MLB Draft Discussion: Day One

[Einstein]

Mitch Brown at 42?

[minn55441]

He's not much (if any) of an overreach. Sickels had him 37 and took him at 32 in his shadow draft. Yankee blogs wanted him at 30. Has a real fastball, lots of time to get better.

None of us has seen him pitch. You have to trust the scouts we have and realize that he isn't going to be pitching for the Twins for many years. Young arms need a lot of time to develop. They must be very high on his talent.

[twinsfanstreif]

I liked Berrios but with McCullers on the board I'm a little disappointed. I guess McCullers was a hard sign. Smoral would've been good too but he's probably a hard sign too and may end up have injury problems. The thing about Berrios that scares me is mayo says he might not get that much better, sounds like a reliever to me. Hopefully he works out though. Man, Plawecki and Light gone already, I liked both those guys, bummer. Here's to Mitch Brown at 42!

[nicksaviking]

Perhaps picking Barrios was a prelude to picking over slot at 42.

[Mike Sixel]

Why do I have to trust the scouts? We can only know what we read on line, and other than Sickels, good luck finding anyone that had him in the top 45. The ESPN guy says he has a chance to start, and Mayo says he won't get much better. Not sure why you'd do that if other guys are on the board.

[jwestbrock]

I'm wondering if they maybe got a guy they liked, but think they can save some money and will take and pay McCullers?

[IdahoPilgrim]

So does anybody have any stats on what percentage of draftees actually end up signing? Of the 43 players we select this year, how many will actually join the system?

[twinswon1991]

Drafts are so exciting. Wishing we had another pick for letting Capps walk though.

x2 Ryan should be fired for wasting a potential high upside guy for the right to overpay for a mediocre closer that won't make 1 game difference in standings.

[Dilligaf69]

Berrios = Meh. Would like to know what the staff saw that put this kid above several generally higher-ranked prospects. Disappointing.

Several teams "reached" if you go strictly by rankings...

[Dilligaf69]

He's not much (if any) of an overreach. Sickels had him 37 and took him at 32 in his shadow draft. Yankee blogs wanted him at 30. Has a real fastball, lots of time to get better.

Supposed to have a great curve too..

[Mike Sixel]

What else but rankings can we go on? This isn't like other sports where we can see these guys play.

[gunnarthor]

Bard? Didn't see that coming.

[PeanutsFromHeaven]

So does anybody have any stats on what percentage of draftees actually end up signing? Of the 43 players we select this year, how many will actually join the system?

Last year I think it was 33/52 who signed, first 14 rounds all signed

[Mike Sixel]

Luke Bard, BA has him 93....wth are the Twins doing? KLAW had him 66th...really, one of these guys would be there in round 2, if not both.

[Einstein]

If they wanted a college arm I would have thought Pierce Johnson.

[jlovren]

jeez, i shouldnt be shocked. terrible pick.

[mbents]

x2 Ryan should be fired for wasting a potential high upside guy for the right to overpay for a mediocre closer that won't make 1 game difference in standings.

I don't think Ryan should be fired for re-signing Capps, but I'm getting tired of how much they overvalue the save statistic. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Capps pitches well enough that we could trade him for something in July. Also that the other GMs have amnesia.

[Mike Sixel]

from espn....

 

His low slot and lack of a weapon against lefties point to a career in relief, but he does have the fastball and possible out pitch to be a starter if he's healthy and can develop a changeup.

[nicksaviking]

Buzz killed. I don't think there is a very high ceiling for Bard.

[twinsfanstreif]

I'm really disappointed, I hope they think brown will still be there in the second.

[PeanutsFromHeaven]

I officially have no more excuses not to grade essays--thank you all for the amusement/discussion/education

[gunnarthor]

I'm going to be pretty angry if the Twins don't spend all of their draft budget.

[Mike Sixel]

After Buxton, I'd give them a D. Both guys might have been available in round 2, at least one of them. You don't pick two guys that will be available in later rounds, that's not good strategy.

[IdahoPilgrim]

Again I ask, how much did Buxton cost over slot?

[Mike Sixel]

Maybe they are saving their money for Soler....or maybe they want to only draft pitchers whose upside is reliever, because they are going to sign a bunch of FA starters.

[gunnarthor]

This is MLB.com's scouting on Berrios "As the spring progressed, few high school arms had more helium than this right-hander from Puerto Rico. A strong "undersized right-hander," Berrios has a compact and sound delivery that produces two potentially plus pitches. He can throw his fastball now in the 93-96 mph range, perhaps even touching a 97 mph at times. He can elevate the fastball when he needs to and can work down in the zone as well, showing good life to the heater when he does. He backs that up with a power breaking ball, around 80 mph, that's an absolute hammer. His changeup is behind the other two, common for pitchers at this level, but he's shown a feel for it, and it has the chance to be a usable third pitch. He's aggressive and throws strikes, for the most part. While he's young, he's mature, both physically and in terms of his mound presence. There isn't much projection -- he's not the type of prep arm who projects to be much more than he is -- but he has more than enough now stuff to draw a lot of attention in the early stages of the Draft."

[twinswon1991]

The Twins are horrible at drafting AND developing pitchers. I have NO faith in this organization. They need to clean house from top to bottom.

 

The only saving grace is that they stuck to the BPA and took Buxton at #2. Buxton has a chance to be the player we all were told Benson, Hicks, Revere and Span could be.

[gunnarthor]

Again I ask, how much did Buxton cost over slot?

No one knows right now but I doubt the Twins would be the team go way overslot on the first pick, esp in this draft. I'd imagine he signs for around 6m

[drivlikejehu]

Buxton will not get the slot max. It's just a question of how much less. My guess would be a little over $5 million.

[gunnarthor]

The Twins are horrible at drafting AND developing pitchers. I have NO faith in this organization. They need to clean house from top to bottom.

 

The only saving grace is that they stuck to the BPA and took Buxton at #2. Buxton has a chance to be the player we all were told Benson, Hicks, Revere and Span could be.

Guess they were lucky to win all those games and develop two MVPs. -sigh- I really don't understand why there's so much negativity. They're in a down cycle, it's normal.