The mock draft consensus board has released!

[Brock Beauchamp]

We will update this roughly once a week through the draft. Instead of trying to create yet another mock draft board, our draft expert Jamie Cameron has taken the route of averaging out popular draft boards, trying to reach a "consensus" slot for a player in the aggregate.

Additionally, Jamie has a pretty detailed write-up for each draftee. Right now, we have roughly one round of picks up but this will expand every week as Jamie adds more draft slots and write-ups.

http://twinsdaily.com/mlb-baseball-mock-draft-order-2025-minnesota-twins

[Doctor Gast]

I've advocated for picking up the top catchers. Many say, "get the best player (usually a big college bat) & trade for our needs". But the Twins like to hoard their draft picks & put very little priority on catching, so that usually doesn't happen. So, my #1 pick is Luke Stevenson. Right now, Jamie has him at #17 overall. Stevenson is a mature, gifted young true defensive catcher, with some power & determination to get better in all aspects of the game; the Twins would be very lucky if Stevenson would fall in their laps because he'll be a high riser. 

 

 

[Cory Engelhardt]

On 4/5/2025 at 7:23 AM, Doctor Gast said:

I've advocated for picking up the top catchers. Many say, "get the best player (usually a big college bat) & trade for our needs". But the Twins like to hoard their draft picks & put very little priority on catching, so that usually doesn't happen. So, my #1 pick is Luke Stevenson. Right now, Jamie has him at #17 overall. Stevenson is a mature, gifted young true defensive catcher, with some power & determination to get better in all aspects of the game; the Twins would be very lucky if Stevenson would fall in their laps because he'll be a high riser. 

 

 

I like him too, and he and Jenkins definitely played together during high school tournaments in North Carolina, so the Twins would very much know if he is a person worth taking personality wise. 

That said, you still have to take the best player. We'll see if he is both A) available at 16, and B) if the Twins think he is the best option there. 

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I like him too, and he and Jenkins definitely played together during high school tournaments in North Carolina, so the Twins would very much know if he is a person worth taking personality wise. 

That said, you still have to take the best player. We'll see if he is both A) available at 16, and B) if the Twins think he is the best option there. 

I believe he's 21 now. Twins don't like catchers

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 minute ago, Doctor Gast said:

I believe he's 21 now. Twins don't like catchers

They did take Jeffers fairly high not THAT long ago.

I'm not saying they will take a catcher at 16. Right now I'd imagine they won't. But just knowing that Jenkins and he have a connection means they can learn about who Stevenson is as a person fairly easily no? 

But yeah, take the best player at that point and go from there.

[Brock Beauchamp]

21 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

They did take Jeffers fairly high not THAT long ago.

I'm not saying they will take a catcher at 16. Right now I'd imagine they won't. But just knowing that Jenkins and he have a connection means they can learn about who Stevenson is as a person fairly easily no? 

But yeah, take the best player at that point and go from there.

Jeffers was a second round pick that many thought was a reach. The Twins obviously nailed that pick. I don't think they dislike catchers, they just like a certain kind of player and haven't found one of those recently.

[Cory Engelhardt]

7 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Jeffers was a second round pick that many thought was a reach. The Twins obviously nailed that pick. I don't think they dislike catchers, they just like a certain kind of player and haven't found one of those recently.

Even last year they took a catcher in the 3rd round (Diaw) and another in the 6th (Derek Bender.) Bender obviously isn't with the club, but they have shown they will take a guy that they like.

I would be ok with Stevenson if he is the pick. That tells me their development team would be confident in tapping into his potential. But I'd also be ok with a catcher at 36, or 54 or 88. I do think a top 100 pick on a catcher could be likely, depending especially on how they see the development of both Diaw and even Cartaya (for different reasons) over the course of the season.

[Mike Sixel]

On 4/7/2025 at 7:21 AM, Cory Engelhardt said:

I like him too, and he and Jenkins definitely played together during high school tournaments in North Carolina, so the Twins would very much know if he is a person worth taking personality wise. 

That said, you still have to take the best player. We'll see if he is both A) available at 16, and B) if the Twins think he is the best option there. 

But who is the "best player"? How different is the grade between 17 and 25, really? And, position scarcity should 100% matter. It is HARD to find a catcher......Take the f'n catcher (Teel should be a Twin right now).

[Cory Engelhardt]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

But who is the "best player"? How different is the grade between 17 and 25, really? And, position scarcity should 100% matter. It is HARD to find a catcher......Take the f'n catcher (Teel should be a Twin right now).

I like Teel too. I'm not trading Jenkins for him. 

 

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I like Teel too. I'm not trading Jenkins for him. 

 

I would. They are virtually identically rated on sites right now, and they have zero catching prospects......If Teel is close to Jenkins in hitting/fielding, he's way more valuable as a C than a RF. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

39 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

I would. They are virtually identically rated on sites right now, and they have zero catching prospects......If Teel is close to Jenkins in hitting/fielding, he's way more valuable as a C than a RF. 

Agree to disagree.

[Mike Sixel]

11 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Agree to disagree.

Very fair. I'm not sure I'm right at all here!

[chpettit19]

20 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I would. They are virtually identically rated on sites right now, and they have zero catching prospects......If Teel is close to Jenkins in hitting/fielding, he's way more valuable as a C than a RF. 

 

20 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

But who is the "best player"? How different is the grade between 17 and 25, really? And, position scarcity should 100% matter. It is HARD to find a catcher......Take the f'n catcher (Teel should be a Twin right now).

Kyle Teel for Walker Jenkins?! Come on now. This wasn't a 17 vs 25 situation in the draft and they aren't "virtually identically rated" now.

Teel went 14th in the draft but the Twins should've taken him 5th over one of the 5 consensus elite prospects just because he was a catcher? That's an awful draft strategy.

Fangraphs is the lowest (to my knowledge) on Jenkins. They have him at 16th. They have Teel at 50. Their FV on Jenkins is 55. Teel is 50. Teel is the 9th highest rated catcher on their board. They have 15 catchers in their top 100.

Jenkins is #3 on MLB's list. Teel is 30. Overall grades of 60 and 55. Teel is their 3rd catcher, but they have 14 catchers in their top 100.

Keith Law has Jenkins 4th, Teel 37. He has 15 catchers in his top 100. Teel is 6th on his catcher list.

Baseball America has Jenkins 5, Teel 52. Baseball Prospectus has Jenkins 5 and Teel 45.

These guys are not the same and catchers are not that scarce. Jenkins was an elite draft prospect and is a top 5 global prospect on every list but 1. Teel is a good prospect. They are not the same and drafting Teel over Jenkins or trading Jenkins for Teel would be an absolutely mind-boggling move.

[Mike Sixel]

Ok. I'm wrong. 

[nicksaviking]

The Twins don't have a specific position of need, they have specific lineup spot needs. I know they've tried and failed with many picks, but this team absolutely HAS to start finding middle of the lineup bats. And they need them for more than just the middle of the lineup. I don't think this team can be cute trying to draft a position they want, they have to draft the best hitters. And I know that's not a popular sentiment.

But they aren't winning anything meaningful until they can start to put together a lineup other teams dread facing.

[Mike Sixel]

6 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

The Twins don't have a specific position of need, they have specific lineup spot needs. I know they've tried and failed with many picks, but this team absolutely HAS to start finding middle of the lineup bats. And they need them for more than just the middle of the lineup. I don't think this team can be cute trying to draft a position they want, they have to draft the best hitters. And I know that's not a popular sentiment.

But they aren't winning anything meaningful until they can start to put together a lineup other teams dread facing.

Sure, agreed. But if the catcher and OF are within a spot or two.......I mean, it's all projections. I 100% want them to take the BPA, but the delta between players is not linear, nor is it known.

[nicksaviking]

31 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Sure, agreed. But if the catcher and OF are within a spot or two.......I mean, it's all projections. I 100% want them to take the BPA, but the delta between players is not linear, nor is it known.

With the sorry state of this team's offense, I'm really not thinking about rankings because rankings are going to take positional adjustments in to play. A CF or a Catcher who can stick at the position but has a lesser bat will get a boost in the rankings. I know no one wants to go back to the corner-bat frenzy days we had about five years ago, but this team desperately needs a perennial .850+ OPS (really .900+) hitter.  

And really, outside of Wallner, does this team even have corner players anymore? Runs, runs and more runs please. 

[Mike Sixel]

47 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

With the sorry state of this team's offense, I'm really not thinking about rankings because rankings are going to take positional adjustments in to play. A CF or a Catcher who can stick at the position but has a lesser bat will get a boost in the rankings. I know no one wants to go back to the corner-bat frenzy days we had about five years ago, but this team desperately needs a perennial .850+ OPS (really .900+) hitter.  

And really, outside of Wallner, does this team even have corner players anymore? Runs, runs and more runs please. 

I'm assuming Jenkins is a corner player, and I'm told he's better than almost every other prospect .....in this very thread! That's two right there, plus Keaschell (or is a 2B?) and ERod are OFers......

[nicksaviking]

3 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I'm assuming Jenkins is a corner player, and I'm told he's better than almost every other prospect .....in this very thread! That's two right there, plus Keaschell (or is a 2B?) and ERod are OFers......

Fingers crossed, I'm still hopeful of all of them, but this team has had that caliber of offensive prospects in the system for about a decade and it's not paying off. I'd like them to keep at it until it does.

By them, I mean generically the Twins; I don't need the same people running the show making the same decisions any longer.

[Doctor Wu]

On 4/11/2025 at 9:45 PM, nicksaviking said:

But they aren't winning anything meaningful until they can start to put together a lineup other teams dread facing.

Good point. That makes a lot of sense. But I also love the idea of drafting a Skenes-like pitcher that the other teams dread batting against. Maybe no pitchers like that in this draft, but I'll still hope for that diamond in the rough.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins do not have any true corner outfielders on the MLB roster at the moment. They have DH guys and utility players. Royce Lewis looked more mobile in the Cubs series than he has looked since 2023 or I would suggest the Twins lack corner infielders too. 

The draft strategy should be BPA. I'm hoping that designation includes qualities like owning a glove and being able to run. The foot speed of a player and defensive agility are critical components of winning teams. It is ok to have 1 DH play in the field if they mash consistently (think Schwarber), but it doesn't work to field a near team of DH athletes. Choose BPA with athleticism in mind. I have nothing against Sabato but he should not have been a first round draft choice. Conversely, the strategy should not focus on pure athleticism lacking baseball skills (Keoni Cavaco).

Good luck to the drafting room. One thing we all know is that draft picks in baseball are difficult to project.