May 30, 2008 – The 2008 First-Year player draft will take place on June 5-6 at the Disney Sports complex in Florida. For the second year in a row, MLB has chosen to televise the event on ESPN2. Unlike the NFL draft that drags on and on, MLB allows just 5 minutes between first round picks.
The Twins like many other teams, have done so-so in this draft. Since the draft started in 1965, the Twins have had 46 first round picks and have chosen a pitcher in the first round just 15 times. That seems strange for a team that always talks pitching and fielding over hitting but he Twins have never had a pitcher drafted in the first round become a star and have had a number of big time flops. Over the years they have drafted pitchers like Dick Ruthven (did not sign), Eddie Bane, Bryan Oelkers, Tim Belcher (over all number 1 pick in the 1983 draft but would not sign with Minnesota), Jeff Bumgarner, Willie Banks, Johnny Ard, Todd Ritchie, Dan Serafini, Mark Redman, Ryan Mills, and Adam Johnson. Their most recent pitcher picks have been Matt Garza, Kyle Waldrop, and Glen Perkins and the jury is still out on these guys.
I would like to see the Twins cut back on their drafting of high school players and focus more on college players that have more experience and can get to the big leagues sooner. But this draft is not always about potential and ability as money often determines who gets drafted when. This year the Twins have 2 picks (numbers 14 and 27) and are one of just two teams with multiple picks in the first round. One of the picks is a sandwich pick due to the loss of Torri Hunter.
Here is a nice site that might be worth you time to check out and it includes a possible mock draft – http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/draft .
