Terry Ryan: We have a half dozen candidates for 2nd overall draft pick

McCullers has only been considered a closer recently. Draft wonks had been debating whether he or Giolito would be a better HS ace. He has 3 out pitches which is uncommon for a high schooler. Aside from the high 90's heater, everyone talked about his great change up and curve. He throws hard but has a nice delivery that didn't put him in the injury concern catagory. His upside seemed to be in Justin Verlander territory, anyone know what happened to drop his stock and start the reliever discussion? I have no clue if he's had trouble this spring and I don't see any recent news results for him.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mike wants wins

They will never trade for or sign a guy that might be an ACE. So, if you pass on one here, when/how will you ever get a shot at one w/o great luck?

---

Shameless self-promotion, yes, but I just wrote on this very topic today.
http://throughthefencebaseball.com/2...r-twins/18963/

Mark Appel P, Mike Zuzino C, and Byron Buxton OF, are for sure on the Twin's list.

The other 3 most likely are Lucas Giolito (injured or not they have already scouted him and will again when he comes back), Gausman ( who's put up good numbers this year), and Carlos Correa (SS) ( he's the least likely, but given the Twin's draft history I could see them going this way).



Deven Marrero (SS) isn't showing much power this year and stock is falling to a lower top ten pick, also he agent makes him unattractive. Lance McCullers (P) won't be a starter and won't be drafted that high, Kyle Zimmer is shooting up the draft charts, he has the stuff, just not the exposure, I'm guessing he not on the Twins radar yet for the top pick.

They are unlikely to take Giolito with his arm injury. With my years of watching the Twins, they will look for the pitcher with highest upside, and take him. While the new rules for the draft do eliminate parts of the reason that the Moneyball-led A's were successfull (drafting kids who didn't "look like big leaguers" for way less than others would have drafted them for when they were taken), the Twins still have sabermetrics, and they should use them to their advantages to find the best candidate for them, whether they are a big name out there right now or not.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by J-Dog Dungan

They are unlikely to take Giolito with his arm injury.

---

Indeed. And we are not going to know who of the alleged "half dozen" will be injured before the draft or who not in the alleged half dozen will have a killer performance (we are talking about kids who grew a year) and be on the radar.

I just think that it is silly to project picks before they play their seasons this Spring. This question is about as silly as trying to project the 2013 NFL draft...

Everything I have read says McCullers mechanics are terrible and that's why he end up in the pen...he wasn't in Keith Laws first top 50 prospects

With Gilioto, I think the question is whether he comes back healthy before the draft. If he does, he could still be in the mix. I think they have to be watching Zimmer right now, though I would think Houston is too. I'm in agreement with others, they need to take the best pitcher there at #2. If Gilioto isn't healthy, he could fall into the supplemental round, and I could see burning a pick on him because if he doesn't sign, they simply get that pick back next year.