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Draft  | State Preview  | 5/20/2013

MLB Draft Preview: Minnesota

Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Perfect Game
In the weeks leading up to the draft, Perfect Game will be providing a detailed overview of each state in the U.S., including the District of Columbia, as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. These overviews will list the state's strengths, weaknesses and the players with the best tools, as well as providing scouting reports on all Group 1 and 2 players as ranked in Perfect Game's state-by-state scouting lists.  Please visit this page for all of the links to Perfect Game's 2013 Draft Preview content.

Minnesota State-by-State List

While it was a long winter across the nation, Mother Nature was particularly cruel to Minnesota this spring, dropping as much as 18 inches of snow on parts of the state in mid- to late-April, the most recent of several double-digit inch snowfalls.  While the Golden Gophers played most of their home schedule inside the comforts of the Metrodome in March, they had several games, and one complete series, cancelled in April due to bad weather when their Big Ten conference slate took their games back outside.  Even high school games and tournaments that were initially scheduled to be played inside the Metrodome were cancelled when inclement weather created snow days for local schools, canceling all other extracurricular activities.

It also was cruel to its top prospect, PG All-American MVP outfielder Ryan Boldt, who injured his right knee during his team's first game of the season (already pushed back several weeks due to the poor weather) which led to surgery to clear out debris.  The good news is that there was no ligament damage.  The bad news is that Boldt won't take the field again until after the draft.

Due to Boldt's situation, Golden Gophers ace left-hander Tom Windle may become the first player drafted from Minnesota.  Windle entered the year as a potential first-round pick, and has pitched as advertised, solidifying his draft value as a near-lock selection among the top 30-50 picks.

 
STRENGTH: High school talent, college pitching
WEAKNESS: College position prospects
OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 5

BEST COLLEGE TEAM: Minnesota
BEST JUNIOR-COLLEGE TEAM: Century College
BEST HIGH SCHOOL TEAM: Hill-Murray School
BEST OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, Minnesota Connection: Chris Anderson, rhp, Jacksonville University (Centennial High School)
Top 2014 Prospect: Ben Meyer, rhp, Minnesota
Top 2015 Prospect: Ty Buck, 3b/rhp, Red Wing High School

HIGHEST DRAFT PICKS

Draft History: Joe Mauer, c, Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul (2001, Twins/1st round, 1st pick)
 2008 Draft: Brad Hand, lhp, Chaska HS (Marlins/2nd round)
2009 Draft: Derek McCallum, 2b, University of Minnesota (Twins/4th round)
2010 Draft: Mike Kvasnicka, c/3b, University of Minnesota (Astros/1st round, 33rd pick)
2011 Draft: Jordan Smith, of, St. Cloud State University (Indians/9th round)
2012 Draft: Mitchell Brown, rhp, Century High School (Indians/2nd round)

2012 DRAFT OVERVIEW

College Players Drafted/Signed: 3/2
Junior College Players Drafted/Signed: None
High School Players Drafted/Signed: 1/1

TOP PROSPECTS - GROUPS 1 and 2

GROUP 1 (rounds 1-3)

1. RYAN BOLDT, of, Red Wing HS
 Boldt entered the spring with a chance of becoming the highest drafted player out of Minnesota since Joe Mauer went No. 1 overall back in 2001. He is a true five-tool prospect, with an exciting blend of speed, power and arm strength. He posted a 6.46 time in the 60-yard dash at the 2012 PG National Showcase, where he also threw 89 mph from the outfield. Boldt has a crisp, clean left-handed swing that he uses to regularly put on hitting clinics during BP.  He is also short to the ball, and he uses that swing to lace line drives to all parts of the park, and also has enough strength to pull balls over the right field fence. With a keen eye at the plate, his tools and overall skill-set make him an ideal fit at the top of the lineup, with enough juice in his bat to hit in the three-hole or even cleanup spot. Boldt was named the MVP of the 2012 Perfect Game All-American Classic, going 2-for-3 with a triple, and helped propel Team USA to a Gold Medal victory at the XXV IBAF 18U Baseball World Championship held in Seoul, Korea last September. Unfortunately Boldt sustained a knee injury during his team's first game this spring, a season that was already pushed back due to the poor winter and spring weather in the Upper Midwest. He had surgery in early May to clean up his knee in which no structural ligament damage was found. Boldt is expected to be out 6-8 weeks, which may give him a handful of weeks to show what he can do playing for the nearby Rochester Honkers of the Northwoods League prior to the mid-July signing deadline. Read more about Boldt in David Rawnsley's Draft Focus feature.


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