt last week and ended up bunting into the air, causing a game-ending double-play. Kendall’s speed, arm strength and pretty left-handed stroke along with his potential to hit home runs and play center field make him a five-tool prospect. But those tools come with a few question marks that were highlighted over the last three games. Alex Faedo, RHP, Florida. On a similar path as Wright - Faedo struggled in a 4.2 inning, four-run showing in his debut - game two was a bounce-back. Against rival Miami, Faedo was one out short of a complete game, allowing only two hits and striking out eight. He was replaced in the ninth inning after a two-out error was followed by a full-count walk, his first and only walk of the game. He threw 119 pitches. Though I couldn’t connect with anyone who was at the game, there are reports that he had “full command” of “nasty” arsenal, which includes a low-to-mid 90s fastball with movement, a very good slider and a developing change-up. Royce Lewis, SS, California prep. The JSerra Catholic High School athlete will begin answering questions about whether he can stick at shortstop when his season kicks off on March 11. --- Though there is no official “board” anywhere in any Twins front office member’s office, Greene’s name sits atop the unofficial board I’ll be updating over the next few months. I’d put both Faedo and Wright slightly in front of Kendall. Lewis remains a bit of a dark horse until he starts to play, but the Twins are high on his potential. Hunter GreeneKyle WrightRoyce LewisAlex FaedoJeren KendallHow does your board look? -- Hrbowski also posted on some draft prospects this weekend. Click here to view the article

I could "play" shortstop if I stood between second and third base, but I wouldn't be very good at it. Polanco "plays" shortstop, but I've yet to see a metric that suggests he can PLAY shortstop.

It's impossible to know exactly, but I'd guess Simmons committed a number of throwing errors on plays that no other human could have fielded the ball. It's also a one-year anomaly. All of his other years as a pro have been been better than all of Gordon's. But Simmons is in a tier all by himself defensively.

It has been a long, long time since the Twins have had a “shortstop of the future” in their pipeline. But since drafting Nick Gordon fifth overall in the 2014 draft, they finally do have one. And, now only three years after paying him $3,851,000 to pass on his commitment to Florida State, the young Gordon is knocking on the big-league door.Age: 21 (DOB: 10/24/95) 2016 Stats (A+): .291/.335/.386, 23 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, 19/32 stolen base attempts ETA: 2018 2016 Ranking: 4 National Top 100 Rankings BA: 60 | MLB : 50 | ESPN: 53 | BP: 48 What's To Like Gordon knows what it takes to be a professional baseball player. His dad, Tom, did it as a pitcher for 21 years, including three All-Star Game appearances. His half-brother, Dee, has played in two All-Star games and has won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award. While lineage doesn’t portend success, Nick Gordon has the work ethic to match his family’s prior accomplishments, if not surpass them. An example of that desire to be great occurred shortly after being drafted - four days, to exact - when he signed his contract. "The work doesn't stop," Gordon said after signing. "The drafting and getting signed is just a little piece of the pie. That's what my dad always says. Now's when the real work starts. It's time to achieve my goal and get ready to play." It doesn’t hurt that Gordon has enough glove to stick at shortstop, where he’ll be solid, but not flashy, and a bat that will play at the top of the order as a potential .300-hitter each and every year. We at Twins Daily may be selling Gordon short, as he was the only Twins prospect to make each of the four Top 100s mentioned above… and the lowest he checked in was at #60. What's Left To Work On When you hear Nick Gordon, you probably think of Dee Gordon and his prowess on the base paths. That’s not Nick. Nick is fast enough to be a bit of a menace, as evidenced by his 19 steals last year, but he was caught 13 times as well. He’ll need to be more efficient. Gordon’s strikeout rate as a professional is around 17%, which is manageable, but his walk-rate of 4.7% in Fort Myers isn’t good enough. If Gordon is a .300-hitter, which isn’t asking for the moon, there’s no reason that he shouldn’t have an on-base percentage in the .370-range. While he many never be a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, Gordon should be good enough to remain in the hole for most of his major league career. He’ll have to cut back on his errors, the 24 he committed as a shortstop led to a fielding percentage of .952. Gordon remains skinny as a rail, so hopefully he'll continue to fill out as he continues to mature. What's Next Like many of the team’s top pitching prospects, Gordon is ticketed to start 2017 in Chattanooga. It wouldn’t be entirely unexpected for fellow shortstop Engelb Vielma to also start his season in the Southern League. Could that cause the Twins to move Gordon around? He did make two starts at second base last year as well as one at third base. And Vielma is known for his defensive wizardry. If Jorge Polanco proves that he can handle shortstop, could Gordon be Dozier’s eventual replacement? (I highly doubt that.) There are many questions that the franchise will (continue to) face as it pertains to the middle infield, but when all's said and done, Nick Gordon will be the answer to one of them… and hopefully for a long, long time. Click here to view the article

This is great. I hadn't ever heard of the troubles of adding Brock, but I could see how Nick would be the one to smooth things over. I remember seeing the initial email about Twins Daily - hey, come try this out - and posting in the forums after Zumaya hurt his elbow and, man, did that thread blow up in a hurry. Crazy that it's been five years... and crazier how much things have changed in five years.

Reached out to someone else who saw Greene last Friday. He said Greene's secondary stuff is his "biggest crack." No surprise there. He also praised Greene's coaching staff. That's something you have to take into account when trying to project these kids. And brought up Royce Lewis unprompted. It's going to be an interesting spring.

This is his write-up from MLB.com on his secondary stuff. The slider is new, so they didn't say anything about it: "Greene backs that up with a quality breaking ball that is really sharp. His changeup is his third pitch, but he has a feel for it."