This year's class of July 2 international free agents (IFAs) came into fair play over the weekend, and the Twins' first move was to sign 16-year-old Dominican right-hander Miguel Gonzalez for a bonus of $650,000. Gonzalez isn't a Miguel Sano ceiling type of player; he's unlikely to immediately vault to the top of the Twins' prospect charts, but he's a projectable young right-hander who already shows good velocity and plus command of his fastball, despite the fact that he'd barely be legal to drive in our country. More about Gonzalez and another potential Twins target after the jump.

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Levi Michael
Pos:  SS
School:  North Carolina
Born:  February 9, 1991
Height:  5' 10"
Bats:  Switch
Throws:  Right

In general, I get that Michael is a very polished player who is close to who he can be, and should be ready relatively quickly. It's good to see the Twins buck their trend towards prep position players to address an area of definitive need.

Some scouts seem to doubt that he has the range to play shortstop, but has decent hands and a good arm which leads them to believe he'd be a more than adequate defender at second base.

Whatever the case, Michael seems to be a fundamentally-sound player with good intangibles (I'm assuming things like attitude, work ethic, the magical winning makeup, etc), and the pick has met with nothing but approval from everything I've seen.

Videos, scouting reports and numbers after the jump. 

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6:02 CST UPDATE: More Potential Twins Picks

Hey Twins Territory, Steve Adams here. We're almost to the start of the Draft, and as of this morning there have been three more names added to the mix since my post by some of the industry's experts, so let's take a look at pitchers Grayson Garvin, Andrew Chafin, and Kyle Winkler:

Grayson Garvin, LHP, Vanderbilt

ESPN's Keith Law predicted in his final mock draft this morning that the Twins would select this 6'6", 220-pound left hander at #30 overall. Garvin has taken a step forward this year with his velocity, upping it from the 87-91mph range to the 90-94mph range. Baseball America has his velocity occasionally touching 95mph. Garvin's second-best offering is a change-up that BA calls "solid-average" and Law says will develop to be average as well. Garvin is ranked 47th and 56th by Law and BA, respectively, but is considered to be a safe pick whose upside is a #3 starter. He's exhibited fantastic command, a must-have for Twins pitchers, and also features a slurve-type of slider that will require more work to generate swings and misses.

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A couple of weeks ago I went through the foundations of the Minnesota Twins' 40-man roster. Be sure to click through to see what I found, but to summarize: the Twins like collegiate pitchers, prep position players, and of the 22 players who were Minnesota draft picks on the roster at that time, 13 were selections from the first three rounds.

To see where you're going it often helps to look at where you've come from. Here's how the Twins have drafted from 2008 and 2010.

* All draft info courtesy of BaseballReference.com
* Bref's inconsistency in logging players as RF/CF/LF or OF led to grouping all outfielders in one category

I don't think it comes as a surprise that the Twins drafted, by far, more right-handed pitchers than any other position. Nearly 40% of all Twins draft selections over the last three years have been focused here, which makes it easy to understand why the strength of this franchise has been pitching for so long.

This chart also shows what a crap shoot the Twins are playing as far as the development of position players. Outfielders as a whole are represented in fairly strong fashion (17% of all draft picks), and there was certainly some focus on the infield in 2010 when the Twins used 7 of their 50 picks on shortstops (14%), but considering the flame out rate of prospects in general and Minnesota's strong propensity for pitching you have to think the Twins front office understands that this is a tradeoff. A gamble that pits potential weakness in the infield for potential strength on the hill.

After the jump we'll examine the last three drafts individually.

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We're less than one week from the MLB draft, in which the Twins will have the 30th overall selection. At a time in which focusing on the current on-field product leads to dents in your walls, bruised knuckles, and fistfuls of hair yanked from your scalp, perhaps this is a good time to take a look at some of the names that have been linked to the Twins thus far.

The draft is an impossible beast to predict; the intricacy that goes into each team's selection, the limitless numbers of contingency plans each team possesses, and the butterfly effects that trickle down from a single team drafting an unexpected player make it entertaining. Experts such as ESPN's Keith Law, Baseball America's Jim Callis, and many more have tried to nail down the early selections of each team, but with an especially deep draft in 2011, it's all but a guarantee that we'll see some surprises.

Still, it can't hurt to brush up on some names that the Twins have likely been studying as the draft approaches. Potential targets and a draft poll after the jump.

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Second Round Pick

Niko Goodrum, SS/OF

• Birthdate: 2/28/92
• Height: 6'3"
• Weight: 175 lbs.
• Bats: Both
• Throws: Right

Check out his video here, as well as the following scouting report:

Hitting ability: Goodrum is a switch-hitter but hasn't always made consistent enough contact hitting both ways.

Power: There's some raw power with the chance to be average from both sides of the plate, but the question is, will he be able to get to it?

Running speed: He has above-average speed.

Base running: He's the type who could be a threat on the bases.

Arm strength: Has an above-average arm that works okay at shortstop now and would be just fine in center field.

Fielding: Most foresee a move from shortstop to the outfield at the next level.

Range: He should have more than enough range in the outfield.

Physical Description: Goodrum has a streamlined, athletic body, kind of like Dexter Fowler.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: Raw athleticsm and tools; above-average speed.

Weaknesses: Everything is raw and needs development, particularly with the bat.

Summary: Goodrum fits the mold of the high-risk, high-reward toolsy high school athlete. He's got plenty of speed and some raw power from both sides of the plate, but his swing and approach will need work so he can tap into that power. Currently a shortstop, most foresee a move to the outfield, where he could put his speed and above-average arm to good use in center field. The big question is whether he'll be able to hit enough at the next level. The team that thinks he will is the one that will take a chance on his high ceiling.

Round 3:  Pat Dean, LHP

• Born:  May 25, 1989
• Height:  6-2
• Boston College

Round 4:  Eddie Rosario, RF

• Bats/Throws:  L/R
• Born:  September 28, 1991
• Height:  6-0
• Weight:  170 lbs
• Rafael Lopez Landron HS

Round 5:  Nathaniel Roberts, CF

• Bats/Throws:  L/R
• Born:  February 25, 1989
• Height:  6-1
• Weight:  200 lbs
• High Point University

Round 6:  Logan Darnell, LHP

• Born:  February 2, 1989
• Height:  6-2
• Weight:  210 lbs
• Kentucky

Round 7:  Matthew Hauser, RHP

• March 30, 1988
• 6-2
• University of San Diego

Round 8:  Lance Ray, RF

• Bats/Throws:  L/R
• Born:  September 2, 1989
• Height:  6-1
• Weight:  194 lbs
• U Kentucky

Round 9:  Kyle Knudson, C

• Bats/Throws:  R/R
• Born:  September 12, 1987
• Height:  6-3
• Weight:  210 lbs
• Minnesota

Round 10:  JaDaimon Williams, SS

• Bats/Throws:  S/R
• Born:  September 20, 1990
• Height:  5-11
• Weight:  183 lbs
• Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate HS

Alex Wimmers
Pos:  RHP
School:  THE Ohio State University
Born:  November 1, 1988
Height:  6' 2"
Weight:  195 lbs
Bats:  Left
Throws:  Right

Click here for the video scouting report on Wimmers.

From the same page, his scouting report:

Fastball: Wimmers wasn't quite as strong (understandable in his first start of the year) as he's been in the past, throwing his fastball 88-91 mph.

Fastball movement: He has good movement on his two-seamer.

Curve: He threw his curve 71-73 mph. It wasn't as sharp as it's been in the past, but should be at least an average pitch.

Changeup: He threw a solid-average changeup throughout his start.

Control: He's a strike-thrower. His command was solid-average and should get even sharper as the year goes on.

Poise: He has plus poise and mound presence.

Physical Description: Wimmers has a solid frame that reminds some of Scott Williamson.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: Good three-pitch mix, solid command and excellent presence on the mound. He should move quickly to the big leagues.

Weaknesses: His stuff isn't overwhelming in terms of how each pitch grades out; not a high-ceiling kind of guy.

Summary: Wimmers is setting himself up to be one of the safer college arm picks in the 2010 Draft. He has three pitches he can throw for strikes and he shows tremendous poise on the mound as Ohio State's Friday starter. While his raw stuff won't jump out at you and he might profile as a middle- to back-of-the-rotation pitcher, he's also the type whose sum is greater than each of his parts. Wimmers should shoot through the Minors and could be big league-ready by 2012, meaning he probably will not last very long on the first day of the Draft.

At different points of mock drafts, both Keith Law and Jim Calis picked the Twins to select Wimmers.

Here's Dave Coleman of SB Nation's Crawfish Boxes:

Summary

If Tanner Bushue had gone to college, he might have ended up like Alex Wimmers. If you scroll down after the jump, you'll see a video of why Wimmers' curve ball is so highly regarded. That's a sick pitch. The question is whether he has anything else to offer with his one breaking pitch. 

Scouts and pundits have leapt to the Mike Leake comparisons, because they think Wimmers will be ready quickly. As in next year quickly. But, as Keith Law points out, they're different players. Wimmers probably has a higher floor but a lower ceiling. If Wimmers were a lefty, he'd be drafted in the Top 10. That's how his stuff profiles, as a command guy without overpowering stuff. I can name plenty of lefties with that description (Wandy, Jamie Moyer, etc.), but few right-handers fit that bill. The radar guns are clocking his fastball at 88-91 now, when he's pitching once a week instead of every five days. That's why the fastball is his biggest liability. He can't afford to lose much more velocity and be successful in the majors.

There's also the matter of where he went to college. While it would matter that he went to Ohio State in most sports, baseball is not one of them. The Big 10 was a veritable wasteland of baseball talent, for whatever reason (I'd blame the cold weather). Wimmers dominated this season, but he did it against mediocre competition. It leaves us hard-pressed to project him based on that.

Floor

As I said, his floor is pretty high. He's already got two pitches which are close to big-league ready in his curve and his changeup. Once he gets used to pitching on a five-day schedule, he's a good candidate for the back end of a rotation. The problem is he's not got much more potential that that, if his fastball doesn't improve. Without a fastball to keep hiters honest, they'll sit on the curve and won't chase the change. Worst case for Wimmers is that he washes out as a starter due to his fastball problems and ends up as a reliever, but not as a closer/setup man. As Brian Moehler.

Ceiling

Unless he can magically add 5 MPH to his fastball, I don't see him making a run at the top side of a big-league rotation. That leaves his ceiling as a No. 4 starter, which is nice. It could certainly help a pitching-starved team like Cincinnati or Arizona. It won't, however, help a deeper team. Plus, Wimmers would need a Wandy Rodriguez-type season to be an ace, and we have seen how the followup to those performances go. So, No. 4 starter it is.

From Wimmers' page at The Baseball Cube:

Control:  24
K Rating:  99
Efficiency:  75
VS Power:  44

• ravensfan3 has a scouting report over in the FanPosts section.  Check it out.
• Red Reporter (SB Nation site for the Reds) has their own scouting report.
• From Project Prospect:  Alex Wimmers from The Ohio State University has smooth mechanics and a big curveball that helped dominate big 10 action this spring, with another strong season he should garner lots of first round attention
• Wimmer's biography from the Buckeye's website.
• ESPN's Jason Churchill:  Plus curve, plus change, above-average command. Have to like Wimmers here, and he's Minnesota's kind of pitcher -- he throws a lot of strikes.

Following Picks #1 - #20

1. Washington Nationals:  Bryce Harper, OF, High School
   
2. Pittsburgh Pirates:  Jameson Taillon, RHP, High School
   
3. Baltimore Orioles:  Manny Machado, SS, High School
   
4. Kansas City Royals:  Christian Colon, SS, College
   
5. Cleveland Indians:  Drew Pomeranz, LHP, College
   
6. Arizona Diaondbacks:  Barret Loux, RHP, College
   
7. New York Mets:  Matt Harvey, RHP, College
   
8. Houston Astros:  Delino Deshields Jr, CF, High School
   
9. San Diego Padres:  Karsten Whitson, RHP, High School
   
10. Oakland Athletics:  Michael Choice, CF, College
11. Toronto Blue Jays:  Deck McGuire, RHP, College
    
12. Cincinnati Reds:  Yasmani Grandal, C, College
    
13. Chicago White Sox:  Chris Sale, LHP, College
    
14. Milwaukee Brewers:  Dylan Covey, RHP, High School
    
15. Texas Rangers:  Jake Skole, CF, High School
    
16. Chicago Cubs:  Hayden Simpson, RHP, College
    
17. Tampa Bay Rays:  Josh Sale, RF, High School
    
18. Los Angeles Angels:  Kaleb Cowart, RHP, High School
    
19. Houston Astros:  Mike Foltynewicz, RHP, High School
    
20. Boston Red Sox:  Kolbrin Vitek, 2B, College
    
21. Minnesota Twins:  Alex Wimmers, RHP, College
    

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