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Before everyone freaks out, it was the right approach. No prep players. No toolsy outfielders. Not a single catcher. It may not have been the Day 2 that everyone was hoping for, but it was the Day 2 the team needed after a near-perfect opening night. You can check out the Twins Draft Tracker for more information on each of the first ten picks. That will continue to be a work-in-progress as we get more information on the players. But as far as the draft today went, it shouldn't have been too surprising. After having Brooks Lee fall into their lap at #8 and then Connor Prielipp tumble all the way to #48, there is no doubt the Twins worked even later into the night to try to figure out exactly how much money it was going to cost to sign those two players. And I'm *guessing* $7 million isn't going to be enough. Maybe it's $8 million. Maybe it's $9 million. I don't know. But I bet the Twins draft room has a pretty good idea. So this afternoon, it wasn't a question of, "who is the best guy we can get in the fourth round for slot?" but instead a question of, "Who do we like the most that will sign for $100K?" and "Who is the guy we like the most that will sign for $40K?" Now let's not confuse that strategy with punting picks or not taking baseball players. Mitch Garver was one of those players and he was great. Some of these guys were going to be Day 2 picks anyway. Some of these guys were probably favorites of the organization to be early Day 3 picks. And a lot of them have something intriguing about them, whether it's that they've crushed pitching (in a small sample) or have hit for ridiculous averages or throw a knuckleball. Player Round Slot Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly 1 $5,439,500 Connor Prielipp, LHP, Alabama 2 $1,621,900 Tanner Schobel, SS, Virginia Tech CB $1,001,500 Andrew Morris, RHP, Texas Tech 4 $533,100 Ben Ross, SS, Notre Dame Coll. 5 $398,200 Jorel Ortega, SS, Tennessee 6 $301,000 Kyle Jones, RHP, Toledo 7 $235,400 Zebby Matthews, RHP, W. Carolina 8 $187,700 Cory Lewis, RHP, UC-Santa Barbara 9 $164,000 Dalton Shuffield, SS, Texas State 10 $153,700 We'll be back tomorrow for 10 more rounds. Expect more college pitching and more guys that can hit. And probably a few guys that crouch behind the plate. Of course, if it works out that the Twins do have some money saved after today's picks, maybe they draft a guy or two with a little bit higher price tag tomorrow. (That is what the 11th round is for after all.) We'll see you in the Day 3 thread tomorrow! View full article

Mock draft season is going to really heat up over the next few weeks. Players' demands become clearer and teams must solidify their board with as much information as they possibly can. Keith Law of The Athletic and both Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com have released updated mocks over the last week. Baseball America did a "staff mock draft." We'll have Twins Daily/Brewer Fanatic Mock Draft v.2.0 posted right here next week. Keith Law and joined an earlier Jim Callis mock draft, projecting the Twins to select Campbell SS Zach Neto. Now, how high Neto is on their board remains to be seen. Law has them taking Neto over Gavin Cross (OF, Virginia Tech) and Cole Young (SS, Pennsylvania prep), while Callis arrives on Neto because Termarr Johnson (2B, Georgia prep) and Cam Collier (3B, Florida prep) are off the board. Says Baseball America about Neto, who they currently rank him 16th on their board: At this point, every connection made to the Twins and their first pick has involved a hitter, though it's been split on a college or prep hitter. Callis, more recently, pairs the Twins with Jacob Berry (hitter, LSU) and Jonathan Mayo has the Twins selecting Gavin Cross (OF, Virginia Tech) for the third straight time. Both are being selected on the strength on their bat, while Cross projects as a much more serviceable defender than Berry. Of note, *maybe*, Callis mentions other players the Twins may be interested in and actually lists a pitcher, Connor Prielipp (LHP, Alabama) who hasn't pitched while recovering from Tommy John surgery. On the heels of a promising throwing session at the Draft Combine, Prielipp is now under consideration for a Top 10 pick. JJ Cooper of Baseball America go the responsibility of making the selections for the Twins in Baseball America's two-round "staff draft." Cooper was hoping to take Cam Collier with the 8th pick, but saw him go to the Cubs one pick earlier. Instead he paired the Twins with Jace Jung (2B, Texas Tech) who is another strong hitter with a questionable defensive future and Thomas Harrington (RHP, Campbell) in the second round. Harrington doesn't represent an overly high-floor selection, but he would be a pretty safe pick who projects as a mid-rotation starter. TWINS MOCK DRAFTS Callis Law Mayo Baseball America McDaniel TwinsDaily Jacob Berry 3B/OF LSU (6/22) Zach Neto SS Campbell (6/21) Gavin Cross OF Virginia Tech (6/15) Cam Collier 3B Chipola JC (6/3) Jacob Berry RF LSU (6/1) Cam Collier 3B Chipola JC (5/26) Zach Neto SS Campbell (6/8) Cole Young SS Pennsylvania HS (5/19) Gavin Cross OF Virginia Tech (6/1) Jacob Berry 3B/1B LSU (4/1) Jacob Berry 3B/OF LSU (5/25) Gavin Cross OF Virginia Tech (5/18) Chase DeLauter OF James Madison (2/10)"}" style="padding:2px 3px 2px 3px; text-align:center; vertical-align:middle">Chase DeLauter OF James Madison (2/10) Jace Jung 2B Texas Tech (5/11) Jacob Berry 3B/OF LSU (4/27) JEREMY's BIG BOARD will return after next week's mock draft. MOCK DRAFTS / PROSPECT BOARDS Baseball America - Staff Draft (6/22/22) / v4.0 (5/26/22) the draft changed but the link stayed the same / v2.0 (4/1/22) / v1.0 (2/10/22) / Top 300 (4/27/22) / Staff Draft v.1.0 (4/20/22) MLB.com - Mayo Mock Draft (6/1/22) / Callis Mock Draft (5/25/22) / Mayo Mock Draft (5/18/22) / Callis Mock Draft (5/11/22) / Mock Draft (4/27/22) / Callis - Top 10 (12/15/21), Mayo - Top 20 (7/20/21) / Top 150 (4/25/22) The Athletic - Law Mock Draft (6/21/22) / Bowden Top 10 (6/1/22) / Law Mock Draft (5/19/22) / Law Top 100 (5/5/22) / Law Top 30 (3/10/22) ESPN - McDaniel Mock Draft (6/1/22) / Early Draft Rankings (7/26/21) ($$$ - ESPN+) / McDaniel’s Draft Rankings (2/24/22) / Draft Rankings 2.0 (4/27/22) Fangraphs - The Board / 2022 MLB Draft Rankings and Offseason List Primer (11/30/21) Prospects Live - v3.0 (6/6/22) / v2.0 (4/21/22) / v1.0 (1/4/22) View full article

Moments after last week’s article went live, the biggest draft bombshell of the spring dropped. Later in the week, the two most popular websites that cover the draft posted their newest mock drafts. All of that and more are covered in this week’s Draft Report. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel dropped the tweet heard ‘round the draft world last Wednesday afternoon when he announced that prep pitcher Dylan Lesko would be undergoing Tommy John surgery. Shortly after that, all of the other outlets confirmed the unfortunate news. While it’s not clear how this will impact the top of the draft, it definitely adds to the uncertainty. I’ll take a deeper dive into the rash of pitching injuries in an upcoming episode of From Lee to Limestone. Baseball America dropped their mock prior to the Lesko news; while MLB Pipeline’s came out shortly after. Baseball America predicts the Twins to select Gavin Cross, an outfielder from Virginia Tech, and pass on Jacob Berry, Jackson Holliday, and Daniel Susac, who I have ranked higher. But the profile fits and it wouldn’t be a reach as BA’s Carlos Collazo says that in another draft class, it wouldn’t be surprising “for a player like Cross to be a top-five pick.” And based on how the Twins have drafted in the past, taking someone with a “very strong offensive profile” and “tons of power” wouldn’t be shocking. I get a Trevor Larnach on offense/Max Kepler on defense type of feeling with Cross. MLB Pipeline goes a different direction and has the Twins passing on Cross (and Susac and Lesko) and taking Jacob Berry, a corner player from LSU. Berry is definitely going to be in the mix with this pick. It’s noteworthy, though, that Jonathan Mayo says that he’s getting a “slight ‘unenthusiastic’ vibe from some scouting directors” about Berry. Berry has a similar profile to Cross on the offensive side, though his ceiling to hit for average, power, and overall as a switch-hitter is higher. Much bigger questions remain about his defensive home. You’ll read plenty that he’s listed as a third baseman, but that’s very generous. You might see him listed as an outfielder, and that’s hopeful. But the reality is guys like this usually end up at first base (or DH). So the bat really needs to play. Regardless, the Twins will have options. It was announced that the 8th overall pick will have a slot value of $5,439,500. The second-round pick will have a value of $1,621,900 and the Twins comp round B pick will have a value of $1,001,500. Overall, they’ll have the 12th biggest pool at just over $10 million. Additionally, it appears that the Twins will forfeit their third-round pick, not their comp pick, for signing Carlos Correa. (This must have changed since signing Ervin Santana.) That’s a difference of 19 picks and just short of $300K (or the equivalent of a sixth-round slot). JEREMY’S TOP 10 PROSPECTS The news on Lesko sends him down the list; while the trajectory of Jackson Holliday continues to trend upward. 1.) Druw Jones, OF, Georgia prep (Vanderbilt commit) 2.) Termarr Johnson, 2B, Georgia prep 3.) Elijah Green, OF, Florida prep (Miami commit) (Baseball America breaks down his game.) 4.) Brooks Lee, SS, Cal Poly (previously: 5) 5.) Kevin Parada, C, Georgia Tech (previously: 7) 6.) Jackson Holliday, SS, Oklahoma prep (Oklahoma State commit) (previously: 10) 7.) Jacob Berry, 3B, LSU (previously: 6) 8.) Jace Jung, 3B, Texas Tech 9.) Dylan Lesko, SP, Georgia prep (Vanderbilt commit) (Baseball America breaks down his game.) (previously: 4) 10.) Andrew Susac, C, Arizona (previously: 9) MOCK DRAFTS / PROSPECT BOARDS Baseball America - v3.0 (4/28/22) / (v2.0 (4/1/22) / v1.0 (2/10/22) / Top 300 (4/27/22) / Staff Draft v.1.0 (4/20/22) MLB.com - Mock Draft (4/27/22) / Callis - Top 10 (12/15/21), Mayo - Top 20 (7/20/21) / Top 150 (4/25/22) The Athletic - Law Top 30 (3/10/22) ESPN - Early Draft Rankings (7/26/21) ($$$ - ESPN+) / McDaniel’s Draft Rankings (2/24/22) / Draft Rankings 2.0 (4/27/22) Fangraphs - The Board / 2022 MLB Draft Rankings and Offseason List Primer (11/30/21) Prospects Live - v2.0 (4/21/22) / v1.0 (1/4/22) Just Baseball v1.0 (2/10/22) My MLB Draft (1/18/22) View full article