A Schelling For Your Thoughts

MINNEAPOLIS — When his name was called Tuesday morning, Madison Boer thought his parents were joking with him. After all, he didn’t expect to go until the third or even fourth round.

But they weren’t joking. With the 87th overall pick, the Twins used their second-round selection on Boer, a right-hander out of the University of Oregon.

“I was having breakfast and I had a mouthful of pancakes,” Boer said. “I was kind of waiting for the third round to come around and my parents started freaking out. I was like, ‘What happened?’ I thought they were joking with me, I was kind of getting angry, and then they go, ‘No, look, look.’ And then I saw and I was pretty excited.”

Not only was Boer picked a round before he expected to go, he had been selected by his hometown Twins. Before pitching for the Ducks, Boer was an Eden Prairie High School standout.

Boer was a three-time letter winner for Eden Prairie, while also earning first-team All-State and All-Conference honors before graduating in 2008.

While he may not have expected to go in the second round, the Twins definitely thought Boer had the right makeup to be selected No. 87.

“We had consensus second-round numbers on Madison Boer,” said Twins scouting director Deron Johnson. “We thought he was a second-round talent, we loved his body, we love his tools. It just so happened that he was from here.”

However it worked out, Boer couldn’t think of a much better team to be drafted by than the Twins.

“I think it’s pretty fitting and I’m really excited to potentially get to the Majors in a couple years and hopefully help out the home team,” Boer said. “My parents still live about 25 minutes from Target Field.”

A 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-hander, Boer posted a 3-6 record and a 2.27 ERA in 18 games (12 starts) as a junior this year with Oregon. He recorded 74 strikeouts against 34 walks in 99 innings.

Boer can run his fastball up as high as 96 mph, with his slider as his out pitch. He also has a nasty splitter, and likely profiles as a starter or a closer. He did both this season for the Ducks, picking up three saves toward the end of the year when shifted to the closer’s role.

“He can do both, we think he feels he’s comfortable coming out of the bullpen, but he’s got pitches to start,” Johnson said. “It’s almost like a Carlos Gutierrez situation a few years ago. How he performs after we sign him will dictate which role he’ll end up being in.”

As long as he gets to pitch, Boer said either starting or closing is OK with him.

“I always say it’s most fun to pitch when the game is on the line,” Boer said. “But it’s also very fun to have your own game and a weekly schedule and that whole deal. I’d say it balances out and I’d just like to pitch whenever they want me to.

“I think I’ll probably start at first, and then if they don’t think I can start anymore maybe they’ll make me a reliever and I can see if I can close.”

Boer is still on campus in Eugene, Ore., with one more final exam remaining this week.

While he is still focusing on school, he said he’s more likely to sign than not, especially with it being his hometown club.

“I’m probably leaning toward signing,” Boer said. “I was telling teams that I was prepared to sign in the third, so I’ll probably have to hold to that by signing in the second.”

Live coverage of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft resumes at 11 a.m. CT Wednesday on MLB.com, where fans will receive exclusive coverage of Day 3, featuring a live pick-by-pick stream, expert commentary and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of every Draft-eligible player.

You can also keep up to date at Draft Central and by following @MLBDraft on Twitter. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft.