Brad Swanson

How is it even possible that Mauer has broken up 3 no hitters in the ninth? That's pretty wild.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! If you are interested, I have recaps from 1998 and 1999 as well. Just click on the years and you will be transported to a wonderful new world filled with bad jokes, silly puns and petty insults aimed at baseball players far superior to me. Here is my 2000 draft recap: Welcome to the new millennium!!!!!! Do you remember the Willennium? In 1999, the Twins finally added B.J. Garbe to their system. Coming off that massive high, the Twins had the second overall pick in 2000 and had to be pumping their collective fists and raising their collective roof. The Twins also had a second first-round pick, for reasons we will get to shortly. After two straight disappointing first rounds in 1998 and 1999, the Twins had to get that second overall pick right. Did they? 1st Round Picks Sadly, no. The Twins selected Adam Johnson, a right-handed starter out of Cal State Fullerton. Johnson had previously been drafted by the Twins in 1997, but did not sign. Elephants and Twins' scouts never forget, so when given another chance to land Johnson, they jumped. Johnson flopped. He only appeared in nine games and posted an ERA over ten. At least he has a unique name. But wait! The Twins were awarded another first (and a second for that matter) when Mike Trombley signed with the Orioles in the prior off-season. Mike Trombley was worth not one, but two picks! Wild. The Twins drafted Aaron Heilman out of Notre Dame, but he chose to go back to school instead of signing with the Twins. Outstanding. Ah, but what if? What if Johnson decided to be an accountant while in college? More appropriately, what if Johnson had signed three years prior? If he was already safely in the system, perhaps the Twins would have drafted a position player. Chase Utley was the 15th overall pick and I love Chase Utley. Imagine having Utley in the lineup for the last decade or so. I know he gets hurt a lot, but he certainly would have made the team a lot better. Adam Wainwright was drafted two picks prior to Heilman and I choose to believe that the Twins wanted him all along. If you believe, anything can be true. Best Player Drafted Kubes! I was actually surprised that Jason Kubel was drafted in the 12th round. I always assumed he was a second-round pick. I guess I just fail to see all 1s. Kubel's career WAR is just above six, which seems very low. He doesn't get much credit for his baserunning or defense. He has been an above average offensive player each year and was on a path to stardom before a nasty knee injury changed that path. He was a personal favorite of mine, and I fondly remember that game when he blasted a grand slam to complete the cycle against the Angels. Worst Player to Reach MLB Adam Johnson! Of course Adam Johnson! The answer to every "worst pitcher" question is Adam Johnson. The One Who Got Away Paul Maholm was the Twins' 17th-round pick but did not sign. I was never very impressed with Maholm when he pitched for Pittsburgh, but he has been pretty good for the Braves since they acquired him. I think the Twins would love to have a guy like Maholm right about now. Best Name Tagg Bozied again, just as it was in the 1997 recap. Oh yeah, the Twins drafted him twice too, this time in the second round! Fun Facts The Twins drafted Johnson and Bozied a combined four times and received -1.1 WAR for their troubles. The Twins used their second-round Trombley pick on J.D. "The Real Deal" Durbin. I am all for having personality. In fact, I'd probably give myself an obnoxious nickname too. But, you gotta back it up too. Durbin was still kicking around independent baseball last year, but hasn't thrown an MLB pitch since 2007. Adam Johnson debuted roughly one year after being drafted. He pitched his final MLB game on my 12th birthday, going one third of an inning, giving up six hits and six earned runs. He did get Carlos Pena to pop out. I've totally met Twins' 20th-round pick T.J. Prunty. Jealous? Fifth-round pick Edgardo Lebron is of no relation to NBA star LeBron James, as they have completely different names. Seriously, Mike Trombley was worth two picks! All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Paul Maholm, Jason Kubel, Aaron Heilman, Daniel Davidson, Jason Miller, J.D. Durbin, Josh Rabe, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary Adam Johnson (while making the head-shaking motion). Link to the Twins' 2000 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! If you are interested, I have recaps from 1998 and 1999 as well. Just click on the years and you will be transported to a wonderful new world filled with bad jokes, silly puns and petty insults aimed at baseball players far superior to me. Here is my 2000 draft recap: Welcome to the new millennium!!!!!! Do you remember the Willennium? In 1999, the Twins finally added B.J. Garbe to their system. Coming off that massive high, the Twins had the second overall pick in 2000 and had to be pumping their collective fists and raising their collective roof. The Twins also had a second first-round pick, for reasons we will get to shortly. After two straight disappointing first rounds in 1998 and 1999, the Twins had to get that second overall pick right. Did they? 1st Round Picks Sadly, no. The Twins selected Adam Johnson, a right-handed starter out of Cal State Fullerton. Johnson had previously been drafted by the Twins in 1997, but did not sign. Elephants and Twins' scouts never forget, so when given another chance to land Johnson, they jumped. Johnson flopped. He only appeared in nine games and posted an ERA over ten. At least he has a unique name. But wait! The Twins were awarded another first (and a second for that matter) when Mike Trombley signed with the Orioles in the prior off-season. Mike Trombley was worth not one, but two picks! Wild. The Twins drafted Aaron Heilman out of Notre Dame, but he chose to go back to school instead of signing with the Twins. Outstanding. Ah, but what if? What if Johnson decided to be an accountant while in college? More appropriately, what if Johnson had signed three years prior? If he was already safely in the system, perhaps the Twins would have drafted a position player. Chase Utley was the 15th overall pick and I love Chase Utley. Imagine having Utley in the lineup for the last decade or so. I know he gets hurt a lot, but he certainly would have made the team a lot better. Adam Wainwright was drafted two picks prior to Heilman and I choose to believe that the Twins wanted him all along. If you believe, anything can be true. Best Player Drafted Kubes! I was actually surprised that Jason Kubel was drafted in the 12th round. I always assumed he was a second-round pick. I guess I just fail to see all 1s. Kubel's career WAR is just above six, which seems very low. He doesn't get much credit for his baserunning or defense. He has been an above average offensive player each year and was on a path to stardom before a nasty knee injury changed that path. He was a personal favorite of mine, and I fondly remember that game when he blasted a grand slam to complete the cycle against the Angels. Worst Player to Reach MLB Adam Johnson! Of course Adam Johnson! The answer to every "worst pitcher" question is Adam Johnson. The One Who Got Away Paul Maholm was the Twins' 17th-round pick but did not sign. I was never very impressed with Maholm when he pitched for Pittsburgh, but he has been pretty good for the Braves since they acquired him. I think the Twins would love to have a guy like Maholm right about now. Best Name Tagg Bozied again, just as it was in the 1997 recap. Oh yeah, the Twins drafted him twice too, this time in the second round! Fun Facts The Twins drafted Johnson and Bozied a combined four times and received -1.1 WAR for their troubles. The Twins used their second-round Trombley pick on J.D. "The Real Deal" Durbin. I am all for having personality. In fact, I'd probably give myself an obnoxious nickname too. But, you gotta back it up too. Durbin was still kicking around independent baseball last year, but hasn't thrown an MLB pitch since 2007. Adam Johnson debuted roughly one year after being drafted. He pitched his final MLB game on my 12th birthday, going one third of an inning, giving up six hits and six earned runs. He did get Carlos Pena to pop out. I've totally met Twins' 20th-round pick T.J. Prunty. Jealous? Fifth-round pick Edgardo Lebron is of no relation to NBA star LeBron James, as they have completely different names. Seriously, Mike Trombley was worth two picks! All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Paul Maholm, Jason Kubel, Aaron Heilman, Daniel Davidson, Jason Miller, J.D. Durbin, Josh Rabe, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary Adam Johnson (while making the head-shaking motion). Link to the Twins' 2000 draft from Baseball Reference

I would be very happy with Frazier, if that is who the Twins select. According to everything I have read, he can hit. Guys who have the hit tool present seem to exceed expectations because hitting is the most fundamental skill in baseball and probably the hardest to teach. Eddie Rosario is a great example of a guy who can just flat out hit. He often isn't looked at as a big time prospect, but he almost certainly will play in the Majors because he can hit. I'd probably prefer Stewart at this point as well, but I would be happy with Frazier.

I kept reading "Buteriffic" as Butteriffic and I was kicking myself because I just started a butter-related blog and didn't trademark the name. Regardless, this is an excellent reminder and I can personally attest that this is a very effective way to get read (if you are into that kind of thing). I had a few posts up on the front page and it pretty much octupled the number of people reading my stuff. It's a very satisfying feeling and I appreciate the support!

Perhaps I was getting too bogged down in the specific Machado example. I do feel that the argument that the Twins hold their prospects back is a bit overstated. You can look at Oswaldo Arcia and see a pretty good example of a guy who moved quickly once he reached A ball. The Twins tend to be conservative at lower levels, but have shown the willingness to move players quicker when they get older and get to higher levels. I can see the want to move Sano and other exciting prospects closer to Minnesota. That is where we will all get to watch them. I think that Sano could still end this season in AA and then start next season at AAA or even in Minnesota.

He's been in A ball for 40 some games. He has obvious parts of his game that still need work. It's possible that a part of the reason why he has developed so well is that the Twins have been patient with him and have made him spend a little extra time at the lower levels. He just turned 20, why is there a rush to get him to Minnesota?

Machado is better than Sano, simple as that. He was a better prospect and he is a better player. He is a more advanced hitter and fielder. Sano has more power, but is still working through contact issues. Sano doesn't have an MLB position and Machado has several. The Orioles were also a contending team last year, and the Twins aren't right now. Machado is the youngest player in the American League. He's a freak; he's an outlier.

Yep, lots of 25-year-olds with decent track records completely disappear after eight bad starts.

I predict that Vance Worley will be sent to Rochester a few seconds ago.

I don't, but this does seem like the best place to look for them.

Is it just me, or does Colabello look kind of weird in this picture: His head is very round and his cheeks kind of dangle.

Well, I don't really care about wins because I am a stereotype, but you could make the opposite argument that his stats should be worse because of the walks but he was lucky and they will regress. I don't know which side is correct, but either option is at least equally likely right now.

I tell you what, if Deduno proves me wrong (and I really do hope he does, I am a fan of the Twins at heart), then I will run out and carry him off the field. Someone will just need to kindly bail me out of jail.

This is also true. I certainly prefer Deduno to De Vries or Hernandez. If Deduno can harness his stuff, I'll gladly admit that I was wrong.

That is an absolutely fair point. You are right, he has a K/9 over 9 in 800 career minor league innings. To me, the second number says a lot more about Deduno than the first.

Career innings pitched: Worley - 322.2 Deduno - 84.2 Correia - 1123.2 Pelfrey - 936.2 I don't really have a problem with anyone being excited for Deduno. The argument that he was a better choice than Gibson doesn't make sense to me. And I do realize that Gibson's hasn't thrown an inning yet. Personally, I'd rather watch Gibson pitch on Friday.

At AAA this season: Start 1 - 5.1 innings - 4 Ks, 4 BB, 5 hits, 0 ER, 100 pitches Start 2 - 5.2 innings - 5 Ks, 4 BB, 4 hits, 1 ER, 99 pitches Start 3 - 6.1 innings - 8 Ks, 2 BB, 5 hits, 4 ER, 93 pitches He had little to no success last season: 6.5 K/9 6.0 BB/9 4.44 ERA, 1.544 WHIP 15 starts - 79 innings The WBC was an exhibition and he made three starts, totaling 13 innings.

Career K% for the following: Vance Worley - 18.5% Sam Deduno - 17% Kevin Correia - 15.1% Mike Pelfrey - 12.7% League Average in 2013 - 20.0% Deduno is hardly a strikeout pitcher and the only reason he doesn't qualify as a "pitch-to-contact" pitcher is because he walks so many batters.

I completely agree! Here is a link to the Twins 1997 draft from Baseball Reference: 1997 Minnesota Twins Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft - Baseball-Reference.com Their tables are much more useful than anything I can create. I'll add a link to each year's draft in future posts. Thanks for the idea! As for leaving Punto's round out (33), I clearly had to slight him in some way, even if done unintentionally.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1751-25-Minnesota-Twins-Drafts-in-25-Days-1997

If I am remembering accurately, I believe Kris Medlen's 2012 was the desired model for Gibson's 2013. Although, that did not happen (starting in relief then moving to the rotation). Medlen ended 2012 with 151 innings between AAA and MLB.

I think we might be overestimating Sano as a hitter right now too. While he might run into 25-30 home runs at the MLB level, I'd guess he'd be hitting about .200 in doing so. He still has areas of his offensive game that he needs to work on.