We all focus on the #1 picks of the Twins over the yrs & the majority of those have made the majors, but for a handful of picks.....I have been very disappointed in the #2 picks, who should have nearly as much value for teams.
Last 15 yrs
97--pick 61--Mike Restovich....made majors, never a starter--152 MLB gms
98--pick 49--Marcus Sents......out of ball after 2 yrs in half season lgs
99--pick 56--Rob Bowen.........backup C who played 216 games
00--pick 42--Tagg Bozied.......didnt sign
00--pick 54--JD Durbin...........'Real Deal' was all hype, 23 MLB gms 6 starts
01--pick 45--Scott Tyler..........never made majors, was dealt for Luis Castillo
02--pick 63--Jessie Crain.........very solid pick, better after leaving MN (IMO)
03--pick 58--Scot Baker...........best pick of last 15 yrs IMO....63 Ws in 163gms
04--pick 61--Anthony Swarzak..failed starter, may have found role in pen
05--pick 54--Paul Kelly............complete bust due to massive injuries (164gms in 6 yrs)
05--pick 73--Kevin Slowey........39 w's in 100gms....now a minor leaguer
05--pick 80--Drew Thompson....son of former big leaguer, couldnt overcome back troubles
06--pick 64--Joe Benson..........still lots of promise, demoted to AA
07--pick 92--Danny Rams........K problems may stop his progress in Ft Myers
08--pick 60--Tyler Ladendorf....dealt for Orlando Cabrera, nothing to look forward to..still in AA for OAK
09--pick 70--Billy Bullock..........dealt for Scot Diamond, AA for ATL, loads of control problems
10--pick 71--Niko Goodrum......3rd season but still in short season....possible prospect
11--pick 87--Madison Boer.......having horrible yr in Ft Myers....hard thrower who cant strikeout hitters

Last 18 #2 picks.....come up with 3 decent picks, but no home runs. Have traded 3 for decent additions.

Can Berrios & Baird change this or more of the same???

#3 picks
Ony guys to make majors are Justin Morneau (99), Jose Morales (01) Brian Duensing (05)
#4 picks
Jason Miller (04)
#5 picks
Clete Thomas (05) didnt sign Steve Tolleson (05)
#6 picks
Brian Wolfe (99) Pat Neshek ( 02)
#7 picks
NONE
#8 picks
Adam Lind (02) didnt sign..Brian Dinkelman (06) Brian Dozier (09)
#9 picks
Saul Rivera (98)
#10 picks
Kyle Phillips (02)

13 players in 15 years drafted from round 3-10 made majors. Thought we had a great minor league system. Fire Deron Johnson??
Went thru most teams & its incredible how few 2-10s progress. Makes it more imparative to hit a HR w/your#1 pick

13 players in 15 years drafted from round 3-10 made majors. Thought we had a great minor league system. Fire Deron Johnson??
Went thru most teams & its incredible how few 2-10s progress. Makes it more imparative to hit a HR w/your#1 pick[/QUOTE]

When an organization can sift through other organizations prospects better than they can draft their own that should be a sign there is a problem. Capps, Gray and Burton are holding up better in the bullpen than the homegrown talent. Diamond and Walters are pitching better than the homegrown talent. How many bandaid free agents were signed as middle infielders the last 10 years. Something is wrong.
In regards to Slowey when he pitched for the team. one would have to say he received some of the best run support ever. Lucky to get half of the 39 wins.

Before we fire Deron...how does this stack up against other teams? The vast majority of all drafted players never see even a cup of coffee in the majors. Are we really any worse than the rest of the league?

Also, if anyone has time, I'd be curious to do the same kind of look-back on our non-draft signees over the last 15 years, particularly international players, and see how that compares to everybody else

If you won't trade prospects for players in their prime, and you won't sign bog time free agents, you need to be a lot better than other teams, not just about the same as other teams. Given the condition of the pitching and third base and shortstop and second base, it would be hard to argue that they have been above average the last seven years or so.

You know, just looking at other teams #2 picks, it seems the Twins have been fine. The Rays, for instance, haven't had a good second round pick since 99 (Crawford) and they picked a lot earlier in each draft than the Twins. The Mariners haven't had a successful 2nd rounder since 1987. Slowey, Baker, Swarzak and Crain were all solid picks. That we got Cabrera, Castillo and Diamond for three other guys seems like a pretty good success rate. 8 of 18 made the majors, 3 others were traded for solid MLers, Goodrum and Boer are still too young to make a decision on. 4 never made the majors and 1 didn't sign. And with the supp rounds, it can make a second round pick pretty late - 3 of our 2nd rounders were picked at #80 or later.

My assumption is that by having as many 2nd round successes as they've had, the Twins would be slightly ahead of the pack. Baker and Crain are tremendous picks. Swazak has provided value. Benson and Goodrum still have tremendous upside.

when lookin thru the teams.....they were about the same rate after round 2.
Teams rely extremely high on #1s & rarely find another prospect in drafts. If they bust the #1s.....they are in trouble.
Makes ya wonder why they pay as much in bonus' to guys they know will not reach the majors.