Top 10 Twins draft picks this century

Position Players

Joe Mauer retires. Click on image to make it larger.
  1. Joe Mauer picked as a catcher 1st overall in 2001 and is retired with a 55.0 WAR all with the Twins from 2004-2018.
  2. Brian Dozier picked as a collegiate shortstop in the 8th round in 2009 and is currently playing for the Nationals. Current career WAR is 23.3 and WAR with Twins from 2012 to 2018 was 23.8.
  3. Denard Span picked as an outfielder in the 1st round (20th overall) in 2002 and is currently not playing. Current career WAR is 26.2 and WAR with the Twins from 2008 to 2012 was 13.2. 
  4. Eddie Rosario picked as an outfielder in the 4th round of the 2010 draft and currently playing left field for the Twins since 2015 and has a 10.2 career WAR.
  5. Trevor Plouffe was selected as a shortstop in round 1 (20th overall) of the 2004 MLB draft. Plouffe is not playing this season after being released by the Phillies and has a career WAR of 8.2. When playing for Minnesota from 2010 to 2018 his WAR was 8.6.
  6. Byron Buxton was selected as an outfielder in 2012 with the 2nd overall pick in round 1. Has played center field for the Twins off and on since 2015 and has a career WAR of 8.5.
  7. Jason Kubel was selected as an outfielder in round 12 of the 2000 draft and played for the Twins in 2004, sat out 2005 due to injury and from 2006-2011 putting up a 3.7 WAR before leaving as a FA. Career 4.1 WAR.
  8. Mitch Garver was drafted as a collegiate catcher in the 9th round of the 2013 draft and has been with the Twins off/on since 2017 and has put up a 2.6 career WAR.
  9. Aaron Hicks was drafted as an outfielder in round 1 (14th overall) and played for the Twins on/off from 2013-2015 before being traded to the Yankees. Hicks WAR with Minnesota was 2.3 and he now is up to a 10.2 career WAR with the Yankees.
  10. Danny Valencia was drafted as a collegiate third baseman in round 19 and played for the Twins from 2010 to 2012 before being traded to Boston. Valencia put up a 0.9 WAR with the Twins. I believe Valencia is not playing in 2019 and has a career WAR of 5.6.

 

Pitchers

Scott Baker – click on image to make it larger.

Scott Baker (collegiate RHP) was a 2nd round pick in 2003 and started for the Twins from 2005-2011 and had a 15.7 WAR. After TJ surgery he pitched for Cubs, Rangers and Dodgers thru 2015 and ended up with a 15.6 career WAR.

Kyle Gibson (collegiate RHP) was a 1st round pick and 22nd overall in 2009 and is currently in the Twins starting rotation (since 2013) with a current career WAR of 9.6.

Glen Perkins (collegiate LHP) was a 1st round compensation pick (22nd overall) in 2004 from the Mariners for signing Eddie Guardado as a FA. Perkins joined the Twins in 2006 and pitched thru 2017. Perkins was a starter in 2008-2009 but ended his career as a closer with a career WAR of 8.7.

Brian Duensing (collegiate LHP) was a 3rd rounder in 2005 and pitched for the Twins from 2009-2015 primarily in relief but he did some spot starting early in his career. Twins WAR was 6.3. Duensing is currently with the Cubs and has a career WAR of 6.2.

Jesse Crain (collegiate RHP) was picked in round 2 in 2002 and pitched in relief for Minnesota from 2004 thru 2010 before moving on to the White Sox where he finished his career in 2013. Twins WAR was 5.4 and career WAR was 11.4.

Jose Berrios (high school RHP) was picked in round 1 and 32nd overall as a compensation pick for the loss of FA Michael Cuddyer in 2012. Berrios is currently in the Twins starting rotation (since 2016) and has a career WAR of 5.2.

Taylor Rogers (collegiate LHP) was picked in round 11 in 2012 and has been a reliever in the Twins bullpen since 2016 and has posted a career WAR of 4.6.

Kevin Slowey (collegiate RHP) was picked in the 2nd round and 73rd overall in 2005 and was used primarily as a starter for Minnesota from 2007-2011 and had a 4.4 WAR. He finished his career with Miami 2013-2014 with a career WAR of 4.7. 

Nick Blackburn (collegiate RHP) wasn’t picked until round 29 (857th overall) in 2001 and spent his entire career with Minnesota from 2007-2012 and put up a 3.1 career WAR.

Pat Neshek (collegiate RHP) was picked by the Twins in round 45 in 1999 but didn’t sign and was again picked by the Twins in 2002 in round 6 and was a Twins relief pitcher from 2006-2010 with a year off in 2009 for TJ surgery and posted a WAR with the Twins of 3.0. Since then Neshek has pitched for six other big league organizations (currently with Philly) and has a career WAR of 10.9.

 

Some observations

Seven of the ten position players on the list were drafted out of high school.

Just one of ten pitchers on the list was drafted and signed out of high school.

Only five of the ten position players on the list are first round picks. 

Three of 10 pitchers are first round picks.

Position players on the list not picked in round 1 were selected in rounds 4, 8, 9, 12, and 19.

Pitchers on the list not selected in round one were picked in rounds 2, 2, 2, 3, 6, 11, and 29.

Seems like the Twins should draft position players out of high school and pitchers out of college.

 

 

Looking at Minnesota Twins drafts this century

With the June Amateur Free Agent draft just a month or so away maybe it is time to look back and see who the Twins have drafted this century that has made an impact on the Minnesota Twins major league team. We all know that very few prospects make it to the big leagues and even fewer are stars, here is how the Twins have fared. Keep this in mind before you get overly excited about the Twins picks in this years drafts.

 

Twins draft choices since 2000

 

2000 draft – 52 drafted, 30 signed and 5 put on a Minnesota Twins uniform

Best Twins playerJason Kubel (OF) was a 2nd round selection picked out of high school and debuted on August 31, 2004 and had a career WAR of 4.1. RETIRED

Wore a Twins uniform brieflyJosh Rabe (OF), J.D. Durbin (RHP), Adam Johnson RHP was 1st rounder and second pick overall) and Jason Miller (LHP)

2001 draft – 50 drafted, 33 signed, 3 put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and 1 played in big leagues for another team

Joe Mauer

Best Twins players – Joe Mauer (C) a Minnesota native was the number one overall pick out of Cretin High School and he debuted on April 5, 2004 and played with Minnesota throughout his career that ended after the 2018 season. Won an MVP, six time All-Star, five time Silver Slugger, three time Batting Champion and three time Gold Glove winner. Career WAR of 55.0. RETIRED

Best Twins players – Nick Blackburn was a collegiate right-handed pitcher drafted in round 29 and debuted on September 7, 2007. Blackburn pitched his entire career for the Twins from 2007-2012. RETIRED with a 3.1 career WAR.

Wore a Twins uniform briefly –  Jose Morales (drafted as a shortstop but switched to catcher).

Played in big leagues for another teamKevin Cameron (RHP).

Pat Neshek – former Twins pitcher & card collector

Pat Neshek was born in Madison, Wisconsin but attended Park Center High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota where he was an all-state pitcher. The Minnesota Twins drafted Neshek in round 45 after Neshek graduated from high school in 1999 but he said no to pro ball and went on to attend Butler University. The Twins drafted him again in 2002, this time in the sixth round and this time the Twins got their man. 

Like a lot of Twins before him, Neshek started his pro career in Elizabethton and worked his way up the big league ladder until he made his major league debut on July 7, 2006 at Ameriquest Field in a 9-4 Twins loss to the Rangers. Pat pitched the final two innings for the Twins keeping the Rangers off the board allowing just one hit and striking out one of the seven batters he faced.

Neshek pitched for the Twins from 2006-2010 but missed the entire 2009 season due to injury. The Twins lost Neshek in March 2011 to a waiver claim by the San Diego Padres. Since then Neshek has been in high demand as a reliever pitching for the Padres, The A’s, the Cardinals, and this past season for the Phillies and the Rockies. Neshek, now a two-time all-star has 11 big league seasons in the books and expects to pitch in the majors in 2018 barring anything unforseen.

Todate Neshek has pitched in 494 games and has a 33-22 record with an outstanding 2.75 ERA. In 445.2 innings Neshek has struck out 447 batters…. The Twins could use him in their bullpen in 2018.

Neshek is an avid card collector and has his own website at www.patneshek.com .

Redbirds’ Neshek is a real card … collector, that is

Pat Neshek, Card Collector

 

Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins – O’Rourke & Neshek

Two players made their major league debuts wearing Minnesota Twins duds on July 7th.

 

Ryan O’Rourke

Ryan O’Rourke (P) – July 7, 2015 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 2010 MLB June Amateur Draft. A nice clean inning with a strikeout on just 8 pitches at Target Field against the Baltimore Orioles in a 8-3 Twins win.

 

Pat Neshek (I love this card)

Pat Neshek (P) – July 7, 2006 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 6th round of the 2002 MLB June Amateur Draft. Closed out he game with 2 innings at Ameriquest Field in a 9-4 Twins loss. Where is Ameriquest Field you ask?

To see other Major League Debuts as Minnesota Twins

Best players drafted by Minnesota Twins by round

I went through the history of the Minnesota Twins June Amateur draft choices to see who the best players were that the club drafted, signed and the player debuted with Minnesota across his chest. The player may or may not have played his entire career with the Twins but the WAR numbers are for their entire careers. Why are they ranked by WAR you may ask? Simple, I know of no other way to rank them, so right or wrong, I have chosen B-R WAR.

Twenty five of the 61 rounds shown have no players that qualified meaning that no one ever drafted in that round has made it to the majors with Minnesota. So if the Twins draft you in one of those rounds in the future, the odds are very much against you. Unless you have followed the Twins since day one, you might not recognize or remember some of these players.

Twins switch-hitters from 1961-2015

One of the more frequent questions I get pertains to switch-hitters that played for the Minnesota Twins so I thought I would put together the entire list of Twins players both position players and pitchers that swung from both sides of the plate. In this case I ranked then in order of home runs hit. The list includes Twins pitchers as well as position players.

Rk Player HR From To G PA AB H 2B 3B RBI BA OPS Pos
1 Roy Smalley 110 1976 1987 1148 4676 3997 1046 184 21 485 .262 .750 *6DH/53
2 Chili Davis 41 1991 1992 291 1163 978 276 61 3 159 .282 .862 *D/H793
3 Cristian Guzman 39 1999 2004 841 3538 3277 871 142 61 289 .266 .685 *6/HD
4 Butch Wynegar 37 1976 1982 794 3188 2746 697 112 9 325 .254 .682 *2/HD5
5 Gene Larkin 32 1987 1993 758 2670 2321 618 131 12 266 .266 .723 3D9H/754
6 Ryan Doumit 32 2012 2013 269 1066 969 253 62 2 130 .261 .745 2/D9H73
7 Denny Hocking 25 1993 2003 876 2455 2204 556 109 17 215 .252 .661 64H5/9738D
8 Bobby Kielty 23 2001 2003 224 750 631 170 35 3 92 .269 .818 9/8HD73
9 Eduardo Escobar 21 2012 2015 340 1139 1051 275 71 8 111 .262 .710 *6/574HD98
10 Aaron Hicks 20 2013 2015 247 928 819 184 30 6 78 .225 .655 *8/97HD
11 Kennys Vargas 14 2014 2015 111 418 390 101 14 1 55 .259 .707 /*D3H
12 Dave Hollins 13 1996 1996 121 503 422 102 26 0 53 .242 .760 *5/HD6
13 Nick Punto 12 2004 2010 747 2707 2365 587 102 21 194 .248 .648 564/HD879
14 Alexi Casilla 11 2006 2012 515 1764 1580 395 72 14 147 .250 .639 *4/6HD58
15 Pedro Florimon 10 2012 2014 210 682 616 126 23 3 55 .205 .567 *6/HD
16 Matt Walbeck 8 1994 1996 275 1008 946 218 40 1 103 .230 .571 *2/HD
17 Javier Valentin 8 1997 2002 141 435 391 90 19 2 46 .230 .638 *2/HD
18 Danny Santana 7 2014 2015 192 707 666 185 37 12 61 .278 .710 *6/8HD9
19 Brent Gates 6 1998 1999 217 723 639 161 28 2 80 .252 .656 *5/4H3D6
20 Luis Rodriguez 6 2005 2007 206 508 445 108 19 3 38 .243 .651 /54H6D3
21 Orlando Hudson 6 2010 2010 126 559 497 133 24 5 37 .268 .710 *4/D
22 Jim Perry 5 1963 1972 380 681 613 117 17 2 46 .191 .478 *1/H7
23 Terry Tiffee 5 2004 2006 91 256 239 54 13 1 29 .226 .625 /5H3D
24 Orlando Merced 5 1998 1998 63 223 204 59 12 0 33 .289 .767 /*39DH
25 John Moses 4 1988 1990 349 687 620 171 25 7 57 .276 .693 9H/78D31
26 Matt Tolbert 3 2008 2011 247 680 605 139 27 9 54 .230 .607 4/5H6D39
27 Luis Castillo 3 2006 2007 227 1036 933 279 33 9 67 .299 .720 *4
28 Pedro Ramos 3 1961 1961 53 100 93 16 1 0 11 .172 .484 /*1H
29 Marcus Jensen 3 2000 2000 52 164 139 29 7 1 14 .209 .663 /*2HD
30 Dave McKay 2 1975 1976 78 290 263 60 6 1 24 .228 .562 /*5H6D
31 Jose Offerman 2 2004 2004 77 202 172 44 14 2 22 .256 .759 /*DH34
32 Augie Ojeda 2 2004 2004 30 72 59 20 1 0 7 .339 .886 /*46H5
33 Darrell Brown 1 1983 1984 186 602 569 155 15 5 41 .272 .624 *8/H7D
34 Otis Nixon 1 1998 1998 110 500 448 133 6 6 20 .297 .705 *8/H
35 Wally Backman 1 1989 1989 87 337 299 69 9 2 26 .231 .591 /*4HD
36 Tom Herr 1 1988 1988 86 345 304 80 16 0 21 .263 .674 /*4HD6
37 Chris Latham 1 1997 1999 63 154 138 21 2 0 9 .152 .411 /8H79
38 Kendrys Morales 1 2014 2014 39 162 154 36 11 0 18 .234 .584 /*D3H
39 Rob Bowen 1 2003 2004 24 43 37 4 0 0 3 .108 .380 /*2HD
40 Al Newman 0 1987 1991 618 1876 1647 380 59 7 135 .231 .581 465H/D738
41 J.C. Romero 0 1999 2005 327 3 3 1 1 0 0 .333 1.000 *1
42 Joe Mays 0 1999 2005 193 21 15 4 1 0 0 .267 .722 *1
43 Pat Neshek 0 2006 2010 132 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
44 Pete Filson 0 1982 1986 130 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1
45 Darrell Jackson 0 1978 1982 104 0 0 0 0 0 0 *1/HD
46 Jose Morales 0 2007 2010 74 181 158 47 9 0 14 .297 .725 /*2HD3
47 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0 2011 2012 71 254 233 50 5 0 20 .215 .503 /*64HD
48 Doug Baker 0 1988 1990 57 100 86 23 5 1 9 .267 .696 /*46HD5
49 Sergio Ferrer 0 1974 1975 56 157 138 36 3 3 2 .261 .648 /*6H4D
50 Nelson Liriano 0 1990 1990 53 211 185 47 5 7 13 .254 .688 /*4HD6
51 Marty Martinez 0 1962 1962 37 24 18 3 0 1 3 .167 .563 /*H65
52 Dan Serafini 0 1996 1998 35 1 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 /*1
53 Larry Milbourne 0 1982 1982 29 106 98 23 1 1 1 .235 .548 /*4H
54 Donnie Hill 0 1992 1992 25 59 51 15 3 0 2 .294 .721 /6H459
55 Chris Pittaro 0 1986 1987 25 34 33 6 0 0 0 .182 .388 /*4H6D
56 Quinton McCracken 0 2001 2001 24 70 64 14 2 2 3 .219 .588 /DH798
57 Jason Ryan 0 1999 2000 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
58 Tom Lundstedt 0 1975 1975 18 32 28 3 0 0 1 .107 .326 /*2HD
59 Ruben Sierra 0 2006 2006 14 33 28 5 1 0 4 .179 .487 /*H*D
60 Glenn Williams 0 2005 2005 13 43 40 17 1 0 3 .425 .902 /*5H
61 Stan Perzanowski 0 1978 1978 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
62 Cleatus Davidson 0 1999 1999 12 24 22 3 0 0 3 .136 .273 /*46HD
63 Jorge Polanco 0 2014 2015 9 20 16 5 1 1 4 .313 .950 /*6H
64 David Lamb 0 2002 2002 7 10 10 1 0 0 0 .100 .200 /*6H45
65 Mark Brown 0 1985 1985 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
66 Luis Quinones 0 1992 1992 3 6 5 1 0 0 1 .200 .367 /*H6D5
67 Eric Hacker 0 2011 2011 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 /*1
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/10/2016.

You can make a strong case that Mickey Mantle was the best switch-hitter in the AL as he hit .300 (with 500 or more PA’s) or more nine time and Victor Martinez who remains active today has hit. 300 eight times as has Bernie Williams. Roberto Alomar did it seven times.

Guzman, Cristian 3The Twins have not had as much luck with their switch-hitters, the only Twin to hit .300 (.302) or better with at least 500 plate appearances was Cristian Guzman in 2001. It kind of makes you wonder if switch hitting is worth the effort. From 1901 to 1960 the Washington Senators never had a switch-hitter that hit .300 or better with at least 500 PA’s.

Twins and post season play

As 2014 is coming to an end it is a good time to look back on another Twins season, their fourth in a row without post season play. But you have to be a winner to make post season play and the Twins have been anything but a winner the last few years. It has been a toss-up when you try to determine who has been more inept, the Twins players on the field or the ownership and Twins executives that sit behind their desks and make the decisions that determine the experience that Twins fans will have to live with during the up-coming season.

The Twins have had many losing seasons over the years and the real core Twins fans complained but they accepted the team they had and they looked forward to the next season with renewed hope for more wins “next year”. But it is seems different now, I am not sure why, maybe the fans are more passionate, maybe it is social media that allows Twins fans to better express their frustrations but today’s Twins fans are just plain mad and disgusted with the caliber of play their home team has displayed since the 2010 ended. Hopefully the Minnesota Twins organization feels some of the passion that Twins fans have and will start to look at the product from the fans perspective and see what they can do to make the fans experience a little more fun and and not so tough on the wallet.

Since the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Minnesota Twins the team has played 8,617 regular season games, winning 4,274, losing 4,335 and playing to a tie on eight occasions in 54 seasons of play. Boy, how time flies by, I still remember that 1961 season.

Looking back at Twins history they have two World Series winners and a third World Series appearance in which they lost game seven to Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In addition to the 8,617 regular season games the team has played a total of 64 post season games winning 25 and losing 39. Their last post season appearance was in 2010 and that brief playoff run lasted just three games when they were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip. The teams last post season win was back in 2004 (if I am not mistaken that is about 10 years ago, YIKES!) when they beat the Yankees in game 1 of the ALDS series before losing the next three games.

So let’s take a look at the hitting and pitching statistics of the Minnesota Twins in post season play. Let’s see who stood out under the bright lights of post season play and who couldn’t or didn’t deliver when the pressure was on. The names you will see below will bring back many memories, some good, some bad, some sad and in some cases you will say “who in the hell is so and so, I don’t remember him”. But it is fun looking back.

 Hitting in Post Season (had at least one PA)

Rk Player #Matching PA ? AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP OPS SB
1 Dan Gladden 24 115 104 17 29 6 3 1 15 9 12 .279 .348 .771 7
2 Kirby Puckett 24 109 97 16 30 3 2 5 15 8 17 .309 .361 .897 3
3 Kent Hrbek 24 103 91 10 14 1 0 3 12 11 12 .154 .252 .516 0
4 Greg Gagne 24 96 89 12 19 5 0 4 10 5 22 .213 .271 .675 0
5 Torii Hunter 21 88 80 15 24 8 1 3 8 5 11 .300 .337 .875 2
6 Jacque Jones 18 79 76 6 15 5 0 2 5 1 23 .197 .215 .557 0
7 Michael Cuddyer 21 78 74 5 25 2 1 2 8 4 18 .338 .372 .845 0
8 Corey Koskie 18 78 67 8 15 4 1 1 9 7 21 .224 .321 .679 0
9 Cristian Guzman 18 75 67 9 16 3 0 1 2 5 12 .239 .301 .630 3
10 Doug Mientkiewicz 14 56 53 4 12 1 0 2 6 3 5 .226 .268 .626 0
11 Chuck Knoblauch 12 55 46 8 15 3 0 0 5 7 5 .326 .407 .799 6
12 Harmon Killebrew 13 54 40 6 10 1 0 3 6 14 10 .250 .444 .944 0
13 Tony Oliva 13 53 51 7 16 5 0 3 5 2 10 .314 .340 .928 1
14 Gary Gaetti 12 53 47 9 13 3 1 3 9 3 8 .277 .340 .914 2
15 A.J. Pierzynski 14 50 45 6 14 0 1 2 7 4 4 .311 .360 .849 0
16 Tom Brunansky 12 50 42 10 12 4 0 2 11 8 7 .286 .400 .924 1
17 Shane Mack 11 44 41 4 9 2 1 0 4 2 11 .220 .250 .567 2
18 Luis Rivas 14 43 38 3 6 1 0 0 1 2 9 .158 .195 .379 0
19 Tim Laudner 12 43 36 5 8 2 0 1 6 7 9 .222 .349 .710 0
20 Chili Davis 11 42 35 7 9 2 0 2 6 7 11 .257 .381 .867 1
21 Brian Harper 11 41 39 3 13 4 0 0 2 2 4 .333 .366 .802 0
22 Joe Mauer 9 39 35 1 10 1 0 0 1 4 7 .286 .359 .673 0
23 Shannon Stewart 8 38 35 1 10 2 0 0 2 2 6 .286 .316 .659 1
24 Steve Lombardozzi 11 37 32 5 11 1 0 1 5 4 4 .344 .417 .885 0
25 Jason Kubel 8 32 29 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 13 .069 .156 .260 0
26 Bob Allison 10 30 26 3 2 1 0 1 3 3 10 .077 .167 .397 1
27 Zoilo Versalles 7 30 28 3 8 1 1 1 4 2 7 .286 .333 .833 1
28 David Ortiz 9 29 29 0 8 3 0 0 4 0 10 .276 .276 .655 0
29 Justin Morneau 7 29 29 4 9 3 0 2 4 0 3 .310 .310 .931 0
30 Mike Pagliarulo 11 28 26 5 8 1 0 2 5 1 4 .308 .333 .910 0
31 Matt LeCroy 10 28 26 2 7 0 0 0 1 2 9 .269 .321 .591 0
32 Denard Span 6 28 28 1 10 1 0 0 1 0 2 .357 .357 .750 1
33 Delmon Young 6 27 24 2 5 1 1 0 0 2 6 .208 .296 .630 1
34 Cesar Tovar 6 27 26 2 6 0 1 0 1 1 2 .231 .259 .567 1
35 Randy Bush 11 26 22 5 5 1 1 0 4 3 4 .227 .308 .671 3
36 Frank Quilici 9 26 22 2 4 2 0 0 1 4 4 .182 .308 .580 0
37 Leo Cardenas 6 26 24 1 4 0 1 0 1 1 8 .167 .200 .450 0
38 Don Mincher 7 25 23 3 3 0 0 1 1 2 7 .130 .200 .461 0
39 Earl Battey 7 25 25 1 3 0 1 0 2 0 5 .120 .120 .320 0
40 Nick Punto 6 25 21 0 6 1 0 0 1 3 2 .286 .375 .708 0
41 Don Baylor 7 21 18 3 7 0 0 1 4 1 1 .389 .476 1.032 0
42 Joe Nossek 6 21 20 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .200 .400 0
43 Rich Reese 5 21 19 0 3 0 0 0 2 2 2 .158 .238 .396 0
44 Scott Leius 9 20 18 2 5 0 0 1 2 2 3 .278 .350 .794 0
45 Rod Carew 5 17 16 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .063 .118 .180 0
46 George Mitterwald 4 16 15 2 5 1 0 0 2 1 5 .333 .375 .775 0
47 Dustan Mohr 7 15 14 4 7 2 0 0 0 1 4 .500 .533 1.176 1
48 Orlando Cabrera 3 15 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 3 .154 .267 .421 1
49 Lew Ford 4 14 12 1 3 1 0 0 2 0 3 .250 .357 .690 1
50 Luis Castillo 3 14 11 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 .273 .429 .701 0
51 Jim Thome 3 13 10 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 3 .100 .308 .408 0
52 Orlando Hudson 3 13 12 2 4 0 0 1 2 0 2 .333 .333 .917 0
53 Gene Larkin 12 12 11 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 1 .273 .333 .697 0
54 Rondell White 3 12 12 1 5 1 0 1 2 0 0 .417 .417 1.167 0
55 Brendan Harris 3 12 12 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 .250 .250 .667 0
56 Al Newman 6 11 9 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 1 .222 .300 .744 0
57 Sandy Valdespino 5 11 11 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 .273 .273 .636 0
58 Danny Valencia 3 11 9 1 2 1 0 0 2 1 3 .222 .273 .606 0
59 Jason Bartlett 3 11 11 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 .273 .273 .636 0
60 Henry Blanco 4 10 8 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 .250 .222 .847 0
61 J.J. Hardy 3 10 10 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 .100 .100 .300 0
62 Danny Thompson 3 9 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .125 .222 .472 0
63 Mudcat Grant 3 9 8 3 2 1 0 1 3 0 1 .250 .250 1.000 0
64 Brant Alyea 3 9 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000 .222 .222 0
65 Bobby Kielty 7 8 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 .000 .125 .125 0
66 Junior Ortiz 4 8 8 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .125 .125 .250 0
67 Jason Tyner 2 8 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 .000 .250 .250 1
68 Jimmie Hall 2 8 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 .143 .250 .393 0
69 Jim Kaat 4 7 7 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 6 .143 .143 .286 0
70 Rick Renick 3 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .167 .167 .333 0
71 Denny Hocking 3 6 6 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 1 .500 .500 1.167 0
72 Ted Uhlaender 2 6 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .167 .333 0
73 Matt Tolbert 2 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .200 .333 .533 0
74 Carlos Gomez 1 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000 .333 .333 0
75 John Roseboro 2 5 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .400 0
76 Jim Holt 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
77 Paul Sorrento 4 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 .000 .250 .250 0
78 Roy Smalley 4 4 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .500 .750 1.750 0
79 Jim Perry 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
80 Paul Ratliff 1 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 .250 .500 0
81 Dave Boswell 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 .000 .000 0
82 Rich Rollins 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .333 .333 0
83 Jose Offerman 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
84 Tom Prince 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
85 Phil Nevin 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
86 Jose Morales 1 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
87 Sal Butera 1 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 .667 1.333 0
88 Charlie Manuel 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 .500 .500 0
89 Les Straker 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0
90 Jack Morris 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
91 Jarvis Brown 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
92 Pat Borders 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
93 Bert Blyleven 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
94 Jerry Zimmerman 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
95 Dick Woodson 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
96 Stan Williams 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.000 0
97 Frank Viola 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
98 Kevin Tapani 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
99 Mike Ryan 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
100 Ron Perranoski 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
101 Camilo Pascual 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
102 Graig Nettles 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0
103 Tom Hall 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
104 Scott Erickson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0
105 Mark Davidson 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
106 Rick Aguilera 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

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Pitching in Post Season (faced at least one batter)

Rk Player #Matching W L W-L% ERA GS CG SHO SV IP ? H ER HR BB SO WHIP
1 Jack Morris 5 4 0 1.000 2.23 5 1 1 0 36.1 35 9 1 10 22 1.24
2 Brad Radke 6 2 3 .400 3.60 6 0 0 0 35.0 37 14 6 8 17 1.29
3 Johan Santana 11 1 3 .250 3.97 5 0 0 0 34.0 35 15 2 10 32 1.32
4 Frank Viola 5 3 1 .750 4.31 5 0 0 0 31.1 31 15 3 8 25 1.24
5 Bert Blyleven 5 3 1 .750 3.18 4 0 0 0 28.1 27 10 3 5 23 1.13
6 Mudcat Grant 3 2 1 .667 2.74 3 2 0 0 23.0 22 7 3 2 12 1.04
7 Kevin Tapani 4 1 2 .333 6.04 4 0 0 0 22.1 29 15 1 5 16 1.52
8 Jim Perry 5 0 1 .000 6.75 2 0 0 0 17.1 21 13 6 6 10 1.56
9 Joe Mays 3 1 1 .500 4.76 3 0 0 0 17.0 21 9 4 2 4 1.35
10 Jim Kaat 4 1 3 .250 4.41 4 1 0 0 16.1 24 8 1 4 7 1.71
11 Eric Milton 3 1 0 1.000 1.65 2 0 0 0 16.1 13 3 2 3 9 0.98
12 Scott Erickson 3 0 0 4.91 3 0 0 0 14.2 13 8 4 9 7 1.50
13 Dave Boswell 2 0 1 .000 1.35 1 0 0 0 13.1 10 2 0 9 7 1.43
14 Carl Pavano 2 0 2 .000 4.15 2 0 0 0 13.0 15 6 3 1 12 1.23
15 Carl Willis 7 0 0 2.92 0 0 0 0 12.1 8 4 2 2 5 0.81
16 Kyle Lohse 5 0 2 .000 3.00 1 0 0 0 12.0 9 4 1 2 14 0.92
17 Les Straker 3 0 0 6.94 3 0 0 0 11.2 12 9 1 7 7 1.63
18 Rick Reed 3 0 2 .000 8.18 2 0 0 0 11.0 15 10 6 2 8 1.55
19 Juan Berenguer 7 0 1 .000 5.23 0 0 0 1 10.1 11 6 1 3 7 1.35
20 Jeff Reardon 8 1 1 .500 2.70 0 0 0 3 10.0 12 3 1 3 8 1.50
21 J.C. Romero 12 0 1 .000 5.59 0 0 0 0 9.2 10 6 1 6 7 1.66
22 Juan Rincon 8 0 0 5.19 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 5 1 6 9 1.38
23 Dan Schatzeder 5 1 0 1.000 3.12 0 0 0 0 8.2 6 3 0 3 8 1.04
24 Rick Aguilera 7 1 1 .500 1.08 0 0 0 5 8.1 7 1 0 1 6 0.96
25 Brian Duensing 2 0 2 .000 11.25 2 0 0 0 8.0 14 10 2 2 4 2.00
26 Joe Nathan 6 0 1 .000 4.70 0 0 0 1 7.2 8 4 1 6 9 1.83
27 Francisco Liriano 2 0 0 5.87 1 0 0 0 7.2 7 5 1 4 8 1.43
28 Ron Perranoski 5 0 1 .000 10.29 0 0 0 0 7.0 13 8 0 1 5 2.00
29 LaTroy Hawkins 10 1 0 1.000 6.75 0 0 0 0 6.2 9 5 0 1 11 1.50
30 Mark Guthrie 6 1 1 .500 1.35 0 0 0 0 6.2 3 1 0 4 3 1.05
31 Tom Hall 3 0 1 .000 6.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 6 4 1 4 6 1.67
32 Stan Williams 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 6.0 2 0 0 1 2 0.50
33 Boof Bonser 1 0 0 3.00 1 0 0 0 6.0 7 2 0 1 3 1.33
34 David West 4 1 0 1.000 6.35 0 0 0 0 5.2 3 4 1 8 4 1.94
35 Nick Blackburn 1 0 0 1.59 1 0 0 0 5.2 3 1 0 2 3 0.88
36 Al Worthington 3 0 0 1.69 0 0 0 0 5.1 5 1 0 2 3 1.31
37 Eddie Guardado 5 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 3 5.0 10 5 2 2 5 2.40
38 Carlos Silva 1 0 1 .000 10.80 1 0 0 0 5.0 10 6 1 0 1 2.00
39 Camilo Pascual 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 5.0 8 3 0 1 0 1.80
40 Matt Guerrier 5 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 4.2 1 0 0 1 4 0.43
41 Steve Bedrosian 5 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 4.2 6 2 0 2 4 1.71
42 Jim Merritt 2 0 0 2.70 0 0 0 0 3.1 2 1 0 0 1 0.60
43 Jon Rauch 5 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 1 1 0 2 1 1.00
44 Terry Mulholland 1 0 0 3.00 0 0 0 0 3.0 3 1 1 0 0 1.00
45 Dick Woodson 2 0 0 10.12 0 0 0 0 2.2 5 3 0 4 2 3.38
46 Johnny Klippstein 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 2 0 0 2 3 1.50
47 Brian Fuentes 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 1 0 0 0 2 0.38
48 Grant Balfour 2 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.2 0 0 0 0 2 0.00
49 Terry Leach 2 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 2 1 0 0 2 0.86
50 Scott Baker 1 0 0 3.86 0 0 0 0 2.1 3 1 1 0 2 1.29
51 Jose Mijares 5 0 1 .000 4.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 1 1 2 0 1.50
52 Joe Niekro 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 1.00
53 George Frazier 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0.50
54 Dean Chance 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 2.0 4 3 1 0 2 2.00
55 Michael Jackson 4 0 0 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 6 3 0 2 2 4.80
56 Jesse Crain 4 0 1 .000 16.20 0 0 0 0 1.2 7 3 2 1 1 4.80
57 Ron Mahay 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 0 1 0 1 2 0.60
58 Keith Atherton 3 0 0 5.40 0 0 0 0 1.2 1 1 0 1 0 1.20
59 Bob Miller 1 0 1 .000 5.40 1 0 0 0 1.2 5 1 0 0 0 3.00
60 Bill Zepp 2 0 0 6.75 0 0 0 0 1.1 2 1 1 2 2 3.00
61 Kenny Rogers 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 1.1 1 0 0 1 3 1.50
62 Tony Fiore 1 0 0 20.25 0 0 0 0 1.1 4 3 0 2 0 4.50
63 Bob Wells 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 2 2.00
64 Dennys Reyes 2 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 1 2 0 3.00
65 Pat Neshek 2 0 1 .000 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 1 1 0 0 1 1.00
66 Bill Pleis 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 2.00
67 Matt Capps 1 0 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1.0 2 1 0 0 0 2.00
68 Luis Tiant 1 0 0 13.50 0 0 0 0 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 1.50
69 Joe Grzenda 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
70 Glen Perkins 1 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 0.1 2 0 0 0 0 6.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/17/2014.

Since the Twins started play in 1961 through the 2014 season a total of 751 players have put on a Minnesota Twins uniform and appeared in a game either as a hitter or a pitcher. Only 162 of them or 21.57% have appeared in a Twins post season game over the 54 seasons the Twins have called Minnesota home.

Looking at the Twins SO/9 ratio

Minnesota Twins pitchers have finished dead last in the American League in strikeouts the last three years and you all know where the team has finished in the standing during that time frame. When the Twins came into existence in 1961 the SO/9 average in the American League was 5.2 SO/9 and it slowly climbed to 6.1 SO/9 in 1967 but then started sliding down to under 5.0 SO/9 from 1974 to 1983. Since then it started climbing and for the first time in 2012 it went above 7.0 went it hit 7.4 SO/9 and in 2013 it hit 7.7 SO/9 which is a new high water mark.

From 2006 through 2013 only one team in the AL has finished above the .500 mark in the standings when their pitching staff has had under 1,000 strikeouts and guess who that was? It was the 2008 Minnesota Twins team that finished second to the Chicago White Sox in 2008 when Gardy’s boys went 88-75 and lost game 163 in Chicago. When Twins pitchers have 1,000 or more strikeouts the team won less than 79 games only once and that was the 2000 Twins when they finished the season with a 69-93 mark. Twins pitchers have struck 1,000 or more batters only 10 times in 53 seasons and peaked with 1,164 KO’s in 2006 when the team had a franchise high 7.28 SO/9.

The Twins can spew all the “pitch to contact” babble they want but striking out hitters and winning games goes together like peanut butter and jelly. We can only wait and see what the new Twins pitchers can do. Ricky Nolasco has a career 7.4 SO/9 and Phil Hughes is 7.6 SO/9 so they should help improve the Twins sad 2013 6.11 SO/9 team mark.

So looking back all the way to 1961 what Twins pitchers have had the best SO/9 ratio in a given season? The table below shows the highest SO/9 ratio with a minimum of 50 innings. Not many starters on this list.

Joe Nathan
Joe Nathan
Rk Player SO/9 IP Year G GS W L SV SO ERA
1 Joe Nathan 12.51 68.1 2006 64 0 7 0 36 95 1.58
2 Joe Nathan 12.09 70.0 2005 69 0 7 4 43 94 2.70
3 Joe Nathan 11.67 68.2 2009 70 0 2 2 47 89 2.10
4 Juan Rincon 11.63 82.0 2004 77 0 11 6 2 106 2.63
5 Johan Santana 11.38 108.1 2002 27 14 8 6 1 137 2.99
6 Joe Nathan 11.07 72.1 2004 73 0 1 2 44 89 1.62
7 Glen Perkins 11.06 62.2 2013 61 0 2 0 36 77 2.30
8 Francisco Liriano 10.71 121.0 2006 28 16 12 3 1 144 2.16
9 Tom Hall 10.66 155.1 1970 52 11 11 6 4 184 2.55
10 Casey Fien 10.60 62.0 2013 73 0 5 2 0 73 3.92
11 Johan Santana 10.46 228.0 2004 34 34 20 6 0 265 2.61
12 Ron Davis 10.02 64.2 1985 57 0 2 6 25 72 3.48
13 Glen Perkins 9.98 70.1 2012 70 0 3 1 16 78 2.56
14 Joe Nathan 9.84 67.2 2008 68 0 1 2 39 74 1.33
15 Juan Rincon 9.82 77.0 2005 75 0 6 6 0 84 2.45
16 Francisco Liriano 9.81 100.0 2012 22 17 3 10 0 109 5.31
17 Joe Nathan 9.67 71.2 2007 68 0 4 2 37 77 1.88
18 Johan Santana 9.66 219.0 2007 33 33 15 13 0 235 3.33
19 Johan Santana 9.61 158.1 2003 45 18 12 3 0 169 3.07
20 Tom Hall 9.51 129.2 1971 48 11 4 7 9 137 3.33
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/26/2013.

 

Looking over the Twins history here the best Twins career SO/9 ratio’s with a minimum of 100 innings pitched. How many of these pitchers were originally signed by the Twins? That would be eight.

 

Rk Player SO/9 IP G GS W L W-L% SV SO ERA BA
1 Joe Nathan 10.90 463.1 460 0 24 13 .649 260 561 2.16 .186
2 Pat Neshek 10.48 129.2 132 0 11 6 .647 0 151 3.05 .189
3 Johan Santana 9.50 1308.2 251 175 93 44 .679 1 1381 3.22 .221
4 Francisco Liriano 9.05 783.1 156 130 50 52 .490 1 788 4.33 .247
5 Tom Hall 8.52 455.1 139 44 25 21 .543 13 431 3.00 .212
6 Juan Rincon 8.41 441.0 386 3 30 26 .536 3 412 3.69 .248
7 Ron Davis 8.24 381.1 286 0 19 40 .322 108 349 4.51 .264
8 Jared Burton 8.16 128.0 135 0 5 11 .313 7 116 3.02 .216
9 Juan Berenguer 8.15 418.1 211 7 33 13 .717 9 379 3.70 .231
10 Ray Moore 7.95 159.2 126 1 13 10 .565 25 141 4.90 .252
11 Gerry Arrigo 7.93 131.2 54 15 8 7 .533 1 116 4.31 .245
12 Eddie Guardado 7.79 704.2 648 25 37 48 .435 116 610 4.53 .253
13 Dennys Reyes 7.77 126.1 191 0 10 1 .909 0 109 2.14 .238
14 Rick Aguilera 7.60 694.0 490 30 40 47 .460 254 586 3.50 .243
15 Dan Naulty 7.60 111.1 97 0 4 5 .444 5 94 4.61 .234
16 Al Worthington 7.59 473.1 327 0 37 31 .544 88 399 2.62 .221
17 Dick Stigman 7.52 643.2 138 85 37 37 .500 7 538 3.69 .229
18 Dave Boswell 7.51 1036.1 187 150 67 54 .554 0 865 3.49 .217
19 J.C. Romero 7.42 407.2 327 22 25 20 .556 2 336 4.35 .256
20 Mike Trombley 7.36 645.2 365 36 30 34 .469 34 528 4.53 .266
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/26/2013.

The road to Minnesota is long and hard

long windy roadThe 2013 MLB draft is coming up on June 6-8 and baseball fans everywhere are excited about the draft and can’t wait to see what great players their teams will draft. Some fans will agree with the home towns team picks and others will complain loud and hard about how clueless the picks may have been. Certain fans spend a lot of time studying who is available to be picked and who will drop to their favorite team when it is their turn to pick. There are even fans out there that are more interested in the minors then they are in their major league team. I enjoy following the Twins minor league teams too but unless I lived in one of their minor league cities, I don’t understand the love affair with minor league players because if the player you are cheering for does well, he moves up the ladder and you no longer get to watch him play.

From 1965 when the free agent draft first started until 2012 each professional team has drafted about 50 players each year and signed what, maybe half of them? In 2012 MLB changed the June amateur free agent draft from 50 rounds to 40 rounds. Some of the players drafted are labeled “can’t miss” prospects while others will be long-term projects, they may come out of high school, junior college, or out of a 4 year college. Some of the picks may eventually find their place to the Hall of Fame one day while others may never even get a sniff of a major league spring training invite. Regardless where they come from, they all have the same dream, to get paid for playing a game they love. The road to the big leagues is a long and torturous one and most of the players that start this long hard journey will fail. The odds are long but as long as there is a chance, there will be players willing to sacrifice everything to get there. Players are often willing to risk it all, including their future health and a long life by taking drugs just to wear a major league uniform.

Feel free to get excited about Twins draft picks in 2013 but remember that the road to Target Field is long and bumpy and full of potholes that can take a player out of action for a day, a week, a month, a year, and maybe forever. Most importantly, no matter how good the player may be, it is unlikely that they will wear a Minnesota Twins uniform before their fourth year of professional baseball unless they are a collegiate pitcher. Miracles can certainly happen but history tells us that if Joe Mauer couldn’t get here in quicker than his fourth year, then the odds are pretty slim.

How many get drafted and signed?

I am not sure that most fans understand how few draftees actually ever get the opportunity to put on the major league uniform of the team that drafted them. To give everyone a better understanding of how few make it and how long the road can be I spent some time looking at the Twins drafts for the last 15 years (1998-2012). During this time period the Twins have drafted about 758 players (about 50 a year) and they sign maybe half of them. In the case of the Twins from 1998-2012 they have signed 372 players, 49.08% to pro contracts.

Some interesting and fun facts about the drafts from 1998-2012

  • Of these 372 players, 41 (about 11.02%) have reached the big leagues wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform and eight more (about 2.15%) reached the big leagues wearing a uniform of another big league team. That means that as of May 17, 2013, 13.17% of the players the Twins drafted and signed from 1998-2012 have put on a big league uniform. In addition, many of these players big league careers were very short.
  • Of the 41 players that debuted with the Twins, 20 were drafted out of high school and the quickest to appear in a big league game were C Joe Mauer and OF Ben Revere (both first round picks) in their fourth year of pro ball. On the end other end of the spectrum it took 38th round pick Tommy Watkins until his 10th year of pro ball before he put on the Minnesota Twins uniform. You really have to love baseball to be willing to put in that many years to achieve your goal of putting on a major league uniform. The 20 players drafted from high school were 13 position players, 5 RHP and 2 LHP.
  • Of the 41 players that debuted with the Twins, 4 were drafted out of junior college and the quickest to debut with the Twins were Rene Tosoni (round 36) and Terry Tiffee (round 26) in year five. The longest wait was for Willie Eyre a RHP who debuted in year eight. The 4 players drafted from junior college were two position players and two RHP.
  • Of the 41 players that debuted with the Twins, 17 were drafted out of a 4 year college and the quickest to debut were first round picks Matt Garza and Adam Johnson, both RHP who debuted in year two of pro ball. Having said that, Johnson pitched in 9 Twins games before being released and Garza pitched in 26 Twins games before being traded. The quickest 4 year college position players to debut were SS Brian Dozier an eighth round pick and C Chris Herrmann a sixth round pick in year four. First round pick RHP Matt Fox was on the slow and steady road and debuted in his seventh season of pro ball and pitched in just 1 game in a Twins uniform. Six days after he pitched for the Twins the Red Sox claimed him on waivers from Minnesota. The 17 players drafted from a 4 year college were 5 position players, 10 RHP and 2 LHP.
  • Only two pitchers drafted by the Twins in this time period have started 100 or more games, Scott Baker started 159 games and Nick Blackburn started 137 games.
  • The most wins in a Twins uniform for a pitcher drafted by the Twins during this fifteen year period is 63 for Scott Baker, second with 43 victories is Blackburn.
  • The Twins have only drafted three players that made an All-Star team, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau with the Twins and Evan Meek who the Twins released made the NL All-Star team with the Pirates.
  • The Twins have drafted two league MVP winners (Mauer and Morneau).
  • The top three home run hitters drafted by Minnesota between 1998-2012 are Justin Morneau with 206, Jason Kubel with 104, and Joe Mauer with 96. You know who is fourth? Trevor Plouffe with 38. Yikes!
  • The perception is that the Twins draft and “grow” their own players. But, the drafts from 1998-2012 have produced just ten regular position players and six of them are on this years team.  1B Justin Morneau, OF Jason Kubel, C Joe Mauer, OF Denard Span, 3B Danny Valencia, OF/1B Chris Parmelee, OF Ben Revere,  3B Trevor Plouffe, 2B Brian Dozier, and OF Aaron Hicks.
  • This years Twins staff has 3 pitchers the Twins drafted and signed between 1998-2012 on the current roster and they are Glen Perkins a first rounder out of a 4 year college, Brian Duensing a 3rd rounder out of a four-year college, and Anthony Swarzak a 2nd round pick out of high school.
  • The draft class of 2006 has produced the most players that have gone on to wear a major league uniform, as of today, seven players have made their major league debut and all were in a Twins uniform.

 

Drafts year by year

Year Drafted Signed Twins Debut Other Debut High School College
2012 43 27 0 0 0 0
2011 52 33 0 0 0 0
2010 50 31 0 0 0 0
2009 51 24 2 0 0 2
2008 52 24 1 0 1 0
2007 50 22 1 0 1 0
2006 51 19 7 0 3 4
2005 54 20 5 1 1 5
2004 54 25 6 0 3 3
2003 50 27 1 1 0 2
2002 50 18 3 2 3 2
2001 50 30 3 1 2 2
2000 52 25 5 0 4 1
1999 50 23 5 1 4 2
1998 49 24 2 2 1 3
TOTALS 758 372 41 8 23 26

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Details year by year

2012 – zero so far

2011 – zero so far

2010 – zero so far

2009 – Chris Herrmann was drafted in the 6th round as a C after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 9/16/2012 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Herrmann has played in 7 games for the Twins and is currently in their organization.

2009 – Brian Dozier was drafted in the 8th round as a SS after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 5/7/2012 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Dozier is currently the Twins starting 2B.

2008 – Aaron Hicks was drafted in the first round (14th overall) as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 4/1/2013 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Hicks is currently the Twins starting center fielder.

2007 – Ben Revere was drafted in the first round (27th overall) as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/7/2010 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Played in 254 games for the Twins before being traded to Philly after the 2012 season.

2006 – Chris Parmelee was drafted in the first round (20th overall) as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/6/2011 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Parmelee is currently with the Twins and starting in right field.

2006Joe Benson was drafted in the 2nd round as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/6/2011 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Still in the Twins system, Benson has 24 games in the books as a Minnesota Twin.

2006Tyler Robertson was drafted in the 3rd round as a LHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 6/26/2012 in his seventh year of professional baseball. Still in the Twins system, Robertson has 42 games on his Minnesota Twins resume.

2006Brian Dinkelman was drafted in the 8th round as a 2B after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 6/4/2011 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Still in the Twins system, Dinkelman has 23 games on his Minnesota Twins resume.

2006Jeff Manship was drafted in the 14th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 8/15/2009 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Manship left the Twins as a free agent after the 2012 season and is currently in the Rockies system and to date has appeared in 41 big league games, all with the Twins.

2006 – Danny Valencia was drafted in round 19 as a 3B after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 6/3/2010 in his fifth year of professional baseball. After playing in 273 games for the Twins he was traded to the Red Sox in August 2012 where he appeared in just 10 games before the Red Sox sold him to the Baltimore Orioles and Valencia is in their system today.

2006Anthony Slama was drafted in the 39th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 7/21/2010 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Still in the Twins system, Slama has 7 games on his Minnesota Twins resume.

2005 – Matt Garza was drafted in the 1st round (25th overall) as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 8/11/2006 in just his second year of professional baseball. Garza pitched in 26 games for the Twins before they traded him to Tampa in November 2007. Garza was eventually traded to the Cubs where he is today. Garza has a total of 170 big league games under his belt.

2005Kevin Slowey was drafted in the 2nd round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 6/1/2007 in his third year of professional baseball. Slowey pitched for the Twins in 100 games before being traded in December 2012 to the Rockies. The Rockies quickly moved him to the Indians where he spent 2012 in the Indians organization and left as a free agent after the 2012 season to sign with the Marlins where he is currently pitching.

2005 – Brian Duensing was drafted in the 3rd round as a LHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 4/10/2009 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Duensing is currently with the Twins and has pitched in 183 games wearing a Twins uniform.

2005Alex Burnett was drafted in round 12 as a RHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 4/8/2010 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Burnett pitched in 174 games for the Twins before being waived this past March and picked up by Toronto. Toronto waived Burnett after about 2 weeks and the Orioles claimed him and he is currently in their system.

2005 – Rene Tosoni was drafted in round 36 as an outfielder out of a junior college and debuted with the Twins on 4/28/2011 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Tosoni appeared in 60 games for the Twins before leaving the organization as a FA in November 2012.

2005 – Steve Tolleson was drafted by Minnesota in the fifth round as a shortstop after 4 years of college. Tolleson was claimed on waivers by the A’s in February 2010 and made his big league debut with Oakland on 4/28/2010 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Todate Tolleson has appeared 54 big league games with the A’s and Orioles now finds himself in the White Sox organization.

2004 – Trevor Plouffe was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) as a SS out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 5/21/2010 in his seventh year of professional baseball.  Plouffe is currently the Twins starting 3B.

2004 – Glen Perkins was drafted in round 1 (22nd overall) as a LHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 9/21/2006 in his third year of professional baseball. Perkins is currently the Twins closer.

2004Kyle Waldrop was drafted in the 1st round (25th overall) as a RHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/5/2011 in his eighth year of professional baseball. Waldrop pitched in 24 games before being granted FA in November 2012. Waldrop is currently in the Pirates organization.

2004 – Matt Fox was drafted in the 1st round (35th overall) as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 9/3/2010 in his seventh year of professional baseball. Fox pitched in one game for Minnesota before being claimed on waivers by the Reds Sox in September 2010 where he pitched only 3 times before being waived and claimed by the Mariners.

2004 – Anthony Swarzak was drafted in the 2nd round as a RHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 5/23/2009 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Swarzak is currently a Twins reliever.

2004Matt Tolbert was drafted in the 16th round as a SS after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 4/1/2008 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Tolbert appeared in 247 games as a Twins before being granted FA in October 2011. Tolbert spent a year in the Cubs organization and is now with the Phillies organization.

2003 – Scott Baker was drafted in the 2nd round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 5/7/2005 in his third year of professional baseball. Baker pitched in 163 games for the Twins before sitting out 2012 with TJ surgery. Baker left the Twins after 2012 and signed with the Cubs but is currently on their Disabled List.

2003Levale Speigner was drafted in the 14th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and was selected from the Twins as a Rule 5 pick by the Nationals in December 2006 and made his big league debut with Washington on 4/2/2007 in his fifth year of pro ball. The Nats returned Speigner to the Twins in June 2007 but worked a trade with Minnesota and reacquired Speigner a few days later.

2002 – Denard Span was drafted in the 1st round (20th overall) as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 4/6/2008 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Span appeared in 617 games for the Twins before being traded to the Nationals after the 2012 season.

2002Jesse Crain was drafted in the 2nd round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 8/5/2004 in his third year of professional baseball. Crain appeared in 376 games, all in relief, before leaving Minnesota and signing a free agent deal with the White Sox where he has pitched ever since.

2002Pat Neshek was drafted in the 6th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 7/7/2006 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Neshek pitched in relief in 132 games for the Twins before being claimed on waiver by the Padres. After leaving the Padres, Neshek was in the Orioles organization before being purchased by the Oakland’ A’s where he is currently pitching.

2002 – Evan Meek was drafted in the 11th round as a RHP out of high school. After 3 years in the Twins system in which Meek had pitched 97 innings and walked 100 batters and struck out 84, the Twins had seen enough and released him in June 2005. Meek hooked on with the Padres and eventually moved on to the Pirates where he made his big league debut on 4/2/2008 in his sixth year of professional baseball. In 2010 he made the NL All-Star team. Meek is currently in the Rangers organization.

2002 – Kyle Phillips was drafted in the 1oth round as a C out of high school but was released by Minnesota in April 2006. Phillips caught on with the Brewers but they too released him and he joined the Blue Jays and made his major league debut on 9/14/2009 in his eighth season of pro ball. In total, Phillips played in 5 games for the Blue Jays in 2009 and 36 games for the Padres in 2011 and is no longer in baseball.

2001 – Joe Mauer was drafted in the first round and first overall as a C out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School and debuted with the Twins on 4/5/2004 in his fourth year of professional baseball. Mauer has appeared in 866 games for the Twins. Mauer has been a league MVP and 5 time All-Star.

2001Jose Morales was drafted in the third round as a SS out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/8/2007 in his seventh year of professional baseball. The Twins converted Morales in to a catcher in 2003. Morales appeared in 96 games for Minnesota before being traded to the Rockies after the 2010 season. After leaving Colorado, Morales was in the Pirates organization for a while but is not currently affiliated with a major league team.

2001 – Nick Blackburn was drafted in the 29th round as an RHP out of a junior college and debuted with the Twins on 9/3/2007 in his sixth year of professional baseball. Blackburn has pitched in 145 games for the Twins, mostly as a starter. Blackburn is currently rehabbing an injury and is not currently on the Twins 40 man roster.

2001 – Kevin Cameron was drafted in the 13th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and claimed by the Padres in December 2006 as a Rule 5 draftee. Wolfe made his big league debut on 4/5/2007 with the Padres in his seventh year of professional baseball. Cameron’s big league career lasted 69 games from 2007-2009.

2000 – Adam Johnson was drafted in the 1st round and second overall as a RHP after 4 years of college and debuted with the Twins on 7/16/2001 in his second year of professional baseball. Johnson appeared in 9 games for the Twins between 2001 and 2003 and was released by Minnesota after the 2004 season. Johnson played for the Arizona and Oakland organizations but never again reached the big leagues and was out of pro ball after 2006.

2000 – J. D. Durbin was drafted in the 2nd round as a RHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/8/2004 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Durbin pitched in 4 games for Minnesota before being picked up by the Diamondbacks on waivers in March 2007 where he appeared in one game. Durbin then became a waiver claim of the Red Sox but never appeared in a game there before he was again waived and picked up by the Phillies where he pitched in 18 games. 2007 was the last time that Durbin spent time in the big leagues. Durbin then spent time with the Dodgers organization, played in Mexico, Japan and several independent leagues and was once again signed by the Red Sox this past spring before again being released.

2000Jason Miller was drafted in the 4th round as a LHP out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 5/26/2007 in his eighth year of professional baseball. Miller appeared in just 4 games with the Twins and was out of baseball after the 2008 season.

2000Josh Rabe was drafted in the 11th round as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 7/17/2006 in his seventh year of professional baseball. Rabe appeared in a total of 38 games as a Twins and was granted free agency after the 2007 season. Played some independent ball in 2008 and then left baseball in his rear view mirror.

2000 – Jason Kubel was drafted in the 12th round as an outfielder out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 8/31/2004 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Kubel played in Minnesota through the 2011 season appearing in 753 games before leaving via free agency after the 2011 season and signing with Arizona where he is still playing today.

1999Rob Bowen was drafted in the 2nd round (Expos took Brian Phillips one pick later and the Pirates selected Ryan Doumit 3 picks later) as a catcher out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/1/2003 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Bowen appeared in just 43 games before moving on to play for the Padres, Cubs and A’s during his 5 big league seasons and 216 big league games.

1999 – Justin Morneau was drafted in the 3rd round as a catcher out of high school and debuted with the Twins on 6/10/2003 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Morneau was converted to full-time 1B duties in 2001. Morneau has been a league MVP and four-time All-Star and has appeared in almost 1,200 games for Minnesota.

1999Travis Bowyer was drafted in the 20th round as a RHP out of a high school and debuted with the Twins on 9/10/2005 in his seventh year of professional baseball. Bowyer pitched in 8 games for Minnesota and in December 2005 was traded to the Marlins for 2B Luis Castillo. Bowyer never pitched for the Marlins and was actually out of baseball for 7 seasons before surfacing with an independent league in 2012.

1999 – Willie Eyre was drafted in the 23rd round as a RHP out of a junior college and debuted with the Twins on 4/6/2006 in his eighth year of professional baseball. Eyre appeared in 42 games for the Twins in 2006 and was granted free agency after the season ended. Eyre went on to pitch for the Rangers and the Orioles.

1999 – Terry Tiffee was drafted in the 26th round as a 1B out of a junior college and debuted with the Twins on 9/1/2004 in his fifth year of professional baseball. Tiffee appeared in 91 games for the Twins between 2004-2006 and in 6 games for the Dodgers in 2008 but has been in the minors ever since.

1999Brian Wolfe was drafted in the 6th round as a RHP out of high school and released by Minnesota in May 2005. Wolfe was with the Brewers and Blue Jays organizations and  debuted with the Blue Jays on 5/30/2007 in his ninth year of professional baseball. Wolfe’s big league career lasted just 72 games but Wolfe has pitched in Japan since 2010.

1998Kevin Frederick was drafted in the 34th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and made his big league debut with the Twins on July 15, 2002 in his fifth year of pro ball. Frederick appeared in 8 games for Minnesota before being waived and claimed by the Blue Jays in March 2003 where he appeared in 22 games but that proved to be the end of the line as far as Frederick’s big league career was concerned.

1998 – Tommy Watkins was drafted in the 38th round as a SS out of high school and made his big league debut with the Twins on August 10, 2007 in his tenth year of pro ball. Watkins appeared in just 9 games for the Twins and moved in to the Twins minor league coaching ranks after the 2009 season.

1998Saul Rivera was drafted in the 9th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and waived by the Twins in November 2001 and picked up by the Mets. Rivera debuted with the Nationals on May 25, 2006 in his ninth year of pro ball. Rivera pitched in a total of 249 big league games for the Nats and Diamondbacks between 2006-2010. Out of baseball today.

1998Juan Padilla was drafted in the 24th round as a RHP after 4 years of college and traded by the Twins to the Yankees as the PTBNL when the Twins acquired Jesse Orosco in September 2003. Padilla made his big league debut with the Yankees on July 16, 2004 in his seventh year of pro ball. Padilla appeared in 42 major league games between the Yankees, Reds and Mets.

Where do Twins players come from?

I mentioned earlier that the perception is that the Twins draft and groom the majority of their players. Let’s take a look at the players that most people today would consider the Twins top prospects. I will not include anyone here who has made his major league debut with the Twins and I will list the players in no particular order. Let’s take a look to see how the Twins acquired these up-and-coming stars. It just goes to show that the amateur free agent draft in June is not the only way to acquire talented young players.

3B – Miguel Sano – signed as an amateur free agent
OF – Byron Buxton – 1st round draft pick in 2012
P – Alex Meyer – acquired in a trade
P – Kyle Gibson – 1st round draft pick in 2009
P – Trevor May – acquired in a trade
2B – Eddie Rosario – 4th round draft pick in 2010
P – Jose Berrios – 1st round draft pick in 2012
OF – Max Kepler – signed as an amateur free agent in 2009
SS – Daniel Santana – signed as an amateur free agent in 2007

 

There are many ways to make up a 25 man major league roster, here is how the current 2013 Twins roster was assembled. On the position side, six players were drafted, four were signed as free agents, one was signed as an amateur free agent, one was acquired via a trade and one was picked up on the waiver wire. On the pitching side, four were signed as free agents, three were drafted, two joined the team via a trade, two were Rule 5 selections, and one was acquired via the waiver wire. The Twins line has always been that you grow the majority of your own players and you sign a few free agents to fill some holes. This years roster does not necessarily hold dear to that principal, maybe that is why the Twins will struggle to reach the .500 mark this season.

New draft strategy?

Maybe Terry Ryan and the Twins should change their draft strategy. All the so called draft experts out there are clamoring for the Twins to use their early picks on pitching help and don’t get me wrong, the Twins need good pitching. However; with the Twins poor history of drafting pitchers, maybe they should quit spending their high draft picks on pitchers and focus on drafting position players and then either put them in their line-up or trade them for proven pitching. You need to go with your organizations strength and the Twins scouts seem to find good hitting but pitching, not so much. Then you use Terry Ryan’s trading expertise to swap hitting for pitching. Then again, is the June amateur draft much different then the Powerball tickets I just bought? I spent my money knowing the odds were long but the carrot for the huge payoff was out there but this time I walked away empty handed. Fortunately, each of my Powerball tickets cost $2 and not several million dollars like a number 1 pick will probably cost the Twins. But you can bet your bippy I will try it again.

Twins switch-hitters

In baseball, a switch-hitter is a batter that bats either from the right side or the left side depending on if the pitcher is right or left-handed. Most curveballs break away from batters hitting from the same side as the opposing pitcher making such pitches often harder to hit than those from the other side. History tells us that most right-handed batters hit better against lefty pitchers and left-handed batters hit better against right-handers. This so-called platoon benefit is why managers use pinch hitters and LOOGY’s and why some players want to become switch-hitters.

Switch-hitting at its best

Switch-hitters have been around for ever it seems and yet according to sources that I have researched, only about 6% of baseball batters have been switch-hitters. You have to wonder if switch-hitting is such an advantage, why haven’t more of baseball best hitters been switch-hitters? The best career batting average for a switch-hitter is .316 by Frankie Frisch and he currently ranks 71st all-time. Some of the best switch-hitters in our era have been  Chipper Jones at .306 and Pete Rose at .303. Detroit Tigers DH Victor Martinez has a career average of .302 making him the highest currently active switch-hitter. Switch-hitters have been around for a long time and there have been some pretty good ones over the years, in addition to the players I just mentioned, you have to add players like Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray, Roberto Alomar, Bernie Williams, George Davis, Lance Berkman, Tim Raines and Chili Davis to the list of switch-hitting greats.

Switch-hitting and the rules

A question often asked is can a batter switch for right to left or left to right during an at bat. The only rule that I can find that seemingly applies is 6.06(b) which states that “A batter is out for illegal action when he steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch.” Based on that, it appears you can switch from one batters box to the other as often as you want as long as you do it before the pitcher gets in his pitching position.

Twins switch-hitting history

The Twins currently have four switch-hitters on their 25 man playing roster, C Ryan Doumit, SS Pedro Florimon, OF Aaron Hicks, and utility man Eduardo Escobar.

Roy Smalley III
Roy Smalley III

In the Twins 53 years of existence the team has had 62 players that were switch-hitters but not all of them actually batted and we will touch more on that later. The Twins very first switch-hitter was actually a pitcher, Pedro Ramos. Ramos pitched and batted (1 for 4 with 2 RBI) in the Twins very first game when Ramos and the Twins shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on April 11, 1961 at Yankee Stadium. The first Twins switch-hitting position player to appear in a game was SS Marty Martinez when he had an at bat against the Yankees at Met Stadium on May 30, 1962 in game 2 of a doubleheader. Martinez actually appeared in 3 earlier games as a Twins but was used strictly as a pinch-runner by manager Sam Mele. It wasn’t until 1976 however; that the Twins actually had a regular position player switch-hitting and that year they had two, rookie catcher Butch Wynegar and SS Roy Smalley. The Twins are playing their 53rd season and there has only been one year, 1973 that they have not had a switch-hitter step into the batters box wearing a Twins uniform. On the other hand, they had nine switch-hitters (Cristian Guzman was the only starter) at one time or another on their 1999 team that finished 63-97.

Twins switch-hitting pitchers

Looking at the Twins 62 switch-hitters, eleven of them were pitchers and claimed to be switch-hitters but only Pedro Ramos, Jim PerryDan Serafini, JC Romero, and Joe Mays actually set foot in the batters box. The other six, Stan Perzanowski, Darrell Jackson, Pete Filson, Jason Ryan, Pat Neshek, and Eric Hacker were switch-hitters only on the back of their baseball cards because they never batted in a Twins game. Jim Perry actually hit five home runs as a Twin.

Home runs from each side of the plate club

The Twins switch-hitter with the most home runs is Roy Smalley and he hit 163 career home runs and 110 of them were when he was a Minnesota Twin. The “home runs from each side of the plate” club is relatively exclusive but three of the members were Twins. Roy Smalley accomplished that rare feat twice, once against the Boston Red Sox at the Metrodome on  May 30, 1986 and once earlier in his career as a New York Yankee in 1982. Chili Davis became the second Twin to join the club when he did it against the Royals on October 2, 1992.  Ryan Doumit became the third Twin to do so when too joined the exclusive fraternity against the Royals on July 22, 2012. Chili Davis hit a home run from each side of the plate 11 times in his illustrious 19 year career. Just for comparisons sake, Mickey Mantle did it on 10 occasions.

One oddity that seems to stand out to me is how few of the switch-hitters employed by the Twins over the years actually threw left-handed. If you exclude the 11 switch-hitting pitchers from the list you are left with 51 switch-hitters and only one of the 51 threw left-handed, the other fifty were right-handed. Kind of strange. The lone left-handed position player was John Moses. But keep in mind that John Moses an outfielder by trade, actually pitched in 3 games for the Twins and it gets even stranger.

Twins best switch-hitters

So let’s take a look at the Twins top switch-hitters, there is no good way to rank them so I will list here all the Twins switch-hitters that have 1,000 or more plate appearances in a Twins uniform. The chart also shows positions played, games played, home runs and batting average. All the numbers on this chart are their Twins career numbers. Many of these players played for other teams but those numbers are not included here, I am only interested in their numbers as Minnesota Twins for this story.

Name Positions PA Games HR AVG
1 Roy Smalley 6,5,3 4676 1148 110 .262
2 Cristian Guzman 6 3538 841 39 .266
3 Butch Wynegar 2,5 3188 794 37 .254
4 Nick Punto 5,4,6,8,3 2707 747 12 .248
5 Gene Larkin 3.9.5.4 2670 758 32 .266
6 Denny Hocking 4,6,8,5,3 2455 876 25 .252
7 Al Newman 6,4,5,8 1876 618 0 .231
8 Alexi Casilla 4,6,5,8 1764 515 11 .250
9 Chili Davis DH,9,3 1163 291 41 .282
10 Luis Castillo 4 1036 227 3 .299
11 Matt Walbeck 2 1008 275 8 .230

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