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The Twins are going to add a big-time prospect to their system on Saturday, when they select third overall in the 2026 MLB Draft (12 p.m.
CT on NBC/Peacock).
It's a great opportunity to bring in another young, talented piece to supplement a prospect group headlined by Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and a few others.
There are basically two approaches the Twins could take and four total players who could theoretically end up as Minnesota's pick, barring any unforeseen shenanigans.
Path 1: Follow the consensus top three This draft could set up much like the 2023 draft did for the Twins, when they moved up in the lottery and had the fifth pick.
That year, there was a consensus group of five prospects that were viewed as being in their own tier.
Despite some talk of the Twins going outside of the quintet to perhaps land a player at a lower slot value, they simply took Jenkins when he was the last of the five available.
That decision has worked out pretty well so far, even if Jenkins hasn't yet made his MLB debut.
This year, there are three players viewed as being in the top tier: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, and high school shortstop Grady Emerson.
Cholowsky was once viewed as the clear-cut top pick, but the other two have been so good this year that any of three could conceivably go No.
1 to the White Sox.
The simple move for the Twins is to take whichever of Cholowsky, Lackey, or Emerson are still on the board after the White Sox and Rays make their selection.
And it would be hard to be disappointed with that outcome.
Cholowsky hit 44 homers over the past two seasons.
Lackey crushed 20 this year and had a truly absurd 1.291 OPS.
Emerson is the best high school player in the country and has drawn some comparisons to Bobby Witt Jr.
Path 2: Go with the upside pitcher If the Twins are going to deviate from the top three, there's only one other prospect who you can make a reasonable case for at No.
3: Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora.
The logic behind taking Flora would be that the Twins have plenty of position-player talent in their farm system but no true ace-level pitching prospect (with all due respect to Dasan Hill, Charlee Soto, and Riley Quick).
Flora, who turned 21 in May, is coming off a junior season in which he went 12-0 with a 1.06 ERA and 0.853 WHIP across 102 innings.
He struck out 133 batters, walked 32, and allowed only three home runs in his 16 starts, two of which were complete-game shutouts.
He's a 6'5" righty with a fastball that touches triple digits, two different breaking balls, and a hard changeup.
Flora is the clear-cut top pitching prospect in this draft class and has ace upside.
Ultimately, the Twins should only take Flora if they believe he's a better prospect than whichever of the top three position players doesn't go in the first two picks.
Drafting for organizational need is bad process in MLB.
It should always be about talent.
Maybe the Twins do believe in Flora to that extent.
But the more likely and perhaps better approach is to not get cute by straying outside of the consensus top tier.
Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams.
He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period.
Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism.
During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nations Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year.
In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrateds newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.
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