TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
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 player – Jason 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
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 team – Kevin Cameron (RHP).
In the last ten years the Twins have had four winning seasons and made the playoffs three times but in those seven play-off games their record is 0-7. So why the dry spell after the Twins had winning teams in 7 of 9 years before that?
If you look at the Twins drafts from 2009 thru current you might find your answer. The way baseball works you can’t expect your draft choices to produce in the big leagues for three or four years and it has been that way since who knows when. That baffles me because the NFL takes it players straight out of college, some after just three seasons and the next year they are professionals in the NFL. The NBA does it the same way but takes the cream of the crop college players after just one collegiate season and moves them to the pros. Baseball on the other hand is convinced that players out of high school or college can’t play in the big leagues. Oh, a handful of them have but for the most part you have to spend a few years in the minors and work you way up the ladder.
The Minnesota Twins picked 30th in the June 2011 draft and in round one they selected shortstop Levi Michael. The Twins signed Michael to a $1.175 million dollar bonus and sent him directly to A+ Ft. Myers in 2012. At the end of the 2017 the Twins let him go after Michael peaked with 12 games at AAA Rochester. The New York Mets signed him and he is playing in AA ball this season.
The Twins had two supplementary first round picks for the loss of Orlando Hudson and Jesse Crain and at number 50 they took third baseman Travis Harrison and signed him for $1.050 million. Harrison spent three years (2015-2017) in AA Chattanooga and the Twins let him go and Harrison is playing Independent League ball this season.
The Twins used their other (number 55) supplementary pick to take and sign RHP Hudson Boyd from Bishop Verot High School in Ft. Myers for $1 million. Boyd lasted with Minnesota just three seasons and reached A- Cedar Rapids and was sent packing in November 2014 for his off the field issues and no one has bothered to take a chance on him. No longer in pro ball.
Round 2 – Twins select RHP Madison Boer. The Twins released Boer after the 2015 season when he peaked in AA Chattanooga. Boer is no longer in pro ball.
Round 3 – Twins select LHP Corey Williams. Williams got to AA Chattanooga in 2016 but the Twins let him go and he pitched for the St. Paul Saints in 2016-2017 but is no longer in pro ball.
Round 4 – Twins selected RHP Matt Summers. Summers also reached AA Chattanooga before being released in 2015 and no longer in pro ball.
Round 5 – Twins select shortstop Tyler Grimes and in his fourth season he played at A+ Ft. Myers. The Twins let him go and he is no longer playing pro ball.
Round 6 – The Twins selected outfielder Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez and signed him for $130,000. In 2014 Dereck Rodriguez switched to the mound. The Twins started him out as a reliever in his first season as a pitcher but used him as a starter after that. Rodriguez reached AA Chattanooga in 2017 but left the Twins organization as a free agent after the 2017 season ended and signed with the San Francisco Giants.
Dereck Rodriguez
The Giants had Rodriguez start the season in AAA where in 9 starts he was 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 50.1 innings with just 11 walks. He was called up to the big leagues and made his major league debut on May 29, 2018 in relief and pitched 3.1 innings and allowed four runs but only one earned in Colorado. His next appearance was as a starter against the Phillies and he pitched 6 innings allowing just one run and notched his first big league win. This year Rodriguez has started 12 games and has a 2.25 ERA with a 6-1 record with 80 innings pitched and has 65 strikeouts and allowed only 61 hits. In his 12 starts Rodriguez has gone less than five innings just once. Rodriguez has been one of the most impressive rookie starters in all of baseball despite being allowed to reach minor-league free agency last fall by the Twins.
The Giants can count their found fortune later; for now, it’s enough that they’ve already received a huge contribution from Rodriguez and control him for six more seasons to come. It took 14 years but looks like the San Francisco Giants have finally gotten even for the A.J. Pierzynski trade they made with Minnesota back in November of 2003. That was the trade where the Giants acquired Pierzynski and cash for Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano.
The only player the Twins got out of the 2011 draft that put on a Twins uniform was LHP Jason Wheeler and he appeared in 2 games throwing 3 innings before moving him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I see no record of Wheeler pitching anywhere in 2018 so he may have put baseball in the rearview mirror.
The Twins had a terrible draft in 2011 but the Dereck Rodriguez story is a great one!
This weeks Twins Minor League Player of the Week is also today’s Minnesota Twins starting pitcher against the San Francisco Giants, left-hander Nik Turley. The 6’5″ Turley will be the fourth Twins pitcher to make major league debut this season following Randy Rosario, Jason Wheeler and Justin Haley.
Turley tied a Southern League record with the Chattanooga Lookouts (AA) by striking out eight straight batters on April 25 vs. Tennessee and also set a Frontier Field record by striking out 15 batters in just 6.0 innings in his last start on June 6 for the Rochester Red Wings (AAA) while allowing just 4 hits. The 15 strikeouts were the most by a Red Wings pitcher since 1988.
Between Chattanooga and Rochester, Turley struck out 84 of 204 total batters faced (41.2%). He struck out 45 of 86 total batters faced (52.3%) with the Lookouts.
The now 27-year old Turley was a 50th round selection (1,502 overall) by the Yankees in 2008 and has played in the minor league systems of the Yankees, Giants, Red Sox and the Twins as well as an independent league team. Turley is the first 50th round draft pick to reach the majors since Efren Navarro in 2011, and one of just three 50th round selections
to reach the major leagues since 2000 (also: Jarrod Dyson in 2010).
In his 10th minor league season Turley has a 48-45 record with a 3.50 ERA. Turley changed the grip on some of his pitches this spring and seemingly has turned his career around. Nik has stated that former Yankee pitcher Bob Turley is a distant relative.
Adam Brett Walker. Lakeland Flying Tigers v. Ft. Myers Miracle. Aug. 2, 2014. Photo by Tom Hagerty.
This offseason, MiLB.com is honoring players — regardless of age or prospect status — who had the best season in their organization. Today, they covered the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins ranked sixth in baseball — and fourth in the American League — with a combined .536 winning percentage across its Minor League affiliates. You can read the article by going here. If you follow young players in the Twins system you might want to check this out.
Beloit left-handed pitcher Jason Wheeler is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 26-June 1. Wheeler, 21, won both of his starts for the Snappers, going 2-0, 4.84 ERA (13.0 ip, 7 er), allowing 12 hits with five walks and 13 strikeouts. In 11 starts this season, he is 7-1, 3.23 (64.0 IP, 23 er) allowing 67 hits with 15 walks and 46 strikeouts. Wheeler was the Twins eighth round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Loyola Marymount University.
