Rockies Draft Retrospective: Building blocks of the future

The 2018 MLB Draft takes place next week, June 4-6. For three days, teams make selections for 40 rounds and will draft over 1,200 amateur players. This year, the Rockies hold the 22nd pick after earning the National League Wild Card and finishing with the ninth-best record in the 2017 season.

In the week leading up the draft, let’s take a quick look back at the seven preceding years of picks.

2011 MLB Amateur Draft

Rockies 1st Round

Under a much different collective bargaining agreement (CBA), 33 amateur players were selected in the first round as three teams received compensation for not signing their 2010 first-round pick; a supplemental first round consisting of 27 picks was held to compensate teams that had lost certain free agents.   

The Rockies finished the 2010 season with an 83-79 record, their second consecutive winning season—only the second time they’ve accomplished that—and it was their third .500 or better campaign in four years.

This was the 17th worst record, which should have allowed the Rockies to have the 17th pick; however, the CBA gave picks to three teams that were unable to sign their previous year’s first-rounder, moving the Rockies to the 20th pick.

In the supplemental first round, the Rockies received the 45th overall pick as compensation for the Blue Jays signing relief pitcher Octavio Dotel.

Coincidentally, both Anderson and Story started contributing to the Rockies in 2016 and finished the season with 3.2 WAR. Story finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting, Anderson did not garner a single vote despite his impressive start.

The 2011 draft was one of the best in team history as it provided the club with two quality players and one in Story with the potential to be a multi-time All-Star.

Considering two players from the top ten picks have yet to see a single game in the majors, the Rockies were successful with their first two selections.

Top 10 Selections

Teammates Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer went taken in the top three picks. Washington made their third straight (and last) Top 10 pick with the previous two drafts netted them first overall picks (Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper) turning around the franchise to see their first playoff appearance in 2012.

The best player in the entire draft was not even taken until the fifth round after 171 players were selected: Mookie Betts (BOS). Twenty-nine other teams passed over the 5’9” high schooler from Tennessee.

Notable players who slipped outside the top ten:  #11 George Springer (HOU), #13 Brandon Nimmo (NYM),  #14 Jose Fernandez (MIA), #18 Sonny Gray (OAK)

22nd Pick

When the Rockies make their 1st round selection, 21 of the best players will have already been taken off the board. However, lots of top talent will remain. Though slightly arbitrary, let’s look at who was taken at this spot in 2011.

Wong made his major league debut a little more than two years after getting drafted. He quickly signed a five-year, $25.5M deal before the start of his third full season, ensuring the Cardinals with some cost certainty, along with a seventh year of control and a $12.5M option for his age 30 season. While he hasn’t quite duplicated those first two seasons that earned him the contract, Wong was clearly a great 22nd pick by the Cardinals.

Notable players who were taken after 22nd pick: #40 Jackie Bradley, Jr. (BOS), #44 Michael Fulmer (NYM), #29 Joe Panik (SFG), #51 Dante Bichette, Jr. (NYY)

The Rest of the Rockies Picks

Taylor Featherston (5th Rd, #168): The shortstop from TCU showed good power in the minors and was eventually selected in the 2014 Rule 5 Draft, playing multiple positions with the Angels in 101 games.

Chris Jensen (6th Rd, #198): A RHP from the University of San Diego, Jensen was traded with Drew Pomeranz to Oakland for Brett Anderson in  2013. He was granted free agency by the Athletics this offseason and resigned with Colorado, pitching for both Albuquerque and Hartford this season.

Dan Winkler (20th Rd, #618): In 2014, after 12 starts in Double-A Tulsa with a 1.41 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, Winkler had Tommy John surgery. In the offseason, the Rockies did not add Winkler to the 40-man roster and left him exposed in the December Rule 5 Draft where he was selected by the Braves. He pitched 2 games with Atlanta at the end of the 2015 season and 3 games at the start of 2016 before he was required to have TJ surgery again. To date, he’s thrown 37.2 major league innings with a 1.86 ERA and 0.78 WHIP.

What Could Have Been?

Oftentimes, players are selected by teams in the late rounds of the MLB draft only to reject a signing offer in lieu of honing their skills at the college level before re-entering the draft to earn a larger signing bonus down the road.

For example, before Charlie Blackmon was selected out of Georgia Tech (Division I) by the Rockies in the second round of the 2008 Draft, he was selected by two other teams in previous years. First, he was first drafted out of North Gwinnett High School by the Marlins in the 28th round of the 2004 Draft. After a year playing with Young Harris College (JuCo), the Red Sox selected the 18-year-old outfielder in the 20th round of the 2005 Draft.

While not signing as a high school player is very common, it is interesting to think about what could have been.

In 2011, the Rockies drafted Ross Stripling (Dodgers), Preston Tucker (Braves), and Peter O’Brien.

Drafted in the ninth round as Thomas Stripling out of Carroll High School in Texas, the righty now known as Ross opted to return to Texas A&M for his senior season. In 2012, he was selected in the fifth round by the Dodgers and given a signing bonus of $130,000.

Similarly, Tucker decided to return to the University of Florida for his senior year in order to improve his value after getting selected in the 16th round by the Rockies. In next year’s draft, he was taken in Round 7 by the Astros and signed for $100,000.

Peter O’Brien was taken by the Rockies in the third round, but the two parties failed to agree on a signing bonus. For his senior year, O’Brien transferred from the smaller Division I school of Bethune-Cookman in Florida to the University of Miami, the larger baseball powerhouse of the same state. O’Brien only moved up 13 spots in the 2012 Draft, but the Yankees agreed to pay the power-hitting catcher a $460,000 signing bonus.

The Rest of the 2011 MLB Draft

Notable players taken in 2nd round: #61 Josh Bell (PIT), #62 Brad Miller (SEA), #82 Austin Hedges (SD), #85 Nick Ahmed (ARI)

Notable players taken in 3rd round or later: #114 Tony Cingrani (CIN), #135 Mike Clevenger (LAA), #179 Greg Bird (NYY), #201 Marcus Semien (CHW), #241 Ken Giles (PHI), #264 Kyle Hendricks (TEX), #283 Austin Barnes (LAD), #292 Travis Shaw (BOS), #329 Jon Gray (NYY – did not sign), #474 Jerad Eickhoff (TEX), #698 Cody Allen (CLE), #979 Kevin Pillar (TOR)