Jim Callis likes Twins draft

[gunnarthor]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/236343488/mlb-draft-5-teams-who-did-well-on-day-2/?topicid=151437456

 

Callis mentioned that the Twins "cleaned up on day one" and then "Minnesota crushed the Draft again in rounds 3-10 on Tuesday. It began by grabbing the top player left on the board, Louisiana prep right-hander Blayne Enlow ..... the Twins grabbed five Top 200 players on day two: Enlow, Clemson left-hander Charlie Barnes (fourth round, No. 149), Chipola (Fla.) JC third baseman Andrew Bechtold (fifth, No. 142), Puerto Rico high school shortstop Ricardo de la Torre (sixth, No. 190) and Central Arizona CC lefty Ryley Widell (seventh, No. 190). Barnes is a cerebral pitcher with the Draft's top changeup, while Widell also has a quality change."

 

One of the writers on minor league ball also mentioned that the Twins were "killing it"

 

Nice to see that kind of praise considering that many of us weren't thrilled with the draft, at least at first.

[The Wise One]

Having an idea what the players are about or what they can become is not something the average fan is going to know. If people are passing judgment on the draft ask how they have any idea what the player's skill set it. At best it is filtered.

[HitInAPinch]

Would love to read Falvey/Levine's cliff notes on the draft.  I remain blissfully ignorant on such things, so I can honestly say, I'm not wrong.   

[David HK]

 

Would love to read Falvey/Levine's cliff notes on the draft.  I remain blissfully ignorant on such things, so I can honestly say, I'm not wrong.   

I was blissfully ignorant, but then I looked into your eyes, and now I'm terrifyingly ignorant...

[Platoon]

I was happy to be just plain ignorant. But now I see that is not enough. All I can hope for is to be sufficiently ignorant, so as to keep up!

[Mr. Brooks]

Despite being skeptical at first, I think I really like it too.

The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is Lewis at 1:1, but he does have some really good tools, and is very young. The ball is in the development staffs hands now.

[drjim]

Despite being skeptical at first, I think I really like it too.

The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is Lewis at 1:1, but he does have some really good tools, and is very young. The ball is in the development staffs hands now.

I think this is the right way to look at it. They worked the pool well and got several good picks up and down the draft (with perhaps a few more to follow).

 

But if they missed significantly on 1-1 it won't really matter.

[ThejacKmp]

 

Despite being skeptical at first, I think I really like it too.
The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is Lewis at 1:1, but he does have some really good tools, and is very young. The ball is in the development staffs hands now.

 

And i think the savings at 1:1 are a direct cause of the great Day 2. Unless you're super enamored with any of the other top guys (I wasn't completely sold though I liked Greene and Wright a lot), I think Lewis is okay considering the other guys they got as a result.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I was definitely lukewarm on day one but wanted to see how the rest of the draft played out on day two.

 

Hard not to love day two so overall, I'm happy how things went down.

 

Snagging Enlow was such a huge get. The Twins managed to pick up two guys with top 20 talent on a few analysts' boards. That's impressive.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

And i think the savings at 1:1 are a direct cause of the great Day 2. Unless you're super enamored with any of the other top guys (I wasn't completely sold though I liked Greene and Wright a lot), I think Lewis is okay considering the other guys they got as a result.

Exactly. The Twins said there wasn't much separation on their board between Lewis and the other people at the top of the draft board.

 

So they managed to leverage Lewis' slot and picked up Enlow as a result, a guy who was as high as #14 overall on some boards (KLaw, I believe).

 

So you get a guy who was somewhere between #3-5 on pretty much everybody's board and use that reach to also get a guy who was #14-29 on everybody's board.

 

That's risky drafting but when it works out, it's also smart drafting.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Exactly. The Twins said there wasn't much separation on their board between Lewis and the other people at the top of the draft board.

 

So they managed to leverage Lewis' slot and picked up Enlow as a result, a guy who was as high as #14 overall on some boards (KLaw, I believe).

 

So you get a guy who was somewhere between #3-5 on pretty much everybody's board and use that reach to also get a guy who was #14-29 on everybody's board.

 

That's risky drafting but when it works out, it's also smart drafting.

 

I'd add that the odds of one working out is very good, and the odds of both working out is still reasonably good.  It's a good process with no clear cut BPA, and I think we can all agree that there was no clear cut BPA in this draft.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I'd add that the odds of one working out is very good, and the odds of both working out is still reasonably good.  It's a good process with no clear cut BPA, and I think we can all agree that there was no clear cut BPA in this draft.

Yeah. If there was a Strasburg or Harper at the top of the draft, it'd be hard to defend the Twins' strategy.

 

But that wasn't the case and after all is said and done, the Twins' draft looks pretty good.

[mazeville]

I don't pretend to know enough about amateur players to determine whether Royce Lewis is better than Hunter Greene.

 

I do know that the Twins need as many prospects as possible. Based on what people are reporting, they did a good job of that, using their draft position to get as many good prospects in this draft as possible. I'm happy with that.

 

I also know this: Traditionally, the Twins are not aggressive. So they've generally avoided manipulating slotting rules to target higher-end prospects lower in the draft order. That changed considerably this year. The Twins were notably aggressive in the first two days of the draft and it potentially netted the top position player prospect, the top college hitter and one of the better prep arms in the draft, based on what people are reporting.

 

So I'm happy with that. But I don't be truly happy until I see these players pan out.

[Mike Sixel]

It's not what I would have done, but I hope it works. 

[bird]

 

I'd add that the odds of one working out is very good, and the odds of both working out is still reasonably good.  It's a good process with no clear cut BPA, and I think we can all agree that there was no clear cut BPA in this draft.

 

Yeah, I think the only way you can hate this draft is if you think there actually WAS a clear cut BPA available. In five years, there probably will be, and it may not be any of the five prospects that were part of that consensus first tier.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Yeah, I think the only way you can hate this draft is if you think there actually WAS a clear cut BPA available. In five years, there probably will be, and it may not be any of the five prospects that were part of that consensus first tier.

 

Or you think Wright is a 2, and could be in MN next year, helping Sano, Buxton, et. al. win.....maybe not BPA, but BPA within context. That was what I thought/think. 

[Seth Stohs]

How I look at it...

 

They got the best high school player in the draft, the best college hitter in 2017, and two quality, high-ceiling prep arms in Enlow and Lacy.

 

I think we should be really happy.

[gunnarthor]

Yeah, I wanted Wright for the reasons Mike is saying. I also know that goes against the maxims of don't draft for need and take BPA etc, etc. I'm a fan, I'm not rationale. But pausing a bit and just looking at this draft, I really like it. I think that Juco third baseman might be a bit more than filler. We got two college arms who are strong on command/control - moving away from Deron Johnson's flame thrower approach. Enlow was one of the guys I wanted at the outset. There's some nice players in this draft.

[markos]

 

Yeah, I think the only way you can hate this draft is if you think there actually WAS a clear cut BPA available. In five years, there probably will be, and it may not be any of the five prospects that were part of that consensus first tier.

I don't 'hate' this draft, but I don't necessarily think it was great. I give the Twins a B. All their picks were defendable, and overall I like the distribution of picks. Getting Enlow definitely helps a lot, but a move like that is basically just par for the course when a team has extra picks and a huge pool. Grading against other teams from past drafts, this draft doesn't match up to something like what the Braves did in 2016 when the were able to get 3 top-25 pitchers with the #4, #40 and #44 picks. We will see were the signings end up, but it certainly seems right now that they will be leaving money on the table.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

And i think the savings at 1:1 are a direct cause of the great Day 2.

Rhett Bollinger is reporting Enlow's bonus will be about $2 mil, which is basically equal to our #35 slot. So it seems we could have been able to draft him and pay full slot at #1, had we wanted to do so:

 

http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/236268358/twins-expect-to-sign-blayne-enlow/?topicId=27118388

 

Not that it means the draft was bad or anything like that, but at this point it looks like the drafting of Lewis and the drafting of Enlow aren't too closely related. (Leach might be the guy we would have missed had we drafted Enlow at 35, or a later over-slot guy.)

 

We'll see how all the bonuses shake out soon, of course.

[drivlikejehu]

 

Or you think Wright is a 2, and could be in MN next year, helping Sano, Buxton, et. al. win.....maybe not BPA, but BPA within context. That was what I thought/think. 

 

I think if the Twins projected Wright as a near-term #2 starter, they would have taken him without hesitation. 

[gil4]

 

Despite being skeptical at first, I think I really like it too.
The only thing I'm not a huge fan of is Lewis at 1:1, but he does have some really good tools, and is very young. The ball is in the development staffs hands now.

Who is the better prospect at SS (or as a position player in general), Lewis or Greene. I'm not crazy about taking a prep player at 1-1 who didn't destroy high school pitching.

[howieramone2]

 

I don't 'hate' this draft, but I don't necessarily think it was great. I give the Twins a B. All their picks were defendable, and overall I like the distribution of picks. Getting Enlow definitely helps a lot, but a move like that is basically just par for the course when a team has extra picks and a huge pool. Grading against other teams from past drafts, this draft doesn't match up to something like what the Braves did in 2016 when the were able to get 3 top-25 pitchers with the #4, #40 and #44 picks. We will see were the signings end up, but it certainly seems right now that they will be leaving money on the table.

The Braves 2016 draft, doesn't match up with our 2012 draft. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

I think if the Twins projected Wright as a near-term #2 starter, they would have taken him without hesitation. 

 

I'm not arguing they thought that, I'm stating that I thought that. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Who is the better prospect at SS (or as a position player in general), Lewis or Greene. I'm not crazy about taking a prep player at 1-1 who didn't destroy high school pitching.

 

Depends on who you read. Some think Lewis can't stay at SS, and Greene can.....but overall, people like Lewis as a fielder of some kind better than Greene. Make sense?

[gunnarthor]

 

Who is the better prospect at SS (or as a position player in general), Lewis or Greene. I'm not crazy about taking a prep player at 1-1 who didn't destroy high school pitching.

Lewis was the top shortstop on everyone's board and probably the #1 position player on everyone's board, depending on how you viewed McKay. Greene was a back end of the first round guy at short. Lewis is a great pick in the same way Buxton and Gordon were. I just wanted pitching. But he is a stud and absolutely the type of guy the Twins had targeted for decades. 

[drivlikejehu]

 

I'm not arguing they thought that, I'm stating that I thought that. 

 

I wonder how many teams thought that, since arguably that profile would be more attractive to San Diego than Gore, and TB didn't seem real interested either.

[diehardtwinsfan]

I would note that it will be interesting to see if they use a few picks today to grab more HS talent.  They probably have some money to lure away some guys. That may also be a part of the plan.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I wonder how many teams thought that, since arguably that profile would be more attractive to San Diego than Gore, and TB didn't seem real interested either.

San Diego is tied for the second-worst record in MLB, they probably aren't putting extra value on MLB readiness.

 

Tampa may have thought McKay's MLB readiness was not appreciably worse than Wright's (and they have enough controlled MLB pitching currently that readiness is probably not their chief concern either).

 

Hard to say at this point, should be interesting to watch.

[diehardtwinsfan]

BTW, Rooker was a draft eligible Sophomore last season.  He does have some leverage for the record.