Those Twins Draft Picks

We will be hearing a lot of angst about the Twins' first choice of Byron Buxton, a high school outfielder, in the Twins blogsphere for the next four or five years. There will no doubt be one or more college pitchers who will be contributing at the major league level while Buxton develops. It could well be 2020 before Buxton establishes himself as a major leaguer.

The Twins later choices are the kinds of players you expect at that point. Both look to have the stuff to be solid bullpen arms with some potential to develop into starters. Luke Bard, the college pitcher, is a fastball/slider guy who could move through the system like Jesse Crain. Orlando Berrios is a high school pitcher reported to have a good fastball and solid curve.  He is a small right hander, which generally models as a bullpen pitcher, but he apparently has a changeup that could develop into a third pitch as a starter.

The difference between these last two picks and the next few picks tomorrow are pretty marginal. Most of them will not contribute much, if anything, at the major league level. But with several picks, the Twins will hope to get lucky on at least one them. After Buxton, its really a numbers game. You take a lot of guys and hope you find a Morneau, Radke or Blackburn in the mix.