Back in 2001, the Minnesota Twins were on the clock with the first pick of the MLB Draft. With the Twins needing a franchise cornerstone, many were surprised when the team selected hometown prep star Joe Mauer over Mark Prior.
At the time, Prior had gained national notoriety as a can’t miss pitching prospect while playing at the University of Southern California and Mauer was about to make a major decision between pursuing a pro baseball career and playing football at Florida State.
While it was an intriguing storyline to see which way the Twins and Mauer would go, it didn’t get too much conversation on a national level.