In part two of this series we will be looking at the 2010 MLB draft. This series is about looking at how the Twins did in the draft during the past decade, not a wine piece. We will see positives and negatives in the Twins’ draft prowess. Another intention of this piece is to simply show how hard it is to draft and develop MLB players.

With the 21st pick in the 2010 draft the Minnesota Twins selected RHP Alex Wimmers out of the Ohio State University. Wimmer never lived up to expectations that can largely be blamed on injury that greatly affected his development. In 2010 Wimmers was diagnosed with UCL issues but at the time the team and doctors, along with Wimmers seemed to think he could heal the ligament with rest and rehabilitation so he elected to not have Tommy John Surgery. After almost two years of this he finally had Tommy John and was never able to live up to the expectations that come with being a first round pick. Wimmers did end up making it to the majors with the Twins but did not do well. As of now he does not have a pitching gig and last pitched for the Marlins’ AAA affiliate in 2018. Wimmers’ career numbers are as follows:1-3 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.662 WHIP. His WAR ended up being 0.2 in his 24.2 innings that span 22 games. Wimmers caught on with the Marlins organization in 2018 but only played four games with their AAA affiliate before being released.

The five picks that came after the Twins were:

22. TEX: Kellin Deglan, HS Catcher

23. MIA: Christian Yelich, HS First baseman

24. SF: Gary Brown, Cal State-Fullerton CF

25. STL: Zack Cox, Arkansas Third Baseman

26. COL: Kyle Parker, Clemson Outfielder

Kellin Deglan

While we think that most of these guys have probably already become whatever they are going to be, Deglan is the one guy in this group that might still have a chance, but it’s doubtful. We know that catchers take a little longer to develop than most other positions but Deglan has not shown any spectacular skills in the minors such as a guy like Mitch Garver did. Deglan is a career .223 hitter in the minor leagues. He spent a little time in the Australian Baseball League before coming back to the organization that drafted him in the Texas Rangers. The Rangers ended up letting him go and he has been splitting time between the AA and AAA affiliates of the New York Yankees ever since. If Deglan is ever able to make it to the show, it will be his good but not great defense that will earn him the call.

Christian Yelich

Just like in 2009, the Twins missed out a future MVP. Of course we don’t know if Yelich would have developed the same way with the Twins as he did with the Marlins but his career 29.4 WAR would look awfully good in the middle of this current Twins lineup. Drafted as a first baseman, Yelich has found a home in the outfield with two National League clubs in the Marlins and was traded to the Brewers for four prospects in the winter of 2018 and went on to win the NL MVP the ensuing season. In an absolutely loaded draft, Yelich may be the best but is certainly in the top five of all of the player drafted in 2010 in a draft that included, among others; Bryce Harper (1), Jameson Taillon (2), Manny Machado (3), Yasmani Grandal (12), Chris Sale (13), and a few other MLB stars. Before you get mad about the selection, just remember that this is a highly difficult process and 21 other teams also missed on this guy.

Gary Brown

Brown spent only six seasons in professional baseball, playing in seven career MLB games and checking in at a 0.1 career WAR. Brown got off to an amazing start to his professional career, he was the 2011 California Player of the Year in his first full professional season and was largely considered the Giants center fielder of the future. He had 53 stolen bases that season and was quickly shooting up the prospect lists. He never sustained any major injuries during his MiLB career but never came close to repeating his performance in A+ that got everyone excited in 2011. He shuddered through four more minor league seasons and got a chance with the Giants as a September call-up in 2014 where he got into seven games, went 3-7, and was then sent into DNF hell the following offseason. He got a chance with both the LAA and STL but was not able to do much with either of their AAA affiliates and faded out of the Independent league a year later. Brown would later blame the hype he received after his first full year’s success as the reason he stopped getting better, he stopped making adjustments because he already felt he was good enough. For more on that here is a very interesting article about Brown, https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/gary-brown-never-recovered-field-2015-dfa-hurt-me-my-core .

Zack Cox

Early on Cox looked like the steal of this draft, ranking as Baseball America’s #62 prospect in the preseason of 2011 and #88 in 2012. Cox played well early on in his MiLB career but was later limited by injuries and then started to move around the league. He was traded to the Marlins for Edward Mujica at the deadline in 2012. After that he was drafted in the 2015 Rule 5 draft by the Nationals and then released in April 2016. He was signed by the Tigers in 2017 but elected free agency after not playing much and has not resurfaced in the MiLB since. In between his time with the Nationals and Tigers organization he did play fairly well for the Wichita Wingnuts of the International League but has since left baseball and was unable to ever make it to the “Bigs.”

Kyle Parker

Besides Yelich, nobody on this list has played more MLB games than Parker with 64. Unfortunately for him in the Rockies that equates to a -1.6 WAR. Parker got a chance but was never able to live up to expectations of the first round pick, just like four of the other five guys on this list. He went 24-132 in his career and was released following spring training in 2016. He signed a minor league deal with the Reds that April and played with their AAA team but was released in June of the same year. Parker does have an interesting story apart from his failed MLB career, he spent three years at Clemson University where he played both football and Baseball. He was Clemson’s starting QB for two seasons before leaving when he was drafted after his third college season by the Rockies. In his NCAA football career he went 15-12 with 4,739 passing yards and 32 touchdowns in two years as a starter.

Overall the 2010 MLB draft gave us a lot of great ball players, this group gave us one. This group would look like a complete bust if not for Christian Yelich. This again shows us how hard it is to draft baseball players. In the next edition of this draft we will look at the Twins’ first pick in the 2011 MLB draft, Levi Michael and the players that followed him.