Draft SZN: Ranking the Twins' Draft Classes from the 2000s

[Matthew Taylor]

While the NFL draft sets a fire underneath sports fans everywhere tonight, let’s keep with the draft theme and look back at the Minnesota Twins' draft history. As NFL fans are ranking football prospects, I took to the diamond and ranked the Twins' draft classes of the 2000s.The Twins’ amateur draft classes of the 2000s provided a piranha, a major trade chip, a proven closer, a five-year lead off man, a future hall of famer (hopefully), and plenty of duds in between. Here are how the Twins draft classes from the 2000s stack up, ranked from worst class to best. The rankings will look at the entire career of a player, not just his tenure with the Twins.

 

10. 2007

Notable draftee(s): Ben Revere

Draft class combined WAR: 7.9

 

The 2007 amateur draft class for the Minnesota Twins only provided one player who would go on to play in the major leagues, Ben Revere. Revere played three seasons with the Twins, peaking in 2012 when he provided 2.8 WAR, thanks in large part to his 40 stolen bases. Revere never lived up to his draft stock or his top-100 draft prospect status, and as the only thing to show for the 2007 draft, puts this class at the bottom of our rankings.

 

9. 2000

Notable draftee(s): Jason Kubel

Draft class combined WAR: 1.8

 

After a 63-97 record in 1999, the Twins had the second overall pick in the 2000 draft, after five-time All-Star, Adrián González, was taken first overall. At number two, the Twins took pitcher Adam Johnson, who appeared in nine games in his major league career. One of the bigger draft flops in baseball history. The lone bright spot of the 2000 MLB draft was Jason Kubel, who the Twins took in the 12th round. Kubel had a 10-year MLB career, peaking in 2009 when he posted a .907 OPS for the 87-win Twins.

 

7. 2006

Notable draftee(s): Chris Parmelee, Jeff Manship, Danny Valencia, Anthony Slama

Draft class combined WAR: 4.3

 

While the 2006 draft class provided some notable names that got playing time for the Minnesota Twins, many of these players were below-average that only got playing time because they were on terrible mid-2010s Twins teams. The bright spot for the draft class was Danny Valencia who was a 19th-round draft selection. Valencia finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2010 for the Twins. Valencia was later traded to the Red Sox, and went on to have an admirable 8-year big league career.

 

8. 2003

Notable draftee(s): Scott Baker

Draft class combined WAR: 13.9

 

Similar to 2007, the 2003 draft class for the Twins only provided one major league player in Scott Baker. While never an All-Star, Baker was a solid starting pitcher for the late 2000s Twins, posting a 4.15 ERA in seven seasons with the Twins. Baker was the starting pitcher in Game 163 against the Tigers and provided a really strong performance that put the Twins in a position to win the 2009 AL Central division.

 

6. 2008

Notable draftee(s): Aaron Hicks, Michael Tonkin

Draft class combined WAR: 10.7

 

While Michael Tonkin provided some average relief for the awful Twins teams from 2013-2016, first-rounder Aaron Hicks was the main piece from the 2008 draft class. Hicks really struggled in his three years in Minnesota, posting a .201 BA in 538 plate appearances. Since getting traded to the Yankees, though, Hicks has really blossomed into a good baseball player. In 2018, Hicks received MVP votes after posting a .833 OPS, and has provided great defense in center field, lest we forget his

in the 10th inning against the Twins last season. Did the Twins give up on Hicks too early?

 

5. 2005

Notable draftee(s): Matt Garza, Kein Slowey, Brian Duensing, Alex Burnett

Draft class combined WAR: 23.5

 

In the first round of the 2005 draft, the Twins drafted Matt Garza who had a 12-year MLB career, and was the main piece in the blockbuster trade in 2007 which brought Delmon Young to Minnesota. In addition to Garza, second-rounder, Kevin Slowey, pitched five seasons with the Twins, posting a 4.66 ERA over that time. In the third round the Twins nabbed starter-turned-reliever, Brian Duensing, as well as reliever Alex Burnett in the 12th round.

 

4. 2004

Notable draftee(s): Trevor Plouffe, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Tolbert

Draft class combined WAR: 21.9

 

After a pretty weak six draft classes at the bottom of our list, the Twins picked up some pretty solid players through the amateur draft in our top four, starting with 2004. Trevor Plouffe had a seven-year career with the Minnesota Twins before going on to play with Oakland, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. In addition the Twins picked up Perkins who turned in some outstanding years in the Twins bullpen, as well as Swarzak who put together a 10-year career along with piranha, Matt Tolbert.

 

3. 2009

Notable draftee(s): Kyle Gibson, Chris Herrmann, Brian Dozier

Draft class combined WAR: 32.4

 

While Kyle Gibson never lived up to the first-round expectations that were placed on him, he still proved to be a solid pitcher who provided value to a Twins club in his seven-year tenure on the team. Gibson peaked in 2018 when he threw 196.2 innings, with a 118 ERA+ and 3.3 WAR. The real gem from the 2009 draft, though, came in the eighth round when the Twins selected Brian Dozier. In his seven years with the Twins, Doz hit 166 home runs and stands as one of the best Twins second basemen of all time, and thanks to joining the Nationals now has a championship ring.

 

2. 2002

Notable draftee(s): Denard Span, Jesse Crain, Pat Neshek

Draft class combined WAR: 51.3

 

The 2002 draft class for the Twins stands out as the only draft class that provided three players who have exceeded 10 career WAR in Span, Crain and Neshek. In his 11-year baseball career, Denard Span has a career .281 batting average and was the lead-off man and center fielder for some really good Twins teams in the late 2000s. Crain was also a really good relief pitcher, with a career 143 ERA+ as well as one of the strangest RP seasons of all time. Submarine pitcher, Pat Neshek, ended his career as a two-time All-Star with a 2.82 career ERA in 13 seasons.

 

1. 2001

Notable draftee(s): Joe Mauer, José Morales, Nick Blackburn

Draft class combined WAR: 59.6

 

The best Twins draft class of the 2000s was 2001 when the Twins drafted none other than Joe Mauer with the first overall pick. A six-time All-Star, MVP, multi-Gold Glover, Mauer provided 55.3 career WAR and stands as one of the best Twins players of all time. Although the Twins drafted Morales and Blackburn who had tenures with the Twins, the only thing that matters from the 2001 draft was Joe Mauer, and he alone earns the number one spot on the draft class rankings.

 

How would you rank the Twins’ draft classes from the 2000s? Would you have them in a different order? How do you think the Twins fared in their drafts overall? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

 

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[DocBauer]

So you're saying there was a reason the Twins couldn't get over the hump in the early '00's?

 

Thanks for the bummer trip on a national sports holiday Matt. Lol

 

But seriously, there are some good players and memories there. 2006 might be my biggest bummer year listed. I really, really had high hopes for both Parmalee and Valencia.

 

Shouldn't 2005 be rated higher because, you know, Duensing?

[Shaitan]

Some names I'd forgotten in there, like Alex Burnett and Jeff Manship.

 

Did Garza retire?

[Trov]

This article showed the serious problem the Twins had in drafting and why they failed for so long.  When you have 2 whole draft classes with 1 MLB player in it, that is poor very poor.  Yeah some years will be lean and some will be huge, but when you had picks as high as they did for years and get crap from them.  Ugh hopefully those years are behind us.