Michael Restovich

Sent: 4/20/10
Received: 11/1/10
Time: 195 Days
Address: c/o Albuquerque Isotopes
Item Sent: 1999 Bowman
Item Received: 1999 Bowman, signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Before Joe Mauer, Michael Restovich was supposed to be Kent Hrbek's heir apparent as the Twins' resident homegrown superstar.  Drafted in the second round of the 1997 draft out of Rochester Mayo High School, the hulking 6'6" slugger profiled as a future cleanup hitter.  He appeared well on his way through his first couple minor league seasons, too.  In his first pro season in 1998, he hit .369/.489/.613 (average/on-base/slugging) while spending most of the season at Elizabethton and 11 games up at Fort Wayne.  He was named Appalachian League MVP.  In 1999 at low-A Quad Cities, he posted a .925 OPS with 19 homers and 107 RBI.  Despite posting 20+ home run seasons with regularity, he appeared in only 61 games for the Twins from 2002 through 2004 and hit only three bombs.

Out of options after spring training in 2005, he was claimed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and his new nomadic baseball life was underway.  He never played for Tampa.  They ended up waiving him, too, and he was picked up seven days later by the Colorado Rockies.   One month later, he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The next year was split between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.  2008 was spent in Japan.  He has spent the last two seasons playing for the AAA teams in the White Sox and Dodgers organizations.  Through the end of the 2010 season, he has 211 career minor league home runs, but he has not had a chance to his big league total of six since 2007.