2005: Bret Boone

Originally posted 7/12/07

July 11, 2005

The Twins drafted a young, third-generation prospect named Bret Boone in the 1987 draft. Boone did not sign with the Twins, instead choosing to play college ball at USC. He was eventually drafted by the Mariners in the 1990 draft, and ultimately signed with them.

Minnesota had another crack at Boone in 2005. By that time he was a veteran, and was in the midst of his 14th major league season. After a slow start to his career, Boone had picked things up, quickly becoming a rare power threat from the second base position. His best season came in 2001 with the Mariners, when he put up some great numbers to help the Mariners to a 116-win season.

By 2005 he was 36-years old and his numbers in Seattle for the first half seemed to show it. Boone was hitting .231/.299/.385 when he was traded to the Twins in exchange for a conditional player to be named. The move seemed to provide some guarded excitement in Minnesota, where Luis Rivas was the starting second baseman. The reality was, it was worth a shot. The Twins were taking a chance to get some right-handed power in the lineup. If it didn’t work out, the Twins would owe Seattle nothing.

As it turned out, that is exactly what happened. Boone hit .170/.241/.170 in 14 games as a Twin. He was released by the Twins before the month of July was over. The experiment also turned out to be the last chance for Boone, who has not played in the majors since.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• The Bret Boone Experiment Begins…and Ends