Welcome back to another edition of Humm Baby Busts and today we’ll go back to the MLB Drafts of the 1990’s and talk about some of the major busts from these amazing drafts that produced future Hall of Famers like Chipper Jones, Scott Rolen, Roy Halladay and the recently elected Todd Helton. Alex Rodriguez was also taken first overall in 1993 and hit 696 bombs but his Hall of Fame chances aren’t looking too great. But there were also extremely promising players taken high in the first round who looked like can’t-miss future superstars but just couldn’t quite make it as an MLB player. So, let’s jump right into this list, starting at #15.
15. Chad Mottola – Cincinnati Reds (5th Overall/1992)
To start today’s list, we have some one who I feel like never got a full chance to prove himself, but as a 5th overall pick who hit just .200 in the bigs, I had to put him on the list. During the 1992 MLB draft, the Yankees draft room broke out in celebration when the Reds took outfielder Chad Mottola out of Central Florida, allowing the Yankees to take a young future Hall of Famer named Derek Jeter at #6. One Reds scout, Gene Bennett, begged the front office to take Jeter, but he was overruled. Mottola was a monster in High School hitting .573 with 14 homers his Senior Year, leading to him being drafted by the Orioles in 1989. He instead went to college and hit .329 with 14 homers and an OPS over 1.000 his Junior Year with UCF. He also had great speed and a high baseball IQ. It’s hard to blame the O’s for taking such a polished and talented young player. He continued to show amazing potential in the minors, hitting .280 with 21 homers in High A in 1993. He continued to play well in the years that followed but by 1995 and 1996 when Mottola was ready for his opportunity in the bigs, he was blocked by a crowded Reds outfield that included Reggie Sanders, Curtis Goodwin, Eric Davis, Vince Coleman, Mike Kelly and Eric Anthony. He got his first taste of MLB in 1996 anyway, but hit just .215 in 79 at bats. Then, the Reds signed Deion Sanders & Ruben Sierra for the ‘97 season. Mottola spend that entire year in the minors despite hitting .317 with a .363 on-base and .839 OPS. He was traded to the Rangers early in 1998 but was never promoted to the big leagues with them. He signed with the White Sox for the 1999 season and tore it up in Triple-A, hitting .321 with 20 homers but did not get a promotion. He was even better in 2000 with the Blue Jays Triple-A team in Syracuse, crushing 33 bombs with a .309 average, taking home the International League MVP. He was promoted but given just 9 MLB at bats. He was traded to the Marlins the next year and again, was stashed away in the minors where he hit .295 in Triple-A, but was given just 7 MLB at bats. He continued to hit well in the minors, showing impressive power, but was only given sporadic opportunities in the big leagues. At the end of his career, he only had 125 big league at bats and hit just .200 with 4 homers, but he was never given a single extended opportunity to prove himself. In over 1800 minor league games, he hit .280 with 249 homers and a .796 OPS. So, although Motolla is considered a bust, he comes in as the lowest one on today’s list. Motolla became a coach after his playing career and is currently the hitting coach of the Tampa Bay Rays.
14. Paul Wilson – New York Mets (1st Overall/1994)
In 1994, the New York Mets had the first overall pick and went with a player who was considered the best pitcher in college baseball, Paul Wilson. Wilson was good enough in High School to get drafted by the Pirates but he opted to attend college and his draft stock skyrocketed when he dominated at Florida State, striking out 163 batters in 143 innings while walking just 32 with a 2.08 ERA his Junior Year. The Mets hoped he would rise through the system along with 2 other promising arms, Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher, to become one of the best 1-2-3 combos in baseball – a regular Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. After going 0-7 his first year in the minors, the Mets pushed him hard in 1995 and he pitched 186.2 innings. He pitched well, completing 8 games and going 11-6 with a 2.41 ERA, but was overused and experienced tendinitis. He was rushed to the big leagues the next season and was already damaged goods, going 5-12 with a 5.38 ERA, striking out just 6.6 per 9. He blew out his shoulder and barely pitched over the next 3 seasons and missed all of 1999. He made a commendable comeback with the Rays and started 30 games in 2002, but went 6-12 with a 4.83 ERA. After 3 seasons with the Rays and 3 with the Reds, he retired with a 40-58 career record and 4.86 ERA. He’s not one of the biggest busts on the list, having managed a 7-year big league career but as a first overall pick, he has to make the list. Earlier this year, 30 years after his last pitch at Florida State, Wilson decided to return to FSU to complete his degree.
13. B.J. Garbe – Minnesota Twins (5th Overall/1999)
Next, we go to the 1999 Draft with B.J. Garbe, the Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year, who was taken 5th overall in a first round that included 6 future All Stars, a future MVP in Josh Hamilton and a future World Series MVP in Josh Beckett. Most scouts ranked B.J. Garbe as the second best High School position player after Hamilton. He was incredibly strong with a quick bat that made consistent contact. He was known as a kid with superior strike zone knowledge with the potential to turn into a big power hitter who limits strikeouts. He looked fantastic in Rookie Ball, hitting .316 with just 34 strikeouts in 192 at bats. Unfortunately, the next year in A Ball, he hit just .233 in 133 games. Garbe could work the count and limit strikeouts, but the power was not developing as the Twins had hoped. After a couple more similar seasons, he was promoted to Double-A in 2003 and hit .178 with just 3 homers in 225 at bats. In 2004 it was more of the same, with Garbe hitting just 3 home runs again. He was traded to the Mariners for 41-year old veteran Pat Borders. He never made it above Double-A there and ended up with the Marlins organization for one last season in 2006, when he hit .184 with, once again, 3 home runs. At least he was consistent. Garbe retired and pursed his passion for beer by opening up and becoming CEO of a brewery called Tin Pin Brewing in his hometown of Moses Lake, Washington.
12. Geoff Goetz – New York Mets (6th Overall/1997)
In 1997, the New York Mets had the 6th pick and just missed out on several future All Stars such as J.D. Drew, Troy Glaus and Vernon Wells. So, they went with a High School strikeout machine named Geoff Goetz out of Tampa, Florida. He could hit and pitch at a high level and was known as Florida’s Mr. Baseball. Geotz was the highest High School player drafted out of Tampa since Gary Sheffield was taken also 6th in 1986. Unfortunately, despite still striking out a good number of hitters in the minors, Geotz struggled with his control. In 1998 in Single-A, he walked 4.6 batters per 9 innings and ended the season with a 6-8 record and a decent 4.2 ERA. He then became an answer to a trivia question when he was traded, along with Preston Wilson and Ed Yarnall, to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza, who would go on to hit one of the most dramatic home runs in Mets history during the first game in New York after 9/11. With the Marlins organization, Goetz was moved to the bullpen and showed huge improvement in limiting hits and runs. His walk rate was still a concern, but he had an ERA under 2 for back-to-back season and looked on track to make his big league debut in 2002. Then, just before he would’ve been promoted to Triple-A, he tore his labrum throwing a warm up pitch. The Marlins removed him from the 40-man roster and he missed all of 2003. He signed with the Yankees for 2004 and between Single and Double A, he limited runs with a 2.33 ERA, but also walked 19 batters in 27 innings, striking out just 12. He ended up in the independent leagues for a couple years then retired, never having made it above Double-A. He is now Senior Vice President at a consulting firm in the Tampa Bay area.
11. Antone Williamson – Milwaukee Brewers (4th Overall/1994)
With the 4th overall pick in 1994, the Brewers selected what looked like a safe pick – a strong power-hitting 3rd baseman who hit over .370 with 29 home runs during his final two seasons at Arizona State – Antone Williamson. He was a natural hitter who played the game hard and slid by diving into the base head first like Pete Rose. Williamson quickly showed massive potential at the plate, hitting .309 with 90 RBIs and an .852 OPS in Double-A in 1995. He had a 22-game hitting streak that season, the longest in the entire minor leagues. The Brewers thought he could hit in the big leagues, but wanted him to keep working on his defense at third base. Unfortunately, injury issues started to pile up and Williamson had to have shoulder surgery before the 1996 season, causing him to miss the first 10 weeks. He also continued to struggle defensively and the Brewers moved him to the first base. They added him to the 40-man roster after the 1996 season. In 1997, with Triple-A Tucson, he hit .286 in over 83 games with a .824 OPS and more walks than strikeouts. Although his power had never developed like they hoped, the Brewers saw enough to promote him to the big leagues. He hit just .204 in 24 games with no home runs. It would be his only big league stint. After that, Williamson struggled to stay on the field and after 2 more subpar seasons in the minors and one year in the independent leagues, Williamson called it a career.
10. Marc Newfield – Seattle Mariners (6th Overall/1990)
In the 1990 MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners front office was extremely excited to be able to draft High School phenom Marc Newfield with their 6th pick. He was considered one of the best hitting High School prospects in the country and continued to swing a hot bat in Rookie Ball, winning the 1990 Arizona League MVP by hitting .313 with 6 homers in 51 games. In 1991, he hit .296 between High-A and Double-A with a .384 on-base-percentage. His baseball card became a hot seller, expected to increase in value from about $1.75 to over $50. In 1992, he played in just 45 games until he needed toe surgery, ending his season. But in 1993 he came back strong, hitting .307 with 19 homers in Double-A, earning a call-up to the bigs. In 66 at bats, he hit just .227 with a homer. In 1994, he tore it up in Triple-A again, this time hitting .349 with 19 homers and an OPS over 1.000. He got 38 more big league at bats but then the season ended due to the strike while he was hitting just .184. He had hit at every level except MLB. In 1995, he was hitting .188 for the M’s when they traded him to San Diego. He hit better there, but never got close to realizing his full potential. Newfield ended up with the Brewers, where things went downhill. He was arrested in 1996 for drug possession with intent to distribute and did not hit well in Milwaukee for parts of 2 seasons. His career ended after 11 minor league games in 1999. He had a career MLB WAR of -1.6. After his career, he has kept a low public profile, but still loves watching baseball and offer private hitting instruction.
9. Kurt Miller – Pittsburgh Pirates (5th Overall/1990)
In 1990, the Pittsburgh Pirates took a high school arm out of Bakersfield, California named Kurt Miller. He was 6’5” and over 200 lbs and had an incredibly live arm. He pitched well his first couple seasons in the minors, including a 2.5 ERA in 1991. About a year after he was drafted, the Pirates shipped him off to the Rangers for big league veteran Steve Buechele. Miller continued to look decent until he hit Triple-A and struggled going 7-13 with a 6.88 ERA, now in the Marlins organization. Desperate for starting pitching help, the Marlins promoted him anyway and he went 1-3 with a 8.1 ERA in 4 starts. He wasn’t much better for the next 2 seasons in Triple-A. He did pitch out of the Marlins bullpen in 1996, making 26 appearances, but to the tune of a 6.8 ERA. Miller never could get hitters out with consistency at the big league level and was sent to the Cubs. He finally had a breakout year in the minors in 1998, going 14-3 with a 3.81 ERA, but only pitched 4 innings in the big leagues that year. In 1999, he struggled to stay healthy and effective and ended up out of baseball by 2000.
8. Jeff Granger – Kansas City Royals (5th Overall/1993)
In 1993, one of the finest college arms in the country had to be Jeff Granger, who had just broken Roger Clemens’ Southwest Conference strikeout record. Granger struck out 21 batters in one game. He also went 15-3 with a 2.62 ERA his Junior Year and was the starting QB for the Texas A&M football team. The Kansas City Royals snagged him 5th overall in the draft. They had no plans to be patient with Granger and, incredibly, after just 7 minor league starts in Low A, they promoted him to the majors. He gave up 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs in his only inning of work. The next season, he threw 140 innings in Double-A, going 7-7 with a 3.87 ERA and also made 2 unspectacular starts for the Royals in May. After a poor season in Double-A in 1995, he was moved to the bullpen for ‘96 and pitched well in Triple-A, with a 2.34 ERA and 25 saves in 45 appearances with his best strikeout stuff since college. Unfortunately, he was traded to the Pirates and the geniuses over there tried to make him a starter again in Triple-A. He struggled in the roll and then the same thing happened with the Rangers organization in 1998. Pitching for the Oklahoma Redhawks, he went 4-8 in 19 starts with a 4.67 ERA. The Brewers sent him back to the bullpen in 1999 but by now it was too late, and Granger was hit hard and also struggled with his command. He was out of baseball after the 2000 season. He went on to become a financial advisor for J.P. Morgan.
7.Jeff Austin – Kansas City Royals (4th Overall/1998)
In 1998, the Kansas City Royals used their 4th overall pick to select an impressive starter out of Stanford, Jeff Austin, who went 12-4 with a 3.11 ERA that season. He had good but not overwhelming strikeout stuff, but the Royals liked his college experience and took him over high school arms like C.C. Sabathia and Mark Prior. Austin’s minor league career started off hot in 1999 when he started the season 5-1 with a 3.13 ERA with opponents batting just .230 off him. He made his league’s All Star Team, but struggled a bit in the second half. In 2000, he made it to Triple-A but went 7-9 with a 4.48 ERA. The Royals sent him to the bullpen in 2001 and his velocity seemed to improve but the overall numbers weren’t great. He was promoted to the big leagues and had a 5.54 ERA in 21 appearances. He wasn’t much better in 2002 and the Royals shipped him off to Cincinnati. With the Reds, Austin gave up 27 runs in just over 28 innings. He ended up in the independent leagues before retiring on July 4th, 2005. He got a degree in English from Stanford and became a full-time pitching coach there in 2008 and 2009. He moved on to a management position for Google, but continued to work part time as an assistant coach at San Jose State.
6. B.J. Wallace – Montreal Expos (3rd Overall/1992)
Next up we have B.J. Wallace, the Ace for Mississippi State in ‘91 and ‘92. He struck out 10.25 batters per 9 innings in 1992 with a 2.69 ERA. He walked just 35 batters, showing tremendous command. Wallace also made headlines during the 1992 Olympics in Spain when he struck out 14 batters in a game against Italy. He made his minor league debut in 1993 with High A West Palm Beach and pitched well, going 11-8 with a 3.28 ERA and 126 strikeouts in 137.1 innings. It would be his only decent season. Injuries limited him to 8 starts in 1994 in Double-A. He was put on the 60-day disabled list and missed all of 1995. Wallace made 12 starts and 3 relief appearances for the Phillies High A team in Clearwater in 1996 going 3-4 with a 6.68 ERA before calling it a short and disappointing professional career. He got into coaching after his career, but also had some run-ins with the law. In 2011, at the age of 40, he was arrested along with his wife for first-degree manufacturing of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. In other words, they were cooking methamphetamine in a lab inside their home, which they shared with their 3 kids. The kids were turned over to their grandparents. According to Wallace’s college pitching coach, Ron Polk, “B. J.’s had a tough life. He had to work hard to become the pitcher that he did, and when he got released, it was a blow to him. I just don’t think enough people reached out to him. But people make their own breaks, so I can’t feel too sorry for him.”
5. Corey Myers – Arizona Diamondbacks (4th Overall/1999)
In 1999, the Diamondbacks had their first top 10 pick in franchise history and surprisingly went with a local High School kid out of Desert Vista High School in Phoenix named Corey Meyers. He played shortstop and catcher and was a 5-tool talent ranked by Baseball America as the #1 non-pitcher High School prospect in the country. During his Junior year, he hit .482 with 15 homers and 41 RBIs and during one stretch, accomplished the near impossible by hitting 5 homers in 5 straight at bats. The next year, his power improved even more and he broke his High School division’s home run record. Myers planned to attend Arizona State to be teammates with his brother Casey, but after getting picked 4th overall, decided to go pro. He was not a terrible hitter in the minors, but didn’t tear it up either. He had some issues defensively at shortstop and was moved to third base and later first. In 2002 in High A, he hit .290 with 13 homers and a .793 OPS then the next season hit .290 again in Double-A with a .784 OPS. By now, Myers had been moved to catcher and earned a promotion to Triple-A, where he responded with a .295 average and 7 homers in 57 games. As a catcher, his pitchers loved him and his teams won most of the games he was behind the dish. Unfortunately, he was never promoted to the big leagues and in 2005, his numbers dipped as he hit just .239 with 4 homers in Triple-A. He played with the Angels system after that for a couple years and put up average numbers, but was never promoted. Myers played a few games in the independent leagues and retired after 2007. He returned to Arizona State and coached the softball team before becoming assistant head softball coach at Auburn. He is now the owner of a baseball training company, CM3 Sports Enterprises, LLC.
4. Calvin Murray – San Francisco Giants (7th Overall/1992)
Calvin Murray was a such a highly touted prospect that he was drafted in the first round not once, but twice – first by the Cleveland Indians in 1989, then by the San Francisco Giants in 1992. After not singing in ‘89, Murray went to college at Texas and hit .351 with 47 stolen bases during his Junior year. The Giants took him ahead of future superstars Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon. Murray was known as a guy who could fly, play elite defense and hit for average. The Giants also thought he could develop some big power. Unfortunately, while he could certainly run and play defense, he struggled to hit consistently at the professional level and lingered in the Giants farm system for 7 years. He did show improvement, however, and in 1998, hit .293 between Double-A and Triple-A. He had his breakout minor league season in 1999 when he hit .334 with 23 home runs and 42 stolen bases for the Fresno Grizzlies. Giants fans, myself included, thought we had a future All-Star who just took a little more time than normal to develop. Unfortunately, that year in Triple A was the last time he would show that kind of talent. In 2000, he hit .242 with 2 homers for the Giants with 9 stolen bases. In 2001, the Giants decided to just put him in the lineup for an extended period and really find out what they had. He hit .245 with 6 homers in 326 at bats, certainly not horrible but not particularly good either. The Giants traded him to the Rangers, he bounced around a bit for a few years and was out of baseball after 2005. Murray had a .231 career MLB batting average with 8 homers in 633 at bats and 22 stolen bases. He’s a name I remember well because he was in the system for so long, but never worked out at the big league level.
3. Brooks Kieschnick – Chicago Cubs (10th Overall/1993)
Long before Shohei Ohtani, there was a young up and coming player named Brooks Kieschnick who baseball fans all believed was the next Babe Ruth – a player who could both pitch and hit an an elite level. He is the only player to have won the Dick Howser Trophy – given to the best college baseball player of the year – twice. For the Texas Longhorns, Kieschnick hit .360, crushing 43 home runs and driving in 215 runs. As a pitcher, he went 34-8 with a 3.05 ERA, earning a reputation as a legitimate two-way player who could be drafted as either a position player or pitcher – or both. In the 1993 MLB Draft, he was taken 10th overall by the Chicago Cubs, who decided that his offense, especially his power, was more important than his pitching and, hence, used him as a position player. The decision seemed like the right one as he moved through the minor leagues, hitting for power and average every step along the way. In 1995, he hit .295 with 23 home runs and a .370 on-base percentage for the Triple A Iowa Cubs. He was called up to the big leagues in 1996 and had an amazing debut performance, hitting his first big league homer and going 10 for 29, good enough for a .345 batting average. All signs pointed towards Kieschnick being a regular for the 1997 Cubs. However, he was reportedly “stunned and dejected” after being sent back to to Minor League camp during the last week of 1997 Spring Training. He was eventually called up but hit just .200 in 90 at bats. The next year, the Devil Rays claimed him in their expansion draft, but never promoted him to the big leagues. He ended up signing with the Reds in 2000, but went 0 for 12 with 5 strikeouts. However, he did have a bit of a resurgence with the Brewers in 2003 and 2004 as Kieschnick took up pitching again and was a decent arm coming out of the bullpen. He also seemed to hit better in his role, with a .300 average in 2003 with 7 bombs. However, he never played in an MLB game after 2004. He now owns Dispersion Group, a medical device distribution company in San Antonio.
2. Josh Booty – Florida Marlins (5th Overall/1994)
In 1994, the still brand new Florida Marlins thought they struck gold with an amazing athlete named Josh Booty, a two-way player who was so good in football, several D1 programs offered him scholarships. As a baseball player, he hit .429 with 25 steals and 12 homers and was the starting shortstop for the U.S. Junior Olympic National Team. He chose baseball and struggled to make contact in the minors. In 1995 in A ball, he hit just .187, striking out 130 times. The next year, he set a Midwest League record with 195 strikeouts. He hit just .206. His numbers were so poor, he would’ve been released if he was just another minor leaguer, but as a 5th overall pick, the Marlins kept pushing him closer to the big leagues. In Triple-A, he hit just .210 with 166 strikeouts but did smash 20 homers, and that was enough for the Marlins to promote him to the bigs. He had a hot start, going 3 for his first 5, but then hit just .158 in 1998 before leaving the game of baseball. He could never figure out how to hit a curve ball. Booty returned to football at LSU and made it to the NFL. After his football career, he started Big Dreams Ventures, a consulting and marketing company.
1. Brien Taylor – New York Yankees (1st Overall/1991)
At #1 is by far the consensus best player in the 1991 MLB Draft, Brien Taylor. At that time, Taylor was considered possibly the best High School pitcher of all time. The Yankees took him first overall and eventually signed him for at the time an insane $1.55 million. Taylor hired Scott Boras as an advisor. Boras said in 2006 that “Brien Taylor, to this day, is still the best High School Pitcher I’ve seen in my life.” He had a fastball that touched triple digits and struck out 213 out of 264 batters while walking only 28. No one could touch him. In his first year in the Minors, 1992, he pitched well, striking out 187 batters in 161 innings with a 2.57 ERA in High A Fort Lauderdale. The next season, in Double A, he went 13-7 with a 3.48 ERA – nothing insanely impressive but certainly good enough to expect he would make his big league debut in 1994. Then, on December 13th during the off season, there was the fistfight heard ‘round the baseball world. Brien Taylor, defending his brother, got into a fight and severely injured his shoulder. He need major surgery and missed the entire 1994 season. By the time he returned, he had lost 8 miles per hour off his fastball and completely lost his command. The Yankees were forced to keep him in Single A while he tried to work it out, but his numbers were absolutely atrocious. He went 0-5 with an 18.73 ERA and walked a ridiculous 43 batters in 16 innings. The Yankees eventually had no choice but to release him. After baseball, he worked for UPS, then as a beer distributor. Later, he was arrested and charged with cocaine trafficking and spent over 3 years in prison. It’s insane to think what would have had he never got into that fistfight as Taylor was on the fast track to the big leagues with some of the best stuff any pitching prospect has ever had.