New Arrival: Dustin Mohr, of, Minnesota Twins

Dustan Mohr was drafted out of the University of Alabama in the 9th round of the 1997 draft by the Cleveland Indians. He only spent three seasons in the organization, showing decent pop and not much else. He progressed as high as AA and was released by the Tribe in early 2000. He was quickly signed by the Twins and spent all of 2000 in High-A.

Mohr would have a breakout season in 2001 while in AA, hitting .336/.395/.566 with 24 HR and leading the Twins organization in several offensive categories. His breakout was not overlooked by the front office brass, and he was rewarded with a call-up to the big league club to end the season. I remember he was a bit of a news story during his breakout seasons of the 2001-2002 season, especially for Indians fans were like “…wait, wasn’t he in our system at one point?”.

Mohr was never able to stick as a regular, but he was a very capable 4th outfielder. He spent all of 2002 in Minnesota and hit .269/.325/.433 with 12 HR–good for #8 in ROY voting. Mohr spent all of 2003 in the big leagues, then was traded to the Giants for the 2004 season. From 2005 to 2008 he bounced between AAA and the majors with several clubs before retiring following the 2008 season.

I got this autograph from the Smalling collection. Cost a little more than it should, but it’s a bold ballpoint pen autograph so I can’t complain too much.