Seth Stohs

Oops... should be 6 weeks... My bad...

With their 15th round pick in June’s draft, the Minnesota Twins selected a 6-8, 260 pound right-hander from Cal State San Bernadino. Tyler Wells had his ups and downs this first two years of college, but he put together a strong junior season. He went 4-7 but posted a 2.84 ERA and struck out 89 in 92 innings. The Twins sent him to Elizabethton after the draft. In ten starts, he went 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 47.1 innings. He ended very strong, giving up only an unearned run over 18.1 innings in his final three starts. In the middle of that he threw seven innings of one-hit ball with 14 strikeouts. Tyler Wells will be one to watch in 2017 and beyond. Today, we get the opportunity to get to know him. Recently, he took time to chat with Seth. Feel free to share your thoughts or ask further questions in the comments below.Let the Q&A begin! Let’s get to know, RHP Tyler Wells. Seth Stohs (SS): Growing up in southern California, who was your favorite team to follow? Who were some of your favorite players? Tyler Wells (TW): Well, I didn't really grow up in California. I was born and raised in Oklahoma and moved to West Virginia when I was 13, then moved to California when I was 17. So I never really had much a hometown team to follow. But I really enjoyed watching players like Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens. SS: What were some of the better memories of your high school baseball career? Did you play other sports or were you involved in other activities? TW: The day my grandmother, whom I was really close with, passed away, I had to start a game. I showed up late to the game, and we were losing 7-0 in the first inning. Then I pitched the next 6 innings, struck out 14, and we ended up winning 8-7. And I was never really involved with other sports in high school. I just stuck with baseball because it's what I loved. SS: What was the recruitment process like for you out of high school, and what was it about Cal State San Bernadino that made you want to kind of stay home and pitch there? TW: The recruiting process was very minimal for me. I never marketed myself to schools, never did Perfect Game events. I just played high school baseball and played on a scout ball team. I chose CSUSB because it was close to home, and I have three little brothers I wanted to be a role model for; the youngest is five now. I wanted to continue being a big part of their lives. SS: What was the experience for your at CSUSB? What were some of your highlights and favorite moments in your four years there? TW: My experience was very normal. I practiced, I worked out, and I did school work. I hung out with my friends when I could. I had some fun times with some great friends that I met over the three years I was there, but nothing out of the ordinary. SS: Did you have the chance to speak with many scouts before the draft? Where did you think that you might be drafted? What was your interaction with Twins scouts before the draft? TW: I talked to quite a few. I thought the draft was going to be a little better for me, but I'm not sweating it. I got my foot in the door, and now I'm trying to make a statement in this upcoming season. And the Twins scout I talked to was a very nice, genuine guy. Very helpful and supportive of my future with the Twins! SS: When you did hear your name in the 15th round, where were you? What your reaction and the reaction of those close to you? TW: I was at home on the phone with the scout from the Twins actually. We were talking and all of sudden my dad starting yelling and saying I got picked by the Twins. But everyone was really happy and excited because it's been a lifelong dream of mine. SS: What has the adjustment like for you, from the amateur/college game to the professional game, both on and off the field? TW: Well, it's been a big adjustment on the field as far as learning how to pitch all over again. Learning a bunch of different things like when to throw a certain pitch in a certain count, just a lot of learning in a short amount of time. And off the field wasn't much of an adjustment, because I always tried to be professional away from the field, even in college. I know people watch us athletes closely, and I want people to look at me and think "He's a good person away from the field, and a bulldog on the field." SS: To what do you attribute your success in the Elizabethton, particularly late in the season when you ended the year with 19.1 scoreless innings? TW: A lot of time and effort was spent getting my delivery in sync and really working on my mentality. Me and our pitching coach worked and talked all the time about mentality and controlling what I can control, and not worrying about outside factors. SS: Specifically, what was working so well in your 7 inning, 1-hit, 14 strikeout game against Bristol? TW: To be honest, it was all my mentality. When I was on the mound, I wasn't really thinking at all. Ben Rortvedt just put down the pitch, and I threw it. It was great because I didn't worry about anything. I just played the game. I had a good slider that day, a good change up, and my fastball had a little something on it. Just came together perfectly. SS: What pitches do you throw, and what would you consider your out pitch? TW: I throw a fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup. My slider would be my out pitch.. SS: At this very early stage in your career, what would you say are your biggest strengths? TW: My biggest strengths would be my mentality, my size, and my drive. I've been an underdog all my life. I've worked hard on my mentality with mental training and visualization. My size is something you can't get, I was just blessed with it. And my drive is something that pushes beyond my limits. I refuse to let someone tell me I can't do something, especially in this career. SS: What are the areas of your game that you would like to spend time working to improve in the offseason and going forward? TW: Really just working on educating myself on our pitching philosophy. I learned a lot about it when I was at Instructs, and now I want to be able to put it in action on the mound. SS: Are you be going back to school in the offseason? What is your major in school? TW: I took the semester off to really focus on my training and getting my body ready for this next season. But I will be continuing school next offseason, if possible. While I was in school, I was a kinesiology major, with a concentration in exercise science. SS: What are some of the things you enjoy doing away from the game of baseball? TW: I love to fish, hunt, and hike. Recently just got back from a hunting trip in Texas with my grandpa and great-uncle! I also love to golf with my dad and little brother. SS: Who are some of the people who have helped you get to this point in your career? TW: Kurt Stange, my pitching coach for the first two years of college. Dave Martinez, my pitching coach my junior of college. Dave Coggin, my trainer/mentor. And my father, Jeff Wells. All of them have helped me becoming a mentally strong person and really pushed me to go out there and grind everyday. SS: Favorite baseball movie? TW: Bull Durham A Huge Thank You to Tyler Wells for taking time to answer our questions today at Twins Daily. The right-hander is certainly one to watch, particularly as he begins his first full professional baseball season. If you you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I can get back to Tyler, or who knows, maybe he’ll answer himself. Click here to view the article

Like it or not, 'out of options' matters in every organization. It's a reality for them all. And, the Twins haven't always kept out of option guys either. Just two years ago, they let 2 or 3 out of option guys go at the end of spring training.

I'd put Sano, Buxton, Kepler, Polanco, Chargois, Berrios in the high ceiling category of prospects, and they were all called up last year (or the year before for Sano, and the year before that for the first Polanco cup of coffee).

It’s never too early to start thinking about what the Twins 2017 roster could look like. Based on players on the 40-man roster and in the minor leagues, it is possible to start putting that 25-man, Opening Day roster together. Of course, it is always subject to change. It’s pretty clear there are trade talks ongoing with several teams. An actual trade will obviously make the below change. There are also free agents that the team will still sign and bring to big league camp, whether they sign big league contracts or minor league deals. So, this is an ever-changing document and will be updated at various times through the off-season.It was a fun exercise putting together this first draft, even if there aren’t as many changes as we would think. But it is a starting point. As you read this, consider where the Twins should focus their attention the rest of the season. For this, I am going to go with a 13-hitter, 12-pitcher roster as most teams like to begin the season that way. Catchers (2): Jason Castro, John Ryan Murphy Kurt Suzuki’s been the primary Twins catcher the last three years, but that will not be the case in 2017. The Twins new front office regime quickly targeted pitch-framing sensation Jason Castro and signed him to a three-year, $24.5 million contract. He may not hit, but the goal is for him to assist heavily in the improvement of the Twins pitching staff. John Ryan Murphy will be out of options which obviously gives him the advantage over Mitch Garver, who was just added to the Twins 40-man roster last month. Murphy is younger, but Garver is likely the better player. My reports tell me he was much better than Murphy offensively and defensively in 2016, so it’s likely he’ll see some time with the big league club in 2017. Infielders (6): Byungho Park, Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar It’s pretty clear that it is very likely that this alignment will change significantly before spring training. Dozier remains quite likely be be traded, and if that happens Jorge Polanco likely moves to second base and a decision will need to be made at shortstop (Escobar or someone from outside). Joe Mauer will be the primary first baseman. Dozier will be the Twins second baseman until he’s not in the organization. Sano is going to get the opportunity to be the regular third baseman now that Trevor Plouffe is not in the organization. Polanco is out of options and will be playing somewhere because of his bat. Eduardo Escobar was offered arbitration, a wise decision with so many question marks around the infield and his ability to be an option at three of the positions. I believe that it is an either/or situation at DH between Kennys Vargas and Byungho Park. How much of Park’s rookie struggles were related to adjusting to a new league and how much of it was related to his hand and wrist injuries? He does have two option years remaining. The Twins petitioned for an extra option year for Vargas and it was granted, so he also can be sent to Rochester if deemed appropriate. Adam Brett Walker was DFAd and has since been claimed twice. Daniel Palka is now on the 40-man roster so he could potentially be brought up if a DH is needed. Also, Robbie Grossman’s best defensive position is DH. Outfielders (5): Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Robbie Grossman, Danny Santana Byron Buxton did so much in September to hand him the center field job. His defense made it likely even if he hadn’t hit. Max Kepler had a solid rookie season in right field, showing power and defense. Eddie Rosario struggled as a sophomore, enough to be sent to Rochester. He came back and was better, but a platoon option might be good. Robbie Grossman isn’t a good defender, at all, but he can mash left-handed pitchers, which gives him some value. And yes, Danny Santana is still - maybe inexplicably - on the 40-man roster, and he is out of options, so an MLB roster spot still is in his future. Obviously he’s a great athlete. He’s got very good speed and the tools that keep him intriguing. We’d all love to see him put up numbers anywhere near his 2013 rookie campaign, but playing time should be limited. Palka is an option in right field and DH. Zack Granite was also added to the 40-man roster and could be an option in center field if there is injury and he needs to be up for an extended period. Ben Paulsen is a capable replacement level player who will be in AAA unless needed. Starting Pitchers (5): Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson, Hector Santiago, Trevor May Pitching appears to be Derek Falvey’s calling card, and the Twins currently have a long list of pitchers who could start the season in the team’s rotation. There are even more that have a decent shot of getting called up in 2017. Ervin Santana is easily the team’s top starter. He just turned 34 and has two seasons (and an option year) remaining on his contract. While he’s not an “Ace,” he has been a quality MLB starter for more than a decade. Somewhat surprising, his name has not been mentioned in off-season trade rumors. That could obviously change at any time and there are teams where it makes complete sense for him. But as long as he’s on the roster, he’s at the top of the rotation. The Twins offered arbitration to both Hector Santiago and Kyle Gibson. They’ll be around unless traded. Gibson was the team’s pitcher of the year in 2015, but an early season injury cost him six months. With health, he should take a good stride forward again in 2017. Santiago has been a solid starter the last few years. He was even an All-Star a couple years ago. He was not good for his first month with the Twins, but he can be a solid starter. In reality, both could be July trade chips if they pitch well. Trevor May might get a shot to start again, and for right now, I’ll include him here. I think the odds of May starting are not high, but hopefully he gets a real chance. Tyler Duffey should head to spring training with a shot at a rotation spot again. I’m going to go with May here, but Duffey has about the same likelihood. Others will get a shot too, including Jose Berrios and Adelberto Mejia. Berrios is an Opening Day option, but it’s 100% based on his command starting in spring training. Could any of the AA group get to the big leagues in 2017? It’s possible we see Stephen Gonsalves, Kohl Stewart, Felix Jorge, Tyler Jay or even Fernando Romero late in the season. Bullpen (7): Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Pressly, JT Chargois, Taylor Rogers, Ryan O’Rourke, Tyler Duffey, Justin Haley. This is another group that could change quickly. I mean, as of today, Brandon Kintzler would likely still be the team’s closer. He had 17 saves last year and did well, but we all know he isn’t the prototype for an MLB closer. It’s also possible that the righty is traded. Ryan Pressly, like Kintzler, was just offered arbitration. He could fit in to the closer role as well, but he’ll certainly be used in late innings again. JT Chargois, like Byron Buxton, seemed to relax and play much, much better in September than previously. He has a chance to be a closer, but I don’t think they would throw him right into the role. Taylor Rogers had a quality rookie season. He had a few flare-ups, but for the most part, he got the job done as well. I think that, as of today, the second lefty reliever role would be a strong competition between Ryan O’Rourke and Buddy Boshers. Depending upon additional Twins free agent signings, they could remain in that role, or they could be DFA candidates. Mason Melotakis is likely to get a shot sometime in 2017 as well. In his return from Tommy John, the Twins handled him carefully in 2016, and they will likely do so for the first half of 2017, but he’ll be up at some point. Also, Glen Perkins is going to be back in 2017. He had shoulder surgery midseason, but the thought is that he could be back and throwing in spring training. I suspect he will start the season on the disabled list, getting a few appearances in rehab games before coming up. I show Tyler Duffey pitching in long relief. With his inability to add a decent third pitch, he is more suited for the bullpen and could team with former Rice teammate JT Chargois in later innings too. If the Twins start the season with a 12-man pitching staff, we have one more spot for the opening of the season. Michael Tonkin could fill that role again. He made the team and stayed on it in large part due to the fact that he was out of options and had to stay with the team. He obviously remains out of options. I’m including Justin Haley as the final bullpen spot. After some of the annual Rule 5 maneuvering, the Twins ended up with the big right-hander who spent the first four seasons of his professional career with the Red Sox. As a Rule 5 pick, he would need to remain with the big league club all season or risk losing him back to the Red Sox (unless the teams work out a trade, which is possible too). At some point during the season, we will likely see more of the hard-throwing relievers drafted by the Twins since 2012. Melotakis is one of them. The others include the likes of Jake Reed, Trevor Hildenberger, Nick Burdi and John Curtiss. So there is Roster 2017 version 1.0. Share your thoughts, your areas where you believe that Falvey/Levine should focus. Aside from adding Jason Castro and letting Trevor Plouffe become a free agent, there have not been a lot of moves so far. Obviously it is still very, very early in the off-season yet. The next four weeks will be very busy for the Twins and all other teams. Before spring training, we’ll obviously have resolution on the Brian Dozier situation, one way or the other. That will obviously affect the Twins at both second base and shortstop, but depending on the return, it could also affect two of three other roster spots either now or in the next year or so. Pitching hasn’t really been addressed in any meaningful way yet, even in terms of minor league signings. There are still a lot of relievers available. I also don’t think the overall lack of moves is a bad thing at all.The Terry Ryan tenure ushered in a lot of very good, high-profile, high-ceiling types of prospects. Some of them have debuted in the last year or so. Others will arrive in 2017. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have come in and made just a handful of changes to the front office. Likewise, they may choose to make just a handful of moves to the roster that will help complement the young, potential stars who are taking their lumps in the big leagues but could become very good. Signing some veterans to minor league or low-dollar deals does two things. First, if they’re any good, they can be traded in July as the Twins did with Fernando Abad a year ago.They could also pitch as well as Brandon Kintzler did, allowing the Twins do make a decision on whether to keep them around or deal them in the off-season. Third, if they’re not pitching great, their low-dollar contracts are easy to DFA, making room for talented prospects when they are deemed ready. What are your thoughts? What does your roster look like? Click here to view the article

It would be nice to see if there is one team capable of making him a good MLB pitcher...

And there have been reports, though the team would never confirm it, that the Twins would have taken Correa if they had the first pick in the 2012 draft.

I don't care what they were doing in the 80s and 90s. Means nothing at this point.

As I said, Cuba is different.

I think that points been made clear a few times, thanks. The main point was just that there is more than just the first five picks.

The Twins haven't spent in Cuba, but they've been much more active in the Dominican and Venezuela in the last 5-6 years. They've spent $1M+ on Sano, Minier, Diaz, and Javier in recent years. They've been $750K or more on guys like Polanco, Kepler, Ynoa. Sano was $3+million. Javier was $4+ million... and that was more alone than the Twins allotment last year. So, I don't think the Twins haven't done enough in the International markets.

See above. That was the purpose of doing this research. Lots are saying the Twins are bad at drafting, and I don't necessarily think that's true. I'd say they're average at drafting, maybe mediocre would be a better word. Now we have something to base that all on, rather than just using a blanket statement.

I agree... and I think to do this, you'd have to look at a very complex formula based on expectations. Maybe we look at the average WAR for a draft position to give an MLB value. But, a team (their scouts) should get some credit if an 8th round pick gets to AAA, or a 15th round pick gets to AA, or a 20th round pick gets to Hi-A, etc. I probably don't have time for that. Ha!

Yup, that's my point. The 2012 draft could alter the way this looks. As of right now, 2003-2012 drafts for the Twins would be very much average... but that 2012 class could push that up significantly. Honestly, we can't really judge this 10-year set of draft picks fairly for another 15 years probably. Or hey, if they went back to 2001, the Twins could add Mauer, and I'd say that was a great pick. His career WAR is above all but maybe 1-2 on this list. The Twins could also add Denard Span and he has 25 bWAR. So, to be fair, drawing arbitrary lines will always affect data.

I think that 2012 draft presents a couple of guys (one hitter and one pitcher... and who knows, maybe a bullpen arm) who could reach 10 bWAR as well.

I should probably point out that the only area where the Twins would be discounted if I only included players that the signed would be the AFTER the 5th round group. They have been really good at signing their top 5 (And usually their top 10-12) in the draft. Very few early-round picks that they don't sign.

Last week, the Minnesota Twins announced two promotions in their Scouting Department. Long-time scouting director Deron Johnson was promoted to Senior Advisor of the Scouting Department. Sean Johnson, who had been West Coast Supervisor, is now taking over the reins as Director of Scouting. His job, according to the team’s press release, will be responsibility for “the strategic preparation of the Amateur Draft, and he will be charged with developing the 27-man amateur scouting staff.” The move created some discussion in our forums and even on the radio. I was listening to Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad on 1500 ESPN early last week following the announcement, and Phil mentioned how few impact players the Twins had drafted between 2003 and 2012. Specifically, he looked at the first five rounds of those drafts to see how many players the Twins drafted that had some impact. He noted that he didn’t know how that compared to other organizations, so immediately, I had the thought that I was going to find out. It’s something I’ve been curious about, so why not find out what the data tells us.I went to old reliable, Baseball-Reference, and used their draft page to do some digging. I looked at the 2003 through 2012 drafts, a ten year period, and broke out the data in several ways. >2 bWAR: It’s hard to get to the big leagues, so to be able to find players who get there and have some positive impact on a team is terrific. This isn’t a high threshold, but it gives a good look at the scouting to be able to find big leaguers. This includes some non-closing relievers who have been good for a couple of years. This includes Byron Buxton, the Twins top pick in 2012, and a guy who certainly should rack up bWAR in the next decade and be on much higher bWAR lists.>6 bWAR: Mackey mentioned Brian Duensing as a guy who sits on the borderline of impact type of player. He’s had a nice, solid, long-lasting MLB career as mostly a middle reliever. He has 6.4 bWAR accumulated to this point, so I thought I’d find out how many have hit that level.>10 bWAR: Now we’re getting to some guys who have had really solid careers. They’ve either been solid for several years or they have had a major impact pretty quickly.>20 bWAR: If you’re past 20 bWAR you’ve had a really good career. Sure, that’s two Mike Trout seasons… or it’s a nice, solid, steady career like Aaron Hill or Chase Headley.>8 bWAR but drafted AFTER the 5th round. The MLB draft is more than five rounds. It is now 40 (and used to be 50). In reality, if scouts find guys after the 5th round that get to AAA, that should give them bonus points. But a lot of diamonds in the rough can be found in these late rounds. To be honest we should probably count any and all post-5th round draft picks who make it to the big leagues as wins.Also, please note that I am including players even if they did not sign with the team at that time. For instance, the Angels drafted Matt Harvey in the third round out of high school. He went to North Carolina instead of signing and then the Mets made him a top pick three years later. In my mind, the Angels and their scouts get credit for that too. GREATER THAN TWO bWAR (First Five Rounds) 15 - Blue Jays, Diamondbacks 14 - Reds 13 - Red Sox, Padres, Nationals 12 - Braves 11 - Twins, Royals, Rockies, Orioles, Rays, Cardinals, A’s, Angels 10 - Pirates 9 - White Sox, Marlins, Mariners, Cleveland, Brewers, Astros 8 - Cubs, Dodgers 7 - Yankees, Tigers, Mets, Giants 4 - Phillies, Rangers So, the Twins are basically tied for 8th in MLB in number of players drafted who have achieved two bWAR. I’ll have some summary comments at the end. GREATER THAN 6 bWAR (First Five Rounds) 9 - Nationals, Red Sox, Reds 8 - A’s, Blue Jays, Braves, Diamondbacks 7 - Angels, Brewers 6 - Twins, Rays, Mariners, Orioles, Pirates, Royals 5 - Astros, Cardinals, Giants, Cleveland, Marlins, Padres, Rockies, Tigers, Yankees. 4 - Cubs, Dodgers 3 - Mets, Phillies, Rangers 2 - White Sox The Twins are tied with five other teams for tenth. As happened with the two bWAR data, that tie pushed right to 15, so they are just above the halfway point among the 30 MLB teams. The Twins that made the list of 6 bWAR: Scott Baker, Trevor Plouffe, Glen Perkins, Matt Garza, Brian Duensing, Ben Revere. GREATER THAN 10 bWAR (First Five Rounds) 6 - Nationals, Red Sox 5 - A’s, Brewers, Braves, Diamondbacks, Giants, Orioles 4 - Cubs, Marlins, Mariners, Padres, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers 3 - Angels, Astros, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Rays, Cleveland, Pirates, Yankees 2 - Twins, Dodgers, Mets, Phillies, Rangers, White Sox This is where the Twins can be faulted. They have not had many big impact draft picks from that decade (yet). The two Twins that made this list were Scott Baker (15.7) and Matt Garza (12.5). GREATER THAN 20 bWAR (First Five Rounds) Another group that I looked at was the players over 20 bWAR. As you can see above, the Twins did not have any. Most teams have just one. The Atlanta Braves have four, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, Yunel Escobar and Andrelton Simmons. The Red Sox had three, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. The Nationals had Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper. The Mets and Cardinals joined the Twins with zero, which may surprise many as the Cardinals are generally looked at as one of the top drafting teams in baseball. Their highest bWAR player for that time frame is Colby Rasmus at 18.7. GREATER THAN 8 bWAR AFTER THE FIFTH ROUND (players over 10 bWAR in parentheses) Angels: 7 (Chris Davis, Buster Posey, Kole Calhoun) Astros: 2 (Dallas Keuchel, JD Martinez) A’s: 1 (Mike Leake) Blue Jays: 2 (Kris Bryant) Braves: 4 (Craig Kimbrel, Anthony Rendon) Brewers: 3 (Lorenzo Cain, Michael Brantley, Jake Arrieta) Cardinals: 5 (Brendan Ryan, Ian Kennedy, Max Scherzer, Matt Carpenter) Cubs: 4 (Tim Lincecum, Josh Harrison) Rays: 5 (John Jaso, Desmond Jennings, Kevin Kiermeier) Diamondbacks: 3 (Paul Goldschmidt, Adam Eaton) Dodgers: 4 (Matt Kemp, David Price, Paul Goldschmidt) Giants: 2 (Doug Fister) Cleveland: 2 (Desmond Jennings, Tim Lincecum) Mariners: 1 (Doug Fister) Marlins: 2 Mets: 3 (Daniel Murphy, Jacob DeGrom) Nationals: 1 (Marco Estrada) Orioles: 3 (Wil Venable) Padres: 3 (Wil Venable, David Friese, Mat Latos) Phillies: 1 (Brad Ziegler) Pirates: 2 Rangers: 6 (Ian Kinsler, Derek Holland, Tanner Roark) Red Sox: 7 (Brandon Belt, Josh Reddick, Anthony Rizzo) Reds: 2 (Jake Arrieta, Justin Turner) Rockies: 3 (Dexter Fowler, Todd Frazier, Chris Sale) Royals: 2 (Jarrod Dyson, Greg Holland) Tigers: 3 (Matt Joyce, Alex Avila, DJ LeMahieu) White Sox: 0 Yankees: 8 (Tyler Clippard, Chris Davis, Doug Fister, Austin Jackson, Justin Turner, David Robertson) Twins: 4 (JD Martinez, George Springer, Brian Dozier) SUMMARY NOTES I won’t sit here and tell you that this is a perfect analysis of the draft or the drafting abilities of the Twins or any other clubs. To get a 40 bWAR player requires a lot of luck and timing and such.The Twins have a lot of very good scouts, guys who have found talent in the lower rounds. Here are some additional notes: Note all first-round picks are made the same. The year the Twins took Levi Michael in the first round, they had the 30th overall pick. Also of note, the Pirates took Gerrit Cole with the first overall pick. The Mariners then took Danny Hultzen with the second overall pick. Also of note, Keith Law ranked Michael in his top 15 players for the draft, so there is no magic formula to this.The Twins highest draft pick (other than Byron Buxton in 2012) was the 14th overall pick in 2008. For the most part, the Twins were in the playoffs during this run and making picks 20 or later in the first round. There is little certainty in top 5 picks many times, much less when you get into the 20s.The first six picks of the 2003 draft were: Delmon Young (2.5), Rickie Weeks (11.4), Kyle Sleeth (No MLB), Tim Stauffer (3.5), Chris Lubanski (No MLB), Ryan Harvey (no MLB). That year, the Twins picked Matt Moses with the 21st overall pick.The Twins did pretty well for themselves in 2004. Trevor Plouffe (8.1) and Glen Perkins (8.8) were the 20th and 22nd overall picks that year in the draft. The 23rd pick was Phil Hughes.In 2005, the Twins got Matt Garza (12.5) with the 25th overall pick, which was good for 10th (so far) in that draft’s first round.Chris Parmelee was the 20th overall pick in the 2006 draft.In the 2007 draft, Ben Revere’s 6.1 bWAR ranks 7th among the 30 first-round picks. He was taken with the 28th pick.Aaron Hicks was the 14th pick in the 2008 draft. His 1.9 bWAR to date ranks 14th of the 30 picks.Kyle Gibson missed at least one year (and probably closer to two years) of time due to Tommy John surgery. He has posted 5.0 bWAR so far in his career. That ranks ninth of the 30 first-round picks in 2009s draft. He was taken with the 22nd pick.The Twins top pick in 2010 also had Tommy John surgery. Alex Wimmers was the 21st overall pick for the Twins. He is right at 0 bWAR, but he made the big leagues, something eight players selected ahead of him can’t say yet.As we already mentioned, Levi Michael was the 30th pick in the 2011 draft.Byron Buxton was the #2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, following Carlos Correa. Buxton’s injury-plagued 2014 season likely slowed his path to the big leagues. He also has struggled early in his career. He’s accumulated 2.1 bWAR. He had a strong September, but defense is also where he will rack up a lot of WAR. Corey Seager and Addison Russell are the two high school picks from that season, along with Correa, who have more big league success so far than Buxton. I believe the odds of Buxton accumulating 20+ bWAR in his career are quite high. I also think there’s a high likelihood that Jose Berrios will improve dramatically over his -1.6 bWAR performance in 2016. Also, Mason Melotakis, JT Chargois and Taylor Rogers come from the 2012 draft and could all achieve at least 6 bWAR if things go well.I guess the information presented above shows that the Twins did a “Good” job of drafting for that decade of years. I guess I would say they’ve been pretty middle-of-the-pack, not great (for sure), but certainly not terrible either. I think they’ve done a good job of finding some guys that have the potential to be big leaguers. I would say that, for whatever reason, they haven’t had the luck in finding those big impact players that we’d all like to see. Perkins was a three-time All Star which I would say is pretty impactful, even if bWAR says it's "only" worth 8.8. Scott Baker was better than most people thought at the time. Buxton and Berrios certainly give us hope that they can be those types of players. The draft is just one way for teams to accumulate players and talent. The Twins consider themselves a mid-market team, however, and the draft becomes more important in that it is where you can find players at low salary and you can keep under control for six years. The Twins have the #1 overall pick in the 2017 draft. It’s a huge pick for the organization. There are a lot of very talented very young players who are just getting to the big leagues or just about to get to the big leagues. Having an elite talent who will be ready in three or four years will help keep that coming and help Derek Falvey toward that long-term, sustainable, championship-caliber organization that he wants to build. Click here to view the article

In some horrible Saturday morning news, we have learned the Twins minor league pitcher Yorman Landa has passed away. He was involved in a traffic incident early this morning outside of Caracas, Venezuela.Yorman Landa signed with the Twins in September of 2010. He slowly worked up the system. In recent years, he fought through some shoulder issues to become a very good bullpen option. Following the 2015 season, he was added to the 40 man roster. He and his triple-digit fasball spent the season in Ft. Myers where he was an All Star. His season came to an end in July with another shoulder issue. The Twins took him off of the 40 man roster this fall, but last week, he re-signed with the Twins. The car accident occurred on the Francisco de Miranda freeway near the Caracas airport. He was taken to the Domingo Luciani Hospital, but doctors were unable to revive him. According to his agent, via Mike Berardino's article, Landa was in the passenger seat of a vehicle, driven by his father. Their car hit a downed tree in the rain. Landa was the only one of four or five passengers to pass away. Our thoughts go out to the friends and family of Yorman Landa. Over his six seasons in the Twins organization, he developed a lot of friendships. So we also extend our sympathies to all of his teammates who got to know him. In a statement from Derek Falvey for the Twins, he said "The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking loss of Yorman Landa early this morning in Venezuela. On behalf of the entire baseball community, we send our sincerest condolences to the Landa family as well as Yorman’s many friends, coaches and teammates." Twins Minor League Director Brad Steil added, "Yorman was a really good guy and was always looking to help out younger players. We will miss him." His teammates and former teammate have taken to social media to share their thoughts on and share tributes to Yorman Landa: Click here to view the article

https://thevoicebtv.libsyn.com/page/1/size/15 A couple of my favorites are the Cory Provus and Dick Bremer interviews. I also liked the Jack Michaels one, in large part because I do radio with him in Fargo from time to time. I encourage people to take a look at the link and see if any of them might be interesting to you.

When you know you can get him and get more back, why not? The Twins reportedly had a lot of teams contacting them about the #1 pick. They used it to their advantage, as they should.

Getting a guy who some believe has a chance to be a starter in the Rule 5 is pretty unusual. I get that people don't like to read about guys that top out at 92, but that is where a large percentage of starting pitchers in teh big leagues are. If he can even be a back-end of the rotation guy, this is a huge win. If not, he's a normal Rule 5 guy who goes back to his original team. We forget that Scott Diamond and Ryan Pressly are Rule 5 successes..