Posted: Tuesday June 9, 2009 11:04AM; Updated: Tuesday June 9, 2009 1:39PM
David Sabino
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INSIDE BASEBALL
MLB Draft Rankings: How has each team fared over the past 10 years?
Story Highlights
We studied each pick for every team over 10 years (nearly 15,000 selections)
We categorized them by how far those players have advanced in their careers
The Brewers are the prime example of a good team built through the draft
We examined each pick for every team over the past 10 years, amounting to nearly 15,000 selections, in an effort to identify the teams that are the most successful at uncovering talent in the annual amateur entry draft. We then categorized them by how far those players have advanced in their careers, and used those relative degrees of success to determine each team's rank. Some of the most interesting findings are shown in the table below.
In addition to the current players selected over that time span, we also identify a number of other notable tidbits:
- The total number of picks each team made (including sandwich picks earned and lost in free agency).
- The total number of those picks that have reached the majors (whether with the team that drafted them or not).
- The best pick from players taken outside of the top two rounds.
- The player taken highest in the first round who never reached their potential.
- The best player who was drafted but never signed and then went on to stardom elsewhere.
- And finally, the player who was drafted and signed, but was then either traded, released or otherwise lost.
1Milwaukee Brewers
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
489
29
Manny Parra
(42nd round, 2001)
Mike Jones
Hunter Pence
Dana Eveland
Current Key Players: Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Manny Parra, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo (pictured)
Lowdown: The prime example of a good team built through the draft. Seven of Milwaukee's current top 10 in RBIs are homegrown, as is the ace of the rotation.
2Boston Red Sox
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
502
37
Kevin Youkilis
(8th round, 2001)
Rick Asadoorian
Pedro Alvarez
Freddy Sanchez
Current Key Players: Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon (pictured), Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester, Manny Delcarmen
Lowdown: Boston's system is dripping with young stars (Youkilis, Pedroia, Papelbon) and a seemingly never-ending supply of live arms.
3Philadelphia Phillies
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
479
29
Ryan Howard
(5th round, 2001)
Greg Golson
Joe Saunders
Michael Bourn
Current Key Players: Howard, Chase Utley (pictured), Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ
Lowdown: Few teams can match the talent the Phils have cobbled together on draft day over the last 10 years, including MVPs of the NL (Howard) and World Series (Hamels).
4Tampa Bay Rays
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
497
46
James Shields
(16th round, 2000)
Dewon Brazelton
Jacoby Ellsbury
Josh Hamilton
Current Key Players: Evan Longoria (pictured), Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, Shields, Andy Sonnanstine, David Price
Lowdown: Held the top pick in four of the last 10 drafts, including the ill-fated selection of Hamilton in '99 for which they have just the $50,000 Rule 5 fee to show.
5Los Angeles Dodgers
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
489
43
Andy LaRoche
(39th round, 2003)
Bryan Morris
Luke Hochevar
Jason Bartlett
Current Key Players: Matt Kemp (pictured), James Loney, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Jonathan Broxton, Russell Martin, Corey Wade, James McDonald
Lowdown: Just think what baseball's best team (record-wise) might look like if they had 2001 sixth-round pick Edwin Jackson and his 2.16 ERA for Detroit in the rotation.
6Minnesota Twins
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
512
37
Jason Kubel
(12th round, 2000)
B.J. Garbe
Paul Maholm
Matt Garza
Current Key Players: Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer (pictured), Kubel, Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Denard Span
Lowdown: Only two of the Twins' seven top 20 picks in the first round have panned out, but deeper selections such as Slowey (73rd overall) and Morneau (89th) more than make up for the early drought.
7Colorado Rockies
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
501
36
Brad Hawpe
(11th round, 2000)
Matt Harrington
Jesse Litsch
Ryan Shealy
Current Key Players: Troy Tulowitzki (pictured), Chris Iannetta, Ian Stewart, Dexter Fowler, Ryan Spilborghs, Garrett Atkins, Hawpe, Clint Barmes, Jeff Francis, Jeff Baker
Lowdown: A simple strategy of drafting college players from major programs built nearly the entire roster that reached the 2007 World Series.
8Washington Nationals
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
500
36
Jason Bay
(22nd round, 2000)
Clint Everts
Fred Lewis
Grady Sizemore Brandon Phillips Cliff Lee
Current Key Players: Ryan Zimmerman (pictured), John Lannan, Ross Detwiler
Lowdown: Earned a reputation as the feeder system for the rest of MLB while in Montreal, but Zimmerman is the lone bright spot during the D.C. era.
9Arizona Diamondbacks
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
506
44
Brandon Webb
(8th round, 2000)
Corey Myers
Ian Kinsler
Dan Uggla
Current Key Players: Webb, Justin Upton (pictured), Stephen Drew, Chris Snyder, Conor Jackson, Mark Reynolds, Chad Tracy
Lowdown: The Snakes' calling card is power, having drafted Carlos Quentin, Uggla, Reynolds and Upton. However, the best choice by far was Webb.
10Florida Marlins
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
501
33
Josh Willingham
(17th round, 2000)
Jeff Allison
Adam LaRoche
Josh Beckett Adrian Gonzalez
Current Key Players: Josh Johnson (pictured), Jeremy Hermida, Chris Volstad
Lowdown: Appropriately the team's prime two choices -- No. 1 in 2000 and No. 2 in 1999 -- resulted in the two best picks (Gonzalez and Beckett, respectively).
11Texas Rangers
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
498
36
Ian Kinsler
(17th round, 2003)
Chad Hawkins
Noah Lowry
Aaron Harang
Current Key Players: Kinsler (pictured), Hank Blalock, Chris Davis, C.J. Wilson, Scott Feldman, Derek Holland, Taylor Teagarden
Lowdown: Have done an excellent job on offense (Mark Teixeira, Kinsler, Blalock, Edwin Encarnacion) with some solid pitchers, though the best (John Danks, Harang) never made contributions for Texas at the big-league level.
12Pittsburgh Pirates
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
492
35
Nate McLouth
(25th round, 2000)
Bryan Bullington
Stephen Drew
Chris Young (P)
Current Key Players: Nyjer Morgan, Ryan Doumit, Paul Maholm (pictured), Zach Duke, Ian Sell, Matt Capps
Lowdown: Last year's choice of Pedro Alvarez with the second-overall pick ended Pittsburgh's streak of taking pitchers in the team's previous six drafts in which they had a top 10 pick.
13St. Louis Cardinals
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
489
35
Albert Pujols
(13th round, 1999)
Blake Williams
Kevin Correia
Dan Haren
Current Key Players: Pujols (pictured), Yadier Molina, Colby Rasmus, Chris Duncan, Skip Schumaker, Chris Perez
Lowdown: On the surface, the Cardinals look solid but unspectacular, but then you realize Pujols was the 402nd player taken in '99, which earns the Redbirds a lofty perch in itself.
14Atlanta Braves
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
519
42
Adam LaRoche
(29th round, 2000)
Josh Burrus
J.P. Howell
Adam Wainwright
Current Key Players: Brian McCann (pictured), Jeff Francoeur, Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson
Lowdown: Peach Pickers: Nearly 10 percent of the Braves' picks either lived in Georgia or played college ball there, including the trio of McCann, Francoeur and Wainwright.
15Detroit Tigers
Picks
MLB
Steal
Bust
Unsigned
Traded/Cut
471
29
Curtis Granderson
(3rd round, 2002)
Eric Munson
Anthony Reyes
Cody Ross
Current Key Players: Justin Verlander, Granderson (pictured), Rick Porcello, Clete Thomas, Jeff Larish, Ryan Raburn, Joel Zumaya
Lowdown: Verlander, Granderson and Porcello are the real deal, and two more premium picks (Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin) were used in a trade for Miguel Cabrera.