Five best Twins draft picks
The Twins have chosen more than 25,000 players since the major league draft began in 1965. Here are the five most successful major leaguers drafted by the Twins, as judged by WAR, or wins above replacement, a statistic that attempts to quantify a player's overall career value.
1. Bert Blyleven, third round, 55th overall, 1969 (95.4 WAR): The curveball specialist from Southern California would go on to win 287 games in a 22-year career, 149 of them with the Twins.
2. Graig Nettles, fourth round, 74th overall, 1965 (68.0): The six-time All-Star played 2,700 career games but only the first 121 in Minnesota before being traded to Cleveland in a package for Luis Tiant and Stan Williams. He won two World Series with the Yankees.
3. Kirby Puckett, first round, third overall, 1982 (50.8): The best position-player draftee to spend his prime with the Twins, Puckett was a little-known Chicago outfielder when he was picked in a midwinter draft, but he went on to win a batting title and two World Series.
4. Torii Hunter, first round, 20th overall, 1993 (48.5): It took him nearly eight years to establish himself with the Twins, but he has gone on to a long career with three teams and needs one more home run for 300.
5. Frank Viola, second round, 37th overall, 1981 (47.4): He won 112 games and the 1988 Cy Young Award over eight years with the Twins but was traded to the Mets in 1989 for a package of players that included closer Rick Aguilera.
