Tuesday Night, May 6, 2008
Floyd Nearly No-Hits Twins
Maybe the Twins did make the wrong choice in the 2001 draft. Am I saying that the Twins should have taken Mark Prior, who the Cubs took with the second overall pick? No, thank you! Dewon Brazelton, maybe? No, I don't think so. The Rangers took Mark Teixeira with the fifth overall pick. Maybe the Twins should have taken him (and paid him like crazy)? Well, that would not have been a horrible choice either, but... Maybe, just maybe they should have taken... Gavin Floyd?
The Philadelphia Phillies took Gavin Floyd with the fourth overall pick in that draft out of Mount St. Joseph High School in Severna Park, Maryland. Floyd was a highly touted flamethrower at the time. Floyd made his debut with the Phillies late in 2004 and struggled. He struggled more and split time between AAA and Philadelphia in 2005 and 2006. Before the 2007 season, he was dealt from the Phillies to the White Sox with Gio Gonzalez in exchange for Freddy Garcia. Floyd was again not good in 2007, but he has been arguably the best pitcher for the White Sox through six starts this season.
Floyd is just 25 years old, so he could conceivably still have that breakout year. In parts of now five big leagues seasons, he was 10-11 with a 5.83 ERA in 210+ innings. Tonight's' performance will help those numbers, but he has a long ways to go before people will believe in him.
So no, there isn't any sane baseball fan who would take Gavin Floyd ahead of of Joe Mauer if given that choice today. Back then, it wasn't so crazy. So tonight, when Joe Mauer strolled to the batter's box with one out in the top of the 9th inning, the Twins still hitless against Floyd, I am sure that all he could think about was Twins fans wondering about that 2001 draft again! And armed with that worry and concern, Mauer launched a double to left-centerfield, just beyond the fruitless dive attempt by Nick Swisher.
Yes Twins fans, don't worry... the Twins made the right choice!!
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