MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 17: Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey of the Minnesota Twins holds up a jersey with number one overall draft pick Royce Lewis and agent Scott Boras at a press conference on June 17, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – JUNE 17: Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey of the Minnesota Twins holds up a jersey with number one overall draft pick Royce Lewis and agent Scott Boras at a press conference on June 17, 2017 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
The Minnesota Twins had the first overall draft pick in the 2017 draft and had a deep draft of players. How did they do in their first professional exposure?
While the Minnesota Twins had the #1 overall selection this last June, they also drafted a number of other players, and it’s always good to look back to see how players performed in their first exposure to professional baseball.
Day 1 Draft Picks
The pick of Lewis surprised many, but he’s ended up being reviewed very highly by scouts. As the draft broke down, Lewis did not really receive a massive “discount” compared to other draft picks around them, however, they were able to spin some savings on their first few picks into plenty of draft bargains down the line, especially on day 2 and 3.
Rooker was drafted late in 2016 by the Twins and then again this season after a huge season in college where it seemed Rooker led every statistic in the Southeastern Conference.
Leach was an impressive pitcher for Canada, though he’s likely going to be a guy who takes longer to get to the major leagues than a typical early pick as he has some development yet to do.
The slight cash saved in the first few rounds really paid dividends with the first selection of the second day. Enlow was one of the guys strongly considered for the first round with his elite curveball and solid all-around pitching profile. Bechtold was one of the top junior college hitters available in the entire draft. De La Torre fit a profile that the Twins have used frequently in recent drafts, drafting Puerto Rican high school players and developing them in their system, with what’s become a very strong brotherhood up and down the minor league system of players from the island.
The Twins chose to get upside arms as their “signability” picks, and they already saw production from many of those arms working not just as backend starters, but excellent relievers or even mid-rotation starters.
Probably the biggest disappointment on day three happened in the first pick of the day. Toolsy Gabriel Rodriguez out of Puerto Rico was a guy the Twins wanted badly to sign and negotiated with until the final hour of the deadline, and they were sad to lose he and Cade Smith both, as they felt they’d have the financial ability to sign both.
They were able to see a number of excellent performances from day 3 players, which is incredibly impressive, and one of the most impressive guys to watch was one of the latest draft picks to sign, 38th round selection Rodriguez, who stands 6’6″ and is built like he could play for the Vikings rather than the Twins!
11.1 (316th overall) – Gabriel Rodriguez, OF, Puerto Rico HS – Unsigned
