A Dozen Bad Draft Decisions

Baseball's draft is going to be televised for the first time ever this Thursday and many people are happy about that. It's a good way for the league to introduce a new crop of prospects to the general public, it gives people a reason to watch the College World Series since they might actually know which guys are headed to their favorite club and fantasy players can begin planning for next year's reserve drafts. There are also more than a few people who should be happy that drafts weren't on TV in the past because it helped keep some massive miscalculations from the prying eyes of the masses. Below you'll find 12 of these decisions, a list that by no means exhausts the litany of poor draft-day calls. It's more like the tip of the iceberg, a handful of times when baseball executives opted for players that prolonged misery or made potential dynasties nothing but a pipe dream. We look forward to hearing about which picks by your favorite teams still make your head spin.

1965 – New York Mets select Steve Chilcott first overall.

Baseball is unique among American sports because being a high draft choice has little bearing on your likelihood of playing in the major leagues. There haven’t been many first-rounders in the NFL or NBA who finished their careers without playing a game in the league. Every generation gets its Frederic Weis but even the suicidal Dimitrius Underwood found his sanity long enough to play 19 NFL games. In baseball, though, the draft rolls are littered with first rounders that never even had a cup of coffee yet only two first overall picks have been so unlucky. The Mets got one of them in Chilcott in 1965, passing up a guy named Reginald Martinez Jackson who went second to the A’s. He played six undistinguished minor league seasons while Jackson’s in Cooperstown. The Miracle Mets were a few years off but the miracles may have kept coming and the baseball landscape of New York City might look very different if the Mets had opted for Jackson.

1973 – Texas Rangers select David Clyde first overall.

Desperate to make some headway in football-mad Texas, Rangers owner Bob Short opted for Clyde with the first pick in the 1973 draft. A Houston high school phenom who gave up three earned runs in 148 innings of his senior season Clyde generated a lot of publicity for the attention-starved Rangers. In order to maximize his return, however, Short rushed Clyde to the big leagues and he made his debut on June 27, 1973, the same month he pitched in the state finals for Westminster High and without one inning in the minor leagues. He got a win in five innings of work and it looked like it might be the first chapter of a legendary story. Reality soon intervened, though, and Clyde struggled, got hurt and, ultimately, appeared in just 38 games after his 20th birthday. The guys who went third and fourth that year, on the other hand, were named Robin Yount and Dave Winfield. They had 6252 hits between them over 42 seasons in the Show.

1978 – Seattle Mariners select Tito Nanni, San Francisco Giants select Bob Cummings, Milwaukee Brewers select Nick Hernandez, Montreal Expos select Glenn Franklin, Cleveland Indians select Phil Lansford and Houston Astros select Rod Boxberger sixth through eleventh overall.

Combined big league games of the six players listed above – zero. Combined World Series won by the teams selecting the players above – zero. The player selected at 12, on the other hand, won a NL MVP, an ALCS MVP, won two World Series rings, had more than 200 homers and 200 stolen bases, played 1635 big league games and hit one of the most memorable home runs in the history of baseball. Hell, even if they passed on Kirk Gibson you’d think one of those teams would have seen the value in Tom Brunansky.

1982 – Minnesota Twins select Bryan Oelkers fourth overall.

Unlike some of the other guys on this list Oelkers actually made it to the majors. He didn’t pitch well once he got there, 3-8 with a 6.01 ERA in his two seasons spent with other people carrying his bags, but how many of you can say that you pitched in the big leagues? What’s that you say fifth overall pick in the 1982 draft Dwight Gooden? You won the Rookie of the Year award, a Cy Young, pitched a no-hitter and played for three World Champions? At least Oelkers avoided jail and drug rehab. As far as we know, anyway.

1983 – Minnesota Twins select Tim Belcher first overall and Bill Swift 29th overall.

The biggest problem with this pick is that the Twins couldn’t sign Belcher after the draft. He went on to get picked first overall in the old January draft by the Yankees in 1984. They did sign him and eventually dealt him to the Dodgers where he began a serviceable career as a rotation mainstay. The Twins then picked Swift in the second round but failed to sign him as well. He also became a decent pitcher for several major league clubs. Sandwiched between the two Twin miscues was the 19th overall pick by Boston, a guy by the name of Roger Clemens. And yes, that means that it’s conceivable that the Minnesota rotation of the mid-80’s could have included both Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens, not to mention Frank Viola.

1984 – San Francisco Giants select Alan Cockrell eighth overall.

There’s a certain Crash Davis-esque beauty to Alan Cockrell’s career. He was picked by Toronto in the 1981 draft but chose to go to the University of Tennessee as a two-sport star. He still ranks eighth all-time on the Vols’ passing yardage list, won a Citrus Bowl and parlayed his collegiate career into a lofty draft position with San Francisco. That’s where his life stopped being charmed, though. He spent 12 years in the minors before appearing in nine games with the 1996 Colorado Rockies, collecting his first big-league hit off of Tom Glavine, a future Hall of Famer. He’s now the hitting coach for the Rocks and has a wife and four children we’re sure he loves very much. The Giants still should have taken Mark McGwire, who went ninth, though.

1984 – Pittsburgh Pirates select Kevin Andersh 15th overall, New York Yankees select Jeff Pries 22nd overall, Los Angeles Dodgers select Dennis Livingston 23rd overall and Seattle Mariners select Mike Christ 30th overall.

History doesn’t record how quickly the Chicago Cubs made their 31st pick in June 1984 nor is there a record of how excited the team’s brass was when they nabbed Greg Maddux with that pick. It does, however, tell us that he and the four pitchers listed above have combined for 337 wins and four Cy Young awards in their careers. All of them belong to Maddux, of course, as does every inning pitched and out record for the quintet. The Mariners are the only team with an excuse for their pick as Christ’s bloodlines couldn’t have been any stronger.

1985 – Chicago White Sox select Kurt Brown fifth overall.

The 1985 draft is one of the brightest moments for baseball’s scouting community. Six of the first eight players picked had played a full season in the majors by the time the 1987 season kicked off and one of the few members of both the 3,000 hit and 500 home run clubs, Rafael Palmeiro, was picked up with the 22nd selection. Brown’s selection gave no cause for back-slapping, however. He didn’t make it to the big leagues in ’86. Or ’87, ’88, ’89 or ever. Maybe he should have taken some of what the sixth pick, Barry Bonds, used to help fuel his career.

1987 – Detroit Tigers select Bill Henderson and Steve Pegues 20th and 21st overall.

The Tigers had a third first-round pick in 1987 and took Travis Fryman with the 30th and final pick of the round. It’s a good thing they did since they got nothing from Henderson or Pegues. Fryman had a good career with Detroit, making four All-Star teams and hitting 149 home runs. Imagine if they’d teamed him with Craig Biggio, the 22nd pick that year? It may not have been 22 years between World Series appearances in the Motor City.

1989 – Baltimore Orioles select Ben McDonald, Atlanta Braves select Tyler Houston, Seattle Mariners select Roger Salkeld, Philadelphia Phillies select Jeff Jackson, Texas Rangers select Donald Harris and St. Louis Cardinals select Paul Coleman first through sixth overall.

A six-pack for the ages kicked off the 1989 selection process. McDonald could never stay healthy long enough for Baltimore to cash in on his prodigious skills. Houston became a valuable reserve after leaving the Braves. Salkeld and Harris made cameo appearances in the major leagues. Jackson and Coleman couldn’t even manage that limited taste of success. All in all the players put a big hurting on the long-term growth of the teams that picked them. It could have been different if they opted for the Big Hurt instead.

1991 – Atlanta Braves select Mike Kelly second overall, Kansas City Royals select Joe Vitiello seventh overall, Baltimore Orioles select Mark Smith ninth overall and Chicago Cubs select Doug Glanville 12th overall.

Several teams were obviously looking for help in the outfield in the early part of the 1991 draft. Manny Ramirez played third base in high school so if you want to give them a pass for taking these four bums instead go right ahead. Just remember that Mickey Mantle played shortstop in high school when you do.

1994 – Pittsburgh Pirates select Mark Farris 11th overall.

Mark Farris was an all-district quarterback for Angleton High School in Texas and was district MVP in 1993. He was offered a scholarship by Texas A&M to be their signal caller but chose to sign with the Pirates instead. His baseball career ended in 1998 and he then went to College Station where he had a fabulous 2000 season, throwing for 2,500 yards and winning the Independence Bowl. Nomar Garciaparra, #12 in 1994, has played in six All-Star games and the Pirates have done nothing but suck.

Comments

[Joseph P.]

1991 - Yanks take Brien Taylor with Bronx product Manny Ramirez on the board. Well, everyone was on the board, since it was the first pick of the goddamn draft.

Worst.Pick.Ever.

[Blaine D.]

Yeah, actually Mark LOST the Independence Bowl that year. I should know, I froze my ass off watching that game. Dammit.

[Uwe]

No one caused a bigger stir in the baseball card world than Ben freakin' McDonald. Along with that whole 1989 crew. And then Griffey Jr. decided to overshadow them all.

[Jim M]

I played in high school with Tito Nanni, he was a monster...but could not adjust to a curve.

[Howard B.]

The David Clyde story is a tragedy because the kid had greaty stuff. A couple or three years working his way up the minors and he might have been a quality hurler for many years. It's kind of sad that all these many years later the Rangers still have no pitching.

As for Steve Chilcott, every time I hear that name I have to reach for the bicarbonate of soda. Will you excuse me?

[SK]

1971 - Danny Goodwin, Chicago White Sox. Drafted #1, didn't sign. Good thing because...

1975 - Danny Goodwin, Anaheim Angels, drafted #1, did sign. Managed 13 HRs in 636 undistinguished major league at-bats.

http://www.pjstar.com/php/index.php?/wessler/the_legend_of_danny_goodwin/

[hanoverian]

Padres select Mark Phillips with ninth overall pick in 2000 draft. Phillips heads to the Bahamas with his girlfriend before reporting to his short-season A team, signaling what the future would hold for the kid. He had a few OK runs, was traded to the Yankees, flopped for them and is now on probation for a possession charge and working as a roofer. He was even voted off a local sandlot team because his confidence was so horrendous.

[Doberman On The Diamond]

Todd Van Poppel sticks out in my mind. Maybe the most hyped pitcher outside of Brien Taylor, and he just wasn't very good. Bryan Bullington was a waste for the Bucs a few years ago.

[matt]

no way - worst pick ever: dodgers, bill bene, sixth pick overall in 1988. not only was he lousy in the minors after he was drafted, bu the was lousy in COLLEGE - in three years at cal state - los angeles, he only pitched 147 innings, with 108 strikeouts and 133 walks, with a 5.62 ERA.

the dodgers didn't miss out on much - 1988 was one of the worst drafts ever in terms of future stars - but honestly: who in their right mind would pick ANYONE with that kind of a resume? seriously.

[Jason]

You forgot when the Phillies took Pat Burrell first overall. Pretty poor pick there.

(even though he did take that rat Billy Wagner deep tonight for his first blown save of the season)

[Jordan]

yeah like pat burrel is bad..... what are you thinking