Ranking the Minnesota Twins First Round Picks of the Last Decade

From 2010-2019, the Minnesota Twins made ten first round draft selections, but only one of those players has played more than 23 MLB games with the Twins.

Although half of our list still has a chance to make an impact for the Minnesota Twins in the coming years, it is very fair to say the Twins have missed more times than not in the last ten years. Here is our list, going from the worst, to the best.

Number 10: Minnesota Twins select Tyler Jay 6th Overall in 2015

Tyler Jay comes in as our worst first round selection from the Minnesota Twins in the last decade. Coming out of the University of Illinois, it seems baffling why the Twins would spend such a high draft choice on a relief pitcher.

Jay was a do-it-all guy at Illinois, he started, he pitched middle relief, and he closed. He finished his final year at Illinois with a 1.08 ERA, a 5-2 record, and 76 strikeouts in only 66.2 innings pitched.

After being selected by the Twins, Jay spent his first year in the Florida State League, pitching only out of the bullpen. During the offseason, the Twins decided they wanted to make Jay into a starter, which was odd since he only started two games out of his 71 appearances in college.

After pitching to a 2.84 ERA in 13 starts in the FSL, Jay was moved up to AA Chattanooga, where he would start two more games, and pitch In relief three times before the end of the 2016 season.

In 2017, Jay pitched in three different leagues as a member of the Twins, but only pitched in eight games due injury that forced him into Tommy John surgery. After the surgery, Jay was never the same. He pitched only in AA in the 2018 season, and finished with a 4.33 ERA.

Jay started the 2019 season once again in AA, but was traded to the Reds exactly one year ago today, June 10th, and was released by the Reds last week. Jay never played a game in the MLB with the Twins or the Reds.

What could have been if the Minnesota Twins didn’t select Tyler Jay? The very next pick in the draft was Andrew Benintendi. The next left-handed pitcher taken was Kolby Allard with the 14th selection. But the ideal pick, Walker Buehler was selected 24th.

And although any of those selections would have been nice, the question still remains, why do you select a relief pitcher at six?

Number 9: Minnesota Twins select Levi Michael 30th Overall in 2011

Coming in next on our list is middle infielder Levi Michael from North Carolina. We have Levi above Jay in our rankings because being a bust as the 6th overall pick is worse than being a bust at 30. But like Tyler Jay, Levi Michael never played an MLB game with the Twins, or anyone else.

In his final year at North Carolina, Michael batted .289 with 14 doubles, five home runs, and 48 runs batted in. Michael showed versatility, as he started many games at third, second, and shortstop over his three years at North Carolina.

After being selected, Michael started his professional career in the Florida State league, and played two full seasons in 2012 and 2013 with the Fort Myers Miracle. Michael spent the majority of the 2014 season in Fort Myers as well, but played 15 games in AA, batting .340 in limited action.

In 2015 and 16, Levi spent both full seasons in AA, and never came close to the .340 batting average again. After being a full time starter in AA during the 2017 season, Michael was promoted to AAA after hitting .264 with six home runs in 88 games.

After failing to make the major league roster after spring training in 2018, Michael was released from the Twins. He did sign with the Mets shortly after being released, and played in their AA and AAA systems in 2018.

Michael spent the 2019 season in the Giants organization, again playing in AA and AAA. He was released after the season.

However, the story might not be over for Michael. He was a Non-Roster invitee this spring with the Minnesota Twins, but due to COVID-19, the spring was cut short, and Michael didn’t have a chance to make an impression on the coaching staff.

Overall, Michael has been a decent minor league player, in 758 career minor league games, Michael holds a .258 career average, with 41 home runs, and 285 RBI’s.

Now, what could have been if the Minnesota Twins didn’t selected Levi Michael? Mikie Mahtook was selected with the very next pick in the draft. Now Mahtook isn’t great, but has a career .235 batting average in 291 MLB games with the Rays and Tigers.

However, Jackie Bradley Jr., Michael Fulmer, Trevor Story, and Blake Snell were all drafted after Michael in the supplemental first round.

Number 8: Minnesota Twins select Kohl Stewart 4th Overall in 2013

The first player who actually appeared in the MLB for the Minnesota Twins on our list is right-handed pitcher Kohl Stewart. Stewart was selected out of high school with the 4th overall pick in 2013.

Unlike the first two on our list, Stewart came out of high school, so he started at the lowest level of professional baseball the Twins offer, which is Rookie league. However, Stewart played only seven games of Rookie league ball in 2013 before moving up to Full Season A in 2014.

Stewart spent the entire 2014 season in Full Season A, and spent the entire 2015 season in Fort Myers for A Advanced. Stewart would start the 2016 season in Fort Myers, but moved up to AA after only nine starts. And after making 16 starts in AA in 2016, Stewart was 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA.

Going into 2017, Stewart was a top five prospect on MLB.com, and many who followed prospects knew about Stewart. However, he quickly changed the narrative around him.

Stewart spent most of his 2017 in AA, but he missed about a month in the middle of the season due to a knee injury. In 16 AA starts, and one AAA start, Stewart was 6-6 with a 4.28 ERA.

In 2018, Stewart made 14 AA starts, 5 AAA starts, and 4 MLB starts with the Twins. In total he appeared in eight games for the Twins, going 2-1 with a 3.68 ERA. Stewart had 24 strikeouts in his 36.2 MLB innings, but he did walk 18 batters, and hit three others, which saw his WHIP finish the season at 1.42.

Going into 2019, many thought Stewart would build on his MLB success from 2018, but that didn’t happen. Stewart only appeared in nine games for the Twins, two of them being starts, and he wasn’t good, going 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA. Stewart gave up 18 earned runs in his 25.1 innings in 2019, which was more runs in less innings than in 2018. Opponents also hit .290 off Stewart in 2019, when they only hit .246 off him in 2018.

After the 2019 season, Stewart was outrighted from the Twins, and he selected free agency over another minor league assignment.

In the offseason, Stewart signed a minor league deal with the Orioles and was going to compete for a major league spot in Spring Training before COVID-19 ending spring training early.

At only 25 years old, Stewart still has a chance to be a decent major league pitcher, but it won’t be with the Minnesota Twins. Now, the question must be asked, what could have been if the Twins didn’t select Stewart?

The very next pick was Clint Frazier, who has a career .254 batting average with 16 home runs in 123 MLB games with the Yankees. However, Austin Meadows, Dominic Smith, Tim Anderson, and Marco Gonzales all went in the first round after Stewart.

Number 7: Minnesota Twins select Alex Wimmers 21st Overall in 2010

In a draft that included Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Matt Harvey, Chris Sale, and six other future All Stars drafted in the first round, the Twins selected Alex Wimmers. Now don’t worry Twins fans, they didn’t have the opportunity to select most of these players, but they did pass on three of them.

The Twins selected right-handed pitcher Alex Wimmers from The Ohio State University with the 21st pick in the 2010 draft, and like Stewart, Wimmers did pitch for the Twins in the MLB.

Wimmers reported to Fort Myers after being drafted, and started four games for the Miracle, going 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA in that time. Wimmers spent a full season in Fort Myers in 2011 before having a strange 2012 season.

Wimmers pitched in only two games in 2012 due to a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, but the Twins medical staff had a hard time diagnosing the injury. Wimmers would eventually have Tommy John surgery, which saw him only pitch in six games in 2013.

In 2014, Wimmers was fully healthy for the first time since 2011, and he pitched in both A Advanced, and AA, going 4-3 with a 3.96 ERA in both leagues. In 2015, Wimmers spent the entire season in AA, making 18 starts, and 12 relief appearances, going 8-4 with a 4.53 ERA.

Wimmers would never make another start in his professional career after 2015, as he spent the entire 2016 season as a reliever in both AA and AAA before making his MLB Debut for the Minnesota Twins on August 26, 2016. In 2016, Wimmers pitched in 16 games for the Twins, gathering one hold, with a 4.15 ERA.

Wimmers spent most of his 2017 in AAA, where he was very solid, going 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA, and again saw time in the MLB. This time it was only six games with the Twins, pitching to a 4.91 ERA in 7.1 innings. After being designated for assignment by the Twins, he became a free agent, and signed with the Marlins in the offseason. However, he never pitched a game with the Marlins in the MLB.

Having Wimmers above Stewart on this list all came down to the MLB stats, and although neither guy has any impressive stats, Wimmers has a lower career ERA, and more games played. But as I mentioned above, which All-Stars could the Twins have drafted instead of Wimmers?

That would be 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich, who went two selections after Wimmers, Aaron Sanchez, and Noah Syndergaard.

Number 6: Minnesota Twins select Keoni Cavaco 13th Overall in 2019

At this point, we have covered all the major busts from the last 10 years. Besides our obvious number one, the rest of the guys on our list have not played yet in the majors, but there is a good chance they all will.

Cavaco is number six on this list, and only because we just don’t know enough about him yet. There is only one other player that could be selected in this spot, but we have picked him for 5th.

As for Cavaco, I wrote an entire article on him yesterday,  breaking down his first pro season, so that would be the best place to learn about his 2019.

Number 5: Minnesota Twins select Nick Gordon 5th Overall in 2014

Nick Gordon comes in 5th on our list, and there might be some surprise due to the fact that Gordon has been in the system for what will be his seventh season and has not yet made his MLB debut.

Nick, the younger brother of Dee Gordon, was a staple on the MLB.com Top 100 prospects list from 2016-2018, but he no longer appears on that list.

From 2014-2017, Nick spent a full season in Rookie, Full Season A, A Advanced, and AA in that order. In those years, Nick had a batting average no lower than .270 at any stop, and scored more than 50 runs in three of the four seasons. The only season he didn’t was in 2014, because he only played in 57 games, and scored 46 runs.

Gordon started the 2018 season in AA, but after hitting .333 in the first 42 games of the season, he was promoted to AAA, and finished out the season there. However, in those 99 AAA games, Gordon hit only .212 with an on base percentage of .262.

Falling lower and lower on the depth chart, Gordon played the entire 2019 season in AAA. He only appeared in 70 games, but hit .298 in that time, had an OBP of .342 in that time. He also tied his career high in doubles with 29, cut down his strikeouts from 109 to 65 from the previous season.

Which brings us to 2020, at only 24 years old, Gordon still has plenty of time to make an impact. Although many believed he would have already made his MLB debut by now, there should be no reason to give up on Gordon.

But as I have done with everyone else, I have to look at what could have been if the Twins didn’t select Gordon. At pick seven, the second selection after Gordon, the Phillies selected Aaron Nola. The Mets selected Michael Conforto at 10, and Trea Turner and Matt Chapman were selected before the end of the first round.

It should be mentioned, the four players selected before Gordon were Brady Aiken, Tyler Kolek, Carlos Rodon, and Kyle Schwarber. Aiken famously did not sign with the Astros after being selected first overall, and Kolek has a minor league career record of 5-16 with a 5.66 ERA. So compared to those picks, the Twins aren’t looking so bad.

Number 4: Minnesota Twins select Royce Lewis 1st Overall in 2017

With the first pick in the 2017 draft, the Minnesota Twins elected to go with Royce Lewis, the high school shortstop from California. In a draft where high school players went first, second, and third, the Twins are still wondering if they made the right selection.

Lewis reported to the GCL Twins after signing his contract and played 36 games in Florida before finishing the season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Lewis started the 2018 season again in Cedar Rapids, but after hitting .315 in 75 games, Royce found himself back in Florida after being promoted to Fort Myers of the FSL. Lewis played 46 games in the FSL in 2018, hitting .255 with five home runs and 21 RBI’s.

Until 2019, Lewis had faced little adversity since becoming a professional, but 2019 was a struggle for Lewis.

He started the season once again in Fort Myers, and played 94 games with them. His average dropped to .238, and he struck out more times in those 94 games than he did in the 121 the season before.

However, he was promoted to AA after those 94 games, and played the final 33 in Pensacola. He hit .231 in those games, only recording 31 hits, with 33 strikeouts. In total for Lewis in 2019, he struck out 123 times in 127 games, which ended up being one more strikeout than he had hits.

Which brings us to 2020, Lewis was probably going to start the season again in AA. His very underwhelming 2019 season was behind him, and 2020 was going to be the year Lewis showed the organization if he was a future star, or a mistake.

Lewis did play in 10 of the Twins spring training games in 2020, where he went 5-25 with a double, two home runs, but seven strikeouts.

As a bored college kid in the summer, I went and watched Lewis’ first career professional game in the GCL. Me and my buddy were the only two spectators in the stadium, and when I say only two, I mean only two. There wasn’t even workers to let you in the gate, it was just open. But it was 100 degrees in the Florida heat.

The point I am trying to make, before the game Royce signed autographs for us, and was really nice. I wish the guy nothing but the best, but I hope the Twins don’t try and rush his development.

Number 3: Minnesota Twins select Alex Kirilloff 15th Overall in 2016

Alex Kirilloff was selected out of Plum High School in Pennsylvania with the 15th overall pick in 2016. Since becoming a professional, Kirilloff has never hit lower than .283 in a season, and hit above .300 in every season besides last.

Alex started his professional career in Rookie ball, and hit .306 with seven home runs in only 55 games. He went on to earn the Appalachian League MVP award in that season. His stats would have been better, but he was forced out of action due to a ligament tear in his elbow. In something you don’t see often, a position player needing Tommy John surgery, Kirilloff missed the entire 2017 season recovering from the surgery.

Kirilloff came back in the 2018 season, and mashed 20 home runs with 101 RBI’s over his time with Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers. He slashed .348/.393/.550 over both leagues as well, getting many in the organization excited about his future.

Last season Alex battled a wrist injury, which forced him to only play in 94 games, all of which in AA Pensacola. In those games Alex hit nine home runs with 43 RBI. Although his slash line went down in all three categories, he still had a very solid season.

Brining us to 2020, Kirilloff would have likely started the season in AAA, with a real chance to make it to the show. Alex appeared in 10 games this spring and made the most of it. He finished the spring with a .429 batting average, 9-21, two home runs, and drove in four runs.

The short spring may have helped the Minnesota Twins from making a tough decision about the future of Kirilloff. But one thing about his future is certain, you should be excited about it.

Number 1: Minnesota Twins select Byron Buxton 2nd Overall in 2012

Buck is the no brainer number one on our list. However, it’s not like Byron has been fantastic in the MLB.

Byron was selected 2nd out of Appling County High School in Georgia after the Astros selected Carlos Correa first overall. Buxton made his MLB debut three years after being drafted, and played 46 games with the Twins that season.

After playing 92 games in 2016, Buxton hit .225 with 10 home runs. 2017 was Byron’s most successful season, as he played in 140 games, slashing .253/.313/.413. He hit 16 home runs that season, and drove in 51 runs, both career highs. Buxton also stole 29 bases in 2017, and was only caught once.

In 2018 and 2019 combined, Buxton only played 115 games, finishing with 10 home runs, 50 RBI’s, and 56 runs scored. During the 2018 season, Buxton played 36 games in the minors, some due to rehab, but most due to his poor performance in the MLB.

One thing that can never be questioned about Buxton is his defense. Buxton has a career 42 runs saved above average, and has made many memorable plays Twins fans will always remember.

Bringing us to now, Buxton is the unquestioned starter in centerfield for the Twins in 2020. But with Larnach and Kirilloff both playing corner outfield spots, and coming on strong, could we possibly see Max Kepler move to centerfield to make room for both of them going forward?

And although Buxton is number one on our list, we have to look back and see where else the Twins could have gone with this pick.

Although the 2012 draft wasn’t stacked, David Dahl, Addison Russell, Corey Seager and Marcus Stroman all went after Buxton in the first round.

So, there it is, our ranking of the last 10 Minnesota Twins first round draft picks. Although there hasn’t been a ton of winners, there is still some serious potential in our list.

Hopefully tonight the Minnesota Twins will add another player the caliber of Larnach or Kirilloff tonight with the 27th overall pick!