MLB Draft: The Top Number One Picks All-Time
By Ron Juckett
Chipper Jones (above) is one of 51 players chosen first in the annual MLB Draft. How does he rank among the best taken first?
Congratulations to Mickey Moniak on being the first player selected in the 2016 MLB Draft.
The Philadelphia Phillies will groom him to be a doubles-hitting slick fielding center fielder over the next few years. In turn, Moniak will arrive in Philly with a healthy bank account and all the pressure in the world.
Never easy being the first pick in any sport, baseball is unique given most draft picks take anywhere from two-to-four years from their selection until they arrive in the Majors under a cloud of expectations and media pressures. With the bonus of now being the face of a franchise rebuilding in a city known for harsh fans, the window of patience will not be open long.
Still, Moniak joins a select group of 51 players considered the best prospect on the board. Out of San Diego’s La Costa Canyon High School, he will likely forego a college career at UCLA to ride the busses of minor league life. He can be comforted in knowing every player except two, Steven Chilcott and Brien Taylor, in his shoes before has either made the Majors or will soon.
In his peer group, two are Hall of Fame players and three more have careers worthy of Cooperstown. A potential enshrinement rate of nearly 10 percent says most teams make a solid choice with the top spot. Yes, there are players such as Shawn Abner or Danny Goodwin—selected twice at the top spot in 1971 and 1975—who do not pan out, but the average career Wins Above Replacement for a number one pick is 21.2. Not too shabby.
Let’s take a look at the best, by WAR, to go at No. 1.
Next: Those Who Still Break Through