Hawkeye Bean Counter

Also - we might have something with Corey Lewis. The Twins were able to improve his velocity to 92 to 94 mph on his fastball. There is also a possibility he improves a tick or two as well. The curve ball is an elite pitch. The slider has been a work in progress. However as stated its his modified Knuckle that adds intrigue. Lewis was becoming a legit prospect with his new found mechanics and increased velocity. He is now a pitcher that adds a knuckleball to his repertoire, not a knuckler trying to be a pitcher. His modified Knuckle pitch sounds interesting, as he throws it faster than the traditional pitch, but the other thing is he seems to have an immense feel for the pitch that does not require him to throw it, 50, 60 or 85% of the time to be effective. He has now thrown a couple games granted A ball and now high A ball, where they could not touch him (a combined no hitter and now a shut out). His issue has been control in college and with 56 strikes out of 80 pitches, that is excellent. Other than some slight tweaks on the fastball, you may see a fast riser in the system. I wouldn't be surprised at an additional promotion to AA by the end of the summer.

Curious what the injury to Austin Martin is now.

I haven't heard specific issues on Clark attitude issues, however what has been stated is of the 2 high school kids Jenkins is just a superb individual with good family background (think Mauer). So when you are looking at the 2 between that Jenkins I have heard gets the slight leg up but that is not to say there has been anything negative about Clark I can find.

For #5 Give me Langford based on the Twins tendencies. As to #34 - It is a bit unorthodox and a bit of a gamble that he can remain in the outfield. Even still he could be a decent 1st baseman - Nolan Schanuel. It does feel a bit like a Sabato all over again with the upside he could play in the outfield. Schanuel is probably the 3rd best bat in the draft based of this years stats. He has a 60 hit tool, and has an extremely good eye which results in a high OBP. he had 3 home runs against Florida so its not like he has not performed against better pitching. If you could end up with Langford (or my personal favorite Skenes) and Schanuel - that would be a heck of a start to the draft.

Ultimately this comes down to the Twins board. If you were to believe what has been stated from insiders to members of this board, the Twins are adverse to drafting a pitcher or High School hitter in the 1st. Obviously they have gone against both of those trends in the past but if we use it as a baseline, Skenes, Clark and Jenkins are off the board. Which essentially makes this a 1 person draft for the Twins or they will be selecting a below slot deal and leaving many disappointed here. That one option is Langford, The issue is getting Langford through the first 3 picks, The only way that occurs is Clark and to a lessor extent Jenkins gets selected in the first 3 picks and Skenes gets selected also. Then it appears the Rangers like both Clark and Jenkins so it would not be surprise if they went that route. Even still the odds it falls this way is less than 25% in my mind. Based on the tea leaves we are selecting one of the 2 college shortstops (Gonzalez or Wilson) with most likely Clark or Jenkins available at 5. There is also a slight chance Skenes were to fall as well. There are lots of moving parts.

Umm, he hits on a topic that is touchy. Buxton seems to fall apart even with just moderate use. I am almost certain you put him out in the field he will be on the injured list within a month. However, being pulled in a game after taking a 97 heater come on man. You probably wanted Farmer to keep playing after getting drilled in the face and losing a couple teeth.

This isn't feasible but nice try. For me in order my preference assuming Crews is gone is Skenes, Langford, Clark. Skenes looks like he could potentially be a #1 headline starter and fits the exact mold of what the Twins are doing. They would not trade him unless we get a #1 pitcher on his rookie contract with 3 years remaining. It is interesting that there is rumors that the Pirates like Clark which completely changes the drafts dynamics. Its assumed Crews is going #1 and Skenes was going #2. If this flips it changes the dynamics and the Skenes camp can push more for a preferred destination between the next 3 based on salary demands.

I have posted a couple articles on this class. The biggest point I would make is without Cavaco and many other players signing at reduced money, the Twins don't have the money at the end of the day to do the oversized contract to Julien. It was a winding draft and signing period where Julien stated he was staying in college then signed at the last minute. Had Cavaco panned out this would be a great draft. I still think we can get something out of Canterino, will have to wait and see. Wallner is also a wildcard as to whether can become a solid MLB player. Steer was a heck of a pick as well as Varland. We swapped Legumina for Farmer. Steer brought us Mahle although that trade didn't work out, the overall draft philosophy is working very well. You won't hit on everything but they hit on a lot. You still have a few players that could pan out yet. Most notable would be Mooney and laweryson and Isola beyond the bigger name and higher drafted players.

No offense, but the pitching prospects since 2017 has been historically bad. You have multiple years that have been labeled as the worst pitching prospect classes in the modern era. When your prospect pool has been bad it is more likely you will have much more variability on success. Add in 2020 and overall the Twins have had a good philosophy to avoid pitching in the early rounds. I could see that changing if by some chance Skenes were to drop. Dollander is a possibility but I still think they would go with a bat.

The article today about the batters got me thinking about the tops prospects and who would be the Twins #1 pick. Due to their draft philosphy, I think Skenes checks all the boxes. He is a big pitcher, he is 6' 6" has a large frame, and has all the tools you could ask for. He has been coached by Wes Johnson and the Twins obviously would be able to get the necessary intel to be willing to pick. He is obviously considered one of the top 2 prospects in the draft with Dylan Crews. The question then becomes how would the Twins be able to pick him at #5 - and as I stated in the post to the article today, it sure seems like a pipe dream. Well here is how I see this possibly playing out. Pirates — $16,185,700.00 Tigers — $15,747,200.00 Nationals — $14,502,400.00 Twins — $14,345,600.00 Currently the Twins have the #4 most slotted money. The Twins are essentially even with the Nationals, and 1 1/2 million behind the Tigers. This ultimately comes down to the Pirates. Crews has been labeled as the #1A or #1B pick since last year. he would have been on the pirates radar for over a year. Due to the extensive evaluation and the fact that arms are more likely to blow up that bats, the consensus has been the Pirates pick Crews. This then comes down to 2 major issues. The Tigers are a tad light on hitting prospects, do they go for a Langford over Skenes due to their organizational needs. Langford is not that much of a fall off from Crews. I could easily see the Tigers take Langford and again avoid the risk of taking an arm prospect. Ultimately this comes to Skene's camp. As much as anything, baseball is a sport where you can semi pick where you want to go by issuing salary damands or telling teams not to pick you. Between the Pirates, Tigers, Nationals and Twins - the Twins have been by far the most steady franchise of the 4. The Nationals did get a haul in their big trade from San Diego. Beyond that the 3 organizations have been a bit of a mess. Add in the Wes Johnson factor. Wes and the Twins created a system that likely is identical or very close to what he is doing at LSU. The philosophy and relationship between Wes Johnson and the Twins could end up being a major factor that I have not seen anyone else discuss. He could potentially leave 1 million dollars or a little less if the Twins were to go over slot compared to the Tigers - however once you get past the Tigers The Twins are essentially even money with the Nationals. For a million dollars being in an Organization that has the same philosophies that allowed you to succeed at LSU and an organization that has had a slightly better reputation and more willing to look at the science side of baseball could end up being a win win for the Twins. We will have to wait and see, but this might not be as much of a pipe dream as I originally thought it may be.

For the hitters this feels right. We need to remember the Twins have the 4th amount of salary pool available, so in reality we can outbid the pick in front of us which does give the Twins some maneuverability. Langford is my choice. I actually do prefer Clark over Jenkins due to a better compact swing.. I think the Twins could have a strong case at going underslot with any of the available prospects and who would do a deal with them. I think the big question mark is does anyone in the top 5 take a chance on Dollander. A consensus #1 pick at the beginning of the year. For me as it stands. 1. Skenes ( seems like a pipe dream). Skenes fits the Twins to a T. Has their prototypical build and Wes Johnson has coached him. 2. Crews (also likely a pipe dream). One of best hitting prospects in a decade. 3. Langford (possibility could drop). Has actually had better numbers than Crews this year. 4. Dollander (has at least shown high production at the upper levels) 5. Clark 6. Jenkins 7. Gonzalez 8. Lowder 9. Teel

Small stats can fluctuate greatly. Cano is up to just under a 1 ERA. But he has given up 3 runs in his last 6 innings pitched. Still hasn't hit a multiple home run situation that can inflate the ERA quickly. Hamilton and Cano both look like good relief options, something the Twins could use. Jorge Lopez stats are not bad, a .5 WAR, but most here would like more consistency. We are still ahead on the trade front overall. Ultimately the infield will be some combination of Correa, Lewis, Kiriloff and Lee for the majority of the next 4-6 years. That only changes if a wildcard can outperform someone else. Julien will most likely become a depth piece. Steer ultimately didn't have spot and we didn't have enough 40 man spots as is last year. We were going to lose some players. In hind sight Hamilton and Cano both would have been nice to still have on the team, but I am not sure our staff could fix Cano.

Crashed down epically

pagan stinking it up

Is De Leon going to get us through 2 innings? Looking good so far.

manufacture runs, put pressure on them, good things happen.

Look at the split stats for Gallo in games Twins have one and lost. Biggest disparity in performance I have ever seen, also gives good probability we win today. .081 BA in losses OPS of .434. In wins he is .295 BA 1.157 OPS

At least 1 fly ball in next 2 at bats scores a run, a hit scores 2. Lets manufacture some runs boys.

Just no double play, Correa has had several lately.

This year it is going to be a 3 horse race between Miranda, Farmer and Lewis - as long as Polanco stays healthy. We have Polanco for one more year, but the near to medium term outlook for players looks to be 3rd Lee, SS Correa, 2nd Lewis, 1st Kiriloff or some combination of those players. If Miranda outperforms another player fine. However I think thats why the Twins felt comfortable dealing Steer last year for Mahle. We have ample options for the infield positions, and if someone fails we have backups. You have Julien, Helman, Miranda, possibly Martin or Severino that look like they have potential to be a big league player or fill in. That also doesn't consider the other higher drafted short stop prospects at the lower levels.

You know the quote rising tides lift all boats. When you can get a couple players to start performing, putting pitchers in more difficult positions and having to pitch to players, you can start to see better performance. We are also starting to see the team utilize a bit of a small ball approach as well. If it took the Monday night game to flip the switch on Tuesday I will take it. On Monday, Baldelli said had to be much better at manufacturing runs in critical situations. Stolen bases and a sac bunt later was good for an insurance run yesterday. Correa is beginning to look like is turning the corner. Kiriloff is the bat that has the most potential to become an elite bat for this offense. Kepler had been improving prior to his injury. I think the offense is coming around, however I wouldn't be surprised by a slight regression on the pitching side either. As a note your screaming didn't make any difference. :)

Just what we have coming in the future, I don't think a deal with Mahle makes sense unless he does a very team friendly deal and even in that case I think its better for the Twins to move on. Pitchers for next year - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Varland, Winder, Paddack and possible QO to Sonny Gray. That ignores SWR and a few other prospects if they made large jumps between now and next year.

Arreaz tends to start the year out hot and then level out as minor injuries begin to nag and seem to effect his performance. When refreshed and fully off his new workout regime he has become a beast for the early part of the season.

That ignores Gray, Lopez and Ryan. Also part of the reason we got Paddack as cheap as we did was because of the elbow concern.

Cossetti may give the Twins enough leverage they won't feel they need to pick a catcher early. Keep picking a couple each year in the mid to late rounds and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle. The other advantage is the reemergence of Ryan Jeffers. Cossetti has definitely been a revelation this year.