You'll have to forgive me if this final draft recap is a bit hard to read. I am literally crying while typing it. Finishing anything is always bittersweet, plus when I cry, I breathe very heavily and wheeze so that I am literally blowing tears from my mouth while sobbing and sniffling. You can imagine what that does to a laptop. I'm very resilient, so I present to you the final installment of 25 drafts in 25 days, at least until I decide that I am out of other ideas.
Oh yeah, 2012 was like a year ago, so this should all be berry fresh.
1st Round Picks
BYRON BUXTON! I'm guessing it won't be long until we are all typing his name like that. Buxton was the second overall pick and is currently pillaging Cedar Rapids with his bat and glove. Honesty time - I thought the Twins should have taken Albert Almora. I'm so freaking stupid sometimes (all the time). I just thought Almora was equally toolsy, younger and had a better track record (track record for Pete's sake, we're talking about high school kids, what kind of track record... such an idiot). Obviously, I was wrong.
The Twins also added Jose Berrios who looks like he might be the most confident person on the planet, with the 32nd overall pick and Luke Bard, who has an older brother, with the 42nd overall pick. Now, had the Twins drafted Almora with one of these picks, it would have been genius. It would have also been illegal.
Ah, but what if?
Well, Kevin Gausman is in the Majors... That is an inside joke that I'm not fully sure that I understand. If the Twins had selected any player over Buxton, there would be riots in the streets of Anoka County. One might ask, "did the Gopher hockey team just win another National Championship?" Nope, Twins fans are rioting because people are comparing Buxton to Willie Mays and the Twins selected Albert Almora and his broken hand. Luckily, I am barely in charge of making decisions in my house, much less for the Twins, so it's all good.
Best Late Round Pick
Oh goodness, I don't know, D.J. Baxendale? He was the Twins' tenth-round pick and he carved up Fort Myers like Razor Ramon. He was such a chico that the Twins moved him to New Britain. He's moving fast, which I think people enjoy.
Who'll be the first to reach the Majors?
Baxendale is certainly in the lead, as he is currently in AA. However, I'm going to defy all logic and guess that it will be Buxton. Here's how I see it playing out. Buxton just shows up at Target Field one night and stares at Ron Gardenhire until he gets put in the lineup. He then goes 5-5, hits for the cycle, robs a home run, pitches a scoreless ninth for the save, posts a triple-double, assists on two goals, solves the energy crisis and reunites the rest of Nirvana with Zombie Kurt Cobain. He then disappears forever.
But more likely, Baxendale since he's already in AA.
Best Prospects
- BUXTON!
- Jose Berrios just turned 19 and looks to be a player who will continue to rise up through the system and up prospect lists. If I remember correctly, he wasn't a big-time prospect because he wasn't very tall. That's crazy. Regardless, the Twins benefit from this blatant height discrimination as Berrios looks like a stud.
- Third-round pick Adam Walker has a crud-load of power. He hit a whole mess of bombs in rookie ball last season, and is adding more bombs at Cedar Rapids this season. Walker has huge power, but strikes out a lot. Oh well, so do a lot of guys. Power plays, and he's only 21. He's from Milwaukee, but clearly hated it enough to go to college in Jacksonville, Florida.
- Fifth-round pick Tyler Duffey is allergic to walks. He has walked just eight batters in 77.1 pro innings. That sounds awfully Slowey to me. Hopefully, he hates books so he can fit in with the other players.
- Luke Bard throws hard. That's fantastic. He shares half of his DNA with brother Daniel, but that is just science. He is going to try to make a successful conversion to become a starter, but still might have value as a reliever if all else fails.
Best Name
Alex Liquori in the 39th round.
Fun Facts
- As is common with most recent drafts, the Twins can boast a lot of interesting prospects from the 2012 draft. Including: second-round pick Mason Melotakis, second-round comp pick J.T. Chargois, 4th-round pick Zach Jones, and 11th-round pick Taylor Rogers.
- 21st-round pick Bo Altobelli is a talented hair-stylist. Not true.
- The Twins received compensation picks in the first and second rounds for Michael Cuddyer, but just a first-round comp pick for Jason Kubel.
- 9th-round pick L.J. Mazilli did not sign with the team, but come one, he was a 9th-round pick and none of those guys ever pan out. Right, Frank Catalanotto?
2013 Twins?
Come on, this is a stupid category. These guys were just drafted. Although, I won't rule out the Buxton scenario I outlined earlier.
One Sentence Summary
Researching 25 Minnesota Twins drafts in 25 days was really fun; thank you all for reading!
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