Thread: Article: Looking Back at the 2002 Twins Draft

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.ph...02-Twins-Draft

By far the Twins best draft since Mauer which isnt saying much. The Twins drafts have been terrible the last 10 years with international signings keeping them from being dead last in org rankings.


As Sickles pointed out in his chat the Twins didnt plan to spend close to their draft cap this year which makes me sick. If you`re not going to spend money for the best prospects how are you going to improve?

Somewhat of a mirror image to this years draft--a toolsy outfielder and a hard-throwing pitcher with the top two picks. Hopefully both have a bit more upside than their predecessors, not that Span and Crain disappointed.

If sickels is right, it is sickening. They cut the payroll, will not sign big time free agents, and now they are potentially not taking advantage of their draft position. Ugh.

As for the draft profiled, I would call that a success, in the B grade range.

I am not sure of the best way to judge a draft but we got a combined 18.6 WAR from this draft.

For comparison I looked at the first 15 rounds of the White Sox draft that year and they got a combine .7 WAR out of it so we look to have done reasonably well. Anybody know a quicker way of getting this type of data that isn't copying names from a draft list and looking them up in fan graphs one by one? It would be interesting to compare to the rest of the league.

If anyone knows a place for that, that would be very informative!!

jharaldson, you on the right track in actually comparing the draft record against the other teams. Sure beats the ignorant statements in a vacuum about how the Twins drafts have been terrible in the past ten years. Wouldn't you agree, twinswon1991?

Another way to look at the draft, is across years, and see who has come up to the majors each year. Like, one year, pretty much Valencia was it. How's that working out? Last year it was pretty much Revere and some guys that weren't ready. How'd that go? And this year, Revere and Dozier are pretty much it so far (with Hendriks and Parmalee adding negative WAR so far, but likely back up at some point). It's not so much when players were drafted, but if the minors are kicking out guys that help the team win. Also, I'd guess that if you looked at a different year, your results would be different. Should we look at the White Sox draft the year Chris Sale was drafted, and see how many WAR each team has?

I'm not worried about individual classes, but what comes up to the majors year after year, no matter what year they were drafted.

Very interesting article. What this shows to me is how incredibly selective MLB baseball is. Each year around 1500 players are drafted (granted, not all of them sign). Plus international signings, which every year are more significant. That is roughly 15000 players are signed one way or another to play professional baseball. And at a given time only 750 are in major league rosters. It makes me more appreciative of the guys who make it even if only for a stint.

adjacent, great point. great, great point. It just shows the fine line between AA/AAA/and MLB. These guys are so far above "mortals" when it comes to baseball skill, but the difference between AA and MLB is still massive.

Originally Posted by twinswon1991

By far the Twins best draft since Mauer which isnt saying much.

Isn't saying much? We're supposed to get a Mauer out of every draft?

I think last year's draft will prove to be a success. Didn't care for Michael but the next 5 picks (Harrison, Boyd, Boer, Williams, Summers) all have some promise along with a few others. This year's draft I'm not as confident outside of Buxton. Berrios has some potential as do a few others.

Originally Posted by adjacent

Very interesting article. What this shows to me is how incredibly selective MLB baseball is. Each year around 1500 players are drafted (granted, not all of them sign). Plus international signings, which every year are more significant. That is roughly 15000 players are signed one way or another to play professional baseball. And at a given time only 750 are in major league rosters. It makes me more appreciative of the guys who make it even if only for a stint.

Absolutely this... hopefully it helps people realize how good a baseball player is who "just" gets to AAA or AA.

myself, a draft where you dont sign your 3/5/8 picks & your #4 doesnt go above GCL is a bust. Why waste the picks if you arent gonna sign them??
If MN isnt spending the total allowed, it makes sense why they reached on so many FAR below their daft averages. Total BS if its true.

Baseball Reference has draft data by team/year that shows WAR per player and total WAR at the bottom. You still have to do some sifting because it adds up the WAR from players that didn't sign and ended up getting drafted by other teams. It says that Michael Clete Thomas was who was drafted in the 5th round by the Twins, is that correct?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/dr...t_type=junreg&

We got 1 really good pick in this draft. That's generally a great draft overall.

Originally Posted by gunnarthor

Isn't saying much? We're supposed to get a Mauer out of every draft?

9 years of drafts with no solid sp`s to show for it and other than Span no above replacement level position players or prospects.......yeah I think most of us would be fired if we had a track record like that.

Originally Posted by adjacent

What this shows to me is how incredibly selective MLB baseball is...It makes me more appreciative of the guys who make it even if only for a stint.

Not to hijack, but also wanted to comment how much I agree with this. I'm sure many know somebody who got a whiff (or more) somewhere along the line. The one this makes me think of is a guy I knew in high school who was filthy good. Hit EVERYTHING, played catcher with a rocket arm, incredible natural athlete, etc. He got drafted somewhere in the 25-30th round range, I think, and played two years with the GCL Twins and Elizabethton...and that was it. Thinking that there are guys far better--just to get to A-ball, let alone AA and beyond--just boggles the mind. Just another reason baseball is fun.

Another great article by Seth.

I agree with those who will be pissed if the Twins spend materially less than the cap this year.