25 Minnesota Twins Drafts in 25 Days: 1993

The 1992 draft was a nightmare, but the 1993 draft was like the morning after a nightmare when you realize that none of what you experienced was real and that you are safe in your own bed, but then ohhhh there's blood on your pillow but wait it's just that your tooth fell out because you haven't been to the dentist in years and everything's fine except the tooth.  You know, that old tale.

1st Round Picks

Oh my, the Twins had 4 this year.  They received two picks for losing John Smiley to free agency.  If you remember back to the 1989 draft, you remember that Smiley was acquired in a trade for Denny Neagle, so that 1989 draft is the gift that keeps on giving.  Also, the Twins received a first and a third when Greg Gagne signed with the Royals.  So, the Twins selected Torii Hunter with their first first-round pick, which worked out well.  They had the very next pick and selected Jason Varitek.  He did not sign.  They then got cocky and decided to draft by choosing hilarious names and selected Marc Barcelo and Kelcey Mucker with their next two firsts.  Neither made the Majors, but both have funny names.  Mission accomplished!

Ah, but what if? 

Simple - what if Varitek had signed?  He would have been the catcher for years, and likely would have bridged the gap to A.J. Pierzynski.  Also, Scott Rolen went 46th overall, so he would have been great had the Twins employed a strategy where good players were sought instead of great names.

Best Player Drafted

Torii Hunter in a landslide.  He has produced almost 50 WAR and was an extremely popular player in Minnesota.  I wrote something long ago (six months ago) that investigated what could have happened if he had stayed in Minnesota through last season.  You can read it here and enjoy it here as well.

Worst Player to Reach MLB

A lot of players drafted by the Twins in 1993 made it to the Majors.  Many didn't play long, so the career WARs are bunched together.  The worst was Kelly Dransfeldt with a -0.6 WAR.  The Twins drafted him in the 7th round and he didn't sign.  Therefore, the worst Twins draftee/signee is a tie between their 21st and 22nd round picks - Shane Bowers and Rob Radlosky.  The fact that both made it to the Majors is remarkable, so we can ignore their stats.

The One Who Got Away

Varitek.  Aren't you paying attention?

Best Name

Danny Peoples in round 59 of course.

Fun Facts

•          The Twins had four first-round picks, as I stated before.  Only one donned a Twins uniform.  How does one don?
•          Benj Sampson was drafted in the 6th round and marks the first player with a missing letter in his name to be drafted to the MLB.  Congratulations Benj!
•          The Twins used their 3rd-round compensation pick on Troy Carrasco, who did not make it to the Majors. 
•          The Twins drafted Toby Dollar in the 4th round out of a Texas High School.  He did not sign.  He then must have had an illustrious career at TCU because he was drafted in the 29th round by the Dodgers three years later.  Cost himself a lot of Dollars.
•          Jason Varitek hates Minnesota.

All those drafted who made it to the Bigs

Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Alex Cora, Lance Carter, Danny Kolb, Javier Valentin, Kevin Ohme, Benj Sampson, Dan Perkins, Emil Brown, Ryan Radmanovich, Rob Radlosky, Kelly Dransfeldt, and Shane Bowers

One Sentence Summary

Even if only Torii Hunter had made it to Minnesota, the 1993 draft would have been a huge success.