Twins to Draft Second Overall In 2012?

by Jesse on Sep 15, 2011 9:46 AM EDT in Quick Hits

In my continuing quest to stay optimistic about my favorite baseball team, you've probably noticed that I tend to talk about the future quite a bit. Continuing on that theme, a couple of weeks ago we looked at where the Twins were placed in the draft order and how that might change in the coming weeks. Specifically, I said:

But as you can see, the Twins are just one game from having the number two overall pick in next summer's draft (and being the worst team in the American League). The Pirates, currently set to draft 10th (after leading their division this season...wow they fell apart fast), are six games ahead/behind the Twins.

It looks like the Twins will draft somewhere between number two overall and, if the Twins go on an unexpected hot streak, maybe tenth overall. But I'd guess not lower than seventh or eighth.

Well, it turns out that our boys haven't ha that unexpected hot streak. And while I know it's hard to wake up in the morning and see another loss in the box score, right now it's not about results for me. It's almost as though these games are spring training games. It's more about how guys look, how the veterans focus and how the younger and more inexperienced players handle themselves against stiff competition.

Of course that has more to do with next year than this year. This year, those results do matter. And so, without further ado, it looks more and more likely like Minnesota will have that number two pick after all.

Reverse standings courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:

Reversestandings2_medium

Minnesota still won't catch the Astros for the top overall selection....right?

Poll

Where will the Twins draft in 2012?

Second

367 votes

Third

96 votes

Fourth or lower

26 votes

489 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 30 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

I guess the Draft will be a lot more interesting next year!

I just prefer interesting (read: containing the Twins) MLB Playoffs

by twinscrazy_german on Sep 15, 2011 10:00 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Unfortunately......

The selection will be decided by the same brain wizards who got us in the position to draft second overall.

by rancher33 on Sep 15, 2011 10:23 AM EDT reply actions

In fairness

The last few years, the Twins drafts have been viewed as pretty good by sites like Baseball America and Minor League Ball. Smith did a good job putting Johnson in charge of the draft after Radcliff (I think) was promoted.

Sadly, next years draft is supposed to be one of the weakest in years. I’m not sure anyone in this draft would’ve cracked last years top 7.

by Gunnarthor on Sep 15, 2011 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Another Adam Johnson #2 pick kind of draft?

That draft was miserable, can’t really blame the Twins for that pick. 3 picks worth the signing bonus in the whole 1st round (Gonzalez #1, Utley #15, Wainright #29).

by DJL44 on Sep 15, 2011 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Hopefully not that bad

But there sure have been a lot of misses in baseball drafts.

by Gunnarthor on Sep 15, 2011 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions

come on now

I don’t want to be the twins front office apologist but this season came after one of the best decades of baseball minnesota has seen under basically the same front office.

So let’s not write them off after one historically injury riddled season.

Peyton's good but have you ever heard of Jeff George?

by halfchest on Sep 15, 2011 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I don't know what you are smoking

But outside the draft, Bill Smith was horrible in trades and pretty much everything else it takes to run a team from the General Manager’s perspective. His latest problem was keeping both Cuddyer and Kubel at the non-waiver trade deadline while attempting to unload Denard Span. There is a massive track record of bad moves made by him starting with getting Delmon Young for Matt Garza and then basically choosing a package from the Mets instead of a package from Boston which included players that would have helped this team.

In my book, he did only three things right:

1. Traded Carlos Gomez to Milwaukee for JJ Hardy
2. Traded for Carl Pavano when his stock was close to bottom and then resigned him last winter. (This team would have been worse off without him).
3. Signed Jim Thome for 1 and 3/4 seasons. (A total no-brainer)

I'm a proud fan of the Minnesota Twins and Dallas Cowboys!
"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let’s make every moment count and help those who have a greater need than our own." – Harmon Killebrew

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

To be fair

He also put more money into our international budget, signed Morneau, Kubel, Baker, Span etc to team friendly contracts and made a number of solid (small) moves that helped the team – Breslow, Cabrera, Fuentes etc.

I liked Ryan a lot but I think we’re sorta remembering him with rose colored glasses. Ryan never made a win-now trade, his last three years as GM saw the Twins finish 3rd twice and fall from a 96 win team to a 79 win team (which would be awesome now, of course). He also presided over some bad Twins drafts (Garbe, Moses, Johnson etc) and lost the rights to Travis Lee after Scott Boros out maneuvered him. I like Ryan but if Twinkie Town was around when he became GM, he would never have kept his job long enough to make those great trades he eventually did.

by Gunnarthor on Sep 15, 2011 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Wait... what?

if Twinkie Town was around when he became GM, he would never have kept his job long enough to make those great trades he eventually did.

Do you really think that opinions on a blog affect whether or not the general manager gets to keep his job? I don’t think that’s how it works.

by ColossusOfRhode on Sep 15, 2011 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I remember blogs when Ryan was GM

I remember posting on them. I don’t think Twinkie Town is as powerful as you believe it is.

by DJL44 on Sep 15, 2011 1:26 PM EDT up reply actions

No, clearly

I meant that if the fan base would have been as vocal in Ryan’s early years as they have been now, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his job – esp after losing the second over-all pick in 96 after those bad trades. That’s not to say he didn’t have detractors – I think the newspapers hit him pretty hard for the Lee fiasco – but the constant, everyday complaining on all variety of media today is much more intense than when Ryan was learning the GM ropes.

by Gunnarthor on Sep 15, 2011 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

There's more outlets

I don’t think that means that it is more intense, just more repetition in different spots. People have been passionate about the Twins for many years.

by DJL44 on Sep 15, 2011 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Nah.

I am a new media booster, I think you have a point. There are always outlets for the average fan to get more accurate information now then there were. Hell, Twins Geek was booted off the Strib because he made the other writers look bad! And media diversification makes it more important than ever to do things like Facebook and Twitter that allows more direction interaction with fans… BUT!

It was a bad year in a decade of mostly bad years.

It’s not like he took a good team and ran them into the ground—which is the impression (rightly or wrongly) that fires a lot of Bill Smith hate.

by MNPundit on Sep 15, 2011 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

And this blog was around when Bill Smith became General Manager.

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Plus trades for

Jon Rauch
Orlando Cabrera
Brian Fuentes

by Jesse on Sep 15, 2011 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

True

But you have the misguided trade for Matt Capps as well, especally when Airwolf was available. We could have won the World Series with him.

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Diminishing returns

Santana for Humber, Gomez, Mulvey, Guerra.

Turned down deals involving the likes of Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes from the Yankees and Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie from Boston.

Then trades Gomez for Hardy.

Then trades Hardy for Hoey.

So effectively Bill Smith has turned Johan Santana into Hoey.

Trades Ramos for Capps, trades Morales for Bargas, leaving the Twins with Butera, Steve Holm and Rene Rivera who’ve stunk the house out this season.

Bill Smith is a terrible GM who has made short sighted move after short sighted move. The Twins are paying the price this season for his incompetence.

by Moonax on Sep 15, 2011 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions

He could still end up ahead on the Santana deal

He traded 1 high priced year of Santana and 2 draft picks. He got a good year out of Hardy and year and a half out of Rauch. Deolis Guerra could be a bullpen arm.

The big problem with the trade is they may have made the playoffs if they had Santana that season.

by DJL44 on Sep 15, 2011 9:21 PM EDT up reply actions

2nd

At this point I’m not even sure if they can avoid 100 loses.

"I learned something yesterday. No use in having rules if there's no punishment for breaking them. You'll be fine if you bite down on the trigger. Enjoy your breakfast."

by John_Locke on Sep 15, 2011 11:15 AM EDT reply actions

Last time the Twins drafted really high

They had a pretty good run of seasons to follow. And y’all might recall how in that particular draft, the Twins had the #1 pick but passed on the “consensus” top player and drafted most everybody else’s #2 guy.

Steve Goodman lives.

by twinsbrewer on Sep 15, 2011 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

True

But his name escapes me righ now. I think it starts with an M? Could it be Justin Morneau? Actually I know it is ~~Cowboy Joe West.~~ Joe Mauer.

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, but Mauer didn't contribute until 2005

The renaissance was already in place by draft day. We had a 37-19 record that day – second in MLB only to Seattle – thanks to the young roster finally clicking. We faltered that year, but the 2002-3 teams were pretty much the same guys.

So, even if the 2012 draft is just as successful, the new guy might not show up until 2016.

by DavidRF on Sep 15, 2011 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Sure

I was just trying to be positive. Actually I suspect the Twins are DOOMED. Did you hear the capital letters? DOOMED, I say! (Well, at least not as good as other teams with a bonafide staff ace.)

Steve Goodman lives.

by twinsbrewer on Sep 16, 2011 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Who knows?

There is no way the Twins staff would have abused Prior the way the Cubs staff did. If he had not been too much of a jerk to work with the Twins, he could have been the Santana of the early 2000s. You never known.

by MNPundit on Sep 15, 2011 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions

But consider this

The Twins were in a bind because picking anybody else but Mauer would have meant stories about how disconnected the Twins are from the fanbase. Everybody and their mother knew the Twins had to take Mauer with the first overall pick. Of course, there was an upside to drafting Mark Prior because he could have pitched just as well under Brad Radke and Johan Santana. Then Joe Mauer would have became an NFL Quarterback with the Packers and would have won the Super Bowl with them.

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions

My comment at last!

It’s more about how guys look, how the veterans focus and how the younger and more inexperienced players handle themselves against stiff competition.

And is that a cause for hope? I can’t watch the games on TV so I can’t see for myself. The recaps don’t make it look good.

by MNPundit on Sep 15, 2011 6:35 PM EDT reply actions

It is a mixed bag

But it is the vets who are stinking it up outside of Mauer.

by Jessy S on Sep 15, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Who are the top prospects in the 2012 draft anyway?

Or at least the ones that won’t be repped by Boras? :)

by J. Ryan on Sep 15, 2011 9:01 PM EDT reply actions

I don't know much

But Stanford pitcher Appel is the #1 right now. The college crop of hitters is supposed to be poor but the Twins could grab Devon Marrero from AZ st and hope that he and Micheal form our MI for a decade. Marrero’s bat isn’t anything special, apparently, but his defense is supposed to be extremely good – great range, strong arm. Twins usually draft high school bats and that is supposed to better than the college bats next year. Catcher Stryker Trahan (awesome name) could be considered.

Over the baggy, MLB bonus baby and bbprospectreport all have some info on the 2012 prospects already. KLaw might have something up on espn insider. And baseball america has tons of stuff.

by Gunnarthor on Sep 15, 2011 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions