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
The players listed below had just one hit while wearing a Minnesota Twins uniform. Most had more than one big league hit in their big league careers but for our purposes we are just looking for those players that had just one hit while wearing Minnesota Twins colors.
As you might suspect, since this list covers players that played for the Minnesota Twins from 1961 (when pitchers still batted) through 2019 the list has a lot of pitchers on it. The right-hand column on the list shows you the positions played by that player.
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.
Yesterday I checked out the Twins second full workout of the spring as Paul Molitor ran his boys through their paces. I saw nothing really unusual but I thought it was kind of interesting that I saw no pitchers throwing in the bullpen at all the entire time I was there. The outfielders went through their drills on the Hammond Stadium field while the rest of the team appeared to be split into three groups with a mixture of infielders and pitchers in each group going through pitching and infield drills on three separate fields.
As I watched the drills I couldn’t help but miss Tom Kelly putting the guys through the drills and hearing his banter and seeing him pull guys aside to give them some tips on playing the game better. The drill without TK this spring was noticeably quieter. TK has a long history with the Twins and belongs out here in spring training and I am not convinced that he is back in Minnesota by his own volition.
Niko Goodrum – number 71
The one incident that stands out in my mind were pitcher drills where the pitchers practiced the pick-off at second base. In this case starter Hector Santiago wheeled around and threw “a pea” wildly over shortstop Niko Goodrum‘s. To me two things stood out about that play, how quick and hard Santiago’s throw was and the fact that shortstop Niko Goodrum barely jogged to get the loose ball. It is only the second full day of drills, a little more effort from Goodrum would seem appropriate.
Hopefully the Twins will get a lot of work in today and rain is predicted for Wednesday. As always, I took a number of pictures and you can check them out on the 2017 spring training pictures link on the right hand side of the main page.
The Minnesota Twins were 87-76 in 2009 and scored six runs in three games in the ALDS against the New York Yankees and were swept in three games. That earned them the right to pick 21st in the 2010 June Amateur draft. Yep, that is the year Bryce Harper was picked number one, Manny Machado was number three and Chris Sale was number 13. The Twins meanwhile selected Alex Wimmers at 21, Niko Goodrum at number 71, Pat Dean at 102, and Eddie Rosario with the 135th overall selection.
Seven years later Rosario appears to be the plum of the Twins selections in that draft. There is still a chance that Goodrum or Ryan O’Rourke or Logan Darnell will suddenly blossom but it looks more and more unlikely.
The Twins drafted Rosario as an outfielder out of Rafael Lopez Landron High School in Guayama, Puerto Rico at the age of 18 and Rosario started his professional career as an outfielder in the Gulf Coast League. Rosario’s career took a brief turn in 2012 when the Minnesota Twins were desperate for a second baseman and decided that Eddie Rosario might be just the guy to fill that hole. In the Fall of 2013 the Twins sent Rosario to sharpen his skills in the AFL but Rosario struggled and hit just .238 in 80 at bats. History shows us that Brian Dozier stepped in and laid claim to the second base role in Minnesota in 2013 and so the Twins started planning to transition Rosario back to the outfield in 2014.
In January of 2014 Eddie Rosario who was then the Twins number 5 prospect, found himself suspended for 50 games for his second failed drug test according to MLB. The suspension was for an undisclosed “drug of abuse,” such as marijuana or cocaine, as distinct from a performance-enhancing drug. The Twins sent Rosario to the AFL again in the Fall of 2014 so he could make up some of the at bats he missed due to his suspension and this time Rosario had 33 hits in 100 at bats and stole 10 bases in the process.
After starting the 2015 season in AAA Rochester where he hit a mediocre .242 in 23 games Rosario finally got the call he had been waiting for and he was on his way to Target Field. On May 6, 2015 Rosario made his big league debut at Target Field against the Oakland A’s in right field hitting in the eight spot. In his first at bat, as a matter of fact his very first pitch, he hit a home run becoming just the 29th player in major league history to accomplish that rare feat. Rosario played well and finished the 2015 season hitting .267 with 13 home runs and a league leading 15 triples in 122 games. In addition, Rosario was second in the league in outfield assists with 16.
The future looked bright for Eddie but 2016 rolled around and Rosario struggled both in the field and with his bat and by mid May his average sat at .200, with the ballclub losing game after game Rosario found a one-way ticket to AAA Rochester waiting for him in his locker. Rosario hit well in Rochester and found himself back at Target Field in early July and seemed to have his swagger back by hitting .305 in his final 60 games.
The question going on to 2017 is what Eddie Rosario are we going to see, the good Rosario or the seemingly dis-interested Rosario? I think people are in for a pleasant surprise. That 2010 draft is just a distant memory now but if Eddie Rosario gets it together the Minnesota Twins will have gotten something out of the draft. Come on Eddie, the Twins and their fans are counting on you.
August 28, 2011 – Elizabethton (Rookie Appalachian League) outfielder Niko Goodrum is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for August 13-19. Goodrum, 20, hit .481 (13-for-27) with two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine RBI’s, four walks and eight runs scored in seven games with the E-Town Twins. Goodrum was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the of the 2010 First-Year Player draft and he began his professional career last season in the Gulf Coast League.
