Bill Swift was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 1983, but he did not sign.
Right-hander Albert Lee Stange pitched for the Twins from 1961-1964. He was born in Chicago, attended Proviso Township High School in Maywood, Illinois and then attended Drake University. While in high school, he was on the football team with Ray Nitschke. He was also an excellent bowler, and later was offered a sponsorship to go on the professional bowlers' tour. Stange was small for a pitcher, standing at 5' 9". He was signed by the Washington Senators as a free agent in 1957. Stange twice pitched over 200 innings in a minor league season; his high was 251 in 1960 at Class B Wilson, where he won 20 games. He opened the 1961 season with the Twins and pitched well in two games of mopup relief, but then spent the season with AAA Syracuse, returning to Minnesota in September. The next year, with the exception of a brief stint at AAA in 1963, he was in the majors to stay. Stange was used mostly as a relief in 1962, but then became a "swing man", a role he filled most of his career. His best year as a Twin was 1962, when he went 12-5 in 32 appearances, 20 of them starts, with an ERA of 2.62 and an ERA+ of 140. In June of 1964, the Twins traded Stange and George Banks to Cleveland for Mudcat Grant. He pitched fairly well for Cleveland for two years, and then was traded to Boston. With the Red Sox, he was used more as a reliever, although he still made some starts. He continued to pitch well through 1969. In 1970, however, he got off to a poor start, was traded to the White Sox, continued to pitch poorly, and was released. As a Twin, Lee Stange was 20-14 with a 3.61 ERA in 97 games, 37 of them starts. He had an ERA+ of 105. After his playing career, Stange became a pitching coach in both the majors and the minors, serving as the Twins' pitching coach in 1975. Lee Stange was the pitching coach for the Florida Tech Panthers in Melbourne, Florida for several years. He passed away on September 21, 2018.
Catcher Thomas Andrew Nieto played for the Twins in 1987 and 1988. He was born in Downey, California and attended Oral Roberts University. He was drafted by St. Louis it the third round in 1981. He had been drafted twice previously: by Minnesota in the 31st round in June 1979, and by Pittsburgh in the third round of the secondary phase in January 1980. Nieto appears to have been only a part-time catcher even in the minors, as he only played 100 games or got 300 at-bats in a minor-league season once. He made his major league debut for the Cardinals in May of 1984, and was their reserve catcher the rest of the season. The following year, 1985, he set his career highs in games and at-bats, with 95 and 288, respectively. That was his only full season in the majors. Just prior to the 1986 season, Nieto was traded to Montreal. After one season there, he was traded to the Twins with Jeff Reardon for Al Cardwood, Neal Heaton, Yorkis Perez, and Jeff Reed. Nieto did nothing particularly remarkable for the Twins, and spent about half his time as a Twin in AAA Portland. After the 1988 season, the Twins traded him to Philadelphia with Eric Bullock and Tom Herr for Shane Rawley and cash. He split two seasons between the majors and AAA for the Phillies, spent 1991 with the Cardinals' AAA team, and then ended his playing career. As a Twin, Tom Nieto played 65 games and had 165 at-bats. His numbers were .152/.213/.224, with 1 home run and 12 runs batted in. He turned to managing and coaching after his playing career ended. Nieto has managed in the Cardinals and Yankees organization, and most recently has been with the Twins. He managed AA New Britain in 2009 and was promoted to manager of AAA Rochester from 2010-2011. After his teams had consecutive poor seasons, however, Nieto was let go at the end of the 2011 campaign. He was the manager of the GCL Yankees from 2012-2015 and was the manager of the Orem Owlz in the Angels organization in 2017. He is a member of the Orel Roberts University Hall of Fame. No information about what he has done since 2017 was readily available.
Right-hander Brad William Radke played for the Twins from 1995-2006. He was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, went to high school in Tampa, was drafted by the Twins in the 8th round in 1991, and never played with another organization. He posted decent numbers throughout his minor league career, but caught people's attention in 1994, when he was 12-9 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP for AA Nashville. He started 1995 with the Twins and never returned to the minors, with the exception of a couple of rehab stints. Radke was prone to the gopher ball, especially early in his career, when he twice led the league in home runs allowed. He was an extremely durable pitcher for most of his career, making over thirty starts and pitching over 200 innings six years in a row and nine out of ten. He finished ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1995, finished third in the Cy Young voting in 1997 (when he won twenty games for the only time), and made the all-star team in 1998. A control pitcher, Radke led the league in fewest walks per nine innings in 2001 and was in the top six every year of his career. For his career, Brad Radke was 148-139 with a 4.22 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a 112 ERA+. Brad Radke was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2009. His son, Kasey, pitched for the University of Tampa At last report, Brad Radke was living in the Tampa area.
Right-hander Steven Kyle Waldrop appeared in seven games for the Twins at the end of 2011. Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, he was drafted by Minnesota in the first round in 2004. He was initially a starter and did all right in that role, although he seemed to struggle when first promoted to a higher level. He missed all of 2008 due to a shoulder injury, and when he came back in 2009, he was a relief pitcher, a role in which he has done pretty well. He reached AAA in 2010 and has been there for two seasons, going 10-8, 3.19, 1.27 WHIP with 104 strikeouts in 166.2 innings (115 appearances). He got a September call-up in 2011, going 1-0, 5.73, 1.46 WHIP in 11 innings (7 appearances). In 2012, he spent most of the year in Rochester but came up to Minnesota in late August, going 0-1, 2.53, but with a 1.55 WHIP. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Pittsburgh for 2013, but missed most of the season with injuries. He became a free agent after the season and did not sign with anyone, ending his playing career. After baseball, Kyle Waldrop graduated with a business degree at Cal State-Northridge. At last report, he was living in Fort Myers, Florida and was the Florida Regional Sales Manager for Sprinturf, a type of artificial turf for athletic fields.
Left-hander Jason McDonald Wheeler appeared in two games for the Twins in 2017. Born and raised in Torrance, California, he attended Loyola Marymount and was drafted by Minnesota in the eighth round in 2011. He had a couple of unremarkable years in the minors but seemed to put things together in 2014, going 11-9, 2.67, 1.19 WHIP in a season split between Fort Myers and New Britain (with one start in Rochester). He struggled when promoted to AAA in 2015 but did quite well there in 2016, going 11-6, 3.53, 1.20 WHIP. In 2017, he was 4-1, 4.50 in Rochester and was promoted to the Twins for a few days in late May, presumably when the Twins needed a fresh arm for the bullpen. He appeared in two games and allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits in three innings, giving him a mark of 0-0, 9.00, 3.33 WHIP. He was sold to the Dodgers a few days later and was traded to Baltimore a month after that. He did well enough in AAA for the Orioles, but he became a free agent and signed to play in Korea in 2018. He did not do well there and was released by the Hanwha Eagles in mid-July. At last report, Jason Wheeler was a tax attorney for Holland & Knight in Waltham, Massachusetts. His brother, infielder Ryan Wheeler, played for the Twins in AAA in 2015 and played in 109 major league games from 2012-2014.
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