Article: Minnesota Twins Day 3 Draft Picks (Rounds 11-40)

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Beginning at about 11:30 Saturday morning, the MLB Draft will continue with its third and final day of drafting. Each team will make their 11th through 40th round draft picks. That's right, another 900 baseball players will have a goal achieved today.

 

Be sure to follow along below as the Twins make their 30 draft picks on Saturday. We'll post all 30 choices here with a little bit of additional information on each pick.Before we get started, here is a quick glance (with links) of where we are after two days of Minnesota Twins Draft Picks:

 

DAY ONE PICKS

1st Round (15) - OF Alex Kirilloff - Pennsylvania High School (Story)

2nd Round (56) - C Ben Rortvedt - Wisconsin High School (Story)

Lottery B (73) - SS Jose Miranda - Puerto Rico High School

Lottery B (74) - OF Akil Baddoo - Georgia High School (Story on 73/74)

 

DAY 2 PICKS

Here is a quick reminder of the Day 2 picks. For more on each player, click here.

 

Round 3 (93rd overall): Griffin Jax, RHP, Air Force

Round 4 (123rd overall): Thomas Hackimer, RHP St. John's

Round 5 (153rd overall): Jordan Balazovic, RHP, Canada High School

Round 6 (183rd overall): Alex Schick, RHP, California

Round 7 (213th overall): Matt Albanese, CF, Bryant University

Round 8 (243rd overall): Shane Carrier, OF, Fullerton College (JC)

Round 9 (273rd overall): Mitchell Kranson, C, California

Round 10 (303rd overall): Brandon Lopez, SS, Miami

 

PODCASTS

 

John and Jeremy were on KFAN on Friday night to talk about the Twins draft. In the second segment, they were joined by Twins top pick Alex Kirilloff. Get to know the talented outfielder.

 

DAY 3 PICKS

 

Day 3 picks are limited to $100,000 maximum signing bonus. Any dollar value over that amount will go against their draft limits from the first ten rounds. Here are the Day 3 picks (will be updated as selections are made):

 

Round 11 (333rd overall): Tyler Benninghoff, RHP, HS in Kansas

 

Benninghoff has dealt with some arm issues after a football injury in the fall. Very talented. The Arkansas commit is a three-sport athlete with a low-90s fastball and a hammer curveball that is one of the best in the class. Signability is obviously an issue here.

 

Round 12 (363rd overall): Zach Featherstone, LF from Tallahassee CC

 

Well-regarded prep who is committed to North Carolina State after spending two years in junior college.

 

Round 13 (393rd overall): Ryan Mason, RHP, UC-Berkeley

 

Already the third Cal-Berkeley player drafted by the Twins in this draft after taking Chris Paul last year and Trevor Hildenberger and Michael Theofanopoulos in 2014.

 

Round 14 (423rd overall): Andre Jernigan, SS, Xavier

 

Jernigan is described as a slick-fielding, power-hitting athletic shortstop who was named the Big East Player of the Year in his senior year.

 

Round 15 (453rd overall): Tyler Wells, RHP, Cal State San Bernardino

 

Round 16 (483rd overall): Tyler Beardsley, RHP, Cal State Sacramento

 

Round 17 (513th overall): Kidany Salva,C, Texas HS

 

Round 18 (543rd overall): Tim Richards, SS, Cal State Fullerton

 

Richards hit well all season and has the chops to possibly stick at shortstop professionally.

 

Round 19 (573rd overall): Sean Poppen, RHP, Harvard

 

The senior is probably the smartest guy the Twins will draft this year. Big and strong, Poppen is up to 93 with his fastball.

 

Round 20 (603rd overall): Shamoy Christopher, C, Roane State CC

 

Christopher, from the Virgin Islands, was described to me as a "pop-up" guy. He can really catch and throw, but has a long ways to go with the bat. Younger than many high school guys.

 

Round 21 (633rd overall): Domenick Carlini, LHP, SE Louisiana

 

Round 22 (663rd overall): Hank Morrison, OF, Mercyhurst

 

Big, athletic, power/speed combo (but obviously doing it as a 22-year-old against low competition).

 

Round 23 (693rd overall): Caleb Hamilton, SS, Oregon State.

 

Hamilton was drafted out of high school and didn't sign. This year he didn't play much and had a sub-.200 batting average. Digging on this pick...

 

Update: Twins have always been a big fan of Hamilton, who played a lot early in his career but was recruited over. Very good defensively, athletic with raw power and can run. A deal with Hamilton should be done soon.

 

Round 24 (723rd overall): Matt Byars, C, Michigan State

 

Byers was a Wisconsin prep player, the second Wisconsin prep catcher they have taken.

 

Round 25 (753rd overall): Colton Davis, RHP, Western Carolina

 

The senior was a four-year contributor in the Catamount bullpen, making 90 appearances. Davis had a career K/9 of 10.89.

 

Round 26 (783rd overall): Greg Deichmann, 3B, LSU

 

Round 27 (813th overall): Scott Ogrin, LF, California HS

 

Committed to Cal Poly.

 

Round 28 (843rd overall): Matt Jones, LHP, Sinclair Secondary School (Canada HS)

 

Walt Burrows continues to have his scouting presence in Canada felt during his first draft with the Twins. Jones, who hails from the same school as Stephen Wickens, is committed to the University of Montevallo.

 

Round 29 (873rd overall): Dane Hutcheon, SS, U of Montevallo

 

The diminutive infielder hit .365 with 16 stolen bases this season.

 

Round 30 (903rd overall): Quin Grogan, RHP, Lewis-Clark State

 

Grogan struck out 83 in 75 1/3 innings this season.

 

Round 31 (933rd overall): Juan Gamez, C, North Dakota State

 

A stocky catcher with a strong arm, Gamez will need to improve with the bat.

 

Round 32 (963rd overall): Matt Wallner, RHP, Minnesota HS

 

The Forest Lake senior is committed to Southern Miss.

 

Round 33 (993rd overall): Clark Beeker, RHP, Davidson

 

Fifth-year senior is an innings-eater who doesn't miss many bats, but doesn't walk many either.

 

Round 34 (1,023rd overall): Joe Cronin, SS, Boston College

 

Drafted as a shortstop, Cronin hasn't started a game there since 2014, instead splitting his time between first and third base. Cronin walks nearly as much as he strikes out.

 

Round 35 (1,053rd overall): Austin Tribby, LHP, Missouri

 

Bullpen arm for Mizzo who has a good K-rate.

 

Round 36 (1,083rd overall): Patrick McGuff, RHP, Morehead State

 

McGuff has been a two-year starter for Morehead State and has struck out a lot of batters (98) in 99 2/3 innings. He's also walked 58, which isn't great.

 

Round 37 (1,113th overall): Danny Mayer, OF, Pacific

 

Getting his first significant game action in three years, Mayer hit 15 home runs and .314.

 

Round 38 (1,143rd overall): Brent Rooker, RF, Mississippi State

 

Batted .315 in his only year as a full-time starter.

 

Round 39 (1,173rd overall): Casey Scroggins, CF, U of Tampa

 

Speedy outfielder with great defensive skills.

 

Round 40 (1,203th overall): TJ Collett, C, Indiana HS

 

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[twinsfanstreif]

Where are you getting the Benninghoff pick? MLB.com hasn't updated the tracker yet, plus he's also a Missouri kid (his school happens to be like 5 minutes from my house)

[Seth Stohs]

Makes it much more difficult to track when the MLB Draft Tracker isn't working, especially for me who is kind of a stickler on spelling names correctly.

[d-mac]

I wonder if they can sign Benninghoff. Also, the two college pitcher selected one is 6'7, the other is 6'8.

[d-mac]

For those interested, Alex Lopez's Miami Hurricanes are playing Boston College on the super regionals on ESPN U right now. Lopez just followed up a Zack Collins HR with a hard hit single to right-center and then later scored.

[AZTwin]

Looked at an Arkansas forum and it looks like theyre worried Benninghoff will leave as well.  Should be interesting to keep an eye on him.

[DocBauer]

Benninghoff sounds interesting. An athletic HS talent who throws 90 with a "hammer" curve? Get this one done!

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Benninghoff sounds interesting. An athletic HS talent who throws 90 with a "hammer" curve? Get this one done!

 

Talent-wise he's mentioned with Pint and Wentz, but hurt his arm in the offseason and wasn't able to throw much. My *guess* is that if the team is able to save extra money, they'll throw it at him first. 

[DocBauer]

Jeremy, just from your quick comments, Andre Jernigan sounds like a guy who should have been picked higher. Is there a particular reason he lasted until the 14th round? Arm? Level of competition?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

Jeremy, just from your quick comments, Andre Jernigan sounds like a guy who should have been picked higher. Is there a particular reason he lasted until the 14th round? Arm? Level of competition?

 

I'm guessing there's stuff with his swing that suggests hitting is going to be harder against better pitching. He strikes out a ton.. and doesn't walk a whole lot. The Big East isn't terrible... but it's far from great. And he's a senior who didn't get draft last year. 

[AZTwin]

I wonder how the players feel that get drafted now just because of their family ties.   Trey Griffey was selected by Seattle solely for the press they can say they drafted Ken's kid.  Trey didnt even play baseball the last few years.

[twinsfanstreif]

I'm excited about the Benninghoff kid, I hope he signs. I wish I would've caught a few of his games with his school being so close to me had I known we would've drafted him, oh well

[twinsfanstreif]

 

I'm guessing there's stuff with his swing that suggests hitting is going to be harder against better pitching. He strikes out a ton.. and doesn't walk a whole lot. The Big East isn't terrible... but it's far from great. And he's a senior who didn't get draft last year. 

MLB.com lists him as a junior, are they wrong? I'm too lazy to look it up

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

MLB.com lists him as a junior, are they wrong? I'm too lazy to look it up

 

I think he redshirted his freshman year, so he's probably got eligibility left... but was draft-eligible last year.

[RaymondLuxuryYacht]

Great update/insight on Hamilton!  Thanks Jeremy

[nater79a]

Sounds like Benninghoff is this year's version of Colton Eastman? Although, the Twins must think they have a better chance of prying him away from college since they drafted him 20 rounds higher.

[Seth Stohs]

Matt Jones went to the same secondary school as Red Wings infielder Stephen Wickens.

[twinsfanstreif]

I'm a bit bias but I'm a Houston Alum and I would love to see the Twins pick up Bubba Maxwell, he's still around and is a 5th year senior after having tommy john 2 years ago, he was a very effective reliever for us this past year and has been solid most of his career, his ceiling is probably long relief but at this point in the draft I feel like it could work and he would come cheap

[AZTwin]

How many of these guys do we expect to sign? 25-30?

[Jeremy Nygaard]

 

How many of these guys do we expect to sign? 25-30?

 

I asked. The response: "We're not focused on that board right now."

[Monkeypaws]

The latter half of their top ten look like guys who might sign below slot. That could help for guys like Benninghoff.

[Monkeypaws]

MLB had this to say about Rooker:

 

Rooker is an athletic outfielder with a decent arm in right field, and at the plate he has good bat speed and shows power to all fields. One of the Mississippi State team captains this season, Rooker has hit .320 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs for the Bulldogs in 2016.

Senior, so he could be a nice add to the system for cheap.

[nicksaviking]

How many of these guys do we expect to sign? 25-30?

They picked more HS than normal, so I'm guessing they plan on signing fewer than normal, which is OK with me. Quality over quantity is my preference.

[maxisagod]

 

MLB had this to say about Rooker:

Senior, so he could be a nice add to the system for cheap.

MLB also mentioned #40 pick Collett as a C with big Lefty power (ala Kyle Schwarber) so I'm guessing another strong college commit they'd take a flyer on if they can offer the right price.... if there is a right price.  

[notoriousgod71]

I'm impressed Terry and the boys were able to draft a HOF player in the 34th round. Nice work!

[Guest]

Sounds like Joe Cronin is not related to HOF Joe Cronin, whom I believe was Cal Griffith's brother-in-law.

[nicksaviking]

Sounds like Joe Cronin is not related to HOF Joe Cronin, whom I believe was Cal Griffith's brother-in-law.

I think the sale of the team in 1984 was continent on the Pohlds drafting him.

[Mr. Brooks]

I didn't think we could possibly draft a cooler name than Akill Baddoo, but then we drafted Patrick McGuff.

 

I really hope that guy defies the odds and makes it, just so I can say Pat McGuff alot.

[goulik]

If only it had been Patrick McGruff...

[Pitz]

Jeremy, thank you for all your work surrounding the draft! Great info - much appreciated!