April 4, 2024

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

TOP 15 MLB DRAFT BUSTS Of The 1980's!! - CAN'T MISS Prospects FALL Completely FLAT!!

April 4, 2024

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

Welcome to another edition of Humm Baby Busts and today we enter into the decade of the 1980’s, possibly the best decade ever for draft picks with names like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas and Roger Clemens among many other superstars. However, there were also many major busts, many whom were taken ahead of some of the legends I just mentioned. Many of these high picks taken in the top 10 never even made the big leagues. So, let’s get into it today with the Top 15 MLB Draft Busts of the 1980’s.

#15 Ty Griffin – 1988, 9th Overall – Chicago Cubs

The 1988 MLB Draft was full of massive talent and the Chicago Cubs made the tough decision to pass on Robin Ventura, who was taken 1 spot later by the White Sox. The Cubs instead went with a switch-hitting second baseman out of Georgia Tech named Ty Griffin, with plans to move him to third base due to already having Ryne Sandberg at 2nd. Griffin, a 5-tool talent, had stolen 50 bases in a season, just being caught 4 times and had big power potential as well. He hit .322 for his college career with 22 homers and 127 total steals. After the move third base, he struggled, making 23 errors in 1989 with Double-A Charlotte and also hit poorly with a .231 average, and just 3 home runs. In 1990 his average dropped to just .209 and he had injury problems with bursitis in his throwing shoulder. Griffin was never able to really produce at a high level in the minors, although his speed still resulted in 94 career minor league steals. From 1993 to 1997 he played in the Independent Leagues aside from one year, 1995, in which he played in Double-A with the Cardinals organization, hitting .274 with 11 homers and 12 steals. Griffin never made it the big leagues, but has no regrets about his playing career and went on to be the head coach at Tampa Catholic High School for 10 years.

#14 Drew Hall – 1984, 3rd Overall – Chicago Cubs

After losing 91 games in 1983, the Cubs had a chance to enhance their farm system with the 3rd overall pick in the 1984 MLB Draft. They passed over names like Jay Bell, Mark McGwire and Tom Glavine to select a left-handed pitcher named Drew Hall out of Moorhead State. He had just gone 9-1 with a 2.18 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 70 innings and was a member of the U.S. Olympic team. Unfortunately, his numbers fell drastically in the minor leagues, although he was serviceable. Hall went 10-7 in 1985 with a 4.67 ERA. He struck out 8.6 batters per nine but also walked 5.3 The following year in Double-A, he went 8-11 with a 3.58 ERA, good enough to be promoted to the big leagues. He started 4 games for the Cubs and went 1-2, giving up 12 runs and 10 walks in 23 innings. Hall was sent to the bullpen for the following year and struggled in the role until the Cubs traded him to the Rangers in a famous trade that sent Mitch Williams to Chicago. He was a serviceable relief pitcher for the Rangers in 1989 then the Expos in 1990 before spending the next four seasons in Triple-A before retiring. Hall had a career 5.21 ERA with a -1.2 WAR, but because he made the big leagues and had some moderate success as a reliever, he doesn’t come in too high on the list.

#13 Terry Blocker – 1981, 4th Overall – New York Mets

In 1981 with their 4th overall pick, the Mets went with a talented college outfielder named Terry Blocker. He had just completed a phenomenal year at Tennessee State, hitting .402 with 11 home runs, 11 triples and 34 steals in 35 attempts. In 119 college attempts, he was caught stealing just 3 times. He entered Low A in 1981 and was instantly electric, hitting .341 with 14 steals and 7 home runs in 36 games. The next year in Double-A, Blocker regressed some, hitting just .260 with 5 homers in 438 at bats, but he did steal 40 bases. His batting average improved over the next couple seasons, although his power never developed. Blocker was promoted to the big leagues in 1985 but went 1 for 15. The Mets never promoted him again despite a couple more solid seasons in Triple-A. He was traded to the Braves for Kevin Brown and got an extended shot in the bigs with 210 plate appearances, but hit just .212 with a .533 OPS and 1 single stolen base. 1989 was Blocker’s final pro season, and he hit .226 for Atlanta, but spent most of the year in the minors. Even his speed was gone at this point, as he stole just 4 bases all season long, but was caught 5 times.

In 1995, Blocker attended Spring Training as a replacement player with the Braves and made headlines after helping police track down the murderer of his teammate, David Shotkoski, who was shot by a man named Neal Evans during a robbery attempt in West Palm Beach. Blocker scoured through the worst parts of town, gathering information and ultimately discovering the name of the killer. Police made the arrest and offered reward money to Blocker, but he refused it, telling them to give the money to Shotkoski’s wife.

#12 Mike King – 1980, 4th Overall – Oakland Athletics

In 1980 with their 4th overall pick, the Oakland A’s tried to save some bonus money and drafted a talented pitcher out of a Division II school called Morningside University in Sioux City, Iowa. His name was Mike King. King dominated batters in his conference, winning the division’s Most Valuable Pitcher award, but he had never faced top level competition. He certainly deserved to be drafted after striking out 93 batters in 56 innings with a .47 ERA, but taking him 4th overall was a huge risk.

The A’s paid King only $35,000, the lowest bonus in the Top 25. Then, they made the baffling decision to throw him straight in Triple-A, where he would face seasoned hitters, many with big league experience. He went 0-4 with a 7.71 ERA, walking 31 batters in just 20 innings. The next year he was traded to the Cubs, who sent him to Single-A, where he should’ve been in the first place. With his confidence likely already busted, King went 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA in 11 starts, walking 41 batters in 49 innings. He was promoted to Double-A but was even worse with a 7.76 ERA. He ended up in the Yankees organization but never could completely solve his control issues. He was also not blowing too many hitters away, striking out just 5.4 batters per 9 throughout his minor league career. Ultimately, although King was a bust, I can’t put him too high on this list because he should’ve never been taken 4th overall and certainly should not have started his minor league career in Triple-A.

#11 Donald Harris – 1989, 5th Overall – Texas Rangers

With the 5th pick of the 1989 Draft, the Texas Rangers went with a raw but toolesy Texas Tech outfielder, Donald Harris, ahead of potential picks like Frank Thomas and Mo Vaughn. Harris was a multi-sport athlete who was also an All-Southwest Conference Safety for the Texas Tech. As a baseball player, he hit .322 with 10 homers, and a .938 OPS. He also had tremendous speed, although likely due to a coaching decision, he didn’t steal a lot of bases. He also missed a lot of baseball due to his football obligations. After a solid stint in rookie ball in 1989, Harris was sent to Single-A in 1990, but struggled, hitting just .184. In Double-A in 1992, he hit just .227 with a low .278 on-base percentage and 11 home runs. He stole 9 bases but was caught 8 times. Despite these stats, the Rangers promoted Harris and he had successful call-up, going 3 for 8 with a home run. But this small sample size was deceiving and in 1992, he hit .182 with 15 strikeouts in 33 at bats. They gave him one last look in 1993, but Harris hit .197 and retired after two more seasons in the minors. After retiring from baseball, he continues to stay around baseball, attending various camps and youth leagues, where he serves as a mentor and motivational speaker.

#10 Stan Hilton – 1983, 5th Overall – Oakland Athletics

1983 was a somewhat slow draft, but it did produce one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, Roger Clemens at #19. The A’s passed on Clemens and took a different right handed arm at #5 with Baylor University pitcher Stan Hilton. Hilton was among college baseball’s leaders in ERA and strikeouts, but his talent did not translate too well to the pros. In 1984 in High A with Modesto, he went 3-4 with a 4.95 ERA, only striking out 36 batters in over 56 innings. He was eventually promoted to Double-A in 1986, but in 19 starts, he had a 6.52 ERA, giving up 136 hits in 89 innings. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians and made it to Triple-A but did not show much improvement there and retired from baseball after the 1989 season, never having made it to the big leagues. He went on to become a professional pitching coach, coaching in the minor leagues as well as the independent leagues.

#9 Willie Ansley – 1988, 7th Overall – Houston Astros

From around 1985 to 1988, one of the most exciting and electric High School athletes in the country was named Willie Ansley and he dominated multiple sports at Plainview High School in Texas. His speed and agility were top notch and he had his choice of paths to take as graduation neared. His favorite sport was basketball, but he felt his best was football. He had a scholarship offer to play football for the Oklahoma Sooners and had committed to do so after meeting with head coach Barry Switzer. Then, the Houston Astros selected him 7th overall to play professional baseball after he hit .479 with 8 homers and 40 RBIs. For a $180,000 bonus, Ansley signed with the Astros and entered the minor league system as an outfielder. After a slow start in Single-A, Ansley got hot and after 103 games had a .309 average and .846 OPS and 53 steals. He was promoted to Double-A, but his numbers dropped there. His average dropped to .255 in 1990 then .232 in ‘91. He was not showing much power. He was finally promoted to Triple-A in 1993 and had a decent season, hitting .262 with 5 home runs and .390 on-base-percentage. It wasn’t enough to get him a big league promotion. During the minor league playoffs, he tore a ligament in his thumb and the Astros released him after the season. Ansley played some in the Mexican and Independent leagues before retiring and entering into coaching at Lamar High School, where he coached a young Anthony Rendon.

#8 Monty Fariss – 1988, 6th Overall – Texas Rangers

From 1986 to 1988, one of the brightest and hottest college hitters in the country played at Oklahoma State and his name was Monty Fariss. In 1988, the year he was drafted, Fariss was absolutely unstoppable, hitting .397 with 30 home runs and 114 RBIs in just 69 games. In 242 at bats, he struck out just 38 times. Fariss set a school record with a hit in 25 consecutive games and he had an incredible 1.368 OPS. Fariss looked like an absolute lock to be a future MLB superstar. The hype was real as he entered rookie ball and hit .396 with 4 home runs. The Rangers bumped him all the way up do Double-A, but that’s where Fariss ran into problems. In 49 games with the Tulsa Drillers, he hit just .224 with 3 homers in 17 games. In his first full season in Double-A in ‘89, Fariss had a decent .272 average but hit a mere 5 home runs in 497 at bats. In 1991, after a couple solid seasons in Triple-A, the Rangers promoted Fariss, but their expectations had fallen drastically after he showed very little power in the minors. He hit .258 with a home run in 38 at bats. The following season, after hitting just .217, the Rangers let Fariss go. He caught on with the Florida Marlins and hit .173 for them in their inaugural season. After two more seasons in the minors, Fariss was out of baseball with a career .217 average and -.2 WAR. Fariss moved back to Oklahoma and started a batting cage business. He was elected to the Oklahoma State Cowboys Baseball Hall of Fame.

#7 Kurt Brown – 1985, 5th Overall – Chicago White Sox

1985 was one of the strongest and most famous drafts of all time, producing talents like Will Clark, Barry Larkin, B.J. Surhoff, Bobby Witt, Rafael Palmeiro, Randy Johnson and Barry Bonds. One pick before the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Bonds out of Arizona State, the White Sox had a chance to do the same. Instead, they went with an 18-year old High School catcher named Kurt Brown, leading White Sox fans to play the “what if” game for years to come. Brown, who turned down a football scholarship to play at Long Beach State, was a pure hitter with a fantastic arm, but struggled out of the gate in the minors, hitting .205 with just 3 homers in rookie ball. He improved the next year, but not by much, hitting .234 in A-Ball. His progress was extremely slow as he played just well enough to hang around, but never showed big league talent. He didn’t play a full season in Double-A until 1990, when he hit .269 with 4 home runs. That same year, Barry Bonds won the MVP award and a Gold Glove with Pittsburgh. Brown played one last season in Triple-A in 1986 before retiring from baseball. He returned to school to earn his degree and entered into the finance world. He became the Vice President of First Montana Bank in 2020.

#6 Jeff Jackson – 1989, 4th Overall – Philadelphia Phillies

In 1989, the Philadelphia Phillies had the rare opportunity to have the 4th overall pick in the MLB draft and there was a ton of talent to choose from including the powerful Frank Thomas out of Auburn, Chuck Knoblauch from Texas A&M and Seton Hall’s Mo Vaughn. The Phillies instead went with a High School kid who had just hit over .500 his Senior Year and had tremendous potential, Jeff Jackson. He had won the Gatorade Player of the Year award and was considered a premiere 5-tool talent. However, he was just 17 years and old and had immediate trouble against the professional pitching he faced in the minors. After a rough stint in Rookie Ball, he played his first full season in Low A in 1990 and hit just .198 with 3 home runs. He stole 12 bases but was caught 11 times. A lower draft pick would’ve already been released, but Jackson was promoted to A Ball in 1991 and continued to struggle, hitting .225 with just 5 homers. He reportedly felt some culture shock and isolation during his first couple years in the minors and was pressured heavily by the press, with one journalist calling him “Clueless Jeff Jackson.” The Phillies hung onto Jackson all the way through the 1994 season in which he hit just .177 in Double-A. Realizing he was not going to meet expectations, he was finally released and caught on with the White Sox organization for a season before entering into the independent leagues. He hit much better there and was given one more shot in affiliated ball with the Pirates in 1998. He hit .278 with a couple homers with their High A team, but that would be his final season of professional baseball. Jackson has since started a Sports & Entertainment Agency and written a book called “The Gift & The Curse: The Jeff Jackson Story.”

#5 Bill Bene – 1988, 5th Overall – Los Angeles Dodgers

Back in the 1980’s, baseball cards of draft picks usually weren’t a thing. However, this Bill Bene card was fairly hot for a short while. Bene was taken 5th overall in the 1988 Draft by the Dodgers, the same team that also drafted Mike Piazza that year – with 1,390th pick. They also took Erik Karros with 140th. Luckily, those two worked out. The same cannot be said for Bill Bene, who had a lively arm that the Dodgers loved. Scouts saw his stuff and thought that he could be an elite arm, but needed some professional coaching to improve his control, which was absolutely terrible in college. It was a huge gamble to take him so high – and the Dodgers lost the bet. Bene went 5-0 in his professional season, but he must’ve gotten some solid run support, because he walked 45 batters in 65 innings and gave up 33 runs for an ERA of 4.55. The next year, in A-ball, the numbers started to become ridiculous and video-gamish in a bad way. In 27 innings, he struck out a decent 24 batters.. but walked 56. His ERA ballooned up to 12.64. In 1990 at Vero Beach, things really got out of hand as he walked 96 batters in 56 innings. The run support finally ended for Bene too, as he went 1-10 with an ERA of 6.99. If Bene wasn’t the 5th overall pick, he would’ve been released a long time ago at this point. Instead, he came back year after year, sometimes showing slight improvements in his control but never being able to consistently command the zone whatsoever. In 1994, still in the Dodgers organization, he walked 49 batters in 50 innings with a 6.04 ERA, strictly coming out of the bullpen at this point. Mercifully, the Dodgers released him. The Reds took a chance on him the next year with their Double-A team, but he walked 9 batters in 4 innings to end the experiment. He missed the ‘96 season and made a comeback attempt with the Angels in 1997, but the control just wasn’t there. Even at this point, he struck out 70 batters in 68 innings, but walked 66, going 0-4 with a 6.68 ERA. He was finally out of baseball, but continued to get busted even later in life, as he was arrested and sentenced to 6 months in jail in 2012 for operating a counterfeit karaoke business without paying taxes. Once a bust, always a bust.

#4 Mark Merchant – 1987, 2nd Overall – Pittsburgh Pirates

In 1987, the Pirates had the 2nd overall pick just after the Mariners, who used their 1st overall pick to take future Hall-of-Famer Ken Griffey Jr. With the 2nd pick, the Pirates went with another High School outfielder by the name of Mark Merchant. He was a speedy 5-tool talent who stole 48 bases in 49 attempts his Senior Year and hit .419 with 5 home runs. The Pirates hoped he would develop even more power in the minor leagues. In his first year in rookie, Merchant hit .265 with 3 homers and 33 steals in 50 games, a decent start. Then, halfway through the next season, he separated his shoulder diving for a ball, ending his season. He was only hitting .242 at the time with a couple home runs and the Pirates traded him to the Mariners, who now had both Griffey Jr. and Merchant, the top 2 picks of the ‘87 draft. However, Merchant didn’t do much better in the Mariners organization, putting up below average numbers for several years in the minors, while also battling multiple injuries. After hitting .244 with a .685 OPS in Double-A in 1992, the M’s released him. Merchant considered retirement but instead signed with the Reds and showed some signs of why he was originally drafted second overall. He hit .301 with 17 home runs in Double-A in 1993, earning a promotion to Triple-A. But he never made it to the big leagues. Merchant ended up in the Independent leagues and spent some time in the White Sox and Royals organizations, playing all the way through the 1998 season. “To be able to still have good success in Double-A, when I couldn’t run or throw like I used to, says a lot,” Merchant said. “I gave it everything I had. I played those last seven years with one arm and one leg.” After retirement, Merchant earned his real estate license and started his own business near Denver, Colorado.

#3 Augie Schmidt – 1982, 2nd Overall – Toronto Blue Jays

During the late 70’s, a High School player named Augie Schmidt was already making headlines and was drafted by the Orioles in the 9th round of the ‘79 draft. Instead of signing with the O’s, Schmidt went to play college ball at the University of New Orleans and his draft stock only skyrocketed from there after he hit .352 with an OPS over 1.000 while playing elite defense at shortstop. In 1981 in over 200 at bats, he struck out just 16 times while walking 52. He had an advanced knowledge of the strike zone and was one of the finest pure hitters in the draft. In 1982, the Blue Jays took him 2nd overall. He hit well through the low levels of the minors, but once Schmidt hit Triple-A in 1984, on the verge of the big leagues, he hit a snag. In 46 games with Syracuse, he hit just .201 with a .280 on-base-percentage, but he did battle some injuries including a fractured wrist. He still put the ball in play, but without much authority. He didn’t hit a single home run despite crushing 14 his final season in college. “The aluminum bat helped me an awful lot,” he admitted.

The Blue Jays decided to move on from Schmidt and traded him to the Giants. With the Giants Double-A and Triple-A teams, he improved his average to .273 but still hit zero home runs. The Giants released him and he caught on with Twins for his final pro season in 1986 when Schmidt hit just .226 in A-Ball. After his career, he entered coaching and went on to become the head coach at Carthage College, where he has led the team to multiple division titles and championship runs.

#2 Garry Harris – 1980, 2nd Overall – Toronto Blue Jays

The 1980 Draft had some phenomenal 5-tool talents available including Billy Beane, Darryl Strawberry, Kelly Gruber, and the player the Blue Jays took second overall, Garry Harris. While Billy Beane can also be considered a bust, at least he made it to the big leagues and wasn’t picked until #23. Harris was taken 2nd and had just hit .426 his Senior Year in High School with 16 steals in 16 attempts. Unfortunately, he was very raw and unproven against top level talent. The Blue Jays quickly found out he would likely not be their future shortstop as they had hoped. He made 54 errors in rookie ball, worse than any other player in the minor leagues. He hit .272 but with very little power to speak of. The next season in A ball, over a full season, Harris hit .253 with 15 homers, still struggling defensively. His average dropped again the next year to .235 then .224 in Double-A in 1983. Harris played poor defense, struck out too much, did not show much power and could not hit for a high average. His on-base-percentage was just .266. The Blue Jays released him after 1983 but in a creative move, they picked up Kelly Gruber from Cleveland in the Rule 5 Draft, which gave them another shortstop from the 1980 draft. Gruber worked out with the Jays and ended up becoming a staple in the Toronto lineup all the way through 1992, the year they won their first World Series. So, while Harris was a bust, the 1980 first round turned out okay for Toronto. As for Garry Harris, he went on to work for the city of San Diego for 25 years before retiring and becoming a do-it-yourself car mechanic. He spent most of his time with his family until passing away in 2022.

#1 Shawn Abner – 1984, 1st Overall – New York Mets

Coming in as my #1 Draft Bust of the 80’s is Shawn Abner. It was the 1984 Draft and the Mets were looking to build the best outfield in baseball. They already had Darryl Strawberry and Billy Beane was getting ready to get promoted. They identified Shawn Abner as an “all-around, can’t miss prospect.” So, the Mets took him as the #1 overall pick, ahead of USC star Mark McGwire. He hit for decent average in the minors but his power was lacking. In 1986 with the Double-A Jackson Mets, he hit .266 with 14 homers and a .739 OPS. The Mets decided to include him in a blockbuster 8-man deal that sent Kevin Mitchell to the Padres for Kevin McReynolds. With the Las Vegas Stars Triple-A team in ‘87, he hit .300 with 11 home runs and the Pads decided to give him a shot in the big leagues. Unfortunately, he was not very good at all, hitting .181 in 1988 and .187 in 1989. He didn’t even offer any power to offset the low batting averages. He was let go by the Padres and spent some time with the Angels and White Sox before spending the entire 1994 season in the minors with the Royals organization. He then crossed the picket line and joined the replacement players in 1995 Spring Training. He never played in the big leagues again. In 2020, he was sentenced to 4.5 to 23 months in prison for animal cruelty after leaving his dog at home for over a month, resulting in the dog passing away. Apparently, he didn’t ask any one to care for the dog while he was gone. Just for that terrible act and due to the fact that he was a #1 overall pick who had a -1.3 career WAR, I’m going to put Abner as my #1 bust of the 1980’s.

And that does it for today’s video on the biggest draft busts of the 1980’s; I hope you enjoyed it; I appreciate all the support! Look forward to more draft busts videos in the future as well as other interesting documentaries and countdowns as well. Have a wonderful day; hit that thumbs up and subscribe button; leave a comment down below and we’ll talk to you in the next one.

February 6, 2024

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

Top 15 MLB Draft BUSTS Of the 1990's!!.. Where Are They Now?!? Some LITERAL BUSTS For Crimes!!

February 6, 2024

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

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.

November 30, 2022

Erik Reyes

major league baseball, mlb, mlb draft busts

10 More MLB Draft BUSTS...

November 30, 2022

Erik Reyes

major league baseball, mlb, mlb draft busts

Today, we’ll be counting 10 more busts from professional baseball. I received a lot of great suggestions, but there are certain players who, while they certainly never lived up to the massive hype, still had solid MLB careers. Gregg Jeffries, for example, was supposed to be a next-level superstar, but was never that great. Still, he had a 14 year career, made 2 All Star teams and had a career .289 batting average. He even appeared on the 2006 Hall of Fame ballot and got two votes. So, for the purposes of this list, that is not a bust. For me, a bust is a high draft pick, highly touted prospect who generates big hype and had a far less than average big league career if he made it to the big leagues at all – and a major bust certainly never made an All Star team. So, let’s get started with ten more busts.

10 Bill Bene, P.

9. Bubba Starling, OF

A recent massive prospect, Bubba Starling was a 3-sport star and the #1 baseball recruit in the nation back in 2011. He was seen as the most athletic player in the entire draft and the Royals took him with the 5th overall selection, just ahead of Anthony Rendon, who the Nationals took at #6. Starling was also taken ahead of Francisco Lindor, Javy Baez, George Springer and Brandon Nimmo in an extremely talented draft class. His minor league career was nothing special. In a full season in A Ball in 2014, he hit just .218 with 8 home runs and 17 stolen bases. Still, he slowly moved through the system, battling injuries at times, until finally making his big league debut in 2019, 8 years after he was drafted. In 56 games, he hit .215 with 4 homers and a .255 on-base percentage. In the shortened 2020 season, he was even worse, hitting just .170 in 35 games. That offseason, he was non-tendered by the Royals. Starling re-signed a minor league deal for 2021 and played his last year of professional baseball with Triple A Omaha, hitting .258 with 7 home runs before announcing his retirement from the game. He retired with a .204 MLB batting average.

8. Preston Mattingly, SS.

The next bust was taken in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers and his name is Preston Mattingly. This 6’3” 200 lb power hitter, the son of should-be Hall of Famer Don Mattingly, impressed scouts in High School with massive power, speed and a great glove. Like his dad, he signed out of High School and went to Rookie League, where he hit .290 with a home run. In 2007, with the Great Lakes Loons in A Ball, he struggled, hitting just .210 with 3 home runs in 404 at bats. This wasn’t a great sign for Mattingly’s development and he wasn’t promoted to High A until 2009, when he hit .238 with just 8 home runs despite over 500 at bats. This was a situation where a player didn’t get hurt, wasn’t rushed to the big leagues, wasn’t self-destructive or addicted to drugs… he simply couldn’t hit that well at the professional level. Perhaps, as the son of Don Mattingly, he was overvalued. His last year was 2011, when he hit .232 with 5 home runs. He signed with the Yankees in 2012 but was released before the end of Spring Training. Mattingly, however, did return to college to play Division I basketball and was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2021 to be their Minor League Director.

7. Ben McDonald, P

Next up is a 6’7” 212 lb machine who led the 1988 U.S. Olympic baseball team to a gold medal and helped Louisiana State reach the College World Series twice. His name is Ben McDonald and he was taken as the #1 overall pick in the 1989 MLB Draft and given a signing bonus of $350,000. Unfortunately, like many draft busts, we was rushed to the Major Leagues. McDonald pitched in only 2 minor league games in A Ball, throwing 9 solid innings , allowing 2 runs and 10 hits while striking out 9. It was a nice start to his minor league career but certainly not enough to warrant an immediate call up after two minor league games. He was brought up anyway and against major league hitting, the young prospect allowed 7 runs in 7 1/3rd innings while striking out just 3. He had some moderate success the next year and eventually became a part of the Orioles rotation but fell quite short of the hype, never making an All Star Team and eventually retiring with a 78-70 record and 3.91 ERA. McDonald wasn’t a massive bust, but as an #1 overall selection, he still makes this list.

6. Kiki Jones, P

In the first round of the 1989 MLB Draft, the Dodgers were fortunate to have three selections. Two of them, 22nd overall Tom Goodwin and 28th overall Jamie McAndrew, made it to the big leagues. The other pick, who was taken as the 15th overall selection, never made it to the big leagues. His name – Kiki Jones. He was a High School phenom who struck out 100 batters in 61 innings with a 1.14 ERA. Baseball America named him the country’s top High School prospect. In his first minor league season in the Pioneer League, he dazzled, going 8-0 with a 1.58 ERA, including two complete game shutouts. Instantly, Jones became one of MLB’s hottest up-and-coming Minor League prospects. Unfortunately, that was the last great season of pro baseball Jones would have. The next year, after going 3-3 with Bakersfield in A Ball, Jones season ended due to tendinitis. He made 9 starts at Vero Beach in 1991, going 3-1 with a 4.1 ERA, but continued to struggle with injuries In 3 starts at Double A in 1993, Jones went 0-1 with a 4.5 ERA. His strikeout numbers were gradually dropping off as well. By 1994 he was completely out of baseball. Jones made a comeback attempt in 1998 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization but was ineffective in 3 appearances in high A. His last hurrah was a brief run with the Rangers High A team in 2001, when he went 0-1 with an 18.69 ERA. Jones is one of the many sad stories of insanely talented young pitchers getting injured early in their minor league careers and never being able to make it to the big leagues.

5. Calvin Murray, OF

Calvin Murray with the San Francisco Giants

As a Giants fan, long before the three World Series championships, I remember vividly the hype around an up-and-coming prospect named Calvin Murray. He 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.

4. Billy Beane, OF

One of the most famous busts in MLB history is Billy Beane, the man who went on to become the GM of the Moneyball era Oakland A’s and who was portrayed on the big screen by one Brad Pitt. Before all of that, he was considered one of the top prospects in High School – a 5-tool talent who hit over .500 during his sophomore and junior years. Scouts projected him a future superstar and it was the New York Mets who grabbed him in the first round of the 1980 MLB Draft. The Mets also took two other players in the first round – Darryl Strawberry and John Gibbons, both of whom they put in Rookie Ball. As for Beane, he started in Low A and hit just .210 with a home run. The next year, he hit .268 but struck out 125 times in 403 at bats. His trip through the system was slow. In 1983, while Strawberry was in his first full MLB season, Beane was still in Double-A, hitting .246 with 11 homers. In ‘84, again in Double-A, he performed well enough to finally earn a callup to the big leagues, where he went 1 for 10. Despite another strong minor league season in 1985, the Mets seemed ready to move on from Beane and traded him to the Twins, who gave him his first extended shot in the big leagues. Beane hit .213 with 3 home runs. He also played briefly for the Tigers and A’s, never making it at the MLB level as a player. Fortunately, he has since become a successful baseball executive despite being one of the most noteworthy busts in MLB history.

3. Eddie Bane, P

Drafted in the first round out of Arizona State in 1973, Eddie Bane was considered a can’t miss pitching prospect, good enough in college to be elected into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. His career college stats are ridiculous – a 40-4 record with a 1.64 ERA. He broke and still holds the ASU strikeout record and even threw a perfect game. Bane also won a silver medal in the 1971 Pan-American Games. Unfortunately, the Twins made the same mistake the Rangers made with the first overall selection in the ‘73 draft, David Clyde, and promoted Bane directly to the big leagues. He completely bypassed the minors, which, of course, is a recipe for disaster. He went 0-5 with the Twins in 1973 with a 4.92 ERA. Like Clyde, he showed signs of brilliance and had a few good games here and there, but simply wasn’t ready for the big leagues. So, they put him in Triple-A for the next couple years where, after first getting used to life in the big leagues, had to begin his minor league career. He was finally called back up in 1975, started 4 games and went 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA. This would be his best season. The next year, Bane went 4-7 with a 5.11 ERA and never pitched in the big leagues again. Bane showed massive potential throughout his pro career but the mishandling of him by the impatient Twins front office was likely a major contributor in Bane never being able to really take off in the big leagues.

2. Donovan Tate, OF.

In the 2009 MLB Draft, the San Diego Padres had the third overall pick and with it, took Donovan Tate, a 6’3” 200 lb. High School superstar. He was a 5-tool talent with insane speed, a powerful arm and big stats – a .512 batting average and 9 bombs his Senior Year, which led his team to the Georgia State Championship. The Padres snagged him, offering a $6.7 Million Bonus, and taking him ahead of Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and Mike Trout. Unfortunately, the massive talent he showed in High School never translated to pro ball. In his first year, Tate hit .222 with 2 homers in rookie ball. The next year, he played in only 39 games in A Ball, struggling with injuries such as a sports hernia, broken jaw and sprained shoulder. He also had problems with non-PED drug abuse and in June of 2011, was suspended and required to attend a drug treatment program. He stayed relatively healthy in 2012, but hit just .226 with one home run in 440 at bats in A Ball. Tate stuck around that level through 2016, never making it to the Double A. The 26-year old retired from baseball and returned to college to play quarterback for the Arizona Wildcats. The Padres, especially during the 2000’s, were known for poor drafting but this may have been their biggest bust of all as he never even made passed High A.

1. Dustin Ackley, 2B/OF

Dustin Ackley with the Los Angeles Angels

My #1 bust in today’s article is Dustin Ackley, who was drafted just before Donovan Tate – which makes him the 2nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. Number 1, by the way, was Stephen Strasburg. Ackley was a fantastic college player who broke several North Carolina records including 119 hits in a season, which he did in 73 games. In his three college seasons, he hit .402, .417 and .417 respectively with 22 bombs in his final year. He won multiple player of the year awards and was ranked as the #1 college prospect in many publications, including Baseball America. He was considered the best and most professional-ready offensive player in a draft that included Mike Trout. The Mariners were confident enough in his abilities to agree to a 5-year $7.5 million MLB contract before he signed. His first full season in the minors was split between Double-A and Triple-A. He hit .267 with 7 homers, not terrible but definitely not second-overall pick numbers. He looked better in 2011, hitting .303 with 9 homers through 66 games, earning a promotion to the big leagues. He hit .273 with 6 bombs and would be a regular for the Mariners in 2012. Unfortunately, he wasn’t great, hitting just .226 with 12 homers and an on-base percentage under .300. He ended up back in Triple-A for a portion of 2013, hitting well, but still struggling at the big league level. He had a few good streaks and definitely showed some potential from time to time, but would fall into prolonged slumps, and never got close to becoming the player he was supposed to be. Eventually, the Mariners dealt him to the Yankees. He battled injuries there for 2 years, never contributing much, then signing with the Angels, where he stayed in Triple-A for two years. Finally, in 2019, the Mariners signed him to return to his original organization, but he was released during Spring Training. He ended up hitting .241 with 512 hits and over 2,000 big league at bats, which is why he didn’t quite make my Top 10 busts, but given the fact that he was one of the most decorated college players ever and he was hyped up to the best offensive player in the draft, he certainly earned bust status in my opinion.

October 31, 2022

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

The 10 Biggest MLB Draft BUSTS Of All Time

October 31, 2022

Erik Reyes

mlb, major league baseball

One of the most exciting elements of being a Major League Baseball fan is the MLB Draft, which allows fans and the media to hype up some of the most talented young baseball players in the country as teams select them to enter into their organization. Oftentimes even at this early stage, elite talent can be identified. We use terms like “can’t miss-prospect” and “insanely high ceiling” with certain names. Sometimes, those labels turn out completely right and a player like Chipper Jones or Ken Griffey Jr. get selected first overall in the Draft then go on to have Hall of Fame careers.

However, when it comes to drafting young High School or College players who still have to go through years of the Minor Leagues to prove themselves, there is never a guarantee. Many times, even the most supposed “can’t miss” prospect, for some reason or another, never ends up becoming the player they were supposed to – and sometimes they don’t even make it to the Major Leagues. In today’s video, we’re going to count down the 10 biggest Draft Busts in MLB history… by the way, one player who didn’t make my Top 10 is Matt Bush – who has been considered a huge bust as a #1 overall pick who then had massive off-the-field issues that derailed his career. However, because he seems to have gotten his life together and made it to the big leagues in 2016 and is still, as of 2022, pitching in the big leagues at age 36, he didn’t quite my Top 10 as I look at his career more like a success story than a bust. So, let’s get started at #10…

#10 Todd Van Poppel, Pitcher

Back in the late 80’s, when I first became a huge baseball fan, there wasn’t as much access to information on draft picks and for the most part, the average fan, especially one who was 9 years old like myself, had no knowledge about the newest draft picks. However, one name was so hot that even I knew all about Todd Van Poppel, an absolute phenom who had a 0.97 ERA and 170 strikeouts in his final High School season out of Arlington, Texas. After the Oakland A’s drafted him in the First Round, he even got a 7-11 Superstar 3D Coin usually only made for the top Superstars of the Game. My friends who were A’s fans bragged about him and how the A’s, after their 1989 championship, were destined to start a huge dynasty with Van Poppel leading the way once he got to the big leagues. However, Van Poppel and his agent must have been overconfident as they had the A’s structure the contract as an MLB deal from the onset, allowing only a certain amount of Minor League appearances. For this reason, the A’s had to accelerate his path through the Minors, promoting him to Double A after only 8 appearances in Single A and then after just 24 appearances in Double A – and despite a 6-13 record – he was brought up to the Big Leagues, where he gave up 5 runs and 7 hits in his only start in 1991. He was then injured for much of 1992 and ended up spending 5 years with the A’s, recording a 5.75 ERA. Eventually, he went to Detroit where he had an atrocious 11.39 ERA over 9 starts in 1996. Somehow, he was still able to stick around the big leagues for a while, however, pitching out of the bullpen the Cubs, Rangers, Reds and Pirates and retired after an 11-year career, which is why he isn’t higher on this list. Nevertheless, the hype never got close to his actual performance and as such, Todd Van Poppel is #10 on my list of the top 10 MLB Busts of all time.

#9 Bryan Bullington, Pitcher.

In the 2002 MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the first overall selection and took what looked like a safe pick – a 21 year old college 6’5 225 lb pitcher out of Ball State who set a university record for strikeouts and led his league in victories and ERA that season – his name was Bryan Bullington. The only risk might be that Ball State did not compete as one of the “Power 5” conferences, and so the competition was a big lighter than other schools. Nevertheless, it felt like perhaps a safer pick than High School kids like Zack Greinke and Prince Fielder. Of course, either of them would have worked out much better. Still, Major League teams were aware of Bullington since his High School days when he went 15-0 in 1999 and pitched a one-hitter in the State Finals. The Royals took him in the 37th round but he did not sign. By 2002, he was considered one of if not the best collegiate pitcher in the country. After the Pirates took him first overall, he was immediately placed in the Top 100 MLB Prospects list, before even appearing in a Minor League game. Then, he moved up that list quickly after going 5-1 with a 1.39 ERA for the Class-A Hickory Crawdads. By 2004, he was a Double-A All Star and even pitched a scoreless inning in the Futures Game at Fenway Park. Then, after pitching well in Triple A, Bullington was finally promoted, but only pitched in one game before damaging his shoulder. He needed major surgery and missed the entire 2006 season. In 2007, he had decent comeback season in Triple A with an 11-9 record an ERA of exactly 4, but then went 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA during his September call-up. He was never able to figure it out at the big league level and ended pitching for the Indians, Blue Jays and Royals, finishing his career with exactly one Major League win.

#8 Brooks Kieschnick, OF & Pitcher.

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 shuttled 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.

#7 Danny Goodwin, Catcher, First Base, DH.

At #7 we have a player who was so good as a young amateur ballplayer that he was selected first overall – twice. First, out of High School, the Chicago White Sox took Goodwin with the first overall selection in 1971. He decided not to sign and attended Southern University and A&M in Baton Rouge. There, he was a three-time All American and 1975 College Player of the Year. He hit .408 with an incredible .543 on-base-percentage and 1.271 OPS. Goodwin was considered the best player again in the 1975 MLB Draft and this time, it was the California Angels who had the first overall pick. They took Goodwin and offered a record $150,000 Bonus. The Angels were not going to be patient with Goodwin’s development and assigned him directly to Double A where he hit .275 with 2 home runs. Then, after just 46 games in the Minor Leagues, the Angels promoted Goodwin. After being rushed to the big leagues, he went 1 for 10 with 5 strikeouts. Perhaps realizing he was rushed, the Angels sent him all the way back to A ball in 1976, a move that couldn’t have helped his confidence. Nevertheless, the hit .306 between Double A and Triple A and in 1977, for the first time, he played in Triple A, hitting .305 with 10 home runs in 77 games. Nearly 2 years after his first promotion, he finally made it back to the big leagues but hit just .209 in 91 at bats with a single home run. The Angels also, despite drafting him as a catcher, never allowed him to wear a glove. He only pinch hit or played DH. He never worked out with the Angels and ended up in Minnesota, where he played in a part-time role as a 1st baseman and pinch hitter. He played in the A’s organization from 1982 to 1985, getting only 52 big league at bats and hitting .212. For a player who was drafted first overall twice, he was a monumental bust, but a lot of the blame could go to the Angels, who never gave him a proper Minor League development.

#6 David Clyde, Pitcher.

In probably the most extreme example of a team rushing a young prospect, we have pitcher David Clyde. Clyde was a High School phenom who was billed as the next Sandy Koufax. In 1973, he was the consensus best player available and the Texas Rangers, who had the first overall pick after losing 100 games in 1972, snagged him and gave him a record $125,000 bonus, which would be broken by the previously mentioned Danny Goodwin. Clyde signed with Texas and said his goal was to become the greatest pitcher ever. Unfortunately, Texas Rangers owner Bob Short may not have had Clyde’s best interests in mind. It was already agreed that Clyde would skip the minors and go straight to the big leagues for his first two starts before heading to the minors for some proper development. However, after Short noticed Clyde’s first start resulted in the first sellout in Arlington Stadium history, he forced the team keep him on the big league roster. He ended his rookie year with a 4-8 record and 5.01 ERA, never having pitched an inning in the Minor Leagues. The next year, Billy Martin was hired as manager and fought with the GM over Clyde’s future. Martin knew he was not ready for the big leagues. Still, he stayed and in 1974, Clyde went 3-9 with a 4.38 ERA. Considering he went straight from High School to the big leagues, his numbers weren’t even that terrible and had he been given a normal Minor League career, who knows what would have become of David Clyde. By the time he was finally sent to the minors in 1975, he had already injured his shoulder and was never the same. After surgery, he bounced around the minors with some MLB opportunites with the Indians, but never found any consistency. He retired with an 18-33 record and 4.63 ERA.

#5 Shawn Abner, Outfielder.

It was the 1984 Draft and the Mets were looking to build the best outfield in baseball. They already had Darryl Strawberry and Billy Beane was just ready to get promoted. They identified Shawn Abner as an “all-around, can’t miss prospect.” So, the Mets took him as the #1 overall pick, ahead of USC star Mark McGwire. He hit for decent average in the minors but his power was lacking. The Mets decided to include him in a blockbuster 8-man deal that sent Kevin Mitchell to the Padres for Kevin McReynolds. In 1987, he made his big league debut for San Diego. Unfortunately, he was never great, hitting .181 in 1988 and .187 in 1989. He didn’t even offer any power to offset the low batting averages. He played his last year in the big leagues in 1992, hitting .279 with a home run. Injuries prevented him from making it back to the big leagues after that. In 2020, he was sentenced to 4.5 to 23 months in prison for animal cruelty after leaving his dog at home for over a month, resulting in the dog passing away. Apparently, he didn’t ask any one to care for the dog while he was gone.

#4 Steve Chilcott, Catcher.

Unfortunately for the New York Mets, Shawn Abner isn’t even the worst #1 overall pick as far as MLB production. The 1966 MLB Draft produced some amazing MLB players such as Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Charlie Hough. In fact, 3 of the top 4 picks ended up being MLB All Stars and one, the second overall pick, was a Hall of Famer named Reggie Jackson. However, with the #1 overall pick, the New York Mets took Steve Chilcott out of Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster, California. He was a left-handed hitting catcher with a quick bat and extraordinary potential. He showed some of that potential in the minors. He was hitting .290 in Single A with a .365 on-base percentage and 45 runs driven in after 79 games when he dove back into first base on a pick-off attempt. It was a normal play we see hundreds of times per season, but on this particular play, Chilcott jammed his hand into the base and dislocated his shoulder, ending his season. The next year, he came back but hit just .189 for Visalia. Chilcott had injury issues for the rest of his career and never made it to the big leagues. After retirement, Chilcott became a firefighter and later a full-time contractor, constructing and remodeling homes.

#3 Al Chambers, DH/Outfield.

The Mariners have had the #1 overall pick four times in their franchise history. Twice, they hit the jackpot – once with Ken Griffey Jr. and once with Alex Rodriguez. Another #1 pick, pitcher Mike Moore, had a solid 14 year career. But in 1979, the M’s weren’t so lucky. After losing 104 games and finishing dead last in 1978, the Seattle Mariners were awarded the first overall pick in 1979. With it, they selected an outfielder out of John Harris High School in Pennsylvania named Al Chambers. Chambers seemed to have all the tools, including blazing speed, big power and a great glove in the field. At 6’4, 217 lbs, he had the potential to become an absolute monster at the big league level. In 1989 with the San Jose Missions, he hit .301 with a .388 on-base percentage. The following year, his power showed up with 20 bombs for the Double A Lynn Sailors. Then in Triple A, he had a huge year, hitting .331 with 75 RBIs in just 99 games for the Salt Lake City Gulls. He finally got his opportunity and drove in four runs in his big league debut. However, something didn’t feel right.

"The veterans on the team didn't take me under their wing," he said. "It was a tough situation for me. I talked to other rookies in the league who told me how the veterans showed them the ropes, but it never happened in Seattle."

He ended up hitting just .209 for the Mariners in 67 at bats in 1983 and was devastated when they set him back to the minors. In ‘84, he hit .225. In ‘85, he was only given four big league at bats despite hitting .308 with a .402 on base percentage in Triple A. He didn’t have any major injuries or off-the-field issues. It just wasn’t meant to be for Chambers. “You only get so many breaks,” he said. He went on to work the swing shift at the Hershey Foods Factory in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,

#2 Adam Johnson, Pitcher.

The Minnesota Twins first selected Adam Johnson out of High School in 1997 Draft, but he chose to attend college instead. He set a Cal State Fullerton record with 365 strikeouts and was named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year. In 2000, he struck out 166 batters in 119 innings. In that year’s MLB Draft, the Twins signed him again, but this time – with the second overall pick. Only Adrian Gonzalez was taken higher. Johnson’s strikeout stuff translated to the pros immediately as he struck out 92 batters in 69 Single A innings for the Fort Myers Miracle, maintaining a 2.47 ERA. The next season, in 2001, he was pushed through the Minors quickly and made his big league debut. Unfortunately, that’s where his success ended as he gave up 23 runs in 25 innings while only striking out 17. In 2002, he failed to make the team out of Spring Training and when given his assignment papers, according to former Twins player Michael Cuddyer, he crumbled them up and stormed out of the manager’s office. He only pitched in 2 more MLB games, although he hung around the minors and independent leagues through 2009.

#1 Brien Taylor, Pitcher.