Twins bet big on a catcher who just mashes

The Twins came away from the second round with one of the more polarizing bats in the entire draft class. Carson Tinney, a Texas Longhorns catcher who spent this spring doing serious damage in the box, signed with Minnesota for $1,897,500, a bonus that actually came in under his slot value of $2,333,200 at pick 43.

Jim Callis

@jimcallisMLB

2nd-rder Carson Tinney signs w/@Twins for $1,897,500 (slot 43 value = $2,333,200). @TexasBaseball C, some of best raw power in @MLBDraft, slashed .326/.483/.688 with 22 HR this spring, plus arm strength as well.

The numbers Callis cited aren't hype. Tinney slashed.326/.483/.688 with 22 home runs this spring, and he backed that OBP up by leading the SEC with 55 walks. Add in exit velocities that reportedly touched 115 mph and it's easy to see why evaluators kept using the word "elite" for his power despite him coming off a midweek transfer role.

There's a real book on Tinney beyond the power, though. He whiffed at a nearly 31% clip and racked up 66 strikeouts in 2026, the classic power-over-hit profile that makes scouts nervous about how it translates against better velocity and spin in pro ball. The bonus coming in under slot suggests the Twins liked the tools enough to not have to fight hard for a deal.

What tips this from "boom-or-bust bat" to "legit prospect" is the glove. Tinney was tabbed a Rawlings Gold Glover as the top defensive catcher in college baseball, throwing out runners with a plus arm and posting a.992 fielding percentage. A catcher who can actually catch and still put up a.688 slugging mark doesn't come around often, which is why Texas fans have been buzzing about him since he arrived from Notre Dame.

He also left his mark on Longhorns history — Tinney is now the highest-drafted catcher out of Texas since Brian Johnson went 32nd overall back in 1988, a nearly four-decade gap that says plenty about how rare his combination of power and defense really is.

For the Twins, this is a classic "bet on the ceiling" pick. If the hit tool ever catches up to the power and the glove, Minnesota just landed a middle-of-the-order catcher on the cheap. If it doesn't, they've still got a defensive-minded backstop with 70-grade pop off the bench. Either way, the strikeouts will be the thing to track as he heads into pro ball.