Feeling a draft, Day 2

The Twins took, as noted in Tuesday's post, a pair of collegiate hitters with their first two picks in the amateur draft.

Round 3-10 were held Tuesday, and the focus remained on hitters. The Twins forfeit their third-round pick to sign Lance Lynn, and they used their fourth-rounder to take a centerfielder from the University of Utah, DaShawn Keirsey. Keirsey hits and throws left-handed and is described as having a leadoff hitter profile.

Fifth round was a pitcher, Florida State right-hander Cole Sands. Their first prep of any sort was sixth-rounder Charles Mack, who got some enthusiasm from a former Baseball America guy who is now with Prep Baseball Report:

Whoa! #Twins get Charles Mack in the 6th round. He can flat out hit. Announced as 3B. Could play 2B, maybe try him behind the plate. Excellent pick at this point. #mlbdraft

— Nathan Rode (@NathanRode) June 5, 2018

And from BA's Carlos Collazo:

If the Twins can sign Charles Mack that's an outstanding pick in the 6th round.

— Carlos Collazo (@CarlosACollazo) June 5, 2018

Mack is apparently a Clemson commit, and I'm guessing the Twins will have to go over slot ($254 K) to sign him. If so, that might explain the Jeffers pick in the second round.

The Twins drafted just three pitchers on Day 2, and added a second catcher in Clemson senior Chris Williams. He too is likely to be a below-slot signing. 

The Twins are really stockpiling catching prospects these days. They drafted Ben Rortvelt in the second round in 2016 and traded for David Baneulos from Seattle during the offseason; those two are both at Cedar Rapids now. They got a catcher out of the Padres in the Phil Hughes deal as well; Janigson Villalobos hasn't been assigned to a roster yet.

Feeling a draft, Day 1

For a few minutes Monday evening, it seemed possible that one, or even two, consensus top-five talents in the baseball amateur draft would slip to the Twins' 20th pick.

But a pair of teams with five first-day picks -- and a great deal of financial flexibility as a result -- interceded. Tampa Bay selected prep lefty Matthew Liberatore with the 16th pick and Kansas City claimed University of Florida ace Brady Singer with the 18th pick.

The Twins wound up using their two first-day selections on a pair of college bat-first position players., Oregon State outfielder Trevor Larnach with that No. 20 pick and North Carolina Wilmington catcher Ryan Jeffers at No. 59. (The Twins could have had another first-day pick but surrendered their Competitive Round B pick in the Phil Hughes trade last week,)

The Jeffers pick was, at least to outsiders, a bit of a surprise. Baseball America barely had him in their top 300; MLB.com didn't have him in their top 200. He was, I believe, the one first-round pick for which MLB Network didn't have a highlights package premade.

That this choice wasn't foreseen doesn't make it a mistake. Two possibilities that can combine to make this a savvy choice:

• The Twins think he can develop as a defensive catcher, and really like his bat even if he can't catch in the majors.
• They have the financial parameters in place for a significantly below-slot deal that sets up an above slot selection today. (The Twins forfeit their third-round choice to sign Lance Lynn.)

The Twins reportedly already have an agreement in principle with Larnach, whose team plays the University of Minnesota in a superregional this week.

This is the second draft for the "Falvine" regime (and for scouting director Sean Johnson). It is also the second year in which their first two selections were position players (Royce Lewis and Brant Rooker last year). There is a principle gaining credence these days of "Draft bats, buy arms," the leading example of that being the Chicago Cubs. It's too soon to tell if that's what's going on here with the Twins, or if that's just the way these two first days fell.