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Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Monday, June 12 is the MLB Draft. Who were the best players taken with the 5th pick in the 2000s?
One week from today, on June 12, the MLB Draft will begin. We will have a live thread that evening here at Call to the Pen with instant analysis of the selections from our own Benjamin Chase throughout the first night.
As we prepare for the draft, here is the schedule for some draft information to get you ready for the big day when the MLB draft kicks off next Monday night:
Monday, June 5 – A look at the #5 picks of the 2000s
Tuesday, June 6 – A look at the #4 picks of the 2000s
Wednesday, June 7 – Mock Draft 6.1
Thursday, June 8 – A look at the #3 picks of the 2000s
Friday, June 9 – A look at the #2 picks of the 2000s
Saturday, June 10 – A look at the #1 picks of the 2000s
Sunday, June 11 – Final Mock Draft: What Ben Would Do
Monday, June 12 – Live Draft Thread!
We'll open each of our 2000s look back threads with the top performing pick of the millennium thus far, then review by year, so we'll start with the best #5 selection of the 2000s:
Mark Teixeira, 3B, Texas Rangers, 2001, 51.8 bWAR
In 2001, the two big names that everyone loved were Mark Prior, a right hander out of Southern California, and Teixeira, at the time a third baseman at Georgia Tech. Both wanted too much money for the Minnesota Twins, who were selecting first that season, who also had the option of selecting home town hero Joe Mauer with the #1 selection.
In the end, the Mauer pick was a pretty good one, but Teixeira is the guy who has tallied the most bWAR in his career out of the first round in that draft.
Teixeira went on to reach the Rangers as an opening day starter in 2003, and by the time he was traded in 2007, he was already established as one of the premier sluggers in the major leagues.
Teixeira played for the Rangers for 4 1/2 seasons, the Atlanta Braves for 1 season, the Los Angeles Angels for 1/2 season, and finished his career with 8 seasons with the New York Yankees.
He totaled a career .268/.360/.509 slash line for a 126 career OPS+ with 408 doubles and 409 home runs. He was selected to the All-Star game 3 times (2005, 2009, 2015), won 5 Gold Gloves (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012), and won 3 Silver Sluggers (2004, 2005, 2009).
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Justin Wayne, RHP, Montreal Expos, -1.5 bWAR
Taken with a 9th round selection out of high school in Hawaii, Justin Wayne was your prototypical "quick to the majors" college ace with less-than-elite stuff, but what projected to be excellent command that should take him quickly to the major leagues when he was selected 5th overall by the Expos out of Stanford in 2000.
That assumption wasn't necessarily incorrect, either. After being drafted, Wayne went immediately to high-A Jupiter in the Florida State League, where his performance wasn't excellent, but it was still a good performance in peripherals for a pitcher just out of college at a fairly advanced league.
He made it to AA in his first full season as a minor leaguer, and in 2002, after being traded to the Marlins, he made his major league debut, just two seasons after his draft season.
Interestingly, the five starts he made in 2002 with the Marlins were the most starts he'd ever make in a big league season. His stuff never was good enough to get big league hitters out, with a final tally of a 6.13 ERA over 61 2/3 professional innings from 2002-2004. He was out of professional baseball in 2005.
Since we highlighted Teixeira already, we'll skip over 2001…
Clint Everts, RHP, Montreal Expos, no major league experience
After seeing the proven college performer fail for the organization in 2000, the Expos chose instead to go after the big-armed Texan high school pitcher in 2002. Everts was regarded well enough coming out of high school in Houston that without having thrown a pitch in the minors after being drafted, he was rated the #62 overall prospect in baseball coming into 2003 by Baseball America.
Montreal was plenty aggressive with Everts, jumping him to their New York-Penn League team for his first professional assignment, where he made 10 starts. He finished his first year in low-A with Savannah in the South Atlantic League. While his 3.94 ERA wasn't sparkling, he limited hard contact and drew plenty of swing and miss, and Baseball America raised him to their #58 overall prospect.
A return to Savannah produced excellent results, and he earned a mid-season bump to high-A and an appearance at the Futures Game in home town Houston. However, as he was enjoying his solid performance in high-A, his elbow was injured and required Tommy John surgery.
Everts never made it back, though his fastball velocity teased teams for years to give him chances, bouncing around the minor leagues until 2013 as a reliever but never reaching the major leagues.
Chris Lubanski, OF, Kansas City Royals, no major league experience
Well-developed with a "pretty" swing coming out of high school, the Royals jumped on the chance to grab the Pennsylvania high school product Lubanski in 2003. As we will see going forward, the Royals and the 5th spot are not a good match, and Lubanski was the first example in the 2000s.
Lubanski hit well with the Arizona Rookie League after being drafted, and he was rated the #68 overall prospect before the 2004 season by Baseball America. His strikeout problems in rookie ball were just more and more of an issue as he attempted to climb the ladder.
Lubanski showed power in hitting-inflated leagues like the Cal League and the mid-2000s Texas League, but he struggled once he hit the Pacific Coast League, typically quite hitter friendly.
Lubanski went from an athletic outfielder that offered power and speed when drafted to a guy nearly relegated to DH due to his defense in the outfield by his mid-20s, committing nearly as many errors as outfield assists in his minor league career in the outfield.
He played his last minor league game in 2011 at age 26 in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Mark Rogers, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers, 1.1 bWAR
The first of back-to-back #5 picks, Rogers was selected out of high school in Maine. A well-developed righty, Rogers had a blazing fastball with a solid breaking ball coming out of high school, he was projected to move quickly and had a good build already to handle a professional work load, or so it seemed.
Rogers was ranked #55 after a solid showing coming out of high school in the Arizona Rookie League before the 2005 season, and he even rated #44 before 2006, even after 70 walks in 98 2/3 innings with West Virginia because people believed so strongly in his premium velocity.
Like happens with many young pitchers, Rogers had an elbow injury in 2006 that led to elbow surgery. However, unlike most pitchers, his surgery cost him all of the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Rogers returned in 2009 and had a brilliant year in high-A, but he was 23 already.
After a season in AA and a quick audition in AAA, he made his pro debut with the Brewers in 2010. He threw very well for the Brewers that September, and many thought he could fit into the future Brewers plans in the rotation. However, the injury issues crept back in, and Rogers totaled 11 games in the majors, 9 of them starts.
His stat line was actually quite solid, with a 3.49 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 17/52 BB/K ratio over 49 big league innings. He pitched his last professional innings for the Seattle organization in 2014 at age 28.
Ryan Braun, 3B, Milwaukee Brewers, 44.4 bWAR
After going the high school arm route, the Brewers instead went after a college hitter in 2005 with Braun out of the University of Miami. Expected to move quickly, Braun already had moved to a full-season league by the end of his draft season, with a 1.000+ OPS, earning him the #49 overall ranking in the top 100 list for Baseball America before the 2006 season.
Braun showed in 2006 that he would be quickly in the major leagues, ascending past high-A and AA during the season and then posting a big hitting line in the Arizona Fall League against the top prospects in the game. He was rated as such coming into 2007, ranked #26 overall by Baseball America and #12 by Baseball Prospectus.
Braun opened 2007 in AAA, but before the end of May, he was in the major leagues, and he's never been back to the minors. He moved from third base to the outfield in 2008 and has been in the outfield since.
In his 11-year big league career, Braun has hit .303/.366/.544 for a 140 OPS+. He's been selected to 6 All-Star games (2008-2012, 2015), won the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year, won the 2011 NL MVP, and won 5 straight Silver Slugger awards from 2008-2012.
Brandon Morrow, RHP, Seattle Mariners, 8.7 bWAR
Morrow was originally drafted in the 40th round out of high school and then was selected by the Mariners 5th overall out of Cal-Berkeley, where he was a fire-balling right-hander.
Initially, the Mariners profiled Morrow as a starter in his draft season, and he was ranked #87 by Baseball America and #74 by Baseball Prospectus going into the 2007 season after throwing 16 pro innings with success.
The Mariners chose to expedite Morrow to the major leagues in 2007 as a reliever, and that would be his next two seasons, until the Mariners attempted to send him back down in 2009 to the minors to start and stretch out before trading him that offseason to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Morrow seemed to constantly battle the injury bug in Toronto through 2014, never throwing 200 innings, and only reaching 30 starts in one season. He's not been able to find health since, throwing a combined 53 major league innings, primarily out of the bullpen, since 2015. Morrow is currently in the Dodgers organization.
While his role shifting has certainly not been good for the health of his arm over time, Morrow has been fairly solid in general over his major league career, with a 4.14 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over 788 2/3 major league innings, striking out 802 hitters.
Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles, 16.9 bWAR
Coming out of Georgia Tech, many assumed the switch-hitting Wieters would revolutionize the catching position. He was a tremendous hitter in college, and he was an even better defender behind the plate, in spite of his 6'5″, 230-pound size.
He played winter ball his draft season, then went straight to high-A Frederick in the Carolina League. By the end of the season, he had dominated AA Bowie in the Eastern League. He combined for 27 home runs and a 1.000+ OPS in two pitcher-friendly environments.
Coming into the 2009 season, he was the unanimous #1 prospect in baseball with both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. There was a website (the domain now purchased by a consulting company) hailing "Matt Wieters Facts", such as:
"Matt Wieters framed a pitch so perfectly it counted for two strikes."
and
"Sliced bread is the greatest thing since Matt Wieters."
The reality hasn't exactly lived up to the hype. While Wieters has produced three 20+ home run seasons as a catcher and won two Gold Gloves, he's not quite been the other-worldly player many were projecting. In his defense, the season Wieters was #1, the top 10 wasn't exactly tremendous with two players in the top 10 who are out of baseball altogether (albeit one due to being deceased).
Wieters has been selected for 4 All-Star games (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016). He has established himself as an elite level defensive catcher.
Buster Posey, C, San Francisco Giants, 35.7 bWAR
After playing a number of positions in college, Posey wasn't a sure-fire catcher at the professional level, with many organizations believing that Posey would end up as a third baseman after his career at Florida State.
Posey didn't spend a whole lot of time in the minors, making his major league at the end of his first full professional season in 2009. Coming into 2010, Posey was rated as the #7 prospect by Baseball America and #9 prospect by Baseball Prospectus.
Posey came up for good at the end of May 2010, and he's been the best catcher in baseball since in an era when catchers typically either hit OR provide quality defense, Posey is the rare breed that brings value both offensively and defensively.
Posey's been well-decorated for his efforts as well, winning the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, 2012 NL MVP, and 2016 Gold Glove. He's also been selected to 4 All-Star games (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016), 3 Silver Sluggers (2012, 2014, 2015), and the 2012 NL Comeback Player of the Year Award.
Matt Hobgood, RHP, Baltimore Orioles, no major league experience
A gifted arm out of high school in California, Hobgood was already 6'4″ and 245 pounds out of high school. He could throw up to the mid-90s with a very good curve and a feel for a change and slider both. He was able to maintain velocity deep in starts and out-dueled future first round picks like Gerrit Cole on the mound.
Hobgood may have been well-regarded, but he was considered an over-draft at #5 by the Orioles, so when he came out his draft season and showed struggles getting swing and miss even in rookie level leagues, he didn't get ranked.
A season at low-A showed even worse strikeout rates, only fanning 59 in 94 innings. 2011 began the end for Hobgood as his elbow got sore and eventually popped, requiring surgery.
Hobgood never could recover, and he last pitched in 2015 at age 24, throwing his only innings at AA, totaling just 9 2/3 innings in the upper minors total.
Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Cleveland Indians, 8.0 bWAR
After being drafted in the 12th round out of high school by the Texas Rangers, but he chose instead to go to college, which ended up being a wise financial decision, as he was selected 5th overall out of the University of Mississippi.
Without having thrown a professional pitch, Pomeranz was rated the #61 prospect by Baseball America and the #43 prospect by Baseball America. He was traded in his first full season as part of the package that brought Ubaldo Jimenez from Colorado to Cleveland, and Pomeranz worked his way all the way to the majors for 4 starts at the end of the season. His quick ascension to the majors and dominance of minors in 2011 earned him top ratings of #30 with BA, #24 with Pipeline, and #34 with BP.
Pomeranz seemed adrift in the AAA/MLB shuttle and trades throughout his professional career until he hit it big last season with San Diego. That did lead to yet another trade to the Boston Red Sox, the fourth of his career already, but he's responded by being a reliable mid-rotation starter with the Red Sox.
While perhaps not the elite starter one would hope with a #5 overall selection, if he can settle into a career as a mid-rotation league average lefty starter, that would be quite valuable for Pomeranz, who has been part of the Indians, Rockies, Athletics, Padres, and Red Sox organizations.
Bubba Starling, OF, Kansas City Royals, no major league experience
The local athletic hero, Starling was recruited heavily to play football for D-1 programs as well as baseball, turning down a football scholarship with Nebraska to sign with the Royals after being drafted out of Kansas high school.
While many were on the fence about the selection at the time, it was hard to deny the initial results as Starling came out in 53 games in 2012 and hit .275/.371/.485 with 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases, flashing impressive athleticism at every turn.
However, his Achilles' heel would show its face in that first season in the Appy League and is still today what has held him from making an impact – strikeouts. He struck out 70 times in 232 plate appearances in that season, good for a 30.17% rate.
While some players have the ability to have high strikeout rates due to their tremendous power or otherwise impressive abilities with the bat, Starling was living off of athleticism, so the strikeouts were a killer to him, as has been his swing, leading to a huge fly ball rate or ground ball rate, seldom hitting line drives at a good rate, and one of the major misunderstandings of the current swing adjustments is that hitters are not trying to hit high fly balls as much as they are trying to hit high line drives or low fly balls as that trajectory is the most productive of any contact that can be made. It's also the lowest amount of contact Starling makes in his profile.
Starling is still only 24 years old, so he could certainly make an adjustment and have an MLB career, but right now, his minor league line sits at a sub-.700 OPS.
Kyle Zimmer, RHP, Kansas City Royals, no major league experience
The Royals were looking hard for a college arm, knowing that Mark Appel would be a tough sign for them, and after Kevin Gausman went just ahead of them, they chose Zimmer over lefty Andrew Heaney and righties Michael Wacha, Chris Stratton, and Marcus Stroman.
Zimmer's upside was immense, and it was easy to see why he was the pick. He moved up to low A by the end of his draft year and posted a combined 2.04 ERA over 39 2/3 innings with a crazy 8/42 BB/K ratio. Prospect rankers went bananas over Zimmer, ranking him as high as #24 (Baseball America) in offseason lists.
In 2013, Zimmer pitched his first full season of pro ball, but a familiar issue showed up – injuries. Zimmer missed time a couple of different times for Wilmington before he finished strong with Northwest Arkansas in the Texas League. Zimmer had a big strikeout rate, impressing evaluators, as he whiffed 140 over 108 1/3 innings.
Since 2013, Zimmer has not reached double digits in starts in a single season and only eclipsed 50 innings pitched one time. In 2015, the Royals thought a move to the bullpen could ease stress on Zimmer's shoulder, but he threw a total of 5 2/3 innings in 2016 and is back in the rotation in his return in 2017.
Zimmer is just 25, but he has now seen arms like Josh Staumont, Jake Junis, Eric Skoglund, and Foster Griffin (among others) establish themselves within the Royals system, so he will have an uphill battle to establish himself in the Royals future.
Clint Frazier, OF, Cleveland Indians, no major league experience
The 2013 draft saw two Georgia prep outfielders competing for the honor of being the first prep bat off of the board. Frazier was selected first, at #5 to the Indians, and his fellow Georgian, Austin Meadows, went to the Pirates at #9 overall.
Known for his distinctive red hair, Frazier brings a rare blend of skills to the table with a mix of talent in all five tools that are above average with many rating as many as three of those tools as plus tools. Frazier showed well with the Indians' Arizona Rookie League team in his draft year and was ranked as high as #36 overall (Baseball Prospectus) going into the 2014 season, but a propensity to strike out has led to many rankers not fully buying in, as Baseball America left Frazier completely off their 2015 list after he struck out 161 times in low-A.
Frazier handles a corner outfield spot primarily now, but he does have the athleticism to handle center field in a pinch, though he is considered a possible Gold Glove caliber defender in a corner. Frazier also has plus to even double-plus raw power, with one scout telling me last season after watching he and Aaron Judge in the same batting practice that Judge is the mammoth human for certain, but Frazier may make the more impressive-sounding contact.
This season, Frazier is hitting .254/.348/.486 after a slow start in AAA with 9 home runs and 16 doubles, showing that impressive power. He's also tamed his strikeout rate as well, as he's striking out at a 20.81% clip, the lowest rate of his minor league career.
It's very feasible that we see Frazier in September 2017, if not before.
Nick Gordon, SS, Minnesota Twins, no major league experience
Coming from a family that has a father who was a major league pitcher (Tom Gordon) and a brother who has won a batting title (Dee Gordon), it would seem the genetics are set for Nick Gordon to be an impact player for the Minnesota Twins.
Instead, Gordon is not exactly flashy, not exactly doing anything that jumps off the page, and, frankly, boring at his consistently good play.
Gordon isn't a guy with blazing speed like his brother. He'll likely steal double-digit bases based on his incredibly high baseball acumen, but he'll be caught plenty as he's going to push the envelope to attempt to disrupt a pitcher at times as well (and while the caught stealing show up in the box score, he's forced bad pitches that have led to a meatball pitch to his teammate at the plate in multiple viewings I've had of him, and those don't show up).
Gordon has gap power and long strides that serve him well as a base runner more than a base stealer. I compare him to former Twin Cristian Guzman in that Guzman struggled to steal bases due to a long stride that it took multiple steps to get to top speed, but once he was at top speed, he was one of the elite base runners in the game at his prime.
Gordon has played about 3/4 of his games at shortstop this season, and if he plays there long term, it'd be through his baseball moxie that he's able to stick at the position, though he does have a good arm to handle short, albeit not the smoothest actions.
While Gordon doesn't profile as a superstar, he should be a steady player up the middle, and that's incredibly valuable.
Kyle Tucker, OF, Houston Astros, no major league experience
While he was just selected in 2015, very possibly the most impressive of the players who have not yet hit the major leagues is Astros outfield prospect Kyle Tucker.
Tucker, whose brother Preston Tucker is also in the Astros system, was selected out of high school in Florida with what was termed at the time as a "deer" build by one scout as he is 6'4″ and was extremely long, giving him long strides that apparently reminded the scout of a deer.
Tucker has added natural build and likely sits around 210 or so now on his frame with minimal bad weight. He is able to flash elite speed to track down a ball, and most impressive, he has improved his power to the point of being at least plus power. After tearing up the Carolina League, the Astros promoted the 20 year-old to AA after Memorial Day.
Tucker was rated as high as #19 overall (Baseball America) coming into the season, and he would have a very good argument for the top 10 overall prospects in the game right now. He should spend the rest of the season with AA, but he could very well start 2018 in AAA and reach the majors at some point in the season, so if you're going to catch him in the minor leagues, you may want to do it soon!
Corey Ray, OF, Milwaukee Brewers, no major league experience
Coming out of high school, Corey Ray struggled when friends and those close to him told him to join the Seattle Mariners, who had drafted him in the 33rd round of the 2013 draft out of high school in Chicago. He knew he could do better, and he went to Louisville to do just that.
More from Call to the Pen
Three years later, Ray was the 5th pick in the entire draft in the first round after being one of the most athletic and dynamic players in all of college baseball for the entire 2016 season.
His dynamic personality led to his tough offseason, however, after the Brewers had considered Ray for the Arizona Fall League, he tore his meniscus stealing a base in the instructional league after the season before the AFL begin, requiring surgery and offseason rehab.
2080's Emily Waldon did a tremendous article on Ray this past January that really brings out just how competitive and driven Ray is on the field and his work ethic off the field to make himself a better player and a better person.
Ray opened this season with the Brewers' new high-A affiliate in Carolina, and he's shown well for the Mudcats, with a .270/.338/.420 slash line with 18 extra base hits and 11 stolen bases. He has shown some issue with the strikeout however, and the Brewers have the outfield depth to let him work through his issues before pushing him forward, meaning he could take his time getting to the major leagues.
I hope you enjoyed this collection! Check back tomorrow for the #4 picks of the 2000s!
