25 Minnesota Twins Drafts in 25 Days: 1988

Welcome to 25 drafts in 25 days!  Over the next few weeks, I will be writing brief recaps of the last 25 drafts in Twins' history.  This will all culminate with the 2013 draft, when the Twins will select 4th overall.  I know that the MLB draft isn't as hyped as the NBA or NFL draft, due to the age and experience of the players involved, but the draft is an important tool used to build a franchise, especially for the Twins.  This coming draft is extremely important, as the Twins have the opportunity to add to an already stacked farm system.  But enough about the future, let's look to the past.  We'll start back in 1988 and work our way to the present.

1st Round Pick

The Twins drafted right-hander Johnny Ard out of Manatee Community College in Bradenton, Florida with the 20th overall pick in the 1988 draft.  Manatee Community College.  Unfortunately, Johnny didn't want to put in the Ard work it takes to get to the Bigs.  I don't know that to be true.  Glancing at his Minor League stats tells a lot, as he walked a lot of batters and didn't strike many out.  Pretty Ard sell for me.

Ah, but what if? 

Well, the 1988 draft kinda sucked.  Robin Ventura was by far the best player, but he was drafted 10th overall.  Alex Fernandez posted a 28.9 WAR for his career and went 24th overall to the Brewers.  I am guessing the Twins would have preferred Fernandez to Ard, but only in hindsight of course.

Best Player Drafted

In the 11th round, with the 284th pick, the Twins selected J.T. Bruett.  Bruett posted a career WAR of 0.2.  That was the best number of any player that the Twins actually drafted and signed in 1988.  A couple of their 1988 draftees had better careers, but we will get to that in a bit.

Worst Player to Reach MLB

In the 9th round, the Twins selected Doug Simons.  Simons posted a -1.5 WAR, thus hurting the teams he played for, just by being around.  He never pitched for the Twins, luckily.  Simons posted a career 6.68 ERA in 66 career innings.  Tons of sixes aside, he didn't really do much. 

The One Who Got Away

The Twins drafted Aaron Sele in the 37th round, but he chose to be a dork and go to college.  He was later selected 23rd overall by the Red Sox, so who's a dork now?  He won 148 career games and was a player I often heard Twins fans long for.  He had a career ERA+ of 100, which is league average, but compared with the entire remaining Twins' draft, he was Roger Clemens. 

Best Name

Deryk Gross - 12th Round - What a difference one "y" makes.

Fun Facts

•          6th Round pick Pat Mahomes had a better career batting average than 4th round pick Steve Dunn, who was a first baseman
•          The Twins selected Steve Dunn in the 4th round and then Steve Dean in the 5th round.  Someone found that funny, I bet.
•          Steve Dean did not make it to the Majors, thus having a WAR of 0.  Steve Dunn did make it to the Majors and posted a WAR of -0.4, thus making him the less valuable Steve.
•          Alan Newman was drafted 50th overall.  Everyone remembers Alan Newman.  He was 6' 6" and 240 lb out of La Habra, California.  He was not Al Newman. 
•          The Twins drafted Scott Stahoviak in the 27th round, but he did not sign.  He'd be back. 
•          A guy I went to high school with had a Scott Stahoviak jersey.  Seriously.

All those drafted who made it to the Bigs

Alan Newman, Steve Dunn, Pat Mahomes, Doug Simons, J.T. Bruett, Scott Stahoviak and Aaron Sele

One Sentence Summary

The Minnesota Twins drafted some players in the 1988 draft and all of those players were horrible.