Seth Stohs

Kepler is really smooth in the outfield. Arm is average in RF, but good for the other two spots. He won't be an MLB CF, but he can play the position well. He runs really well. I mean, he's got 7 triples and several stolen bases, so he could play CF. I do think over time, and as he gains more strength (which he will), LF would probably be his best position, but he'd have no problem in RF or any of those spots. I would add that if you've got Rosario, Buxton, Hicks (maybe a Hicks/Arcia platoon at some point), then playing Kepler at 1B is just what's best for the team. That's where his versatility is nice. If they have a need at 4 (and obviously DH would be a 5th) positions, he could be an option.

I posted this on the Twins Daily twitter feed early this morning: June Stats Max Kepler: .356/.451/.593 (1.044) with 3-2B, 4-3B, 1 HR, 11 RBI AB Walker: .338/.380/.738 (1.119) with 6-2B, 1-3B, 6 HR, 18 RBI

These rankings were arrived at a week ago. Kepler jumped about 5-6 spots to get to 9, but I was just mentioning this morning that if we all voted today, he could be as high as 4-5. I also think that he's likely to go to AAA, but if there was a need, he now joins Sano and Polanco as guys who could get called up at any time.

As we mentioned yesterday here at Twins Daily, we'll be having an event at CHS Field on July 3. I'm really looking forward to getting to the stadium that night. Should be a lot of fun!

I can't imagine a scenario where he wouldn't be.

The Lookouts just clinched a Southern League playoff berth last night, so I would expect it won't be long... though I also wouldn't be surprised if he comes straight up from AA too.

I'm good with trading Arcia, but not right now. He has no trade value.. Hopefully he can build some value up the rest of this season and have a strong September or something. Then they can actually maybe get something for him. He is out of options (so is Hicks) next year, so they'll have to make some big decisions on those guys. Also, they'll have to make 40-man roster decisions on Walker and Harrison (and maybe others). I doubt they'd add Ortiz, but I'm sure they'd be happy if he stayed around as a free agent again.

This is a tremendous article! Captures so much in it. Here are a couple of my thoughts for discussion: I don't know if he will for the rest of this year, but definitely the beyond. I don't know how much rope they'll give him in this first big league opportunity, but he's going to have to make some big-time offensive adjustments quickly to stick this year. Also, I get the idea behind Mauer to the Outfield, but I just can't see that. He is so stiff at 1B, I can't imagine him in the OF. It may be better than Willingham, but Rosario, Buxton and Hicks just sounds so much more appealing. That said, I get the thought that they need to make a spot for Sano. Also, Kepler is such a good corner outfielder that I think he should play out there if they did give up on Hicks as suggested. It's going to be interesting. It's funny how there seems to be this great depth right now, but somehow it always seems to become obvious when it needs to.

Short Answer: No. He's been unreal, and he's the focus of two more articles on Friday.

When I talked to Max for the May Hitter of the Month article, I asked him what he thought was his best position. He said, "Id put myself in one of the outfield corners." But he has the speed to be adequate in CF and obviously he can play 1B too. That might be his role in the big leagues, playing almost every day at 3-4 positions.

Baseball-Reference.

Kepler has been unbelievable since about 2 weeks after he came up to Chattanooga. He was player of the month for May (at Twins Daily, the Twins chose Trey Vavra, who was also terrific). He slowed a bit for a week or two in early June, but he has taken off again of late. Two straight 4-hit games will certainly help the numbers. But, he's got such a sweet swing and is a tremendous athlete.

In early February, we presented our Top 10 Minnesota Twins prospects. With the minor league seasons nearly half complete and the draft just completed, we thought it would be a good time to update our Top 10 lists. In the next two weeks, you’ll find that our rankings have changed in some ways. Some players have moved up. Others have struggled and moved down, or even out, of this list. Today, we start this series with a look at our choice for #10 Twins prospect, Alex Meyer.The Twins acquired the 6-9, hard-throwing right-hander in a November 2012 trade with the Washington Nationals. Denard Span went to the Nationals where, when healthy, he has been a force at the top of the team’s lineup. At the time, Meyer was viewed as a potential top of the rotation starter while many cautioned that he could wind up being a dominant reliever. Meyer’s career is at an interesting juncture right now. He is currently working out of the AAA Rochester bullpen after early-season struggles in the Red Wings starting rotation. It will be very interesting to see what the future holds for the obviously very talented flame-thrower. Alex Meyer - RHP Age: 25 (DOB: 1/3/90) 2015 Stats (AAA): 50.0 IP, 3-3, 5.76 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 56/30 K/BB ETA: 2015 2014 Preseason Ranking: 3, 2015 Preseason Ranking: 5 What's To Like It has been a difficult 2015 season for Meyer so far and yet, everything that we have liked about him in the past continues to be true. The talent that made him a first-round pick in 2011 in still there. Even through his 2015 struggles, he has 56 strikeouts in 50 innings. He has the ability to miss bats. He does so with a strong pitch mix. His fastball continues to sit 95 to 96 and touches 99 at times. He still has a very good, power slider. What's Left To Work On He was very strong for Rochester in 2014, and even then, he walked 4.4 batters per nine innings. In 2015, he has walked 5.4 per nine innings. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw, that won’t lend to much big league success. In 2014 in AAA, he gave up just eight hits per nine innings. To this point in 2015, he has allowed 10.4 hits per nine innings. In my opinion, after his rough start, an effort was being made to throw more strikes. That led to more hits allowed. However, the strategy makes sense. Get back to throwing strikes, gain confidence in your control, and then start working in the other pitches and worry about hitting corners. I also believe that Meyer needs to work on his confidence. He had a tough couple of months leading up to spring training and then some tough times during spring training, on and off the field. He did lack confidence through his struggles, as most would. There have always been questions about his ability to start. His 130.1 innings in 2014 was his career high. Of his seven starts this season, he completed six innings just three times. He completed seven innings once, just the second time in his four minor league seasons. What's Next In mid-May, the Twins and Meyer made the decision for him to move to the bullpen. At the time, he was 2-3 with a 7.09 ERA. In 39.1 innings, he had allowed 51 hits, walked 24 and struck out 41. Opponents were hitting .325/.418/.427 (.845) off of him. In his six games since moving to the bullpen, he is 1-0 with a 0.84 ERA. In 10.2 innings, he has given up seven hits, walked six and struck out 15. Opponents have hit .184/.311/.237 (.548) against him. He pitched three innings in two of those six outings. So, what’s next? In reality, the Twins have two options with two different timelines: 1.) They can give him one more shot to be a starter. He has made some improvements and maybe he can take that success back to the starting role. If that is the plan, he will have to get several more starts and return to the type of dominance that he showed in Rochester in 2014. He could be a September call up. 2.) The other option is to let him continue in the bullpen, pitching either one inning at a time or in long relief. If that is the decision, he could be up with the Twins very quickly. I think he would just need a few more weeks of work, learning how to prepare for coming out of the bullpen. Of course, the Twins have to account for the return of Ervin Santana as well as find a way to get back to 12 pitchers, but I think that Meyer could be up within a month. The more likely path to success for Meyer is in the bullpen. In that role, he can develop over time into a strong back-of-the-bullpen option with his velocity. The 25-year-old was only added to the Twins 40-man roster last November, so 2015 is only his first of three option years. They can afford to be patient. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw him much sooner than that. What do you think is the best course of action for Alex Meyer and also for the Minnesota Twins? Click here to view the article

I'm including the guys they drafted as I do believe that speaks to talent evaluation. If they didn't sign and went to school or there was some other reason, was the player at least worth the hassle? As for Hicks (Parmelee and several others yet to come), they can certainly continue to move up this list. It's part of why I didn't include the guys from the last 5 drafts. To be fair to this point, they should be placed in the range of the guys that haven't made it yet. It doesn't make sense to put Byron Buxton at #5 (or wherever) when he has only played in 3-4 games.

Corrected... meant 3rd "overall" pick... Yeah, the Twins have missed out on some guys, to be sure. But, obviously we're not looking at all teams. I'm guessing the Twins "success" rate over 50 drafts is pretty much in line with everybody else.

Yesterday, we began a series looking back and ranking the Minnesota Twins first-round picks all the way back to the first MLB draft in 1965. In Part 1 (31 through 53), there were a lot of interesting names, but very few who spent much time in the big leagues. Most from that list never made it to the big leagues. Today in Part 2 (21-30), we start to see some guys who may never have become stars, but did have roles on big league teams for a decent amount of time. You will recognize many of the names. A couple of these guys have a chance to continue to work their way up this list. If you want to look at the criteria was for being ranked or some of the background on this series, please click here to review.With that, here are my choices for 21-30: #30 – 1975 – Rick Sofield – SS A couple of weeks ago, we saw Rick Sofield coaching third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1975, he was the 13th overall pick in the draft out of high school in New Jersey. He played in 207 games for the Twins between 1979 and 1981. 130 of those games were in 1980. He played all three outfield positions. Combined, he hit .243/.293/.342 (.634) with 25 doubles and nine home runs. MLB WAR: -0.7. #29 – 2004 – Kyle Waldrop – RHP The Twins third first-round pick in 2004, a lanky right-hander from high school in Knoxville, Tennessee. Waldrop gradually worked his way up to Double-A before he needed shoulder surgery and missed the entire 2008 season. He returned as a bullpen arm and was successful. By the end of 2011, he earned a call up to the Twins. In 2012, he made the opening day roster and posted a 2.53 ERA. However, he fought more injuries including an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. MLB WAR: 0.5 #28 – 2008 – Aaron Hicks – OF With the 14th pick in the 2008 draft, the Twins took Aaron Hicks out of high school in California. A great athlete, he was one of the Twins top prospects for several years. After struggling at some of the lower levels, Hicks put things together in 2012 in Double-A New Britain. He filled out the stat sheet, hitting .286/.384/.460 (.844) with 21 doubles, 11 triples, 13 homers and 32 stolen bases. That offseason, the Twins traded Denard Span and Ben Revere and Hicks won the centerfield job with a strong spring training in 2013. Unfortunately, he has yet to experience big league success. In parts of the past three seasons, he has hit .209/.293/.311 (.604) with 21 doubles and ten home runs. He is currently on the disabled list as Byron Buxton takes over in center field. MLB WAR: 0.9. #27 – 2006 – Chris Parmelee – OF/1B Parmelee was the 20th overall pick in the June, 2006 draft out of high school in California. The stocky hitter showed good power in the lower levels. He repeated in the Midwest League. He also repeated in New Britain. He posted an .801 OPS with the Rock Cats in 2011 and earned a September call up. He played in 21 games for the Twins and hit .355/.443/.592 (1.035 with six doubles and four home runs. Over the next three seasons with the Twins, he was unable to duplicate – or come anywhere near – those numbers. In 252 games, he hit .238/.304/.371 (.675). Parmelee became a free agent following the 2014 season and signed with the Orioles. Through 61 games with Norfolk (Triple-A), he was hitting .312/.381/.444 (.826) with 13 doubles and six homers. He was promoted to the Orioles on Tuesday and in his first game, he went 4-6 with two home runs. He was MLB WAR: 0.3 (could still increase) #26 – 1991 – Scott Stahoviak – 1B/3B Gary Gaetti left the Twins via free agency following the 1990 season. The Twins got a supplemental draft choice in 1991 and with the 27th overall pick, the Twins selected 1B/3B Scott Stahoviak out of Creighton University. The Twins had drafted him three years earlier out of high school in Illinois. He put up terrific minor league numbers before being called up to the Twins for 20 games in 1993. He played in 94 games for the Twins in 1995. His best year came in 1996 when he hit .284/.376/.469 (.845) in 130 games. He had 30 doubles and 13 home runs. The next year, he hit just .229/.301/.400 (.701) with 17 doubles and 10 homers in 91 games. He played in just nine games for the Twins in 1998 and that was it. MLB WAR: 1.0. #25 – 1965 – Eddie Leon – SS Eddie Leon was the ninth overall pick of the Twins in the first MLB draft in 1965. Unfortunately, he didn’t sign, choosing to stay at the University of Arizona. The next year, he was the third overall pick, by the Cubs, and again chose not to sign. In 1967, Cleveland made him their third round pick. He signed and debuted with the team in 1968. He went on to play in parts of eight seasons in the big leagues. In 1970, he played in 152 games. For his career, he hit .236/.296/.313 (.609) with 51 doubles, ten triples and 24 home runs. MLB WAR: (-1.1) #24 – 1987 – Willie Banks – RHP Banks was a highly-touted prep pitcher from New Jersey when the Twins made him the third overall pick of the 1987 draft. He dominated the lower levels of the minor leagues and was to Double-A by the time he was 20. He debuted with the Twins in 1991 with five games. He made 12 starts for the team in 1992. He went 11-12 with a 4.04 ERA in 30 starts in 1993. However, the Twins traded him to the Cubs following that season for Matt Walbeck and Dave Stevens. He spent time starting with the Dodgers and the Marlins, but after not playing in 1996, he returned as a bullpen arm. He spent over a year with the Yankees as well as time with the Diamondbacks. He resurfaced in the big leagues in 2001 and 2002 with the Red Sox. Overall, he went 33-39 with a 4.75 ERA over 610.1 big league innings. He spent a few seasons with Newark in the independent Atlantic League. MLB WAR: 1.1. #23 – 1991 – David McCarty – OF/1B McCarty was the Twins third overall pick in 1991 out of Stanford. He was thought to be an advanced bat who could move up quickly and take over for Kent Hrbek as the Twins first baseman for a long time. He made his Twins debut in 1993. In 98 games that year, he hit .214/.257/.286 with 15 doubles and two home runs. He played in just 69 more games for the Twins before being traded to Cincinnati in June of 1995 in exchange for lefty John Courtright who never posted an ERA below six in Double-A. McCarty stayed in the big leagues until 2005, a part-time player for the Giants, Mariners, Royals, Rays, A’s and Red Sox. He toyed with becoming a pitcher and got into just two games. He struck out four batters in 3.2 innings. MLB WAR: (-2.0) #22 – 1990 – Midre Cummings – OF The Twins got a supplemental first-round pick in 1990, 29th overall, for having lost Jeff Reardon to free agency. The Twins selected Miami prep outfielder Midre Cummings. He signed and hit .316 for the GCL Twins. In 1991, he hit .322 in the Midwest League. Following that season, the Twins traded him, along with Denny Neagle, to Pittsburgh in exchange for a season of John Smiley. Cummings debuted with the Pirates as a 21-year-old in 1993. He spent time in the big leagues, with five teams between then and 2001. He was primarily used as a pinch hitter and fourth outfielder through much of his career. After being released by the Red Sox late in spring training of 1999, the Twins signed him in mid-May. He played in 93 games for the Twins before they dealt him to Boston on August 31, 2000 for a minor leaguer. In 2001, he was on the Diamondbacks post-season roster and played in two games and scored two runs on the World Series championship team. He toiled in the minor leagues in 2002 and 2003, but he resurfaced with the Rays in 2004 and with the Orioles in 2005 before calling it a career. MLB WAR: 1.0. #21 – 2000 – Aaron Heilman – RHP The 2000 draft’s first round was not kind to the Twins. Adam Johnson was their first pick (at #2), and with the 31st pick, received as compensation for losing Mike Trombly to free agency, the Twins selected Heilman out of Notre Dame. He chose not to sign and was the 18th overall pick, by the Mets, in the 2001 draft. He debuted with the Mets in 2003 with 13 starts. He made just five starts for them in 2004. He made seven starts in 2005 before they shifted him to the bullpen where he worked in 46 games. He pitched in at least 70 games out of the bullpen for the next five years. He found a little bit of success which got him a nice free agent contract. He played for the Cubs and the Diamondbacks as well. MLB WAR: 1.8. So there you have it, Part 2 of my series on Twins first-round picks, ranking #21-30. We're starting to see some guys that maybe didn't (or haven't yet) distinguished themselves, but have spent a decent amount of time in the big leagues. Tomorrow, we'll continue the list with Part 3, which will be 11-20. Click here to view the article

It was an interesting day in the Minnesota Twins minor league system on Tuesday even though the Chattanooga Lookouts had an off day. The Ft. Myers Miracle had a Miracle Win in the bottom of the ninth. And, congratulations to Jake Mauer and his Cedar Rapids Kernels as they will head to the Midwest League playoffs for the third time in their three seasons as a Twins affiliate.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 4, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 6 Box Score Pat Dean has been tremendous for the Red Wings all season. However, on this night, he struggled. The left-hander gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk in five innings. Mark Hamburger came on and threw two scoreless innings. Ryan O’Rourke faced two batters. He struck out one, but the other homered. Cole Johnson made his AAA debut and recorded five outs, one on a strikeout. Reynaldo Rodriguez led the offense. He went 2-3 with a walk and two RBI. Oswaldo Arcia went 1-3 with a walk and hit his first home run in the ninth inning. Ryan Wheeler added his third double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga Box Score No Game Scheduled. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Daytona 4 Box Score The Miracle were down 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth. The first two batters got out. Then things got crazy. Tanner Vavra was hit by a pitch, Engelb Vielma got on because of an error, and Zach Granite walked to load the bases. Next, Alex Swim then walked in a run to cut the deficit to one. After a pitching change, Marcus Knecht came up and hit a slow roller back to the pitcher. However, the throw one-hopped the first baseman. Vielma scored the tying run, and on the bobble, Zach Granite continued around third base and raced in to score the winning run. Swim went 2-4 with the walk and the seventh double of his season. He drove in two runs. Granite was 1-3 with two walks. Ryan Eades got the call to start this game on the mound. He gave up three runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings. He didn’t walk any and struck out seven. Brian Gilbert went 1.2 scoreless out of the bullpen. Matt Summers gave up one run on two hits in the top of the ninth inning. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 2, Burlington 1 Box Score The offense didn’t show up for most of this game, but Felix Jorge was terrific and the Cedar Rapids Kernels will be going to the playoffs for the third time in three seasons as a Twins affiliate. Down 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth, the Kernels loaded the bases on singles by JJ Fernandez, Brian Navarreto and a TJ White in between. With two outs, Tanner English walked to score the tying run. Next, Nick Gordon worked a walk to score the go-ahead run. Felix Jorge was terrific. He went the first seven innings. He gave up just one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out five. Luke Bard came in and despite giving up three singles in the eighth, he did not allow a run. Once the team had the lead, Jake Mauer went to Trevor Hildenberger to close it out. Three batters later, Bard had improved to 4-0, Hildenberger had his seventh save, and Mauer had his third straight playoff berth with the Kernels. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Felix Jorge, Cedar Rapids Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Alex Swim, Ft. Myers Miracle WEDNESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Scranton/Wilkes Barre @ Rochester (6:05 CST) – TBD Jacksonville @ Chattanooga (6:15 CST) – LHP Brett Lee (vs Matt Tomshaw) Daytona @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – RHP Kohl Stewart Burlington @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 CST) – RHP Dereck Rodriguez Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Tuesday games. Click here to view the article

I didn't really factor in draft position, just first-round picks.

Just over one week ago, Major League Baseball’s annual first-year players draft began. The first MLB June draft was held in 1965. The Minnesota Twins have made a first-round selection in each of the previous 50 drafts. Lists are always fun, so today, I am going to start a series ranking the Twins first-round picks (with some exceptions, of course) by ranking #31-53! I am only going to include first-round draft picks selected in the top 32 picks. In some years, such as 2004, the Twins had five first-round picks, and three of them were taken before 32. All three of them will be included in this list. Also, I’m judging/ranking based on the player’s career, regardless of how much, if any, of that career was spent in a Twins uniform.Also, I am not going to rank the Twins first-round picks taken since 2010. Although several of them will likely turn into very good major leaguers, none of them has even played in Triple-A yet (though Byron Buxton now has two games with the Twins.). I’ll encourage you to think about where you would rank some of those players on this list. I would say that none of them would rank last on this list even if their career ended now. Those not included are: Alex Wimmers (2010), Levi Michael (2011), Byron Buxton (2012), JO Berrios (2012), Kohl Stewart (2013) and Nick Gordon (2014). Note – 2012 top pick Byron Buxton has already surpassed many players on this list, in case you were wondering. This year the Minnesota Twins had the sixth overall pick and selected lefty Tyler Jay. Hopefully, if someone ranks the Twins first-round pick in another 20 years, Jay will rank high on it. With all of that, let’s get to the rankings, starting with #53. #53 – 1979 – Kevin Brandt – OF The Twins selected a high school outfielder from Nekoosa, Wisconsin, with the 11th overall pick in the 1979 draft. He played 45 games with Elizabethton that summer. He played two more games with the E-Twins in 1980, and that was it. He was released. Fortunately, the Twins second- and third-round picks that year were Randy Bush and Tim Laudner. #52 – 1966 – Bob Jones – 3B With the 20th pick in the 1966 draft, the Twins drafted third baseman Bob Jones. He spent two years in the GCL, followed by a year in St. Cloud which was the Twins Low-A affiliate back then. In 1969, he played in 66 games for the High-A team of the Houston Astros. Overall, he hit .254/.335/.362 (.697) over those four years. #51 – 1974 – Ted Shipley – SS With the 14th pick in 1974, the Twins selected Vanderbilt shortstop Ted Shipley. He went directly to A-Ball and hit .288. He spent the next two seasons in Double-A, but hit a combined .215/.305/.288 (.593) in two seasons before being released. #50 – 2008 – Shooter Hunt – RHP The Twins received a supplemental first round pick (#31 overall) in 2008 for losing Torii Hunter via free agency. They used it on Tulane right-hander Shooter Hunt. Unfortunately, Hunt wasn’t able to control his big fastball or his plus-plus curve ball. He fought “Steve Blass” Disease for four minor league seasons. In 193 innings, he struck out 219 batters but walked 236. He just completed his second season as an assistant coach at Tulane. #49 – 1968 – Alexander Rowell – OF In 1968, the Twins used the 16th overall pick on an outfield from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He began at St. Cloud and hit .301 in 70 games. He split the 1969 season between High-A and Double-A. He hit just .188 in 28 games in Double-A Charlotte in 1969. In 1970, he played in two Double-A games. #48 – 1977 – Paul Croft – OF The Twins used the 15th overall pick in the 1977 draft on New Jersey prep outfielder Paul Croft. As a 17-year-old, he split that 1977 season between Elizabethton and Wisconsin Rapids (Low A). He did the same thing in 1978. He spent the next two seasons in Visalia (High A). That was it for his time with the Twins. He played two seasons of A ball with the Orioles and one season of Double-A ball with the Braves. #47 – 1998 – Ryan Mills – LHP Ryan Mills was a decorated and successful collegiate pitcher at Arizona State. He (and his father, who pitched in two games in the big leagues) was known for his great mechanics. The Twins got the lefty with the sixth overall pick in 1998. The Twins sent him straight to Ft. Myers in 1999 and he went 3-10 with an 8.87 ERA. In 2000, between Quad Cities and New Britain, he went 3-13 with a 4.75 ERA (0-7 with a 9.28 ERA in Double-A). He went 5-16 over the next two years in Double-A. He got two more years in Double-A, working out of the bullpen. He never pitched in the big leagues. #46 – 1999 – B.J. Garbe – OF The Twins had the fifth overall pick in 1999 and went with highly-touted high school outfielder B.J. Garbe. The Washington product hit .316 that summer at Elizabethton, but he never again hit over .242 in his six seasons in the Twins organization. The Twins sent him to his home state with the Mariners but he went back to Hi-A ball there and ended with a partial season in the Marlins organization. #45 – 1985 – Jeff Bumgarner – RHP The Twins took Bumgarner with the 13th pick in 1985 out of high school in Washington. After going 7-14 in Low A as a 19-year-old, the Twins pushed him to Double-A in 1987 where he went 13-10. He then returned to Double-A the next year and went 3-11, and even made seven starts in Triple-A (going 2-3). After that 1988 season, the Twins trade Bumgarner and two other minor leaguers to the Mets for 2B Wally Backman. He never again pitched in Triple-A. #44 – 1979 – Mike Sodders – 3B The Twins used the 11th overall pick in the 1979 draft on third baseman Mike Sodders from Arizona State. He hit .179 in Wisconsin Rapids during that 1981 season. The following year, he hit .251 in 61 Double-A games and then hit .213 at Triple-A Toledo in 27 games. He went back to Double-A in 1983 and hit just .231 in 67 games before the team let him go. He spent the rest of the 1983 season and then the 1984 season with the White Sox. #43 – 2003 – Matt Moses – 3B The 21st pick in the 2003 draft was Matt Moses, a third baseman from Virginia known for his bat. Almost immediately, they learned that he had a hole in his heart that needed surgery to fix. He would struggle through his time with the Twins, having a solid season before going into a slump. In 73 games at Ft. Myers in 2005, he hit .306/376/.453 (.829) before moving up to Double-A for the second half. He then hit a combined .238/.293/.364 (.657) over parts of the next five seasons in Double-A. He had a 48 game stint in Triple-A in 2007. He’s been out of baseball since 2009. #42 – 2008 – Carlos Gutierrez – RHP The Twins lost Torii Hunter to free agency after the 2007 season. They received the Angels first-round pick and a supplemental pick (Hunt, mentioned above). With the 27th pick (from Angels), the Twins selected Miami’s closer, Carlos Gutierrez. He pitched for the 2009 Puerto Rico WBC team. The Twins made him a starter which lasted a couple of years. He was solid as a starter in Ft. Myers, but never found success as a starter in Double-A. In just over two seasons in Rochester, he posted a 4.59 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He then spent a season in the Cubs system and hasn’t played the last two years. #41 – 1971 – Dale Soderholm – SS The 21st pick in the 1971 draft was Miami high school shortstop Dale Soderholm. He sped through the minor leagues and was at Triple-A as a 21-year-old. He played in 308 games in Triple-A, in a bit of a utility role, over five seasons, and he hit just .219/.275/.318. #40 – 1988 – Johnny Ard – RHP The Twins selected right-handed pitcher Johnny Ard with the 20th overall pick in 1988 from Manatee Junior College in Sarasota, Florida. In that season, he went 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA in E-Town and then 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in Kenosha (Low A). In Hi-A Visalia in 1989, he went 13-7 with a 3.29 ERA. Then in Double-A Orlando in 1990, he went 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA. Following the season, the Twins traded him to the Giants in exchange for reliever Steve Bedrosian who played a role in the Twins 1991 World Series championship team. He pitched well in Double-A, but he really struggled in two seasons at Triple-A. He fought injuries and never reached the big leagues. #39 – 2000 – Adam Johnson – RHP The Twins reached a predraft agreement with Cal State-Fullerton righty Adam Johnson with the #2 overall pick. He debuted with the Twins in mid-2001 and he went 1-2 with an 8.28 ERA in 25 innings. He pitched in two more games for the Twins in 2003, giving up seven earned runs in just 1.1 innings. Throw in there a rant at the manager for being sent to the minor leagues in spring training, and it’s fair to say that the Adam Johnson era wasn’t great for the Twins. MLB WAR: -1.1. #38 – 1969 – Paul Powell – OF The Twins went to Arizona State for their first-round pick in 1969. Paul Powell was the seventh overall pick. He was sent straight to Double-A and after just 54 games, he went to Triple-A. He spent 1960 posting an .835 OPS in Double-A Evansville. He began the 1971 season with the Twins. In 20 games, he hit .161 in 31 at- bats including his only major league home run. After the 1971 season, he spent four seasons in the Dodgers organization and got 11 at-bats with the big club. MLB WAR: -0.1. #37 – 1976 – Jamie Allen – 3B The Twins used the 10th pick in the 1976 draft on a high school kid from Washington named Jamie Allen. He was a third baseman. He did not sign, choosing to instead go to Arizona State. Three years later, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the second round. In 1983, he played in 86 games for the Mariners and hit .223/.309/.304 (.613) with 10 doubles and four home runs. He never played another big league game. MLB WAR: -0.4. #36 – 1970 – Bob Gorinski – SS The Twins selected a high school shortstop from Pennsylvania with the 22nd overall pick in 1970. He didn’t hit for average, though he showed good power. In 1971 in Wisconsin Rapids, he hit .259 with a .298 OBP, but he hit 25 doubles and 30 home runs. Then next season, at Lynchburg, he hit 23 homers. Over the next two years at Double-A Orlando, he hit 31 homers. He spent a couple more years in Triple-A. Finally, at age 25 in 1977, he played in 54 games for the Twins and hit .195/.226/.322 (.548) with four doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI. MLB WAR: -0.6. #35 – 1982 – Bryan Oelkers – LHP The Twins had the fourth overall pick in 1982 and selected Wichita State lefty Bryan Oelkers. They pushed him up to the big leagues quickly. In 1983, he went 0-5 with an 8.64 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP in 10 games (8 starts). He pitched in 35 games for Cleveland as a 25-year-old in 1986. One pick later, the Mets selected Dwight Gooden. MLB WAR: -0.9. #34 – 1973 – Eddie Bane – LHP The Twins went with a pitcher from Arizona State with the 11th overall pick in 1973. On July 4th of that year, the Twins called him up to make his big league debut. The 21-year-old gave up one run in seven innings. He went 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA that season with the Twins, pitching primarily out of the bullpen. He returned to the big leagues in 1975 for four games and then made 15 starts for the Twins in 1976. That was it for his big league time. He played through 1980 with the White Sox, Royals and Cubs. He was the scouting director for the Angels from 2004-2010 and has been working as a special assistant for the Red Sox since 2012. MLB WAR: -0.9. #33 – 1986 – Derek Parks – C The Twins drafted a high school pitcher from California and turned him into a catcher. He was known for his glove, but in the minors he did show glimpses of power. He made his Twins debut with seven games in 1992. He played in seven more games in 1993. He got into 31 games in 1994. In those 45 games, he hit .200/.258/.278 with six doubles and one home run. That was it for his playing career. Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly is his son-in-law. MLB WAR: -0.5. #32 – 1978 – Lenny Faedo – SS Faedo was the 16th overall pick in the 1978 draft out of high school in Tampa. He debuted with the Twins in 1980 and played in 174 games for the Twins over the next five seasons. In 1983, he played in 90 games. He hit .251/.284/.316 (600) with 17 doubles and five home runs in his career. MLB WAR: -0.2. #31 – 1992 – Dan Serafini – LHP The southpaw was the 26th overall pick in 1992 out of high school in California. He debuted with the Twins in 1996 and pitched with the team through 1998. The next two seasons, he split time between the Cubs, Padres and Pirates. He resurfaced with the Reds in 2003. Then after time in Japan, he pitched in three games (and got a total of one out) with the Rockies in 2007). He kept playing, as recently as 2013, in Mexico. MLB WAR: -0.7. So there is Part 1 of my ranking of the Twins first-round draft picks since the draft's inception in 1965. Part 1 is a friendly reminder that the June draft is not a perfect science. I'll be back in the next few days to show that, in fact, the Twins have gotten it right on some occasions. Click here to view the article

David Hurlbut did. I'll post it in the Minor League Award document shortly.

On Sunday, Byron Buxton made his major league debut, the goal of every single minor league player. There were a lot of strong hitting performances on the day, lots of three-hit games. A few of the Twins top pitching prospects were on the mound Sunday. Two of them didn’t get through the fourth inning, but one had a tremendous start. To find out who performed well, you’ll just have to keep reading.RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 2, Scranton/Wilkes Barre 1 Box Score Taylor Rogers has continued to move up the farm system at a steady pace. At each level, he has had a couple of clunkers, but for the most part, he has been very good for the Red Wings. On Sunday, he posted one of his best starts of the year. The southpaw went eight innings. He gave up one run on six hits. He walked none and struck out eight. He improved to 6-4 and reduced his ERA to 3.23. He needed just 92 pitches and 63 of them were strikes. AJ Achter came on for the ninth and retired the three batters he faced to record his tenth save of the season. The Red Wings needed that performance as the offense didn’t provide much support. They had just four hits in the game. The big hit came from Danny Ortiz in the fourth inning. He drove in two runs with his 17th double of the season. Argenis Diaz recorded his sixth double. CHATTANOOGA CHATTER Chattanooga 4, Birmingham 3 Box Score There was a scary moment in the bottom of the third inning. JO Berrios started for the Lookouts and had given up just one hit over three shutout innings. On the final out of that third inning, he took a liner to the shin. He made the play, but he left the game with a leg contusion. Reports following the game indicated that he was fine and wouldn’t miss any time. DJ Baxendale went to the mound and threw the next two innings. He gave up one run on one hit and two walks, though he did strike out five. Madison Boer gave up two unearned runs on two hits and two walks in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Jake Reed got the next four outs in order. JT Chargois recorded his third save since his call up to Chattanooga. He struck out two in an inning. Mike Gonzales went 2-4, but Max Kepler had the big hit. Kepler went 1-2 with two walks and a two-run homer. It was his third homer of the year. Jorge Polanco led off and went 0-1, but he walked three times. Niko Goodrum made the start in center field for the Lookouts. MIRACLE MATTERS Ft. Myers 5, Bradenton 6 (11 innings) Box Score Yet another extra innings game for the Miracle, and this one unfortunately ended in a loss. Stephen Gonsalves had a rough one in his second FSL start. In just 3.2 innings, he gave up three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out two. Before he left the game, he issued two straight bases-loaded walks. He was replaced by Matt Summers who gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out one. Corey Williams came on and got the next seven outs without allowing a run. Todd Van Steensel struck out two over his two scoreless innings. Luke Westphal gave up a run on three hits in the bottom of the 11th to take the loss. Mitch Garver led the offense. He went 3-4 with his ninth double. Alex Swim went 2-5. Marcus Knecht’s tenth double drove in two runs. Bryan Haar added a double, his thirteenth. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 8, Lansing 3 Box Score Good things come in threes, right? Well, four Kernels hitters had three hits in this game to help the team to a nice win on Sunday afternoon. Sam Gibbons got the start and got through seven innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and two walks. Mike Theofanopoulos gave up a run in his inning. He struck out two. Trevor Hildenberger struck out one in a perfect inning. Leadoff man Edgar Corcino went 3-4. Alex Real went 3-3 with a walk and his third double. Rafael Valera was 3-3 with a walk. Tanner English led the way. He went 3-4 with his sixth triple and his second home run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Taylor Rogers, Rochester Red Wings Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Tanner English, Cedar Rapids Kernels MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Rochester – No Game Scheduled Chattanooga @ Birmingham (11:30 am CST) – RHP Greg Peavey Daytona @ Ft. Myers (6:05 CST) – LHP Mat Batts Lansing @ Cedar Rapids (12:05 CST) – RHP Jared Wilson Please feel free to ask any questions and discuss the Sunday games. Click here to view the article