Dman

OK my bad. This is the Chirstian Encarnation-Strand pick from last year with less of a track record. I like the risk reward here though at 6. The Twins just can't resist a good utility infielder especially this late, lol. I guess the pitching can wait until all the hitters are gone.

It has been hitter, pitcher, hitter, pitcher, hitter so I assume pick 6 is a pitcher?

I think Texas can and will find more money for Porter. What a great deal for them though. They need a fast moving pitcher and Rocker teamed with Lieter should give them a nice 1-2 punch. Porter should help eventually as well. They are Texas go big or go home. Have to say I like the upside for them and like going for it.

No real scouting report that I can find but his college stats make him interesting. Must be a good contact hitter as he has a high batting average and OPS. Don't know the level of competition faced or anything about the arm, speed etc but just from a hitting perspective looks good for a number 5 pick. Maybe more bonus saving as well? Is he this years Encarnation-Strand?

Not an overly exciting profile for Morris but I rarely like the Twins pitcher picks in this range and they end up doing just fine. Looks like they need to money for Prielipp to me and that is fine if that is what it took to get Lee and Prielipp.

Yeah I don't disagree that they can deal from their depth there but this guy reminds me a little too much of Soularie. The slight frame generally doesn't seem to play as well at the MLB level. It sounds like he has good contact skills so hopefully things turn out well. I like the player it is just I felt there might have been more "value" in another position. If he hits anything like Strand not necessarily that level of power but just hits well that first full year I am sure I will be more onboard. Still a lot of draft to go so plenty of time to fill holes I guess I just didn't have the time they did to fall in love with Schobel. I am sure that will change once I get a chance to watch him play.

Technically most scouts say he is not going to stick at short "long term" but most acknowledge he has a chance to start there and I presume what they mean by that is if the team is willing to accept his level of speed to get to balls they could keep him at short. If you want my definitive answer, lol, it would be the majority of the things I have read say he moves off short at some point. When that point is I do not know but it looks like the Twins will keep him at short for now. So there it is he definitively is a shortstop at least to start.

I was thinking the same thing last night. He couldn't go to a better team for taking care of his arm and his future all the way up to the MLB level. I also think that might be why he agreed to slip as the Twins likely will have to go over slot there. Hard to say though as there is so much mixed analysis. If teams really feel he is a reliever in the end then he went right about where some elite relievers go so maybe no extra bonus needed. Still he couldn't have landed on a better team so I have to believe he signs regardless.

I agree. While they probably don't have an All Star caliber catcher in the system I feel like they have solid depth right now. They called up Hamilton who was hitting pretty well at AAA and is a solid defensive catcher. Isola was on fire with the bat at AA until injured and while his defense might not be great I believe it was OK. I don't know much about Chris Williams as a defensive catcher but he is hitting really well at AA too. They just Drafted two good catchers in Winkel and Cardenous and both are doing well at A and high A. So yeah I wouldn't say catcher is a huge strength but I doubt they see it as a huge weakness either.

Well right now at the MLB level they have Arraez, Polanco, Gordon, and MIranda, At AAA they have Lewis, Steer and Helman. At AA they have Jullien and Martin with Strand a possible third baseman, At high A Severino, Holland, Rucker, Javier. At A ball they have Miller and Perez and with their first pick tonight they have Lee. Lets see that is about 16 players in line for three spots. That's a lot of guys so I think they have that spot covered even if they don't pick Schobel there. Even two to three years from now there doesn't look like there will be much room there. I get your point best payer available and Schobel had a great season and probably worthy to go where he went but it doesn't do much for me when most of this teams talent in the system is already at that exact spot. I was wrong last year about the Strand pick which I kind of thought was a waste and have been singing the draft teams praises as a steal there in hindsight. Maybe I will end up doing the same with this pick once he gets to minor league ball and starts performing. It is just that they are not always right either. I didn't like the Sabato pick and that one hasn't worked out yet so not every move they make is perfect either. Time will tell but my gut reaction is I think they could have done better strengthening another area.

I agree with Johnson's assessment that things fell the Twin's way for once. Both Lee and Prielipp were talked about as 1-1 picks at times so to get two of those guys in one draft is absolutely amazing. I know there are a lot of durability questions about Prielipp and I have to believe that is why he fell. At Fangraphs he is essentially listed as a reliever right now so no sure thing to be a starter. Still no one really knows how well the arm will hold up after surgery and with one elite pitch and another not far behind he has relief ace floor if he stays healthy. Arms are tough things you just never know. Still I thought the Twins got great value at 48 with Prielipp. It was the pick I wanted them to make. His ceiling was higher than anyone else they had left to choose from. If he does make it as a top of the rotation starter this pick will be seen as an absolute steal in hindsight. I wasn't thrilled with doubling down on mini Lee (Tanner Schobel) Obviously the Twins got to see him a lot and felt better about him than anyone else in that spot. Normally I would say awesome but with the glut of utility guys in the system and after just picking Lee it just didn't make much sense to me. He looks like a good player and one who will likely exceed his scouting reports. If he truly was as good as Cross in the box you could say the Twins got three first rounders with their first three picks. Not too shabby if things work out with all three. These last two drafts I have really been on board with what they have doing. Going high upside, getting lefty pitchers, finding legit talent deep in the draft. Hope they have a good day 2 especially on the pitching side as the arms are stalling all way to AA. Need to find difference making arms on day 2.

I second your opinion here. He seems like a solid player and they are betting the power will be there as he likely fits their model well. However how many more second, third possibly shortstop guys do we have in the system right now? The system is full of these types of players. We just picked one at number 8. If he had blazing speed or could for sure stick at short I could maybe see my way past this pick but he does not. So yeah it is a solid pick and all but it seems like they could have and or maybe should have gone with maybe more risk and tried a hard throwing solid two pitch possible elite relief pitcher in that spot or even another starter with potential. At least some position the system is weak in. I get they will probably go under slot in that spot and felt this was the best option but on the surface he didn't look like the best available to me and he doesn't even meet a system need so sorry but this one is a head scratcher for me. Granted we are getting to the point in the draft where the minimal scouting reports out there on guys start to deviate heavily from consensus boards and there are much more varied opinions about a players potential so who knows. The Twins and other MLB teams have a lot more info on all these guys so you have to defer to them. Just sayin IMO they could have done more to help balance the system as they have found this pick at number 11 before and his name is Michael Helman. Not impressed by that pick unless they used to save more money even then take a flyer on a pitcher IMO.

That is awesome! At one point earlier in the year I was hoping the Twins would take him at number 8. To get him in the second round is just fantastic. I am really liking their draft so far. A good value pick as he was ranked in the first round on most boards granted in the lower 20's but still a nice pick at 48. Some work to do coming back from TJ but could be a fast mover next year if lives up to his reputation.

Me too at minimum he would be a fast moving reliever this system needs. He would be a good value at this point in the draft as well.

Dang the Dodgers know their stuff was hoping Rushing might fall to the Twins. Unless the Twins like Hunter it looks like pitcher for pick number 2 IMO.

It is looking like the run on pitching has begun. Hopefully the Twins grab a good arm for pick number 2.

Correa and Seager aren't that fast either and yet they play there and Correa even won a platinum glove. More than Half of Shortstop is positioning and being able to make good throws. Nick Gordon is fast and has a good arm but the Twins don't play him at short much and even when they do he is pretty error prone and has been his whole minor league career. Polanco's issue was throwing as well he just didn't have the arm to make the throws and made lot's of errors as well. With a slower speed is the team willing to gamble the player won't get to a few balls he should but can make all the other plays and throws? That is the question you need ask about Lee. Also with the shift and focus on lifting balls you can hide a lack of speed but you can't hide a guy who can't make the throws. That is why some scouting services like fangraph's think Lee can stick there if the Twins want to try him there. Most see him moving off of short but I believe the same was said about Seager as well. Odds are he moves off but just have to wait and see how he does there first IMO.

Lee is a dream pick IMO. Most Scouts say he can stay at short as he has really good actions there it is just a matter of how you feel about his lack of speed there. Still he is versatile enough to play second third or left field if needed. The best thing about him obviously is the bat and his advanced approach at the plate. I think he K'd 28 time to 42 walks. Almost double the walks to K's. He is someone who "can" hit breaking pitches and the cherry on top is he is a switch hitter. He is as safe a pick as you can make that high with a pretty high ceiling to boot. I generally don't love the Twins 1st round picks but I can't believe they were able to get Lee at 8. I think they made an excellent choice all the way around. Now they just need to nail their next two picks because they don't have a third rounder this year. ....Hey Jeremy feel free to say I told you so when I said no one in the top 7 would fall to the Twins. You said other teams would have other plans and of course you were right but did you see Lee falling to eight?

Not sure where you are getting your info but even MLB.com has his arm ranked as a 55 which is above average. He has been playing shortstop and some outlets like Fangraph's think he could still stick at short as he has good actions he is just a bit slow footed with only average to slightly below average speed. Most scouts have him playing third base with potential to be elite there so if the arm was a problem then not sure why they would be saying that. He has pretty much been mocked in the top 5 all year and he is a switch hitter which is a bonus as well. Hard not to be high on this pick IMO.

I liked Parada as well. It was a tough call there for me but I think in the end Lee is a bit more athletic and with Parada's potential arm issues behind the plate he could have ended up at 1st base or DH. Lee should be able to play all utility spots and likely left field. He could be a plus defensive 3rd baseman. He's just more athletic so I really like the pick. They could have gone Collier as well but Lee is pretty much everything Collier is supposed to be when he grows up so why not just take Lee and forgo the development risk. Again I think the Twins made the right choice with Lee.

It's a good choice. He was arguably the best bat in this class and he has a slim chance to play short but a chance non the less. He is a big kid and Assume a fast mover. Should be a good safe pick. Hopefully they can get a little bit a savings on the bonus amount but probably not enough to pickup one of the pitchers that would fall to the teens. At the start of this with Lee mocked in the top 4 I never would have dreamed he could make it to 8. Very happy with the pick.

Oh boy now what? Never would have thought they would have their pick of Parada, Lee and Collier.

Berry to Miami, Holy cow it couldn't get much better than this for the Twins could it?

Wow Green goes at five. Sure looks like the Twins get one of the top 7 now. Who will it be Parada? Lee? or Collier?

Even though Texas took Rocker if the Mets are buying Green to drop down Twins still could miss out on top 7. Next three picks and we will know.