It's hard to believe, but Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft is less than a month away. The Twins have area scouts and cross-checkers all around the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, looking at highly touted players, but also trying to find some diamonds in the rough.
The Major League Baseball draft, by its very nature, is an inexact science. Scouts can look at statistics and box scores, but they also have to look at how a prospect looks, how athletic is he, how big can he get (in a good way or a bad way!), and they try to project how good the player will be at the big league level over the next ten to twenty years. With the Twins, character matters, and yet it is hard to project how character will develop with a 17-21 year old kid as they get money and (hopefully) maturity.
Like every team in baseball, the Twins have had plenty of hits to go with plenty of misses. With the amount of money alloted for first round picks (and really picks in the first five to ten rounds), you hope to find as many hits as possible. However, if you look at teams' draft histories, and draft picks from ten to twenty years ago, you find out just how difficult it is. Teams draft 50-55 players each year, and if one of them becomes a great player, it is a good draft. If you can find three to four players who simply contribute to the big league club, that is a good thing.
Here is a quick review of the Twins past 15 drafts. I will point out who the Twins first round pick (or picks) were, but also name a few other players that the Twins drafted and signed to illustrate that to judge a draft can not be only to look at the first round picks.
1996 - The Twins drafted 1B Travis Lee, who was playing for Team USA in the Olympics. Lee found a loophole and became a free agent, signing for big money elsewhere. However, the Twins signed their 2nd round pick (another Olympian) Jacque Jones. Chad Allen was a fourth round pick. Michael Ryan, who was just promoted to the Angels after not being in the big leagues for the past four seasons, was drafted in the 5th round. Chad Moeller was selected in the 7th round.
1997 - The Twins drafted Michael Cuddyer with the 9th overall pick, and I think it's safe to say this was a great pick. Cuddyer was incredible in the minor leagues and yet took quite some time to become a big league regular. He personifies character and has become a core member of the Twins lineup, a strong middle of the order bat. Matthew Lecroy was a supplemental first round pick. JC Romero was taken in the 21st round. The Twins liked Nick Punto already at this time. They drafted him in the 33rd round out of high school. He didn't sign, and was later drafted by the Phillies.
1998 - Ryan Mills was supposed to be a sure thing. Drafted out of Arizona State, he was known for excellent mechanics and a how-to-pitch video by his dad. He really didn't stay healthy in the Twins system and never did make the big leagues. This wasn't a good draft for the Twins. It could be argued that the best pick was Tommy Watkins in the 38th round.
1999 - BJ Garbe was a good athlete, but he was not much of a baseball player. The Twins took the outfielder in the first round, and he got up to AA, but never hit as a professional. Catcher Rob Bowen was selected in the 2nd round.Terry Tiffee was the team's 26th round pick. The Twins used their 45th round pick on Pat Neshek, who didn't sign and went to Butler. But in the 3rd round, the Twins took a catcher from Canada named Justin Morneau. He was moved to the outfield before settling in at first base. Again, I think it's fair to say that the 2006 MVP who consistently hits 30 home runs and drives in 100 runs a year, was a pretty good draft pick.
