BREAKING: Twins Win Third Overall Pick in 2026 MLB Draft Lottery

[tony&rodney]

17 minutes ago, Dman said:

Would you say the Twins are a bullpen arm away from the World series right now?  Would you say it easier to find an elite starting pitcher than a reliever? Or an elite position player than elite reliever?  Would you rather have Griffen Jax this year and a 4.23 ERA or Danny Coulombe and 2.30 ERA. Relievers that don't cost that much are found every year.  Much harder at other spots. Twins can't afford 20M dollar relievers does that mean they have no chance at WS title?

I'm not complaining or irritated. I just don't see a $103M payroll as excessive. I didn't see the point. It is what it is.

The Twins are a stretch to win 75 games. They aren't going after any elite starting pitchers. I didn't suggest signing a reliever. The guys they had were on decently fair contracts. If relievers are found everywhere, fine. Let the Twins find them. I'm ok with that. 

We are off topic. Sorry. BPA.

[tony&rodney]

25 minutes ago, old nurse said:

A million reasons, all empty seats

Are you saying the Twins cannot afford $103M payroll? Maybe that is correct.

Oh crap. Again off topic. Sorry, no more.

I like shortstops at #3.

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm not complaining or irritated. I just don't see a $103M payroll as excessive. I didn't see the point. It is what it is.

The Twins are a stretch to win 75 games. They aren't going after any elite starting pitchers. I didn't suggest signing a reliever. The guys they had were on decently fair contracts. If relievers are found everywhere, fine. Let the Twins find them. I'm ok with that. 

We are off topic. Sorry. BPA.

Sorry yeah I got off topic as well.  Will shut up now.  There should be good talent at number 3.  Will they try and deal for more money or go BPA. Should be interesting now that they are top 3.

[AceWrigley]

Draft Lottery? Pffft, Falvey's got this.

 

[Sjoski]

54 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm just curious why the Twins were going to trade Duran or Jax. Why?

Twins trade Duran for his high value. 

Twins traded Jax because he demand one.

Twins traded Varland because the Jay's offer was irresistible. ( At least to Falvey) 

[Doc Lenz]

Love the lottery. Copying the NBA is so smart. NBA is loved by everyone. 

[bunsen82]

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Heh.

Totally worth dismantling your team and throwing away an entire season. And realistically more like at minimum 2 seasons.

The team last year with all the players tanked the season.  They were a below average team with a winning percentage below .500 at the trade deadline. 
 

4 bullpen Varland, Stewart, Jax and Duran- less $10 million salaries

Fielders- Correa less net $23 million

Stewart is a player that if healthy may be available in trade if the Twins want him.  Jax is all over the place. Varland is a solid but unspectacular reliever. Correa right now as is, is probably only worth $15 million.  The only true difference maker is Duran.  
 

With the fiasco with revenues due to lack of TV contracts,  the Twins are at a disadvantage with salaries.  So we were likely to trade at least Correa and one of the bullpen arms this year.   
 

Trade prospects and players, potential money for new players, a better rule 5 player, and the #3 pick which comes with more salary allotment- say what you will the organization is better off with the decision they made. This team as constructed and coached did not appear capable of winning it all. 

[AceWrigley]

50 minutes ago, Doc Lenz said:

Love the lottery. Copying the NBA is so smart. NBA is loved by everyone. 

I love the NBA: Northern Beer Alliance.  🍺

[SF Twins Fan]

4 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

I’m worried he goes at #2. We then go with a 17 year old we won’t see for a half a decade.

Does anyone know what Tampa Bays history is drafting in the 1st round?  Do they typically like college or high school batters or college or high school pitchers?

[D.C Twins]

'The hated Chicago White Sox, who already got Justin Ishbia and the Pope this year, win again.'

What a great opening line....kudos Jamie!

[D.C Twins]

Overall I'm happy with 3rd.... we could have fallen much further with the way the % are set up. 

[twinstalker]

Right now it's a two-player draft, and the Twins have the third pick.  I think they must have gotten that advice from the 1990s Timberwolves.  Whom to pick?  Christian Laettner?

[Dman]

1 hour ago, SF Twins Fan said:

Does anyone know what Tampa Bays history is drafting in the 1st round?  Do they typically like college or high school batters or college or high school pitchers?

They generally have gone High school I believe, but their main thing is they seem to shoot for the highest upside. So I could see them sticking with Emerson and if Lombard looks better at the plate I could see them grabbing him as a potential 5 tool talent. 

I do wonder if they might want to fast track at shortstop since they picked Daniel Pierce (HS SS) in the last draft.  If that is the case I could see them taking Lebron who also could be a 5 tool player if he can manage his chase rate.  He has good power so could move pretty fast. Personally I think they go with Lebron, but Emerson is enticing at 6'2" 180 as a 17 year old.  He could be a monster player as well. 

It's gonna be tough to move off those top 4 shortstops IMO, but we'll see how they have performed closer to the draft.  Maybe an arm works their way in there.  Still if all those shortstops perform I think they all could be the top pick in this and lot's of other drafts.

Twins are in almost the opposite position of Tampa as they could easily go with a HS player having taken two college shortstops the last two drafts.  Still hard to say what the Twins will want to do.  How they see their future.

[weitz41]

8 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I'm just curious why the Twins were going to trade Duran or Jax. Why?

Maybe the FO wanted the young guys to play too?? It's a never-ending topic on TD. If you or others meant the young position players...Got to be more specific with this FO...

[Doctor Wu]

9 hours ago, RaoulDuke said:

They rarely (ever?) draft arms in the top 10 and shockingly also rarely have a real ace. 

Yep, there could be a correlation to that!

[old nurse]

9 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Are you saying the Twins cannot afford $103M payroll? Maybe that is correct.

Oh crap. Again off topic. Sorry, no more.

I like shortstops at #3.

Try again.  

[bunsen82]

6 hours ago, twinstalker said:

Right now it's a two-player draft, and the Twins have the third pick.  I think they must have gotten that advice from the 1990s Timberwolves.  Whom to pick?  Christian Laettner?

2 player draft Lol.  I would take either of the two college short stops or Emerson.  The lefty high school pitchers sound very interesting.   There is 8-9 really good players.  

[arby58]

11 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

It is water over the dam and I'm not furious or anything close. I'm just curious why the Twins were going to trade Duran or Jax. Why?

Based on past experience and outcomes, the Twins don't value high end relief pitchers the way they do starting pitching. It appears they believe you can take a starting pitcher who can't quite make the grade in that role and make them a stand-out relief pitcher. That has been the case recently (Duran, Jax, Varland) and in the past as well (Nathan, Aguilerra, Guardado, Hawkins). Some of these were sudden moves - Hawkins was solely a starting pitcher his first four years with the Twins and then never started another game in a very long major league career. Guardado was primarily a starting pitcher his first two years with the Twins, transitioned to the bullpen in year three  and then didn't start another game between 1996 and 2009. 

My guess is they will experiment with relief pitcher roles for at least a couple of their young starting pitching, thinking of Festa, Raya, Prielipp, and maybe Matthews. Not all will transition to the bullpen, of course - they will need some starting pitching ready at AAA.

[bunsen82]

There is 3 ways to bring good players into your organization.   Trade, signing and drafting.  Lebron, Emerson, Lombard or Chowolsky would all be a top 3 prospect for the Twins right now.  I am not sure you could get any player of their quality in a trade - most teams want to keep their elite players.  

The draft is also funky as in you never know when a team will go for a lower player to spread out their money.  Currently it looks like we will get a really good player,  and if we decide to underslot significantly we may be going for quantity.  Although with our minor system we are lacking the elite prospects.  

[rv78]

I predict Falvey will draft a shortstop that will not be capable of playing shortstop at the major league level. Why? Because that is what Falvey does. For me, it's next to impossible to get excited about anything in this organization because Falvey has proven himself to be incompetent at just about everything he does and the Owners still believe in him. That's not a winning combination. They are not trading away the big 3 (Ryan, Lopez, Buxton) and will be adding to contend in 2026. Anyone here who thinks that the players they add, will make this team successful to the point of contending, is a fool. Okay, Falvey and the Owners.......... make me eat my words. I don't think you have a clue of knowing what you need to do.

[Fatbat]

13 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

I’m worried he goes at #2. We then go with a 17 year old we won’t see for a half a decade.

That 17 yo could be a phenom that is in AAA at 20 and pushing Culpepper, Winoker and 3 other “SS” prospects out of the way… he definitely is not a Cavaco.

[Senior Softball Guy]

We had no chance of beating the White Sox to the #1 pick when the Pope is a Sox fan. A very unfair advantage.

[bunsen82]

26 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

That 17 yo could be a phenom that is in AAA at 20 and pushing Culpepper, Winoker and 3 other “SS” prospects out of the way… he definitely is not a Cavaco.

Emerson has the best hit tool of anyone in the draft in my opinion.  

[Sjoski]

Just poking for some fun okay....

What If KAM ran the Twins’ Draft this year?

                       ●   ●   ●

- He’d trade the #3 overall pick five different times in one afternoon, somehow ending up with the 11th, 19th, and 37th pick.

- He’d announce that this “portfolio approach” allows the Twins to draft a can't miss shortstop, a starter with electric stuff, and a power hitting gold glove first baseman—all in one swoop—because why fix one hole when you can patch three with duct tape?  

[Old Twins Hat]

14 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Have no fear Chief. I have been reading that building a bullpen from scratch is the easiest thing to do in baseball. Even though contenders look for 1 or more bullpen arms every year at the deadline. 

Relievers go up and down like elevators every year.  No team is ever safe or beyond hope.  And, to be fair, the Dodgers' and Blue Jays' respective bullpens were not the strong point of their run to the World Series.

[tony&rodney]

16 hours ago, old nurse said:

A million reasons, all empty seats

The Twins want empty seats?

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins want empty seats?

You asked why they would trade Duran and Jax. I told you empty seats. If you don’t get the connection,I don’t really care 

[KirbyDome89]

6 hours ago, bunsen82 said:

2 player draft Lol.  I would take either of the two college short stops or Emerson.  The lefty high school pitchers sound very interesting.   There is 8-9 really good players.  

You were just arguing that "tanking," for better draft position was such an underrated part of the fire sale last season. If the draft is 9 deep, what was the point of dismantling the entire bullpen at the deadline when the Twins were already sitting with the 4th best odds for the #1 pick? 

[USAFChief]

Just now, KirbyDome89 said:

You were just arguing that "tanking," for better draft position was such an underrated part of the fire sale last season. If the draft is 9 deep, what was the point of dismantling the entire bullpen at the deadline when the Twins were already sitting with the 4th best odds for the #1 pick? 

Box.

[bunsen82]

4 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

You were just arguing that "tanking," for better draft position was such an underrated part of the fire sale last season. If the draft is 9 deep, what was the point of dismantling the entire bullpen at the deadline when the Twins were already sitting with the 4th best odds for the #1 pick? 

Kirby -  

Point 1 - Money allocated-  There was a 4 million difference between the 1st pick and the 8th pick in last years draft,   the 3rd pick is 1.5 million less than the 1st pick.   The Twins will have a much larger budge.  Lets say they think Emerson or Lebron are really good prospects,  but they like Boleman just as much and feel comfortable with the SS they have in the system and they can sign him for $1.5 million less than the allotted amount.  They can effectively pick up a really good prep player with there compensatory pick in the second round for $2.5 million.  

Point 2 - A lot of variability can occur between now and draft time.  Injuries, underperformance overperformance.  If you are going to put a lot of your eggs into 1 draft - you A.  want some elite players likely available if that is the plan B.  You want a lot of solid depth if there is underperformance or injuries.  

The Twins had the 11th or 12th worst record at the trade deadline.   

The difference in a 60 level prospect and 55 level prospect or even a 50 level prospect is immense Kirby.   25-30 million of value potentially between those levels.  If we had continued to just play the year,  and the way the draft broke, didn't get a top 6 pick and then all the other spots got filled,  13th might have been the best we could have been this year.  Look at Miami - dropped from 9th to 13th.