Jeremy Nygaard

I think the answer to this question always depends on who you talk to. The Twins are going to the get the guy they like most out of everyone. That's a strength, though there isn't this elite, franchise-changing talent like a Bryce Harper. There are options at #1, so that's good for teams picking #2-5. There are deeper groups than others. But a lot will play out as the season goes. If a group of, say, 10 players separate themselves and then there's another group of 30 or so... that's great for the teams drafting at the top and not good for the teams drafting at the bottom. I think this draft pool plays out in a way that is good for the Twins. It would be less good if they were drafting in the teens.

Despite the snow that hit parts of the midwest and the return to winter for many of the rest of the reading area, baseball is back alive and well. As the Twins kicked off their exhibition season, many colleges and high schools around the nation also started (or continued) their seasons. That means draft season has officially kicked off. How did the top draft prospects do?Hunter Greene, RHP, California prep. Greene made his regular-season debut on Saturday and lived up to the hype. He struck out seven batters in five innings. He allowed two walks on the day and two runs on two hits (and a balk) in the first inning. His fastball was reportedly clocked as high as 97 mph. The highlight of the day, though, was when Greene hit a grand-slam to give his team a 5-2 lead. He finished the 10-3 win playing shortstop. You can follow Greene throughout the spring right here at Twins Daily. Judging by his team’s schedule, he will likely throw again next Saturday. The Twins were definitely in attendance on Saturday, though I was unable to confirm who was scouting the game. Kyle Wright, RHP, Vanderbilt. You might say that Wright has been up-and-down-and-then-back-up so far this season. In inning one of game one last week, Wright was mid-to-high 90s for an inning. But then he dropped to the low 90s for the next four innings, walking (three) more than he struck out (two). His outing was done after five frames and he didn’t show any sort of breaking ball. Friday night was a different story. Over 93 pitches in six innings, Wright struck out seven, allowing a run on four hits (but no walks). He worked in the low-to-mid 90s, touching 97 mph and showing a plus curveball. Wright has the stuff #1 overall draft picks (and front-end pitchers) are made of. For me, Wright is the leader in a very tightly-contested college pitching class. Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt. Kendall started off his weekend with a bang: a 436' bomb to centerfield. He added a hustle-double later in the game and finished 2-for-5. Saturday’s game highlighted the biggest issue that Kendall has: he struck out four times (twice looking, twice swinging) and was intentionally walked in his fifth plate appearance. On Sunday, Kendall went 0-for-5 with an extra-inning strikeout. He also failed to bunt successfully earlier in the game. Kendall was asked to bunt last week and ended up bunting into the air, causing a game-ending double-play. Kendall’s speed, arm strength and pretty left-handed stroke along with his potential to hit home runs and play center field make him a five-tool prospect. But those tools come with a few question marks that were highlighted over the last three games. Alex Faedo, RHP, Florida. On a similar path as Wright - Faedo struggled in a 4.2 inning, four-run showing in his debut - game two was a bounce-back. Against rival Miami, Faedo was one out short of a complete game, allowing only two hits and striking out eight. He was replaced in the ninth inning after a two-out error was followed by a full-count walk, his first and only walk of the game. He threw 119 pitches. Though I couldn’t connect with anyone who was at the game, there are reports that he had “full command” of “nasty” arsenal, which includes a low-to-mid 90s fastball with movement, a very good slider and a developing change-up. Royce Lewis, SS, California prep. The JSerra Catholic High School athlete will begin answering questions about whether he can stick at shortstop when his season kicks off on March 11. --- Though there is no official “board” anywhere in any Twins front office member’s office, Greene’s name sits atop the unofficial board I’ll be updating over the next few months. I’d put both Faedo and Wright slightly in front of Kendall. Lewis remains a bit of a dark horse until he starts to play, but the Twins are high on his potential. Hunter GreeneKyle WrightRoyce LewisAlex FaedoJeren KendallHow does your board look? -- Hrbowski also posted on some draft prospects this weekend. Click here to view the article

I could "play" shortstop if I stood between second and third base, but I wouldn't be very good at it. Polanco "plays" shortstop, but I've yet to see a metric that suggests he can PLAY shortstop.

It's impossible to know exactly, but I'd guess Simmons committed a number of throwing errors on plays that no other human could have fielded the ball. It's also a one-year anomaly. All of his other years as a pro have been been better than all of Gordon's. But Simmons is in a tier all by himself defensively.

It has been a long, long time since the Twins have had a “shortstop of the future” in their pipeline. But since drafting Nick Gordon fifth overall in the 2014 draft, they finally do have one. And, now only three years after paying him $3,851,000 to pass on his commitment to Florida State, the young Gordon is knocking on the big-league door.Age: 21 (DOB: 10/24/95) 2016 Stats (A+): .291/.335/.386, 23 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, 19/32 stolen base attempts ETA: 2018 2016 Ranking: 4 National Top 100 Rankings BA: 60 | MLB : 50 | ESPN: 53 | BP: 48 What's To Like Gordon knows what it takes to be a professional baseball player. His dad, Tom, did it as a pitcher for 21 years, including three All-Star Game appearances. His half-brother, Dee, has played in two All-Star games and has won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award. While lineage doesn’t portend success, Nick Gordon has the work ethic to match his family’s prior accomplishments, if not surpass them. An example of that desire to be great occurred shortly after being drafted - four days, to exact - when he signed his contract. "The work doesn't stop," Gordon said after signing. "The drafting and getting signed is just a little piece of the pie. That's what my dad always says. Now's when the real work starts. It's time to achieve my goal and get ready to play." It doesn’t hurt that Gordon has enough glove to stick at shortstop, where he’ll be solid, but not flashy, and a bat that will play at the top of the order as a potential .300-hitter each and every year. We at Twins Daily may be selling Gordon short, as he was the only Twins prospect to make each of the four Top 100s mentioned above… and the lowest he checked in was at #60. What's Left To Work On When you hear Nick Gordon, you probably think of Dee Gordon and his prowess on the base paths. That’s not Nick. Nick is fast enough to be a bit of a menace, as evidenced by his 19 steals last year, but he was caught 13 times as well. He’ll need to be more efficient. Gordon’s strikeout rate as a professional is around 17%, which is manageable, but his walk-rate of 4.7% in Fort Myers isn’t good enough. If Gordon is a .300-hitter, which isn’t asking for the moon, there’s no reason that he shouldn’t have an on-base percentage in the .370-range. While he many never be a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, Gordon should be good enough to remain in the hole for most of his major league career. He’ll have to cut back on his errors, the 24 he committed as a shortstop led to a fielding percentage of .952. Gordon remains skinny as a rail, so hopefully he'll continue to fill out as he continues to mature. What's Next Like many of the team’s top pitching prospects, Gordon is ticketed to start 2017 in Chattanooga. It wouldn’t be entirely unexpected for fellow shortstop Engelb Vielma to also start his season in the Southern League. Could that cause the Twins to move Gordon around? He did make two starts at second base last year as well as one at third base. And Vielma is known for his defensive wizardry. If Jorge Polanco proves that he can handle shortstop, could Gordon be Dozier’s eventual replacement? (I highly doubt that.) There are many questions that the franchise will (continue to) face as it pertains to the middle infield, but when all's said and done, Nick Gordon will be the answer to one of them… and hopefully for a long, long time. Click here to view the article

This is great. I hadn't ever heard of the troubles of adding Brock, but I could see how Nick would be the one to smooth things over. I remember seeing the initial email about Twins Daily - hey, come try this out - and posting in the forums after Zumaya hurt his elbow and, man, did that thread blow up in a hurry. Crazy that it's been five years... and crazier how much things have changed in five years.

Reached out to someone else who saw Greene last Friday. He said Greene's secondary stuff is his "biggest crack." No surprise there. He also praised Greene's coaching staff. That's something you have to take into account when trying to project these kids. And brought up Royce Lewis unprompted. It's going to be an interesting spring.

This is his write-up from MLB.com on his secondary stuff. The slider is new, so they didn't say anything about it: "Greene backs that up with a quality breaking ball that is really sharp. His changeup is his third pitch, but he has a feel for it."

In 2011 Gerrit Cole went first overall after three years at UCLA and debuted on June 11, 2013 at age 22. Safe pick Danny Hultzen never made an MLB appearance. Cole's college teammate, Trevor Bauer, debuted June 28, 2012. The first high school pitcher taken, Dylan Bundy, debuted in September of 2012. The best pitcher of the class, the late Jose Fernandez, debuted in April of 2013. Obviously circumstances have changed with major league deals being eliminated, but there's really little difference between high school and college pitchers (IN THIS PARTICULAR DRAFT). If the Twins brass believes that Greene is the best player available, I'd have a hard time believing he's "two or three years" behind the college guys. I'm not suggesting he'll skip the minor leagues all together. But heck, Kevin Gausman was RUSHED to the major leagues in 2013 and didn't really become a rotation regular until May of 2014 and Berrios, I think we can all agreed, was slow-played and he debuted in May of 2016. That's 2-3 years and I don't see that happening in Greene vs The College Pitchers.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure Strasburg was the goal from the start to finish of the 2009 season. I remember when Strasburg, Kyle Gibson and Matt Harvey were considered the best three pitchers in college baseball.

Don't know much about him besides he's an undersized righty. So I could see him dropping out of the first round. There will be a heavy presence at Greene's games, so making a 20 minute trip down the 405 to the UCLA campus isn't out of the question.

I would think of it like that... and more of it as, with the potential savings at #1, expand your options in rounds 5-11. Similar to what the Twins did with Benninghoff last draft. Turn your 11th rounder into a 3rd/4th rounder. Only now maybe you save enough to add another Top 50 talent or a couple more Top 100 talents.

Not a bad call on Kolek. Man, after Rodon didn't go first or second... I was really hoping he'd fall to the Twins. Then the Cubs took some Schwarber guy that wasn't supposed to go Top 10. Nola was my guy from that draft. Hopefully Gordon keeps getting better.

I don't think there ever has been. Todd Van Poppel and Josh Beckett are the two most-hyped right-handed pitching prospects that I remember. I also don't think I'd consider Greene to be the "consensus top pick." So much projection still...

Should be mentioned, too, that Greene is NOT a Boras guy.

He strikes out some that's for sure. He struggled in limited at-bats on the Cape, but did hit .290 for USA Baseball and .332 for Vandy. (Obviously those are just numbers...) It will be interesting to watch him this year.

I hadn't heard much about his slider previously, but he's been working hard. It's also February, so pitches don't need to be perfect, just look somewhat (potentially) usable.

Not sure who you're referencing. But the hit-tool is one of the five tools. So I'd say typically no, but with prospects - and even a guy like Buxton - so much is projection. So, yeah, you can be a five-tool "prospect" even if you don't presently have the tools. You know what I mean?

If you fast-forward four months… you’ll still be waiting another week for the draft to happen and there will still be plenty of uncertainty about what will happen as the Twins approach the podium to announce the first overall draft pick. They’ll also draft 35th, thanks to a competitive balance comp pick, and 37th, when the second round begins.The Twins will have the largest bonus pool at their disposal (nearly $13.5 million), but won’t have the ability to “play the draft” as others have in the past. Comparing the last two drafts, the first pick this year has $7.4 million tied to it, a dramatic decrease from last year’s $9 million and change. The first overall pick this year is twice the slot of the 13th pick; last year the first pick was worth twice as much as the fifth pick. These changes that have happened in the new CBA put a direct damper on teams trying to tank for the first pick (or, more specifically, the money tied to the first pick). Gone are the days when a team could cut a deal with a player (or two) and use those savings on a third player who miraculously drops in the draft. In 2015, the Astros, owning the second, fifth and thirty-seventh picks were able to hand out three of the highest six bonuses. Don’t misunderstand, some players will still sign underslot and some will still sign for overslot. It’s just not going to be the same as it was before. And that directly impacts the Twins. Fortunately, despite all the changes, the Twins will still pick first and still have their choice of all the players available. And there are some good ones. You probably saw the Keith Law tweet on Friday night that California prep RHP Hunter Greene hit 100 mph. (Or if you bought the Twins Prospect Handbook, you read there that he’s touched 100 mph before.) Law’s tweet really got Twitter going though. But according to a source in California, Greene touched 102 mph last week and has demonstrated improved command of his entire four-pitch arsenal. Over 60 scouts witnessed Friday’s tilt, where Greene also showed his ability to hit. 2/7 Update: Was able to talk to another source who was at the game. Said Greene touched 101 on Friday night and that his slider "was better". The slider is the aforementioned "fourth pitch" to go with his curveball and change. The Twins are believed to have had three scouts in attendance. The state of Minnesota swooned. Greene has become the fan’s early favorite to be selected first overall. But will the front office decide this is the year where a prep right-handed pitcher finally goes first overall? Only time will tell. If not, there are plenty of other options. The college season hasn’t gotten underway yet, but Vanderbilt OF Jeren Kendall is a polished, five-tool prospect who deserves to be in the conversation. The Twins are enamored with the college pitching class which includes RHP Alex Faedo, Florida; RHP Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt; RHP J.B. Bukauskas, North Carolina; and RHP Alex Lange, LSU; among others. There are other preps to consider too and one of the names at the top of the list is California prep SS Royce Lewis. Lewis headlines a fairly deep group of prep hitters and is out to prove he can play the most difficult position in baseball. He has played third base, deferring to upperclassmen, but is making the move to shortstop this spring. Some scouts also believe his future home might be in centerfield. If there’s one thing the old regime loved: it’s toolsy preps such as Lewis. Other notes: Christopher Crawford, who formerly wrote for ESPN, is now posting draft info at Hero Sports. You can read more on both Lewis and Alex Faedo there. Full draft slots and pick values can be found at Baseball America. It’s a place worth bookmarking. You can see what’s changed since I wrote up and even earlier draft piece in October. And going back even further, here’s a link to the Twins Daily Draft Preview of Baseball America’s #1 Prospect, Andrew Benintendi. The college baseball season kicks off soon. Be sure to check back for updates on your (potentially new) favorite players. Click here to view the article

I'm curious to see how the bump in minimum salaries effect the lower projected guys, like Pressly.

I started a winning streak at the pub crawl, so I think my wife probably wins the bat.