The Twins are sitting at No. 3 in the 2026 MLB Draft, and that spot puts them right in the middle of a four-player tier that looks separated from the rest of the board. The draft begins July 11 at 12:00 p.m.
CDT in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Round 1 will be shown on NBC and Peacock. The rest of the draft will air on MLB Network and stream on MLB.com and Peacock.
If Minnesota stays at No. 3, the decision may come down to which member of that group is still on the board. Here’s how the top options stack up.
Roch Cholowsky, the shortstop from UCLA, sits at the top of the list. For a while, it looked like he was headed to the Chicago White Sox with the No. 1 pick, but the latest buzz says he might slide to the Twins.
If he does, Minnesota would have a real prize on its hands. MLB Pipeline has Cholowsky as the No. 1 draft prospect, and the production backs it up: a .329/.448/.624 line, 52 home runs and 167 RBI in 178 games over three college seasons.
He brings more than the bat, too, with plus defense and a decent arm.
Vahn Lackey of Georgia Tech is the name that shows up most often in mock drafts for Minnesota. The catcher put together a huge season, batting .397/.519/.772 with a 170 wRC+ and 20 home runs.
Still, there’s a chance he’s gone before the Twins pick, with some speculation that the White Sox or Tampa Bay Rays could jump him. Lackey is athletic behind the plate and has a strong, accurate arm.
And with Ryan Jeffers set to be a free agent after this season, he fits the idea of a catcher who could anchor the position long term.
Grady Emerson, a shortstop from Fort Worth Christian HS in Texas, is the wild-card upside play. High school hitters are harder to project than college bats, but Emerson may have the highest ceiling in the class.
In 28 games during his final high school season, he hit .532/.648/1.013 with seven home runs, 50 RBI and 31 stolen bases. MLB Pipeline describes him as a strong defender and a "lock" to remain at shortstop.
Jackson Flora of UC Santa Barbara rounds out the group. He’s not in the same spotlight as the other three, but he remains a possible fit if the Twins decide they want pitching.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander works with a fastball in the 96-97 mph range that often touches triple digits, "with good shape, carry and armside ride," according to MLB Pipeline. He pairs that with a 78-81 mph sweeper with plenty of horizontal depth, an 86-89 mph gyro-like slider and a hard changeup with "downer splitter depth."
Flora also put up a 1.06 ERA last season, along with a 33.3% strikeout rate, 8.0% walk rate and .153 opponent batting average in 102 innings.
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