Jeremy Nygaard

The baseball world is fixated on Miami this week. Twins fans were fixated on Monday’s Home Run Derby in which Miguel Sano participated and had a pretty good showing. (I won’t ruin it for you.) Around the organization there was some other news Monday: Miracle reliever Tom Hackimer was named FSL Pitcher of the Week. Lookouts catcher Jonathan Rodriguez was named Southern League Hitter of the Week. Rochester catcher Mitch Garver was named International League Batter of the Week. Congrats to those three! Let’s check in on all of Monday’s games.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester - OFF DAY The Red Wings are off for their all-star break. The AAA All-Star Game takes place on Wednesday. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 2, Pensacola 3 Box Score Not a lot of offense as Chattanooga was limited to two hits on Monday: an Andy Wilkins double that was followed by a T.J. White home run. Ryan Walker stole a base. Dereck Rodriguez pitched well, but not well enough. He gave up three runs in seven innings. He allowed seven hits and two walks. He struck out one. Paul Clemens pitched an inning of relief, striking out one. The first-half champion Lookouts still have a four-game lead, but fall to 14-4. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 1, Palm Beach 0 Box Score Similar to the Lookouts, Fort Myers only had two hits. A Tanner English triple drove in Nelson Molina. Brandon Lopez provided the only other hit for a lineup that struck out 11 times. Sean Poppen was the difference though. He threw eight shutout innings, allowing five hits and a walk. He struck out four. Alex Muren picked up his third save of the season. At 13-4 in the second half, Fort Myers now has a two-game lead. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 0, Peoria 3 Box Score Following suit, the Kernels were one-hit by Mike O’Reilly, who struck out 12 batters. Christian Cavaness hit a double, but the only other thing the bats hit were the showers. Eduardo Del Rosario suffered the loss, but wasn’t bad, allowing one run on six hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out two. Logan Lombana struck out two in two frames. Max Cordy allowed two runs on two walks and a hit in his inning of work. The playoff-bound Kernels dropped to 10-9 in the second half. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 13, Johnson City 12 Box Score Finally, offense! Of course, the story is Brent Rooker, who went 3-3 with three walks, three runs scored and an RBI. Shane Carrier also had three hits, which included a double. J.J. Robinson hit his third home run as part of his five RBI. Matt Albanese and Wander Javier, who tripled, both had two hits. Andrew Bechtold hit his first professional home run. Huascar Ynoa was brutal. In two innings, he allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and five walks. He struck out two. Blair Lasko managed three scoreless innings before Juan Gamez allowed five more runs in two innings. Jose Martinez picked up the win, going three innings and allowing only one run. The E-Twins improved to 13-6. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 13, GCL Orioles 1 Box Score Royce Lewis had three more hits, including his second home run. Ricky De La Torre also had a three hit game. Both stole bases. And while Benjamin Rodriguez didn’t steal a base, he did get three hits: Two doubles and a grand slam. He drove in seven (!). Brusdar Graterol pitched five shutout, one-hit innings, striking out four and walking two. Matt Jones picked up the four-inning save. He allowed a single run on three hits. He struck out three. The GCL Twins improve to 10-3. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Sean Poppen, Fort Myers Hitter of the Day – Benjamin Rodriguez, GCL Twins TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Chattanooga at Pensacola (6:35 CST) - TBA GCL Twins vst GCL Orioles (11:00 AM CST) - TBA Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

What had been a very interesting last couple of days in Twins territory turned into a clunker at Target Field on Saturday, but there were a handful of minor moves that took place which are definitely noteworthy.Outfielder Edgar Corcino was promoted to take the place of Zack Granite. The Red Wings still have an open roster spot - and only three active outfielders - so Granite’s presumptive return after Sunday’s game won’t necessitate Corcino being sent back to Chattanooga. In turn, the Lookouts added outfielder Max Murphy to take Corcino’s place and also received starting pitcher Felix Jorge back from the Twins. The Lookouts had room for both after moving shortstop Nick Gordon to the temporarily inactive list due to his participation in the Futures Game on Sunday afternoon. His return will need to have a corresponding move. Fort Myers added second baseman Dane Hutcheon from the GCL Twins to fill out their roster, though that move sounds only temporary as it was reported that lefty reliever Alex Robinson is being promoted from Cedar Rapids to Fort Myers. There are other dominos likely to fall as well over the next couple of days as the #TwitterRumorverse was ablaze with talk of first overall pick's impending move from the GCL to Elizabethton. And who is going to join the Kernels? Brent Rooker, anyone? <exhale> Let’s check in on all of Saturday’s games. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Syracuse 0 Box Score Aside from a fourth inning ByungHo Park triple that scored Tommy Field, which followed a wild pitch that scored Niko Goodrum - both of who had walked - there wasn’t a whole lot of offensive action in a game that saw the Red Wings score two runs on only three hits. Field also reached base on his 22nd double of the season. Corcino went 0-3 with a strikeout in his AAA debut with the Twins organization. (He actually got four at-bats in a three-game cameo for Toledo in Detroit’s organization in 2012 -- when he 20.) Aaron Slegers pitched very well. He left with two outs in the eighth inning. After allowing a leadoff single in his final frame, he erased the runner with a ground ball double play, but was lifted when he allowed another hit. Jake Reed recorded the final four outs for his third save of the season. Slegers improved to 9-4. He struck out three and scattered seven hits over 7.2 scoreless innings. The Red Wings improved to 48-39 but still sit five games out of the wild card standings. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Tennessee 5 Box Score The Lookouts surrendered a first-inning lead and fell after allowing the game-winning run to break a tie in the top of the ninth. Stephen Gonsalves only last four innings (and one batter into the fifth), but threw 97 pitches. He allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out three and took a no-decision. Raul Fernandez did a nice job pitching three scoreless frames before turning it over to Luke Bard. Bard allowed a game-tying home run in the eight, blowing the save, and allowed another run in the ninth to take the loss. It is his first blown save and second loss of the season. The offense was led by multi-hit games from Ryan Walker, Jonathan Rodriguez and Alex Perez. Walker, Levi Michael and Carlos Paulino all doubled. The first-half champion Lookouts have a five-game second-half lead, but fall to 13-3. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 9, Palm Beach 2 Box Score The Miracle laid in the weeds for most of the game, trailing 2-0 as they headed into the home half of the seventh. A three-run seventh inning, followed by a six-run eighth-inning, meant the home team never got to bat again. Each member of the starting lineup got a hit or two. Jermaine Palacios hit his first High-A home run (and his 12th of the season) among two hits. Jaylin Davis was 2-4 with a triple, an RBI and two runs scored. Sean Miller (double), Mitch Kranson and Tanner English (home run, two RBI, two runs) joined Palacios and Davis in the two-hit club. Anthony McIver pitched four innings, allowing five hits, one run, one walk and striking out one, but didn’t last long enough to factor into the decision. David Fischer struck out four in three innings, surrendering one run on three hits, and picked up the win, improving to 4-6. Sam Clay earned his fifth save for the Miracle, walking two batters over two scoreless, no-hit innings. At 11-4 in the second half, Fort Myers is pacing the FSL North division by a game and a half. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 6, Peoria 5 Box Score An early four-run inning evaporated in the middle innings and the Kernels needed a walk-off hit by Travis Blankenhorn to break the ninth-inning tie. Griffin Jax lasted 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He struck out four. Patrick McGuff retired all four batters he faced. Hector Lujan, who was brought in to protect the save, blew it by giving up a home run, and picked up the win instead, improving to 3-0. The Kenels offense popped for 12 hits. Aaron Whitefield was 2-4 with his 19th stolen base, a double and a triple. Gorge Munez also tripled. Blankenhorn, Amaurys Minier, Caleb Hamilton and Andre Jernigan all had doubles as well. Jernigan and Munoz each drove in two. Minier committed two errors at first base. The playoff-bound Kernels dropped to 9-8 in the second half. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 4, Johnson City 3 Box Score Brent Rooker continues to tear up rookie-league pitching. On Saturday, he went 3-4 with a double and a home run, his fifth of the season. Shane Carrier also went 3-4 and hit home run number two. 2016 comp round pick Jose Miranda also homered, his third. Bryan Sammons struck out six in 3.2 innings. He also walked three, allowing only one hit. Nick Brown worked four innings in relief, striking out five, but also allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. Blair Lasko picked up his first win, working four scoreless outs. The E-Twins are 12-5, a half-game behind Greeneville. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 2 Box Score The pitching on Saturday consisted of four guys who combined to throw a shutout. Tyler Beardsley allowed only one hit over three innings, with two strikeouts. Taylor Clemensia picked up the win… but did walk five in three innings. He allowed a hit and struck out three. Austin Bizzle, pitching in only his second game since turning professional, threw his first multi-inning game. Bizzle picked up the hold by coaxing five ground ball outs and striking out one in two innings. Vadim Balan picked up the save. Colton Burns led the offense going 2-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, RBI and run. Royce Lewis went 1-4 with a strikeout. The GCL Twins improve to 9-3, atop the FSL South by two games.. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Aaron Slegers, Rochester Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Fort Myers SUNDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Syracuse (12:35 CST) - RHP Justin Haley (REHAB) (0-0, 4.50 ERA) Chattanooga vs Pensacola (4:05 CST) - TBD Fort Myers vs Palm Beach (3:05 CST) - RHP Sean Poppen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Cedar Rapids vs Peoria (2:05 CST) - LHP Anthony Marzi (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Elizabethton vs Pulaski (5:00 CST) - RHP Edwar Colina (2-0, 2.93 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Saturday’s games. Click here to view the article

The Twins opened a series in Boston on Monday night and the affiliates played eight games, six of which will be profiled here. (The two DSL games from Monday are linked here and here.) The Twins optioned Dillon Gee after Monday night’s game to make room on the roster for Hector Santiago. Let’s check in on the large slate of Monday’s games.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Buffalo 3 (Game 1) Box Score After surrendering three runs in the first four innings, the Red Wings ended the first half of the doubleheader with four unanswered runs to win the seven-inning affair. A three-run fifth inning, led by doubles off the bats of ByungHo Park and Mitch Garver helped tie the game and two sixth inning doubles by Tommy Field and Niko Goodrum gave the Red Wings the lead for good. Zack Granite added two more hits, including a double, and improved his average to .363. David Hurlbut secured the win with 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits and four walks, while striking out five and allowing five runs. Jake Reed picked up the four-out save. He struck out one and gave up two hits. Rochester 4, Buffalo 2 (Game 2) Box Score You may have heard this before, but Zack Granite led off the game with a single and came around to score the game’s first run. In the second inning, Granite added his second single driving in Bengie Gonzalez, who had doubled earlier. Granite finished the game batting .365. Buffalo scored a run in the bottom of the second off Aaron Slegers, who allowed two runs on two walks and seven hits over five innings. He struck out four and improved to 7-4 on the season. Leo Reginatto hit a two-run home run in the third inning to make the difference in the game. John Curtiss, who picked up the hold, and Ryan Pressly, who struck out two in picking up the save, each pitched a scoreless inning. The Red Wings improved to 40-34 with their two wins on Monday. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 1, Pensacola 6 Box Score The game started off perfectly for the Lookouts. Randy LeBlanc sent down Pensacola 1-2-3 in the first inning. The bottom half started with singles from Nick Gordon and Levi Michael before a walk to LaMonte Wade loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly by Jonathan Rodriguez scored Gordon and the game’s first run. But that was where the scoring for the Lookouts stopped. Five more hits (including a Wade triple) and no more runs were all the club could muster. LeBlanc’s night got worse too. In 5.2 innings, he allowed three runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out seven. Todd Van Steensel got the next four outs. Raul Fernandez gave up three runs in his frame before turning it over to Luke Bard, who completed a scoreless inning, striking out the side. It was the first-half champ Lookouts first loss in the season’s second half (4-1). MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers - OFF DAY KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 6 Box Score Burlington scored five early-inning runs and the Kernels couldn’t string together enough hits to get back into the game. Christian Cavaness led the offense with two hits, scoring one of the team’s runs. Travis Blankenhorn scored the team’s other run. He had a hit and two walks. Caleb Hamilton had a double. Lewin Diaz was credited with the team’s sole RBI, his 42nd on the season. Tyler Wells took the loss, dropping to 4-2. Wells gave up five runs (three earned) on two walks and seven hits. He struck out two. Patrick McGuff gave up a run in three innings. Logan Lombana finished the game with two shutout innings. The defense was definitely missing recently-promoted shortstop Jermaine Palacios, as his replacement Ariel Montesino committed two errors. Burlington also stole four bases, three while Wells was pitching. The playoff-bound Kernels dropped to 2-3 in the second half. E-TWINS E-NOTES Elizabethton 1, Pulaski 6 Box Score Errors were the story in this game too as Elizabethton committed four of them. Griffin Jax pitched 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on six hits. He struck out seven but was hurt by his defense behind him. Bryan Sammons, working in relief, struck out five in three innings, allowing one run. Jose Martinez struck out two in 1.1 innings. Wander Javier walked and doubled. He also struck out, was caught stealing and committed an error. Trey Cabbage doubled and stole third base. Matt Albanese went 1-3 and stole a base… but saw his average drop to .625. Robert Molina hit a home run. Brent Rooker went 0-4 with two strikeouts. The E-Twins are 3-2. GCL TWINS TAKES GCL Twins 5, GCL Orioles 2 Box Score Royce Lewis started his professional career off with a bang: A home run in his first at-bat. He singled later. He batted second and played shortstop. Here is video of the home run, courtesy of Darren Wolfson. (I got a video sent to me from a scout on hand... which I would have used if there wasn't better quality video, which there is. Next time.) Jean Carlos Arias was 2-3. He doubled, hit a home run and drove in three runs. This is a welcomed sight after he struggled to an OPS of .531 in his first go-around in the GCL in 2016. Justin Haley allowed a hit and struck out one batter in his one-inning rehab look. Brusdar Graterol, who will be a Top 10 Twins prospect sooner rather than later, struck out four in four one-hit innings. Jose Bermudez got knocked around for five hits and two runs in 1.1 inning. He walked two. Bermudez pitched in the closer’s role for the DSL affiliate last year (and struggled). Vadim Balan pitched 2.2 innings. He gave up one hit, but picked up the win while striking out one. The GCL Twins are 1-0. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – Brusdar Graterol, GCL Twins Hitter of the Day – Zack Granite, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester at Buffalo (6:05 CST) - LHP Nik Turley (1-2, 3.49 ERA) Fort Myers vs Clearwater (6:05 CST) - RHP Cody Stashak (3-3, 3.57 RHP) Cedar Rapids vs Burlington (6:35 CST) - RHP Colton Davis (3-1, 1.36 ERA) Elizabethton vs Pulaski (6:00 CST) - TBA GCL Twins at GCL Orioles (11:00 AM CST) - TBA Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

Posted an update. Leach is only bonus that is not exact. Things are going to be really tight.

Yes.

If the pitching staff was ever good enough that the Twins could actually employ a 4th outfielder, Granite would be great in that role.

Good question. The Twins seem to be using their 39th and 40th spots on their 40-man roster with guys - like Wilk, Heston and Rucinski - that just aren't very good. I like how they're using their roster and shuffling through guys. You lose some of that flexibility if you add Slegers, cause you're not taking him off. Is he better than those guys? I don't know. I don't know if that's what they're thinking... but it might be.

The Twins and all but two of the affiliates were off on Monday, but there was still some news. Left-handed reliever Cameron Booser was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a drug of abuse. He was currently in extended spring training, so his suspension will begin when the short season leagues start. Jake Reed was promoted from Chattanooga to Rochester. Matt Tracy was sent the opposite way to make room. The Twins also announced that both Hector Santiago and Phil Hughes will begin rehab assignments on Wednesday. Santiago will start, Hughes will relieve. Let’s check the only two affiliates in action on Monday.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 7, Buffalo 0 Box Score The offense exploded early and the pitching staff threw a shutout as the Red Wings improved to 33-33 Zack Granite continues his dominance of AAA pitching as he went 3-5 with a double and an RBI. He is now batting .349 on the season. Matt Hague and John Ryan Murphy also contributed three-hit games. Hague doubled once and drove in a run. Murphy drove in two runs and doubled twice. Four other Red Wings, Mitch Garver, J.B. Shuck, ByungHo Park and Tommy Field, had two-hit games. All but Shuck doubled. All told, there were seven doubles and 17 total hits. David Hurlbut twirled seven shutout innings, striking out seven and walking two. He allowed four hits. Mason Melotakis and Kam Mickolio each worked hitless frames, each striking out one. MIRACLE MATTERS Fort Myers 3, Jupiter 4 (10 innings) Box Score Tanner English provided half of the team’s six hits with two doubles and a single. He also swiped his fifth base of the season. English scored and drove in a run. Sean Miller, Brian Navarreto and Max Murphy accounted for the other three hits (singles). Murphy stole two bases and drove in a run. Brady Anderson gave up three run in five innings on eight hits and two walks. He struck out three and gave up two home runs. Jonny Drozd pitched two scoreless innings and Michael Theofanopoulos struck out three in two innings. Williams Ramirez took the loss, giving up the winning run while recording only one out in the 10th inning. Fort Myers drops to 32-34. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day – David Hurlbut, Rochester Hitter of the Day – John Ryan Murphy, Rochester TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester vs Buffalo (6:05 CST) - RHP Aaron Slegers (5-4, 4.06 ERA) Fort Myers vs Jupiter (5:30 CST) - RHP Anthony McIver (1-2, 2-53 ERA) Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss Monday’s games. Click here to view the article

I'm curious how reps are split between Lewis and De La Torre. I'm hoping Lewis plays more than every other day, but I'd like to see them both get a ton of reps at shortstop.

I believe I read this morning that he signed the waiver almost immediately after failing to come to an agreement last year.

Plus he did it in the best conference in college baseball. The Appy League is a step-down quality-wise. I'd think the MWL is pretty comparable to the SEC... maybe also a step down.

That will be here.

Complex. The higher draft picks come to Minnesota. Most just head right to Fort Myers. I'm curious to see what happens with Rooker. Does he go from Minnesota to Fort Myers and play with the Miracle or does he bypass the trip to Florida all together and go straight to Cedar Rapids. I'd be surprised if he doesn't play for the Kernels first.

[LATEST UPDATE: 6/24] Now that the smoke has cleared and the draft is over, we can turn our sights to signing some of these 41 draft picks. Note: Not all will sign - and that is normal. Typical draft classes are usually in the 22-27 player range. This page will be updated as information becomes available, either through me or national media.June 24, 8:30 AM update Apologies for having not updated for a bit. But 14 hour days filled with work and school can do that to a person. Lots to unpack here... starting from the top: This doesn't give an exact figure, but will save the Twins nearly $350,000. That puts the Twins savings around $1,450,000. Enlow sucks up most of the savings and lowers their available pool to around $200K. Bechtold comes in $221,300 over the pool. De La Torre comes in $266,700 over the pool. Widdell comes in $179,300 over the pool. The three seniors each got $10k each, which saves the team $429,500. That leaves the Twins with exactly $1,466,400 to sign Leach. It will be interesting to see if he gets all of it. (That's good planning.) Here's how it looks... Download attachment: draftsat.JPG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 20, 2:30 PM update With the three official signings (Lewis, Rooker and Barnes) done, the Twins are $1,102,700 under the cap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 19, 8:00 AM update Download attachment: 17draft6.JPG Not reporting any bonuses. But many players will be signing on the dotted line today or tomorrow. Still no official word on P Blayne Enlow. Checked with Twins source and was told he "cannot comment." 11th-round pick OF Gabriel Rodriguez has also not agreed to terms. Both of these players fall into the category that will receive overslot bonuses. (Enlow will obviously receive more.) Clubs typically like to have all of their underslot players done first so they know exactly how much money they have left. On the flip side of that, they try to keep those numbers under wraps so that while negotiating overslot deals, the agents don't know exactly how much money is remaining. Both Enlow and Rodriguez are expected to sign. There should be plenty of "official" draft news in the next 24-48 hours. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 17, 7:00 PM update Just a note: Regardless of what I hear, I won't report any "official signings." I'm leaving that up to the Twins, as many things can happen between the agreement and the official announcement. So despite hearing that some of these agreements have been signed, I'm going to leave them simply as "agreed." The big new name here is 3B Austin Bechtold. There is an agreement in place and look for an official announcement relatively soon. The other two names are OF TJ Dixon and P Austin Bizzle. Neither of those deals will cut into the bonus pool. Neither was expected to. Download attachment: 17draft5.JPG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 17, 5:30 PM update SS Royce Lewis is officially a Twin. Four others from Day 3 agree to terms. Confirmed agreements/signings up to 14. https://twitter.com/...209671610216448 Download attachment: draftnew.JPG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ June 17, 10:30 AM update More information will be posted when it becomes available. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 16, 6:00 PM update The signing of OF Brent Rooker is official. Download attachment: 17draft3.JPG June 16, 11:00 AM update: Plenty of new "scout's takes" in both the Day 2 and Day 3 write-ups. (I just added seven more.) The graphic below shows five more players who have agreed to terms: LP Charlie Barnes, who arrived in Minnesota last night, LP Bryan Sammons, who is already in Fort Myers, P Bailey Ober, C Andrew Cosgrove and SS Jordan Gore, all of whom will report to Fort Myers on Monday. Sammons was a senior draft, but could be a sleeper. All five of those players are expected to play at Elizabethton. (Jeremy's note: I don't know why the graphic is as small as it is. I'll try a different computer and see what happens... or maybe Brock can tell me how to fix it.) (Jeremy's note, part two: I'm going to be very careful about reporting signing bonuses. While it is fun to scoop Jim Callis... there can also be ramifications to that type of announcement before everything is finalized.) Download attachment: 17draft2.JPG ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 16, 9:00 AM update: Starting at the top of the draft... Doogie Wolfson of KSTP has had a few nuggets on SS Royce Lewis. Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press is reporting that OF Brent Rooker has agreed to terms for "slightly more" than slot ($1,935,300). I'm reporting a few more happenings with some later-drafted players. OF Jared Akins, P Derek Molina and P Alex Robles have all agreed to terms and will be reporting to Fort Myers. Robles will report Monday. I assume that's going to be a day full of getting settled into Fort Myers, while physicals and actual signings will happen on Tuesday. You can follow the progress of the signings with this handy-dandy little chart that I'll continuously update. Download attachment: 2017draft.PNG Click here to view the article

That's essentially what I was told: "Just because the media had other guys ahead of Lewis, doesn't mean the industry did." Had the Twins not drafted him, he would have went to San Diego (is the belief).

The Twins have added 11 prospects to their organization over the last two days. Today they will add 30 more. They will have their Draft Memories created, memories that will last a lifetime. Stop back often to check on the progress of the draft and learn about players who will help make up the rookie-league teams that begin play later this month. Until then, check out their previous picks: Day 1 Royce Lewis (1.1) Brent Rooker - (Q&A) Landon Leach Day 2 Rounds 3-10. The Twins Geek wasn't terribly excited after Day 1, but Jeremy provided some Draft Theories after Day 2, which has been deemed very successful for the Twins by Jim Callis. Finally, after Sam Carlson went on Day 1, four players with Minnesota Connections were drafted on Day 2. Several more will be taken on Day 3. The Twins don't have a lot of wiggle room in their draft pool, so this will be a day where they look to fill organizational needs. To me, that means lots of (probably left-handed) pitchers, catchers and versatile hitters. Round 11 - Gabriel Rodriguez, OF (Colegio Angel David HS, Puerto Rico) An outfielder with a big arm and power in his bat, there are questions about his overall hit tool. Some scouts foresee a move to the mound if the bat doesn't develop, where he possesses a fastball in the 90s. Scout's take: Left-handed power bat. Performed well all spring. Round 12 - Bailey Ober, RHP (College of Charleston) Tall right-handed pitcher (6' 8", 200) who missed 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Conference player of the year as a freshman in 2014, but has struggled to regain that form in the two years of playing since. Only threw 56 innings in 2017, but had 73/11 K/BB, missing time with a back injury. Scout's take: Tall, but athletic. Plus changeup. Four pitch mix. Fastball jumps on hitters, has deception. Velocity was down after back injury, but when he is completely recovered will have big velocity. Starter. Round 13 - Jared Akins, OF (Fresno State) Long, athletic corner outfielder with a solid hit tool that shows power. Scout's take: Raw, toolsy athlete. Former football player. Skills translate to the outfield. 55 runner. 55 arm. Lots of swing-and-miss. Round 14 - Derek Molina, P (Merced College) Molina was a two-way player at Merced and only threw 28.1 innings. He had a 43/8 K/BB. Scout's take: Fresh arm. Repeatable delivery with smooth arm stroke. Throws strikes. 91-93. Flashes 50 curve. Feel for a changeup. Young. High upside. Round 15 - Ricky Ramirez, P (Fresno State) Smallish right-hander who has both started and relieved for the Bulldogs. Scout's take: Big arm out of a small frame. Showed 93-95 with 50 slider in short stints. Live stuff. May be reliever. Round 16 - Cade Smith, P (Mennonite Educational Institute, Canada) Committed to Hawaii. Long-levered pitcher who is highly projectable. Round 17 - Andy Cosgrove, C (North Carolina State) Backstop who started his career at Washington before transferring. Has a chance to stick defensively. Scout's take: Lean and athletic. Can really throw and is a good receiver. Not an easy out, aggressive at the plate. Round 18 - Colton Burns, CF (UC - Santa Barbara) Spent two years at a JUCO before playing in the Cape and one year with UCSB, where he hit .309 and got on base over 42% of the time, though he doesn't have a lot of power. Has a lot of speed and also has experience at second base. Scout's take: 70 runner, but below average fielder. Great discipline at the plate results in high-OBP. Round 19 - Jordan Gore, SS (Coastal Carolina) Transferred to Coastal Carolina after two years at South Carolina. Had Tommy John surgery in 2016 and sat out the year as a transfer. In 2017, Gore hit .318 as Coastal's everyday shortstop. Scout's take: Special defender. Switch-hitter. Big arm strength. Round 20 - Tyler Gray, P (Central Arkansas) Predominantly a reliever in college, Gray struck out more than a batter per inning in 2017 but has always struggled with command. Round 21 - Colton Waltner, C (San Diego) Waltner caught and played outfield. Has very little pop in his bat, but has a good plate approach and uses his speed well (14/14 SBA) Round 22 - Christian Broussard, P (CS - Los Angeles) Huge-bodied (6' 3", 270) pitcher who also played first base. Scout's take: Four-pitch starter who has above-average raw power with the bat. Conditioning will play a large role in his development. Has the makings of a legit prospect. Round 23 - Jared Finkel, P (Iona) Closer who was nearly unhittable, but didn't strike out a ton and walked nearly 4.5 batters per nine. Scout's take: Took off this season after dropping his arm slot. Athletic body. Has a fastball (86-93 mph) with good sink. Round 24 - T.J. Dixon, CF (Samford) L/L centerfielder with speed, batted .326 but shows little power. Stole 23 bases as a senior. Scout's take: Plus defender with average arm. Line drive hitter who can spray the ball to all fields. A slightly above-average runner, but not a leadoff type bat. Plus make-up. Round 25 - Carson Crites, 2B (SE Louisiana) Senior who batted .299 and showed power (14 home runs). Crites walked (29) almost as much as he struck out (38) and swiped 15 of 17 bases. Round 26 - Jordan Spicer, P (Polk State College) Projectable pitcher who struck out 71 in 69 2/3 innings has a mid-90s fastball, a very good slider and a curveball. Not likely to sign as he was considered a Day 2 pick. Committed to Central Florida. Round 27 - Chandler Taylor, RF (Alabama) Left-handed hitting, draft-eligible sophomore. Strikes out a lot; hits bombs. Likely to head back to Alabama. Round 28 - Joe Record, P (UC-Santa Barbara) Only threw nine innings as a redshirt junior after being a weekend starter in 2016. Scout's take: Needs Tommy John. Was 93-97 with an 85-87 slider in the fall. Round 29 - Griffin Roberts, P (Wake Forest) Draft-eligible sophomore who was closer at Wake Forest. Has a mid-90s fastball and a slider. Walked too many. Probably goes back to college. Scout's take: Electric arm. Fastball up to 97. Special slider. Added strength this year, but is not likely to sign. Round 30 - Alex Robles, P (Austin Peay) Very good two-way player. 84 Ks in 72 innings as a senior. Scout's take: Fastball 88-92 with sink, slider and changeup. Good hitter with gap-to-gap approach who could play 2B or 3B. Round 31 - Luke Miller, 3B (Indiana) Draft-eligible sophomore who hit 10 home runs for the Hoosiers. Likely returns to Indiana for his junior season. Round 32 - Nick Brown, P (William & Mary) Smallish senior who used a good summer in the Cape Cod League to put himself on the radar to be drafted as a reliever with a 94 mph fastball. Round 33 - J.J. Robinson, 1B (Lewis and Clark State College) Big-bodied senior who mashes, doesn't walk much, but doesn't strike out a ton either. Round 34 - Max Meyer, P (Woodbury HS) Future Gopher. Round 35 - Adam Oviedo, SS (Alvarado HS, Texas) One of the top-ranked prep shortstops, but will continue baseball career at TCU and will re-enter the draft in the three years. Round 36 - Josh McMinn , P (Oral Roberts) Another draft-eligible sophomore, McMinn is 6' 4" and pitched 91 innings in 2017, striking out 75. Round 37 - Patrick Bailey, C (Wesleyan Christian Academy, NC) Committed to NC State, Bailey will need to prove he can hit over the next three years. He's got the skills to stick behind the plate though. Scout's take: Plus defender. Switch-hitter. Will add strength at NC State. Round 38 - Ben Rodriguez, C (Pepperdine) Announced as a catcher, Rodriguez is a 6' 6", 240 lb monster who strikes out a ton. Scout's take: 70 raw power, elite ISO. Has caught in the past, will try again. Lots of swing-and-miss, but chance for power-hitting catcher. Round 39 - Jonny DeLuca, OF (Agoura HS, CA) Fantastic athlete who can hit... and will hit at Oregon for the next three years. Scout's take: Smaller but similar to Adam Eaton. Playing in the West Coast League. Will pursue if there is money available. Round 40 - Austin Bizzle, P (Alabama State) The junior was dominant as a reliever, striking out 78 in 74 innings. Thanks for stopping by today. These profiles will be updated as new information becomes available. Click here to view the article

The MLB Draft is a complicated beast. For instance, the draft pool rules are somewhat confusing. You can't trade (most) picks. And the pool is full of two specific groups - prep and college players - that are typically separated by three years of age, skills and development. Those are just a few things. Before Day 3 kicks off, I'm going to run through my theory of what was going on inside the draft room over the last two days.We're all aware that the Twins entered the draft process with an advantage over the other clubs - that coming off the heels of being the worst team in baseball last season and cushioned by the fact they qualified for a Comp Round A pick - owning the largest draft pool in all of baseball and the largest pool of all time. It was entirely fair to assume that the club wasn't going to spend its entire allotment ($7.7m) on the first pick. No team ever had. In all likelihood, no team ever will. The Twins were going to take the player they liked the most in a price range they were comfortable with. There are rumblings that Brendan McKay turned down an offer from the Twins. I'd be surprised if he was the only one. But I doubt it was an "offer" as much as it was the Twins trying to find the magic number with a handful of players. Brendan McKay will likely break the new-rule bonus record of $6.7m held by Kris Bryant when he signs with the Rays. It wouldn't surprise me if Hunter Greene's number is in that range too. But Royce Lewis wasn't a "money-saving" pick. Lewis was the club's top target and will sign for a fair price - a price that will likely be very close to - if not more than - $6.7m. Basically, what I'm saying is that Lewis, McKay and Greene will all sign for relatively similar bonuses. And, honestly, I think the Twins had a pretty good inkling that regardless of who they drafted - and they didn't make their mind up til the very end according to various reports - they were going to bank around a $1 million. That's not being cheap. That's just using the resources available to them. Now let's turn the page... Immediately our focus turned to picks 35 and 37. We knew there would be some money available to spend later in the draft. It made a ton of sense to do it at 35 and/or 37. And I'm sure - OK, not sure but guessing - that the club had a handful of prospects they really hoped would fall to these spots and that the money would be used up. Purely speculative, but I'd put Shane Baz and Seth Romero in that group. Sam Carlson was someone fans placed in that group. Call it whoever you want and call that pie-in-the-sky Plan A. The fact is, though, outside of the draft room not one knows who was actually in that group or how big it was. From everything that I can gather, they weren't "sniped," there just wasn't a prospect they liked so much to blow their entire pool on (which at that time could have been nearly $3 million). So they stuck to their board at #35 with Brent Rooker and took a player at #37 in Landon Leach who was quickly moving up draft boards. And then they turned to Plan B, which was still a really good plan. When Leach's name was called - and Carlson's wasn't - and then fans looked for where he was ranked by Baseball America and MLB.com, many were aghast. How dare they go cheap! Did they just screw up their whole draft? Those types of things filled up both my Twitter timeline and mentions. To many I replied with some variety of "let's see what happens tomorrow." The reality was they knew they still had around $1.5m with which to play around. They probably also - when they picked at #35 and #37 - had a really good idea which group of prep arms would fall to the first pick of the third round. A group that I'm assuming they thought would include Sam Carlson and definitely included Blayne Enlow. As soon as Monday's picks wrapped up, I'm guessing they got on the phone with Enlow's reps and made sure the (reportedly) $2 million they had to offer him was enough. It was. One question that gets asked often is, "Then why not just draft Enlow in Round 2 and take Leach in Round 3. Hoping he falls was risky." Yep, it was. But you can also look at it from a couple of other perspectives: Maybe Leach was a guy the club had to have. And Enlow was one of a group they knew they'd get one of. It also could do with the draft pools. If Enlow is drafted in Round 2 and doesn't sign, the club loses a lot more of their pool than if he's drafted in Round 3 and doesn't sign. Then they turned the page to the next rounds, which they seemed to have played relatively straight until round 8, when they draft their first of three consecutive college seniors. When the smoke cleared on Day 2, I asked about the signability of the players and the remaining draft pool: No concerns on signability and no money left. As we turn the page to Day 3, the focus shifts to filling rookie-league rosters. Though reports of Enlow's bonus started to drift out last night, there will still be a few back-up guys drafted just in case he doesn't sign and they have money to use. All in all, the Twins did a pretty good job manipulating their pool to get the best high school shortstop, one of the top college bats, and two really good prep arms. Maybe they do know what they're doing. Click here to view the article

Doubts he can stick at catcher. Limited it to first base and bat hasn't been great since his freshman year when I started the #suck4schwarz hashtag. I did mock him to the Twins, but I don't see it happening.