Guys we drafted but couldn't/didn't sign: what could have been

[Frobby]

1967: we drafted P Doug Rau (12.7 rWAR, 20th round)

1968: we drafted P Bill Bonham (18.6 rWAR, 31st round)

1969: we drafted OF Dave Winfield (63.8 rWAR, 40th round) and P Dick Ruthven (18.6 rWAR, 20th round).

1973: we drafted P Rick Honeycutt (22.3 rWAR, 14th round)

1980: we drafted P Kevin Gross (28.1 rWAR, 32nd round) and 1B Glenn Davis (19.5 rWAR, 31st round). We could have avoided the disastrous Schilling/Finley/Harnish trade by merely signing Davis when we drafted him, and we would have gotten all his healthy seasons!

1981: we drafted 1B Cecil Fielder (17.1 rWAR, 31st round).

1982: we drafted SS Walt Weiss (16.5 rWAR, 10th round). Not sure where we would have played him, though.

1988: we drafted P Joey Hamilton (14.6 rWAR, 28th round)

1989: we drafted 2B Mike Lansing (9.8 rWAR, 9th round)

1994: we drafted SS Michael Young (24.2 rWAR, 20th round)

1998: we drafted P Cliff Lee (44.2 rWAR, 20th round)

2003: we drafted P Casey Janssen (7.6 WAR, 49th round)

2004: we drafted OF Will Venable (13.1 rWAR, 15th round) and Jaime Garcia (9.0 rWAR, 30th round).

2006: we drafted P Tony Watson (7.5 rWAR, 17th round)

[thezeroes]

I would say with out looking all of them up, that we drafted out of High School and they decided to go on to college instead of getting very little in a signing bonus.

I would add (Tongue in Cheek, wink wink) that the careers of all of these players took a better path because they did not sign and have the Orioles worthless MiLB system ruin them.

[OFFNY]

1967: We drafted P Doug Rau (12.7 rWAR, 20th round)

1968: We drafted P Bill Bonham (18.6 rWAR, 31st round)

1969: We drafted OF Dave Winfield (63.8 rWAR, 40th round), and P Dick Ruthven (18.6 rWAR, 20th round).

1973: We drafted P Rick Honeycutt (22.3 rWAR, 14th round)

1980: We drafted P Kevin Gross (28.1 rWAR, 32nd round), and 1B Glenn Davis (19.5 rWAR, 31st round). We could have avoided the disastrous Schilling/Finley/Harnish trade by merely signing Davis when we drafted him, and we would have gotten all of his healthy seasons!

1981: We drafted 1B Cecil Fielder (17.1 rWAR, 31st round).

1982: We drafted SS Walt Weiss (16.5 rWAR, 10th round). Not sure where we would have played him, though.

1988: We drafted P Joey Hamilton (14.6 rWAR, 28th round)

1989: We drafted 2B Mike Lansing (9.8 rWAR, 9th round)

1994: We drafted SS Michael Young (24.2 rWAR, 20th round)

1998: We drafted P Cliff Lee (44.2 rWAR, 20th round)

2003: We drafted P Casey Janssen (7.6 WAR, 49th round)

2004: We drafted OF Will Venable (13.1 rWAR, 15th round) and Jaime Garcia (9.0 rWAR, 30th round)

2006: We drafted P Tony Watson (7.5 rWAR, 17th round)

Dave Winfield's patience paid off.

He went to the University of Minnesota for 4 years, and subsequently became the 4th person ever to be drafter in 3 different sports ...... the Atlanta Hawks AND the Utah Stars in basketball, the Minnesota Vikings in football, and the San Diego Padres in baseball.

[harp6]

1967: we drafted P Doug Rau (12.7 rWAR, 20th round)

1968: we drafted P Bill Bonham (18.6 rWAR, 31st round)

1969: we drafted OF Dave Winfield (63.8 rWAR, 40th round) and P Dick Ruthven (18.6 rWAR, 20th round).

1973: we drafted P Rick Honeycutt (22.3 rWAR, 14th round)

1980: we drafted P Kevin Gross (28.1 rWAR, 32nd round) and 1B Glenn Davis (19.5 rWAR, 31st round). We could have avoided the disastrous Schilling/Finley/Harnish trade by merely signing Davis when we drafted him, and we would have gotten all his healthy seasons!

1981: we drafted 1B Cecil Fielder (17.1 rWAR, 31st round).

1982: we drafted SS Walt Weiss (16.5 rWAR, 10th round). Not sure where we would have played him, though.

1988: we drafted P Joey Hamilton (14.6 rWAR, 28th round)

1989: we drafted 2B Mike Lansing (9.8 rWAR, 9th round)

1994: we drafted SS Michael Young (24.2 rWAR, 20th round)

1998: we drafted P Cliff Lee (44.2 rWAR, 20th round)

2003: we drafted P Casey Janssen (7.6 WAR, 49th round)

2004: we drafted OF Will Venable (13.1 rWAR, 15th round) and Jaime Garcia (9.0 rWAR, 30th round).

2006: we drafted P Tony Watson (7.5 rWAR, 17th round)

2004: we drafted P Wade Townsend (0 rWAR, 1st Round) Refused to sign. He never made it past AA. Should have picked someone else and not wasted a pick on him. At the same time, he didn't come back to haunt us.

[Frobby]

I would say with out looking all of them up, that we drafted out of High School and they decided to go on to college instead of getting very little in a signing bonus.

You are right as to most of them. There were a few who were drafted as college juniors but waited another year before turning pro. That was more common in the earlier years of the draft, since signing bonuses were negligible.

Sometimes, persistence pays off. We drafted Mike Mussina in the 1987 draft but couldn't sign him, but doubled down in the 1990 draft with great results. We also drafted Jerry Hairston in both the 1995 and 1997 drafts. There may have been a few others who we drafted twice who turned out to be useful players.

[Number5]

Dave Winfield's patience paid off.

He went to the University of Minnesota for 4 years, and subsequently became the 4th person ever to be drafter in 3 different sports ...... the Atlanta Hawks AND the Utah Stars in basketball, the Minnesota Vikings in football, and the San Diego Padres in baseball.

My fraternity brother was the catcher on Northwestern's baseball team and my girlfriend (now wife) and I used to like to go to the games. Saw a doubleheader vs. Minnesota and this big guy pitched a two-hitter against us in game one and hit two home runs. He played outfield in game two and threw out one our runners at the plate and hit another home run. I said to my wife, that guy is going to play in the majors. A man among boys. It was Winfield, and he was playing for the Padres a couple months later. Never played in the minors.

I should note that Winfield was actually on a basketball scholarship and was an All-American in basketball. I saw Northwestern upset the then-number-one ranked Gophers and knock Minnesota not only out of the number one spot, but also out of the NCAA tournament, since only one team from each conference went to the NCAA's back then. I believe that it was Indiana that backed into the tournament when the last second shot went in for Northwestern. Can't remember the player's name, but the guy that sank the buzzer-beater for the Wildcats in that game got drafted by the Bulls, pretty much solely because of that shot. He wasn't really NBA material.

[Tx Oriole]

1967: we drafted P Doug Rau (12.7 rWAR, 20th round)

1968: we drafted P Bill Bonham (18.6 rWAR, 31st round)

1969: we drafted OF Dave Winfield (63.8 rWAR, 40th round) and P Dick Ruthven (18.6 rWAR, 20th round).

1973: we drafted P Rick Honeycutt (22.3 rWAR, 14th round)

1980: we drafted P Kevin Gross (28.1 rWAR, 32nd round) and 1B Glenn Davis (19.5 rWAR, 31st round). We could have avoided the disastrous Schilling/Finley/Harnish trade by merely signing Davis when we drafted him, and we would have gotten all his healthy seasons!

1981: we drafted 1B Cecil Fielder (17.1 rWAR, 31st round).

1982: we drafted SS Walt Weiss (16.5 rWAR, 10th round). Not sure where we would have played him, though.

1988: we drafted P Joey Hamilton (14.6 rWAR, 28th round)

1989: we drafted 2B Mike Lansing (9.8 rWAR, 9th round)

1994: we drafted SS Michael Young (24.2 rWAR, 20th round)

1998: we drafted P Cliff Lee (44.2 rWAR, 20th round)

2003: we drafted P Casey Janssen (7.6 WAR, 49th round)

2004: we drafted OF Will Venable (13.1 rWAR, 15th round) and Jaime Garcia (9.0 rWAR, 30th round).

2006: we drafted P Tony Watson (7.5 rWAR, 17th round)

No telling what would happened Frobby. But things have a way of working out.

[Redskins Rick]

No telling what would happened Frobby. But things have a way of working out.

Toss in the picks like Jason Werth that they signed, but traded for somebody and then traded him away, and it really makes one wonder.

[OFFNY]

Dave Winfield's patience paid off.

He went to the University of Minnesota for 4 years, and subsequently became the 4th person ever to be drafter in 3 different sports ...... the Atlanta Hawks AND the Utah Stars in basketball, the Minnesota Vikings in football, and the San Diego Padres in baseball.

My fraternity brother was the catcher on Northwestern's baseball team and my girlfriend (now wife) and I used to like to go to the games. Saw a doubleheader vs. Minnesota and this big guy pitched a two-hitter against us in game one and hit two home runs. He played outfield in game two and threw out one our runners at the plate and hit another home run. I said to my wife, that guy is going to play in the majors. A man among boys. It was Winfield, and he was playing for the Padres a couple months later. Never played in the minors.

I should note that Winfield was actually on a basketball scholarship and was an All-American in basketball. I saw Northwestern upset the then-number-one ranked Gophers and knock Minnesota not only out of the number one spot, but also out of the NCAA tournament, since only one team from each conference went to the NCAA's back then. I believe that it was Indiana that backed into the tournament when the last second shot went in for Northwestern. Can't remember the player's name, but the guy that sank the buzzer-beater for the Wildcats in that game got drafted by the Bulls, pretty much solely because of that shot. He wasn't really NBA material.

Winfield was also part of this horrible incident from December of 1972, when he was a junior at Minnesota.

Winfield hit an Ohio State player from behind with several punches, although what happened to the Buckeyes' Luke Witte was much worse.

It was one of the worst on-court incidents ever in the history of Division-1 college basketball.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XM3HlE9yPPs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Frobby]

Toss in the picks like Jason Werth that they signed, but traded for somebody and then traded him away, and it really makes one wonder.

As I was looking at the various drafts to compile the OP, I think Werth was the only player I saw who we drafted and traded away before he reached the majors who amounted to much. Then of course, there's Arrieta who broke in with us but we traded him before he figured things out. He has now passed Wieters as the highest-WAR player from our 2007 draft.

[thezeroes]

2004: we drafted P Wade Townsend (0 rWAR, 1st Round) Refused to sign. He never made it past AA. Should have picked someone else and not wasted a pick on him. At the same time, he didn't come back to haunt us.

The loss of the Townsend pick netted the Orioles Garrett Olson (1st Round Supplemental 2005), he was traded to Chicago for Felix Pie.

[Tx Oriole]

As I was looking at the various drafts to compile the OP, I think Werth was the only player I saw who we drafted and traded away before he reached the majors who amounted to much. Then of course, there's Arrieta who broke in with us but we traded him before he figured things out. He has now passed Wieters as the highest-WAR player from our 2007 draft.

Yes Frobby but Jake had his chances with the O's. I wish he could have put it all

together with the O's.

[survivedc]

Sort of related: I've been wondering a lot about people who have been passed over in the Rule 5 draft and went on to have successful careers. Pretty hard to find any info without going through teams rosters for any given year.

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[Stotle]

After starting his career without allowing an earned run in 15 innings, Georgia Tech freshman Jonathan Hughes finally allowed a blemish in the fourth inning Sunday against Western Carolina. But the righthander (6 IP 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) turned in another quality start, his third straight, and the Yellow Jackets defeated the Catamounts, 4-3.

The win improved Georgia Tech to 11-0, its best start to the season since 2006. Hughes, an unsigned second-round pick of the Orioles last June, is a big part of the Yellow Jackets’ hot start to the season. He is 3-0, 0.50 and has locked down the Sunday starter’s role.

“He’s got a good arm,” coach Danny Hall said. “He’s got a good breaking ball, he competes very well. When he’s been in trouble, he’s pitched out of trouble. He’s talented, but I think he’s competitive also. I think it’s a good combination to have. He’s done a really good job.”

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/bat-bragging-rights-bruins/

Season Stats:

18 IP, 14 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 3 WP, 3 HBP

2015 second round selection by Orioles

[Frobby]

Sort of related: I've been wondering a lot about people who have been passed over in the Rule 5 draft and went on to have successful careers. Pretty hard to find any info without going through teams rosters for any given year.

I'm sure there are tons of guys who fit that category. Mychal Givens and Caleb Joseph are two recent Orioles who we will look back on and be very glad they weren't picked in the Rule 5.