Jeremy Nygaard

And not just position players, but guys that profile as good hitters. All four of them. You think the organization is tired of seeing poor at-bats and hacking at breaking balls?

With the 73rd and 74th picks of the night, the Twins drafted Jose Miranda, a prep shortstop from Puerto Rico, and Akil Baddoo, a prep outfielder from Georgia.Jose Miranda is a taller, bigger bodied shortstop that may eventually have to move. He's considered to have a good bat, though there's some mystery surrounding Miranda because he didn't travel off of the island as much as other Puerto Ricans. Miranda will start at shortstop in the Gulf Coast League. Akil Baddoo is listed at 6-0, 195; he's not that big. Don't let the size fool you though. The 20/20 talk is probably his ceiling, but he gets compared to players like Carl Crawford, Ray Langford and Denard Span. Baddoo is going to be a fan favorite as a player that just seems to have fun playing the game. He'll get plenty of reps in centerfield to start his career, but may profile long-term as a left-fielder. One scout called him the "best pure hitter in Georgia." Baseball America ranks Miranda #113, but MLB.com did not have him ranked. "The strength of the Puerto Rican draft class this year is its infielders, and Miranda has emerged as one of the best following Delvin Perez. Miranda has a good approach at the plate and has an advanced feel for hitting, enabling him to make a lot of contact. He also shows some pop and projects to hit for average power as he physically matures. While Miranda plays shortstop now, his footwork and lower half will lead him to move off the position as a professional. He has an average arm and a good enough glove to stay in the infield, either at second or third base. There is still some rawness to the 17-year-old's game, but Miranda provides significant upside thanks to his offensive profile." Baseball America had Baddoo ranked as their 54th best prospect. "Baddoo combines plus speed with an intriguing feel for the barrel. He endeared himself to scouts on the national scene with a strong showing at the 2015 East Coast Pro event, where he showed off his quick hands and even quicker feet. This spring, while his team went just 9-16, Baddoo showed scouts strong bat-to-ball skills, leading some evaluators to believe he could develop a plus hit tool and hit at the top of the lineup. He's a lefthanded hitter (and thrower) with above-average bat speed and a short stroke, but he was pull-happy against quality pitching at East Coast Pro and at the WWBA Championships in the fall and will have to continue to prove himself against quality pitching. Baddoo's arm strength is below-average and his reads and routes lack polish, leading some to envision him as a left fielder long term, though scouts expect him to play center field to start his career. He is committed to Kentucky." MLB.com ranks Baddoo #72. "The Georgia high school ranks have produced 13 outfielders selected in the first two rounds in the six previous Drafts this decade, and Baddoo could add to that number in 2016. The Kentucky recruit has an intriguing power/speed combination and has improved in both departments over the last year. Baddoo has made strides with his bat as well and has the potential to hit for both power and average. He has a loose, whippy left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed. Add in his plus speed, and he has the upside of a 20-20 player if everything comes together.Baddoo's quickness stands out more than his instincts in center field, so he could wind up on an outfield corner. With his below-average arm, that would mean shifting to left field, though scouts who like him think he'd still provide enough offense to profile there." Click here to view the article

With the 56th pick of the 2016 MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins select Wisonsin prep C Ben Rortvedt.What you need to know about Ben Rortvedt: Rortvedt, a left-handed hitting catcher from Verona Area High School in Wisconsin, is 5-10, 190 lbs. Rortvedt is more advanced with his bat than he is with his glove currently, offering gap power presently, but should develop into someone that can hit a couple dozen home runs in a season. Perfect Game called him the most "well-rounded" catcher in the draft, citing his arm strength and athleticism. Rortvedt is committed to Arkansas, but is fully expected to sign. He will start his career in the Gulf Coast League. MLB.com lists Rortvedt as the 51st best prospect. Baseball America ranks Rortvedt 82nd. Click here to view the article

100% signable.

You're right. We won't see a more outrageous statement. I bet you he would have the lowest. Honestly, right now, he's a very similar player to Max Kepler in Cedar Rapids.

With the 15th pick of the 2016 MLB Draft, the Minnesota Twins select OF Alex Kirilloff, a prep from Pittsburgh.Alex Kirilloff was featured earlier this week in his own draft profile. Kirilloff in a nutshell: He's 6-2, 195 and will start his professional career in center field. He has the arm to handle right field and the power profile to fit in either corner. The Twins will have to buy him out of a commitment to Liberty. Kirilloff is a good student who could have gone to larger-profiled schools, but chose Liberty based on his religious background. The biggest question surrounding Kirilloff is his hand speed - can he catch up to the heat? - but the Twins don't share those concerns. Kirilloff will likely start his professional career in the GCL this summer and will turn 19 in November. As they have done in the past, the Twins have selected a very "toolsy" outfielder; Kirilloff checks all the boxes: Hit, hit for power, speed, arm and defense. Baseball America ranked Kirilloff as the 15th best prospect in the draft. MLB.com ranked him 18th. Alex Kirilloff was kind enough to share with us (via twitter) his response to getting drafted. Click here to view the article

Gonsalves much-publicized "issue" was about a teammate who was smoking weed and Gonsalves not throwing him under the bus. I talked to Stephen about it, it was all very overstated. He dropped because his curveball never took steps forward. Different deals. Groome committed to Chipola and a lot of people believe it's because he couldn't get admitted to Vanderbilt. The latest rumor has Braves popping Anderson at #3 and hope to end Groome's slide at #40.

I'd be surprised if Groome is even on the Twins board. I just posted on the other thread that along with a high price tag, he also has "off field" issues. I couldn't get anything more specific than that. This was from the same person that told me a could weeks ago that Groome was going to slide.

Groome is a 1-1 talent. I had a scout tell me a couple weeks ago that Groome was going to fall and I thought he was nuts. Well, lo and behold... I couldn't get more than he has "off field" issues. Twins won't touch him because of both the tag and the issues.

That's a better question for John, but I'll see what he can do.

Hopefully this is a loophole the Twins can exploit next draft season*. *The CBA is going to change and try to prevent things like this from happening, most likely.

I can assure you the guys in the room are smarter, more creative and more strategic than I am.

It's time to put my money where my mouth is. I'm not sure how I'll stack up against the biggest names in the industry, but there are a few things here I feel really good about and a few things that I don't. Lots of phone calls are being made and there will probably be at least a couple dramatic turn of events over the next eight hours. But that's what makes it so fun. Enjoy!The last one. 1. Phillies - Kyle Lewis, OF Mercer. The latest buzz has the Phillies taking prep CF Mickey Moniak. But in my original mock, I said I had a gut-feeling that Lewis was going to be the guy. I’m going to go with my gut on this one. (Previous: A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida) 2. Reds - Nick Senzel, 3B, Tennessee. The lack of college bats coming off quickly could be a trend… or the Reds just like Senzel this much. (Previous: Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer) 3. Braves - Corey Ray, OF, Louisville. Like the teams above them, the Braves have dollar flexibility too. The Braves have a few more picks (#40, #44, #76) on the first day too that they can get creative with. (No change) 4. Rockies - Mickey Moniak, OF, California prep. I still don’t think it’s wise for the Rockies to pass on top-end pitching, but if Moniak doesn’t go first. This is his landing spot. (Previous: Jason Groome, LHP, New Jersey prep where I said this, “I’ve been told Groome is the wild card of this draft and to not be surprised if he takes an Appel-like tumble”) 5. Brewers - Zack Collins, C, Miami. I felt good about the Perez pick until the recent PED reports. The Braun stuff is too recent to go back to that well. I don’t feel great about Collins, but that’s the choice. (Previous: Delvin Perez, SS, Puerto Rico prep) 6. A’s - A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida. This would work out well for Billy Beane. I had Puk rated #1 on my board. (Previous:Nick Senzel, 3B, Tennessee) 7. Marlins - Braxton Garrett, LHP, Alabama prep. I won’t be shocked if Garrett is the first prep pitcher off the board based on all the good things I heard about him all spring. (Previous: Mickey Moniak, OF, California prep) 8. Padres - Cal Quantrill, RHP, Stanford. Exactly as I said before: Lots of talk that Quantrill has a deal with Padres at #24. That doesn’t make sense to me. Draft Quantrill at #8 and take one of the high price tag guys at #24. Regardless, Padres are going to leave the draft with two or three top talents. (No change) 9. Tigers - Riley Pint, RHP, Kansas prep. I really like Pint and if he falls into the Tigers lap… good for them. (No change) 10. White Sox - Blake Rutherford, OF, California prep. I’m going to stick with Rutherford here. I considered a tumble to the Mets more than getting popped early by the Brewers. Interesting talk that his inflated asking price might be due to the Phillies trying to push him down. (No change) 11. Mariners - Justin Dunn, RHP, Boston College. I continue to mock Dunn going before the Twins because I really hope he falls. (Previous: Zack Collins, C, Miami) 12. Red Sox - Zack Burdi, RHP, Louisville. I don’t like this pick here, but when something makes a ton of sense and nothing has changed two weeks later, why change it? (No change) 13. Rays - Gavin Lux, SS, Wisconsin prep. Lux is the top shortstop now that Perez has a red flag. (Previous: Dakota Hudson, RHP, Mississippi State) 14. Indians - Alex Kirilloff, OF, Pennsylvania prep. I’m going to leave this here, even though I wouldn’t mind him dropping one more pick. (No change) 15. Twins - Dakota Hudson, RHP, Mississippi State. I think Dunn, Quantrill and Kirilloff all would be in play if available. The price tags on the prep arms have become too inflated to feel great about getting them done. (Previous: Justin Dunn, RHP, Boston College) 16. Angels - Taylor Trammell, OF, Georgia prep. (No change) 17. Astros - Cody Sedlock, RHP, Illinois. (No change) 18. Yankees - Will Craig, 3B, Wake Forest. (No change) 19. Mets - Matt Thaiss, C, Virginia. (No change) 20. Dodgers - Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Vanderbilt. (No change) 21. Blue Jays - Garrett Whitley, RHP, Texas prep. (Previous: Kevin Gowdy, RHP, California prep) 22. Pirates - Nolan Jones, SS, Pennsylvania prep. (No change) 23. Cardinals - Delvin Perez, SS, Puerto Rico prep. There’s not a better potential landing spot for Perez. (Previous: Kyle Muller, LHP, Texas prep) 24. Padres - Matt Manning, RHP, California prep. Manning will fall due to money demands. Quantrill won’t. So while Manning gets the bigger bonus, he won’t go before Quantrill. (No change) 25. Padres - Will Smith, C, Louisville. Nobody has the helium of Smith right now. (Previous: Chris Okey, C, Clemson) 26. White Sox - Eric Lauer, LHP, Kansas State. (Previous: Gavin Lux, SS, Wisconsin prep) 27. Orioles - Kyle Muller, LHP, Texas prep (Previous: Eric Lauer, LHP, Kent State) 28. Nationals - Jason Groome, LHP, New Jersey prep. The Nationals always seem to both a) not get scared away and get their way. (Previous: Alec Hansen, RHP, Oklahoma) 29. Nationals - Robert Tyler, RHP, Georgia. (No change except I had him 28 previously) 30. Rangers - Josh Lowe, 3B, Georgia prep. (No change) 31. Mets - Bryan Reynolds, OF, Vanderbilt. (Previous: T.J. Zeuch, RHP, Pittsburgh) 32. Dodgers - C.J. Chatham, SS, Florida Atlantic. (Previous: Joey Wentz, LHP, Kansas HS) 33. Cardinals - Buddy Reed, OF, Florida. (No change) 34. Cardinals - Logan Shore, RHP, Florida. (No change.) --- Bonus picks 35. Reds - Kevin Gowdy, RHP, California prep. (Previous: Forrest Whitley, RHP, Texas prep) 40. Braves - Ian Anderson, RHP, New York prep. Braves have been rumored to be working on a “package” deal: bat at #3 and arm here. (No change) 42. Phillies - Joey Wentz, LHP, Kansas prep. The Phillies are going to get to someone, though no idea who that is. (Previous: Braxton Garrett, LHP, Alabama prep) What do you think? 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The Twins could manipulate their money a little bit, but nothing like the teams with the largest pools. If you want to consider it - and I don't think the Twins will - you need to forget about the upper echelon guys completely. The deals you're cutting with Rortvedt and Manning would be for significantly less money than the deals they'd get. I don't hate the idea. But if you're one of a half dozen teams trying to do the same thing, and you have the least amount of money to play with, you're going to be making it up with Zack Larson-type picks in Round 19, not high-school All-Americans early in the draft.

It’s time. Ok, well… it’s not literally time yet. But the day has arrived: MLB Draft Day. I couldn’t sleep and I figured now is as good of a time as any to get this ball rolling.10:08pm: Keegan Akin, my 4th round pick, just went to the Orioles in the second round. 10:03pm: Ryan Boldt just drafted by the Rays. Good for Boldt! 9:58pm: Erceg and Shore both off the board. Lots of catchers available still... 9:42pm: Interesting to see which teams - the expected ones - taking the high price tag guys now as the draft continues. Braves getting Anderson/Wentz/Muller and the Phillies getting Moniak/Gowdy. Big $$$$. Even the Reds and Trammell. 9:29pm: Daulton Jefferies was my pick to go to the Twins in Round 2. He went to the A's. I already lost my Will Smith pick to the Dodgers. 9:22pm: Comp Round A kicked off. Reds take a high schooler with a high price tag... see if that's a trend with some of these teams (Atlanta and Philadelphia). ------- 7:43pm: Twins take Kirilloff, a polished high school hitter. 7:37pm: TWINS ARE ON THE CLOCK! 7:31pm: Law says Will Benson to Indians. Get. It. Dunn. 7:27pm: Lowe to Rays. For me, I'm taking Justin Dunn. If he's gone, I'm taking Kirilloff. 7:20pm: Sounds like Groome to the Red Sox. I have Groome #2 on my board based on talent alone. There are some concerns, however. Twins are up in three picks...! 7:18pm: Fingers crossed that Red Sox take Rutherford here. Rutherford doesn't do it for me. 7:14pm: Collins to the White Sox is ok with me. Lewis should go to Mariners here. Dunn and Kirilloff are favorites to go to Twins at this point. 7:08pm: Manning to the Tigers took me by surprise, but I'm glad because he's one guy I didn't see the Twins taking. Lengthens their board. 7:02pm: Padres take Cal Quantrill. I had him mocked correctly for a while... hoped he would fall to Twins. 6:56pm: Cooper says there are "rumblings" this could be Kyle Lewis to Padres. I'm ok with that. Probably will try to get Manning with their next pick. Marlins make Garrett official. Twins really liked him. 6:52pm: Braxton Garrett expected to be selected by Marlins. Garrett to the Twins was my #1 pipe-dream. Boras/Vandy guy. 6:48pm: Nothing reported on Marlins front yet, but many expect Braxton Garrett to be drafted next. Puk to A's done. 6:46pm: Puk likely to come off board to A's. Really surprised Kyle Lewis is still available. He won't fall to Twins, but someone will get quite a bat. 6:40pm: Wow. Brewers go with Ray - not Puk. I've had a few people tell me that Ray is the best player in the draft. The Brewers could have some freaky good outfields in the future with Phillips, Clark, Gatewood, Harrison and now Ray. 6:37pm: If Brewers take Puk, they get a steal. He was #1 on my board. 6:34pm: So far I'm one-for-four in my mock draft, but I really like the Pint pick. Pitchers don't want to sign there, so you have to draft them. I think Pint is going to be a star. Nothing crazy so far. 6:32pm: Jeff Passan tweets that the Braves are expected to save $2.5-$3m on the Anderson pick. They basically get to make another top 10 pick. Rockies make Riley Pint official. Pint throws straight gas (homey) and I compared him to Max Scherzer. 6:27pm: Braves make Ian Anderson official. They will have a lot of money to play with. I declare them draft winners. (Kidding.) 6:22pm: Braves are on the clock and expected to take Ian Anderson. Who had him as the first prep pitcher off of the board? Not me. But I did have Anderson connected to the Braves all along, so I'll count that as a three-quarters-win. 6:20pm: Cooper also says Rutherford to Brewers. He not-so-correctly had Daz Cameron to the Astros last year. Reds make Senzel official. Boras guy, can't imagine they're going to save a ton, but enough to make a difference in round 2 for sure. 6:17pm: Cooper says Puk to Brewers at 5. If A's go Groome, that puts Marlins on clock. Braxton Garrett has been the name mentioned most. 6:15pm: John Manuel suggesting that the Braves may go Corey Ray. Could Anderson fall to #40? I've said as much. 6:13pm update: Keith Law says Pint to Rockies at 4 and after the Brewers pick at 5, Jason Groome could go sixth to the A's. 6:12pm update: All indications are that the Phillies are taking Moniak, the Reds are taking Senzel, the Braves are taking Anderson (!) and that would put the Rockies in position to get a pitcher that they want - either A.J. Puk or Riley Pint. 5:58pm update: ARE YOU READY?! LET'S DO THIS! 3pm update: John Manuel has been updating and reupdating his mock draft.... but still has Dakota Hudson going to the Twins. He's got Kirilloff going to the Angels at #16 and Whitley going to the Blue Jays at #21. LEN3 tweeted that the Twins are scheduled to make their first pick around 7:20 and their last two picks around 10:08. Schedule accordingly. I might do a Periscope after the last two picks if people are interested. 11:10 update: Keith Law says that Rutherford is still in play for the Brewers and that Whitley is in play to the Mariners. Frankie Piliere adds Zach Burdi to the list the Mariners could be considering. 11 am update: There are lot of new rumors floating out there. The newest has Ian Anderson going to the Braves at #3 on an underslot deal and the Braves hoping to catch Groome at #40. I will be posting noteworthy news here. So keep it here and refresh often. --- In the midst of a poor season, we always have the future to look toward. The draft is a small step to realizing that future and by the time you go to bed tonight, the Twins will have added four pieces of that future. This three-day event starts on Thursday evening (tonight!) at 6pm and concludes on Saturday. The first 77 picks (Round 1 through Comp B Round) are Thursday. Round 3 will start at noon on Friday and last through Round 10. Round 11 will begin at 11 am on Saturday and last until the conclusion of the draft, which is 40 rounds long. The Twins will make their first selection with the 15th overall pick. They were in line for the 17th selection until both the Diamondbacks and Orioles signed free agents which required them to forfeit their first-round draft pick, thrusting the Twins up two more spots. They will come back on the clock with the 56th pick, their regular second-round pick, before finishing out their night with back-to-back picks in the Comp B round at 73 and 74. They were awarded the 73rd pick for the second consecutive year as winners of the one of the twelve Competitive Balance Lottery picks. Because they failed to sign last year’s choice, Kyle Cody, they receive the 74th pick this year. On Friday, the Twins first choice will be 93rd overall. They’ll be on the clock every thirty picks after that for the duration of the draft. So who will the Twins select this evening with the 15th overall pick this year? That - along with 14 picks before it - remains a great mystery. Over the last few weeks, at Twins Daily, we run several articles highlighting a number of players that the Twins could take: We started our coverage by looking at some local players that could be drafted.Our specific looks at players started with flamethrowing Zack Burdi, younger brother of Nick, and Miami Hurricane backstop Zack Collins. But then a funny thing happened, all heck broke loose. Boards started doing somersaults and players, mostly prep pitchersstarted coming out with giant bonus demands. We profiled one more specific bat, prep outfielder Alex Kirilloff. It really became increasingly difficult to not only peg who the Twins would take, but also what would happen before then. The last profile included a handful of college pitchers, some of whom entered the discussion very late. In addition to that, I treated readers to a 10-round Twins-only mock draft and a look at how I’d stack my own Draft Board if you threw bonus demands out the window. Oh… and the mocks. I projected the Twins to take Forrest Whitley on May 11th in Mock Draft v. 1. On May 29th, I switched course and had the Twins drafting Justin Dunn in Mock Draft v. 2. My third and final mock draft was posted this morning. One thing that I need to continue to note is how important it is for you to understand how teams go about manipulating their draft money. The teams drafting at the top - the Phillies, Reds, Braves - and other teams with multiple picks (like the Padres) will be working on cutting deals right up until the draft starts. This doesn’t only mean with their first pick, but also with later picks. When this happens, agents will start floating their price tags out to teams, who shy away from those players, essentially making them unavailable to teams though they haven’t already been picked. A potential example that I’ve used is with the Braves, Ian Anderson and pick 40. The Braves love Anderson, but he’s not going to sign for $1.6 million, which is what pick 40 is worth. The Braves also have the third overall choice, which is worth $6.5 million. Their likely choice there, Corey Ray, isn’t going to need that full allotment to sign. So what the Braves could do is offer each player $4 million. They would draft Ray at 3. Anderson’s agent would let all teams know it will cost them $4 million to sign his client and - after a tumble - guess who’s available the next time the Braves select? The Braves, who are just one example, could get even more creative because they have three more picks in the top 80. Long story short, it means if the Twins lined up their favorite 15 players, it could come time for them to pick and all 15 of those players could either already be picked or just be “unavailable.” The players that will fit into that “unavailable” category will be primarily high-school pitchers. The MLB Draft is such an important time for MLB teams. The Twins will select 42 players to add talent to the organization. In any given year, if two or three of the picks become useful big leaguers, the draft was a huge success. We encourage you to keep close to Twins Daily for more updates. We will post articles for each of Thursday’s picks. On Friday, I’ll be posting all of the picks and adding thoughts throughout the day. (So keep pounding that refresh button.) Saturday will be more of the same, with picks coming - and you refreshing - more rapidly. But we don’t expect you to make TwinsDaily.com your only priority on draft weekend. We also want you to tune in to KFAN (100.3 FM or online or on iHeartRadio) on Friday night at 7pm for a special radio broadcast that I’m calling Guru and the Geek. John Bonnes and I will be in studio discussing the first 10 round (12 picks) and might even have a special guest or two. It's going to be a full, fun, busy three days here at Twins Daily. Use this thread to discuss rumors throughout the day. Even more fun, post below your thoughts on who will be taken with each of the top 5 or 10 picks. And, in all seriousness, check out some of the best league-wide draft sites that exist: BaseballAmerica.com’s draft coverage is outstanding. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo team up at MLB Pipeline to rival BA’s coverage. Keith Law isn’t free at ESPN, but if you have an Insider account, you can read all sorts of good stuff. You can find a lot of information on prep players at Perfect Game. Enjoy the conversation. Enjoy the hope. Don’t hate all the relievers (again). Just kidding. Maybe. 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Though we’ve spent the last few months hearing about the interest the Twins have in prep power arms, it’s been a new demographic - college pitchers - who have started making their way to the forefront. Some names are ones you many have heard of. Some names might be new.WHO ARE THEY? Same with the high school class, the top of class isn’t likely to be available at #15. Unlike the high school class, only one name, Florida southpaw A.J. Puk, appears to have no chance to be available. The next tier of collegiate arms includes Justin Dunn (RHP, Boston College), Zack Burdi (RHP, Louisville), Dakota Hudson (RHP, Mississippi State), Cody Sedlock (RHP, Illinois) and Cal Quantrill (RHP, Stanford) among others. WHY THE TWINS WILL DRAFT ONE OF THEM With the fluidity of the draft board thanks to recent developments, including bonus demands and drug tests, the college class is the most stable group. With the exception of Quantrill, all are healthy. And all are signable. Burdi was profiled here, so we’ll focus on the other four today. Justin Dunn (6-2, 185) has as much helium coming into the draft as anyone. After converting to the rotation from the bullpen early in the season, Dunn has settled into a mid-90s strike-thrower who also features a slider with a developing curveball and changeup. Dunn is still a relatively fresh arm, with only 120 innings thrown in his three seasons at Boston College Dakota Hudson (6-5, 225) might have the best stuff in the draft. A mid-90s fastball and potentially plus curveball headline his four-pitch mix. Hudson also was working on limited innings after his first two years at Mississippi State (34.0 total), but was successful last summer in the Cape Cod League (56 2/3 innings) before throwing 106 more innings as a junior. Cody Sedlock (6-4, 210) has become a workhorse for the Illini in 2016, proving to be extremely durable. Averaging 118.75 pitches over his last four starts (which doesn’t include a 9 1/3 inning start a month ago that didn’t track his pitches, Sedlock has already endured pitch counts that would make Bert Blyleven proud. Cal Quantrill (6-3, 185) was a legitimate 1-1 candidate before suffering from elbow issues. While healthy, Quantrill has a four-pitch mix that features a low-90s fastball with a plus changeup. His dad, Paul, was an undersized righty who had a 14-year big league career, leading his league in appearances four straight years, making the All-Star game as an 11-win reliever in 2001. WHY THE TWINS WON'T DRAFT ANY OF THEM Depending on who you talk to, you could get many different takes on how these pitchers rank and who to include in this tier. Maybe they’ll go with a college pitcher, but select one that is outside of this group. Maybe the team is confident that their bonus slot can meet the demand of a prep arm. Maybe one of the few bats they like falls into their lap. There’re also some things that could have you look the other way with the pitchers mentioned above. It won’t be a factor with the Twins, but Dunn doesn’t have a long track-record as a starter. Hudson’s biggest question mark is his fastball command. He walked 34, threw 14 wild pitches and hit eight batters this year. Those numbers aren’t always indicative of “command issues”, but they help substantiate the issue. Should there be concerns about Sedlock’s workload? How many MLB pitchers have thrown 10 2/3 innings in a game this season? How many have thrown 132 pitches in a game? Sedlock did both of those in an April start this season. Oh, Sedlock threw between 31 and 32 innings in both of his first two seasons, so this was quite a jump. Quantrill hasn’t pitched in a game since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of 2015, so there’s a lot of mystery around the pitcher who is said to have a deal in place with the Padres. Names that I’m less high on are T.J. Zeuch (RHP, Pittsburgh), Connor Jones (RHP, Virginia) and Eric Lauer (LHP, Kansas State). All three are getting first-round buzz. Other draft-related articles: Local Profiles Zack Burdi Zack Collins Prep Arms 10-round mock Draft Board Alex Kirilloff Click here to view the article

One demographic we haven’t heard much about is prep hitters. Yet, it’s a route that the Twins seem to take with regularity. From Gordon to Buxton to Hicks to Revere, “toolsy” preps have been a linchpin in the franchise’s draft results. Today, we’ll look at the one prep hitter connected to the ball club.WHO IS HE? Alex Kirilloff is a prep hitter from Plum High School in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Kirilloff, who turned 18 in November, is a left-handed hitter and thrower who projects as a right-fielder, though through high school he’s primarily pitched and played first base. A 4.0 student, Kirilloff is 6-2, 195 and committed to Liberty. WHY THE TWINS WILL DRAFT HIM As mentioned earlier, the Twins have always been enamored by toolsy prep players and Kirilloff has the tools. Perfect Game ranks both Kirilloff’s hit tool and power tool as the third best in the entire prep class. He has a powerful arm that would fit in right field. Kirilloff has the athleticism and speed (6.6 in the 60) that suggests he could even be an average defender in centerfield. He’s still relatively new to the outfield, so he’ll need plenty of reps to properly gauge his defensive ability. The greatest value that Kirilloff offers is in his bat. He won the Home Run Derby at the Perfect Game All-American Game last summer and hasn’t seemed to tap into all of his raw power potential yet. He’s starting to show he’s able to generate power to all fields. WHY THE TWINS WON'T DRAFT HIM His father is a hitting coach that has helped the younger Kirilloff refine his swing, though there has been mention about his lack of hand speed. His ZEPP Hitting Metric hand speed score was only 28 mph, according to Perfect Game, which is 2.5 mph slower than average and put him in the 28th percentile. A consequence of this is an inability to catch up to professional fastballs. There seems to be a split in the industry as to whether he has enough natural ability to overcome this deficiency. Player-wise, though, teams will almost always be able to find warts on preps. And Kirilloff is no different. If there weren’t questions, he’d be in consideration for a Top 5 pick. What might cause the Twins to look elsewhere is if the deep pool of pitchers spreads out and they have an opportunity to land one. Kirilloff is going to be high on the Twins board, there’s no doubt about that, and he’s signable, but will he be the best player available at 15? Other draft-related articles: Local Profiles Zack Burdi Zack Collins Prep Arms 10-round mock Draft Board Click here to view the article