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The Minnesota Twins have spent plenty of time looking back at their first-round draft history this season. Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, and Brooks Lee have all taken the field for the club, while Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and Aaron Sabato made their MLB debuts.
With the Twins officially running out of things to accomplish in 2026, the organization has decided there is only one logical next step. Call Keoni Cavaco. Yes, that Keoni Cavaco. The Twins selected Cavaco with the 13th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, hoping the high school shortstop could eventually develop into an impact big-league player. Things did not exactly go according to plan.
Cavaco reached High-A in the Twins system, where he posted a .529 OPS as a 23-year-old. After departing the organization, he spent the last two seasons playing for Chicago in the independent American Association.
Apparently, that experience has also included a career change. Cavaco has transitioned to pitching. Naturally, the Twins are interested.
“We've been looking at our bullpen options, and Keoni's name kept coming up,” Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said. “Eventually, somebody asked, ‘Wait, is he still technically one of our first-round picks?’ We checked. Then we checked again. Once we confirmed the rules, we figured we might as well give him a call.”
The call itself reportedly took several attempts.
“I thought they had lost my number,” Cavaco said. “Honestly, I assumed they had lost it in 2021. Then I figured it was definitely gone by 2023. When I saw the Minnesota area code, I thought it was Target Customer Service for a complaint I recently made about their Lego clearance."
Instead, it was the Twins asking whether he would like to make his major-league debut. At this point, there wasn't much reason to say no.
The First-Round Reunion
The Cavaco addition would give Minnesota another former first-round pick on the field and continue a theme that has developed throughout the final weeks of the season. For Shelton, it is all about getting as much first-round talent onto the field as possible.
“It's great to have as much first-round talent on the field as possible,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “That's something we really value here. We're actually thinking about asking Tyler Jay and Kohl Stewart to come back for next season.”
Jay was the sixth overall pick by Minnesota in 2015. Stewart was the fourth overall pick in 2013. The Twins are reportedly also checking whether anyone remembers where they drafted Levi Michael.
“We're just trying to create opportunities,” Shelton said. “If you were selected in the first round by the Twins at some point, we'd like to hear from you.”
Cavaco's transition to the mound could make him particularly intriguing for a team that has spent much of the season searching for bullpen answers. At the very least, he offers something different.
Nobody else in the organization can say they were the 13th overall pick in 2019, reached High-A, spent two seasons in independent baseball, became a pitcher, and then got a call from the Twins asking if he was available for the final week of the season.
It has been an unconventional journey. Now, it could end with Cavaco standing on a major-league mound at Target Field. And if that happens, Minnesota's 2019 first-round pick will finally make his Twins debut. Only took seven years. Not bad for a rebuilding bullpen.
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