Brad Swanson

Looks like we'll never know; he's heading to AA according to Jon Heyman: RE

I aim to please...

Thanks! As long as I keep pouring questions in for myself, I'll keep answering my own questions as well.

Thanks again! I'll look for a good Keith Atherton card to photoshop for the future. I'm always willing to take requests.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1855-Friday-Mailbag!!!!!

Thanks guys! I'm totally irrational about two things: Aaron Hicks and putting Gary Wayne's head on things.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! With the conclusion of my landmark 25 drafts in 25 days feature, I decided that I needed to stop relying so heavily on gimmicks. It's time to do some real analysis and actually offer something of value. No more insulting everyone with silly lists and bad photoshops. It's time to take things very seriously. So, here's a fake mailbag: What do you think of the Kohl Stewart pick? ~Prospect Guys, Twins Daily (question likely aimed at someone with more knowledge/street cred/common sense) I love it. Considering the players who were available, Stewart was the best pick. Obviously, if any of the "big three" had fallen to four, I would have liked for the Twins to jump on them. However, with those three drafted, it seems that Stewart was clearly the best available prospect and he filled a need to boot. While Stewart is unlikely to contribute to the Twins within the next few years, he certainly helps add to the excitement for the future. If fans can be patient for a year or so more, things will start to turn around. Teams with oodles of top prospects improve. Unless they're the Royals. Then they don't. Kansas City is a nice place though. Also, even if Stewart never reaches Minnesota, it can still be the right pick. The MLB draft is so hard to predict and taking a teenager is no sure bet. Stewart can flame out and still be the right choice. Things change; that's the way it is. Clete Thomas was called up recently. Don't you think he deserved it? Don't you expect him to be freaking fantastic? ~Everyone, Twitter No and no. Clete Thomas played well at AAA but unless he's bringing AAA pitchers with him to Minnesota, I don't see his MLB career taking off any time soon. Thomas is a replacement level player who can play center field if needed. Hopefully, he'll be around to spell Aaron Hicks from time to time and nothing more. I don't expect him to help the team win and I don't expect him to do anything of significance. I also don't think he'll be on the team at the end of the season. Summary: Not a fan. I also don't think he "earned" a call-up. Sure, he played well for Rochester, but he's 29. He's not part of the future and he doesn't help enough in the present. It's great that he mastered AAA but that's all his performance means. I don't really care that he is on the active roster, so long as he doesn't start playing regularly. Basically, stay off my lawn, Clete Thomas. What do you think of the Fox Sports North Girls? How would you improve their role with the Twins? ~Wife, St. Paul, MN Well, I have one idea: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPeREQtthSA/UbE_6J6pBpI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/9LPH4uEu4zM/s320/foxsportswaynegirls.png Replacing the Fox Sports North Girls with three Gary Waynes could be profitable. Byron Buxton? ~B. Swanson, St. Paul, MN Excellent question. Yes. Holy smokes this guy is crazy. It seems like his legend grows every day. Keith Law rated him as the second best prospect in baseball. Jason Parks seems somewhat smitten. The experts and scouts are comparing him to Eric Davis, Mike Trout and Willie Mays. Yowee. Is there any harm in this? I don't think so. Honestly, the fact that he is building a legend when so far from the Majors kind of makes it more fun. Even if he flames out (and I don't see that happening) we will at the very least have this legendary figure that we will remember for a long time. I love it. I love larger than life figures. Can you imagine Buxton's MLB debut? How electric is that crowd going to be? He isn't going to be a normal prospect; he's gone mainstream. The average top prospect is still a relative unknown. My father-in-law sent me a text about Buxton this week and his Twins texts are usually devoted to talking about how Joe Mauer doesn't hit home runs or misspelling names like Donit and Parmesan. He wants to release Aaron Hicks. Just release him. Buxton has crossed over. He's the Enrique Iglesias of the Twins Minor Leagues. If he wants to Bailamos, I'll do it. Just watch me. What's your deal with Aaron Hicks? ~Haters, Everywhere There is a classic scene in the classic movie Little Big League when classic character Billy Heywood watches his favorite player get a seeing-eye single for his first hit in what must have been ages. Billy gets very excited and turns to his pitching coach as if to say, "see, I told you so." The wise pitching coach basically points out that if Billy is this excited about a seeing-eye single, then what does that really say about his favorite player? I now realize that I act in the same way when Aaron Hicks gets a hit. It's quite sad. I've basically turned into a 10-year-old MLB manager, which is pretty much everything I hate. Every Hicks hit ends with me pumping my fist, running around my living room and doing the Charleston. Billy ends up releasing his favorite player; what will happen to me? I so badly want Aaron Hicks to break out or just string together a few good games in a row. He's certainly playing better than he was in April, but he's still not great. Now Clete Thomas is around to bogart at bats with his weird eyes and I feel threatened. Hicks has made improvements, but maybe not enough. I don't know anymore. I feel as though I have been constantly defending him and the Twins' decision to keep playing him. It's exhausting. I still don't see any reason to send him to AAA, but I've also clearly snapped. I wrote this "piece" a few weeks ago which basically called for the limitation of free speech. Free speech is one of my favorites! I've gone mad. I just hope I don't have to be the one to tell Hicks that he has to go to Rochester. I would be an odd choice for a variety of reasons. What is the one thing you would do to improve baseball? ~@bridman77, on Twitter Two words: Magnets everywhere. Thanks for reading everyone, have a nice weekend!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! With the conclusion of my landmark 25 drafts in 25 days feature, I decided that I needed to stop relying so heavily on gimmicks. It's time to do some real analysis and actually offer something of value. No more insulting everyone with silly lists and bad photoshops. It's time to take things very seriously. So, here's a fake mailbag: What do you think of the Kohl Stewart pick? ~Prospect Guys, Twins Daily (question likely aimed at someone with more knowledge/street cred/common sense) I love it. Considering the players who were available, Stewart was the best pick. Obviously, if any of the "big three" had fallen to four, I would have liked for the Twins to jump on them. However, with those three drafted, it seems that Stewart was clearly the best available prospect and he filled a need to boot. While Stewart is unlikely to contribute to the Twins within the next few years, he certainly helps add to the excitement for the future. If fans can be patient for a year or so more, things will start to turn around. Teams with oodles of top prospects improve. Unless they're the Royals. Then they don't. Kansas City is a nice place though. Also, even if Stewart never reaches Minnesota, it can still be the right pick. The MLB draft is so hard to predict and taking a teenager is no sure bet. Stewart can flame out and still be the right choice. Things change; that's the way it is. Clete Thomas was called up recently. Don't you think he deserved it? Don't you expect him to be freaking fantastic? ~Everyone, Twitter No and no. Clete Thomas played well at AAA but unless he's bringing AAA pitchers with him to Minnesota, I don't see his MLB career taking off any time soon. Thomas is a replacement level player who can play center field if needed. Hopefully, he'll be around to spell Aaron Hicks from time to time and nothing more. I don't expect him to help the team win and I don't expect him to do anything of significance. I also don't think he'll be on the team at the end of the season. Summary: Not a fan. I also don't think he "earned" a call-up. Sure, he played well for Rochester, but he's 29. He's not part of the future and he doesn't help enough in the present. It's great that he mastered AAA but that's all his performance means. I don't really care that he is on the active roster, so long as he doesn't start playing regularly. Basically, stay off my lawn, Clete Thomas. What do you think of the Fox Sports North Girls? How would you improve their role with the Twins? ~Wife, St. Paul, MN Well, I have one idea: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MPeREQtthSA/UbE_6J6pBpI/AAAAAAAAAtQ/9LPH4uEu4zM/s320/foxsportswaynegirls.png Replacing the Fox Sports North Girls with three Gary Waynes could be profitable. Byron Buxton? ~B. Swanson, St. Paul, MN Excellent question. Yes. Holy smokes this guy is crazy. It seems like his legend grows every day. Keith Law rated him as the second best prospect in baseball. Jason Parks seems somewhat smitten. The experts and scouts are comparing him to Eric Davis, Mike Trout and Willie Mays. Yowee. Is there any harm in this? I don't think so. Honestly, the fact that he is building a legend when so far from the Majors kind of makes it more fun. Even if he flames out (and I don't see that happening) we will at the very least have this legendary figure that we will remember for a long time. I love it. I love larger than life figures. Can you imagine Buxton's MLB debut? How electric is that crowd going to be? He isn't going to be a normal prospect; he's gone mainstream. The average top prospect is still a relative unknown. My father-in-law sent me a text about Buxton this week and his Twins texts are usually devoted to talking about how Joe Mauer doesn't hit home runs or misspelling names like Donit and Parmesan. He wants to release Aaron Hicks. Just release him. Buxton has crossed over. He's the Enrique Iglesias of the Twins Minor Leagues. If he wants to Bailamos, I'll do it. Just watch me. What's your deal with Aaron Hicks? ~Haters, Everywhere There is a classic scene in the classic movie Little Big League when classic character Billy Heywood watches his favorite player get a seeing-eye single for his first hit in what must have been ages. Billy gets very excited and turns to his pitching coach as if to say, "see, I told you so." The wise pitching coach basically points out that if Billy is this excited about a seeing-eye single, then what does that really say about his favorite player? I now realize that I act in the same way when Aaron Hicks gets a hit. It's quite sad. I've basically turned into a 10-year-old MLB manager, which is pretty much everything I hate. Every Hicks hit ends with me pumping my fist, running around my living room and doing the Charleston. Billy ends up releasing his favorite player; what will happen to me? I so badly want Aaron Hicks to break out or just string together a few good games in a row. He's certainly playing better than he was in April, but he's still not great. Now Clete Thomas is around to bogart at bats with his weird eyes and I feel threatened. Hicks has made improvements, but maybe not enough. I don't know anymore. I feel as though I have been constantly defending him and the Twins' decision to keep playing him. It's exhausting. I still don't see any reason to send him to AAA, but I've also clearly snapped. I wrote this "piece" a few weeks ago which basically called for the limitation of free speech. Free speech is one of my favorites! I've gone mad. I just hope I don't have to be the one to tell Hicks that he has to go to Rochester. I would be an odd choice for a variety of reasons. What is the one thing you would do to improve baseball? ~@bridman77, on Twitter Two words: Magnets everywhere. Thanks for reading everyone, have a nice weekend!

You are all far too kind. Thanks for the nice words!

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1840-25-Minnesota-Twins-Drafts-in-25-Days-2012

This is an awesome overview. I love how much draft coverage there has been at Twins Daily!

I am grateful for that accidental click. I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I have reached the end of my journey. Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let you go, Twins' drafts. It's unnatural. As such, I wanted to thank everyone for the positive feedback and for simply reading these recaps. I really enjoyed the research and I really enjoyed sharing what I found. I also appreciate the support from Twins Daily and their willingness to put these on the Front Page. I think the proudest moment I have had in my short time blogging is seeing the phrase "Do you remember the Willenium?" on the front of Twins Daily. But seriously, more people have read these than I could have ever dreamed and that really means a lot to me. Thanks to this wonderful community of Twins fans. If you missed 2011, just click the year. I don't quote any 90s R&B, but I did disparage the city of Circle Pines. Also, if you missed any from before that, I did try to organize all of the recaps in one place. This is that one place. Here is 2012: You'll have to forgive me if this final draft recap is a bit hard to read. I am literally crying while typing it. Finishing anything is always bittersweet, plus when I cry, I breathe very heavily and wheeze so that I am literally blowing tears from my mouth while sobbing and sniffling. You can imagine what that does to a laptop. I'm very resilient, so I present to you the final installment of 25 drafts in 25 days, at least until I decide that I am out of other ideas. Oh yeah, 2012 was like a year ago, so this should all be berry fresh. 1st Round Picks BYRON BUXTON! I'm guessing it won't be long until we are all typing his name like that. Buxton was the second overall pick and is currently pillaging Cedar Rapids with his bat and glove. Honesty time - I thought the Twins should have taken Albert Almora. I'm so freaking stupid sometimes (all the time). I just thought Almora was equally toolsy, younger and had a better track record (track record for Pete's sake, we're talking about high school kids, what kind of track record... such an idiot). Obviously, I was wrong. The Twins also added Jose Berrios who looks like he might be the most confident person on the planet, with the 32nd overall pick and Luke Bard, who has an older brother, with the 42nd overall pick. Now, had the Twins drafted Almora with one of these picks, it would have been genius. It would have also been illegal. Ah, but what if? Well, Kevin Gausman is in the Majors... That is an inside joke that I'm not fully sure that I understand. If the Twins had selected any player over Buxton, there would be riots in the streets of Anoka County. One might ask, "did the Gopher hockey team just win another National Championship?" Nope, Twins fans are rioting because people are comparing Buxton to Willie Mays and the Twins selected Albert Almora and his broken hand. Luckily, I am barely in charge of making decisions in my house, much less for the Twins, so it's all good. Best Late Round Pick Oh goodness, I don't know, D.J. Baxendale? He was the Twins' tenth-round pick and he carved up Fort Myers like Razor Ramon. He was such a chico that the Twins moved him to New Britain. He's moving fast, which I think people enjoy. Who'll be the first to reach the Majors? Baxendale is certainly in the lead, as he is currently in AA. However, I'm going to defy all logic and guess that it will be Buxton. Here's how I see it playing out. Buxton just shows up at Target Field one night and stares at Ron Gardenhire until he gets put in the lineup. He then goes 5-5, hits for the cycle, robs a home run, pitches a scoreless ninth for the save, posts a triple-double, assists on two goals, solves the energy crisis and reunites the rest of Nirvana with Zombie Kurt Cobain. He then disappears forever. But more likely, Baxendale since he's already in AA. Best Prospects BUXTON! Jose Berrios just turned 19 and looks to be a player who will continue to rise up through the system and up prospect lists. If I remember correctly, he wasn't a big-time prospect because he wasn't very tall. That's crazy. Regardless, the Twins benefit from this blatant height discrimination as Berrios looks like a stud. Third-round pick Adam Walker has a crud-load of power. He hit a whole mess of bombs in rookie ball last season, and is adding more bombs at Cedar Rapids this season. Walker has huge power, but strikes out a lot. Oh well, so do a lot of guys. Power plays, and he's only 21. He's from Milwaukee, but clearly hated it enough to go to college in Jacksonville, Florida. Fifth-round pick Tyler Duffey is allergic to walks. He has walked just eight batters in 77.1 pro innings. That sounds awfully Slowey to me. Hopefully, he hates books so he can fit in with the other players. Luke Bard throws hard. That's fantastic. He shares half of his DNA with brother Daniel, but that is just science. He is going to try to make a successful conversion to become a starter, but still might have value as a reliever if all else fails. Best Name Alex Liquori in the 39th round. Fun Facts As is common with most recent drafts, the Twins can boast a lot of interesting prospects from the 2012 draft. Including: second-round pick Mason Melotakis, second-round comp pick J.T. Chargois, 4th-round pick Zach Jones, and 11th-round pick Taylor Rogers. 21st-round pick Bo Altobelli is a talented hair-stylist. Not true. The Twins received compensation picks in the first and second rounds for Michael Cuddyer, but just a first-round comp pick for Jason Kubel. 9th-round pick L.J. Mazilli did not sign with the team, but come one, he was a 9th-round pick and none of those guys ever pan out. Right, Frank Catalanotto? 2013 Twins? Come on, this is a stupid category. These guys were just drafted. Although, I won't rule out the Buxton scenario I outlined earlier. One Sentence Summary Researching 25 Minnesota Twins drafts in 25 days was really fun; thank you all for reading! Link to the Twins' 2012 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I have reached the end of my journey. Although we've come to the end of the road, still I can't let you go, Twins' drafts. It's unnatural. As such, I wanted to thank everyone for the positive feedback and for simply reading these recaps. I really enjoyed the research and I really enjoyed sharing what I found. I also appreciate the support from Twins Daily and their willingness to put these on the Front Page. I think the proudest moment I have had in my short time blogging is seeing the phrase "Do you remember the Willenium?" on the front of Twins Daily. But seriously, more people have read these than I could have ever dreamed and that really means a lot to me. Thanks to this wonderful community of Twins fans. If you missed 2011, just click the year. I don't quote any 90s R&B, but I did disparage the city of Circle Pines. Also, if you missed any from before that, I did try to organize all of the recaps in one place. This is that one place. Here is 2012: You'll have to forgive me if this final draft recap is a bit hard to read. I am literally crying while typing it. Finishing anything is always bittersweet, plus when I cry, I breathe very heavily and wheeze so that I am literally blowing tears from my mouth while sobbing and sniffling. You can imagine what that does to a laptop. I'm very resilient, so I present to you the final installment of 25 drafts in 25 days, at least until I decide that I am out of other ideas. Oh yeah, 2012 was like a year ago, so this should all be berry fresh. 1st Round Picks BYRON BUXTON! I'm guessing it won't be long until we are all typing his name like that. Buxton was the second overall pick and is currently pillaging Cedar Rapids with his bat and glove. Honesty time - I thought the Twins should have taken Albert Almora. I'm so freaking stupid sometimes (all the time). I just thought Almora was equally toolsy, younger and had a better track record (track record for Pete's sake, we're talking about high school kids, what kind of track record... such an idiot). Obviously, I was wrong. The Twins also added Jose Berrios who looks like he might be the most confident person on the planet, with the 32nd overall pick and Luke Bard, who has an older brother, with the 42nd overall pick. Now, had the Twins drafted Almora with one of these picks, it would have been genius. It would have also been illegal. Ah, but what if? Well, Kevin Gausman is in the Majors... That is an inside joke that I'm not fully sure that I understand. If the Twins had selected any player over Buxton, there would be riots in the streets of Anoka County. One might ask, "did the Gopher hockey team just win another National Championship?" Nope, Twins fans are rioting because people are comparing Buxton to Willie Mays and the Twins selected Albert Almora and his broken hand. Luckily, I am barely in charge of making decisions in my house, much less for the Twins, so it's all good. Best Late Round Pick Oh goodness, I don't know, D.J. Baxendale? He was the Twins' tenth-round pick and he carved up Fort Myers like Razor Ramon. He was such a chico that the Twins moved him to New Britain. He's moving fast, which I think people enjoy. Who'll be the first to reach the Majors? Baxendale is certainly in the lead, as he is currently in AA. However, I'm going to defy all logic and guess that it will be Buxton. Here's how I see it playing out. Buxton just shows up at Target Field one night and stares at Ron Gardenhire until he gets put in the lineup. He then goes 5-5, hits for the cycle, robs a home run, pitches a scoreless ninth for the save, posts a triple-double, assists on two goals, solves the energy crisis and reunites the rest of Nirvana with Zombie Kurt Cobain. He then disappears forever. But more likely, Baxendale since he's already in AA. Best Prospects BUXTON! Jose Berrios just turned 19 and looks to be a player who will continue to rise up through the system and up prospect lists. If I remember correctly, he wasn't a big-time prospect because he wasn't very tall. That's crazy. Regardless, the Twins benefit from this blatant height discrimination as Berrios looks like a stud. Third-round pick Adam Walker has a crud-load of power. He hit a whole mess of bombs in rookie ball last season, and is adding more bombs at Cedar Rapids this season. Walker has huge power, but strikes out a lot. Oh well, so do a lot of guys. Power plays, and he's only 21. He's from Milwaukee, but clearly hated it enough to go to college in Jacksonville, Florida. Fifth-round pick Tyler Duffey is allergic to walks. He has walked just eight batters in 77.1 pro innings. That sounds awfully Slowey to me. Hopefully, he hates books so he can fit in with the other players. Luke Bard throws hard. That's fantastic. He shares half of his DNA with brother Daniel, but that is just science. He is going to try to make a successful conversion to become a starter, but still might have value as a reliever if all else fails. Best Name Alex Liquori in the 39th round. Fun Facts As is common with most recent drafts, the Twins can boast a lot of interesting prospects from the 2012 draft. Including: second-round pick Mason Melotakis, second-round comp pick J.T. Chargois, 4th-round pick Zach Jones, and 11th-round pick Taylor Rogers. 21st-round pick Bo Altobelli is a talented hair-stylist. Not true. The Twins received compensation picks in the first and second rounds for Michael Cuddyer, but just a first-round comp pick for Jason Kubel. 9th-round pick L.J. Mazilli did not sign with the team, but come one, he was a 9th-round pick and none of those guys ever pan out. Right, Frank Catalanotto? 2013 Twins? Come on, this is a stupid category. These guys were just drafted. Although, I won't rule out the Buxton scenario I outlined earlier. One Sentence Summary Researching 25 Minnesota Twins drafts in 25 days was really fun; thank you all for reading! Link to the Twins' 2012 draft from Baseball Reference

I enjoy these summaries as well. I strongly agree with your bits and pieces philosophy when it comes to blowouts.

Nothing would please me more than to have "raspberry" take over as the curse word of choice at Twins Daily.

This is all very fair, and I agree with you on that order of outfielders. I do think that if you use Thomas, Richardson and Benson as a sample, Benson would be lowest right now. However, in three years, I would guess that only Benson has a realistic chance of helping an MLB team. For 2015-16, I'd put him ahead of Ramirez and Colabello too, and maybe even Mastro and Herrmann. I don't necessarily think losing Benson is crushing for the team or even the wrong short-term move, I just think there were better long-term moves that could have easily been made. All that being said, Benson may have reached his ceiling two seasons ago. I think it was a bit premature to give up on him, but the Twins know a lot better than I do.

I would agree and I think it's fair to be excited. Also, Parks just posted an article at BP where he polled 20 industry sources as to whether they prefer Buxton or Miguel Sano: Baseball Prospectus | Prospects Will Break Your Heart: Poll the Industry: Sano vs. Buxton It was 18-2 in favor of Buxton and if you have a BP subscription, this is really compelling stuff. I don't want to give away too much of their article, but this quote is pretty delicious: “Buxton is the best player I have ever scouted in the minors..”

Parks admitted it was an irresponsible comp, but the mere fact that a scout would bring up that name says something about what he sees in Buxton. Also, I'm glad everyone is enjoying the exchange. I saw it while making dinner last night and thought it was too awesome to keep to myself.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1827-25-Minnesota-Twins-Drafts-in-25-Days-2010

The only part of this that I disagree with is the idea that Benson is easily replaceable.

I fully agree with this post. It's not only the guys who the Twins didn't release, but also the guys the Twins added to the 40-man to get to the point where they had to release Benson and Robertson over Hermsen, Butera and the like. Clete Thomas, P.J. Walters and even Sam Deduno are just marginal, replacement-level players. They will never be anything more than that. They might put up good AAA stats and they might have flashes of good play at the MLB level, but they'll never be a part of the future. These moves seem to be made with the idea of "win-now" but are being made with "lose-now" players. It seems like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic or whatever cliche you prefer.

Hey all. Jason Parks and Chris Mellen had a Twitter exchange earlier tonight and I recapped it in my blog: Kevin Slowey was Framed!: What prospect experts are saying about Byron Buxton If you just want to read their tweets, you are certainly welcome. I tried not to get too cute with my analysis, but I really can't help myself.