Four Years Of Futility: How Did The Twins Get Here?
Credit: knuckleballsblog.com
Twins 2011 MLB Draft Highlights (1st pick 30th overall)
- Levi Michael (30th)
- Travis Harrison (50)
- Hudson Boyd (55)
- Madison Boer (87)
- Nick Burdi (748)
If you’re looking at those names and wondering why you aren’t familiar with any of them, that’s more than a fair question. At this point, the expectation would be at least one of these players would have major league experience. Unfortunately, the closest one would be Nick Burdi, who didn’t sign in 2011 and was again drafted in 2014.
Levi Michael showed signs of resurgence in limited time with Fort Myers and New Britain last season. He will be in a make or break year in 2015, with an outside chance at becoming a utility option for the big club in 2016. That’s not at all an ideal situation for your first round draft choice to fall into.
Right now, Harrison is 22 and has yet to advance past Fort Myers. His career .269/.368/.404 slash line isn’t horrible, but the power took a huge hit as he only hit three home runs last year (after hitting 15 the year before). Boyd is still in Cedar Rapids at 22, and just failed his second drug test. The Twins could be looking to move on from him at any moment.
Rounding out the top picks, Boer cracked New-Britain for two games to end the 2014 season. Now a full-time reliever, he will likely start in Double-A. His career 5.14 ERA is ugly, though a 3.99 ERA in 2014 was a step forward.
As we noted, Burdi was drafted out of high school, but went on to play for Lousiville prior to being selected by the Twins again in 2014.