The Twins are in position to land a major prospect on Saturday, when they pick third overall in the 2026 MLB Draft at 12 p.m. CT on NBC/Peacock. It’s a chance to keep building out a farm system already led by Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and a few other notable names.
At the top of this draft, the board appears to be split into one obvious group and one possible outlier. Minnesota’s decision may come down to whether it stays with the consensus or takes the upside arm.
There’s a familiar feel to this setup. In the 2023 draft, the Twins moved up in the lottery and landed the fifth pick, where a consensus top five had separated itself from the rest of the class.
Even with some chatter about going off script for a player with a lower slot value, Minnesota simply took Jenkins when he was the last member of that group still available. So far, that choice has worked out well, even though Jenkins has not yet reached the majors.
This year, the top tier is smaller. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey, and high school shortstop Grady Emerson are the three names sitting at the front of the class.
Cholowsky was once seen as the clear favorite to go first overall, but Lackey and Emerson have surged enough that any of the three could realistically end up with the White Sox at No. 1.
If the draft breaks cleanly for Minnesota, the Twins’ easiest path is straightforward: take whichever of those three is still there after the White Sox and Rays make their picks. That would be a strong outcome no matter how it lands.
Cholowsky has hit 44 homers over the last two seasons. Lackey put together a monster year with 20 homers and a 1.291 OPS.
Emerson is regarded as the best high school player in the country and has drawn Bobby Witt Jr. comparisons.
The only real alternative at No. 3 is Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora. The case for Flora is simple enough: the Twins already have plenty of position-player talent in the system, but they don’t have a true ace-level pitching prospect, with all due respect to Dasan Hill, Charlee Soto, and Riley Quick.
Flora turned 21 in May and just finished a junior season that looked like a showcase for dominance. He went 12-0 with a 1.06 ERA and a 0.853 WHIP over 102 innings.
In 16 starts, he struck out 133, walked 32, and gave up only three home runs. Two of those outings were complete-game shutouts.
At 6-foot-5, he brings a fastball that reaches triple digits, two breaking balls, and a hard changeup. He’s the clear top pitching prospect in the class and has ace upside.
Still, the logic here is pretty clear: Flora should only be the pick if the Twins truly believe he’s better than whichever of the top three position players is left on the board. In MLB, drafting for need is the wrong way to do business. Talent has to drive the choice.
Maybe Minnesota does see Flora that way. But the safer, and probably smarter, play is to stay inside the consensus top tier and avoid getting too creative.
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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 🡒]