Twins Select Kyle DeBarge at No. 33 in the 2024 MLB Draft

Your write up reminds me of Paul Molitor.  Short, compact swing with good bat to ball skills.  That Molitor kid worked out pretty well.

He was one of the few guys with a plus hit tool and plus plate discipline left in a draft short on good hitters.  He also has plus speed and can likely play anywhere on the team.  His weakness is not much power, but hopefully the Twins can help him tap into that more over time.  It was a good pick and he could be a fast mover given the profile. 

Arms always sound great early, but the Twins can get arms later in the draft but not much for bats after the first two to three rounds.  Best to get bats early and take lot's of arms later where they have been able to develop guys in the past.

12 minutes ago, Trov said:

Read up on him that he did terrible with wood bats last summer, lets hope is new found power will translate to the wood bats.  At least with good contact and low walks even if he is a gap to gap mainly double type guy with solid defense that has value. 

Yeah his profile doesn't look good for power IMO.  That is why someone with his bat to ball skills was ranked into the second round. Power is important.  He likely is on an Austin Martin track, but the Twins have found ways to get smaller guys to more power usually by selling out pull side early in counts.  We'll see how well he does there.  

His hit tool should be rock solid though so I expect a good batting average and onbase skills.

30 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I am firmly of the belief they believe players are currency.  They think these 2 players are the safest bets to succeed given their hit tools,  and can either become trade chips or help the big league team.  Based on their previous history I cannot disagree,  my guess is they will both do very well.  

As to Brecht I was a huge proponent. Even still I was expecting him to drop.  But not to 38.  Tells me more issues with either ability to pitch with more control or drive to be great.  That is the one thing I was curious about,  and had gotten some tea leaves.  That would have been insight Langenberg could have given.  

Someone said this draft feels like we got 4 1st rounders.  I would say Culpepper is firmly a 1st rounder based on almost draft rankings,  but yes we ended up with 3 other players who were likely top 50 type players.  In a draft where there is minimal difference between the top 20 and top 60 players, I am more than fine allocating the money to get the best 4 players you can get.  

Totally agree on Brecht.  When the Dodgers and Atlanta passed and then others it showed teams felt the risk was just too high even for the immense reward that might be had.  I will be following him to see how he does.  He hasn't pitched that long or had good instruction which makes me wonder if he can find more control.

You could almost argue the Twins got no first rounders if not including the comp round..  Culpepper and Amick were at their highest on MLB.com in the 31 range which is just outside the top 30 although I do feel like Culpepper might be a bit underrated as his skills match up pretty well with Seaver King who was taken #10. King has a bit more power and better speed to play center which Culpepper cannot do other than that they both have a lot of versatility and can hit with some chase to work on.

DeBarge was never in a top 30 that I could see always second round or even lower.  Amick was ranked around Culpepper on MLB.com but several other boards had him as a 2nd round pick or lower as well. Hill was more in the Comp A to 2nd round area as well.

Don't get me wrong I think the Twins got some really good players in this draft and rankings are subjective as no one knows who will make it or who won't, but I think 4 first rounders would be stretching it pretty far. I think you are right top 50 type players with the first two being safer type picks and the next two more risky betting on upside.

I'm with @Mike Sixel in regard to taking more pitchers early on. Brecht was pretty enticing, and while there is a sentiment the Twins can just take a round 20 unknown and make him throw 98 to turn him into a rotation weapon, that really hasn't happened yet.

The only prospect the Twins have successfully drafted, developed and added to the rotation with an unexpected velocity increase has been Bailey Ober who added 3-4mph on his still below average heater, along with exceptional control which has allowed him to stick towards the end of the rotation.

Varland, now with a substantial track record, and Festa, who has clear limitations, are long shots as viable starters despite making the big show. Making MLB is a major success for late rounders, but 80% of first round picks make it.

Tampa Bay drafts pitching, pitching, pitching. There's a reason they churn out so many arms, and it's not just because they're good at development. They have a surplus of early round selections which go into the rotation, and that surplus has led to profit. Since starting pitching commands such a huge premium, hitting on a single starter can net Tampa Bay 2-3 very good position player prospects.

Falvey's approach of "I can just create starting pitchers" has yet to bear significant fruit, and he's overseen the least successful front office since the early 2000s when it comes to developing pitching, though there's always tantalizing promise in guys coming through the low/mid minors. There may be some change in the wind with Matthews and Morris, and with Simeon Woods Richardson finally starting to pan out, it seems like Falvey's hot seat might be cooled slightly.