Twins Select Carson Tinney With The 43rd Pick In 2026 MLB Draft

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

I am amazed by the disdain for Tinney by most here. Most think he has no chance to stick behind the plate. His arm is elite, his blocking is solid and his framing which isn’t as necessary moving up is improving.  My guess is they scouted him a lot this year and he was a backup option if one of the shortstops fell to us. With the way the board fell in the second round they still liked his potential.  He improved his defensive metrics and the Twins are an organization that has been able to improve defensive metrics. Jeffers was viewed as a big catcher with defensive concerns.  
 

The other question in Tinney is the swing and miss. However he greatly improved as the season went on. So he is teachable and can translate it to the hitters box. Yes there will need to be some continued refinement. He struggled a little bit his first month but had elite numbers in the SEC and improved them in the NCAA tournament. 

[Old Twins Hat]

Small matter, but Carson has the best overall name from Day 1 of the draft:  Tinney.

Kind of like it, nice play on "tin", which has some baseball connotations for the sound off the bat (in college), but also, ironically "tiny", which for a guy of his size would be a perfect nick-name.

[terrydactyls]

6 hours ago, JADBP said:

His later pick of Wachsmann is likely another wasted pick in Rd 3.  He is committed to Wake Forest, so the Twins likely have to overpay him to get him to sign.  He's very likely first round material in 3 years, so, why would he linger in the low minors for 3 years now and pass up all that college fun?  

Haven't you ever watched Bull Durham?  They have fun in the low minors.  Think of being an 18-year old kid with $1M in your pocket.  That translates to a lot of fun. 😁😁

[bean5302]

Comping Sabato (ACC) to Tinney (SEC) is somewhat fair when it comes to plate approach. Both were viewed as power tool players with questionable ability to hit breaking balls. That's kind of the end of the comp, though. Sabato was universally viewed as DH with major doubts he could stick at 1B. Carson Tinney is a catcher (who actually plays catcher unlike recent drafted "catchers" by Minnesota)

The Twins have been reaching in recent years by drafting guys who barely play catcher and pretending they're catching prospects. Catcher is by far the hardest position in baseball to learn. Tinney is viewed as a good framer with a strong arm. His bat went on hiatus in the wood bat summer league, but he managed to throw out 30% of base runners at least.

I think it's worth noting that Tinney would have been #1 overall if there weren't questions about him. It's exceedingly rare to have a prospect with no questions. The Bryce Harpers of the world are unicorns.

His size is a detriment to sticking behind the plate as the weight is going to put a major strain on his legs, lengthen his pop time, and slow his quickness. At 6'4" and 240lbs, he'd be in a lot better position dropping 20+lbs.

[TwinsAce]

9 hours ago, JADBP said:

My first reaction was also WTF?!?!  I was stunned that the Twins would expend an early draft round on a position of (now) almost zero need, with a big bat and nothing else.  After thinking about this futher, I now see no logic in this pic.  It was foolishly wasted on a hope and prayer that this player actually becomes a useful bat (a la Sabato, Wallner) with little else of value.  This was Zoll's test.  Not the first pic--that was was obvious.  His first chance to make an independent, thoughtul, smart choice, he blew it. I still say WTF. 

Were there any adults in the room to tell him 1) We can't win the game with power alone!  2) There are many fine pitchers to choose from, even if they were down on our board (the Twins still chose a SP with thier 3rd pick).  

His later pick of Wachsmann is likely another wasted pick in Rd 3.  He is committed to Wake Forest, so the Twins likely have to overpay him to get him to sign.  He's very likely first round material in 3 years, so, why would he linger in the low minors for 3 years now and pass up all that college fun?  

So far, Zoll's first draft day looks like this:

1. Makes the obvious pick at #3.

2. Makes an inane pick

2A.Make a good SP pick

3. Another inane pick 

4. A good SP

We all wanted him to load up on all those SPs in this draft.  After the first round, I am very disappointed.  I'd have to give him a FAIL today. 

Until someone doesn't sign, you have to assume they have deals in place.

So from what you are saying, it sounds like the Twins got a steal with the 3 pick.

 

MLB is different than NFL or other drafts with the flexible $$,  but you could swap Tinney and Wachsmann where they were drafted and I doubt anyone blinks an eye. 🤷‍♂️ Definitely a wait and see now, but I'm happy with most of this draft.

[Danchat]

5 hours ago, h2oface said:

So Duran for future trade bait. Excellent trade result. Who needs cultured standout established pitching, like Duran, when you can get trade bait for years later. anyway. This year proves you don’t need a proven closer like Duran. 

Abel plus moving Tait for a quality starter in exchange for Duran would be a pretty good return, given Abel can stay healthy. Moving Duran for multiple MLB level starters wouldn't be possible otherwise.

[TheLeviathan]

I'm sure they'll start with him at catcher, but honestly....I hate that we wait so long to start getting players comfortable where they are mostly likely to play.

I hope, sooner rather than later, he's working in RF and 1B.

[h2oface]

44 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Abel plus moving Tait for a quality starter in exchange for Duran would be a pretty good return, given Abel can stay healthy. Moving Duran for multiple MLB level starters wouldn't be possible otherwise.

Yeah, I get it. Fact is, if and if for sure thing. Future (when?) maybe(s) for a proven youngish All-Star. Maybe Tait makes it. Maybe Abel makes it. Maybe they don't even need the "showcase" of the Duran trade (Tait) now IF Lackey actually makes it......... I get it. A lot of fans are completely sold on the current methods of trading all your best players for the future that rarely happens. And we have had such great success with our draft first round choices.......