Update on 2009 draft signees

The following Twins 2009 draft picks have signed so far. I am including their current numbers where applicable:

Matt Bashore (1st sup) (LHP)
Billy Bullock (2nd) Elizabethton/Beloit (RP): 1.08 ERA, 0.720 WHIP, 10.8 K/9, 10.00 K/BB (8.1 IP)
Derek McCallum (4th) Elizabethton (2B): .227/.310/.387 1 HR, 10 RBI (85 PA)
Tobias Streich (5th) Elizabethton (C): .327/.375/.673 4 HR, 14 RBI (57 PA)
Chris Hermann (6th) Elizabethton (OF): .400/.447/.640 3 HR, 10 RBI (89 PA)
Brad Stillings (7th) Elizabethton (RP): 5.73 ERA, 1.545 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.14 K/BB (11 IP)
Brian Dozier (8th) GCL (SS): .286/.375/.286 (16 PA)
Nick Lockwood (9th) GCL (SS): .167/.259/.167 2 RBI (27 PA)
Tony Davis (12th) Elizabethton (RP): 8.00 ERA, 2.000 WHIP, 17.0 K/9, 2.83 K/BB (9 IP) 17 of his 27 outs were strike outs.
Matt Tone (14th) Elizabethton (LHP): 1.29 ERA, 1.571 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 0.60 K/BB (7.1 IP)
Dakota Watts (16th) GCL (RP) : 0.00 ERA, 0.333 WHIP, 6.0 K/9, 2 K/BB (6.1 IP)
Nick Tindall (17th) GCL (C): .158/.200/.263 4 RBI (20 PA)
Kane Holbrooks (21st) Elizabethton (RP): 5.00 ERA, 1.889 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 1.13 K/BB (9 IP)
Buddy Munroe(22nd) Beloit (C), .263/.300/.316, 20 PA
Trayvone Johnson (30th) GCL (C): .176/.281/.179 1 RBI, (19 PA)
Peter Kennelly (38th) (RHP)
Paul-Michael Klingsberg (49th) Elizabethton (1B/DH): .276/.290/.414 3 RBI (31 PA)

Brian Bistagne (undrafted FA) GCL (OF): .188/.289/.188 3 RBI (38 PA)

Who has signed so far from the class of 2009 of the MLB draft for the Twins

Here is the list of the recent draftees who have signed with the Twins, their minor league assignments and performance so far (most teams played very few games, so take the numbers with a huge grain of salt) :

Billy Bullock (2nd) Elizabethton(RP): 2.25 ERA, 0.750 WHIP, 13.5 K/9, inf K/BB (4 IP)
Derek McCallum (4th) Elizabethton (2B): .188/.278/.344 1 HR, 3 RBI (36 PA)
Tobias Streich (5th) Elizabethton (C): .250/.294/.500 1 HR, 2 RBI (17 PA)
Chris Hermann (6th) Elizabethton (OF): .400/.500/.640 1 HR, 4 RBI (30 PA)
Brad Stillings (7th) Elizabethton (RP): 3.38 ERA, 1.313 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.5 K/BB (5.2 IP)
Brad Dozier (8th) GCL: .250/.250/.250 (4 PA)
Nick Lockwood (9th) GCL: .500/.500/.500 1 RBI (4 PA)
Tony Davis (12th) Elizabethton (RP): 8.10 ERA, 2.400 WHIP, 21.6 K/9, 2.67 K/BB (3.1 IP) 8 of his 10 outs were strike outs.
Dakota Watts (16th) GCL (RP) : 0.00 ERA, 0.500 WHIP, 0 K/9, 0 K/BB (2 IP)
Nick Tindall (17th) GCL: .250/.308/.417 4 RBI (13 PA)
Kane Holbrooks (21st) Elizabethton (RP): 3.00 ERA, 0.667 WHIP, 15.0 K/9, 5.00 K/BB (3.1 IP)
Buddy Munroe(22nd) Beloit (C), but not record as of yesterday
Trayvone Johnson (30th) GCL (C): .200/.333/.200 1 RBI, (6 PA)
Paul-Michael Klingsberg (49th)

Brian Bistagne (undrafted FA) GCL: 286/.333/.286 (15 PA)

Meet and greet: Derek McCallum, Tobias Streich and Trayvon Johnson

The Twins have signed 3 of their draft picks: their 4th round pick, Derek McCallum, their 5th round pick, Tobias Streich and their 20th round pick, Trayvon Johnson. As I promised, I will be doing profiles of the drafted players as soon as the sign, so this is the first in the series.

Derek McCallum was selected with the Twins' 4th round pick out of the University of Minnesota. This is the second time the Twins' drafted McCallum, as he was drafted as a short stop with their 50th round pick out of Hill-Murray High School(Shoreview, MN) in the 2006 draft. He was a hockey and baseball star in High School, named All-State and All-Conference in 2005 and 2006 for baseball and lettering 4 years in hockey. He is listed at 6'0" and 190 lbs, bats left handed and throws right handed. This season, his junior season, Derek hit .409/.484/.741 with 18 HR and 86 RBI, had 30 BB and 34 K and 6 SB; in 271 plate appearances. His 86 RBI were a school record. Previously known as a contact hitter finishing his sophomore year hitting .340/.379/.444 with 2 HR (161 PA) and his freshman year hitting .291/.352/.398 with 3 HR (233 PA). This season, in addition to increasing his already good ability for contact and eye, he developed considerable power. Here is a scouting video of Derek McCallum. He played shortstop in high school and his first 2 years of college and second base last season, and I suspect that he will man both of those positions in the pros, as it is usually the case in the Twins' system for lower minor league players. La Velle Neal III and Joel Rippel reported that he will probably be assigned to the Elizabethton Twins (Appalachian league; high rookie) that open their season later this month.



Tobias Streich (pronounced: strike) was selected with the Twins' 5th round pick. Even he was surprised to be selected that high. Previously he was selected in the 29th round of the 2007 draft by the Oakland Athletics out of Johnsonburg (PA) High, but declined to sign and entered West Virginia University, where currently is a sophomore where he was a Big East Academic All-Star and member of the Athletic Director’s Academic Honor Roll. Out of high school he was listed at number 32 in the 2007 Baseball America top 300 high school prospects. Tobias is a catcher, listed at 6'0" and 215 lbs and bats and throws right handed. He is a great defensive catcher, who threw out close to 30% of the would be base stealers each of his 2 years in College. He is also very durable. He started 54 out of 56 games him freshman year and 53 out of his 55 in his just-finished sophomore year. His numbers with the bat are not spectacular, but are solid. In his sophomore season he hit .322/.371/.488 with 6 HR and 57 RBI in 221 PA, improving from his .259/.320/.408, 4 HR, 39 RBI (225 PA) freshman season. I suspect that the Elizabethton Twins are a likely destination, however, since the Twins have several young unassigned catchers, including the Dominican 19 year old phenom Josmil Pinto, he could start with the low Rookie Gulf Coast Twins.



Trayvon Johnson the Twins' 20th round pick is somewhat of an enigma. He was selected as a Catcher by the Philadelphia Philies with their 46th round pick of the 2006 draft out of Community Harvest Charter School in Los Angeles, CA, but did not sign. Trayvon did not play high school ball (Community Harvest does not have a baseball team), but played in the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, CA. The following academic year he entered Los Angeles City College. After his freshman season in LACC (in which the team won only 2 of 40 games), his aunt died and he stopped attending College and playing organized baseball, but still was working out at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton. According to La Velle Neal III, Deron Johnson (unrelated to Trayvon) the Twins' director of scouting, said that it was there where the Twins area scout saw Trayvon play and recommended his draft. According to Deron Johnson, he "has a well above average arm and is a strong kid. He can really throw". He is listed at 6'1" and 215 lbs. He hits and throws right handed. I could not find any stats for Trayvon. It is very likely that Trayvon Johnson will play with the low Rookie Gulf Coast Twins or even remain in the Ft. Myers' complex in the Instructional League.



Congratulations and welcome to the three newest members of the Minnesota Twins' family.

Reaching for new heights?

The tallest pitchers on the Twins' 40 man roster are standing at 6'4" (Baker, Blackburn, Henn, Nathan, Swarzak).

In this draft the Twins drafted:

3 pitchers 6'4" tall (Stillings, Stilson, Zylstra)
4 pitchers 6'5" tall (Encinosa, Light, Sadler, Butler)
4 pitchers 6'6" tall (Gibson, Bullock, Watts, Giovenco)
1 pitcher 6'7" tall (Bryant)
1 pitcher 6'8" tall (Tyler)

Given that a few of the pitchers drafter are very hard throwers (98,99 mph fastballs) is this a signal of a change of Philosophy of the organization as far as pitching goes? Time will tell

MLB Draft Live Coverage - Day II: rounds 31-50

Note: This page will get updated as picks are made. Also will get updated with links to player profiles and information, so make sure you refresh it to get the new information

The draft starts at 11:30 AM EDT and the Twins will probably pick a bit before noon EDT. Actually it is going much faster. Made their pick at 11:37

Here are the Twins' picks in rounds 31-50 (pick number in parenthesis) :

Round:

31 (942): Cody Martin, 3B/SS/RHP, LHB, 6'2". 205 lbs, Stevens County HS, GA. One of his claims to fame is that as a pitcher he hit an umpire (video link). Here a brief SI writeup of the incident when he was awarded their turkey of the year award and here is a newspaper article.

32 (972): Aaron Senne, RF, LHB, 6'2", 205 lbs, Junior, Missouri (from Rochester, MN). Here is a batting video and here is an article about this former Minnesota State Player of the Year

33 (1002): (Frank) Nick Freitas CF, RHB, 6'1", 215 lbs, senior, Southern Utah. Power hitter Broke his team's home run record. Here is an interview from scout.com

34 (1032): Ricky Claudio, RHP, 6'2", 195. American Senior HS, FL. Here is a brief scouting report (last paragraph). Ricky has a blog and apparently his favorite team is the Boston Red Sox. I hope this changes now.

35 (1062): David Hurlbut, LHP, 6'4", 190 lbs, Diablo Valley College

36 (1092): Jason Zylstra RHP, 6'4" Jacksonville State (same school as Ben Tootle the Twins' third round pick)

37 (1122): David Gutierrez, RHP, 6'0", 160 lbs, Miami. Carlos Gutierrez' brother

38 (1162): Peter Kennelly, RHP, 6'2", 190 lbs, Senior, Fordham

39 (1192): Ryan Sadler, RHP, 6'5" 210 lbs, Naples HS, FL. Here is an article

40 (1222): Ryan Abrahamson, OF, RHB, 6'3", 200 lbs, Tartan HS, MN Here and here are two articles

41 (1252): Pat Butler, RHP, 6'5", 200 lbs Chatham HS, NJ. here is an article

42 (1282): Marc Bourgeois, OF, LHB, 5'11", 205 lbs, Chipola Junior college

43 (1312): Jon Hedges, 1B, RHB, 6'5" 230 lbs, Olney Central College Here is an article

44 (1342): Tyler Herr, RHP, 6'8", 215 lbs, Katy TX HS

45 (1372): Eddie Ahorrio, RHP, Puerto Rico, HS Here is a scouting video

46 (1402): Jake Kretzer, OF, RHB, 5'11", 205 lbs, Benton, HS, MO

47 (1432): Richard Calcano, RHP, Puerto Rico, HS Here is a scouting video

48 (1462): Cody Dordan, RHP, 6'2", 180lbs, Newport HS, OR

49 (1492): Paul-Michael Klingsberg, 1B, LHB, 6'4", 215 lbs, Cal State Domingos Hills

50 (1522): Alberto Cardenas, RHP, 5'10", 190 lbs, Palm Ridge HS, FL

MLB Draft Live Coverage - Day II: rounds 4-30

Note: This page will get update as picks are made. Also will get updated with links to player profiles and information, so make sure you refresh it to get the new information

Here are the Twins' picks in rounds 4-30 (pick number in parenthesis) :

Round:

4 (132): Derek McCallum. RHB, SS/2Bm 6'0", 175 lbs, Junior, University of Minnesota. Here is a scouting video
and here is an article. He was drafted by the Twins in the 50th round of the 2006 draft but did not sign. Here is an article from Pioneer Press and here are his reactions after he was selected by the Twins.

5 (162): Tobias Streich, C, 6'0", 215, RHB, Sophomore, West Virginia U. Here and here are two articles. Here is his reaction after he was selected by the Twins.

6 (192): Chris Herrmann, C/3B, LHB, 6'1", 185 lbs, Junior. U of Miami. Here is a scouting video and here is his personal google profile page, if interested to read some tidbits about him. Here is his-post selection profile from U Miami.

7 (222): Brad Stillings, RHP, 6'4", 210 lbs, Junior, Kent State. Here is an article and here a scouting video. Stillings threw a no-hitter this season

8 (252): Brian Dozier, SS, RHB, 5'11", 190 lbs, Senior, U Southern Miss. Here are his numbers and here is an article.

9 (282): Nick Lockwood, SS, RHB, 5'11", 175 lbs, Jesuit HS, FL. Here is an article.

10 (312): (Michael) Blake Dean, LF/DH, LHB, 6'2", 208 lbs, Junior, LSU. Here is a scouting video and here a page of videos including several of long home runs and here are his numbers.

11 (342): Ronnie Richardson, SH, CF/INF, 5'7", 171 lbs. Lake Region, HS, FL. Here is a detailed scouting report and here a scouting video. Also plays football as a wide receiver

12 (372): Tony Davis, LHP, 5'9", 185 lbs, U Florida

13 (402): Clarence Davis, RHB, SS, 5'11", 160 lbs. Campbell HS, GA

14 (432): Matt Tone, LHP, 6'1", 210 lbs, Junior, SUNY Cortland. Here is an article

15(462): Steven Liddle, OF, LHB, 6'1", 200 lbs, Sophomore. Vanderbilt. Nephew of the Twins' bench coach, Steve Liddle. Here is a video interview, here and here are two articles

16 (492): Dakota Watts, RHP, 6'6", 205 lbs, junior, Cal State Stanislaus

17 (522): Nick Tindall, C, RHB, 6'4", 190 lbs, O' Fallon HS, IL. Here is an article

18 (552): Beau Stoker, SS/3B, LHB, 6'1", 200 lbs, Bishop-Ward HS, KS. Also a Reliever and starting QB and PK in football

19 (582): John Stilson, RHP, 6'4", 190 lbs, Texarcana CC Here is a scouting video

20 (612): Thommy Mackoul, LHP, 6'3", 205, Shophomore UC Riverside. Reliever

21 (642): Kane Holbrooks, RHP, 6'3", 220 lbs, Senior, Texas State

22 (672): Buddy (Stewart) Munroe, C, RHB, 5'11", 195 lbs, Senior, U Florida. Here is a scouting video

23 (702): Eduardo Encinosa, RHP, 6'5", 225 lbs Miami HS. Here is a scouting video

24 (732): Mario Hollands LHP, 6'5", 200 lbs, UC Santa Barbara. Here is a scouting video

25 (762): Anthony Bryant, RHP, 6'7", 210 lbs, Kennewick HS, WA

26 (792): Mike Giovenco, RHP, 6'6", 235 lbs, Junior, North Park U Here is a scouting video

27 (822): Eric Decker, CF, LHB, 6'3", 215 lbs, Junior, Univerity of MN. Probably will return to the U as a senior because he is a top wide receiver update Decker has been quoted (closer to the end of this article) today that he wants to go back to college before he decides his future

28 (852): Pat Light, RHP, 6'5", 190, Christian Brothers Academy, NJ Here is an article

29 (882): (James) Beau Wright, LHP, 6'2", 220 lbs, Los Alamitos HS, CA Here is a scouting video. He had a scare on the field last season from which he recovered.

30 (912): Treyvone Johnson, C, RHB, 6'1", 215 lbs, Los Angeles

I will be doing this again tomorrow starting at 11:30 EDT, covering picks from rounds 31-50.

MLB Draft Coverage - Day I: rounds 1-3

Note: This page will get update as picks are made. Also will get updated with links to player profiles, so make sure you refresh it to get the new information

Here are the Twins' picks in the first three Rounds:

Round 1:

#22: Kyle Gibson, RHP, Missouri. 6'6", 210 lbs, Junior. Here is his scouting report and a video from mlb.com and here is John Manuel's take from Baseball America. Also, here is a scouting report from Saber Scouting with an additional video. Here is a scouting report from Project Prospect, and here is another from The College Baseball Blog. Here is a page full of videos of Kyle Gibson.

Round 1 supplementary (compensation round; the Twins got that pick because of Dennis Reyes singing as a free agent with another team) :

#46: Matt Bashore, LHP, Indiana. 6'3", 200 lbs, Junior. Here are his numbers, here is a quick report, here is an article by Sporting News and here is a scouting video from mlb.com. He was named as one of the top 3 Big Ten starting pitchers by College Baseball Insider.

Round 2:

#70: Billy Bullock, RHP, U Florida. 6'6", 225 lbs, Junior. Here are his numbers and here is an article from The Gainsville Sun.

Round 3:

#101: Ben Tootle, RHP, Jacksonvile State. Here is a scouting report and video from MLB.com and here is an article and here is another one. He was the ninth best college pitcher available according to the College Baseball Blog.

MLB Draft coverage here

The MLB draft starts tonight at 6:00 PM EDT with the first three rounds, continues tomorrow at noon EDT with rounds 4-30 and concludes on Thursday starting at 11:00 AM EDT with rounds 31-50.

This is the way I am planning on covering the draft here:

• Have a close to live daily list of the Twins' picks each day of the draft, which will be updated as additional players are drafted and will provide links to high level profiles of the players (I want to get those out as soon as the names are called, so there will be a lot of editing going on: adding picks as they are made, and editing to include the profiles as time permits. Make sure that you refresh to get the additional information.


• After the draft is finalized, probably around Friday or during the weekend, I will provide an aggregated list of all picks by the Twins, with links to as much information as I can find, including stats, scouting reports, interviews, video etc.


• As players sign, I will profile them individually. Since about half of the picks will never sign and will not wear a Twins-affiliate uniform, I will wait till they sign before I profile them. The deadline for signing draftees is August 17th, so these profiles will be coming sporadically as draftees are signed.

Please feel free to comment in all posts

2009 MLB draft. Part II: The middle infielders

There are 6 days left for the 2009 MLB Amateur draft. Yesterday I examined the available players for the Twins' biggest organizational need, LHP. Today I am looking at the available players for the Twins' second biggest need, middle infield. I am listing here 53 middle infielders in alphabetical order, who are eligible for the draft (including 2 local prospects). The link on players' names is a link to their bio:

Austin Adams, SS/RHP, Senior, Faulkner. Here is a video. Might be selected as a pitcher.

Brad Agustin, SS, Junior, University of Buffalo.

Stephen Batts, IF, Senior, East Carolina. Here are his numbers and here is a newspaper article about him. Also played 1B and LF

Chris Biguenet, 2B, Senior, U Texas-Dallas.

Shane Brown, 2B, Junior, Central Florida. Here are his numbers. Also played C, 3B, and the OF.

Anselmo Cantu 2B, Senior, Norfolk State. Here are his numbers. Great fielder, light hitting second baseman.

Chase Childers, SS, Senior, Georgia State. Here are his numbers.

Derek Dennis, SS, Forest Hills Central HS, MI.

Daniel Fields, SS, University of Detroit Jesuit HS. Here is an atricle from the Detroit Free Press.

Greg Folgia IF/LF/RHP, Junior, Missouri. Here are his numbers.

Nick Franklin SS, Lake Brantley HS, FL. Here is an article and here is a scouting report.

Scooter Gennett SS/2B, Sarasota HS. Here is a scouting report.

Mychal Givens, RHP/SS, Plant HS (FL). Here is a scouting report and here is a video. An additional scouting report can be found here. He may be drafted as a pitcher.

Ryan Goins 2B, Junior, Dallas Baptist.

Phil Gosselin 2B, Sophomore, Virginia. Here is an article.

Grant Green, SS, Junior, USC. Here is a scouting report, and here are his numbers.

Reed Gragnani, SS/2B, Mills Godwin HS, VA. Here is an article.

Billy Hamilton SS, Taylorsville HS, MS.Here is a scouting report. Recruited by Colleges as a three way athelete (Baseball, Football, Basketball)

Shaver Hansen. IP, Junior, Baylor. Here are his numbers and here is an article.

Gary Helmick IF, Senior, Towson. Here are his numbers.

Randy Henry SS/RHP, Freshman, South Mountain, AZ CC.

Bryant Hernandez, SS, Junior, Oklahoma. Here are his numbers and here is a profile article.

Ryan Jackson. SS, Junior, Miami.Here is a scouting report and here are his numbers.

Corey Jones. IF, Junior, CSU – Fullerton. Here are his numbers.

Mycal Jones. SS, Sophomore, Miami Dade JC. Here is a scouting report.

Dan Kaczrowski. 2B. Senior, Hamline University.Here is an article.

Chad Kettler. IF Coppell HS,TX. Here is a scouting video.

D.J. LeMahieu. SS, Sophomore, LSU. Here is a scouting report, here are his numbers and here is an article.

Deven Marrero. SS, American Heritage HS, He is the younger brother of Nats Chris Marrero. Here is a scouting report that also scouts Stephen Perez who is mentioned below.

Juan Martinez. IF, Senior, Oral Roberts. Here is an article

Derek McCallum. SS/2B. Junior, University of Minnesota. Here is an article. He was drafted by the Twins in the 50th round of the 2006 draft but did not sign.

Rich Michalek,IF, Senior, Slippery Rock University.

Jiovanni Mier. SS - Bonita HS, FL. Here is a scouting report and here is a video.

Cooper Moseley IF, Success Unlimited Academy, AL. Here is an interesting SI article from when Cooper was 10 years old.

Nick Natoli SS, Junior, Towson. Here are his numbers. He was rated as the best defensive college infielder by College Baseball Insider.

David Nick. SS/2B, Cypress HS, CA. Here is a scouting report.

Chris Owings SS, Gilbert HS, SC. Here is a scouting report and here is a video.

Stephen Perez SS, Gulliver Prep,FL. Here and here are scouting reports.

Josh Prince. IF, Junior, Tulane. Here is an article and here is a video of a great play in a game.

David Renfroe IF,South Panola HS, MS. Here is a scouting report and here is a video.

Keyvius Sampson SS/RHP, Florida High School. Here is an article. He may be drafted as a RHP

Ryan Schimpf SS, Sophomore, LSU. Here is a video and here are his numbers.

Kyle Seager, 2B, Junior, North Carolina. Here is a scouting report.

Robbie Shields IF, Junior, Florida Southern. Here is a scouting report.

Brandon Sizemore IF, Senior, College of Charleston. Here is an article.

Jason Stidham, SS, Junior, Florida State University. Here are his numbers

Montaous Walton INF, Playball Academy, WI.

LeVon Washington. CF/2B… Buchholz HS, FL. Here and here are a couple of articles.

Alfie Wheeler. SS, Senior, High Point.

A.J. Yoder IF, Senior, Virginia Military Insitute. Here are his numbers.


I highly suspect that the Twins will select one or more of these players in this year's draft.

2009 MLB draft and a couple of notes

The 2009 Amateur MLB draft is fast approaching. The Rule 4 Draft, or the First-Year Player Draft (all those 3 things are synonyms), includes players who are residents of the U.S., Canada and U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and Minor Outlying Islands. Residents of other countries are not subject to the Rule 4 Draft, but are signed as free agents either when they are young (the majority of Latin American, European, African and Australian players) or when are established (the majority of Japanese players.) Free agents have the ability to negotiate with each team and actually, depending on the perceived value of a player, induce a bidding war for their services. Thus, a lot of Cuban refugees do not take residence in the U.S. or a territory, so they will not be subjected to the amateur draft, but take residence in a Latin American country like Bolivia or Mexico. The minor league draft is a way for organizations to restock their systems.

The NFL Draft is widely publicized and followed, but this is not true for the MLB Draft. Regardless, there are mock 1st round MLB drafts out there from various sources. Here are the calls for the Twins 1st pick this weekend from various places:

mlb outsider: Bobby Borchering, HS (3B) (pick made by Seth Stohs)

Sports2debate: Bobby Borchering, HS (3B)

Flagrant Fouls Kentrail Davis, Tennessee (OF)

Project Prospect: Tyler Skaggs, HS (LHP)

Huffington Post: James Paxton, Kentucky (LHP)

Prospect Insider: Chad James, Kentucky (LHP)

MyMLBdraft.com: Joivanni Mier, HS, SS

Sporting News (M Huang): Jared Mitchell, LSU (OF)

Minor League Ball: Bobby Borchering, HS (3B)

Baseball Draft Report: Jared Mitchell, LSU (OF)

Morisato's Blog: Max Stassi, HS (C)

USCTrojans31: Jacob Turner, HS (RHP)

The Twins usually pick the best talent available, but I find it difficult for them to pick a catcher or an outfielder or a RHP, due to large organization depths in this area. There is some depth in corner infield (esp. on first base) and I think it might be unlikely to pick Bobby Borchering who projects more as a first baseman in the bigs. The needs of the Twins' system are in middle infield and Left hand starting pitching (there are only 9-10 LHS in the whole organization and all of them in all levels, excluding those in extending spring training, are struggling more or less this season). So I believe that their biggest need is a Left Handed Starting Pitcher. From the 94 total pitchers in the Twins' system (including all minor leagues, DSL and EST), there are only 19 LHP, counting both starters and relievers There are a couple of them listed in the above mock drafts, but here is a list of the top LHP in the draft according to Baseball Beginnings. The links on their names go to scouting reports about those pitchers and their overall potential grade from the same report is in parenthesis next to their names.

Tyler Matzek (54)

Andrew Oliver (53)

Tyler Skaggs (53)

Tyler Lyons (50)

You can find another report on Tyler Marzak as well as on Matt Purke (another LHP) here at Cyberscouting. They are both within their top 5 high school talent list. Another LHP who made their top 30 high school talent list is Beau Wright.

Other LHP of note include:

Mike Minor, a scouting report is here

Bryan Morgado, who looks like he is pitching well, a year after Tommy John surgery,

his teammate at Tennessee, Nick Hernandez (here is a video interview),

Brandon Belt who was selected in the 11th round of both 2007 (Boston) and 2008 (Atlanta) drafts, but elected to return to college here is a scouting report,

James Paxton, a Scott Boras' client,

Rex Brothers, a High School Senior from Ft. Myers, FL; scouting report here

Chad James; you can find an interview here

Matt Purke; you can find a scouting report here and another one here

Here is a breakdown of the four high school lefties (Tyler Matzek, Matt Purke, Chad James and Tyler Skaggs) by mlb.com with nice videos.

Additional LHP that probably belong to the later rounds and I assume that at least a couple will be wearing a Twins' unifrom include:

Paul Applebee
Buddy Baumann
Mike Belfore
Gavin Brooks
Jordan Cooper
Neal Davis
Jeff Dennis
Robbie Erlin
Lance Hoge
David Holmberg
Garrett Hughes
Jordan John
Brian Johnson
Donnie Joseph
Tyler Kehrer
Dallas Keuchel
Nick Kirk
Ian Krol
Justin Marks
Wes Musick
Matt Packer
John Pokomy
Miers Quigley (drafted in the 36th round of the 2008 draft by the Twins)
Brooks Raley
Steven Rodriquez
Chris Rusin
Patrick Schuster
Sam Selman
Joe Serafin
Kraig Sitton
Travis Smink
Josh Spence
Matt Way
Austin Woods
Mikey Walkusky

Will the Twins select one of the aforementioned with their first round pick? It is probable, and if not with their first pick, I expect one of these pitchers to become a Twin either with the supplemental pick or their 2nd round pick.

One another note and completely different subject, Cy Morong, of Cybermetrics, posted a great article yesterday suggesting that the Twins' M&M boys' May of 2009 was statistically better than the Mantle & Maris' July of 1961. A must read for any Twins' fan

On yet another note, Seth Stohs invited me to participate last night in his weekly podcast. You can listen online or download it here. Seth interviewed Twins' prospects Evan Bigley and Johnathan Walterbury and at the end, Seth and I talked Twins baseball, including the minors, Liriano, Twins' infield and outfield and such.