The Minnesota Twins are trying to cultivate their talent in the minor leagues and they should be able to add another blue-chip prospect in next month’s MLB Draft. High school shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey are two players the Twins could consider with the third overall pick but the most intriguing may be UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
With the shortstop possibly sliding to the third pick, the Twins have the chance to come away with the steal of the draft, but some alarms may go up based on a report by The Athletic’s Sam Blum, who says the Twins did not meet with him at the MLB Combine.
“I don’t know,” Cholowsky told Blum when asked why the Twins didn’t meet with him. “I stay out of those talks. I just do whatever’s on my schedule. I don’t make those calls.”
Cholowsky’s comments could cause concerns among Twins fans – especially since the San Francisco Giants, who own the fourth overall pick, met with him along with the Chicago White Sox (No. 1 overall) and Tampa Bay Rays (No. 2). But there may be more to the Twins’ decision and it likely won’t see Minnesota passing on one of the top players in the draft.
Twins probably won’t have the chance to draft Roch Cholowsky
The Twins should be interested in Cholowsky, but his value has taken a hit since last season. After hitting .353/.480/.710 with 23 homers, 74 RBI and seven stolen bases in 2025, his numbers slightly dipped, hitting .320/.452/.636 with 21 homers, 60 RBI and a stolen base with the Bruins last season. UCLA was also knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Los Angeles regional, depriving Cholowsky of the chance to introduce himself at the same time most fans are diving into the draft class.
There’s also the issue of money. The MLB’s draft rules benefit players for taking a player “below slot” to save money from the rest of their draft pool to sign the rest of their draft class. This could lead the White Sox and Rays to choose Emerson or Lackey with the No. 1 overall pick and have Cholowsky slide to third.
This is a similar situation to the Twins in the 2023 draft when there was a group of five talented prospects on the board. While Paul Skenes, Dylan Crewes, Wyatt Langford and Max Clark were off the board, the Twins were connected to shortstop Jacob Gonzalez by The Athletic’s Keith Law before taking Walker Jenkins as expected.
But the biggest reason the Twins didn’t meet with Cholowsky was because they may not expect him to fall. Despite his 2026 season, Baseball America has dubbed him the best college shortstop prospect in a decade next to Dansby Swanson and Alex Bregman entering MLB in 2015. With both Chicago and Tampa meeting with him, it’s likely one of those teams would take Cholowsky, making a meeting at the combine seem moot.
Twins fans will still hold their breath if Cholowsky does drop to No. 3. But they also shouldn’t worry because the decision may not be theirs to make.
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