The Twins are headed into the 2026 MLB Draft on Saturday with a new voice in charge, and that alone makes this weekend worth watching. For the first time since 2017, Derek Falvey won’t be the one steering the room. That job now falls to Jeremy Zoll, who took over when Falvey parted ways with the club at the end of January.
The big question isn’t whether the Twins will draft well or poorly in one weekend. It’s whether Zoll will keep leaning into the same kinds of players Falvey’s front office favored over the last decade, or whether the first draft of the Zoll era will show a few new priorities.
Under Falvey, one pattern was easy to spot: the Twins loved premium defensive positions in the first round. Seven of their nine first-round picks were shortstops, starting pitchers, or center fielders.
The only two exceptions were Trevor Larnach and Aaron Sabato. That approach makes sense on paper, since those spots carry more defensive value and offer more flexibility if a player has to move down the spectrum later.
The results have been mixed, as they are for every team. Larnach has become a solid major-league left fielder.
Walker Jenkins still looks like one of baseball’s top prospects. Kaelen Culpepper and Marek Houston have both started their pro careers strongly and seem to have bright futures.
But Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee haven’t fully matched the expectations that come with being top-10 overall picks, Aaron Sabato still hasn’t reached the majors, and Keoni Cavaco is now in independent baseball.
That’s why the more interesting part of this draft is what it says about Zoll, not whether Falvey’s old approach was right or wrong. And this class could give the Twins a clean chance to stay on familiar ground.
The top two players on many boards are prep shortstop Grady Emerson and UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky. Another prep shortstop, Jacob Lombard, is also being linked near the top, while high school right-hander Jackson Flora is another player who could go early.
If Minnesota sticks with the same positional lean it has shown for years, the board should give them options.
The Twins also showed a pretty clear preference for certain types of hitters during the Falvey years. They often went after players with advanced hit tools and raw power, but with questions about whether they could get to that power in games or handle the strike zone consistently.
Jenkins fits that mold, as does Lee. Luke Keaschall and Houston do, too.
Those weren’t the loudest power projections in their draft classes; they were the kinds of hitters who could put the ball in play and drive line drives.
On the pitching side, the pattern was similar. Falvey’s group often bet on arms with real upside even when there was risk attached.
Riley Quick, Dasan Hill, Charlee Soto, and James Ellwanger all came with talent, but also with some combination of command issues, injury history, or rawness that would require development. The organization seemed comfortable trusting its pitching infrastructure to help those arms grow once they arrived.
Whether Zoll sees those traits the same way is the real test. Still, a total reset seems unlikely.
Sean Johnson remains in charge of scouting, and Zoll will probably lean heavily on the evaluations already in place. Front offices don’t usually rip up their entire draft philosophy just because the name at the top changes.
Even so, every executive brings his own preferences. Zoll could value power a little differently.
He might prefer pitchers with cleaner deliveries and better command over pure velocity. There are also bigger-picture draft questions to watch, including how he wants to distribute money across the top 10 rounds and how firm he’ll be with players and agents asking for huge bonuses.
That’s what makes this draft so revealing. It’s Zoll’s first real chance to leave a mark on one of the most important parts of running a baseball operation.
The foundation is already there, and the Twins’ recent drafts have produced plenty of talent, even with the misses mixed in. The most likely outcome is not a dramatic overhaul, but a few subtle shifts in emphasis.
If there are changes, they probably won’t be sweeping ones.
In Other News...
Twins Rotation Relief May Finally Be Taking Shape
The Twins rotation and bullpen picture may be starting to clear at just the right time. Bailey Ober threw a bullpen session as he works back from right elbow inflammation, while catcher Ryan Jeffers and reliever Cole Sands are both moving forward on rehab assignments with Triple-A St. Paul. Those are the kinds of updates Minnesota has been waiting for, especially with the pitching staff and lineup both trying to get healthier in the same stretch.
There was also a small roster shuffle as the club activated Woo-Suk Go and sent Cody Laweryson back to St. Paul. The bigger question now is how quickly the rest of the injured group can follow, because the Twins still have a few important names in various stages of recovery and the timing on each one could shape how they navigate the next few weeks. [Read more 🡒]
Byron Buxton Trade Buzz Is Back And Twins Fans Know Why
Byron Buxtons name keeps popping up in trade chatter anyway, which is hardly new for a player whose talent level tends to draw attention whenever the rumor mill starts spinning. The Twins have made their position clear, with general manager Jeremy Zoll saying the club is not exploring a Buxton trade and does not plan to, while Buxtons contract and service time give him meaningful control over where he goes next.
Still, the speculation has not gone away, even with Buxton publicly saying he does not intend to waive his no-trade clause. Some national lists have continued to include him among possible trade candidates, a reminder that star players with real leverage can still become part of the conversation even when the odds are long and the team insists there is nothing to see here. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Fans Just Got Another Brutal Kaelen Culpepper Delay
Kaelen Culpeppers summer has turned into stop-and-start frustration for the Twins, who have been trying to keep one of their best prospects on the field long enough to build momentum. The first-round pick has shown why the organization is so high on him at Triple-A St. Paul, but injuries have kept interrupting the progress since mid-June, leaving his season in fits and starts instead of the steady climb Minnesota hoped for.
Now Culpepper is back on the seven-day injured list, another unwelcome pause for a player the Twins would love to see finish the year healthy and pushing closer to the majors. It also fits a broader pattern in the system, where Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez have each lost time to injuries too, making every setback feel a little heavier for a club waiting on its top young talent to get rolling at the same time. [Read more 🡒]