Twins picked the right year to not have a high pick in the MLB Draft

Last year the Minnesota Twins were blessed with a stroke of luck from the baseball gods that fans aren't used to experiencing.

To be totally technical, it was luck that no fan base had ever had before. MLB added a new draft lottery system last season thanks to a new CBA. Just like how NBA and NHL do it, baseball now weights odds for the worst teams in the league and assigns draft picks through a drawing rather than basing it solely on records.

Right out of the gate this benefited the Twins.

Minnesota moved up from the No. 13 pick to No. 5 overall, something that helped the Twins land Walker Jenkins. He quickly became a Top 10 prospect in all of baseball and was paired at the top of the farm system with 2022 first round pick Brooks Lee.

That same luck wasn't experienced this year, but by all accounts the Twins picked the right year to move up in the order.

MLB Draft is expected to be 'weaker' than any class in a decade

The draft class last season was absolutely loaded, but not by accident. A global pandemic gummed up the pipeline, with a slew of top high school players opting to go to college rather than go pro without proper evaluation.

All of that led to what was essentially a double draft last year, where the college talent was outrageous and also combined with a stellar high school crop. That's not the case this year though, and it's more than just the shadow of how great the class was last season putting a damper on things.

Baseball America's Carlos Collazo mentioned that the talent cliff from last year's class to the one this year is rather significant.

Evaluators regard this year’s class as below-average and one of the weaker drafts of the past decade. The biggest reason for that is a down group of top-end high school players," Collazo wrote.

That's not to say there isn't any top talent in this year's class. Prospects like Travis Bazzana, Charlie Condon, and Chase Burns lead an elite tier, with Jac Caglianone drawing comparrisons to Bryce Harper.

It's the sharp dropoff after the top-heavy talent that is causing concern.

Minnesota had no control over where it bounced in the draft lottery last season, but the discourse about how much less talented this year's class is should make fans feel even better about how last year went. The Twins were in the lottery after missing the postseason in 2022, something that didn't happen in 2023.

Winning is always the main goal, but the Twins picked the right year to stink it up and be in a position to move up the draft lottery considering how great the class last year was. The young talent Minnesota has pieced together in its farm system over the years is finally starting to pay off, with guys like Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, Edouard Julien, and Matt Wallner all making varying degrees of impact.

Polishing that off with Walker Jenkins as the last man in before the Twins started winning again is the perfect cherry on top.

It's always good to load up on talent, but the Twins already have plenty of that. If there was a year to miss out on jumping up the draft order, it was this one and Minnesota should feel even luckier for how things went this time last year.

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