When the Washington Nationals selected Eli Willits with the first-overall pick on Sunday evening, it kicked off a round filled with surprises. But the Twins were anticipating that — perhaps even more than usual, assistant general manager Sean Johnson, who heads the draft for the Twins, said.

And while there were other surprises in the draft, perhaps the Twins’ selection at No. 16 wasn’t such a shock. After all, multiple mock drafts in the lead up to the draft had the Twins linked to Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston, and on Sunday, the Twins made him their first pick of the night.

“It’s kind of a moment I’ve always looked forward to my whole life,” Houston said. “I was sitting on the couch for about three hours today, just watching the TV and it kind of just hits you right after all the hard work and everything with your family around you. It’s just amazing.”

Starting with Willits, eight prep players went within the first 15 picks, but when it came time for the Twins’ selection, they went with a college bat, as they’ve so often done with their first pick in recent years.

Houston, 21, is a strong defender with some evaluators ranking him as the top defensive shortstop in the class, which, in this particular class, is saying something considering the first round was stacked at the position.

“We really feel like he’s a really good shortstop — range, arm, all the things that we know are important for the position,” Johnson said. “His make up, his leadership for the position … we’re really ecstatic about getting him with our first pick.”

The glove has always been a strength. This year, with the work he’s put in, Houston has shown that the bat is as well.

In his junior year at Wake Forest, Houston hit .354 with a 1.055 OPS, collecting 86 hits in 61 games and developing more power, jumping from four long balls in his freshman season to eight as a sophomore and 15 as a junior. He also had 14 doubles, 19 stolen bases and 61 runs scored for the Demon Deacons this season.

“I go into each year thinking about what can I do to get better and for me, that was kind of just impacting the ball a little bit more than I did the year before,” Houston said. “I went into the year trying to gain a little bit more muscle, try to get a little bit stronger and faster and … the coaches around me really helped me with anything mechanical wise, hitting wise and it came together really well.”

After Houston, with their second selection on Sunday at No. 36 overall, the Twins grabbed right-handed pitcher Riley Quick, a 6’6” 21-year-old out of Alabama. Quick underwent Tommy John surgery in early 2024 but recovered from that and finished his last season with a 3.92 earned-run average across 62 innings pitched, striking out 70 batters.

The Twins grabbed another infielder with their second-round pick, selecting 18-year-old high schooler Quentin Young, the nephew of former MLB players Dmitri and Delmon Young, the latter of whom spent four seasons with the Twins. Quentin Young hit .381 with a 1.483 OPS in 29 games last year at Oaks Christian High School.

“The upside with Quentin Young is tremendous. I think that’s probably like the highlight of our scouts for the night. We thought he’d be off the board by then,” Johnson said. “To be able to get him where we took him, our scouts are probably in the room still trying to do gymnastics.”

With their final pick of the day, the Twins selected James Ellwanger, a right-handed pitcher out of Dallas Baptist, who finished the year with a 3.81 earned-run average and struck out 90 batters in 59 innings pitched. The draft, which has been condensed to two days now, will conclude on Monday with rounds four through 20.

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As superstar center fielder Byron Buxton prepares for a homecoming this week with the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game taking place at Truist Park in Atlanta, it’s fitting that injury scare last week briefly threatened his ability to compete.

It’s no secret Buxton has battled a long list of injuries since being selected by the Twins with the No. overall 2 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. It’s been the fatal flaw for a prized prospect that burst onto the scene seemingly without any to his name.

Though there were flashes of brilliance for Buxton, he was slowly but surely starting to look like a classic case of unrealized potential.

Not anymore.

After so many instances of his body betraying him, Buxton finally looks the player the Twins always knew he could be.

He’s been locked in at the plate with 21 home runs and 56 runs batted in. He’s added to that production by going a perfect 17 for 17 on stolen base attempts. He’s also provided otherworldly defense in center field a couple of seasons removed from not being healthy enough to play his natural position.

You can’t play baseball much better than Buxton has for the Twins as of late.

Which is why all of Minnesota held its collective breath last week when Buxton was pulled from the lineup after being hit by a pitch early in game against the Chicago Cubs.

Though the Twins immediately took the edge off by announcing Buxton had only suffered a left hand contusion, it was unclear if he would be ready to go for the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game.

Those doubts disappeared a few of days later when Buxton made a statement during a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. A few hours after his bobblehead was being given away in the lead up to first pitch, Buxton hit for the cycle for the first time in Target Field history.

His teammates doused him with water after the incredible performance in what almost felt like a washing away of all the bad luck that has plague him throughout his career.

It takes a special kind of person to persevere through everything Buxton has had to persevere through since making his major league debut more than a decade ago. The willpower required to get himself back to this level of play can’t be overstated.

It would’ve been easy for him to throw in the towel as the injuries started to pile up.

That’s simply not how he’s wired. All it did was add fuel to the fire. He continued to get his body ready for battle even when his body wouldn’t always cooperate.

The payoff will come this week for Buxton, and it couldn’t sweeter.

He gets to compete in the Home Run Derby and the All Star Game a few hours from his hometown of Baxley, Georgia, and he’ll get to share the experience it with his family, including his 11-year-old son Brixton, who couldn’t be more excited for the occasion.

It’s easy to feel good for Buxton given how hard he’s had to work to get to this point. He’s every bit deserving of this moment with Twins. Hopefully he’s been able to take a step back and enjoy it.

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By PAN PYLAS

LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump will make an unprecedented second state visit to the U.K. between Sept. 17 and 19 when he will be hosted by King Charles II and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace said Monday.

Trump, who is a big supporter of the royal family, particularly of the monarch, will be accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump during the three-day visit, the palace confirmed.

No U.S. president has been invited for a second state visit. Trump previously enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of the state visit in 2019 during his first term when he was hosted by Charles’ late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The invitation for the second state visit from the king was hand-delivered by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in February during a meeting at the White House.

After reading it, Trump said it was a “great, great honor” and appeared particularly pleased by the fact he will be staying at Windsor Castle, to the west of the capital. “That’s really something,” he said.

Precedent for second-term U.S. presidents who have already made a state visit is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

State visits are ceremonial meetings between heads of state that are used to honor friendly nations and sometimes smooth relations between rivals. While the king formally issues the invitation for a state visit, he does so on the advice of the elected government.

The visit is seen as part of Starmer’s effort to keep Trump close and lessen the impact of some of his polices on the U.K. The relationship between the two appears amicable, and has helped the U.K. from facing the sort of hefty U.S. tariffs that other nations are seeing.

But like Trump’s previous visit, it’s unlikely he will be welcomed by all. Last time, a day of protests saw the flying of a giant blimp depicting Trump as an angry orange baby from outside Parliament.

Lawmakers from Starmer’s Labour Party have also questioned whether the honor should be extended to Trump at a time that he is supporting Israel’s war in Gaza and threatening the sovereignty of allies such as Canada and Greenland.

Charles could also face some challenges during the visit because he is head of state of both the United Kingdom and Canada, which Trump has suggested should become the 51st U.S. state. During a speech to the Canadian parliament in May the king highlighted Canada’s “unique identity” and “sovereignty,” while echoing the words of the country’s national anthem when he said “The True North is indeed strong and free.”

State visits to Britain are particularly prized by heads of state because they come with a full complement of royal pomp and circumstance, including military reviews, carriage rides and a glittering state banquet hosted by the monarch.

The events normally take place in and around Buckingham Palace in central London. But like last week’s state visit from French President Emmanual Macron and his wife Brigitte, the Trumps will stay at Windsor Castle. Buckingham Palace is undergoing extensive remodeling.

Getting a daily caffeine fix could become more expensive.

President Donald Trump’s plan to impose a 50% tariff on all imports from Brazil starting next month would drive up the price of coffee, whether it’s served in cafes or brewed in the kitchen.

Such a tariff would put more pressure on the coffee industry as prices have peaked globally this year. Droughts in Brazil and Vietnam, two of the biggest coffee exporters to the United States, have resulted in smaller harvests in recent seasons, driving up prices.

Consumers are already paying more at the grocery store. At the end of May, the average price of 1 pound of ground roast coffee in the U.S. was $7.93, up from $5.99 at the same time last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump’s pledge to place tariffs on imports from Brazil is partly in retaliation for what he considers a “witch hunt” against his political ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is facing trial for attempting a coup.

More than 99% of the coffee Americans consume is imported from South America, Africa and Asia. Last year, the United States imported 1.6 million metric tons of both unroasted and roasted coffee, according to the Agriculture Department.

Brazil accounted last year for more than 8.1 million bags, each with 60 kilograms of coffee, that came into the United States. Any sudden shift would be a “lose-lose situation,” said Guilherme Morya, a coffee analyst for Rabobank based in São Paulo.

Brazilian suppliers, he said, are holding tight and waiting to see if any negotiations will save them from needing to find buyers in other countries.

Should the new 50% tariffs take effect, “we’re going to see a reshape in the coffee flow in the world,” Morya said. “Especially Brazil to other regions.”

If wholesale costs — what restaurant chains or grocery stores pay — for coffee rise by 50%, that could translate to an increase of 25 cents a cup within three months, said Ryan Cummings, the chief of staff for the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

It would take about three months after the tariff goes into effect for consumers to see higher prices at stores, he said.

Large coffee buyers, like Starbucks, source their coffee from all over the world, and often sign contracts months or years in advance for beans, somewhat insulating them from immediate price shocks. Still, some analysts said, there could be a scramble as some customers try to shift their supply chains to avoid the tariffs on coffee from Brazil.

“With Trump doing this Whac-a-Mole tariff strategy, it’s going to cause you, as a coffee manufacturer, a lot of uncertainty,” Cummings said.

But even changing suppliers comes with issues. Should manufacturers pivot more of their buying to Vietnam, another large coffee producer, they would be reliant on a smaller output.

And in addition to a possible disruption in quantity, the quality of the coffee coming into the United States could change. Much of the coffee produced in Brazil is arabica, a higher quality than the more bitter robusta mostly produced in Vietnam and the rest of Asia.

Other suppliers would be unlikely to match Brazil’s robust output, including Vietnam, which has seen a recent decline in its coffee production. The country would not be able, in the short- or medium term, “to stem the flow,” said David Gantz, an economist at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

In Brazil, “some of the exports will probably cease entirely,” Gantz added. “Others will continue, but the consumer will end up paying a higher price.”

Coffee must be grown under the right conditions. It grows best at higher altitudes, in places with tropical temperatures and heavy rainfall. In the United States and its territories, that’s limited to Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The United States last year produced a small fraction of the coffee consumed by Americans — 11,462 metric tons — and nearly all of it in Hawaii. Hawaii’s coffee is mostly a specialty product, and costs two or three times more than even high quality imported beans.

Labor costs are much higher in Hawaii, as are commodities like water and energy, so there is little chance the state can meaningfully produce more coffee for the American market, even if tariffs drive up the costs of its competitors.

“We can’t grow enough coffee,” said Shawn Steiman, the owner of Coffea Consulting in Honolulu. “The Hawaiian coffee market isn’t tied to the global industry.”

Some consumers — especially those who view coffee not as a luxury but a daily necessity — may just pay a higher price, while others may trade down to cheaper coffee products or to other caffeine products like tea or energy drinks.

Consumers do notice when the price of coffee drinks rises. Starbucks recently began charging a flat fee of 80 cents if customers added one or more pumps of flavored syrups to their beverages. Starbucks played down the change, saying it was done simply to standardize pricing across its stores and on its app.

“They sure did raise prices,” said Brandon Taylor, a video producer in Orlando, Florida, who was unhappy when his regular order of a tall iced coffee with cream and caramel syrup jumped to $5.35 because of the new 80-cent charge for the syrup. He canceled his order. “I don’t plan on going back.”

The tariffs could also threaten another morning staple. About 90% of the fresh orange juice and 55% of the frozen orange juice the United States imports comes from Brazil, according to Agriculture Department data.

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Brazil also exports large quantities of concentrated orange pulp, what is then turned into orange juice. And Florida, a major domestic producer of the fruit, has faced recent growing difficulties partly because of a citrus disease.

“There would be a huge impact on people who drink orange juice because Florida can’t possibly make up the slack,” Gantz said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.