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Last week, Seth Stohs wrote a more comprehensive list (for Caretakers) of the Twins' needs and the players who could potentially fill those needs in the upcoming draft. In no particular order, the Twins' two biggest needs are a left-handed reliever and a right-handed-hitting corner outfielder, both of which can be found in this year's draft. After reviewing the list of available players and the names Seth has already identified, I found two more players I’m really intrigued by, and a third player who needs a bit more seasoning to be helpful in 2025. Remember, the wrinkle with this draft is that any player taken must be kept in the majors all year, or offered back to their previous team. If the Twins are sharp enough in their player development and coaching, though, they can work around that constraint.
OF Christian Franklin
Franklin is a 2021 fourth-round pick for the Chicago Cubs out of the University of Arkansas, and was not protected in his first year of Rule 5 eligibility. Entering his age-25 season, he already has upper minors experience, with a .763 OPS and an impressive 91:73 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 909 plate appearances at Double-A. Although he's only hit 18 home runs in three minor-league seasons, he’s also stolen 52 bases—including 34 last season. While his hard-hit data doesn’t translate to homers, it's worth noting that his 104 mile-per-hour 90th percentile EV and 40.8% hard-hit rate are both above average. He has experience playing all three outfield positions, and multiple scouting reports suggest that could easily be the case even at the major-league level. Since he'd be skipping Triple A altogether, this would be a leap of faith, but his versatility and right-handed bat would fit rather nicely on the Twins' active roster.
LHRP Peyton Alfrod
The Seattle Mariners left Alfrod up for grabs, and he would be a really good fit for the Twins bullpen. Across 57 ⅓ innings at Double A last year, Alfrod had a 2.20 ERA / 3.43 FIP with an 18.6% K-BB rate. While his walk rate is still higher than you’d like, it’s worth noting that he’s improved it by seven percentage points since the 2022 season. His arsenal includes a low-90s four-seam fastball, a slider, and a curveball, each of which have the ability to miss bats at an exceptional rate.
LHRP Russell Smith
Russell Smith just finished his second year out of the bullpen with decent results at Double-A. The 2021 second-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers finished the season with a 2.73 ERA / 3.79 FIP across 52 ⅔ innings, which is pretty impressive considering his lowly 10.8% K-BB rate. Smith doesn’t have overpowering stuff (his fastball mostly sits in the upper 80s), but his changeup and slider both carry whiff rates north of 37%. His fastball is still effective thanks to its shape and his extension to the plate, as hitters carried a .608 OPS against the offering. With a walk rate per nine innings of 4.78, he definitely needs to improve his strike-throwing ability, but you'd have the spring to play with his mechanics and his stuff to see whether that might be possible on a short enough turnaround. One quasi-benefit of the team's budgetary predicament is that they can absorb someone who'd be stuck to their 40-man throughout the winter without much trouble, because they probably don't intend to add much from outside the organization through other means. At the moment, they don't face a roster crunch, so they could head to spring training with a pending Rule 5 project player like Smith and see what happens.
While these names won’t jump off the paper, it’s important to remember that’s not really the purpose of the Rule 5 draft. In fact, these guys are available because their respective organizations didn’t think they jumped out enough to justify a 40-man roster spot. That said, there is definitely value to be found here, and the cash-strapped Twins would be remiss not to take a shot on at least one of the names Seth or I mentioned.
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- miracleb, DannySD and Cory Engelhardt
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