FORT MYERS, FLA. – You want to have some fun with the Twins scouts of such solid reputations that they have managed to survive the 28-month upheaval that started in November 2016 when the impeccably educated East Coasters took over the baseball administration?
Here's the strategy: You welcome these veteran baseball men, well-traveled in cheap hotels and dusty ballyards, with an Italian greeting, and not the traditional "buon giorno" but a lyrical rendition of "Ben-in-tenn-dee."
The baseball draft is the most inexact science in player acquisition among the four major sports, rivaled only by hockey, but there are some blunders too obvious to excuse.
The Twins had the sixth overall selection on June 8, 2015, after losing more than 90 games (70-92) for the fourth consecutive season in 2014. It was a draft that fell so that Andrew Benintendi, a lefthanded-hitting outfielder from Arkansas, was available to the Twins.
Benintendi had led the Razorbacks to the College World Series with 20 home runs, 57 RBI, a .376 average and .488 on-base percentage, and there was considerable backing for him among Twins scouts.
I'm not much of an OPS guy, but Benintendi's 1.205 was above average, right?
Deron Johnson, then in charge of the draft, now an adviser to scouting director Sean Johnson, went with Tyler Jay, a pitcher for Illinois. Jay had a lively left arm, but he also had been a reliever, with only two starts in 71 appearances in three Illini seasons.
A college reliever, sixth overall?