SAN FRANCISCO — He’s been in the majors for only about a week and already Brooks Lee is demonstrating many of the savant-like qualities that made the Minnesota Twins feel like they’d won the lottery when he fell to them at the No. 8 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Late in Monday’s extra-innings victory in Chicago, Lee made a brilliant split-second decision that didn’t surprise Twins assistant scouting director Tim O’Neil, but it certainly left him feeling fortunate. As the speedy Luis Robert Jr. flew toward first base, Lee bore down on a routine groundball to the left of the pitcher’s mound. But the instant he realized Carlos Correa had a better angle and easier play, Lee deferred to the All-Star shortstop, whose throw beat Robert by a step for a critical out.
Some scouts believe Lee has demonstrated that type of feel as far back as high school.
Not O’Neil.
During Lee’s senior season at San Luis Obispo High in 2019, Twins area scout Seth Moir reported that Lee would one day be an All-Star. O’Neil, who is considered the organization’s “go-to guy” when it comes to drafting position players, followed up on the report and felt otherwise. He initially graded Lee as a second-round pick.
Only because Lee bypassed several multi-million dollar offers and instead played college baseball for his father, Larry, at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo would O’Neil receive an opportunity to make up for his miss. By the time he scouted him two years later, O’Neil, too, was convinced Lee was a star in the making.
The Twins took Brooks Lee with the eighth pick in the 2022 draft. (Courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics)
Heading into the 2022 draft, some believed Lee was the second-best player available. The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked Lee No. 5, ahead of eventual No. 1 pick Jackson Holliday. But on draft day, Lee fell all the way to the Twins at eight.
“I completely whiffed,” O’Neil said. “I had him in the second round (in 2019). I screwed it up. I’d like to tell you I picked this guy out of a pile of rocks, but that’s not the case. … Fortunately, we lucked out and it aligned three years later.”
On Sunday, the Twins will have the 21st pick in this year’s first round. After selecting well-regarded high school outfielder Walker Jenkins at No. 5 last year, the Twins are in a different place in this year’s draft. It’s a class that Law has rated as thin after the first eight to 10 picks, so it could take some creativity for teams in the middle part of the first round to hit on a star. The Twins feel they have the right man assessing talent for them to do just that.
O’Neil will be the first to admit he has four horror stories for each of his successes. But those who have spent time in his orbit say he is simply being humble.
A former Southern California high school baseball coach who joined the organization as an area scout in January 1995, O’Neil’s fingerprints can be found all over the Twins’ current roster. A national crosschecker with the team since 2006, O’Neil is the expert the Twins call in for extended looks at position players they believe can reach the majors.
“He’s the gold standard when it comes to evaluating hitters,” Twins scouting director Sean Johnson said. “You just know if Tim’s seen the player and has an opinion, it gives you confidence in the room to take the player. I’m checking in with Tim to get his thoughts right up to that moment we actually take the player. I’ve leaned on him, (general manager Thad Levine has) leaned on him, (the late Twins scout) Mike Radcliff’s leaned on him for so many hitters we’ve taken over the years.”
O’Neil was a first baseman and outfielder at Gonzaga University from 1985-87 before becoming an assistant coach for the Bulldogs in 1988. He then returned home and began coaching high school ball and was the manager for St. Francis High in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif. While in that role, he ran into Twins scout Earl Frishman at a game in late 1994, and Frishman informed him of an opening in the department for an area scout covering Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.
A few months later, O’Neil headed east and he’s been with the organization ever since. He was promoted to southeast scouting supervisor in 2006, then was elevated to a national crosschecker role seven years later. In 2019, the Twins named O’Neil their assistant scouting director.
As a former scout who loves to participate in the team’s ongoing draft meetings via video conferencing, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli appreciates O’Neil’s voice and wisdom.
“He’s so highly respected,” Baldelli said. “His evaluations are esteemed. … When he speaks there’s always something behind it, and people are paying close attention. He’s the man and he does exceptional work for us. He’s a huge asset to everything in our amateur world.”
Twins assistant scouting director Tim O’Neil has been with the organization for nearly 30 years. (Brace Hemmelgarn / Minnesota Twins)
O’Neil is proud of the team’s current roster, which boasts homegrown players such as Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Ryan Jeffers, Lee, Royce Lewis, Byron Buxton, Jose Miranda and Max Kepler.
Johnson said O’Neil played a big role in the Twins using high picks to select Jeffers and Miranda — in 2018 and 2016, respectively — when they weren’t viewed among the top-200 prospects in the draft.
“He’s an amazing evaluator across the board,” Johnson said. “Hitting is certainly his passion. I could call him in January at 9:30 in the morning and he’s been watching tape since 5 a.m. with a cup of coffee. … He loves breaking down players, swings and approaches. He loves trying to figure out who’s going to hit, which is the hardest thing to do in scouting.”
O’Neil had no formal training when the Twins hired him. He never officially went to scout school, either.
“I went to Mike Radcliff’s scout school,” O’Neil said with a laugh, referencing the organization’s legendary scout who died last year. “I was very lucky to work for the Twins. It’s been a fun run. I’m looking forward to some postseason wins.”
O’Neil has more scouting wins than most on his résumé. But like any true scout, he focuses more on the misses. As much as he’s been right, O’Neil knows he’s been wrong. It’s the nature of a business based on projecting what kind of player a 17- or 18-year-old athlete may one day develop into.
Several times during a recent conversation, O’Neil recalled his initial mistake in scouting Lee.
In discussing Lee’s presence of mind on Monday to let Correa handle the grounder, Baldelli said the decision the rookie made requires special awareness. O’Neil agreed with the assessment and believes Lee possesses a high baseball IQ and plays with a passion and joy seen only in certain athletes, similar to that of his new teammate, Lewis.
“He is a unique talent,” O’Neil said of Lee, who made his major-league debut less than two years after that fortuitous drop to the Twins in the 2022 draft. “He’s almost a savant type hitter, really. … Brooks has exceptional feel for the game and I think that’s what separated him out from others in the draft. He has a sure approach. I’m glad he’s not playing for someone else because it would hurt even more.”
(Top photo from 2022 MLB draft when the Twins took Brooks Lee: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
