Here is the link to the Draft file.
The First Overall Pick
Team: Pittsburgh Pirates
Who they picked: OF Reggie Jackson
Who they should have picked: OF Reggie Jackson
This was during the streak that the Pirates had the first overall pick for about 9 consecutive years, and this was one of the few times they didn't blow it. Reggie was the stud of this draft, and Pittsburgh was smart and took him first overall. Unfortunately, he was traded to the Yankees before he was allowed an at bat in Pittsburgh and went on to hit nearly 500 HR for the Yanks over the next 11 seasons. You almost got one right Pittsburgh.
The Second Overall Pick
Team: Baltimore Orioles
Who They picked: SS Liu Rodriguez
This draft was loaded with shortstops (5 drafted in the first 29 picks), which worked out well for the Orioles who were in dire need of a warm body at short. Unfortunatley, they drafted the third best one with the 2nd overall pick. Lui also never had an at bat with the team that drafted him, but was shipped off to eventually play for both Chicago teams and has hit for a career .271 clip. #2 is awefully high for a middle of the pack shortstop.
Who they should have picked: 1B Tony Perez
If they insisted on drafting a SS, Ozzie Smith would have been the way to go. however, I think they would have been better drafting 1B Tony Perez. Granted they already had a young up-and-coming 1B on the team named Lou Gehrig, but it's the AL, and there is the DH rule, which would have been great for Perez considering his glove. How fiersome would the 3-4 combo of Gehrig/Perez have been? We will never know, but the 8 seasons of 30 or more HR that Perez put up lead me to believe it would have been fun to watch.
The Third Overall Pick
Team: Seattle Mariners
Who they Picked: RP Fransisco Rodriguez
Note to the newer owners...always send in a draft list. If you don't, you end up waisting your 3rd overall pick on a slightly better than average reliever. Serves him right though...you have got to send in a list.
Who they should have taken: 3B Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson has had a good long career with Montreal and Philly posting 10 seasons with 20 or more homers. Oh yeah, and he also has one of the best gloves you will ever see at third base.
The Fourth Overall Pick
Team: Cincinatti Reds
Who they picked: P Andy Van Hekken
Who they should have picked: P Andy Van Hekken
Now with 2 in a row, the Reds use the first one on junk baller Andy Van Hekken. This turned out to be a great move. Of course, they didn't keep him, but shipped him off to Montreal (and later Milwakee) where he put up 5 consecutive seasons with an ERA under 3.30. Despite being hot and cold lately, Van Hekken maintains a career 3.77 ERA.
The Fifth Overall Pick
Team: Cincinatti Reds
Who they picked: P Johan Santana
Johan wasn't a bad pick. He was also traded immediately (whats with all the trading, people?) to Pittsburgh where he pitched for nine seasons in the worst pitchers ballpark around. More on him in a sec.
Who they should have picked: SS Ozzie Smith
"The Wizard" ended up a Red eventually anyway, but they would have done good to pick him here. He is a pitchers dream, winning gold gloves with ease. He has also been very valuable at the plate and on the basepaths, where he has a .288 career AVG and almost 600 stolen bases in 12 seasons.
The Sixth Overall Pick
Team: Colorado Rockies
Who they picked: 3B Brooks Robinson
Brooks was a great pick, but in our game, he is already gone. Plus, they too traded him away before he saw the field. We should just call this draft "Trade City."
Who they should have picked: P Johan Santana
Back to Santana, after pitching 9 seasons in Pittsburgh and managing to keep his ERA near 4.00, he has moved onto LA where he has had 2 seasons in a row with an ERA below 3.00.
The Seventh Overall Pick
Team: New York Yankees
Who they picked: P Jarrod Washburn
It is time once again for the bust of the draft. Washburn was thought by some to be the best pitcher in the draft. Many were surprised that he fell this late. The Yankees were the unlucky team that thought they were getting a deal by nabbing him here. Unfortunately, Washburn has a career ERA of 4.91 and a losing record. He has had about three seasons where he was able to put it together and pitch well, but the bulk of his career has been very disappointing for a top 10 pick with high expectations.
Who they should have picked: SS Jasho Delaero
Dellaero is the 2nd best of the shortstops taken in this draft. On the seasons that he has been allowed to play full time, he has hit around .300 and stolen close to 40 bases. He is also a solid defender. Delaero is the kind of guy that plays better than his ratings. He would have been a good pickup for the Yankees.
The Eighth Overall Pick
Team: Texas Rangers
Who they picked: SS Ozzie Smith
Ozzie was a good pick, but he is gone. He played in Texas for severall years and found success, but was shiped out to cincy in a trade that brought P Oliver Perez to Texas. Perez won the AL Cy Young last season. Sorry, that was just a fun fact.
Who they should have taken: LF Roosevelt Brown
The Rangers ended up getting Brown in the 27th pick of the 2nd round, making him the steal of the draft. The truth is, he has played well enough to be a top 10 guy. In every full season that he has played, he has hit at least 23 homers, including five times over 30 and once hit 40. He hits around .275 and steals a few bases as well. The thing that turns owners off is that he is like Hellen Keller in the field. Fortunately, he plays left field, and we know you can stick any old hack out there and it doesn't make that much difference.
The Ninth Overall Pick
Team: Chicago Cubs
Who they picked: P Brendan Donnelly
Donnelly is nothing but a mediocre reliever that was drafted too high. When you think that Tony Perez, who we ranked as 2nd most valuable in this draft is still on the board, Donnelly's career 4.79 makes you cringe.
Who they should have picked: 1B Kieth Hernandez
Since Perez is long gone, we will go with the 2nd best first baseman in the draft. Hernandez has had a solid career at a position that is typically a power position. He has hit for high average and added a few homers as well. Not a bad pick up at this point as the talent thins.
The Tenth Overall Pick
Team: Boston Kansas City Royals
Who they picked: 1B Tony Perez
This may also be the steal of the draft. As we have mentioned above, Perez became a monster and has had a great long career of crushing balls and driving in rins. We will see him in the Habla HOF one day.
Who they should have picked: OF Michael Coleman
Coleman is a good all around outfielder. In 9 of his 10 seasons he has hit 20 or more HR and has a .282 career average. This is the kind of guy you want protecting the big slugger on your team.
Draft Awards
Steal of the Draft: OF Roosevelt Brown
Bust of the Draft: P Jarrod Washburn
Best Name: Hensley Meulens
'Ol Hensley likes to swing for the fences (92 PH), but rarely makes contact with anything (35 CH). His career .195 AVG shows us that the best thing he has going for him is a cool name. How much will you give me to name my first son Hensley?
Player highlight: CF Chip Sell
No, it's not a poker term, its the guy who has totaled 11 big league at bats over the last 2 seasons. In his spare time, Chip likes to frequent his local scrapbooking group where, despite the old ladies' warnings to go easy, he just can't lay off the glitter.
Draft Score (The Lower the Better)
61- They Drafted too many guys that should have been late 1st or 2nd rounders.
Fun Facts
Only 5 of 28 1st round picks remain on the team that drafted them.
From the best we can tell, this draft saw more shortstops go in the first round (4) than any other in recent memory.
Of the 3 first round picks used by the Rockies, 2 players remain on the team (Chip Sell and Kevin Haverbusch). Colorado's best pick of the draft, Brooks Robinson, never played for the Rockies.
3 comments:
At least I did okay when I picked Coleman. Probably the mistake was not resigning him and letting him go the FA route. However, Jennings production was more balanced than Coleman's, and I liked his fielding versatility better. I think I could use Mike's bat in the lineup though.
Jeff
I'll be sending out the latest draft files today and maybe trying to update a lot of pages that are sorely in need of maintaining
Jeff
A couple of 3rd rounders have put up some decent numbers for the White Sox in their career.
OF Rick Short (originally drafted by Montreal) has hit .280 with an almost .800 career OPS. His best season was his rookie (2020) when he hit .304 with 44 doubles, 29 HR's, 83 RBI's, and 14 stolen bases in full time duty.
CF Virgil Chevalier (taken by the White Sox) was the 72nd player taken and he has hit .285 with a career .352 OBP (really good for this league.) His best seasons were typically as a reserve turned starter due to an injury. He hit over .300 twice in extended duty (.318 in 2024) and only had one season under .277.
Not too shabby for a couple of third rounders. Sadly, both left for free agent dollars in the off-season. Their steady play will be missed.
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