The MLB first-year player (Rule 4) draft is Tonight and the Colorado Rockies have the fourth overall pick. Last year with the third overall pick the club chose shortstop Brendan Rodgers. With the selections yet to be made this season, now is a good time to look back on the five best draft years the franchise has had.

5: 1992

The Rockies first draft ever was pretty solid considering the circumstances of being a brand new franchise that had never played a game. Overall the class played a total of 3,863 games in the majors tallying a 26.9 WAR. Headlined by current Brewer manager and 11th round pick Craig Counsell ten players made the show. John Burke, a right-hander was the first ever pick of the Rockies and he played 29 games for the club, Mark Thompson the second round pick, also a right-handed hurler threw in 94 games and third round pick, another right-handed starter Roger Bailey threw in 93 games, totaling a 5.3 WAR all with the Rockies.

4: 1997

The Rockies first-round pick, 18th overall, Mark Mangum never reached the majors, but it was still a productive year. In the second round the Rockies took right-hander Aaron Cook and  in the fourth they took Chone Figgins. The Rockies also took big leaguers Todd Sears, Justin Miller, Mark Woodyard and Alfredo Amezaga. In total the class played 2,397 games, obtaining a 42.7 WAR.

3: 1995

With the eighth overall pick in the 1995 draft, the Rockies took the franchise’s greatest player, Todd Helton. The first baseman had by far the most prolific career out of anyone in the first round of the 1995 class. Mostly from Helton the class played in 2,668 games, finishing with a 63.0 WAR. Other big leaguers in the class were Ben Petrick, Scott Randall, John Lindsey, David Lee and Ryan Kohlmeier.

2: 2004

13 players made the majors out of the Rockies 50 picks. In total, they gained 59.0 WAR and the class featured many notable players from the 2007 and 2009 playoff teams. Highlighted by second-round pick Seth Smith, fourth-round pick Chris Iannetta and 14th-round pick Dexter Fowler this class was the deepest the Rockies have ever taken. Unfortunately, the club passed on Jered Weaver, Stephen Drew and Huston Street to take Chris Nelson in the first round. But the class boasted a few other big leaguers including Steven Register, Matt Macri, Joe Koshansky, Jim Miller, Jarrett Grube, Josh Newman, Xavier Cedeno, and Todd Frazier.

1: 1998

With stellar picks like Jody Gerut, Matt Holliday, Juan Pierre, Nyjer Morgan and Alfredo Amezaga this class was the most star-studded for the Rockies. Playing in 5,992 games and boasting a 80.6 WAR, it blows all the other classes out of the water and it proves how hard it is to draft. The Rockies whiffed on all three of their first round picks and still had a productive year. Other big leaguers were Matt Roney, Choo Freeman, Jermaine Van Buren, Luke Hudson, Ryan Shealy, Mark DiFelice, and Mark Woodyard.