Minnesota Twins: Hunter Greene, the LeBron James of the MLB Draft
By Carl Vagle
Hunter Greene isn’t your average draft prospect, he is heads and shoulders above everyone else. And he may just be the LeBron James of Major League Baseball.
When teams begin to look at potential draft picks in the MLB first year player draft they need to consider several things. If the player is sign-able, how much potential they have, and how long until they would get to the big leagues. The Minnesota Twins hold the number one pick, and will be the first to make that decision this year.
Hunter Greene has the highest ceiling of any player in the draft and could skyrocket through the minor leagues. A player’s sign-ability is always a major question as teams are given a certain amount of money to spend on their draft picks. When a prospect like Hunter Greene comes along you give him as much money as he wants.
The Twins can focus their allotted draft pool money on Greene by drafting college players with their other picks. College players tend to take less to sign than a high school player with a college scholarship. This would allow the Twins to spend more money on ensuring Greene is the next Twins top prospect.
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Greene could be the bonafide ace the Twins have missed for 10 years.
The comparison to LeBron James comes from the fact that at 17 years old Greene can throw a baseball at 102 MPH, he can launch a ball out of the park and he is able to cover shortstop like a major leaguer. Something very rare to see from a high school athlete.
When LeBron James was in high school he completely dominated the game, that is what Greene does now. Scouts and GMs traveled from all over just to see LeBron, same with Hunter Greene.
In regards to Hunter Greene’s power, Lee Jenkins said:
"At 17, Greene has sent balls out of Petco Park in San Diego and Wrigley Field in Chicago, which is not to imply that he simply deposited them over the fence with a souped-up metal bat. No, he put them out of the stadium completely, with nothing but muscle and wood."
Greene could be the bonafide ace that the Twins have missed since Johan Santana was traded to the Mets in 2008. Ervin Santana has been great on the mound to start the year but he doesn’t throw in the upper-90s or get the strikeouts like Johan.
Bryce Harper laid the framework for what Hunter Greene could do.
Hunter Greene is also a prospect with similar hype to Bryce Harper. Harper tagged up from second base on sacrifice flies and scored. He mashed the ball and had a cannon for an arm. Harper also graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school athlete.
Bryce Harper is now dominating National League pitching. He is a four-time All Star while also winning the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year Award and 2015 NL MVP. If Greene can be an All Star four of his first five years in the majors it would be a huge success.
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Hunter Greene could be the next great pitcher in the major leagues. Because of his potential, if you give him three to four years in the minors to develop, you will be looking at the next Cy Young Award winning pitcher.