Twins 40-Man Roster Foundation

Over the last few weeks we've done a lot of talking about our roster. Primarily it's been to complain and moan, but considering this team is on pace to lose more than 100 games I think that's to be expected. But, the conversation did make me think. Not just about how the roster was made up, but also about which parts of the acquisition process the front office has utilized to put it together.

With that in mind, there won't be too much heavy lifting going on here this evening. It's an off day. So here are some bite size fun facts about our current incarnation of the Twins 40-man roster, and after the jump we'll have the full breakdown for you.

• Currently, 22 players on the 40-man roster were drafted by the Minnesota Twins (55%).
• 9 players arrived via the trade (22.5%).
• 5 came in as MLB free agents (12.5%).
• 2 were amateur free agents (Mijares, L. Hughes) and 1 was an international free agent (Nishioka).
• 1 was a waiver claim (D. Hughes).
• Of the 22 draft picks currently on the 40-man roster, 10 (46%) were collegiate selections and 12 (54%) were prep selections.
• 7 of the 10 (70%) college picks are pitchers (Bromberg, Burnett, and Swarzak were prep).
• 9 of the 12 (75%) prep picks are position players (Tolbert, Valencia, and Tosoni were collegiate).
• Of the 22 draft picks, only 13 (59%) were selections in the first three rounds.
• Blackburn (29th), Bromberg (32nd), Slama (39th), and Tosoni (36th) are the only four draft picks who were selected after the 20th round.
• Draft years and number of players from that draft, represented on the 40-man roster: 1997 - 1; 1999 - 1; 2000 - 1; 2001 - 2; 2002 - 1; 2003 - 1; 2004 - 4; 2005 - 5; 2006 - 5; 2007 - 1.
• Of the 7 first round selections on the 40-man roster, Perkins is the only pitcher.
• Carlos Gutierrez is probably the most likely candidate to be the first player from the 2008 draft class to be added to the 40-man roster.
• Kyle Gibson is probably the most likely candidate to be the first player from the 2009 draft class added to the 40-man roster.
• If Kyle Waldrop were to be added to the 40-man roster he would be the fifth player from the 2004 draft class, giving the Twins very strong class representation from the mid-00s with five players from each of the '04, '05, and '06 classes.

1. * = Denotes high school/prep draft selection
2. All free agent and trade years are listed as the season the player was first in the Twins organization
3. I know Luke Hughes isn't a designated hitter, it's just a joke