Twins know there'll be a top prospect waiting for them at No. 3

MINNEAPOLIS – In one sense, the Twins find themselves in the best possible spot in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft. Conventional wisdom holds that the top tier of this Draft class consists of three players, and the Twins pick third overall.

So, just sit and wait, and take who falls to you, right? Twins scouting director Sean Johnson knows it’s never that simple, and so the club is gaming out every scenario to be prepared for when the team’s pick comes early Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve heard a lot of that too,” Johnson said. “Like, this is the easiest pick in the Draft. I’ve told people internally, I haven’t woke up one day going, ‘Man, we just got it easy this year. This is a piece of cake.’ It’s never crossed my mind.

“Part of that is, obviously, we are intrigued by the players that are perceived as the best three in this draft. We also like a couple of guys behind that. We’re just trying to battle test how we feel about all those players in our conversation, the pros and cons of each one, and what would we do if this scenario happens. Unless you pick one, you can’t really control what happens.”

The general consensus is that the three top players in this class are all hitters: UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, Texas high school shortstop Grady Emerson and Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey. Cholowsky was the top prospect by acclamation before the season even started, and he put up big numbers for the Bruins this year, but they were ever so slightly less dazzling than his 2025 stats. And while the shine has scarcely diminished on Cholowsky, he’s been passed at the top of the class.

That’s less because of his performance and more because Emerson has wowed scouts all spring. Drawing comparisons to Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr., Emerson has taken the No. 1 spot in MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 with his plus tools across the board. And then there’s Lackey, who put up sensational numbers for a steamrolling Yellow Jackets offense this year to race up Draft boards.

They’re three very different players, providing three different potential paths to the Majors. Cholowsky is seemingly the closest to being big league ready, while Emerson might have the highest ceiling. As for Lackey, the value of a catcher who can be an impact hitter is off the charts and he’s performed at a high level in one of college baseball’s best conferences, but catchers’ development curves are often unpredictable.

“You can get in the room and start thinking about this player is closer to helping us than the other players are, [but] you just never want to draft for need,” Johnson said. “Vahn Lackey, it’s like, ‘We might not have Ryan Jeffers after this season. We’re going to need a catcher.’ It’s very dangerous. Our guys have been in the room for over 30 years. We tell those stories of reaching for a player because we need more depth in that [area]. You just need more depth everywhere. You always have to get back to taking the best player on the board.”

• Day 1 picks: 3, 43, 74, 79, 107
• Bonus pool allotment: $16,929,600
• Last year’s top pick: Marek Houston, SS, pick 16. The scouting report on Houston when he was drafted out of Wake Forest was pretty straightforward: big time defender, questions about the bat. So far, he’s answered those questions about as well as could be expected. Houston, 22, raked to start the year at High-A Cedar Rapids, earning him a promotion to Double-A Wichita. He’s found the going a little tougher at the higher level but is still getting on base and currently ranks as the team’s No. 7 prospect.
• Breakout 2025 pick: Ryan Sprock, C/IF/OF, pick 239 ... Sprock was an OBP machine at Elon University, playing mostly third base, and he’s kept that up in pro ball. He was recently named Florida State League Player of the Month for June, putting up big offensive numbers while splitting time between catcher, third base and occasionally the outfield. Sprock also pitched in college, so the idea of putting his arm behind the plate is an intriguing one.

The Twins pick at the sharp end of the Draft, the place where franchise-changing players are taken. Among the current big leaguers who went third overall are Marlins All-Star righty Max Meyer, Rangers lefty MacKenzie Gore, Yankees star Carlos Rodón and Padres slugger Manny Machado, as well as Top 100 prospects Charlie Condon and Max Clark.

“Every Draft is important,” Johnson said. “Obviously, picking this high is very important. We've done a ton of work on the background because we know, outside of the talent, bringing someone who's going to be a good citizen here and be in the Twin Cities, and represent us the right way, we want to make sure that's the case. That's another separator when you're picking from the talent level we are.”

If you’re looking for a wild card other than the consensus top three, there are a couple of other names to know. Right-hander Jackson Flora, rated fourth in the Pipeline Top 250, is the latest pitcher to emerge out of UC Santa Barbara and is widely acknowledged as the top arm in the class. Florida high school shortstop Jacob Lombard has also garnered top-5 mention in some mock drafts.