Prospect Report:
5-Year Checkup

Continued from Page One

Among those not thrilled, however, are the Mets, who used the 21st pick on Texas A&M center fielder Jason Tyner. Another case of drafting for defense, Tyner's futile attempts at the plate have become something of a joke, as he has not hit a home run since high school. The Mets shipped him to the Devil Rays, but he's been unable to even secure a starting job in Tampa. This was definitely not the Mets' finest hour in the draft.

The Mariners performed the greatest reach on draft day, selecting Matt Thornton from small Grand Valley State University. Thornton was an obscure left-hander, but he was tall, which is of Seattle's prerequisites in drafting pitchers. After several uninspiring minor-league seasons, Thornton began to break out in 2002, but ran into arm problems in the summer and ended up having Tommy John surgery. He'll miss most of the 2003 season and his career is very much in doubt at this point.

The Dodgers continued this stretch of unsuccessful picks, tabbing Rice outfielder Bubba Crosby with the 23rd pick. He hit more like a Mini-Me than a Bubba, and failed to impress at every stop along the way. He doesn't figure into the Dodgers' plans and is looking like a longshot to see significant major-league action.

The Yankees drafted high school outfielder Andy Brown 24th, but he's failed to make any impact at all. He had a miserable 2002, hitting .215 with 151 strikeouts for high-A Tampa. At 6'6", he's an impressive figure and he's shown flashes of power that the Yankees envisioned when he was drafted. Unfortunately, he hasn't made enough contact to be useful, and few people envision him seeing time in the big leagues.

San Francisco weighed in with their second selection of the round by picking Fresno State right-hander Nate Bump 25th. Bump was unable to stay healthy long enough to develop and was shipped to Florida in the Livan Hernandez trade. The Marlins were also unable to help Bump meet his potential, and his career looks like it will never get out of the starting gates.

Like every other recent Orioles draft pick, Rick Elder has yet to help the Orioles in any significant way. His power is still good enough to potentially find the big leagues, but Baltimore didn't envision this high school kid from Georgia taking this long to figure it out. He's not one to give up on, but this is not what the Orioles were hoping for from the 26th pick.

The Marlins paid $1.5 million to keep Chip Ambres from playing football, but they'd have been better served drafting a baseball player instead of an athlete. For all of Ambres' physical abilities, he's yet to consistently hit a baseball and is reaching a crossroads in his career. Like Josh Booty before him, the opportunity to play football again looms, and Ambres may end up back on the gridiron before all is said and done. His future in baseball doesn't look especially bright at the moment.

The Rockies selected high school right-hander Matt Roney, then watched him undergo surgery that slowed his development. He began to regain some of his old form in 2002 and showed enough to be a Rule 5 selection by the Pirates this offseason. Roney's got a shot to pay dividends for Pittsburgh, but the Rockies are yet another team struck down while trying to catch lightning in a bottle with high-school pitchers.

The Giants wrapped up a terribly disappointing first round by selecting high-school outfielder Arturo McDowell with the 30th pick. The nicest thing you can say about McDowell's 2002 campaign is that he hit better at AA than he did low-A. Unfortunately, he improved to .181, up from .173 at Hagerstown. You won't find a major-league player who had a season anywhere near as terrible as the one McDowell suffered through in 2002. All told, he amassed 433 at-bats and 75 hits, and only 14 of those went for extra bases. Needless to say, Giants fans shouldn't be holding their breath.

While the Royals have been scorned for their recent selections of high-school pitchers, its apparent that they didn't have much success with college arms, either. They used the last pick of the first round on Matt Burch, a southpaw from Virginia Commonwealth. Burch has alternately struggled with weight problems, command, and injuries, and only managed to throw 29 lousy innings at AA this past year. Like most recently drafted Royals, Burch is a longshot to ever see the big leagues.

about the author

David Cameron was a supplemental pick in the 2000 Author Draft. Ask to see the numbers for his stint in AA CNN/SI at dac@strikethree.com.