Thank goodness for blogs so I have an outlet to dish out the information that can’t make the ink version.

Baseball America pointed out that Derek McCallum played hockey in high school and brought that mentality to baseball. That kind of baffled me (is he a grinder or a finesse player?) so I asked McCallum what did that mean.

“Honestly, I’ve never watched myself play,” he said as I laughed. “I’m not sure.”

Deron Johnson, the Twins scouting director, tried to explain.

“Just aggressiveness in the box,” Johnson said. “He takes his hacks but he has plate discipline and uses the whole field.”

I imagine that it also points to some grittiness in the field -but how can middle infielders not have that trait?

I got Johnson on the phone for a few minutes after the draft yesterday while he walked to dinner (I think his goal was to eat half a cow). Here are his takes on some of the players drafted on Day 2.

On sixth rounder Chris Herrmann, who was drafted as a catcher but will play elsewhere: “He’s a hitter, a really good hitter, We took a gamble on him as a conversion guy.”

On 11th rounder Ronnie Richardson, a center fielder who just started switch hitting this year: “He can run and is a really good baseball player. He’s a Chone Figgins type. We really like his athleticism.”

On 14th rounder Matt Tone: “Our area scout identified him. He has  a pretty good fastball and a good slider from the left side. He’ll be a bullpen guy, a two-pitch pitcher.”

On 29th rounder James `Beau’ Wright, a lefty who was better as a junior than senior: “Good arm. Good curveball. He fell in the draft. We like his ceiling and upside. He got hit in the head by a line drive during the area code games.”

On 30th rounder Trayvone Johnson, a catcher: “He came out of high school and went to junior college, then he went to a small school in Texas. He came back and has been working out at Compton. Our scout there saw him. This kid has a well above average arm and is a strong kid. He can really throw. This is a straight-out scout’s pickup.”

Other notes:

• Several players drafted during Day 2: like 15th rounder Steven Liddle, 19th rounder John Stilson and 23rd rounder Eduardo Encinosa, will be followed through summer league action before the Twins decide to sign them.
• Encinosa (Miami) and Wright (Cal-Irvine) are among the players who may opt for college instead of signing with the Twins.
• Johnson said there was some tension in the draft room as they waited for their turn in the fourth round. They were worried another team would take McCallum. “He’s one of the better local players, in our minds, in awhile,” Johnson said.
• The league has pushed back the deadline to sign drafted players to Aug. 17 - because Aug. 15 falls on a Saturday.
• McCallum is represented by Joe Speed of Sterling Sports Management.

A couple posters yesterday expressed concern about the pitching-heavy draft. To that I say: Easy!

The Twins have to field two short-season teams, Last year, 40 different pitchers were used at Elizabethton and the Twins’ Gulf Coast League team. There are injuries, promotions, demotions, etc. but you’ve got draft a bunch of pitchers every year.

As far as position players, there are a few guys I can think of off the top of my head - Aaron Hicks, Tyler Ladendorf and Reggie Williams are a few - who are waiting for the short season to begin. Then there are graduates from the Latin American academy who are waiting. Plus players from Europe and Asia who are working out in Fort Myers, too. So there are prospects around.

Here’s another story about first-rounder Kyle Gibson. I hope this year was the last time he’ll hide an injury.

As for today, I’m flying to Chicago to prepare for the Twins-Cubs series. So I won’t be able to post draft updates until this evening. Feel free to track it from where you are at and discuss the picks here. Later…

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am and is filed under The minors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.