I feel a draft

Posted on June 8th, 2009 – 1:15 PM
By La Velle

Deron Johnson, the Twins scouting director, Mike Radcliff, the Twins VP in charge of player personnel, senior adviser Terry Ryan and a team of area scouts and other  have met at the Dome over the past week to prepare for Tuesday’s draft.

This year’s draft could be more unpredictable than recent ones. Last year, everyone had an idea of who would be in the top ten. It hasn’t been as clear this year, although if you subscribe to Baseball America or have an ESPN insider account there seems to be a consensus building on a few top prospects.

That makes it even more  unclear what the Twins might do with pick Nos. 22 and 46 - the second pick is in the supplemental round.

One interesting player is Stanford reliever Drew Storen. Baseball America has him ranked as the 36th best prospect in the draft, but he’s got helium. The Twins definitely are on Storen and have been in contact with his family. Here’s the problem: Storen might be gone by the time the Twins’ turn comes - he’s reportedly worked out for the Nationals, who have the No. 10 pick.

According to BA, Storen’s fastball has been clocked in the 92-94 range and can touch 95-96. His slider is considered a plus pitch.

For more  on Storen, check this out.

Here are some other players that the Twins have been connected to:

Bobby Borchering, 3B, Bishop Verot High, Fort Myers, Fla: It’s safe bet that the Twins have watched this kid develop every spring training. He great size - he’s 6-4 and 200 pounds - and hit seven homers during a nine-game stretch this season.

Jared Mitchell, OF, LSU: He played baseball and football for the Tigers and was a reserve on the 2007 national championship football team. There’s a belief that the Twins won’t take another outfielder high because they have Ben Revere and Aaron Hicks in the system. But the Twins drafted Mitchell out of high school when he dropped because of signability issues. That’s the only reason I suggest we keep an eye out for him.

Matt Hobgood, RHP, Norco (Calif.) High: His size jumps out - he’s listed at 6-4 and 245 pounds. He’s hit 92-94  on the gun late in games and throws a curve, slider and change. Definitely a power prospect but his command needs to improve.

Again, when you’re drafting 22 you’ve got to see how things shake out leading up to that pick. Given how teams have had trouble figuring out the top ten picks, things will be unpredictable throughout that first round. For instance, Missouri righthander Kyle Gibson is ranked No. 4 but his bonus demands might cause him to drop to the end of the first round. Gibson also has an arm injury. Would the Twins give him a shot? They have looked  into his medical situation.

Gopher fans might want to watch where second baseman Derek McCallum lands. There’s at least one Twins official who is very, very high on McCallum. BA has him ranked as the 136th best prospect but he might be selected before that. It would not surprise me if the Twins take him with pick No. 46.

For background, here are recent No. 22 picks, and what they signed for:

2008: Reese Havens, SS, Mets,    $1.419 million

2007: Tim Alderson, RHP, Giants, 1.290

2006: Colton Willems, RHP, Wash  1.425

2005: Aaron Thompson, LHP, FLA  1.225

2004: Glen Perkins, LHP, Twins, 1.425

2003: David Aardsma, Giants, 1.425

Note: The Twins took Matt Moses at No. 21 that year. The next three picks were Aardsma, Brandon Wood and Chad Billingsley.

2002: Jeremey Guthrie, Indians, 3.00

2001: Jason Bulger, D-Backs, 950,000

The draft begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday with the first three rounds. Round one will be televised on MLB.TV. Rounds 4-30 will take place on Wednesday and rounds 31-50 on Wednesday.

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