Thursday, May 07

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- It’s a bit over two months until the 2026 MLB Draft, which starts July 11 in Philadelphia, and this year’s is a pretty big one for the Twins. They pick third overall, their highest selection since taking Royce Lewis No. 1 in 2017.

The last time before 2017 that Minnesota picked in the first three selections? Well, that yielded Byron Buxton with the No. 2 choice in ‘12. The time before that? Joe Mauer, No. 1 in ‘01.

There’s certainly no guarantee you get a star when you pick at the sharp end of the Draft, but your chances are an awful lot better. Getting it right in the first few picks can have franchise-changing implications. Which, of course, means that getting it wrong can as well.

So while the fundamental process doesn’t change, and neither does the underlying strategy -- get the best player available -- there’s a different weight with a tip-top pick.

“When you’re picking three, like we are this year, you’re trying to really focus on a core group,” said general manager Jeremy Zoll, “but you’re also trying to stay open-minded. How many names do we want to keep fitting in that mix? Because we want to keep our eyes open as much as possible. … In general, the higher you pick, the better chance you have at acquiring superstar talent, so that’s obviously an exciting opportunity for all of us.”

Conventional wisdom at this point has Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey heading to the Twins. Early May conventional wisdom on the Draft is often wrong, but Lackey is probably the top name to know right now.

MLB Pipeline ranks Lackey as the No. 3 overall prospect. He’s an athletic catcher with a big arm and a 60 hit tool on the 20-80 scale and has also played some third base. As of Wednesday, Lackey sports a .371/.491/.682 line for a ferocious Tech offense, and has even stolen nine bases in 10 tries.

Of course, Lackey isn’t the only candidate. As Zoll said, scouting director Sean Johnson and the rest of the Twins' Draft group are “trying to stay as open as possible.”

For one thing, weird things happen on Draft day, and it’s at least possible one of the current consensus top two picks -- UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky and Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson -- could fall to them. And there are other names in the picture as well, like UCSB right-hander Jackson Flora, Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron and Florida high school shortstop Jacob Lombard.

“You really have to think through it,” said Zoll. “And a lot of that really comes down to, not to discount all the work that goes into [preparing for] Draft week, but a lot of that really gets drilled down in that final week of meetings, which is only laid by such a strong foundation of work ahead of time. Until we get into that room the week before, you’re trying to keep as open of a mind as possible.”

By now you’re probably familiar with the story of Alicia Funderburk. Alicia, wife of Twins reliever Kody, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after abnormalities were detected in routine tests she underwent while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

Alicia and Kody welcomed baby girl Murphy Jo on April 20, and everyone is doing well. And on Sunday, the family celebrated a milestone: Murphy’s first big league ballgame.

Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays was Cancer Awareness Day at Target Field. The Twins donated a portion of ticket proceeds to the American Cancer Society, and celebrated survivors on the field prior to the game -- including Alicia.

With baby Murphy in her arms, Alicia received warm cheers from the Target Field crowd before taking in the ballgame -- one in which Kody got some big outs en route to the win.

“It was cool,” Kody said after the game. “Me and my wife just being at the game got to celebrate her and everyone else that’s gone through cancer and everything like that. I thought the recognition for her and Murph was really good. It was pretty cool to experience and again, like I’ve always said, the support has been awesome. Kind of just feeling that again and let her have her moment. It was pretty cool.”

The Funderburks were not expecting their story to have the resonance that it has when they went public last month.

“I’ve gotten DMs, my wife’s gotten DMs on Instagram, just people sharing their story.” Kody said. “One woman, for example, had a child and she got diagnosed with Hodgkin’s back in 2000 and now her child is 26 years old, healthy. Just hearing stuff like that, all the positive reinforcement just reassures you that everything’s going to be OK. Take care of what we need to take care of. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

As for Murphy Jo, no word on whether she enjoyed the game. Actually, for the most part, she missed it.

“I think she slept the whole time,” Kody said. “I think she missed my outing.”

The Twins come back for a lengthy homestand starting Tuesday and running through the following Wednesday, and for many of those games, you can get a special deal. For the May 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 games, fans can get four tickets for $25. For full details, visit this link.

Y’all be kind and look out for each other, OK? 

The Beths, “Knees Deep” 
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Wednesday, “Chosen To Deserve”

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