Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan

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1st Round

Pick 22: Kyle Gibson, RHP

Highest Level: AAA Rochester Red Wings

With the Twins struggling to find consistency from their starting rotation, it would have been nice to have Kyle Gibson as part of the starting rotation in 2012. Instead, the 24-year old pitcher has spent the greater portion of the last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. He is on pace to pitch off the mound at the beginning of June and he should be able to make some minor league appearances before the season is complete. The 2010 Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year will fight for a rotation spot during next year's spring training and there could be plenty of open spots for his revamped right arm.

Supplemental Round

Pick 46: Matt Bashore, LHP

Highest Level (w/ Twins): RK Elizabethton Twins

The Twins saw plenty of promise when they selected him as the 46th overall pick in the 2009 draft. Since then, the reliever has needed two Tommy John surgeries and he was released by the club. The Yankees have since signed the 24-year old southpaw but he has only appeared in 2 games for their High-A club in the last month. As a proven college arm, the Twins were not expecting Bashore to fail as miserably as he did but injuries can derail a pitching career in a hurry.

2nd Round

Pick 70: Billy Bullock, RHP

Highest Level (w/ Twins): AA New Britain

During last year's Rule 5 Draft, the Twins picked Scott Diamond from the Atlanta Braves organization. At the end of spring training, the team wanted to send Diamond to Triple-A but in order to do that the team had to work out a deal with the Braves. The player sent to the Braves as compensation for keeping Diamond was Mr. Bullock. In recent weeks, the deal is looking better for the Twins with Diamond looking decent in the rotation and Bullock struggling in his third year with time spent at Double-A.

3rd Round

Pick 101: Ben Tootle, RHP

Highest Level (w/ Twins): A Beloit Snappers

The fourth college arm the Twins took in the first three rounds and much like the names mentioned above, Tootle is no longer in the Twins organization. During his couple of seasons in the system, he struggled mightily with his command by walking 42 batters in 54.1 innings while throwing 14 wild pitches. No minor league affiliate was willing to take a chance with Tootle and he is now pitching for the Sioux Falls Pheasants.

Other notables: Chris Herrmann (6th round, pick 192), Brian Dozier (8th round, pick 252)

(Statistics current as of games played on May 29, 2012)

I have to admit I hated the trade at the time, but it looks much better now with Diamond performing and Bullock struggling with control. The other point is that relief pitching is one area where both the major league team and the upper levels of the minors look solid so a guy like Bullock would be behind a bunch of other players.

Depending on what happens with Kibson and a couple of other guys, this draft could be ok. A lot of recent drafts have been bad to horrible, and the weird thing to me is how quickly so many early round picks wash out quickly or never get past the lower levels.