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National prospect rankings can help fans understand how much depth is in each organization. These prospects were considered among baseball’s best as they worked towards the big leagues. Multiple players are in the discussion for the top prospect in Twins history. Some honorable mentions to this list include Michael Cuddyer, Aaron Hicks, and Kyle Gibson. Baseball America started ranking prospects in 1990, so who cracks the back half of the top-10 prospects in Twins history? 10. Jason Kubel Top-100 Peak: 17 Most of the players on this list were high draft picks, but Minnesota took Kubel in the 12th round. During the 2004 season, he hit .353/.414/.590 (1.004) with 42 doubles and 22 home runs. He was only 22-years old at the time, so he was over five years younger than the average age of the competition at Triple-A, where he played 90 games. Minnesota sent him to the Arizona Fall League that winter and suffered a severe knee injury that cost him the entire 2005 season. Kubel ended up playing a decade at the big-league level, but he was trending at being one of the best prospects in team history before the knee injury. 9. David McCarty Top-100 Peak: 16 After finishing in last place in 1990, the Twins took Dave McCarty with the third overall pick in the 1991 Draft. Minnesota was aggressive with him as they sent him directly to High-A for his pro debut, and he finished at Double-A. His college experience at Stanford helped him to a .907 OPS, and Baseball America ranked him as baseball’s 22nd best prospect before the 1992 season. He’d make it to Triple-A that next season, and he combined to hit .284/.370/.448 (.818) with 39 extra-base hits in 136 games. His big-league career was underwhelming as he had a .676 OPS and a -2.1 WAR in 11 seasons. 8. Justin Morneau Top-100 Peak: 14 Minnesota took Morneau with their third-round pick in 1999, but it took him a couple of seasons for him to make his mark in the prospect world. Baseball America got excited about Morneau following his 2001 minor league season as he posted an .886 OPS between three levels. Over the next three winters, they included Morneau as one of their top-25 prospects. He entered the 2002 season at #21, the 2003 season at #14, and the 2004 season at #16. Morneau also appeared in two Futures Games during that stretch. He became one of the most critical players in Twins history and helped the team to multiple division titles. 7. Willie Banks Top-100 Peak: 13 Banks may be an unfamiliar name to younger Twins fans, but Minnesota selected him with the third overall pick back in 1987. He allowed 51 earned runs in 65 2/3 innings in his professional debut. However, he bounced back nicely the following season and posted a 3.72 ERA with 113 strikeouts in 125 2/3 innings. In 1990, Baseball America’s inaugural top-100 list had Banks as baseball’s 13th best prospect. He improved at High- and Double-A the following season as his ERA dropped by more than a run, and his WHIP decreased from 1.72 to 1.20. Banks pitched nine years at the big-league level with seven different organizations. 6. Todd Walker Top-100 Peak: 7 Minnesota selected Walker with the eighth overall pick in the 1994 MLB Draft out of LSU. He ranked as one of baseball’s top-40 prospects in every minor league season, but his 1996 season was unbelievable. In 135 Triple-A games, he hit .339/.400/.599 (.999) with 28 home runs, 41 doubles, and nine triples. For his entire minor league career, he posted a .905 OPS, which he wasn’t able to replicate at the big-league level. Still, he hit .289/.348/.435 (.783 OPS) across 12 seasons. Did any of these names surprise you? Leave a COMMENT, start the discussion, and stop by later this week to see the top-5. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook, or email View full article

On Monday night, Brent Rooker hit his 11th home run for the Ft. Myers Miracle. Prior to joining the Miracle, he spent a month in Elizabethton where he hit seven home runs. 18 total home runs so far in the minor leagues in his professional debut which is just two months old.. That’s impressive. Impressive enough that I needed to do some research. I needed to know if Rooker’s 18 homers during the season he was drafted was a record of some sort. And if not, when was the last time it happened? And what is that guy up to these days?Thanks to Baseball-Reference.com, I was able to go back through MLB Drafts, trying to find out who has been even close to that number. This decade, there have been two other players drafted who hit double-digit homers during the year they were drafted. There were four players who hit ten or more homers in that initial season between 2000 and 2009. Between 1991 and 1999, six players did it. Finally, hours into the research, I got to the Twins 1990 draft. That’s when I found a player who has equaled and exceeded Rooker’s 18 home runs (so far) in his draft season. Today, we’ll get to know a little bit more about that man. But first, let’s take a look back and remember some of the others who have hit 10 or more home runs in the minor leagues during the year they were drafted. That certainly is an interesting list of names. If you’re like me, and you’ve been following the Twins minor league system for the last 15 years or more, some of these names likely bring back a smile to your face. I remember writing many articles about the power prowess of Kevin West, right up to AAA. I remember writing about Augustana (SD) grad Deacon Burns who came compared to Kirby Puckett, but left-handed, and not as strong. Erik Lis hit a home run for Ft. Myers off of Roger Clemens in one of his starts before joining the Astros during the years he joined the team midseason. Maybe other names on that list will be more familiar for you. These guys were all drafted out of college, and most of them spent that entire first season adjusting to pro ball in Elizabethton. As you can see, Brent Rooker has become the first player since fellow first-round pick Todd Walker in 1994 to hit ten (or more) home runs for the Miracle in his first season. Walker went directly to the Florida State League after the Twins made him the eighth overall pick out of another SEC school, LSU. Twins Vice President of Player Personnel Mike Radcliff has been around the Twins organization a long time, and he’s seen a lot of players. Of Rooker’s pro debut, he says it has been quite impressive, “What is most impressive about Rooker’s home runs is he is still hitting them in Ft. Myers. It’s hard to hit homers in the Florida State League. Lots of guys can hit home runs in the Appy League—not that easy in the Florida State League—especially in your first year of pro ball.” Consider Zander Wiel who currently leads the Miracle with 12 home runs this season. Wiel has approximately 350 more plate appearances than Rooker does with the Miracle. On Monday, Rooker was also named the Florida State League Player of the Week for the second time in the last month. Who Is Paul Russo? In the 16th round of the 1990 draft, the Minnesota Twins selected catcher Paul Russo out of Division II University of Tampa. Radcliff recalls, “Russo was a good college hitter who played for Team USA the summer before. (He was) more of a line-drive, hit the ball hard type of swing and hitter.” Last Saturday, we caught up with Paul Russo on his 48th birthday. As he described his E-Town days, “I truly loved being in Elizabethton. I met some wonderful people there. The Church family comes to mind right off the top of my head. Their family, his wife, their daughters.” As you will hear from most players, it seems, who have played in E-Town the last three decades, he learned a lot from Elizabethton manager Ray Smith. “Playing for Ray was a great experience because he is such a great guy. He made playing fun. He made it relaxing.” His hitting coach that year was former Twins player Jim Lemon. Lemon played in 12 big league seasons between 1950 and 1963. He missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons because of military service. He played for the Twins in their inaugural season in Minnesota in 1961 and stayed with the Twins into the 1963 season. “I learned so much from Jim. His ability to teach me and stay with me and stay on me was probably one of the greatest reasons I had so much success there.” Russo was much more than “just” a home run hitter during that 1990 season in E-Town. He was the Appy League MVP. He hit .335/.433/.706 (1.139) with 10 doubles, three triples and 22 home runs. He drove in 67 runs. He struck out 56 times (21%), but he also showed a good approach at the plate with 39 walks. The numbers were remarkable, but Russo wasn’t totally surprised by his success. “I wasn’t surprised because that year in college and the year before I hit 22 home runs in college. I was the Division II Player of the Year two years in a row. I knew I could hit home runs. I always could.” Ray Smith completed his playing career - which included parts of three seasons in the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins (1981-1983) - in 1986. In 1990, he was just 33-years-old and managing already. 2017 marks his 31st season with the E-Twins and 24th as the team’s manager. He has seen a lot of young players. While Russo was drafted as a catcher, Smith recalled, “Russo primarily played first and sometimes third for us.” Smith finds several similarities between Rooker and Russo. “Saw where Rooker has been hot with the long ball. He was streaky here too. Russo was somewhat of a streaky-type guy too. Both have/had tremendous power with the ability to carry the club when going good. Some contact issues, but both could hit the ball out of any part of the ballpark when squaring it up. They could even hit homers when NOT squaring it up,” Smith continued, “Different body types. Russo more along the ‘Killebrew’ mold. Somewhat stocky and strong, where Rooker is taller and thinner. He will fill out some with maturity. Strong too. Both blessed with tremendous whip and bat speed and good makeup and work habits.” One of Russo’s teammates on that 1990 Elizabethton team was a name familiar to Twins fans. Denny Hocking was a utility guy with the Twins for 11 seasons, 1993 through 2003. In six of those seasons, he played in over 100 games. Hocking was the Twins 52nd round draft pick in 1989. He was a draft-and-follow guy, so he made his professional debut in 1990 in Elizabethton. Recently, Hocking talked to Twins Daily about Russo. “Paul Russo had this Paul Bunyan stature to him. Tons of power to all fields and he loved hitting balls into the pool over the RF fence. He pretty much dominated the Appy League.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Russo continued to play well after that 1990 season, and he continued to show a lot of power. In Low A Kenosha in 1991, he played for manager Scott Ullger (who he says he still communicates with sometimes). He hit .271/.369/.475 (.844) with 20 doubles, three triples, 20 homers and 100 RBI. In 1992, he skipped a level and jumped right to AA Orlando where he played for Phil Roof. There he hit .255/.329/.452 (.781) with 13 doubles, 22 homers and 74 RBI. He struck out 122 times and walked 48 times. In 1993, he moved up to AAA Portland. In 83 games, he hit .281/.341/.483 (.823) with 24 doubles, ten homers and 47 RBI. He played first base and third base. Those are numbers that should have put him on the radar for a big league call up. In 1993, Kent Hrbek played 123 games, most at 1B. Mike Pagliarulo played about half of the team’s games at third base. Terry Jorgenson played quite a bit of third base that year. David McCarty and Gene Larkin were the backups at first base. So, some of it was about opportunity, and some was about just having several other options. Russo split 1994 between AA Nashville and AAA Salt Lake. He was still just 24 years old and hit 13 homers that season as well. Russo said, “I tell people I was a couple of decades too early, or a couple of decades too late. I could never tell you what kept me out of the big leagues. I can tell you this. The only guy who hit more home runs than me in the Twins organization was Bernardo Brito. He was a tremendous home run hitter. He didn’t get enough credit as he should have. He was a pretty good player. But at the time, the Twins had some superstars in the outfield. They had Kirby (Puckett) and Shane Mack. Brito could have hit home runs anywhere. At least he got up there.” Russo went to the Padres where he played in AA and AAA in 1995 and 1996. He played AAA ball for the Yankees in 1997. He then spent two seasons in AAA for the Astros, but he never got The Call. “I always felt I should have had an opportunity to get to the big leagues. I hit a lot of home runs when I was there. They just never gave me the opportunity. I had a lot of success over my career. I had a good career. I don’t regret anything. And I truly enjoyed the coaching staff with the Twins. That is one thing I will always remember. Most of the coaches there were good people that were there truly to help you get better.” Russo is still very active in baseball. In fact, it remains his career, just in a different way now. He and his brother Pat Russo (who went undrafted, but spent two seasons pitching in the Twins system) own the Hit Factory Baseball in Tampa. They have players from eight to 18. “We’ve got a broad range. We have 16 travel teams, so that’s basically what I do.” “Helping kids is the best part because I can take the knowledge I’ve learned through high school, through college and into pro baseball and teach kids that there’s different things that people look for. Professional baseball is not for everybody. Professional baseball is completely different than college baseball. You meet a lot of different individuals in pro baseball. The one thing I stress to all these boys is get your education. The better you do in your education, the more it will help you in baseball too.” They have helped develop good players and good young men, and provided them with opportunities. “We’ve sent over 250 of our players to college. We’ve had some pro draft picks, a couple of first rounders. I get more pleasure out of that than anything. It’s great to see them move on. It’s great!” Russo also does a weekly radio show called Hit The Cut which you can listen to often on Facebook Live in which they talk baseball and youth baseball and more. Be sure to “Like” their site and check it out. Baseball and family are what keep him busy. He and his wife will have been married 23 years in October. His oldest son Paul is a senior, playing baseball at South Alabama. His oldest daughter is a junior at Tampa Catholic high school, and she recently verbally committed to playing softball at South Florida. His youngest daughter is a sophomore in high school. Russo summarized, “They’re all good memories. I was able to do something that 99.9% of people who played baseball could never do. It has helped me later on in life to do what I do now. I have nothing but fond memories of playing my career.” With a week to play, Rooker is four home runs behind Russo’s mark. Can he get there? Click here to view the article

Last week, we started a series looking at and ranking 53 Minnesota Twins first-round draft picks. In Part 1: 31-53, we saw a lot of reminders that the draft is not a science, many don't make it or do little when they're there. In Part 2: 21-30, we started seeing some players that had some role in the big leagues for at least a little while. Today, we present Part 3: 11-20. In this grouping, you will see quite a few players who have had some solid, though not spectacular, MLB careers. Several of these players are still active and have a chance to move up this chart, maybe even significantly.#20 – 2009 – Kyle Gibson – RHP Gibson fell to the Twins with the 22nd overall pick in 2009, out of the University of Missouri. He was fast-tracked in 2010, pitching for the Miracle, the Rock Cats and ending with the Red Wings. That’s where he began the 2010 season. He started quickly, but he really started struggling and missed time. He had Tommy John surgery and missed most of the 2012 season. He began 2013 with Rochester and went 7-5 with a 2.92 ERA. Despite the setback, he arrived in the big leagues at age 25. Like most, he struggled in his initial big league visit, posting a 2-4 record and a 6.53 ERA in 10 starts. However, in 2014, he made 31 starts and went 13-12. In 13 starts this season, he is 4-5 but has a 3.33 ERA. As he continues, he will likely rise up this list quite a way. MLB WAR: 3.0 #19 – 1967 – Steve Brye – 3B In 1967, the Twins had the 17th overall pick and selected an outfielder from Oakland named Steve Brye. He moved quickly through the minor leagues and debuted as a 21-year-old with nine games in September. Drafted as a third baseman, he played most of his nine-year career in the corner outfield positions. He played over 100 games just once in his career. In 1974, he played in 135 games for the Twins and hit .283/.319/.365 (.683) with 32 doubles. For his career, he hit .258/.309/.365 (.674) with 97 doubles, 13 triples and 30 homers. MLB WAR: 5.5. #18 – 1990 – Todd Ritchie – RHP Ritchie was the 12th overall pick in the 1990 draft. The big name before the draft was Todd Van Poppel, but Ritchie had actually beaten him in high school matchups in Texas. He very slowly worked up the farm system and made his Twins debut out of the bullpen in April, 1997. He pitched to a 4.58 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP in 42 games. The following year, he pitched in 15 games for the Twins before they released him after the season. In something we’ve seen in recent years, the Pirates signed him and he went 15-9 in 26 starts in 1999. He pitched almost 400 innings for the Pirates in 2000 and 2001. He then pitched for the White Sox, the Brewers and the Rays over the next three years. Overall, he went 43-54 with a 4.71 ERA over 835.2 innings in eight big league seasons. MLB WAR: 6.3. #17 – 1980 – Jeff Reed – C The Twins used the 12th overall pick in the 1980 draft to select Reed, a catcher from high school in Illinois. On Opening Day 1984, he made his major league debut with the Twins. He played in 18 games for the Twins that season. Then seven games in 1985. Then he played in 68 games for the Twins in 1986. Before the 1987 season, he was traded with three other players to Montreal for Tom Nieto and Jeff Reardon. He went on to play for 17 seasons in the big leagues, for the Expos, Reds, Giants, Rockies and Cubs. He hit .250/.334/.361 (.695) with 144 doubles, ten triples and 61 homers. Maybe he should be moved up this list because this will be his 14th season as the Elizabethton Twins hitting coach. MLB WAR: 4.5 #16 – 2007 – Ben Revere – OF The Twins were criticized by many when they drafted speedy Ben Revere with the 28th overall pick in the 2007 draft out of high school in Kentucky. He hit .325 in the GCL that year. He hit .379 in Beloit in 2008. He hit .311 in Ft. Myers in 2009. In 2010, he hit .305 in New Britain and received a September call up. He hit .303 in Rochester in 2011, though he spent most of the season with the Twins. He played in 124 games for the Twins in 2012 and hit .294. He stole 74 bases for the Twins Following the 2012 season, he was traded to Philadelphia for Trevor May and Vance Worley. In the three seasons with the Phillies, he’s hit .300/.327/.359, and in 2014 he hit his only two major league homers. He also led the league with 184 hits. He has been a frequent contributor to Web Gems on SportsCenter and is still just 27 years old. He will continue up this list as well. MLB WAR: 6.0 #15 – 1996 – Travis Lee – 1B The 1996 draft was rather controversial. The Twins selected Lee with the second overall pick out of San Diego State. He was playing for Team USA in the Olympics and the Twins did not tender him a contract within 15 days, so he was deemed a free agent. He then signed a 4 year, $10 million contract with the Diamondbacks. In 1998, he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. He played nine seasons in the big leagues and hit a combined .256/.337/.408 (.745) with 191 doubles, 16 triples and 115 home runs. He played for Arizona, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees. MLB WAR: 7.2 WAR. #14 – 2004 – Trevor Plouffe – SS Plouffe was the 20th overall pick in the 2004 MLB draft, the first of five Twins first-round picks that year. He signed a day after he turned 18. He advanced step-by-step and was in Triple-A shortly after turning 22 in 2008. He spent all of 2009 in Triple-A. He debuted and played 22 games at shortstop with the Twins in 2010. The team quickly moved him out of shortstop and he played several positions before moving exclusively to third base in 2012. Aside from a couple of rehab stints in Rochester, he has been a full-time big leaguer since 2012. Over the last few seasons, he has continued to improve offensively and defensively at third base. The 29-year-old has plenty of good years ahead of him and will likely move up this list quite a bit. MLB WAR: 7.3 #13 – 1995 – Mark Redman – LHP The Twins drafted Redman out of the University of Oklahoma with the 13th overall pick in 1995. He started in Ft. Myers and pitched well there and in Double-A New Britain. However, he never put up an ERA below 5.05 in Triple-A Salt Lake (does anyone?). He debuted with the Twins late in the 1999 season, and as a rookie in 2000, he went 12-9 with a 4.76 ERA. He made nine starts for the Twins in 2001 before being traded at the deadline to the Tigers for Todd Jones. He made 32 starts for the Tigers. Then he went 14-9 for Florida in 2003, winning a World Series championship. He then spent a year in Oakland and a year in Pittsburgh. He was the Royals All-Star representative in 2006. However, he was a free agent after the season. He played for the Braves and Rockies over the next two years and was done after the 2008 season. In all, he went 68-85 with a 4.85 ERA. MLB WAR: 9.5. #12 – 1994 – Todd Walker – 2B With the eighth overall pick in 1994, the Twins took Todd Walker, a second baseman out of LSU. He was a hitting machine in college. He went straight to Ft. Myers and posted a .938 OPS with ten homers the rest of the way. He hit .290 with 27 doubles and 21 homers in Double-A in 1995. In 135 games in Salt Lake in 1996, he hit 41 doubles, nine triples and 28 homers while posting a .999 OPS. He finished the season with 26 games with the Twins. He split 1997 between Rochester and the big leagues. He then hit .316/.372/.473 (.845) with 41 doubles and 12 homers in 1998. His numbers dropped in 1999. In 2000, he was optioned to Triple-A again. Famously, he did not get along with manager Tom Kelly at all. He wasn’t a good defensive second baseman. Finally, in mid-2000, he was traded to Colorado with Butch Huskey in exchange for Todd Sears. From 2001 to 2007, he hit a combined .289/.349/.439 (.788). Overall, he hit .289/.348/.435 (.783) with 284 doubles, 30 triples and 107 home runs. MLB WAR: 10.5. #11 – 2005 – Matt Garza – RHP The Twins used the 25th overall pick in 2005 on Fresno State righty Matt Garza. He began the 2006 season in Ft. Myers. He made eight starts there, ten starts in Double-A New Britain and then five starts in Triple-A Rochester before ending the season with nine starts for the Twins. He spent the first half of 2007 in Rochester before going 5-7 with a 3.69 ERA. Following the season, he was traded to the Rays with Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young. From 2007 through 2014, he has not posted an ERA over 3.95. He’s struggling with the Brewers this year, but in his career, he is 79-83 with a 3.88 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. MLB WAR: 15.9 There are some very solid MLB players in this grouping. Coming soon, we'll take a look at the top ten Minnesota Twins first-round draft picks. There are some very good names on that list. Click here to view the article