Rank the #1 Draft Disappointments

[Tony-OH]

18 hours ago, TonySoprano said:

One slot below Lincecum (and two below Rowell) is some guy named Scherzer, who has a career WAR nearly 3X that of Lincecum, and one more Cy Young on his résumé.  The real question is had the Orioles drafted either of them, would they have developed through the Orioles system to be who they are today?

Talent like those guys don't need a ton of development so I would offer that they both would have been pretty darn good for the Orioles. Both flew through the minors which of course makes the selection of Rowell that much more of a disappointment. 

[Tony-OH]

BTW, if we are going back 20 years, how did Chris Smith not make the list? There was not a worse number one pick than Chris Smith.

[Redskins Rick]

15 hours ago, Frobby said:

In hindsight, I don’t regret the QO to Wieters.     We made the playoffs that year and might not have without Wieters.

1 year slight overpay is better than an 8 year deal, and costing a bench spot.

[Bradysburns]

I voted Hunter Harvey. In order to be disappointed, I needed expectations. I didn't have many for Rowell and I had almost none for Hop-slow. So Harvey's my guy. Prove me wrong, Hunter. Please.

[Bradysburns]

40 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

BTW, if we are going back 20 years, how did Chris Smith not make the list? There was not a worse number one pick than Chris Smith.

He was the lefty pitcher who also played some outfield? Yeah... it seemed like we signed him, had a press conference... and then he moved to Borneo. 

[DrungoHazewood]

26 minutes ago, Bradysburns said:

He was the lefty pitcher who also played some outfield? Yeah... it seemed like we signed him, had a press conference... and then he moved to Borneo. 

52 innings of an 8.72, all in the low minors.  He got my vote back on page 2 or so.

[Bradysburns]

21 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

52 innings of an 8.72, all in the low minors.  He got my vote back on page 2 or so.

Good lord. Poor dude. I'm thinking about changing my vote. I voted Harvey, b/c he's the current biggest disappointment for me (thus far, at least).

But if the question is: Who was the biggest flop (versus who disappointed me personally the most)... Chris may be the guy. Even Adam Loewen found some success before injuries hit. Beau Hale was another one. Mike Paradis. Rowell. The list of draft busts is impressive here. Yet another reason to be elated at Elias and Sig overseeing this process now. 

They won't hit on every pick. Their very first one might be a bust. But over time, I believe their system will work. It's nice to have faith in a process. It feels like Mike and Sig have a true process they're following. And they have Brandon talking the same language already. So neat. 

[Redskins Rick]

1 hour ago, Bradysburns said:

I voted Hunter Harvey. In order to be disappointed, I needed expectations. I didn't have many for Rowell and I had almost none for Hop-slow. So Harvey's my guy. Prove me wrong, Hunter. Please.

The thing here with Hunter, its still possible for him to have a good MLB career. Yes, he has had injuries, but if he made the team as a long man out of the pen, it wouldn't exactly cause people to scratch their heads and say, Hunter who?????

Personally, I expect to see him spend a few months in AAA, and then maybe after the ASG, maybe see him on the roster. No use to rush him, let him develop into a decent SP.

[now]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

BTW, if we are going back 20 years, how did Chris Smith not make the list? There was not a worse number one pick than Chris Smith.

I hear ya! I wanted to end the list as far back as Chris Smith but the cutoff was 10 so I had to stop. But write-ins are okay with me, and I'd vote for him too.

[Moose Milligan]

What about guys that the Orioles drafted but failed to sign?  #1 has to be Dave Winfield in 1969.

[Frobby]

43 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

What about guys that the Orioles drafted but failed to sign?  #1 has to be Dave Winfield in 1969.

I recall Cliff Lee and Michael Young were drafted but not signed, as well.

[Tony-OH]

6 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I recall Cliff Lee and Michael Young were drafted but not signed, as well.

Just for some perspective though, most of those kinds of draft picks were fliers fully knowing that the team wasn't going to be able to sign them. Just don't want people thinking the Orioles drafted and then lowballed these guys.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Just for some perspective though, most of those kinds of draft picks were fliers fully knowing that the team wasn't going to be able to sign them. Just don't want people thinking the Orioles drafted and then lowballed these guys.

Right.   Lee actually was drafted three times.  

[Frobby]

There’s also a couple of guys we drafted, failed to sign, then drafted them again and signed them.   Both Mike Mussina and Jerry Hairston Jr. fall in that category.   

[DrungoHazewood]

26 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Just for some perspective though, most of those kinds of draft picks were fliers fully knowing that the team wasn't going to be able to sign them. Just don't want people thinking the Orioles drafted and then lowballed these guys.

There are occasionally crazy things at the bottom of the draft, especially back when there wasn't a limit to the number of rounds.  In 1990 the Angels drafted Bimbo Coles, Virginia Tech basketball player, in the 54th round (1341st pick).  He hadn't played baseball in college at all, and they had to know there was a 0% chance of him signing.  Went on to a 14-year NBA career.  I think teams would just draft random people just to say they did it.

Steve Pearce was also a 1341st overall pick.  Weirdly, three players taken in the 54th round of the '90 draft played in the majors.  Including Todd Williams and Lyle Mouton who each spent some time in Baltimore.  Mouton was taken with the 1342nd pick, right after Coles.  Maybe the Angels shouldn't have been goofing off.