Cory Engelhardt

I don't prescribe to the belief that the Twins have too many shortstops in the system. Most of the guys listed above may not play shortstop when/if they make the majors. That said, I LOVE the idea of making a trade outside the organization to add a starting pitcher. Doesn't necessarily have to be someone that right now is a 1/2, but hopefully they can identify someone who is young/controllable who has the potential to become a 1/2. Free agency is not the end game, but I am completely on board with using that avenue to add pitching talent also. Will be interesting to see how aggressive they are both in trades and free agency this offseason. I'm thinking it will be time for the new regime to act differently than the old one.

Let's do this! He would be great for the younger hitters as well on the roster. HUGE upgrade on Vargas, that can't be stated enough. Depending on the return, let's go for it!

I don't know that I could stomach Gordon or Romero for Straily. I would almost be willing to listen on Gonsalves for him though. If they are shooting for a little higher than Straily, I believe anyone in the minors (or majors excluding Sano, Buxton, Kepler and Berrios) would be in play in my opinion.

He cost Matt Duffy and two a ball prospects a year ago (one of whom had been a big time 16 year old international signing years prior.) Moore is a year older and has a year less of control now, but his velocity is as good as it has been for years and his year so far this year has not been strong. I'd check in on him too to see about asking price

He is a 17 year old kid still, and he lives in the eastern time zone, so it was going on 10:30/11pm at that point. Not crazy to go to bed at that time for a teenager. But yeah, seems funny thinking about it as he is not a professional athlete.

The sense I got was that if he were taken in the 3rd round even, he was leaning towards signing. He didn't outright say that though.

From my understanding when he answered it, it was, that was how much time was left before the pick would be announced, and he had to decide between going pro and going to college. I don't believe money was discussed at that point, but I could be wrong.

I really enjoyed doing this interview. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did. Thanks!

Yesterday, we posted Ted's Q&A with Twins 2nd round pick Landon Leach. Today, we have a second Q&A with the hard-throwing right-hander. This one is from Cory Engelhardt, the host of the Baseball Is Good podcast. Remarkably, Ted and Cory asked Landon completely different questions despite not knowing that the other was talking to him. So, grab some coffee and enjoy a second interview with the intriguing prep pitcher from Canada.Be sure to read the first Q&A with Landon Leach, but now enjoy a new conversation with the catcher-turned-pitcher. Cory: First off, happy early birthday (Landon’s birthday is July 12) Landon: Thanks! Cory: What was your draft experience like? Where were you when you were drafted? Landon: I was at home. It was like any other night. I wasn’t paying super close attention as I was projected to be a 3rd round pick. My mom told me to go to bed about ten minutes before I got the call from my agent, and my dad was already in bed. It was a shock when I got the call from my agent (because I was projected to be a 3rd round pick) and I had like 20 seconds to make a decision. Cory: What was that 20 seconds like? Landon: It was a shock, but very exciting! Cory: Ok, so why baseball? Why did you choose baseball as your sport? Landon: I’ll start from the beginning. I tried t-ball at age 4, and quit at that point because the competition was not good. I started baseball again at age 8, along with a number of other sports (football, Lacrosse, downhill skiing, hockey, along with volleyball). I have always loved baseball too, but quit playing competitive hockey at age 13 to mostly focus on baseball as a potential career. Cory: Ok, so growing up, did you have a favorite team or favorite player(s) for baseball? Or, maybe more so, are there any specific players you try to emulate or compare yourself to now? Landon: Growing up, I cheered for different teams, but not really specific players. Now, since I have been pitching, I try to follow and pitch like (Cory) Kluber. I love his mentality, his body type is similar to mine in a sense, and his cutter/2 seamer. Cory: Ok, tell me about your pitch arsenal. What do you throw, and what do you try to do with your specific pitches? Landon: I have a 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball, slider and a changeup. My 4-seam can get up to 96, and my slider is definitely my out pitch. I’m confident in my fastball(s) and my slider, and my changeup is getting there, for sure, since I have had to use it more in the last year as I was facing professionals while pitching for the Canadian national team. Cory: You only started pitching maybe two years ago. You were always a catcher before that point. Do you miss catching or are you happy with the change? Landon: I miss catching to an extent. Switching to pitching started when I was 15, and our team was warming up/training with long toss, and I was throwing it further than anyone else. That’s when my coaches asked if I would be ok trying pitching full time because of my arm. I had to get that ok’d by my parents, but once I/we made that decision, it has been a great one. Cory: What is a typical day like for you now, since you have become a professional? Landon: Not much different than before really, except I’m not in school anymore. Workout, eat a lot, rest and throw. Graduation for school is this Friday, and then my visa is getting worked out so I should be down in Florida in a week to a week-and-a-half. Cory: So do you anticipate beginning your career with the Gulf Coast League in Fort Myers? Landon: Yes, that is the plan. Cory: So, going back to the draft and turning pro, was it a difficult decision to forego college and become a professional baseball player? Landon: The University of Texas is a great school, and they have a great baseball program and a high-quality education. But at the end of the day, I wanted to start my professional baseball career, and I am excited for that opportunity. Cory: One last question; since being drafted and now signing, how has it been with you and your parents/family? Are your parents excited for you? Were they wanting you to go to college? What has that been like for you? Landon: My parents were obviously excited for this. My family is pretty low key but I will say my dad is wearing lots of Twins gear lately, and he is excited to have people ask him why he is a Twins fan. He is pretty proud, excited to say that his son was drafted by the Twins. Cory: Thank you so much for your time! I appreciate it, and good luck going forward with your career with the Twins! Have a great day! Landon: Thanks, have a great day too! ----------------------------------------------------- Thank you to Landon for taking time, a couple of times, to respond to questions for Twins Daily. Hopefully his visa will arrive soon, and he'll get to Florida and start working! Feel free to ask questions below, and/or wish him Good Luck! ------------------------------------------------------ If you missed any of the other Q&As with Twins 2017 draft picks, you can check them here: #1 - Royce Lewis #1 Comp - Brent Rooker #2 - Landon Leach, Part 1 #3 - Blayne Enlow Click here to view the article

Loved the recap. Also, it's scary to think that the Twins are almost as close to 3rd as they are to 1st now. If the weekend doesn't go well, 2nd place may not be in the cards either.

Because of the power and speed combo (for potential) that Lewis brings, I almost have to put him at 1 ahead of Gordon. Yes, Gordon is having a great year at AA (and I have very high hopes for him too) but Gordon isn't going to be a 310 hitter in the majors, and he certainly isn't going to be more than 10-15 homeruns a year. Not that that is a bad thing, but with what his ceiling appears to be, I have to put Lewis at 1. Lewis does have that 20-25 homerun power potential, along with the speed. Neither of them may be a SS (who knows, it's years away) but for the bat alone, that's where I am looking right now. Also, I'm curious, why do you have Gonsalves ahead of Romero? I view Gonsalves' ceiling as more of a 3, and more likely 4, when I view Romero as having top of the rotation stuff. Even this year, their numbers are both great, but Romero is averaging more innings per start. Just my 2 cents.

Here is my top 15 after the draft.... 1) Lewis 2) Gordon 3) Romero 4) Enlow 5) Kiriloff 6) Gonsalves 7) Javier 8) Rooker 9) Rortvedt 10) Blackenhorn 11) Diaz 12) Leach 13) Thorpe 14) Jay 15) Granite

I may be in the minority here, but I'd rather look to trade Polanco than Gordon even. I don't know if that is a dumb take, or the dumbest take, but that's just my opinion. Perfect world Polanco and Gordon are their up the middle duo for the next 5-10 years. But I don't know if Dozier is ever going anywhere either. Maybe Gordon is a 3B and Sano moves to 1st in a year or two? That wouldn't be so bad either.

I love the idea of Wright, Gore or Greene. I think I am still leaning Wright, but if they can get Gore AND potentially have money to throw at someone to get them to drop (Sam Carlson, where are you?) at 35, that would be an amazing draft too. And Cedar Rapids would be an exciting visit next year too.

I agree, more I was just saying that good teams over the long haul are able to trade good veterans for long term pieces for their club. I'd also prefer to get pitching back for Ervin because the Twins are so void of pitching right now, more it was just a comparison. I don't see the Rockies trading Rodgers though, but maybe Houston or Texas or the Yankees or the Cubs can put together a solid package of prospects.

Just to play devil's advocate; do you think there are cubs fans who are still bemoaning trading Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel for Addison Russell and others? I agree that the Twins shouldn't trade him just to trade him. But if you can make your team better in the long run, you almost have to trade veterans for prospects, right?

David Paulino of the Astros along with another younger player with upside from their system would make sense no? The Astros are going for win-it-all mode this year and next, and Santana certainly (for 2017 and 2018) could be argued as still better than Paulino, their 2nd best pitching prospect at this point.

You say, what does it say to the fanbase to trade your best player when you are in first place? The Twins aren't trading Sano. Or Buxton. Or Kepler. Or Berrios. Or probably Nick Gordon, Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero. They probably aren't trading Jorge Polanco either. That is the core that is going to be built around for 2019 and beyond. For fans to not see that, it almost feels short sighted. That said, if the Twins don't end up getting offers they feel are good for Santana and Dozier, move on and keep them for next year.

My thought is you have to listen, regardless of record in July. If you get a good offer (let's say a pitcher who is ready to be in the rotation either this year or early 2018 and a lower level prospect with good upside) you pull the trigger. On the other hand, if the offers are underwhelming, you move on and keep him. Like others have said, he is affordable and can be around the next two years. Don't give him away, but if you get a good offer you take that every day of the week

This sounds amazing to me! Love it!

I can't see Carlson dropping that far. It'd be nice, as a Twins fan, if he did, but I just can't see it. If he is there at 35 he is the pick, no? Plus, how much money are they saving with Wright to be able to turn Carlson to sign and not go to college?

Hunter Greene's ceiling is immensely high, but I haven't seen a scout list him as a generational/can't miss type. If the twins draft him I will be excited because they believe they have a plan in place to help him reach his potential. That said, if they dont take him and instead take someone else (I am holding out hope for Kyle Wright because his ceiling is also that of a top of a rotation starter but his floor is still that of a starting pitcher) I won't be disappointed.