One of the great moves the Twins made in the offseason was when they hired former Twins pitcher LaTroy Hawkins, who has done a great job as an analyst on the FSN broadcasts and from a public relations standpoint, as a special assistant for the organization.
But maybe the biggest thing he has contributed has been advising Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey to make Royce Lewis the No. 1 overall pick. Lewis has dominated early and is hitting .308 and leads the Gulf Coast League in runs scored (28), is third in stolen bases (eight), and his OPS of .895 is sixth overall in the GCL.
And while Lewis has set the world on fire, Hunter Greene, who many believed the Twins should take, hasn't played in a game yet. Hawkins said he made three trips to see Lewis play during his senior year of high school.
Hawkins described giving his opinion on the morning of the draft and why he thinks the Twins made the right call with Lewis.
"That morning I texted [General Manager] Thad [Levine] and Derek," Hawkins said. "Derek had asked me who I thought we should take No. 1, not saying that he put a lot into my pick, but my choice was Royce Lewis.
"I texted him that Monday morning, and that's who we went with later that afternoon. I was just impressed with Royce and the way he played the game. I saw him three times. Like I said, I saw him get one hit but I saw him take very good, professional at-bats. His approach to the game wasn't like a 17- or 18-year-old kid, he was already a professional. You don't find that that often with guys that young."
An interesting side note to Hawkins and Lewis was that Hawkins and Torii Hunter, who has also made tremendous contributions to the Twins this season in the same role as Hawkins, had gotten to know Lewis' father, William, in 2012 while with the Los Angeles Angels.
"I knew his dad from the Winery over in Irvine, California," Hawkins said about the restaurant where William is a part-owner and sommelier. "I used to live over there, and Torii and I, when I played with the Angels, used to go into his restaurant and eat. He never told us his son was a baseball player. That's how I got a chance to know his dad.