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Twins Sign Undrafted Brandon Poulson

Seth Stohs

By Seth Stohs
in Twins Minor League Talk

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Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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APs Janie McCauley wrote a very nice story about the Twins most recent signee. The Twins have signed RHP Brandon Poulson as a non-drafted free agent... and signed him for $250,000. He is a 24-year old who played some ball in Northern California for the Academy of Art University where he posted an 8.38 ERA this last year.

 

However, in an amateur game, Twins scout Elliot Shrankman saw him and because the Twins had a couple-hundred-thousand dollars left in their draft pool, they were able to sign him over a couple of other teams that also had interest.

 

A 96-100 mph fastball will do that.

 

Check out the full story... Lots of great stuff...

 

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/out-nowhere-twins-add-undrafted-24-year-old 

glunn St Paul Saints

glunn

Community Moderator
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Per the Twins official website, this pitcher (Brandon Paulson) seems like he has a high ceiling, and the Twins have bet $250,000 on him.

 

What do people think about this move?

JB_Iowa Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

JB_Iowa

Verified Member
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I expected an article about Sidd Fynch.

 

EDIT: Scooped by JB...

 

LOL.  When I finally read the Bollinger piece, I see that apparently others did, too.

 

Must be those of us of a certain age.   :)

 

 

 

Bollinger piece was orignially posted by Glunn in the Minnesota Twins Talk forum:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/min/twins-sign-undrafted-pitcher-who-can-throw-100-mph?ymd=20140729&content_id=86944938&vkey=news_min

nicksaviking MVP

nicksaviking

Community Moderator
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Great story, who's not going to cheer for this guy?! 

 

The timing of this development couldn't have worked out better for the Twins, and frankly, for the Twins, unlucky and poor timing may be the biggest curse this franchise has.  I was previously critical not that the Twins didn't use all their draft money by signing the lowly picked HS kids, but that they didn't draft many HS kids worth signing early. 

 

By what seems like dumb luck, this guy figures it out and becomes worth the signing bonus AFTER the window of opportunity to sign the draft picks expire, which of course also happens to be the same time that nearly every other team has blown their draft signing allotments. 

 

As for Paulson, that kind of work ethic so often preceeds success.  He has a long way to go, and almost surely he will struggle early, but it's pretty exciting to think of what could develop with proper coaching.

JB_Iowa Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

JB_Iowa

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As for Paulson, that kind of work ethic so often preceeds success.  He has a long way to go, and almost surely he will struggle early, but it's pretty exciting to think of what could develop with proper coaching.

 

Great work ethic but also shouldn't his arm have less "wear and tear" than a typical 24 year olds?

nicksaviking MVP

nicksaviking

Community Moderator
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Great work ethic but also shouldn't his arm have less "wear and tear" than a typical 24 year olds?

 

I would think so, plus the yoga stuff is supposed to keep you limber and healthy until you're 150, or so the yoga types like to preach.

Dman Wichita Wind Surge

Dman

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That's a pretty cool story.  For those of us who think the Twins don't look hard enough for talent this story seems to prove otherwise.  It is hard to find guys that throw triple digits and it looks like the Twins got three of them this year.  It certainly looks like they are prioritizing power arms these days.  If they can teach this kid how to pitch then this is an excellent deal.  If not it still was a decent risk for a high reward type player.

Seth Stohs GOAT

Seth Stohs

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That's a pretty cool story.  For those of us who think the Twins don't look hard enough for talent this story seems to prove otherwise.  It is hard to find guys that throw triple digits and it looks like the Twins got three of them this year.  It certainly looks like they are prioritizing power arms these days.  If they can teach this kid how to pitch then this is an excellent deal.  If not it still was a decent risk for a high reward type player.

 

I can understand some of the arguments people make against the Twins, and some I even agree with, but I can't say I understand this one (Twins don't look hard enough for talent)... They are in more countries in the world than anyone. They're in the Caribbean and getting stronger. And, they have found several guys from independent leagues and non-drafted situations over the last decade. They have the people out there.

spanman2 Draft Eligible

spanman2

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How cool would it be if this kid turned out be like a Chapman type pitcher in Cincy.  You never know...for 250k arms like that just dont appear out of no where.  Time will tell.  GO TWINS!!!

Jeremy Nygaard St Paul Saints

Jeremy Nygaard

Twins Daily Contributor
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Great work ethic but also shouldn't his arm have less "wear and tear" than a typical 24 year olds?

 

That's true. The Twins aren't ruling out that Poulson (pronounced POLE-son, I checked) could be a starter, but that it would take a long time to get him to the point where he could log a lot of innings. 

 

The whole story is crazy. Ever heard of a prospect without a ceiling that has a floor that is extremely low? Here's the guy.

 

EDIT: Just got a text that it's POLE-son, not PAUL-son

DaveW All-Star

DaveW

Old-Timey Member
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Nothing to dislike about this move, you can't teach someone how to throw 100 MPH, worst case scenario he fizzes out Shooter Hunt style (without spending as much money and wasting a high draft pick)

Best case scenario: ?????

 

Mid case scenario: Dude makes it to the majors some day and becomes a RP.

drivlikejehu First Round Pick

drivlikejehu

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I can understand some of the arguments people make against the Twins, and some I even agree with, but I can't say I understand this one (Twins don't look hard enough for talent)... They are in more countries in the world than anyone. They're in the Caribbean and getting stronger. And, they have found several guys from independent leagues and non-drafted situations over the last decade. They have the people out there.

 

I don't think it's the looking that is the problem - it's the willingness to commit money. Obviously 250K is a drop in the bucket for a professional baseball organization.

Tibs First Round Pick

Tibs

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6'6" 240 lbs with a 40" vertical and ran a 6.6 60 yard dash without warming up, while also being able to throw 100 mph? I'm not sure how you can complain about this signing.

tobi0040 Ft Myers Mighty Mussels

tobi0040

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Hard not to love everything about this signing. No matter the rest of his profile (which also seems impressive with him being a fitness nut and very athletic), $250k is nothing for a guy who can hit triple digits.

 

Hard to criticize having $250K left over and buying a lottery ticket with it vs. the Pohlad's buying a nice car or boat.  My friends and I were joking that he had 31 K's in 37 outs in his town league.  I was thinking that a lot of town leagues involve drinking....imagine trying to hit 100 mph after a few. I know I could not hit it sober...

Brian Prep Ball

Brian

Provisional Member
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Love the fact that this kid is only now discovering is his talents. No ego there, just child-like amazement and raw work ethic.  

diehardtwinsfan Minnesota Twins

diehardtwinsfan

Old-Timey Member
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At 24, he's got a long hard road ahead of him.  With his control issues, he isn't going to get rushed.  Fast tracking, he gets there at 27/28...  That said... Good luck!

DaveW All-Star

DaveW

Old-Timey Member
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Hard to criticize having $250K left over and buying a lottery ticket with it vs. the Pohlad's buying a nice car or boat.  My friends and I were joking that he had 31 K's in 37 outs in his town league.  I was thinking that a lot of town leagues involve drinking....imagine trying to hit 100 mph after a few. I know I could not hit it sober...

The league we play in typically has guys throwing in the mid 70's to low 80's. A couple years ago we went up agasint a guy who had just been cut by the Diamondbacks org (tested positive for roids and never posted below a 7.00 ERA in low A ball) dude came out and was throwing 90-92 MPH....we got no hit and absolutely destroyed, I think 3 people total even put the ball in play. I think the guy ended up having a .30 ERA or something insane that season.

 

I can't even freaking imagine what 100 MPH would look like.

jokin Wichita Wind Surge

jokin

Old-Timey Member
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This is a great, great story. I hope he gets a shot!

The 100 MPH and being completely unknown left me highly skeptical. Throwing in the supposed 40" vertical from a guy who weighs 240#s and 6.6 60 made me check the calendar and see if it was the first of April.

 

As Jeremy said, this will be one crazy story that will draw all of us moths repeatedly back to the flame.

Pitz Draft Eligible

Pitz

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Certainly a cool story and a good get for the Twins. I'm just curious how this guy went undrafted. I read the stories earlier so maybe I'm not remembering them correctly, but in my recollection he blew scouts away with his size and athleticism, but they were turned off by bad mechanics and poor results in his college season. It just seems like at least one team would take a chance on trying to fix his mechanics to see if they could tap into the potential of this "physical specimen." Seems like it would be abetter use of a pick then a guy who you can pretty clearly see has reached the limits of their physical ability and doesn't project as anything more than organizational filler.

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