The Major League Baseball draft is unique among professional sports drafts. The 30 organizations pick teenagers and college students who will not join their big league clubs for years—if ever.
These athletes will spend that time honing their craft in the minor leagues, where long bus rides and minuscule paychecks are the norm. A few will move quickly up the ranks, seizing playing time opportunities to advance their careers and making their names known to scouts, fans, and other observers around the country.
Some of the best will become MLB stars, but there's minimal correlation to draft position. Four of the players on this list were picked after hundreds of other diamond darlings, and only two were #1 overall selections.
There's also more than a handful who didn't do much for the teams that drafted them, including superstars such as Nolan Ryan, Ozzie Smith, and Randy Johnson. Each of these players was traded before they evolved into Hall of Famers.
Still, calling the draft a "crapshoot" might be going too far. College players are "slightly more likely" than high schoolers to reach the revered stadiums of the majors, and third-rounders have a better chance than fifth-rounders, for example, though the margins are slim, as Vice reported. Teams not only make picks based on years-in-advance projections but also whether they can sign players, a step that must be completed before those youngsters begin playing professionally.
To see how clubs have fared since the inaugural draft in 1965, ATS.io compiled a list of the best draft pick by each franchise using data from Baseball Reference. The players were ranked using career wins above replacement, so not one recent choice was named. The amazing Mike Trout, a 32-year-old selected in 2009, is the youngest player. Unsigned picks were not considered, and players who were traded as picks were credited to their acquiring teams. Data is as of June 5, 2024.
- Draft: 11th overall pick in 2006
- Position: Pitcher
- Games played: 457
- Career stats: 214 wins, 3.15 earned run average, 1.08 walks plus hits per inning
- Draft: 1st overall pick in 1990
- Position: Shortstop
- Games played: 2,499
- Career stats: 468 home runs, .303 batting average, .930 on-base plus slugging
- College/HS: The Bolles School (Jacksonville, Fla.)
- Draft: 48th overall pick in 1978
- Draft: 19th overall pick in 1983
- Position: Pitcher
- Draft: 31st overall pick in 1984
- Position: Pitcher
- Games played: 744
- Draft: 7th overall pick in 1989
- Position: First baseman
- Games played: 2,322
- Career stats: 521 home runs, .301 batting average, .974 on-base plus slugging
- Draft: 36th overall pick in 1965
- Position: Catcher
- Games played: 2,158
- Career stats: 389 home runs, .267 batting average, .817 on-base plus slugging
- College/HS: Binger HS (Binger, Okla.)
- Draft: 333rd overall pick in 1989
- Draft: 8th overall pick in 1995
- Position: First baseman
- Draft: 2nd overall pick in 2004
- Position: Pitcher
- Games played: 518
- Draft: 428th overall pick in 1988
- Position: Outfielder
- Games played: 2,103
- Career stats: 130 home runs, .299 batting average, .794 on-base plus slugging
- Draft: 29th overall pick in 1971
- Position: Shortstop
- Games played: 2,707
- Career stats: 317 home runs, .305 batting average, .857 on-base plus slugging
- College/HS: El Segundo HS (El Segundo, Calif.)
- Draft: 25th overall pick in 2009
- Draft: 7th overall pick in 2006
- Position: Pitcher
- Draft: 76th overall pick in 2007
- Position: First baseman
- Games played: 1,589
- Draft: 3rd overall pick in 1973
- Position: Shortstop
- Games played: 2,856
- Career stats: 251 home runs, .285 batting average, .772 on-base plus slugging
- Draft: 55th overall pick in 1969
- Position: Pitcher
- Games played: 692
- Career stats: 287 wins, 3.31 earned run average, 1.20 walks plus hits per inning
- College/HS: Santiago HS (Garden Grove, Calif.)
- Draft: 295th overall pick in 1965
- Draft: 6th overall pick in 1992
- Position: Shortstop
- Draft: 96th overall pick in 1976
- Position: Outfielder
- Games played: 3,081
- Draft: 30th overall pick in 1971
- Position: Shortstop
- Games played: 2,404
- Career stats: 548 home runs, .268 batting average, .908 on-base plus slugging
- Draft: 6th overall pick in 1985
- Position: Outfielder
- Games played: 2,986
- Career stats: 762 home runs, .298 batting average, 1.051 on-base plus slugging
- College/HS: Arizona State University (Tempe, Ariz.)
- Draft: 86th overall pick in 1977
- Draft: 2nd overall pick in 1985
- Position: First baseman
- Draft: 1st overall pick in 1993
- Position: Shortstop
- Games played: 2,784
- Draft: 402nd overall pick in 1999
- Position: Third baseman
- Games played: 3,080
- Career stats: 703 home runs, .296 batting average, .918 on-base plus slugging
- Draft: 3rd overall pick in 2006
- Position: Third baseman
- Games played: 1,986
- Career stats: 342 home runs, .264 batting average, .804 on-base plus slugging
- College/HS: California State University, Long Beach (Long Beach, Calif.)
- Draft: 4th overall pick in 1986
- Draft: 17th overall pick in 1995
- Position: Pitcher
- Draft: 36th overall pick in 1985
- Position: Pitcher
- Games played: 618
- Career stats: 303 wins, 3.29 earned run average, 1.17 walks plus hits per inning
- College/HS: University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
- Wins above replacement: 101.1
Data reporting by Karim Noorani. Story editing by Carren Jao. Additional editing by Kelly Glass. Copy editing by Robert Wickwire. Photo selection by Clarese Moller.
This story originally appeared on ATS.io and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.