Twins scouts from all over the country have converged on Target Field, part of the organization's final preparations for the upcoming first-year player draft.
"Anybody who is involved with any organization will tell you that this is probably the most important time of the year," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said.
Ryan has watched a handful of the top prospects and scouted the Big Ten tournament at Target Field last week. That's about as far as Ryan wants to get involved. There's a belief that general managers are becoming more involved in the draft because of the money involved, but Ryan said that can be dangerous.
"You don't have a grasp on what is happening nationwide," Ryan said. "You don't have a list that gives you some slotting, where this guy belongs and this guy goes here. And on top of that, we've had the same scouts, most of them for 20-plus years. We're pretty much on the same page and know what works and what hasn't. Let them do their jobs."
The club spent Saturday ranking the top 35 players in the nation and extended its list to 75 on Sunday. From there, the Twins will begin ranking the best players by position.
The Twins have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, which begins Thursday with the first two rounds. Rounds 3 through 10 will be Friday, and Rounds 11 through 40 on Saturday.
The top players available in the draft are considered to be Oklahoma righthander Jonathan Gray, Stanford righthander Mark Appel and University of San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant. The Twins are looking at a handful of players to select with their first pick.
Colabello sent down
The Twins sent first baseman Chris Colabello back to Class AAA Rochester after their 10-0 victory over Seattle on Sunday. Colabello was 2-for-15 in two stints with the club.
