Early Returns: Twins 2013 Draft Class (Intro)
By Wally Fish
It’s the middle of August and that means we’re over two months removed from the completion of the 2013 MLB Draft. I returned to The Pond a week or so after the draft wrapped up and I didn’t have a chance to do much coverage of the Twins class as a result. In the coming weeks I will be recapping the performance of the Minnesota’s Top-30 prospect list (using BA’s rankings) but before I launched into that project, a look at the early performances of the team’s latest draft class seemed to be in order.
DeMuth was the one that got away from the Twins 2013 draft class. (Photo Credit: Dave Weaver-USA Today Sports)
Today starts the beginning of that process as we set the table with a quick recap of the 2013 classes from each of the teams in the AL Central.
Chicago White Sox:
Picks: 40
Players Signed: 36 (90%)
BA Top-500 Players: 13 drafted, 12 signed
Highest Pick Unsigned: LHP-Tavo Rodriguez (33rd Round/993rd overall)
Top Pick: 20-year old SS-Tim Anderson (1/17) is hitting 0.271/.343/.353 with 21 SB in 53 games with Kannapolis (A).
Cleveland Indians:
Picks: 39
Players Signed: 24 (61.5%)
BA Top-500 Players: 16 drafted, 12 signed
Highest Pick Unsigned: 2B-Ross Kivett (10/291), Kansas State University
Top Pick: 18-year old OF-Clint Frazier (1/5) is hitting 0.315/.366/.521 with 11 2B, 5 3B and 3 HR in 36 games with the AZL Indians (Rk).
Detroit Tigers:
Picks: 41
Players Signed: 31 (75.6%)
BA Top-500 Players: 13 drafted, 10 signed
Highest Pick Unsigned: RHP-Matt Wotherspoon (20/606), University of Pittsburgh
Top Pick: 21-year old RHP-Jonathon Crawford (1/20) has a 1.89 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 21-9 SO/BB in 19.0 IP with Connecticut (A-).
Kansas City Royals:
Picks: 41
Players Signed: 28 (68.3%)
BA Top-500 Players: 16 drafted, 12 signed
Highest Pick Unsigned: 1B-Shane Conlon (21/624), Kansas State University
Top Pick: 21-year old SS-Hunter Dozier (1/8) hit 0.293/.397/.505 with 22 2B, 6 HR and 31 BB in 47 games with Idaho Falls (Rk) before being promoted to Lexington (A) where he’s 2-10 in his first 3 games.
Minnesota Twins:
Picks: 40
Players Signed: 28 (70%)
BA Top-500 Players: 18 drafted, 14 signed
Highest Pick Unsigned: 3B-Dustin DeMuth (8/230), Indiana University
Top Pick: 18-year old RHP-Kohl Stewart (1/4) had a 1.69 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 16-3 SO/BB in 16.0 IP with the GCL Twins (Rk) before being promoted to Elizabethton yesterday. Obviously Stewart will be covered more in depth in the near future.
The Twins selected and signed more Top-500 players than any other team in the AL Central but in failing to ink DeMuth they also had the highest unsigned pick amongst their divisional peers. Outside of missing out on their 8th round selection, Minnesota signed the rest of their Top-25. Chicago signed their top 32 picks and 36 players overall (90%) to easily lead the division in that regard while Cleveland was on the other side of that spectrum with just 61.5% of their class under contract. Kansas City, Chicago and Cleveland each signed a dozen of Baseball America’s Top-500 players while Detroit landed just 10 such players. All five first round picks have started off their professional careers in fine fashion.