SarasotaBill

The Twins will sign their picks. The slot money system is required. The old system had players slide to the bigger market teams by promising much more money. Imagine Yankees at the back of the first round promise Brooks Lee $12 million. Lee's agent tells all that $12 million is the number and Lee drops to the Yankees pick. The slot money system brings a lot of strategy to the draft (see Rangers and Cubs this year). We don't know if the Twins drafted certain players after the first day for skill or value or both.

The Twins picked my favorite player at each pick. Tanner Schobel was my favorite hitter on VA Tech and why I wasn't excited about Cross at 8. Hopefully the Twins can develop Prielipp like they did with Povich this past year.

My preference: 8. Lasko (under slot) 48. Melendez (draft experts have him lower but I doubt he 's available here) 68. Over Slot

He had the 4th highest OPS on his team. That doesn't scream elite. ESPN draft guy mentioned that half of MLB aces (his rating) have had TJ surgery. If Lesko was top 5 before TJ then he deserves top 5 now. He's not Kohl Stewart. He's been called the best HS pitching prospect in the last decade. He loses a year of development but he has seven years to get to MLB. Twins should pick from top 7 hitters and Lesko.

If the top 7 hitters are gone at 8 hopefully the Twins don't settle for Cross. He had the 4th highest OPS on his team. That doesn't scream elite talent. Take the most upside and don't be afraid of TJ surgery.

Wes Johnson could have announced he was going to LSU at the end of the season. The lack of commitment illustrates a lack of character. If you make a commitment to a team then you follow through with it. On the point that the team could fire him during the season, they would have to pay him to sit at home.

I got vaccinated as soon as I could because I'm older and wanted to take away any death possibility even though I'm in very good shape and have no morbidities. Don't be upset with players making a health decision they feel is best. Be upset with Canada who don't understand that vaccinated people can get Covid and spread Covid just as likely as unvaccinated people. Follow the science.

I really like the top 9. I thought Prielipp was getting knocked down too far before this week's update.

Lesko drops and the Twins should pounce.

I never mentioned a 5 per cent profit. The S&P 500 increased 30% last year. Stocks have averaged over 8% for decades. A 5% franchise annual increase is not good compared to stocks.

If you think a 5% increase is good then I'm glad you don't manage my money.

The Twins need to base their 40 man decisions based on 2023 and 2024. With Berrios gone, Maeda on IL, and the injuries to most of the top pitching prospects last year there's a slim chance of contending. Surprises can change the thinking in July but at this point protect those with upside potential in 2023 and 2024.

https://www.skornorth.com/wes-johnson-on-twins-pitching-prospects/ Jordan Balazovic Q: Balazovic’s had some ups and downs in Double-A. Where do you think he’s at right now? WJ: We could have left Jordan alone, he would have low walk numbers. We challenged him to throw his changeup more, challenged him to do some different things with his breaking ball. It’s a growing process. There’s times he goes out and feels good, there’s times he’s not, he struggles, and falls behind in counts. I’m personally excited about what he’s doing. We challenged [Griffin] Jax to do some things with his slider. He did it sometimes. Gotta build on those. Same thing with Jordan. We challenged him to throw his breaking ball this way in these counts and he did, we got success with it, now we just got to get it more. We challenged him to throw his changeup 30 percent of the time in the game, he fell behind behind a lot trying to do it, but he started to get better as the game goes on. I’m excited about what he’s doing. Q: What’s Balazovic’s ceiling? Can he be a 1 or 2 starter in the big leagues? WJ: That’s a tough question anymore, especially with today’s game. I think that’d be easier to answer five years ago, three years ago even. Now, I see him being a good MLB starter. Hopefully a tick above average major league guy. If he reaches his full potential and ceiling can he be a 1 or 2? Sure. But I just see him as being a good MLB starter.

He raises and lowers in a quick fashion but after that his delivery mechanics are fine. He probably opened his hips early on the downward plane early in his development and used his herky-jerky to keep weight back before going towards the plate. The Japanese pitchers use a pause in their delivery to keep their weight over the rubber. The key for every pitcher is to be repetitive and their mechanics smooth towards the plate and on time. He's fine. In addition, hitters hate something different.

Good faith has a lot of gray area. 1. AK is not the best defensive LF (Cave) 2. Rooker was up at the MLB and got injured. 3. Is AK better than a platoon of Cave/Rooker? 4. Maybe the Twins want to use AAA to improve his defensive abilities in LF and 1B. 5. Maybe the Twins are going with the hot bat at the end of ST or not. The Twins could use a few of the above to justify AK being sent down. The Rays did the same with Evan Longoria until he signed a long, team friendly contract. The Twins Front Office needs to put the TEAM ahead of any player. Getting an extra year is much more important than a few weeks.