Unlike many small-market teams, the Minnesota Twins aren’t afraid to draft high school players early. Despite the uncertainty and signability risk high schoolers present, Mike Radcliff and his elite scouting team drafted prep stars with four of their first five picks in the 2002 Amateur Draft.

The first round pick has panned out very nicely for the Twins, while the last high school player selected (Adam Lind) didn’t sign. (The other two prep picks – Mark Sauls and Alex Merrick – didn’t exactly pan out.) All in all, though, the Twins found several top talents in the 2002 MLB Draft.

Here is a breakdown of some of the notable picks.

1st Round (20th overall) – Denard Span, OF

(Note – Alex Halsted has an excellent article on Denard Span in the Twins’ 2010 Annual. If you haven’t already, be sure to purchase this publication. It’s well worth the read.)

As soon as Span was drafted, he was given the title of “Torii Hunter’s Replacement.” Years later, this is coming to fruition. Hunter has packed his bags and left for greener pastures (and heftier paychecks) and Span will be the Opening Day center fielder in 2010.

Span signed late in 2002, and started his professional career as a 19-year old in the Appy League in 2003. Getting himself adjusted to wood bats, Span hit .271/.355/.319 in just over 200 at-bats. 2004 was spent between the GCL and Quad Cities, where Span combined to hit .273/.370/.320. He was getting on base at a good clip but hadn’t shown any form of power.

At 21 years of age, Span spent 2004 between Fort Myers and New Britain. Surprisingly, Span enjoyed his greatest offensive production while in the Florida State League, which usually features elite pitching. In 2004 Span hit a combined .307/.377/.369.

The entire 2006 season was spent with the Double-A Rock Cats, and Span managed to break a career high on home runs per season, with two. The next two years were spent with Rochester, and included a heart-wrenching Spring Training snub that almost made Span quit baseball.

Span was given his first regular at-bats in the major leagues in 2008, where he finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .294/.387/.432 with six home runs. Last year was Span’s first full season in the major-leagues, and he hit a very impressive .311/.392/.415 with eight long balls, and 23 stolen bases.

About to turn 26, Span is an above-average offensive specimen who provides average defense in the outfield. In 2010, he will be cast as the Opening Day center fielder for the Minnesota Twins, and we are all looking forward to seeing how his second full season in the Bigs turns out.

2nd Round (61st overall) – Jesse Crain, RHP

Crain signed sooner than Span after he was drafted, and threw some relief appearances for both the Elizabethton Twins and Quad Cities River Bandits in 2002. He looked very impressive, posting a sub-1.00 ERA and a sub-0.800 WHIP while striking out 9.4 per nine innings of pitching. Crain’s first year had “small sample size” written all over it, but the Twins were confident in their young righty.

Displaying his excellent fastball and deadly slider, Crain spent 2003 advancing between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Over the course of the season Crain once again managed to post a 1.93 ERA with a very high 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Even though Crain had garnered experience at the University of Houston, some felt he was being rushed through the system and not being allowed enough time to develop. It’s hard to slowly advance a prospect, though, when he is absolutely dominating every level of competition, and the Twins only managed to keep Crain in Triple-A until August of 2004, when he made his major-league debut.

Crain averaged a 2.93 ERA from 2004 through 2006, but his strikeout total was not nearly as good as it was in the minor leagues. The 24-year old was getting the job done, though, so the Twins kept giving him a regular workload.

In 2007, Crain had surgery on a torn rotator cuff and labrum in the middle of May and missed the rest of the season. He returned in 2008, where he was forced to man the set-up role when Pat Neshek went down with an injury. He posted a 3.59 ERA while striking out 7.2 batters per nine innings, the highest total of his major-league career.

Last year left much to be desired, and many Twins fans gave up on Crain. He put up an ERA of 4.70, but managed to strike out 7.5 batters per nine innings. His WHIP was at a career-worst, though, (the nickname “Crain-Wreck” was coined at this time) and he spent a significant amount of time in Rochester to try to get back on track.

After 12 games with the Red Wings, Crain returned to the Twins and put up a 2.20 ERA during the last two months of the season. Minnesota awarded him with a $2 million contract for the 2010 season. After his performance to end the 2009 season, Crain certainly deserves another chance, but he will have a very short leash.

6th Round (182nd overall) – Pat Neshek, LHP

A hometown boy, Neshek attended high school in Brooklyn Parks, but went to college in Butler. After signing in 2002, Neshek joined Crain in the Elizabethon bullpen. He struck out 13.5 batters per nine innings, the second highest total in the league behind Honeudis Pereyra.

Neshek made fairly steady progress through the organization, with one premature promotion to Double-A in 2003. The Twins corrected this by having Neshek start 2004 in Fort Myers, and then advancing once again to the Rock Cats, where he posted an ERA of 3.82 the second time around.

Like most side-armers, Neshek was very vulnerable to left-handed bats, which could have been a significant part of the reason he spent so much time in New Britain. In 2005 and 2006, Neshek had a FIP of 4.64 against left-handed batters, while a 1.98 FIP against right-handers. (This struggle continues to haunt Neshek, who has combined for a 5.02 FIP against left-handed batters in his major league career, but a 2.52 FIP against right-handers.)

The 24-year old spent his entire 2005 season in New Britain, where he finally showed the Twins the level of dominance they wanted to see, putting up an ERA of 2.19 while pushing his strikeout per nine total back over 10. Neshek spent the first part of 2006 in Triple-A, where he put up a 1.95 ERA while striking out 13 per nine innings. There was no way the Twins could keep him down on the farm for much longer, and they called him up to make his major-league debut in early July.

During his first season in the major leagues, Neshek boasted a 2.19 ERA, a 0.784 WHIP, and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings. His ERA+ was 204 through the 37 innings he threw.

Neshek spent the entire 2007 season with the Twins, where he had an ERA of 2.94 and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He was narrowly missed an All-Star appearance. Early in the 2008 season it was discovered that Neshek had a torn UCL and required Tommy John surgery. He missed all of last season, but appears to be ready for the start of the 2010 campaign.

Other notable picks:
5th Round (152nd overall) – Clete Thomas, OF – (Did not sign)
8th Round (242nd overall) – Adam Lind, 1B – (Did not sign)