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Just over one week ago, Major League Baseball’s annual first-year players draft began. The first MLB June draft was held in 1965. The Minnesota Twins have made a first-round selection in each of the previous 50 drafts. Lists are always fun, so today, I am going to start a series ranking the Twins first-round picks (with some exceptions, of course) by ranking #31-53! I am only going to include first-round draft picks selected in the top 32 picks. In some years, such as 2004, the Twins had five first-round picks, and three of them were taken before 32. All three of them will be included in this list. Also, I’m judging/ranking based on the player’s career, regardless of how much, if any, of that career was spent in a Twins uniform.Also, I am not going to rank the Twins first-round picks taken since 2010. Although several of them will likely turn into very good major leaguers, none of them has even played in Triple-A yet (though Byron Buxton now has two games with the Twins.). I’ll encourage you to think about where you would rank some of those players on this list. I would say that none of them would rank last on this list even if their career ended now. Those not included are: Alex Wimmers (2010), Levi Michael (2011), Byron Buxton (2012), JO Berrios (2012), Kohl Stewart (2013) and Nick Gordon (2014). Note – 2012 top pick Byron Buxton has already surpassed many players on this list, in case you were wondering. This year the Minnesota Twins had the sixth overall pick and selected lefty Tyler Jay. Hopefully, if someone ranks the Twins first-round pick in another 20 years, Jay will rank high on it. With all of that, let’s get to the rankings, starting with #53. #53 – 1979 – Kevin Brandt – OF The Twins selected a high school outfielder from Nekoosa, Wisconsin, with the 11th overall pick in the 1979 draft. He played 45 games with Elizabethton that summer. He played two more games with the E-Twins in 1980, and that was it. He was released. Fortunately, the Twins second- and third-round picks that year were Randy Bush and Tim Laudner. #52 – 1966 – Bob Jones – 3B With the 20th pick in the 1966 draft, the Twins drafted third baseman Bob Jones. He spent two years in the GCL, followed by a year in St. Cloud which was the Twins Low-A affiliate back then. In 1969, he played in 66 games for the High-A team of the Houston Astros. Overall, he hit .254/.335/.362 (.697) over those four years. #51 – 1974 – Ted Shipley – SS With the 14th pick in 1974, the Twins selected Vanderbilt shortstop Ted Shipley. He went directly to A-Ball and hit .288. He spent the next two seasons in Double-A, but hit a combined .215/.305/.288 (.593) in two seasons before being released. #50 – 2008 – Shooter Hunt – RHP The Twins received a supplemental first round pick (#31 overall) in 2008 for losing Torii Hunter via free agency. They used it on Tulane right-hander Shooter Hunt. Unfortunately, Hunt wasn’t able to control his big fastball or his plus-plus curve ball. He fought “Steve Blass” Disease for four minor league seasons. In 193 innings, he struck out 219 batters but walked 236. He just completed his second season as an assistant coach at Tulane. #49 – 1968 – Alexander Rowell – OF In 1968, the Twins used the 16th overall pick on an outfield from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He began at St. Cloud and hit .301 in 70 games. He split the 1969 season between High-A and Double-A. He hit just .188 in 28 games in Double-A Charlotte in 1969. In 1970, he played in two Double-A games. #48 – 1977 – Paul Croft – OF The Twins used the 15th overall pick in the 1977 draft on New Jersey prep outfielder Paul Croft. As a 17-year-old, he split that 1977 season between Elizabethton and Wisconsin Rapids (Low A). He did the same thing in 1978. He spent the next two seasons in Visalia (High A). That was it for his time with the Twins. He played two seasons of A ball with the Orioles and one season of Double-A ball with the Braves. #47 – 1998 – Ryan Mills – LHP Ryan Mills was a decorated and successful collegiate pitcher at Arizona State. He (and his father, who pitched in two games in the big leagues) was known for his great mechanics. The Twins got the lefty with the sixth overall pick in 1998. The Twins sent him straight to Ft. Myers in 1999 and he went 3-10 with an 8.87 ERA. In 2000, between Quad Cities and New Britain, he went 3-13 with a 4.75 ERA (0-7 with a 9.28 ERA in Double-A). He went 5-16 over the next two years in Double-A. He got two more years in Double-A, working out of the bullpen. He never pitched in the big leagues. #46 – 1999 – B.J. Garbe – OF The Twins had the fifth overall pick in 1999 and went with highly-touted high school outfielder B.J. Garbe. The Washington product hit .316 that summer at Elizabethton, but he never again hit over .242 in his six seasons in the Twins organization. The Twins sent him to his home state with the Mariners but he went back to Hi-A ball there and ended with a partial season in the Marlins organization. #45 – 1985 – Jeff Bumgarner – RHP The Twins took Bumgarner with the 13th pick in 1985 out of high school in Washington. After going 7-14 in Low A as a 19-year-old, the Twins pushed him to Double-A in 1987 where he went 13-10. He then returned to Double-A the next year and went 3-11, and even made seven starts in Triple-A (going 2-3). After that 1988 season, the Twins trade Bumgarner and two other minor leaguers to the Mets for 2B Wally Backman. He never again pitched in Triple-A. #44 – 1979 – Mike Sodders – 3B The Twins used the 11th overall pick in the 1979 draft on third baseman Mike Sodders from Arizona State. He hit .179 in Wisconsin Rapids during that 1981 season. The following year, he hit .251 in 61 Double-A games and then hit .213 at Triple-A Toledo in 27 games. He went back to Double-A in 1983 and hit just .231 in 67 games before the team let him go. He spent the rest of the 1983 season and then the 1984 season with the White Sox. #43 – 2003 – Matt Moses – 3B The 21st pick in the 2003 draft was Matt Moses, a third baseman from Virginia known for his bat. Almost immediately, they learned that he had a hole in his heart that needed surgery to fix. He would struggle through his time with the Twins, having a solid season before going into a slump. In 73 games at Ft. Myers in 2005, he hit .306/376/.453 (.829) before moving up to Double-A for the second half. He then hit a combined .238/.293/.364 (.657) over parts of the next five seasons in Double-A. He had a 48 game stint in Triple-A in 2007. He’s been out of baseball since 2009. #42 – 2008 – Carlos Gutierrez – RHP The Twins lost Torii Hunter to free agency after the 2007 season. They received the Angels first-round pick and a supplemental pick (Hunt, mentioned above). With the 27th pick (from Angels), the Twins selected Miami’s closer, Carlos Gutierrez. He pitched for the 2009 Puerto Rico WBC team. The Twins made him a starter which lasted a couple of years. He was solid as a starter in Ft. Myers, but never found success as a starter in Double-A. In just over two seasons in Rochester, he posted a 4.59 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He then spent a season in the Cubs system and hasn’t played the last two years. #41 – 1971 – Dale Soderholm – SS The 21st pick in the 1971 draft was Miami high school shortstop Dale Soderholm. He sped through the minor leagues and was at Triple-A as a 21-year-old. He played in 308 games in Triple-A, in a bit of a utility role, over five seasons, and he hit just .219/.275/.318. #40 – 1988 – Johnny Ard – RHP The Twins selected right-handed pitcher Johnny Ard with the 20th overall pick in 1988 from Manatee Junior College in Sarasota, Florida. In that season, he went 4-1 with a 1.97 ERA in E-Town and then 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA in Kenosha (Low A). In Hi-A Visalia in 1989, he went 13-7 with a 3.29 ERA. Then in Double-A Orlando in 1990, he went 12-9 with a 3.79 ERA. Following the season, the Twins traded him to the Giants in exchange for reliever Steve Bedrosian who played a role in the Twins 1991 World Series championship team. He pitched well in Double-A, but he really struggled in two seasons at Triple-A. He fought injuries and never reached the big leagues. #39 – 2000 – Adam Johnson – RHP The Twins reached a predraft agreement with Cal State-Fullerton righty Adam Johnson with the #2 overall pick. He debuted with the Twins in mid-2001 and he went 1-2 with an 8.28 ERA in 25 innings. He pitched in two more games for the Twins in 2003, giving up seven earned runs in just 1.1 innings. Throw in there a rant at the manager for being sent to the minor leagues in spring training, and it’s fair to say that the Adam Johnson era wasn’t great for the Twins. MLB WAR: -1.1. #38 – 1969 – Paul Powell – OF The Twins went to Arizona State for their first-round pick in 1969. Paul Powell was the seventh overall pick. He was sent straight to Double-A and after just 54 games, he went to Triple-A. He spent 1960 posting an .835 OPS in Double-A Evansville. He began the 1971 season with the Twins. In 20 games, he hit .161 in 31 at- bats including his only major league home run. After the 1971 season, he spent four seasons in the Dodgers organization and got 11 at-bats with the big club. MLB WAR: -0.1. #37 – 1976 – Jamie Allen – 3B The Twins used the 10th pick in the 1976 draft on a high school kid from Washington named Jamie Allen. He was a third baseman. He did not sign, choosing to instead go to Arizona State. Three years later, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the second round. In 1983, he played in 86 games for the Mariners and hit .223/.309/.304 (.613) with 10 doubles and four home runs. He never played another big league game. MLB WAR: -0.4. #36 – 1970 – Bob Gorinski – SS The Twins selected a high school shortstop from Pennsylvania with the 22nd overall pick in 1970. He didn’t hit for average, though he showed good power. In 1971 in Wisconsin Rapids, he hit .259 with a .298 OBP, but he hit 25 doubles and 30 home runs. Then next season, at Lynchburg, he hit 23 homers. Over the next two years at Double-A Orlando, he hit 31 homers. He spent a couple more years in Triple-A. Finally, at age 25 in 1977, he played in 54 games for the Twins and hit .195/.226/.322 (.548) with four doubles, three home runs and 22 RBI. MLB WAR: -0.6. #35 – 1982 – Bryan Oelkers – LHP The Twins had the fourth overall pick in 1982 and selected Wichita State lefty Bryan Oelkers. They pushed him up to the big leagues quickly. In 1983, he went 0-5 with an 8.64 ERA and a 2.13 WHIP in 10 games (8 starts). He pitched in 35 games for Cleveland as a 25-year-old in 1986. One pick later, the Mets selected Dwight Gooden. MLB WAR: -0.9. #34 – 1973 – Eddie Bane – LHP The Twins went with a pitcher from Arizona State with the 11th overall pick in 1973. On July 4th of that year, the Twins called him up to make his big league debut. The 21-year-old gave up one run in seven innings. He went 0-5 with a 4.92 ERA that season with the Twins, pitching primarily out of the bullpen. He returned to the big leagues in 1975 for four games and then made 15 starts for the Twins in 1976. That was it for his big league time. He played through 1980 with the White Sox, Royals and Cubs. He was the scouting director for the Angels from 2004-2010 and has been working as a special assistant for the Red Sox since 2012. MLB WAR: -0.9. #33 – 1986 – Derek Parks – C The Twins drafted a high school pitcher from California and turned him into a catcher. He was known for his glove, but in the minors he did show glimpses of power. He made his Twins debut with seven games in 1992. He played in seven more games in 1993. He got into 31 games in 1994. In those 45 games, he hit .200/.258/.278 with six doubles and one home run. That was it for his playing career. Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly is his son-in-law. MLB WAR: -0.5. #32 – 1978 – Lenny Faedo – SS Faedo was the 16th overall pick in the 1978 draft out of high school in Tampa. He debuted with the Twins in 1980 and played in 174 games for the Twins over the next five seasons. In 1983, he played in 90 games. He hit .251/.284/.316 (600) with 17 doubles and five home runs in his career. MLB WAR: -0.2. #31 – 1992 – Dan Serafini – LHP The southpaw was the 26th overall pick in 1992 out of high school in California. He debuted with the Twins in 1996 and pitched with the team through 1998. The next two seasons, he split time between the Cubs, Padres and Pirates. He resurfaced with the Reds in 2003. Then after time in Japan, he pitched in three games (and got a total of one out) with the Rockies in 2007). He kept playing, as recently as 2013, in Mexico. MLB WAR: -0.7. So there is Part 1 of my ranking of the Twins first-round draft picks since the draft's inception in 1965. Part 1 is a friendly reminder that the June draft is not a perfect science. I'll be back in the next few days to show that, in fact, the Twins have gotten it right on some occasions. Click here to view the article