Twins Daily 2025 MLB Mock Draft 1.0: Twins Nab Two High-End College Players

[Jamie Cameron]

Image courtesy of © Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s mock draft season! Over the next two weeks in the buildup to the draft, we’ll be rolling out at least two mock drafts, covering the first round and the first batch of competitive-balance picks. For each of these, we’re doing our best to read the tea leaves and make picks based on the talent available at a particular slot, and considering each organization's drafting tendencies. Feel free to jump into the comments with disagreements and other preferred picks.

1. Nationals: Kade Anderson, LHP, LSU
All the buzz here seems to be between Anderson and Ethan Holliday. If the LSU southpaw doesn’t go number one, surely, he won’t get past three.

2. Angels: Liam Doyle, LHP, Tennessee
Fast-moving college players is the Angels' trend until it isn’t, and we'll project them to take such players until they don't.

3. Mariners: Jamie Arnold, LHP, Florida State
Arnold is a quality arm for a system that’s become bat-dominant. The Mariners are outstanding at developing arms.

4. Rockies: Ethan Holliday, SS, Stillwater HS, OK
This appears to be the floor for Holliday. The organization for which his dad became a household name won't let him slide any further.

5. Cardinals: JoJo Parker, SS, Purvis HS, MS
If the board unfolds like this, the Cardinals will get their pick of a strong cluster of prep shortstops. Parker has a chance to be the best offensive profile of the bunch.

6. Pirates: Eli Willits, SS, Fort-Cobb Broxton HS, OK
Willits has been steady on boards all spring. This would be a good get at six overall. (And yes, he's the son of former big-league outfielder Reggie Willits.)

7. Marlins: Seth Hernandez, RHP, Corona HS, CA
The Marlins would be thrilled to have Hernandez here. They have consistently developed pitching talent well.

8. Blue Jays: Billy Carlson, SS, Corona HS, CA
The Blue Jays are in an interesting spot. There are plenty of good options here. It would be hard to pass on Aiva Arquette, the consensus top college bat available. Toronto has been linked heavily to the prep shortstop group, though. Carlson is the best defensive shortstop in the draft. There’s potential for good impact with the bat, too.

9. Reds: Aiva Arquette, SS, Oregon State
Arquette is currently ranked sixth, by consensus. The Reds would be thrilled with this outcome. He’s a physical hitter who should be able to move relatively quickly, despite some refinement needed in the hit tool.

10. White Sox: Kyson Witherspoon, RHP, Oklahoma
Witherspoon is the consensus college starting pitcher number four. He shouldn’t last long outside the top 10, even if he slips past Chicago.

11. Athletics: Ike Irish, C, Auburn
The Athletics have found success with college bats recently (Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz), Irish is one of the strongest college hit/power combos in a class lacking them.

12. Rangers: Kayson Cunningham, Johnson HS, TX
Cunningham might have the best hit tool on the prep side (along with Parker), to go with plus speed.

13. Giants: Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest
Houston is shortstop 1-B to Billy Carlson’s 1-A. He’s a lock to stick at that spot, with a good approach and hit tool, despite (generously) fringy power.

14. Rays: Josh Hammond, SS, Wesleyan Academy, NC
Hammond is an outstanding athlete who made tremendous strides with the bat this spring.

15. Red Sox: Gavin Kilen, 2B, Tennessee
Kilen ratcheted up the power with Tennessee, to go with the great hit tool. He should have plenty of suitors in the teens. There are a number of other college bats who could make sense here, including Brendan Summerhill and Wehiwa Aloy.

16. Twins: Tyler Bremner, RHP, UC Santa Barbara
The Twins are well-known for successfully developing mid-to-late college arms into viable MLB options. What if the starting ball of clay was more interesting? Bremner was a consensus top-five prospect coming into this season. It’s a metrically appealing fastball, an above-average slider, and a plus changeup. There’s work to do on the command, but he finished strong. The ceiling is a playoff-caliber starter.

17. Cubs: Gage Wood, RHP, Arkansas
Wood’s surge this postseason is reminiscent of Cade Horton’s in 2022. Wood punctuated a strong stretch run with a 19-strikeout no-hitter in the College World Series. This is around his range. The Cubs system is bat-heavy, and Wood has an outlandish fastball shape on which to build.

18. Diamondbacks: Steele Hall, SS, Hewitt-Trussville HS, AL
Hall has some of the best speed and athleticism in the entire class. This might be the low end of his range.

19. Orioles: Wehiwa Aloy, SS, Arkansas
The Orioles won’t be put off by the aggression in Aloy’s approach. This feels like the lower end of his range, but he’s a good fit in Baltimore.

20. Brewers: Gavin Fien, 3B, Great Oaks HS, CA
Fien is one of the least talked-about first-round prep profiles, and one of my favorites. He hit everything and everyone last summer. While his early spring was a little uneven, he turned it around down the stretch. He has a chance to be one of the better hit/power combos in this draft class. There’s a good chance he’s taken in the mid-teens. (No, he's not the son of ex-pitcher Casey Fien.)

21. Astros: Ethan Conrad, OF, Wake Forest
The Astros love strong athletic traits. Conrad missed time due to injury but was mashing after transferring from Marist.

22. Braves: Riley Quick, RHP, Alabama
Quick is a good fit here for the Braves, who often lean toward arms in their usual late first-round range.

23. Royals: Kruz Schoolcraft, LHP, Sunset HS, OR
The Royals are a pitching organization, now. Schoolcraft has plenty of buzz here to land with them.

24. Tigers: Slater De Brun, OF, Summit HS, OR
Another steam pick here. De Brun is a table-setter type with good strength, outstanding speed and an excellent hit tool.

25. Padres: Brady Ebel, SS, Corona HS, CA
What’s the safest bet in the draft? That the Padres will take a prep player with their first pick. Ebel has a sweet left-handed swing with plenty of projection to grow into a solid hit/power combo. There’s a good defensive infield skill set at play here, too.

26. Phillies: Xavier Neyens, 3B, Mount Vernon HS, WA
Neyens is another profile that has been less talked up this spring. It’s power to rival that of Ethan Holliday.

27. Guardians: Brendan Summerhill, OF, Arizona
Summerhill’s range likely starts in the teens. This feels low, and this is great value for the Guardians at 27.

Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks

28. Royals: Daniel Pierce, SS, Mill Creek HS, GA
One of the smoothest defensive profiles at short in this class, but there’s legitimate offensive upside, too.

Compensation Picks
29. Diamondbacks: Caden Bodine, C, Coastal Carolina
Bodine had a tremendous postseason. It’s a plus hit tool and outstanding receiving skills as a catcher.

30. Orioles: Jace Laviolette, OF, Texas A&M
The preseason consensus number-one player finds a home here. He feels like an ideal candidate for an organization with two or three picks in the top 40.f

31. Orioles: Sean Gamble, SS/OF, IMG Academy, FL
A left-handed hitting power/speed threat with the type of athleticism that could lend itself to the infield or outfield long-term.

32. Brewers: Andrew Fischer, 1B/3B, Tennessee
Fischer feels a little under-ranked to me. He has a patient approach, a track record with wooden bats, and just put up a .760 SLG in the SEC. This offensive profile will play anywhere. He’s a first round-caliber talent, and this represents good value. It would be a nice counterbalance to the Fien pick earlier in the round for the Brewers.

Competitive Balance Round A

33. Red Sox: Patrick Forbes, RHP, Louisville
The Red Sox brain trust has invested in their pitching infrastructure recently. Forbes is a high-octane arm who could develop into a monster with the right development behind him. It’s ace-caliber arm talent that’s a little rough around the edges.

34. Tigers: Zach Root, LHP, Arkansas
A ready-made diverse arsenal and a track record of performance in the SEC represent good value for a farm system stacked with talent.

35. Mariners: Cam Appenzeller, Glenwood HS, IL
The Mariners have money to spend in this draft. Appenzeller is one of the best prep pitchability arms in this draft class.

36. Twins: Devin Taylor, OF, Indiana
The Twins WILL get their bats in the first few rounds, and Taylor has been a tremendous college performer. It’s not a spectacular profile in terms of speed and defense but he mashes. He had a 169 wRC+ with 18 home runs in 2025. That was buoyed by a 19.3 BB% and a measly 11.2 K%. This is a fast-moving, high-floor college outfield bat.

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[thelanges5]

Did you send your mock draft to Sean Johnson?

[Jamie Cameron]

Just now, thelanges5 said:

Did you send your mock draft to Sean Johnson?

He was kind enough to come on the podcast a year ago. We offered to sit in the draft room and not make a peep. He politely declined 🤣

[Cory Engelhardt]

Seeing Bremner next to the Twins certainly would be exciting. Would LOVE to see what their pitching development plan could do with a 1st round caliber talent.

I'm not sold on Taylor, but I do believe in their drafting ability. If that's who they take at 36, I trust they have a good plan for him.

Thanks!

[LambchoP]

Twins need pitching! All our upper level talent have been having terrible years. Raya, Morris, C Lewis. These were guys who were supposed to be MLB options this year, now it looks like Adams, who hasn't thrown more than 4 innings in a game this year, is our only option. We are sure going to need Prelipp, Soto and Hill to work out... Hopefully we can get some pitching talent at the trade deadline.

[Doctor Gast]

I think most know I'm a big catcher-drafter fan. Irish is the top catcher prospect but I'm not a big fan of his because, like many top catching prospects, they are hyped up because of their big bats & probably won't stick at catcher which gives them their premium ranking. If he's available to us at 1st round, I wouldn't pick him. My choice at 1st round compensation is either Bodine or Stevenson, who can hit & can stick at catcher.

I'm fine with Bremner or Steele Hall 1st round. My sleeper is Brady Neil. I've been high on him since he was a prep prospect & later he caught Skenes, his true freshman year for CWS champion LSU under Wes Johnson. In a mock draft, he was ranked at 306. IMO he has a lot of potential.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

If available, I think Marek Houston seems to fit our MO.   I would be fine with Taylor as the competitive balance pick.  Then pool resources for a really solid pitcher in round 2.  

[Doctor Gast]

IMO. Twins need to cash in & change their identity. The big college bat who hits HRs when you don't need them, SO when you need a hit, not athletic or defensive. They say they want to be more aggressive on the basepaths & have more situational hitters, then they need to draft players who can do that.

[Blyleven2011]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I think most know I'm a big catcher-drafter fan. Irish is the top catcher prospect but I'm not a big fan of his because, like many top catching prospects, they are hyped up because of their big bats & probably won't stick at catcher which gives them their premium ranking. If he's available to us at 1st round, I wouldn't pick him. My choice at 1st round compensation is either Bodine or Stephenson, who can hit & can stick at catcher.

I'm fine with Bremner or Steele Hall 1st round. My sleeper is Brady Neil. I've been high on him since he was a prep prospect & later he caught Skenes, his true freshman year for CWS champion LSU under Wes Johnson. In a mock draft, he was ranked at 306. IMO he has a lot of potential.

Catching should be number one priority  , I hope they get it right ...

Picking the best available ranked player isn't always the best way to go when your in the middle of the pecking order ...

They need a catcher  ...

 

[Fatbat]

Bodine better be a twin. I’d settle for Irish tho….. draft 18 pitchers after that….

[Dman]

My draft crush is Steele Hall, but I think I like what you did there grabbing Bremner.  You look at the Twins system right now and you could argue the top five prospects are bats in Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschal, Culpepper and maybe Gonzalez at number 5.  That's a lot of bats and not much for arms.  The arms that are highly rated in Raya and Prielipp have not performed well this year and both have durability issues making them question marks as starters. It kind of feels like they need to rebalance the system IMO.

They had that pitcher draft in 2021 where they took Petty in the first round. We never got to see most of those arms because they all got traded, but Petty was doing well in AA this year.  Povich was starting for the Orioles although not well at least not early in the year. At any rate even though a lot of those arms got traded away they were good assets to have as well.

I think it depends on what falls to the Twins at 16 as there are going to be some very good position players at that spot.  I have them taking a bat with their first pick but after that why not double double down on arms?  Most of the bats they have taken in the second and third and fourth rounds haven't amounted to much.  There generally are some nice high school arms in those rounds and some polished college arms as well.  

Also if they are sellers at the deadline it might be easier to pry bats away from teams rather than arms.  So if you think you will be adding bats to the system at the deadline all the more reason to go arms early and late in the draft.

I have seen Cleveland go arm heavy in several drafts and other teams have done it as well.  Not sure how deep the pitching depth goes in this one, but I would consider stacking up arms.

As usual I like both picks for the Twins.  Bremner would be good value and meet a need were the Twins to pick him but I really like Hall and I like Summerhill as well. If Taylor lasts to pick 36 he would be great value there too although with the limited defensive profile not a great fit or use of a high end pick IMO, but if the bat is as good as advertised it likely won't matter.

Draft is almost here.  Keep the articles coming Jamie!!

 

[AKTwinsFan]

If we clear up some cap space maybe we'll win a draft lottery and pick some decent pitchers. Ones with plus fastballs. We should gauge in on Gage Wood.

[Blyleven2011]

15 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

Bodine better be a twin. I’d settle for Irish tho….. draft 18 pitchers after that….

A few years back , the angels took all 21 picks as pitchers  , they did a lousy job at it too ...

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

IMO. Twins need to cash in & change their identity. The big college bat who hits HRs when you don't need them, SO when you need a hit, not athletic or defensive. They say they want to be more aggressive on the basepaths & have more situational hitters, then they need to draft players who can do that.

Hopefully LK comes back soon and has a rockstar 2nd half of the season and then the athletic kids in AA can make the big jump to MLB over the next 2 seasons. We will be flush with speedy athletes that can hit.  Which is why we should draft catching and pitching in ‘25!

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

The arms that are highly rated in Raya and Prielipp have not performed well this year and both have durability issues making them question marks as starters. It kind of feels like they need to rebalance the system IMO.

Priellip has performed really well.  3.6 ERA in AA in 1st full year,  with excellent strikeout ability.  There is a reason he is popping up in top 100 lists.  

You also who had Soto who was in top 100 lists to start the year, and Dasan Hill who is now starting to pop up on lists as well.  Dylan Questad had started off really strong and is tailing off a bit, with a 5 ERA but he is still 2 years younger than the competition at A ball.  

Pitching wise we have more pitching prospects than ever.    We have some solid arms close to MLB level in Morris, Culpepper, and Lewis.  You also have John Klein and Pierson Ohl,  who really seems to be solidifying themselves as a very solid prospects who could find their way on the MLB roster.   Chaney, Bowen, Adams, Laweryson, Macleod all seem to be solid pitchers,  maybe not MLB level but solid.  

I will say the pitching performances have been a bit more hit and miss than I was hoping for coming into the season,  but there is still plenty of talent.  I would hope for a couple more solid prospects. 

  

[TopGunn#22]

I love the idea of a Bremmer or Gage Wood with that first pick !  A college arm, oozing "stuff" with a minimum of rough edges to iron out.  We really need Dasan Hill or Connor Prielipp to develop into something as well. 

As others have said, if we become sellers at the deadline and we add some minor league hitters at positions of need to the big league club in the very near future, I wouldn't be opposed to going heavy with pitching prospects. 

I'm primarily focused on "value" in whatever slot we're drafting.  If a Bremmer or Wood ends up as our top pick, I would look to who is the best value at the #36 comp pick.  If it's the Indiana slugger, a High School SS, or as Doc Gast so consistently points out, a Catcher...who will STAY at Catcher, I'm all for it.

I have suggested in the past that I would offer the Dodgers Jhoan Duran and additional pieces for their #1 catching prospect Dalton Rushing.  Rushing has become the primary back up to All Star Will Smith.  Rushing has also shown the athletic ability to play some LF and could probably handle 1B as well.  But Rushing's top skill is his hitting ability.  The Dodgers are failing to capitalize on this because his playing time has been sporadic.  

The Dodgers could also use a true closer like Duran to allow the odds and ends assortment of their bullpen to just line up behind Duran.  It could be the one trade piece that pushes the Dodgers to a 2nd consecutive World Series victory.  They just might part with Rushing.  Maybe we throw in Vasquez so they have a defense-first veteran backup catcher as they have had with Austin Barnes in the past.  

Getting a bat with the potential of Rushing in any kind of deadline deal would be making a move to win in 2025 in addition to future years.  A combo of Rushing and Jeffers would be an offensive PLUS from the catcher position, although neither are considered Bench/Molina/Pudge material.  Rushing at least profiles as "better" than Jeffers defensively.  

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, Blyleven2011 said:

A few years back , the angels took all 21 picks as pitchers  , they did a lousy job at it too ...

I remember that. They are lousy at a lot of baseball things….

[Blyleven2011]

16 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I love the idea of a Bremmer or Gage Wood with that first pick !  A college arm, oozing "stuff" with a minimum of rough edges to iron out.  We really need Dasan Hill or Connor Prielipp to develop into something as well. 

As others have said, if we become sellers at the deadline and we add some minor league hitters at positions of need to the big league club in the very near future, I wouldn't be opposed to going heavy with pitching prospects. 

I'm primarily focused on "value" in whatever slot we're drafting.  If a Bremmer or Wood ends up as our top pick, I would look to who is the best value at the #36 comp pick.  If it's the Indiana slugger, a High School SS, or as Doc Gast so consistently points out, a Catcher...who will STAY at Catcher, I'm all for it.

I have suggested in the past that I would offer the Dodgers Jhoan Duran and additional pieces for their #1 catching prospect Dalton Rushing.  Rushing has become the primary back up to All Star Will Smith.  Rushing has also shown the athletic ability to play some LF and could probably handle 1B as well.  But Rushing's top skill is his hitting ability.  The Dodgers are failing to capitalize on this because his playing time has been sporadic.  

The Dodgers could also use a true closer like Duran to allow the odds and ends assortment of their bullpen to just line up behind Duran.  It could be the one trade piece that pushes the Dodgers to a 2nd consecutive World Series victory.  They just might part with Rushing.  Maybe we throw in Vasquez so they have a defense-first veteran backup catcher as they have had with Austin Barnes in the past.  

Getting a bat with the potential of Rushing in any kind of deadline deal would be making a move to win in 2025 in addition to future years.  A combo of Rushing and Jeffers would be an offensive PLUS from the catcher position, although neither are considered Bench/Molina/Pudge material.  Rushing at least profiles as "better" than Jeffers defensively.  

I am not against trading Duran  , but Dalton hasn't proved anything at the mlb level yet  , yes he's proven he belongs in the mlb with minor league results ...

If we were to trade Duran and Vazquez for dalton rushing  I think that is a over pay for us even as we desperately need a catcher I think we could and should get more value  for Duran ...

Deadline approaching  , teams want to strengthen their bullpen for the post season and tend to over pay  , last year's elite relievers traded the teams got good return back ...

As most teams go for pitchers at the deadline,  the twins should be sellers to acquire good hitters with speed and play defense and a catcher , 

We have tradeable assets  , looks like acala was an asset or could have been if used properly  , acala finally gave up his first run in a Boston uniform  , but it was by his and the defense doing  , I think that was acalas 5th or 6th outing for Boston , better check him for steroids 😅 ...

[DocBauer]

If this draft took place I would be very happy after round 1. 😀

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Priellip has performed really well.  3.6 ERA in AA in 1st full year,  with excellent strikeout ability.  There is a reason he is popping up in top 100 lists.  

You also who had Soto who was in top 100 lists to start the year, and Dasan Hill who is now starting to pop up on lists as well.  Dylan Questad had started off really strong and is tailing off a bit, with a 5 ERA but he is still 2 years younger than the competition at A ball.  

Pitching wise we have more pitching prospects than ever.    We have some solid arms close to MLB level in Morris, Culpepper, and Lewis.  You also have John Klein and Pierson Ohl,  who really seems to be solidifying themselves as a very solid prospects who could find their way on the MLB roster.   Chaney, Bowen, Adams, Laweryson, Macleod all seem to be solid pitchers,  maybe not MLB level but solid.  

I will say the pitching performances have been a bit more hit and miss than I was hoping for coming into the season,  but there is still plenty of talent.  I would hope for a couple more solid prospects. 

  

I wouldn't say Prielipp has preformed really well at AA.  For a guy who is supposed to be a bat miss-er he has give up 47 hits in 37 innings pitched.  That leads to a whopping 1.46 WHIP.  That's not even close to really good IMO.  It is a borderline disaster.  Yeah the ERA and FIP look shiny and maybe he has been a bit "unlucky", but if you've got good stuff you don't give up that many hits and have that high of WHIP.  He has plenty of time to get things going, but he has never pitched a full season and he needs to get a lot better if he is going to be an answer for the Twins in the near future.  I wouldn't want to bank on him as a starter with those numbers and arm history.  It might all work out in the end but the odds are just as high that it doesn't.

Soto and Hill haven't pitched much, but I like both arms.  Still you want more numbers there as arms fail at a high rate. They should draft two more high school arms if they can.

I don't know that Lewis is a major league caliber arm.  Maybe if he can get that knuckle ball to work he can do it, but the fastball is too slow. He has an ERA of 7 and WHIP 2.0 right now.  So that's not even close to MLB ready.

I like Morris, but he is losing his shine for me.  It's a slightly too low K rate and again a WHIP of 1.61 at AAA.  Can't imagine what that WHIP would be in the Majors.  He is currently injured and is going to need to find something extra to K more guys and give up fewer hits.

Culpepper I like as well but has been injured so much hard to tell if he can remain a starter.  He looks more like a pen arm to me.

Klein could be the next big thing. The numbers all look good he just needs to sustain them. Last year his numbers fell off later in the year.  We'll see if he can keep it up but yes an arrow up on Klein.  I think he is an arm you can feel good about.

Ohl seems like he might have turned a corner with K rate.  Still nervous as he can get hit hard at times still a wait and see for me.

Bowen gives up way to many HR's again a likely reliever.  He needs to get his K rate up.

I don't know how Lawyerson does it.  His stuff doesn't look that great to me, but the numbers are rock solid.  WHIP a tick high, but that is nitpicking.  He likely is better than I think  he is.

Same for Adams.  The stuff doesn't look that great but pretty solid numbers.  Could use a bit higher K rate.  Still likely just a number 5 starter at his best and I think he could be an effective pen arm as well.

Bottom line is they need more arms, lots more.  Very few arms performing at anything close to an elite level.  Right now I'd say based on numbers that Hill and Klein would be the only two performing close to elite.  The rest might come around, but again I wouldn't bank on it.  Get more arms would be my plan.

 

 

[djvang]

Sorry, but I don't understand the purpose of mock drafts.

 

[chpettit19]

4 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

IMO. Twins need to cash in & change their identity. The big college bat who hits HRs when you don't need them, SO when you need a hit, not athletic or defensive. They say they want to be more aggressive on the basepaths & have more situational hitters, then they need to draft players who can do that.

Like Kaelen Culpepper and Kyle DeBarge? Or Walker Jenkins, Luke Keaschall and Brandon Winokur? Brooks Lee isn't athletic, but he's the type of hitter you want and has good defensive skill and was followed by Tanner Schobel in the 2022 draft. In 2021 the only position player they took in the top 3 rounds was Noah Miller. 

The Twins changed their drafting "identity" 5 years ago. It's time to quit with this narrative. Aaron Sabato in 2020 was the last "big college bat who hits HRs" that they drafted early. Billy Amick fits that description last year, but he was their 3rd position player drafted. The first 2 were athletic college shortstops. One of which is leading the Midwest league in stolen bases by 10 (DeBarge). You're either not paying attention to who they're actually drafting or you're just ignoring it because you want to keep repeating this narrative that isn't actually based on the last half decade of Twins drafts.

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

Like Kaelen Culpepper and Kyle DeBarge? Or Walker Jenkins, Luke Keaschall and Brandon Winokur? Brooks Lee isn't athletic, but he's the type of hitter you want and has good defensive skill and was followed by Tanner Schobel in the 2022 draft. In 2021 the only position player they took in the top 3 rounds was Noah Miller. 

The Twins changed their drafting "identity" 5 years ago. It's time to quit with this narrative. Aaron Sabato in 2020 was the last "big college bat who hits HRs" that they drafted early. Billy Amick fits that description last year, but he was their 3rd position player drafted. The first 2 were athletic college shortstops. One of which is leading the Midwest league in stolen bases by 10 (DeBarge). You're either not paying attention to who they're actually drafting or you're just ignoring it because you want to keep repeating this narrative that isn't actually based on the last half decade of Twins drafts.

This. It really is stunning how many people here are stuck in the past. 

I'm all in on arms, catchers, and athletes. Not interested in mashers who can't run out play defense. 

[chpettit19]

4 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

This. It really is stunning how many people here are stuck in the past. 

I'm all in on arms, catchers, and athletes. Not interested in mashers who can't run out play defense. 

I'm always and forever best player available. It's really hard to be the best player if you're only bringing a bat to the table. That bat better be insane, and there's very few draft prospect bats that are ever that insane. Especially in the middle to bottom of the draft. The more tools in your tool belt the higher the chance you have that you can find enough tools to build yourself into a real MLBer. 

I don't care what position you play, just have as many tools in your belt as possible. Then it's just a matter of your scouts being able to determine pitcher vs position player in their rankings to determine best player available.

[glunn]

7 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I think most know I'm a big catcher-drafter fan. Irish is the top catcher prospect but I'm not a big fan of his because, like many top catching prospects, they are hyped up because of their big bats & probably won't stick at catcher which gives them their premium ranking. If he's available to us at 1st round, I wouldn't pick him. My choice at 1st round compensation is either Bodine or Stevenson, who can hit & can stick at catcher.

I'm fine with Bremner or Steele Hall 1st round. My sleeper is Brady Neil. I've been high on him since he was a prep prospect & later he caught Skenes, his true freshman year for CWS champion LSU under Wes Johnson. In a mock draft, he was ranked at 306. IMO he has a lot of potential.

I also pray for a promising catcher.

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I'm always and forever best player available. It's really hard to be the best player if you're only bringing a bat to the table. That bat better be insane, and there's very few draft prospect bats that are ever that insane. Especially in the middle to bottom of the draft. The more tools in your tool belt the higher the chance you have that you can find enough tools to build yourself into a real MLBer. 

I don't care what position you play, just have as many tools in your belt as possible. Then it's just a matter of your scouts being able to determine pitcher vs position player in their rankings to determine best player available.

If you never draft catcher..... You end up with ten million for a guy who can't hit. BPA is a projection, and not every team agrees .....

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

If you never draft catcher..... You end up with ten million for a guy who can't hit. BPA is a projection, and not every team agrees .....

No, not every team does agree, and I didn't say they did, or should. You take the best player on your board, regardless of position. It's up to your scouts and front office team to get that board in the right order. There are groupings where positions come into play, but the position a player plays shouldn't come into play until their talent level has been determined first. It's the tie breaker, not the driving force. It's all a projection. That's literally what the draft is. I'm not sure what your point is there. I don't care where guys are on public mock drafts or draft rankings. I don't get all hot and bothered about such things. I'll judge this draft in 5 years because it's all a projection. I'll be happier with some picks than others because of the tools players have currently and what their current projections are, but I'm not one who gets all crazy about things.

Christian Vazquez is not a reason to reach for a catcher. They ended up with him because of bad major league scouting. They thought he could hit, overpaid to get him here, and were incredibly wrong. Taking a guy just because he's a catcher doesn't automatically solve that.

There's no way you'd argue they should've taken a catcher in the first in 2017 (no catcher was taken in the first round that year and they had the #1 overall pick).

Bo Naylor went 9 picks after Larnach in 2018. The Twins took Jeffers with their 2nd pick. Should they have taken catchers with their first 2 picks? They took 6 catchers that draft. I bet you couldn't name more than 1 of the other 5.

2019 was the Cavaco draft. Nobody ever complains that they didn't take a catcher with that pick, it's Corbin Carroll, Bryson Stott, and George Kirby that get brought up. No catchers taken in the first after some Rutschman guy went first overall and Shea Langeliers (who I was hoping for) went 10th so weren't there for the Twins pick. Korey Lee went 32nd, or 19 picks after Cavaco, and was the 119th ranked player on MLB's board. Oh, and he's a catcher who can't hit (although he's WAY cheaper than Vazquez) which the Twins have plenty of in their system. Next catcher went 73rd overall. You a big Logan Driscoll fan? 4 catchers in the top 73 picks of the draft. The Twins took Cavaco (awful, but no catcher there to take), Wallner, and Canterino with their picks.

2020 is the draft you want to complain about. Austin Wells went 1 pick after Sabato. Romo and Dingler went shortly after as well. 

2021 saw the Twins take Chase Petty 27th overall. He's debuted for the Reds. Joe Mack was the first catcher taken after that at pick 31. He probably gets a cup of coffee this year. Toss up on that one. Mat Nelson was the only 2nd round catcher. I'm guessing you never heard of him.

2022 was Brooks Lee going 8th overall. Kevin Parada was the next catcher taken at 11. He's 23 in his third go round at AA putting up league average numbers and didn't make Fangraph's top 45 Mets prospects list. Daniel Susac went 19th. Fangraphs has him as the A's 25th best prospect. Dalton Rushing went 40th overall which was 8 picks before the Twins 2nd pick (Connor Prielipp).

2023 the Twins took Walker Jenkins. The 5th of 5 mega prospects at the top of that draft. Blake Mitchell was the first catcher taken at 8 overall. If we would've taken him instead we should've burned Target Field to the ground. Mitchell has played 8 games this year in the complex league. He has 5 games at A+ as the highest level he's played at. Kyle Teel went 14th. Ralphy Velazquez 23rd. The Twins 2nd pick was Luke Keaschall at 49. As you know, he's already debuted and looked pretty darn good. The next "catcher" taken after him was Cole Carrigg at 65. Catcher is in quotes there because he doesn't catch anymore. He caught 3 games in rookie ball and 3 games in A ball in 2023 and that was it. Hasn't caught a game since. Next catcher after that was Alberto Rios at 79. 3 picks before Brandon Winokur. 

That brings us to last year. Walker Janek and Malcolm Moore were the only catchers taken in the first round at picks 28 and 30. Culpepper was pick 21 and is on the fast track to Target Field to take over at SS. Janek is putting up league average numbers in A+ this year. Moore has only played 13 games at A+ because of injury. Caleb Lomavita and Jacob Cozart are the 2 catchers taken shortly after DeBarge was picked. So they'll be 2 to keep an eye on. Obviously much too early to make any real statements about that draft class, but Culpepper is looking great so far this year.

You can make your own determination about those early round looks at things, but 2020 is the only draft I'm seeing where the Twins very clearly missed on things with Sabato over Wells, Romo, and Dingler. Sabato was a bat only player and those are 3 guys who've made it to the majors that went right after him. Otherwise, I'm not seeing which player you're wanting to see traded out for a catcher. Obviously the Cavaco pick was terrible, but a catcher wouldn't have been the replacement pick there, it would've been one of the 3 I mentioned. You're not trading out Lewis, Larnach (because they took Jeffers with their next pick), Petty, Lee, Jenkins, or Culpepper for catchers. All of those picks make sense. I guess you could argue forcing Mack into the Petty spot if you really, really wanted to but that'd just be because of hindsight knowing the current Twins situation. But at the time Petty made plenty of sense and we were all pretty happy they went with an arm early to get that upside because they were in pretty big need for pitching. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

No, not every team does agree, and I didn't say they did, or should. You take the best player on your board, regardless of position. It's up to your scouts and front office team to get that board in the right order. There are groupings where positions come into play, but the position a player plays shouldn't come into play until their talent level has been determined first. It's the tie breaker, not the driving force. It's all a projection. That's literally what the draft is. I'm not sure what your point is there. I don't care where guys are on public mock drafts or draft rankings. I don't get all hot and bothered about such things. I'll judge this draft in 5 years because it's all a projection. I'll be happier with some picks than others because of the tools players have currently and what their current projections are, but I'm not one who gets all crazy about things.

Christian Vazquez is not a reason to reach for a catcher. They ended up with him because of bad major league scouting. They thought he could hit, overpaid to get him here, and were incredibly wrong. Taking a guy just because he's a catcher doesn't automatically solve that.

There's no way you'd argue they should've taken a catcher in the first in 2017 (no catcher was taken in the first round that year and they had the #1 overall pick).

Bo Naylor went 9 picks after Larnach in 2018. The Twins took Jeffers with their 2nd pick. Should they have taken catchers with their first 2 picks? They took 6 catchers that draft. I bet you couldn't name more than 1 of the other 5.

2019 was the Cavaco draft. Nobody ever complains that they didn't take a catcher with that pick, it's Corbin Carroll, Bryson Stott, and George Kirby that get brought up. No catchers taken in the first after some Rutschman guy went first overall and Shea Langeliers (who I was hoping for) went 10th so weren't there for the Twins pick. Korey Lee went 32nd, or 19 picks after Cavaco, and was the 119th ranked player on MLB's board. Oh, and he's a catcher who can't hit (although he's WAY cheaper than Vazquez) which the Twins have plenty of in their system. Next catcher went 73rd overall. You a big Logan Driscoll fan? 4 catchers in the top 73 picks of the draft. The Twins took Cavaco (awful, but no catcher there to take), Wallner, and Canterino with their picks.

2020 is the draft you want to complain about. Austin Wells went 1 pick after Sabato. Romo and Dingler went shortly after as well. 

2021 saw the Twins take Chase Petty 27th overall. He's debuted for the Reds. Joe Mack was the first catcher taken after that at pick 31. He probably gets a cup of coffee this year. Toss up on that one. Mat Nelson was the only 2nd round catcher. I'm guessing you never heard of him.

2022 was Brooks Lee going 8th overall. Kevin Parada was the next catcher taken at 11. He's 23 in his third go round at AA putting up league average numbers and didn't make Fangraph's top 45 Mets prospects list. Daniel Susac went 19th. Fangraphs has him as the A's 25th best prospect. Dalton Rushing went 40th overall which was 8 picks before the Twins 2nd pick (Connor Prielipp).

2023 the Twins took Walker Jenkins. The 5th of 5 mega prospects at the top of that draft. Blake Mitchell was the first catcher taken at 8 overall. If we would've taken him instead we should've burned Target Field to the ground. Mitchell has played 8 games this year in the complex league. He has 5 games at A+ as the highest level he's played at. Kyle Teel went 14th. Ralphy Velazquez 23rd. The Twins 2nd pick was Luke Keaschall at 49. As you know, he's already debuted and looked pretty darn good. The next "catcher" taken after him was Cole Carrigg at 65. Catcher is in quotes there because he doesn't catch anymore. He caught 3 games in rookie ball and 3 games in A ball in 2023 and that was it. Hasn't caught a game since. Next catcher after that was Alberto Rios at 79. 3 picks before Brandon Winokur. 

That brings us to last year. Walker Janek and Malcolm Moore were the only catchers taken in the first round at picks 28 and 30. Culpepper was pick 21 and is on the fast track to Target Field to take over at SS. Janek is putting up league average numbers in A+ this year. Moore has only played 13 games at A+ because of injury. Caleb Lomavita and Jacob Cozart are the 2 catchers taken shortly after DeBarge was picked. So they'll be 2 to keep an eye on. Obviously much too early to make any real statements about that draft class, but Culpepper is looking great so far this year.

You can make your own determination about those early round looks at things, but 2020 is the only draft I'm seeing where the Twins very clearly missed on things with Sabato over Wells, Romo, and Dingler. Sabato was a bat only player and those are 3 guys who've made it to the majors that went right after him. Otherwise, I'm not seeing which player you're wanting to see traded out for a catcher. Obviously the Cavaco pick was terrible, but a catcher wouldn't have been the replacement pick there, it would've been one of the 3 I mentioned. You're not trading out Lewis, Larnach (because they took Jeffers with their next pick), Petty, Lee, Jenkins, or Culpepper for catchers. All of those picks make sense. I guess you could argue forcing Mack into the Petty spot if you really, really wanted to but that'd just be because of hindsight knowing the current Twins situation. But at the time Petty made plenty of sense and we were all pretty happy they went with an arm early to get that upside because they were in pretty big need for pitching. 

 how about round three? Four? You never take catchers, you don't sign international catchers, you never trade for catchers, you have no catchers.  you end up with Vazquez because you never drafted and developed a catcher. And what's next year? Vazquez or similar. And Jeffers will get expensive or not be good..... So,, good luck. 

[chpettit19]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

 how about round three? Four? You never take catchers, you don't sign international catchers, you never trade for catchers, you have no catchers.  you end up with Vazquez because you never drafted and developed a catcher. And what's next year? Vazquez or similar. And Jeffers will get expensive or not be good..... So,, good luck. 

They took a 3rd round catcher just last year. And a 6th round catcher. They just traded for 2 catchers this offseason. Cardenas, Winkel, Jeffers, Diaw, Cossetti, Baez have all been drafted by this front office. Ricardo Olivar was an international signing as a catcher the same year as Emma was brought in. They signed Carlos Silva in 2023. Ricardo Pena and Jesus Peraza in 2022. That's 12 catchers I can name pretty easily. And that's missing at least 10 from just the 2017-2019 drafts alone. 

How many 3rd or 4th round catchers do you think you can name? Honestly. How many prospects in the minor league systems do you think you know of that were drafted in those rounds? 

Martin Maldonado is still playing major league baseball. For a World Series hopeful, no less (San Diego). He has only 21 fewer PAs than Vazquez. Vazquez is a terrible contract. They thought he could hit, that's why they paid him so much. But glove only veteran catchers are all over major league baseball. This idea that the Twins aren't drafting, trading for, or signing minor league catchers is nonsense. You complain that others aren't paying attention, but neither are you. You have your narrative and you're sticking to it because you're mad about Vazquez. So am I, but at least be honest about the situation. They were wrong about his bat so they paid him like a 2 way catcher when he isn't. But veteran, no bat catchers are all over the majors and are every year. Maldonado, Diaz, Bailey (who the Twins actually drafted in 2017), Herrera, Higashioka, Torrens, Hedges, Heim.

The Twins need catching. I'm not arguing that. But Vazquez types are all over the league. He's going to get a job next year. Just making about 7 mil less than he is this year. There's about 6 to 8 catchers a year drafted in the first 3 or 4 rounds of the draft. The Twins have taken multiple catchers in the top 3 rounds under this regime. Including just last year. This idea that the league is full of highly drafted catchers is wrong. It simply isn't true. The idea that Vazquez style catchers don't happen on other teams because they're all drafting catchers high and producing their own is wrong. It simply isn't true. Shoot, Ben Rortvedt was still getting run with Tampa for a while this year because the league is so catching starved. You think Vazquez is bad, go look at that guy's numbers. Yes, he's significantly cheaper, but, again, Vazquez's deal is because the Twins mistakenly thought he could hit so paid him like a 2 way guy. 

Since Falvey took over the number of catchers taken in the first 4 rounds of the MLB draft has gone 6, 8, 6, 8, 8, 10, 8, 13. That's an average of 8 with a peak of 13 last year and only twice hitting double digits. The Twins have taken 2 of those catchers (Jeffers and Diaw). So, of the 67 catchers taken in the first 4 rounds since Falvey took over the Twins have taken 2 of them. I know you can do the math here. With 30 teams in the league 67 catchers is just over 2 per team in those 8 years. The Twins are right on average. They're not ignoring the position to some great extent like you're trying to make it seem. Or, if they are, on average, every major league team is. I'm not going to go through and see if there's some team drafting a ton of them in the first 4 rounds. You can do that on your own and make some great point. But your argument that they're ignoring it to their detriment is false. They're simply failing to develop their catchers. But they're signing international catchers. They're trading for minor league catchers. And they're drafting catchers. Including in the top 4 rounds.

[Fatbat]

59 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

They took a 3rd round catcher just last year. And a 6th round catcher. They just traded for 2 catchers this offseason. Cardenas, Winkel, Jeffers, Diaw, Cossetti, Baez have all been drafted by this front office. Ricardo Olivar was an international signing as a catcher the same year as Emma was brought in. They signed Carlos Silva in 2023. Ricardo Pena and Jesus Peraza in 2022. That's 12 catchers I can name pretty easily. And that's missing at least 10 from just the 2017-2019 drafts alone. 

How many 3rd or 4th round catchers do you think you can name? Honestly. How many prospects in the minor league systems do you think you know of that were drafted in those rounds? 

Martin Maldonado is still playing major league baseball. For a World Series hopeful, no less (San Diego). He has only 21 fewer PAs than Vazquez. Vazquez is a terrible contract. They thought he could hit, that's why they paid him so much. But glove only veteran catchers are all over major league baseball. This idea that the Twins aren't drafting, trading for, or signing minor league catchers is nonsense. You complain that others aren't paying attention, but neither are you. You have your narrative and you're sticking to it because you're mad about Vazquez. So am I, but at least be honest about the situation. They were wrong about his bat so they paid him like a 2 way catcher when he isn't. But veteran, no bat catchers are all over the majors and are every year. Maldonado, Diaz, Bailey (who the Twins actually drafted in 2017), Herrera, Higashioka, Torrens, Hedges, Heim.

The Twins need catching. I'm not arguing that. But Vazquez types are all over the league. He's going to get a job next year. Just making about 7 mil less than he is this year. There's about 6 to 8 catchers a year drafted in the first 3 or 4 rounds of the draft. The Twins have taken multiple catchers in the top 3 rounds under this regime. Including just last year. This idea that the league is full of highly drafted catchers is wrong. It simply isn't true. The idea that Vazquez style catchers don't happen on other teams because they're all drafting catchers high and producing their own is wrong. It simply isn't true. Shoot, Ben Rortvedt was still getting run with Tampa for a while this year because the league is so catching starved. You think Vazquez is bad, go look at that guy's numbers. Yes, he's significantly cheaper, but, again, Vazquez's deal is because the Twins mistakenly thought he could hit so paid him like a 2 way guy. 

Since Falvey took over the number of catchers taken in the first 4 rounds of the MLB draft has gone 6, 8, 6, 8, 8, 10, 8, 13. That's an average of 8 with a peak of 13 last year and only twice hitting double digits. The Twins have taken 2 of those catchers (Jeffers and Diaw). So, of the 67 catchers taken in the first 4 rounds since Falvey took over the Twins have taken 2 of them. I know you can do the math here. With 30 teams in the league 67 catchers is just over 2 per team in those 8 years. The Twins are right on average. They're not ignoring the position to some great extent like you're trying to make it seem. Or, if they are, on average, every major league team is. I'm not going to go through and see if there's some team drafting a ton of them in the first 4 rounds. You can do that on your own and make some great point. But your argument that they're ignoring it to their detriment is false. They're simply failing to develop their catchers. But they're signing international catchers. They're trading for minor league catchers. And they're drafting catchers. Including in the top 4 rounds.

Im just hoping they find a Buster Posey type this year so we can enjoy some catching highlights over the next decade….