Live at 5 p.m. Wednesday: Worst draft picks in Minnesota sports Virtual Happy Hour draft
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Jeff Day makes a good point about how you define "worst.'' I'm going with a slightly different interpretation with my pick: Timberwolves miscreant JR Rider. He wasn't a terrible player, but he was perhaps the worst human being ever drafted by a Twin Cities franchise.His rap sheet includes arrests for assault, kidnapping, drug possession and fraud. He didn't show up for an event at a sports bar at the Mall of America; when they complained, he went there and kicked the pregnant manager. When a Pioneer Press reporter asked him about a bad shooting performance, Rider said, 'I know guys who can take you out.'He was a headache for the Wolves right from the start, showing up hours late for his first practice. That nearly led to an old-guy fistfight between Wolves GM Jack McCloskey and Sid; while we were all waiting for Rider to show, Sid kept yelling, 'I told you you should have picked Calbert Cheaney!' -
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Shabazz Muhamad, 14th overall in 2013This is another one where it’s who they missed on as much as who they selected. Everybody remembers Wolves took Jonny Flynn and let Steph Curry pass. Well…Wolves moved down in 2013 after Detroit snatched Kentavious Caldwell-Pope eighth overall, so Flip Saunders went and swung a deal that sent the 9th pick to Utah for the 14th and 21th picks so the Jazz could take Trey Burke. A good bit of Wolves Nation was outraged the Wolves didn’t take Burke for themselves. Instead, they took Shabazz, whom Flip had indicated he wouldn’t take just a few days early, and passed on, wait for it…Giannis Antetokounmpo. You could make this a 2-fer because the Wolves took Shabazz and Gorgui DIeng 21st and passed on both Giannis and Rudy Gobert. The worst thing about all this: That summer when all the huge TV money rolled in and Gorgui signed a $64 million deal, Shabazz turned down the Wolves’ $40 million offer because his agent convinced him he’d get $20M a year. Bad business decision. Money dried up next year and I’m not sure he got $2M a year. -
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The Twins would have won multiple World Series if they had chosen New England up-and-comer Rocco Baldelli in the 2000 MLB draft. Instead he fell to No. 6 because of follicle issues. So the Twins grabbed righthanded pitcher Adam Johnson out of Cal State-Fullerton with the second overall pick, behind Adrian Gonzalez. Gulp. We coulda had Rocco!
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Am I up???With the No. 10 pick I am going with the Twins decision to draft Kyle Gibson at No. 22 overall in the 2009 MLB amateur draft. It's not a bad pick in terms of Gibson's production with the Twins, but it's a terrible pick because Mike Trout was selected three picks later by the Angels. What made it worse in retrospect is that the Twins had an inside track on Trout. His father Jeff Trout played in the Twins minor league system for four years and the team had scouted Mike throughout his senior year at high school. The reason they passed on him? They had a glut of young outfielders like Denard Span, Carlos Gomez and Ben Revere. BAD PICK.
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