The 2008 Draft - A One Year Too Early Look

It's commonly said that it takes 4-5 years to properly evaluate a baseball draft. So naturally, let's take a look at Neal Huntington's first draft one year too early.

The scouting rule of thumb is:
Draft 50 players
Sign 30 players
Get 20 to AA
Get 1 starter and 1 bench/bullpen guy from each draft class

Let's see how the Pirates 2008 draft class has done so far:
Drafted 50 players (check)
Signed 32 players (check)
Got 8 to AA so far (not great)
Got Alvarez to the majors as a starter (very good, even if he is starting slow this year)

There are 6 more players that have the strong possibility of getting to AA in the form of Robbie Grossman, David Rubinstein, Jarek Cunningham, Quinton Miller, Benji Gonzalez, and Calvin Anderson. That would make 14 players, which is still less than the rule-of-thumb, but would be a good group of 14 players from the draft.

Right now Chase d'Arnaud, Justin Wilson, and Matt Hague are in the holding tank at AAA awaiting a callup. It's quite possible that 1 of the 3 will at least be a bench guy and 1 guy will be a starter. That would be 2 starter and 1 bench/bullpen guy. That doesn't even account for the 6 guys mentioned above that have yet to reach AA. It's quite possible that 2 of the 6 will reach the majors and be at least a bench player.

So out of Huntington's first draft, it's very realistic to see 2 starters and 3 bench guys, at worst. That would be a very successful draft class and give us all confidence that future draft classes will be as fruitful.

A great draft class (2005) versus a bad one (2004)

Earlier this season, I examined the highly touted 2005 draft class using WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and determined that, yes, the hype was real. This is a very strong class with a combined 134.1 Wins Above Replacement to this point.

The top 5 contributors to this total are Hall of Fame-path-Ryan Zimmerman (26.4), team leader Troy Tulowitzki (17.8), iron gloved Ryan Braun (16.5), Matt Garza (9.9), and Mike Pelfrey (8.0). All of those guys were college players so they had a 2-3 year headstart on the high school outfielders like Jay Bruce (7.8), Justin Upton (7.7), Andrew McCutchen (6.7), and Colby Rasmus (5.8).

Cutch-22, with his 6.7 WAR, currently ranks 10th in this class -- right behind Ricky Romero from the Blue Jays with his 6.8.

By comparison, let's take a look at the draft class one year before this one, the 2004 class. The 2004 class at the time was said to not be deep, plus it was peppered with some high-salary-demand guys like Stephen Drew and Jered Weaver who dropped in the draft.

Nevertheless, the 2004 class has to date only compiled an 85.8 WAR, even with a one year jump on the 2005 class. Furthermore, two players (Justin Verlander with 25.3 and Jered Weaver with 18.8) have compiled nearly 50% of the WAR in this class. To show the weakness of the class, take a look at Neil Walker who had a great season with the stick and a not-so-great one with the glove. His 1.9 WAR this year and his -0.3 WAR in 2009 gives him 1.6 WAR for his career. That puts Walker in 11th place. Keep in mind that Cutch-22 is in 10th with his 6.7 WAR -- in this class he would be 4th!

Something to keep in mind, regarding the relative strengths of a draft class from year to year, as we move into the 2011 draft which is said to have one of the strongest 1st rounds in years.

Looking back on Cutch-22's "down" season

In 2009, Andrew McCutchen (otherwise referred to by a loyal following of one person as "Cutch-22") debuted for the Pirates and put forth a triple slash line of .286/.365/.471 (batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage) for an OPS of 836. Within that line were 26 doubles, 9 triples, 12 home runs, 54 runs batted in and 22 steals. That was accomplished in 108 games.

Needless to say, some people had their expectation meters set to "blast off" for McCutchen in 2010. Even as one of his biggest supporters, I was expecting more modest gains as I mentioned in the 2010 Predictions Post. I was merely thinking that he would consolidate his gains in 2010 and increase his numbers proportionally over a full season.

There is a somewhat significantly-sized undercurrent out there that 2010 was a disappointing season from Andrew McCutchen. Here is his final line over 154 games:

.286/.365/.449 (814 OPS)

Look familiar? It should, as it's the same batting average and on-base percentage as 2009, with only a slightly lower slugging percentage. In fact if you extrapolate his 2009 numbers to 154 games, here's what they would be...

26 2B's turns into 37 doubles (he had 35 in 2010)

9 3B's turns into 13 triples (he had 5 in 2010)

12 HR's turns into 17 homers (he had 16 in 2010)

22 SB's turns into 31 steals (he had 33 in 2010)

So as you can pretty easily see, the drop in slugging percentage in due in large part to his lesser amount of triples in 2010 versus 2009. I always have considered triples to be as much a measure of luck as skill, as most are the result of a misplayed ball, a bad route, or a weird bounce.

Some of the perception that Cutch-22 had a down year may be due to the fact that he suffered through two rough months in July and August. In July, he hit .254/.303/.358 (661 OPS) and in August he hit .226/.317/.415 (732 OPS). In truth, he needed a red hot September of .324/.411/.519 (930 OPS) to achieve the numbers that he did.

So what happened in the summer time? Was it due to a bad lunch meeting that he had?

In July, McCutchen sprained the AC joint of his shoulder blade while diving for a catch. Naturally, he said that he was fine after taking a few games off, but it was evident that he was playing hurt. To add injury to more injury, on August 3rd as he was just getting back on track, Mike Leake tattooed the back of his neck with a wild pitch. Those two occurences took a toll on Cutch-22 that he did not recover from until his scorching September.

If McCutchen were not hurt, which granted is a big qualifier for any player in any year, it is well within reason that he would have had a 20 HR/40 SB season. Do you know how many players in MLB had that kind of year in 2010?

Zero.

BJ Upton (18 HR/42 SB) and Carl Crawford (19 HR/47 SB) came the closest. And keep in mind that Carl Crawford is who McCutchen is starting to draw the closest comparisons to around the league. The last Pirate to have a 20 HR/40 SB season was one Barry Lamar Bonds, so that should put a finer point on how difficult it truly is to do.

Here's something else to consider. Around the league in 2010, the average numbers for a leadoff hitter (where he will probably be in 2011 most of the time) were .264/.329/.382 (711 OPS). McCutchen was well above the norm in all of these categories. For all CF's, the average numbers were .261/.326/.405 (731 OPS). Again, Cutch-22 was well above the average for all of these categories.

I feel fairly comfortable that we have now established Cutch-22's baseline season in 2010. I only expect better things in 2011, especially since more pieces have been added around him in the lineup. He doesn't have to feel pressured to win every game on his own. Walker, Tabata, and Alvarez all did that themselves this year, too.

When the high school outfielder draft class of 2005 was working their way through the minors, chats on Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus would always ask the moderator to rank the long-term futures of Justin Upton, Cameron Maybin, Jay Bruce, Colby Rasmus, and Andrew McCutchen. Pretty much every time, the list would look like: Upton, Bruce, Maybin, McCutchen, Rasmus (sometimes Rasmus and McCutchen would flip flop positions). I always contended that McCutchen would be the steady and consistent player, while the others (due to their higher K rates) would have higher peaks but lower lows, too. At this point, especially after Upton's down year, I would not feel uncomfortable ranking them Upton, McCutchen, Rasmus, Bruce, and Maybin maybe being a bust.

The one facet of his game that I would like McCutchen to improve in is his defense. He has been poorly rated by Ultimate Zone Rating statistically and his rainbows throws and shaky routes don't pass my eye test. I think a good offseason with a coach can remedy most of those problems.

Andrew McCutchen is without a doubt the top reason for me to look forward to April 2011 and the start of a new Pirates season. I am a complete masochist.

Hey brother...can you spare $11 million?

On Monday and Tuesday, the Pirates put together the most amazing series of picks (in terms of daring and design) in the history of the franchise. The Pirates drafted Taillon (1st round) and Allie (2nd round), easily the two highest upside pitchers in recent Pirate memory. Assuming NH/FC et al were telling the truth, there is the mythical $30M for 2008, 2009, and 2010's drafts.

2008 and 2009's drafts consumed roughly $18.7M, so let's for argument sake say they have $11M to spend on this draft.

I thought it may be a good idea to guesstimate what each draftee could be commanding and it may shake out what goes where.

Round 1 - Taillon - obviously the whole key to this all. I would say $6.5 to $7M (think of Beckett). I hope no ML contract is needed

Round 2 - Allie - I'm sure he considered himself a Top 10 pick. Slot for this position is around $900K. Slot for 1-10 is $1.8M. Let's budget him for $1.5M

Round 3 - Rojas - slot guy...$425K

Round 4 - Kingham - he may require a touch more than slot ($250K). I'm thinking $500K

Round 5 - Waldron - slot guy ....$175K

Round 6 thru 8 (Hursh, Kubitza, Kime) - I think they only get 2 of these guys out of 3...say $400K each for a total of $800K

Round 9 - Cumpton - slot...$125K

Round 10 - Wiess - unsure...$250K?

After that who knows...we know they need some bats and Grovatt said he wants 4th round money so that's $250K.

For Round 1-10 (signing 9 of them) that's $10.775M. If you add Grovatt that puts you right at $11M.

Most org guys sign for $5000 or nothing at all, but you can see how it's pretty easy to get up to $11M with the talent that they drafted yesterday.

Not only would $11M be the most the Pirates have ever spent on the draft in one year, but it would also be one of the 5 highest amounts ever spent by any team. The crazy part is that the Pirates could easily spend $12-$13M on this draft without blinking an eye. There is always talk by NH that there is a "discretionary pool" for special expenses. Well, thanks to your drafting and Greg Smith's drafting, this is now a special time, Neil.

HS Hitters v. COL Hitters - 1st round 2000-2005

I took a look at the HS pitchers versus the COL pitchers in an earlier post, so I thought for completeness sake I would look at things from the hitting side, too.

Again, this is the very scientific question of "Is this guy successful or not, yes or no?"

Executive Summary
13 out of 42 HS picks were a YES (30.6%)
14 out of 42 COL picks were a YES (33%)

Conclusion
Again, the difference is so small that the common thought that a college bat is the safer of the 4 food groups of prospects is not really true.

To tie it all together....
College Pitchers YES - 25.4%
HS Pitchers YES - 30.3%
College Hitters YES - 33%
HS Hitters YES - 30.6%

2000
1-1 A. Gonzalez FLA [HS] - YES
1-3 L. Montanez CHI [HS] - NO
1-6 R. Baldelli TB [HS] - YES
1-11 D. Krynzel MIL [HS] - NO
1-12 J. Borchard CWS - NO
1-13 S. Boyd STL - NO
1-15 C. Utley PHI - YES
1-18 M. Negron TOR [HS] - NO
1-23 D. Espinosa CIN [HS] - NO
1-25 S. Heard TEX [HS] - NO
1-26 C. Smith CLE [HS] - NO
1-28 D. Parrish NYY - NO
1-30 S. Thorman ATL [HS] - NO
2/9 HS
1/4 COL

2001
1-1 J. Mauer MIN [HS] - YES
1-5 M. Texeira TEX - YES
1-10 C. Burke HOU - NO
1-13 C. Kotchman LAA - NO
1-14 J. Gautreau SD - NO
1-15 G. Gross TOR - NO
1-19 M. Fontenot BAL - NO
1-23 JF Griffin NYY - NO
1-25 B. Crosby OAK - NO
1-29 J. Burres ATL [HS] - NO
1/2 HS
1/8 COL

2002
1-2 BJ Upton TB [HS] - YES
1-7 P. Fielder MIL [HS] - YES
1-8 S. Moore DET [HS] - NO
1-10 D. Meyer TEX - NO
1-11 J. Hermida FLA [HS] - NO
1-13 K. Greene SD - YES
1-14 R. Adams TOR - NO
1-16 N. Swisher OAK - YES
1-19 J. Loney LAD [HS] - YES
1-20 D. Span MIN [HS] - YES
1-23 J. Francoeur ATL [HS] - YES
1-26 J. McCurdy OAK - NO
1-27 S. Santos ARI [HS] - NO
* J. Mayberry did not sign
5/8 HS
2/5 COL

2003
1-1 D. Young TB [HS] - NO
1-2 R. Weeks MIL - YES
1-5 C. Lubanski KC [HS] - NO
1-6 R. Harvey CHI [HS] - NO
1-7 N. Markakis BAL - YES
1-10 I. Stewart COL [HS] - YES
1-11 R. Aubrey CLE - NO
1-12 L. Milledge NYM [HS] - NO
1-13 A. Hill TOR - YES
1-15 B. Anderson CWS - NO
1-17 D. Murphy BOS - NO
1-18 B. Snyder CLE - NO
1-19 C. Jackson ARI - YES
1-21 M. Moses MIN [HS] - NO
1-23 B. Wood LAA [HS] - NO
1-26 B. Snyder OAK - NO
1-27 E. Duncan NYY [HS] - NO
1-28 D. Barton STL [HS] - NO
1-29 C. Quentin ARI - YES
1-30 M. Maier KC - NO
1/9 HS
5/11 COL

2004
1-1 M. Bush SD [HS] - NO
1-9 C. Nelson COL [HS] - NO
1-11 N. Walker PIT [HS] - NO
1-14 B. Butler KC [HS] - YES
1-15 S. Drew ARI - YES
1-18 J. Fields CHW - NO
1-20 T. Plouffe MIN [HS] - NO
1-21 G. Golson PHI [HS] - NO
1-24 L. Powell OAK - NO
1-26 R. Robnett OAK - NO
1-28 B. Dewitt LAD [HS] - NO
1/7 HS
1/4 COL

2005
1-1 J. Upton ARI [HS] - YES
1-2 A. Gordon KC - NO
1-3 J. Clement SEA - NO
1-4 R. Zimmerman WAS - YES
1-5 R. Braun MIL - YES
1-7 T. Tulowitski COL - YES
1-10 C. Maybin DET [HS] - NO
1-11 A. McCutchen PIT [HS] - YES
1-12 J. Bruce CIN [HS] - NO
1-13 B. Snyder BAL [HS] - NO
1-14 T. Crowe CLE - NO
1-17 CJ Henry NYY [HS] - NO
1-19 J. Mayberry TEX - NO
1-21 C. Pennington OAK - NO
1-23 J. Ellsbury BOS - YES
1-28 C. Rasmus STL [HS] - YES
1-30 T. Greene STL - NO
3/7 HS
4/10 COL

2005 1st round draft - one for the ages?

Going into the 2005 draft, it was said to be a deep draft. Even at the time, people were touting the impact talent throughout. It was heavy in HS hitters, especially CF's, and college 3B. It's fair, 5 years later, to look back and evaluate things a bit. At the end in bold, I've included their accumulated WAR to date in the majors. The age in parentheses in their 2010 season age.

1-1 J. Upton ARI (22) - Said to be a few levels above his brother, BJ (drafted 1-2 in 2002 by TB), Justin got off to a slow start in Low A in 2006 (756 OPS). But pretty much after that year, he has been in beast mode since. He's 22 and he's a power hitting RF that just signed a long-term deal with ARI. 5.4 WAR

1-2 A. Gordon KC (26) - Next to Upton, he was the prize of the draft. A cornerstone 3B that would stay at the position. He has been beset by injuries and is back in the minors at age 26, after a lackluster career in the majors, and switched to LF. 4.5 WAR

1-3 J. Clement SEA (26) - Hey, I know that name! SEA thought they had a power hitting C for the next decade. They got a guy who may be a AAAA hitter with knees that make him a 1B/DH. Which is a problem considering the Pirates are in the NL. -0.3 WAR

1-4 R. Zimmerman WAS (25) - I consistently underrate Zimmerman and I should stop that one of these days. He plays near Gold-Glove defense and is good for high 20's/low 30's in HR's. He is owning the WAR from this class so far, especially since he got at least 1 year jump on everyone else to the majors. 20.2 WAR

1-5 R. Braun MIL (26) - It was soon realized that Braun had an iron glove and he was switched in the minors to LF. No matter, his bat plays at any position and he's good on the bases as well. Personality wise he needs a punch in the face. 13.8 WAR

1-6 R. Romero TOR (25) - For a while this was looking like a huge fail on TOR's part, especially with Tulowitzki taken right after them and TOR with a gaping hole at SS at the time. But in 2009, Romero finally established himself in the rotation and he should be good from here out. 3.9 WAR

1-7 T. Tulowitzki COL (25) - Natural leader at the most key position of SS. Good with the stick, great with the glove. Great choice. 11.6 WAR

1-8 W. Townsend TB (27) - Wade did not sign the year before with BAL. The rumor is that the TB front office was dead split on either Townsend or Andrew McCutchen. Thanks, TB...we're even from the Upton v. Bullington fiasco in 2002. Had arm troubles, thanks to his alma mater -- the arm shredding university of Rice. Never made the majors and out of baseball. 0 WAR.

1-9 M. Pelfrey NYM (26) - Pelfrey scuffled a little bit, but he is establishing himself as a solid mid-rotation option in the tough market of NY. 5.8 WAR

1-10 C. Maybin DET (23) - Little run of HS CF's here...Maybin was supposed to be pure power, with a wee problem of K's, but that was glossed over by everyone (except me). He was traded to FLA for Cabrera and rushed to the majors. It's hurt his development, IMO. 1.1 WAR

1-11 A. McCutchen PIT (23) - Sweet science...did Littlefield actually do something right? Cutch-22 has exceeded even my expectations to date. He could very well put down a 20 HR/40 SB season this year at 23. That's what analysts squinted and predicted his peak would be at age 28. I hope he stays a Pirate his whole career -- my first true favorite Pirate since the early 90's. 4.1 WAR

1-12 J. Bruce CIN (23) - Supposed to be a huge slugger and would always move to RF. To date, he's had some contact problems in the majors with a low average and high K's. He should be fine long-term. 3.1 WAR

1-13 B. Snyder BAL (23) - Ahhh...lucky 13. You had to try to not make a good pick in this draft, but it was kind of acknowledged at the time that BAL did not. High school Catchers are the toughest picks. The large majority do not stay there and if they have to move, either the bat isn't good or the mobility is lacking. Snyder moved from C to 3B to 1B. He's doing OK, but has still not tasted the majors. 0 WAR

1-14 T. Crowe CLE (26) - CLE went with a college CF and it hasn't worked out. There was a weird experiment mid-stream to make Crowe a 2B, but that was short-lived. He will be a bust, as he only tasted the majors last year. 0.1 WAR

1-15 L. Broadway CWS (26) - College "pitchability" pitcher (read: Fastball sucks). He's a middle reliever now with the Mets. 0.6 WAR

1-16 C. Volstad FLA (23) - I always love the tall pitchers that don't have blazing fastballs. It's just such a weird juxtaposition. Volstad will be a solid mid to back end starter for the foreseeable future. 2.0 WAR

1-17 C. Henry NYY (24) - Busted out and left baseball. Went to Kansas U. to play basketball with his stud brother. Absolute miss. 0 WAR.

1-18 C. Carillo SD (26) - He's been operated on already and is in AAA this year, but there's not much to get excited about. -0.7 WAR

1-19 J. Mayberry TEX (26) - College OF who doesn't hit well enough to be a ML-starter. May be a reserve outfielder, now with PHI. -0.3 WAR

1-20 M. Pawelek CHI (23) - Had conditioning and attitude issues. If he's not out of baseball by now, he will be soon. 0 WAR

1-21 C. Pennington OAK (26) - Scrappy college middle infielder. Of COURSE he was going to get drafted by Billy Beane and Oakland. He is an acceptable option until he hits arb and starts to become expensive. 1.0 WAR

1-22 A. Thompson FLA (23) - Still struggling to get out of AA, now with the Nats. 0 WAR

1-23 J. Ellsbury BOS (26) - Great value for BOS near the end of the first round. Scrappy college CF with movie star looks. A touch overrated as a player in the majors. 8.2 WAR

1-24 B. Bogusevic HOU (26) - Was awful as a pitcher, but he "Ankieled" himself into a good hitter with power. He is in AAA waiting to get recognized by the animatronic GM known as Ed Wade. 0 WAR

1-25 M. Garza MIN (26) - Geez oh man...I don't know what to say here. Total steal by the Twins. And then an even bigger steal by TB to get him in a trade for the terrible Delmon Young. What a beast master. 9.3 WAR

1-26 C. Hansen BOS (26) - Another familiar name to Pirates fans. NH had his 2005 draft guide out in full effect, I guess. Supposed to be a quick-ascent closer type, but he had injury problems and never developed right. Career in jeopardy with neck issues. -0.4 WAR

1-27 J. Devine ATL (26) - Another guy who was supposed to help a bullpen soon. Injuries...ineffective...yada yada. 1.2 WAR

1-28 C. Rasmus STL (23) - Someone will have to tell me how he slid this far. Small HS? Great speed-power combo, but I don't like his K rate long term. 3.6 WAR

1-29 J. Marceaux FLA (26) - FLA lost a lot of Type A free agents and had a ton of 1st round picks as a result. This one won't work out. 0 WAR

1-30 T. Greene STL (26) - He's made the majors, but is nothing great now or in the future. -0.2 WAR

So there you are...in terms of getting people to the majors, this was a successful draft (23 out of 30, with maybe 1-2 more soon). The total WAR to date for this 1st round is 97.6 WAR. Cutch-22, even with being 3 years younger than most of those ahead of him in WAR, is still the 9th highest in WAR totals to date. I expect him to improve on that total.

This was a fantastic draft, with some real cornerstones. It has lived up to the hype so far.

High School Pitchers vs. College Pitchers - 1st round from 2000-2005

Over at Only Bucs, there has been a lot of debate over who the Pirates should draft at 1-2 (assuming that Bryce Harper is off the board). My personal choice would be Jameson Taillon, a high school pitcher from Texas that gasses it at 98 mph. However, I feel that this front office is averse to drafting HS pitchers in the first and paying a large bonus to them (too many eggs in one basket).

As a result, due to the lack of both HS and college bats in this draft, I believe they will go with a college pitcher and select Drew Pomerantz.

One poster is adamantly opposed to drafting a college pitcher, not only in the 1-2 spot, but in the entire first round. He's even made it his signature below his posts...."Say no to college pitchers in the first round".

This got me thinking about the relative success/failure of recent 1st round picks among pitchers. For this post, I'm going from 2000 to 2005, as I believe 2006 is a shade too early to evaluate all the selections at this point. Some are either still at AAA or below or very early in their MLB careers.

Now success...that's very subjective....I don't think that Sean Burnett was a successful pick. You don't draft Burnett thinking "Here's our future LOOGY". But Chad Cordero, for instance, was a good pick. He was picked to be a closer and at least for a few years he did just that. Of course, this is subject to debate.

This post will be lengthy, so I'll "Executive Summary" it for those who want the bottom line. If you want to see how the sausage is made, keep reading after.

Executive Summary
2000-2005 Results
15 out of 59 College Pitchers were a "YES" (25.4%)
10 out of 33 High School Pitchers were a "YES" (30.3%)

Conclusion
While HS pitchers have been more successful, I feel that the margin between the two categories is small enough to NOT warrant such a reaction to swear off drafting COL pitchers entirely. Personally, I feel that HS pitchers have more "impact" potentially, due to more careful overseeing of pitch counts and the ability to be in the majors by age 22 versus age 24 for college guys.

However, if I liked a COL pitcher I would not feel the need to pass on him because of pre-disposed tendencies.

Number Crunching Results
2000
1-2 A. Johnson - MIN - No
1-4 M. Stodolka - KC - No [HS]
1-5 J. Wayne - MON - No
1-8 M. Wheatland - DET - No [HS]
1-9 M. Phillips - SD - No [HS]
1-10 J. Torres - LAA - No [HS]
1-14 B. Hale - BAL - No
1-16 B. Traber - NYM - No
1-17 B. Diggins - LAD - No
1-19 S. Burnett - PIT - No [HS]
1-20 C. Bootcheck - LAA - No
1-21 B. Bonser - SF - No [HS]
1-22 P. Dumatrait - BOS - No
1-24 B. Williams - SF - No
1-27 R. Stiehl - HOU - No
1-29 A. Wainwright - ATL - Yes
1/10 COL
0/6 HS
* M. Harrington did not sign

2001
1-2 M. Prior - CHI - Yes
1-3 D. Brazelton - TB - No
1-4 G. Floyd - PHI - Yes [HS]
1-6 J. Karp - MON - No
1-7 C. Smith - BAL - No
1-8 J. Van Benschoten - PIT - No
1-9 C. Griffin - KC - No [HS]
1-11 K. Baugh - DET - No
1-12 M. Jones - MIL - No [HS]
1-16 K. Honel - CHW - No [HS]
1-17 D. Denham - CLE - No [HS]
1-18 A. Heilman - NYM - No
1-21 B. Hennessey - SF - No
1-22 J. Bulger - ARI - No
1-24 M. McBride - ATL - No [HS]
1-26 J. Bonderman - OAK - Yes [HS]
1-27 A. Horne - CLE - No [HS]
1-28 J. Pope - STL - No
1-30 N. Lowry - SF - No
1/11 COL
2/8 HS
* J. Sowers did not sign

2002
1-1 B. Bullington - PIT - No
1-3 C. Gruler - CIN - No [HS]
1-4 A. Loewen - BAL - No [HS]
1-5 C. Everts - MON - No [HS]
1-6 Z. Greinke - KC - Yes [HS]
1-9 J. Francis - COL - Yes
1-12 J. Saunders - LAA - Yes
1-15 S. Kazmir - NYM - Yes [HS]
1-17 C. Hamels - PHI - Yes [HS]
1-18 R. Ring - CHW - No
1-21 B. Brownlie - CHI - No
1-22 J. Guthrie - CLE - Yes
1-24 J. Blanton - OAK - Yes
1-25 M. Cain - SF - Yes [HS]
1-29 D. Grigsby - HOU - No
1-30 B. Fritz - OAK - No
4/9 COL
4/7 HS

2003
1-3 K. Sleeth - DET - No
1-4 T. Stauffer - SD - No
1-8 P. Maholm - PIT - Yes
1-9 J. Danks - TEX - Yes [HS]
1-14 R. Wagner - CIN - No
1-16 J. Allison - FLA - No [HS]
1-20 C. Cordero - MON - Yes
1-22 D. Aardsma - SF - No
1-24 C. Billingsley - LAD - Yes [HS]
1-25 B. Sullivan - OAK - No
2/7 COL
2/3 HS

2004
1-2 J. Verlander - DET - Yes
1-3 P. Humber - NYM - No
1-4 J. Niemann - TB - Yes
1-5 M. Rogers - MIL - No [HS]
1-6 J. Sowers - CLE - No
1-7 H. Bailey - CIN - No [HS]
1-10 T. Diamond - TEX - No
1-12 J. Weaver - LAA - Yes
1-13 B. Bray - MON - No
1-16 D. Purcey - TOR - No
1-17 S. Elbert - LAD - No [HS]
1-19 C. Lambert - STL - No
1-22 G. Perkins - MIN - Yes
1-23 P. Hughes - NYY - Yes [HS]
1-25 K. Waldrop - MIN - No [HS]
1-27 T. Tankersley - FLA - No
1-29 M. Campbell - KC - No
1-30 E. Hurley - TEX - No [HS]
4/12 COL
1/6 HS
* W. Townsend did not sign

2005
1-6 R. Romero - TOR - Yes
1-8 W. Townsend - TB - No
1-9 M. Pelfrey - NYM - Yes
1-15 L. Broadway - CWS - No
1-16 C. Volstad - FLA - Yes [HS]
1-18 C. Carillo - SD - No
1-20 M. Pawelek - CHI - No [HS]
1-22 A. Thompson - FLA - No [HS]
1-24 B. Bogusevic - HOU - No
1-25 M. Garza - MIN - Yes
1-26 C. Hansen - BOS - No
1-27 J. Devine - ATL - No
1-29 J. Marceaux - FLA - No
3/10 COL
1/3 HS