As you know, the MLB draft is vital to team success. Although the impact might not be seen immediately like in the NFL or NBA, the draft is still how great teams are built. If you haven't checked out Part 1 yet, I encourage you do so if you want to read about our first 11 picks of the 2021 draft. Without a further ado, let's hear about our new draftees!
Round 11, Pick 339: Brandon Birdsell, RHP, Texas Tech
Did not sign
Round 12, Pick 369: Kyler Fedko, O
The MLB draft is not nearly as popular as the NFL or NBA drafts. In 2021, 12.6 million people tuned in to watch Roger Goodell announce the first round of draft picks. Over the last 10 years, the NBA draft has had between 2 and 4 million viewers. The MLB however, had barely over 1 million viewers in 2021. However, the MLB draft remains very important.
Since 1965 (when the first MLB draft was held), 9 of the Twins top 13 players in terms of WAR were drafted by the Twins. These players
Back in March, Matthew Trueblood wrote an excellent article on Twins Daily about what a potential Byron Buxton extension would look like. Now, obviously this was before Buxton’s phenomenal (injury plagued, but still phenomenal) 2021 campaign. After the season Buxton had, his value for a future extension skyrocketed.
With Byron Buxton up until about 2019, the main question was always: “Will he be able to hit major league pitching?”. He always played phenomenal defense, ran the bases ridiculo
The Other Guys on the Team:
I am seriously getting irked and bored with the inflated views that Byron Buxton is the All Universe Player that will propel the Twins up. Oh, let's not forget his batting average is in free fall and though it will absolutely rise, he is not the news or star of the Twins.
We field a team of seemingly invisible players. Polanco, Urshela, Arraez, Garlick, Gordon, Ryan etc., etc., etc.
These are the guys that are winning the games for the Twins. These are the guys that make paltry salaries compared to our AUP. These are the guys that grind it out almost daily, until Professor Baldelli decides to make his frequent moves.
So this is my small little tribute to the real stars of the Twins 2022. The guys that really make this team special. GO TWINS!
Wow.....glad to see the Twins win last night. But, I must admit that when Perez comes in I forget all about how much our manager bothers me and wonder when Perez will stop giving me the shivers!
He needs to read one of those books on how to simplify things.