d-mac

I think Kyle Cody is the only right handed person drafted by the Twins. Must be overcompensating for something. Doesn't make a ton of sense to me since TF penalizes LH power and rewards RH pull power. I would imagine in that case lefty flyball pitchers would be at a bit of a disadvantage too.

I'm not really big on ABW as a prospect. He just doesn't make enough contact or draw walks to be anything other than a negative WAR player. Buxton and Berrios I think are going to be great from that draft. All the RP pitchers from 2012 got hurt... which kinda defeated the "safe and quick path to the majors" reason why teams draft RP's. Speaking of bad drafts... 2010 and '11. Woof. Rosario and maybe Harrison. 2013 looks pretty bad this point too.

Vargas always hit for decent average in the minors and didn't strike out a ton until the Twins decided to have him skip AAA. I bet they have to go over slot though with Blankenhorn and Cabbage by quite a bit, though. And I like them a lot, so I hope signing them is a priority over* a one tool wonder.

Ah! Ya beat me to it.

I would say the lack of hitters in the low minors might share some causal relationship with this.

ABW is athletic and can run a bit. This guy is all raw power or nothing. Do they think they have enough money for him to sign?

Dave's straw man game is strong.

Let me guess, you're a lawyer in real life. We have the 2nd best record in the league because this team hit out of their mind with RISP this past month, starting pitching has been stranding runners near 80% and the bullpen with the worst xFIP in baseball hasn't melted down yet. It will pass. We have one of the best farm systems in baseball because we've been picking at the top for 4 years, and we've done a good job signing in the international market- and that's probably more attributable to Bill Smith signing Sano, Polanco, and Kepler under his watch. Unfortunately, there doesn't look to be any frontline starters outside of Berrios in the system- nobody lower than AA that can hit the ball much. Doesn't exactly seem like an outlook of sustainable long term success. There will be a few good years as our top prospects mature, but once they move on via FA or decline do to age it'll be like the small animal passing through the body of a snake.

That's what I think their reasoning is too- that shiny velocity. But when pitchers are only throwing 20 pitches an outing instead of 100, they bump it up a couple of notches naturally.

Christopher Paul continues the trend of players taken with two first names in this draft. Looks like an economy sign. Didn't do anything in his college career until his senior season. Didn't hit for average, didn't draw walks, hit for power, or steal bases as a freshman, sophomore, or junior. Offer him $150k and give the savings to Blankenhorn and Cabbage.

Now you're just putting words in my mouth. I said some of the best. I was just pulling Twins' relievers that I knew had failed as starters at some point. Never meant those three examples to be a "best of" list. If you want a "best of"- Mariano was a starter until '96. Wasn't Hoffman a SS? How's that? You can find quality major league relievers anywhere. Only the elite of the elite are truly valuable. Drafting them is not wise. Drafting 15 over the past 3 years (or whatever they've done) is moronic. There's a reason why other teams don't do it. And poor decisions on draft day is probably a significant factor as to why we've lost 90 games for four straight seasons.

Especially one that walks 7 per 9 over the course of his career.

Furthermore, relievers don't pitch enough innings in a season to be all that valuable. And their performance tends to be volatile from season to season based on sample size. Why spend valuable picks on pitchers that will never be a starter instead of spending them on picks of pitchers that may become a middle to back of the rotation starter that can be moved to the bullpen when they fail?

I get that, no need to talk down to me... this isn't my first draft. I'm not some noob fresh from the Star Tribune comment section. I've been following the draft since '09. My point is... many of the best relievers are failed starters. Glen Perkins, wasn't exactly are hard thrower as a starter. Joe Nathan... LaTroy Hawkins all failed starters. Pitchers can throw harder in shorter stints- that 91mph fastball becomes 95 in the bullpen, then why draft pitchers that didn't have the pitches, stamina, or control to stick in the rotation as an amateur? That's my question.

They've certainly made their bed and they are sure as heck going to lie in it. But, nothing to show for it yet... Which is probably why drafting a bunch of college relievers is never a good thing. Most major league relievers are failed starters.

Those two have some PRETTY swings.

Anybody know anything about Blankenhorn? I've never heard of him before.

Actually, just perusing BBref's draft history, the Twins haven't gone this long without either a 2nd or third rounder reach the majors. And I'm not talk about last two or three year's picks- can't assess those yet. I'm talking since like 2004. They haven't gotten a contributor since Kevin Slowey. Just a couple of replacement level players. The poor 2005-2011 drafts might have something to do with the Twins' loosing the last few years. Food for thought.

I think his point was, TR just doesn't trade away prospects in the high minors for areas of need. Whether good or bad that's just not his MO.

1.) Short pitchers are a huge market inefficiency, IMO. If they can miss bats, does it matter how tall they are? Berrios, Lincecum, and Stroman all say hi. 2.) As long as he can maintain his command and velo throughout a game, does it matter? Plus those hi-effort guys can sometimes add a layer of deception. Again, there must be a reason why Jay wasn't starting. Fulmer at least proved that he could miss bats as a starter in the highest level of collegiate baseball- Tyler Jay has not. And frankly, there is zero track record of teams drafting pitchers that have exclusively been relievers in college and turning them into successful pitchers.

You could be right, but is the Twins' braintrust that clever? Apart from Taylor Rogers, there has been almost nothing to show for it.

Man, the Twins have not drafted well in the 2nd and 3rd round recently. I bet that has something to do with losing a bunch of games the last few years.

"Down the stretch" is an awfully small sample size. The body of work- and trend of improvement over multiple seasons is more important. He had an ERA of nearly 5 this season. Allowed nearly a hit per inning, and 1.23 HR/9. He averaged K/9 of 7.22 throughout his collegiate career. I don't care if he throws 96- he simply doesn't miss bats. And if his make-up is poor, he's not going to be around too long.

Not a fan of the Tyler Jay pick, either. Not because I'm concerned that he's going to lose velo on his fastball starting- because he is. He's got multiple plus secondary pitches to offset the decrease in velocity- that's huge. I'm worried that he'll lose his command, and potentially the movement on his fastball and breaking pitches- in other words, I'm worried he becomes very hittable as he's stretched out into a starter's role. There's probably a reason his coach had him in the bullpen- and not the rotation at Illinois. And don't tell me it's because he's a moron, because their season has been very successful. I would have preferred either Fulmer, who has shown the ability to miss bats while actually in the rotation and against a higher level of competition, or Ian Happ. While there isn't any star power-upside in this draft, it's strength is the depth of polished college hitters. I'm afraid we have missed our opportunity to grab a couple of bats with on-base ability- something that seems lacking in the Twins' system.

I don't know what people see in this guy. The bolded portion is a huge red flag to me. I bet he doesn't make it out of High-A ball. Making it to the majors require you to be able to handle adversity. Furthermore, I don't give a *expletive deleted* how fast a fastball is, if its straight and there's no quality secondary pitches, pro hitters are going to hit.