Looking back at past drafts

[Benihana]

Thought I'd start a thread that looked back at some of the successes and failures of previous drafts- especially in the first round (not just for the Reds, but MLB in general.)

First thought: How top-heavy was the 2001 draft? Sure it produced two perennial all-stars (Mauer and Teixiera), one major league veteran (Gavin Floyd), and two shooting stars that faded quickly (Mark Prior and Dewon Brazelton)- but that was all in the top 5.

The next 12 of the 15 guys drafted immediately after that were complete and total busts:

John Karp
Jon Van Benschoten
Chris Smith
Colt Griffin
Chris Burke
Kenny Baugh
Jake Gautreau
Kris Honel
Mike Jones
Gabe Gross
Daniel Denham
and of course, Jeremy Sowers.

They were all Top 20 picks. Wow.

Contrast that with 2002, where the top 5 were Bryan Bullington, BJ Upton, Chris Gruler, Adam Loewen, and Clint Everts. Not exactly Mauer, Prior, Floyd and Teixeira.

However, 5-20 in 2002 included

Zack Greinke
Prince Fielder
Jeff Francis
Jeremy Hermida
Scott Kazmir
Joe Saunders
Khalil Greene
Nick Swisher
Cole Hamels
James Loney
Denard Span

What a difference a year makes.

[Scrap Irony]

So, you're saying drafting is a difficult and inexact science and that any major leauge success should be viewed as a good draft choice?

Got it.

[camisadelgolf]

So, you're saying drafting is a difficult and inexact science and that any major leauge success should be viewed as a good draft choice?

Got it.

I took from it that every first round draft choice should be a perennial all-star, and any team that fails to draft such a player in the first round will have had a bad draft and possibly need to look into getting new personnel in the scouting department. You may have noticed that I reserve most posts of this nature for a different username in which I refuse to incorporate reason and logic. It's a lot of fun when posting in this forum.

[TRF]

so, talent differs from year to year. Can we do the 13th round too? That's the Pujols round right?

[Benihana]

Was just posting a simple observation in looking back at this successes and failures of previous drafts. Tough crowd.



Especially for a 5,000th post.

[TRF]

congrats on the milestone.

To me the post shows that the draft is a crapshoot. But using the line of taking the BPA only works if you know who that is, and are willing to pay for it.