Well, little did most of America know, the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft kicks off on June 5th. Unlike the NFL Draft and it’s months of hypothesizing and glory holing that goes on before it and the NBA Draft with their wily lottery draft. No, the MLB draft loses a little luster to the quick and to the point drafts of the NFL and NBA. With 50 rounds plus Supplemental drafts, the MLB draft is carried out in dark draft rooms over telephones with about as much fanfare as your wife has to watching your fantasy baseball draft.

Another reason that the MLB Draft draws as much attention as the World Series of Lumberjacks, besides the 41 more rounds that it has on the NFL and NBA combined, is that while most first rounders in the NFL and NBA become immediate stars, MLB first rounders quite often wash out easier than the cast of Cop Rock.

That being said, let’s go through the past 20 years of #1 overall MLB draft picks and look at where they are now.

1987 – Ken Griffey Jr. – OF – Seattle Mariners - If it hadn’t been for a hamstring injury in 2001, we could have been watching “The Kid” break Bonds’ record right about now. But, we’ll have to settle for 500+ now and Cooperstown in his near future.

1988 – Andy Benes – P – San Diego Padres - Elaine’s brother did pretty well for himself, retiring in 2002 with 2000 strikeouts and 155 wins. An All-Star in 1993, MLB leader in losses and strikeouts in 1994, and coming in third in Cy Young balloting in 1996. He was also the very first Diamondback in the history of Diamondbacks.

1989 – Ben McDonald – P – Baltimore Orioles - If you didn’t have the Upper Deck Ben McDonald rookie card with him glaring menacingly down from his perch 6 feet, 7 inches from the ground hard cased on your dresser…well…maybe you weren’t as naive as I was when he was drafted. Big Ben came in with a whisper and left with a fizzle in 1997. Even when he was at his best, the suckass Oriole offense kept him below .500 on the Win-Loss chart.

1990 – Chipper Jones – SS – Atlanta Braves -He’s done one or two good things in his career, but I can’t get behind a man with a wrap around sunglass tan line that goes by “Chipper”.

1991 – Brien Taylor – P – New York Yankees - The biggest bust on the list so far was also one of the most hyped players of my childhood. I remember with great clarity the moment I pulled his rookie card from a pack and my jaw dropped. I had just wondered into a WINDFALL! I’m retiring in COSTA RICA! He seemed well on his way, but in 1993 he tore his labrum in a fistfight and fell apart. He never got above Double A again, and now flips houses for profit.

1992 – Phil Nevin – 3B – Houston Astros - At one point, one of the most feared fantasy threats on the hot corner, Nevin’s name eventually became synonymous with 60-Day Disabled List. He farted around the league injuring various appendages from 2001-2006 where he retired.

1993 – Alex Rodriguez – SS – Seattle Mariners -He turned out to be pretty good.

1994 – Paul Wilson – P – New York Mets - Coming in with the Mets in 1996, Wilson sucked going 5-12 with 109 Ks and a 5.38 pre-Game of Shadows ERA. He didn’t see the majors again until with the Devil Rays in 2000 where he continued to further hitters careers for 5 years before retiring in the minors in 2006 with a career 40-58 record and a batter friendly 1.2 HR/9 career average.

1995 – Darin Erstad – OF,P – California Angels - Erstad started off his career with 5 years of VERY respectable baseball, culminating with an unreal 2000 when he went 121/25/100/28/.355. He followed that up with a 2001 that went like this: 89/9/63/24/.258 and he never got better. He currently is a spare body for the Astros.

1996 – Kris Benson – P – Pittsburgh Pirates - Benson’s biggest post 1996 #1 overall selection achievement is repeatedly nailing the former Mrs. Benson.

1997 – Matt Anderson – P – Detroit Tigers - One of the only relief pitchers selected #1 overall in the history of MLB Drafts, Anderson routinely averaged almost one strikeout per inning in relief for much of his career. However, with a career ERA of 5.19 and a HR/9 average of 1.05, his reliability was always in question. After a short stint as closer for the Tigers in 2001, Anderson eventually found himself bouncing around the minors where he remains today in the Rockies farm system.

1998 – Pat Burrell – 1B – Philadelphia - A shadowy figure to own in the fantasy world, Burrell is notorious for ups and downs. Will he hit 35 HRs or will he hit 18? Will he hit .305 or will he hit .205? No one ever knows, you just have to close your eyes a leap when his name comes around on the fantasy draft board.

1999 – Josh Hamilton – OF – Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Almost 10 years since he was drafted Hamilton is starting to live up to the promise he had before rewriting The Basketball Diaries for four years.

2000 – Adrian Gonzalez – 1B – Florida Marlins - Adrian Gonzalez is quietly becoming one of the best first basemen in the league as we speak.

2001 – Joe Mauer – C – Minnesota Twins - With a haughty batting title in 2006 and sideburns to match, Joe Mauer has become, in my opinion, one of the most overrated players in baseball.

2002 – Bryan Bullington – P – Pittsburgh Pirates - Originally drafted #1111 overall in 1999, he went to college until 2002 and became #1. Good for him. I hope he saved his signing bonus. Bullington has played at all levels, apparently throwing cabbage balls. He currently sports a 3.93 K/9 average and a 5.89 ERA at the major league level. That’s also why he’s currently playing Triple A ball.

2003 – Delmon Young – OF – Tampa Bay Devil Rays - More famous for throwing his bat at an umpire and receiving a 50 game suspension for it, Delmon looked very promising last year. This year, however, the Devil Rays are finding it hard to contain their giggles from the Twins.

2004 – Matthew Bush – SS – San Diego Padres - Drafted as a shortstop, where he has played throughout his major league career, this year, the Padres’ Lake Elsin A+ team is giving Bush a shot at playing pitcher. This move may have come from his ability to hit like a pitcher. In 4 seasons in Single A ball, Bush has hit 3 home runs and has a batting average of .219.
HOWEVER, since the move to reliever, Bush is sporting a mighty 19.64 K/9 average with 1 ER over 7.2 innings of relief. Given time, Bush could turn into the next Trevor Hoffman (who was also a shortstop at the time of his draft).

2005 – Justin Upton – OF – Arizona Diamondbacks - Currently one of the cornerstones of the hottest young team anyone’s seen since Kelly Kapowski, Jessi Spanno, and Lisa Turtle took on the Academic Bowl.

2006 – Luke Hochevar – P – Kansas City Royals - Hochevar was originally drafted #1171 in 2002, #40 in 2005, and finally #1 in 2006. He only became a starting pitcher in 2005 where he did well enough to trick the Royals into drafting him #1 overall. Now, he’s putting up marginally good numbers in the MLB. Okay, that’s polite, but his numbers aren’t BAD. Okay? Okay. I don’t see Hochevar setting the night on fire any time soon.

2007 – David Price – P – Tampa Bay Devil Rays -The man to watch. In 2007 Price carried Vanderbilt away with a mind boggling 13.1 K/9 average over 133.1 IP! What’s better? How about a 0.95 WHIP to go along with his 2.63 ERA? He had elbow surgery in the off-season that has kept his entry to the MLB on hold for the moment. But, once he’s healed his call up is imminent. The major question, though, is how will this elbow injury affect his 13.1 K/9 average?

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