Minnesota Twins 2018 mock draft roundup

The 2018 Major League Baseball draft begins Monday, June 4 and 40 rounds later will end Wednesday, June 6.

We're just concerned with the first round, however.



After winning 85 games making the playoffs in 2017 as a wild-card team, the Minnesota Twins will have the No. 20 overall selection in each round.

Unless you are a big expert on college and/or high school baseball, it can be hard knowing exactly who is who in MLB's draft and which players might fall where.

Well, we're here to help. At least in the opening round. We've scoured the internet for mock drafts and present our findings below for who the prognosticators predict the Twins will select in the first round. We've also including their summary/reasoning (when given) to help give a little background on the player.

With the draft closing in, here's a look at mock draft picks for Minnesota from analysts around the web:

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com: Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida. "McClanahan was once thought to be a top-10 caliber pick, with command issues impacting him a bit, though he still is a left-hander who can throw 100-mph heat. The Twins also might have interest in some high school bats still on the board, like Schnell, SoCal shortstop Brice Turang or Canadian catcher Noah Naylor."

Jim Callis of MLB.com: Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida. "The Twins also are monitoring a number of high school shortstops such as Edwards, Jeremiah Jackson (Alabama) and Osiris Johnson (California) -- but apparently not the more expensive Brice Turang (California)."

Andrew Lawrence of The Sporting News: Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama. "Once considered a lock to be a top-10 pick, a down junior season has caused Swaggerty to slide on many draft boards. Though he may not go in the first half of the first round, whoever he does fall to will be getting one heck of a player. Swaggerty combines top-end speed with raw power, meaning he’ll likely be able to stay in center field as a professional.  If the Twins get him at No. 20, they’ll be gaining a true center fielder and leadoff hitter for years to come."

Brian Sakowski of Perfect Game: Brice Turang, SS, Santiago (Calif.) HS. "The Twins have been tied to Florida righthander Jackson Kowar but that may be too risky of a proposition at this point. Turang is a very athletic, polished shortstop prospect with a feel to hit and developing power, and could be a steal this low on the board."

Richard Morin of azcentral.com: Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto (Tenn.) HS. "He should be in play for a number of picks before this, but Weathers likely won’t fall past the Twins if he gets here. The Vanderbilt commit draws doubts from some talent evaluators because he lacks one standout pitch, but Weathers does everything pretty well. This makes sense for the Twins."

Jeff Ellis of Scout.com: Xavier Edwards, SS, North Broward (Fla.) HS. "Edwards is interesting, as I don’t hear him linked to anyone, but it seems that every team likes him. He comes up in a lot of conversations and is in play from the late teens on. The Twins front office is made up of former Indians and Rangers front office members. As I repeated ad nausea a year ago, this means look for up the middle athletes. In the end, they did just that with Royce Lewis and Edwards, who plays short and second, is one of the fastest players in the entire draft. His lack of size, measuring at 5’10”, is why, even though the profile is similar to Turang, he should go after him."

Ryan Phillips of The Big Lead: Ryan Rolison, LHP, Ole Miss. "The Minnesota Twinsare looking at prep infielders and college arms, and Ryan Rolison provides the most value at this spot. Rolison is known for his power curveball, but can also hit 95 with his fastball. He also has a decent slider and a solid changeup already. A polished lefty with a four-pitch mix rarely lasts long on draft night."

MyMLBDraft.com: Cole Winn, RHP, Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS.

Mike Axisa of CBSSports.com: Ryan Weathers, LHP, Loretto (Tenn.) HS: "Since 2012, the Twins have used seven of their nine first round and supplemental first round picks on high school players, and in our hypothetical draft Minnesota will have their pick of second tier prep arms here. Weathers is the son of longtime big leaguer David Weathers, and he pitches like you'd expect the son of a big leaguer to pitch. He's very polished and he knows how to set hitters up. Weathers has pretty good stuff too, including low-90s gas and a big breaking curveball. Given the draft class, a pitcher seems more likely than a hitter here."

Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs: Brice Turang, SS, Santiago (Calif.) HS. "The Twins have been tied to all kinds of different players, with a big contingent in to see Rocker’s last regular-season start a few weeks back and some heat to see Weathers last week. Turang’s combination of tools and track record fits with the Twins’ strategy."

Nick Snider of Draft Site: Jonathan India, 3B, Florida.