Mike Radcliff

Michael Radcliff

• School University of Missouri

• Born 1956
• Died February 3, 2023 in Overland Park, KS USA

Biographical Information

Mike Radcliff began his scouting career in 1983 and was with the Minnesota Twins from 1987 until his passing in 2023. He was the team's Scouting Director from 1994 to 2007 before being promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel, a job he still had when he died from pancreatic cancer at age 66. He is the brother of scout Dan Radcliff. Before being hired by the Twins, he worked for the Major League Scouting Bureau starting in 1983.

He was the one who made the fateful decision in the 2001 amateur draft to select local boy Joe Mauer with the first overall pick - ahead of consensus #1 favorite Mark Prior. This was considered a puzzling choice at the time, but Radcliff's decision was vindicated when Mauer developed into a star player and the face of the Twins franchise for years.

He was named to the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame in 2014. He was also the 2016 recipient of the George Genovese Lifetime Achievement Award in Scouting.

Further Reading

• Do-Hyoung Park: "Twins scouting legend Mike Radcliff dies at 66", mlb.com, February 4, 2023. [1]