A recent history of Twins’ First-Round Picks
By Chris Schad
The Minnesota Twins are following the lead of most teams by using the draft to build a contender. How have the Twins fared in the first round in the past five years?
The Minnesota Twins are enjoying one of their best seasons this decade and after rolling out to the best record in baseball, they have several pieces of homegrown talent to thank for it. That coming of age tale is similar to what the rest of Major League Baseball has done, opting to build their teams through the MLB Draft rather than shell out big bucks in free agency.
As it stands today, the Twins patience has been rewarded as first-round pick Byron Buxton is enjoying a breakout year while prospects Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff are also making an impact in the lower levels of the system.
With president of baseball operations Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine going into their third draft, it’s interesting to see what the Twins have done to continue to build from within and how these players can continue to make an impact as they head toward the major league level.
To do that, we’ll look at the past five years of Twins first-rounders (including compensation round picks) to see if there has been a shift in philosophy and how those players can help Minnesota moving forward.