worst O's 1st round draft pick ever?

[BaltBird 24]

Yeah, the 1999 draft was one of the rare draft where we actually got a few quality players. It wasn't very common for us to draft all-star caliber players, and we got two in 1999 with Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard. Larry Bigbie also had a couple good stints with us.

Chris Smith was, by far, the worst first rounder that we drafted and managed to sign.

[stef]

To be fair, all the other teams missed out on Erik Bedard, as he lasted until the 5th round.

Sure, I agree. It seems once you get past the first few picks a lot of luck enters into it. But with 7 picks in the first round it just seems incredibly unlucky. But, on the other hand, getting a Roberts, Bigbie and Bedard out of your first nine picks isn't too bad.

[mikezpen]

What about Mark Smith (I believe I have his name right)? Wasn't he supposed to be a power hitting outfielder who was also drafted in the first round and couldn't hit a lick?

Mark Smith hit a homer.

[Mike B]

Wade Townsend. Not only did the :cussing:head go back to Rice, we missed out on Jered Weaver, Phil Hughes, Chris Nelson, etc., because of him.

Or should I say because of Angelos' meddling. Thank goodness MacPhail is running the show now!

That would have been my pick. He is turning out to be a bust for Tampa, but we picked him over the advice of the baseball people and then never got close to signing him. That would qualify as a double buster, which in baseball is not a good thing.

[McNulty]

Wade Townsend. Not only did the :cussing:head go back to Rice, we missed out on Jered Weaver, Phil Hughes, Chris Nelson, etc., because of him.

Or should I say because of Angelos' meddling. Thank goodness MacPhail is running the show now!

Didn't we get a comp pick for Townsend that we turned into Garrett Olson?

[byrdz]

It appears that there's a lot of bad first round picks, unfortunately.

[Crazysilver03]

Didn't we get a comp pick for Townsend that we turned into Garrett Olson?

That is correct. I am happy with that transaction.

[byrdz]

Didn't we get a comp pick for Townsend that we turned into Garrett Olson?

Yeah, it looks like he did us a favor. Olson's now pitching in the bigs and doing well, while Townsend is still struggling in AA, knock on wood.

[DocJJ]

looking back, the O's have had the worst track record in the draft in the history of sports. I agree with the guy who said you could throw darts at a dartboard of the top prospects and do better. The Orioles' abysmal record since 1996 is attributable to our draft ineptitude.

Things do seem to be a bit better under Jordan's regime. But Snyder looks like a bust. Kieron Pope and Ryan Adams are WAY big-time busts. The jury is still out on Rowell- who has shown signs of life recently...

Still, at least Jordan seems to have found a few good ones in Wieters, Arrieta, maybe Tripp and Rowell. There's also time for Reimold to turn it around.

[Stotle]

Gordon Beckham....:wedge:

[Stotle]

looking back, the O's have had the worst track record in the draft in the history of sports. I agree with the guy who said you could throw darts at a dartboard of the top prospects and do better. The Orioles' abysmal record since 1996 is attributable to our draft ineptitude.

Things do seem to be a bit better under Jordan's regime. But Snyder looks like a bust. Kieron Pope and Ryan Adams are WAY big-time busts. The jury is still out on Rowell- who has shown signs of life recently...

Still, at least Jordan seems to have found a few good ones in Wieters, Arrieta, maybe Tripp and Rowell. There's also time for Reimold to turn it around.

How about Spoone in the 8th round of '05?

[allstar1579]

Gordon Beckham....:wedge:

Buster Posey

JUST KIDDING!!!!!

[MikeAD]

The real bad have already been said but I will say two that really disapointed me, but maybe I'm wrong because I was a younger fan, 10 or 11, when they happened.

First Jayson Werth, not because he was a "bust" but just how we used him. I remember the arguments when he was drafted that he was too tall and but I met the guy then and I talked to him and he really was big, alot bigger than his 6-5 stat line shows. I talked to him a couple times since but that was all before I was 16. Hes a great guy but whats that got to do with anything? Anyway, alot of people said when he was drafted that he would probably end up as a corner outfielder or 1B. We never even really tried it. If there was ever a player I feel that we "gave up on" it was him. All in all he got 8 games at First and 2 in the OF.

We trade him to the Blue Jays and by the time he is in the majors he is not a catcher. We traded him for John Bale, who was eventually traded for Gary Matthews Jr. so I guess it got us something. Im not saying that Werth is the best player in the world, but I do think that he would be great on our team today as a 1B or 4th outfielder.

So I think my gripe with the first round pick in 1997 was how he was used.

4 picks later (at 26) we draft Darnell McDonald. I don't know what the expectations were for him, but I know he was the scouce of a lot of frustration.

So these aren't the worst picks ever, but the 1997 first round has always gotten on my nerves.

[Hutman]

Mark Smith hit a homer.

Actually he had 32 of them: http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=smithma03. He played 8 years in the bigs mostly as a 4th or 5th outfielder. Nothing all that noteable, but certainly better then Rick Elder, Chris Smith, Alvie Sheppard and some of the duds we have drafted in the past.

[Old#5fan]

I agree with RZNJ, its hard to pick someone who was only terrible because of injuries. Smith was certainly a reach at #7, but he should've been a decent palyer. The guys that were complete flops despite being in good health are the real candidates here.

Plus, if Smith wasn't the guy chosen instead of Teixeira, nobody would remember his name.

My Lord, how stupid was that? I would love to know who the actual idiot was who ultimately made that pick and why?:cussing::rolleyestf: