Twins Select Brooks Lee #8 Overall

[Dantes929]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

How does a 40 runner stick at short?  That’s Polanco territory. 

Maybe he can throw.   Never appears to me that Correa is even average speed.   Ripken wasn't fast either.

[prouster]

56 minutes ago, Linus said:

Wow. Show me where I said he was washed up?  21 years old is not young on the prospect scale when you have played zero professional baseball. Doesn’t mean he can’t make it. 

How old do you think most college guys are when they get drafted?

[darwin22]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

I like Lee a lot. I was resigned to a couple guys I thought had a chance to be very good choices but was really hoping for one of Parada or Collier to slide through. There's no guarantee Parada sticks at catcher, but I was more than willing to find out. Collier is perhaps the best player out of the entire 1st round, but super young and has a ways to go. 

NEVER thought Lee would be there. He might be the best pure college "hitter" in the draft. He's got power and will probably develop more. And he can dobit from both sides of the plate.

He's got the hands, arm, and instincts to play SS. Do all of those things allow him to stay at SS? Or does a lack of pure speed and lateral quickness push him elsewhere? Depends on which scouting report you read.

Just a thought, but with the latest injury to Lewis, I just wonder if it means the Twins like him at SS and like him as a college player as a possible option at SS vs taking the younger Collier?

 

Doc- Nice analysis in your post.  Assuming---a big one, I know--Twins can get Lee signed in the next month, is it realistic he gets assigned/playing time with Fort Myers or Cedar Rapids before the end of the season?  Both FM and CR have their regular season extend into mid September--------last game on Sept. 16th.

[DocBauer]

9 minutes ago, darwin22 said:

Doc- Nice analysis in your post.  Assuming---a big one, I know--Twins can get Lee signed in the next month, is it realistic he gets assigned/playing time with Fort Myers or Cedar Rapids before the end of the season?  Both FM and CR have their regular season extend into mid September--------last game on Sept. 16th.

The draft coming late hurts the time to get kids signed and ready for any quality time. But IIRC, the milb season goes in to at least mid September now. So if they can agree on a deal quickly, he works out for a week or so, then gets 2-3 weeks at Ft Myers and a couple 2-3 weeks at Cedar Rapids to close things out. IF they can get him signed quickly. Otherwise, he gets only a couple weeks, probably at Ft Myers, and then it's wait and see for the start of 2023.

[MN_ExPat]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

Wow. Show me where I said he was washed up?  21 years old is not young on the prospect scale when you have played zero professional baseball. Doesn’t mean he can’t make it. 

Probably the “Meh, He’s already 21.” 

It is can easily be perceived by that statement alone.  Also, I’m not the only one that seeing that post as snarky.

That may or may not be the case, but before taking any further umbrage, stop and reread that first statement. It does come across that way. 

[USAFChief]

27 minutes ago, MN_ExPat said:

Probably the “Meh, He’s already 21.” 

It is can easily be perceived by that statement alone.  Also, I’m not the only one that seeing that post as snarky.

That may or may not be the case, but before taking any further umbrage, stop and reread that first statement. It does come across that way. 

But we're talking about prospects...in which case 21 IS "old"

Not many players will be drafted who are older.

I absolutely love the pick, but he is "old" in the context of the draft. 

[Walser]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

Ouch. Not sure that makes this better. 

Could be different now but last I checked 21 was the average age in low A ball, and I'm sure if they start him there and he performs at a high level they won't hesitate to promote him. He already has a reputation for being a polished hitter.

[tony&rodney]

A switch hitter with a great hit tool that can play on the dirt - excellent choice.

[twinstalker]

I wanted Holliday and Druw Jones above all others, but I had Lee 3rd.  The Twins have had consistently poor ABs since Mauer's prime, with only Arraez really tough against good pitching.  The Twins need more tough outs in the system.

As for catching, it would take four years at least for Parada to be good.  And he likely would be, but the Twins can address this potential need in other ways.  I take the guy with an outstanding hit tool who rarely strikes out (at least in college, fwiw).

[h2oface]

Just what we need. Another shortstop that won’t be a shortstop. No pitcher. Some things never change. At least they took a gamble on a pitcher at 48. I hope Lee is more than a DH and the bizarre leg injury isn’t too restrictive in his future. 

[bighat]

10 hours ago, Linus said:

Meh. He’s already 21 and most scouts say he won’t stick at short. I know you don’t draft for need in baseball but he is already 3-4 years older than some guys. That means he joins a pile of good Twins prospects at 2nd and 3 rd.   He better hit a crap ton and the Twins better start trading some of these guys. 

Yeah. If the Twins decide to really put the pedal to the metal here (ie: get Montas or Castillo), I think the trading deadline is going to see us lose at least 4-5 of the following: Balazovic, Steer, Wallner, Lewis, Martin, Larnach, Kirilloff, Celestino, Gordon, Miranda, Woods Richardson, Palacios. 

I think they drafted Brooks Lee because he's almost MLB ready and can fill in at SS or 3B in relatively short order. I looked at his profile and a few videos of him, the kid's bigger than many major leaguers. He's ready to play ball. 

[bighat]

7 hours ago, USAFChief said:

But we're talking about prospects...in which case 21 IS "old"

Not many players will be drafted who are older.

I absolutely love the pick, but he is "old" in the context of the draft. 

Agree with everything you said.  On the flip side, we keep hearing that guys like Larnach and Kirilloff are "young" - which is weird considering that they'll be turning 26 (!!!) and 25 this off-season, respectively. Let's hope it doesn't take Lee as long as it's taken them to get to the majors. From what I've seen, I think Brooks' bat is more advanced at this stage. 

Back to Lee, it's possible the Twins felt they needed to draft a guy who was close to the bigs to replace all the AA and AAA prospects they plan on dealing at the trade deadline. Lee may very well be the guy they want to fill Royce Lewis' spot when he's wearing an A's jersey next summer. 

 

[TopGunn#22]

This is a great pick.  Everything I read never mentioned this kid sliding out of the top 5.  Then to get Prielipp in the 2nd round and another SS (Tanner Schobel) from Va. Tech at #68...I consider this first night VERY successful for the Twins.  I agree, with the trade deadline approaching, the Twins are going to have to part with some minor league talent to plug some BIG holes.  Restocking with talent like this on night #1 is very encouraging.  Now they need to sign them...quickly.

[bunsen82]

5 hours ago, h2oface said:

Just what we need. Another shortstop that won’t be a shortstop. No pitcher. Some things never change. At least they took a gamble on a pitcher at 48. I hope Lee is more than a DH and the bizarre leg injury isn’t too restrictive in his future. 

So what exactly would you have done?  Who would have been available at 8 that you think was demonstrably better than Lee?  

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 hours ago, Dman said:

Correa and Seager aren't that fast either and yet they play there and Correa even won a platinum glove.  More than Half of Shortstop is positioning and being able to make good throws.  Nick Gordon is fast and has a good arm but the Twins don't play him at short much and even when they do he is pretty error prone and has been his whole minor league career.  Polanco's issue was throwing as well he just didn't have the arm to make the throws and made lot's of errors as well.

With a slower speed is the team willing to gamble the player won't get to a few balls he should but can make all the other plays and throws?  That is the question you need ask about Lee.  Also with the shift and focus on lifting balls you can hide a lack of speed but you can't hide a guy who can't make the throws.  That is why some scouting services like fangraph's think Lee can stick there if the Twins want to try him there.  Most see him moving off of short but I believe the same was said about Seager as well.  Odds are he moves off but just have to wait and see how he does there first IMO.

I think you may be right Snoop D O double G. 

[Major League Ready]

I guess we could have taken a high school (younger) player and hoped he turned out to be as good a hitter as Brooks Lee is at 21.  No kidding ... A college player is older than a high school player.  What's really ironic is those who don't value prospects will complain about a college prospect being older and more developed than a high school player.  Sometimes I think people search really hard for something to complain about.  

[Heiny]

I absolutely love this first night of the draft.  Brooks Lee was my #1 even if the Twins had the first overall pick.  I am shocked and elated that he fell.  Here is a player who is probably the closest to MLB as anyone in the draft.  Age?= maturity.  Physically developed,  baseball IQ.  And to get Prielipp in the 48 spot is another pleasant surprise.  I thought he would go in the later half of the first round.  Hey,  the draft is a crapshoot,  but I love what the front office has done here.

[chpettit19]

Man, Twins draft a consensus top 5 prospect at 8 and there's still boards filled with people being mad about it. Hard to fathom. Parada is just as likely to stick at catcher as Lee is to stick at short so take that into consideration when complaining about not taking him. "I know you don't draft for need" followed by a complaint that they didn't "draft for need" is a fun little game to play.

The Twins got what almost every scout in professional baseball thought was the best pure college hitter in the draft with the 8th pick. Why can't we just be happy about that? It was a fantastic first night for the Twins and that started with getting Lee at 8.

[chpettit19]

11 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Doc- Nice analysis in your post.  Assuming---a big one, I know--Twins can get Lee signed in the next month, is it realistic he gets assigned/playing time with Fort Myers or Cedar Rapids before the end of the season?  Both FM and CR have their regular season extend into mid September--------last game on Sept. 16th.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I believe Aug 1 is the deadline for signing draftees. So he'll be somewhere playing for the Twins within a few weeks, assuming they sign him. And I'd think they'd be a little aggressive with him to give him a real shot at getting AA PAs at some point this season.

[nicksaviking]

Seems like some weird takes from the pundits about his defensive ability. I thought concerns about being big-bodied and not having top end speed went out the window around the time of Cal Ripken. 

Carlos Correa has had exactly zero stolen bases in the past three seasons, I would bet Polanco beats him in a foot race handily. In fact, using sprint speed, Statcast says Polanco and Nick Gordon are more capable SS than Correa. According to this body-size/speed logic anyway.

[Sielk]

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

Seems like some weird takes from the pundits about his defensive ability. I thought concerns about being big-bodied and not having top end speed went out the window around the time of Cal Ripken. 

Carlos Correa has had exactly zero stolen bases in the past three seasons, I would bet Polanco beats him in a foot race handily. In fact, using sprint speed, Statcast says Polanco and Nick Gordon are more capable SS than Correa. According to this body-size/speed logic anyway.

Agreed.

The longer I watch different shortstops, the more I've come to the conclusion that a strong, accurate arm is really the most important tool for a SS.

Sure, good hands and speed help a lot. But a good arm allows you to play deeper and take your time on a play. It can just erase so many deficiencies a SS may otherwise have. 

[MN_ExPat]

12 hours ago, USAFChief said:

But we're talking about prospects...in which case 21 IS "old"

Not many players will be drafted who are older.

I absolutely love the pick, but he is "old" in the context of the draft. 

Thanks Chief.

Unlike some other answer, this is a lot more thought out. 

I don't even remotely agree with it ( but then the only time I will ever agree with a Falcon is when we are picking on the Squids or our little step brother Puddle Pirates  ), but that's ok. 

It's hard to be "right" all the time (Go Army, beat Nav... errr Air Force!)

[MN_ExPat]

9 hours ago, h2oface said:

Just what we need. Another shortstop that won’t be a shortstop. No pitcher. Some things never change. At least they took a gamble on a pitcher at 48. I hope Lee is more than a DH and the bizarre leg injury isn’t too restrictive in his future. 

Teams don't, and shouldn't, draft for need with a pick this high. 

Like, ever (Except in those exceedingly rare times where need and opportunity meet).

[twins_89]

Compared to past Falvey 1st round picks like Cavaco or Sabato, Brooks Lee is a home run. I have rarely been a fan of the current front office in terms of their 1st round picks, but this is a selection I'm extremely happy with. The last time I thought the team made a great 1st round pick was Larnach in 2018.

[Jack Griffin]

16 hours ago, Linus said:

Meh. He’s already 21 and most scouts say he won’t stick at short

 

16 hours ago, Dman said:

Lee is a dream pick IMO.  Most Scouts say he can stay at short

Well, which one is it guys?

What do most scouts say?

lol

[Dman]

3 minutes ago, Jack Griffin said:

 

Well, which one is it guys?

What do most scouts say?

lol

Technically most scouts say he is not going to stick at short "long term" but most acknowledge he has a chance to start there and I presume what they mean by that is if the team is willing to accept his level of speed to get to balls they could keep him at short.  If you want my definitive answer, lol, it would be the majority of the things I have read say he moves off short at some point.  When that point is I do not know but it looks like the Twins will keep him at short for now. So there it is he definitively is a shortstop at least to start.

[Kipp35]

I don't know about everyone else, but I just love all the non-shortstop; shortstops the Twins like to draft, to play shortstop. I believe we have a couple still in the minors, one playing OF for us, one playing utility and one on IR. I say, keep loading on on these non-shortstops, seem to be working, so far.

[prouster]

After sleeping on it, I like this pick even more. I was of course happy when they picked him, though part of me wanted Parada. I think the main thing is that I didn’t really research Lee at all, assuming there was no chance he’d fall out of the top five picks. 
 

Simply put, I love his offensive profile. In this brave new world of extreme K rates, I think it’s critical to load up on guys who don’t strike out. That’s Lee. I also think there’s a solid chance he has untapped power. His swing is already very sound from a mechanical standpoint. I think if he adds bulk, there’s 30 homer potential there. 
 

In my opinion, Lee is Falvine’s best first round pick to date. I guess it helps when the player falls into your lap.

[twinstalker]

Parada is the one who might have been a better pick, though my limited knowledge had me leaning Lee.  For those who say Parada won't stick at catcher, I'm ready to bet on that one.  He might eventually move, but I doubt that would be in his first five MLB years.  Having that (projected) bat at catcher is a huge advantage for a team.

 

I see him making it to MLB in three years, being kind of meh in 2025 and maybe fitting in by the next year.  The Mets now have Parada and Francisco Alvarez, so that will be interesting, but having two really good ones isn't the worst thing.  They can each catch half the time and DH 1/4 of the time maybe.

[stringer bell]

Lee has agreed to term according to mlbtraderumors.com.