This wonderful nugget comes from mlbtraderumors.com and was sent my way by Bill Ward, who handles the wine beat (and therefore is very popular at parties) for the Star Tribune.

From Page 111 of “Becoming Manny”: (Twins scout Herb) Stein pushed the Twins to take Manny with their third overall pick (in the 1991 amateur draft).  But he was rebuffed by his bosses - a source of bitterness even today.  The Twins chose Stanford first baseman David McCarty, who wound up hitting 36 career home runs and batting .242 in eleven major league seasons of part-time duty.

Cleveland took Manny with the 13th pick, which means other teams made the same mistake. But, according to the book, the scout who followed Ramirez for Cleveland, said the Twins were the only team that considered him to be higher than a fifth-round pick.

Stein, by the way, was the scout who signed Rod Carew and Frank Viola for the Twins.

The fun we could have had.

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