MLB Draft: Team-by-team best 1st round picks in the last decade – CBSSports.com
Monday night, we’ll witness the first round of the 50-round MLB draft. In advance of that, let’s take a quick and fun look back at the last decade — specifically the first round. We’ll go team-by-team and note the best first-round pick from 2005-14. It shouldn’t have to be said, but this is an extremely subjective exercise and we’ll surely disagree on a few. I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, I’m pretty sure the Internet would melt if there was ever something written about sports where 100 percent of the commenters just said they agreed.
Anyway, onward we march, alphabetically by team name. Important note: I’m not including sandwich picks, just the 1-30 first round.
Best first-round pick from 2005-14
Angels: Mike Trout, 25th, 2009
Yes, 24 players were taken before the current best player in the world. Some of the more painful picks ahead of Trout: Donavan Tate (third to Padres), Matt Hobgood (fifth to Orioles), Matt Purke (14th to Rangers), Bobby Borchering (16th to D-Backs — who did take A.J. Pollock with the next pick, at least), Chad James (18th to Marlins), Jiovanni Mier (21st to Astros) and Jared Mitchell (23rd to White Sox). It’s also worth mention that even the Angels passed on Trout once, taking Randall Grichuk 24th overall.
This one wasn’t even close, either, as the honorable mentions would be Grichuk, Hank Conger, Tyler Skaggs and C.J. Cron.
Astros: George Springer, 11th, 2011
I was tempted to go straight to Carlos Correa in light of his promotion, but the fact of the matter is we still haven’t seen him in the bigs and he was also the first overall pick. It’s tougher to nail the 11th, but that’s what it appears the Astros did with Springer.
Athletics: Sonny Gray, 18th, 2011
We could end up with Addison Russell (11th in 2012) here in a few years, but for now it’s Gray in an easy pick. Next would be Cliff Pennington, which should prove how easy this one was.
Blue Jays: Ricky Romero, 6th, 2005
This selection likely won’t last long, because we have Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard to choose from. Even if all three don’t stick, at least one of the three will surely pan out. The Romero pick here might draw a collective scoff, but in his first three seasons he was 42-29 with a 3.60 ERA and finished 10th in Cy Young voting as an All-Star in 2011. Needless to say, the resumes of the above trio of promising young starters don’t have anything like that … yet?
Braves: Jason Heyward, 14th, 2007
After the immense hype around his arrival in 2010, it could be argued that Heyward has been relatively disappointing since, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s been a very good major-league player for six seasons. Getting him at 14 was a superb pick.
Brewers: Ryan Braun, 5th, 2005
Braun’s best competition here was Brett Lawrie (16th in 2008), but a Rookie of the Year and three top-three MVP finishes — including winning the 2011 MVP — say this isn’t close.
Cardinals: Michael Wacha, 19th, 2012
There was good competition here, especially from Shelby Miller and Kolten Wong. For now, though, Wacha is the pick. It was just one season later that he was starting a World Series game.
Cubs: Kris Bryant, 2nd, 2013
He’s not even been up in two months and he’s already the pick. That’s a testament to what Bryant’s already shown, what I believe he will show and how bad the Cubs were at drafting until Theo Epstein and company took over. Andrew Cashner would be an acceptable selection here, otherwise the next best were Tyler Colvin and then probably Javier Baez and, yes, Kyle Schwarber.
Devil Rays/Rays: Evan Longoria, 3rd, 2006
This was a two-horse race between Longoria and David Price, who went first overall in 2007. Longoria gets the nod because he was a bigger part of the initial franchise turnaround, he’s still with the team and he was picked lower. Otherwise it’s really a toss up here.
Diamondbacks: Max Scherzer, 11th, 2006
I already mentioned Pollock going 17th overall above. Justin Upton as the top pick in 2005 was very good and they’ve also grabbed Trevor Bauer, Archie Bradley and Chris Owings. The D-Backs actually have a decent track record of not messing up the first round, relatively speaking. Scherzer at 11 was a master class, though.
Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, 7th, 2006
This was — along with the other L.A. team — the easiest pick. Next on the board would’ve been Corey Seager, who is still in Triple-A.
Giants: TIE between Buster Posey (5th in 2008), Madison Bumgarner (10th in 2007), Tim Lincecum (10th, 2006)
The Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner picks worked out OK. (USATSI)
Unlike with the Rays, I’m totally copping out here. We’ve got the core for three championships along with an MVP, two Cy Youngs and one of the greatest pitching performances in postseason history. Arguments could be made for any of the three, so I’m content to let the commenters sort this one out. Don’t discount Lincecum based upon the last few years, either. He’s a worthy candidate. One thing is for sure, those are three incredible first-rounders.
Indians: Lonnie Chisenhall, 29th, 2008
Uh oh. This isn’t good. Chisenhall isn’t a bad player, but when that’s the best first-rounder over the course of the past decade from a team with only two playoff appearances that rarely signs big-ticket free agents (meaning lost picks), that’s a problem. Francisco Lindor could eventually make for a nice name here, though. So I guess we’ll part with a “stay tuned.”
Mariners: Brandon Morrow, 5th, 2006
Again, not great. We know the high talent level Morrow possesses, but he’s also been a walking injury risk. The competition is Nick Franklin, Dustin Ackley and Mike Zunino.
Marlins: Jose Fernandez, 14th, 2011
Brilliant pick in the midst of a stacked first round, though he came immediately after Taylor Jungmann (Brewers) and Brandon Nimmo (Mets).
Mets: Matt Harvey, 7th, 2010
The Dark Knight’s biggest competition here was Ike Davis. Yeah.
Nationals: Anthony Rendon, 6th, 2011
He’s the pick over Bryce Harper because Harper was the obvious number one and not one of the 30 teams would have passed on him. We could say the same about Stephen Strasburg the previous season. They had the top pick two years in a row with the consensus top player sitting right there for the taking. The Rendon pick is, thus, more impressive — even if I think he’ll eventually be far inferior to Harper in terms of career resume (and that’s no knock on Anthony). The pick immediately before Rendon? Bubba Starling. Ouch, Royals. Drew Storen was also a first-rounder for the Nats, who had a nice string of drafts to set themselves up to where they are now.
Orioles: Manny Machado, 3rd, 2010
It’s either Machado or Matt Wieters, who went fifth in 2007. I’m going with Machado due to the remaining upside at just 22 years old while he’s already been an All-Star and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting. Kevin Gausman and (yes, still) Dylan Bundy may eventually have something to say here.
Padres: Cory Spangenberg, 10th, 2011
The following Padres first-rounders in the last decade have made it to the majors: Spangenberg, Joe Ross (made his MLB debut on Saturday), Allan Dykstra, Matt Antonelli and Cesar Carrillo. There have been some sandwich picks like Cory Luebke and Logan Forsythe, but overall this is a depressing lot. Call it the curse of Matt Bush. Speaking of depressing groups …
Phillies: Joe Savery, 19th, 2007
Only Savery and Kyle Drabek have made it to the bigs among Phillies’ first rounders in the last decade. At least there’s Travis d’Arnaud in the sandwich round, but still, this is bad. The good news? Aaron Nola and/or J.P. Crawford will be changing things in the next few years.
Pirates: Andrew McCutchen, 11th, 2005
Pedro Alvarez went second in 2008 and Gerrit Cole was the top pick in 2011. Those were good, but pale in comparison that was the steal of Cutch. The three picks before the future MVP? Wade Townsend, Mike Pelfrey and Cameron Maybin.
Rangers: Justin Smoak, 11th, 2008
Another rough one. The Rangers grabbed the likes of Tommy Hunter, Neil Ramirez, Tanner Scheppers and, yes, Joey Gallo in the sandwich round. The first round, though, has been uninspiring. Chi Chi Gonzalez doesn’t have far to go to unseat Smoak, but that’s the pick for now.
Red Sox: Jacoby Ellsbury, 23rd, 2005
He helped win a pair of World Series rings while leading the league in steals three times and finishing second in MVP voting in 2011. That’s a quality return for a 23rd pick.
The pick immediately after Andrew McCutchen, the Reds did well for themselves. Obviously Bruce is no Cutch, but Cutch was gone. The Reds have a few other worthy choices, as Mike Leake went eighth in 2009 and Yasmani Grandal went 12th in 2010. How about Yonder Alonso seventh in ’08 or Devin Mesoraco 15th in ’07? Had I included sandwich picks, we would have had a different selection here. Todd Frazier went 34th in 2007.
Rockies: Troy Tulowitzki, 7th, 2005
The closest competition is Tyler Matzek. Need I say more?
Royals: Alex Gordon, 2nd, 2005
They also got Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Aaron Crow, Luke Hochevar and Brandon Finnegan in the first round, so it’s been fruitful for KC in the last decade. One could see Moose, Hosmer or even Finnegan supplanting Gordon down the road, but right now it’s not particularly close.
Tigers: Rick Porcello, 27th, 2007
We missed a home run by a year, as Justin Verlander went second in 2004. The chief competition to Porcello are Cameron Maybin going 10th in 2005 and Andrew Miller going sixth in 2006. Porcello, though, has carved out a nice career for himself thus far — and there’s still plenty of ways to go.
Twins: Matt Garza, 25th, 2005
The other big leaguers taken in the first round since have been Chris Parmelee, Ben Revere, Aaron Hicks and Kyle Gibson, so this one isn’t particularly close at this juncture. Expect Byron Buxton to change this conversation in a few years.
White Sox: Chris Sale, 13th, 2010
If not for Sale, we’d be picking Gordon Beckham and pining for when Carlos Rodon overtook him. The Sale pick at 13 was incredible, though, as he’s easily one of the 10 best pitchers in the majors. Also, here are the five picks that followed Sale: Dylan Covey (Brewers), Jake Skole (Rangers), Hayden Simpson (Cubs), Josh Sale (Rays), Kaleb Cowart (Angels).
Yankees: Ian Kennedy, 21st, 2006
Thanks to picking late and losing picks due to free agent signings, the Yankees list isn’t quite as long as some others. Kennedy is the pick, though it was a tough choice between him and the 2008 selection of Gerrit Cole. The Yankees took the UCLA-bound pitcher out of high school and he didn’t sign. I guess one could say that was a bad pick, since they were unable to sign him, but ultimately that was a future number one overall pick at the 28 spot.
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