The 2011 Major League Baseball Draft will get underway tonight, and because of its structure and because of the way that baseball generally works, it doesn't generate nearly as much hoopla as the NFL, NBA, or even the NHL Drafts do.
One reason for this is that the MLB Draft, as you can tell, is held during the season when there is a lot of baseball action already going on. The drafts for the other three sports take place during the off-season, and are often the focal point of a sport during that period of time. In addition, high school and college baseball are not nearly as popular as college football, college basketball, or even college hockey, which means that there isn't quite as much hype following a lot of the players that will be drafted.
Also, when it comes to sports like the NFL and the NBA, the people that are drafted are expected to come in and immediately contribute. By and large, that is not the case with the Major League Baseball draft, as players will be sent to the minor leagues to continue to develop until such time as they get called up to the majors and finally contribute to the big club.
This is not to say that the Major League Baseball Draft isn't important, however. Far from it. . .it is what allows teams like the Twins to build a foundation for the future, and they have done so quite well over the years, particularly when they were keeping their payroll low. Now that the team has moved to a new stadium and can spend a bit more freely, it is still important to attempt to develop stars from within, and that is what the Twins will be attempting to do with this draft.
This will be your home for everything relating to the Minnesota Twins' 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, and we hope that you will continue to visit it as the draft progresses over the course of this week.