It’s been a decade since the 2005 MLB Amateur draft. This draft is a lot different from other professional sports drafts because of the wide array of talent to scout and assess due to high school players being eligible upon graduation. The talent pool is immense.
There are always first round busts that can never seem to develop in the minors, but there are also huge diamonds in the rough selected in later rounds who go on to play All-Star caliber baseball for various clubs over a number of seasons.
For the sake of reminiscing and to see which clubs made the best of their selections, here are the five biggest winners from the 2005 draft process as the 2015 season swiftly approaches.
5. Boston Red Sox
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The BoSox made some strong picks in 2005. They secured a steal in Jacoby Ellsbury in the first round, 23rd overall out of Oregon State University. Boston received for the most part seven quality seasons from the center fielder, who reached the bigs in his age 23 season and never looked back. From there, he was a crucial factor in their two World Series titles in 2007 and 2013. Ellsbury won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, was named an All-Star and led the AL in stolen bases three times during his tenure in Boston. He contributed a total WAR of 21.1 in his Red Sox career.
Craig Hansen 26th overall turned out to be a flop, but with a supplemental first round pick the organization then nabbed Clay Buchholz 42nd overall. Buchholz has shown flashes of attaining ace status throughout his career. At the least, he has been a fairly reliable mid-rotation arm for the Red Sox over the better part of the last decade.
None of the three elected to sign with Boston. Blackmon opted to play college ball at Georgia Tech, Castro played NCAA baseball at Stanford and Pedro Alvarez went on to play for Vanderbilt instead of inking a deal to play in Beantown.
4. Colorado Rockies
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The Rockies did not do a lot with their 2005 draft picks, but they definitely got their first one correct. A credit to their talent evaluators for that reason alone.
Troy Tulowitzki was selected with the 7th overall pick. He is a five tool player that plays shortstop, where offensive output typically comes at a premium. Sure he has had his setbacks with injuries here and there, but when healthy, Tulo is as solid of a franchise player a team could ask for.
Three times the 30-year old has finished inside the top 10 of NL MVP balloting. He was a runner-up to Ryan Braun in 2007 NL ROY voting, he’s made four All-Star teams and has compiled a lifetime .299/.373/.517 slash line with the Rox. Add to that six seasons with more than 20 home runs, two Gold Gloves a total WAR of 37.6 since becoming an everyday player eight years ago, and Colorado can be considered a winner in this draft class.
If not solely for drafting Tulo, but for avoiding a number of players who were selected shortly after him and turned out to be absolute busts. The Rays took RHP Wade Townsend 8th overall, the Mets grabbed RHP Mike Pelfrey 9th and the Tigers drafted Cameron Maybin with the next pick thereafter.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
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Andrew McCutchen came as advertised out of Fort Meade High School in Florida. He was sandwiched in between Maybin and the Reds’ Jay Bruce as the 11th overall pick. It took him only four-and-a-half seasons in the minors to get acclimatized to the MLB level of play.
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By 2009, he hit .286 as a 22-year old rookie, scoring 74 runs, swatted 12 home runs and drove in 54 in only 433 at-bats. At a macro level, Cutch has become one of the best all around outfielders the game has to offer and the cornerstone of the Pirates’s franchise in the last decade. He helped ignite a playoff appearance in 2013 and again in 2014 that had otherwise been absent in Pittsburgh’s history since the early 90’s. He’s made baseball a hot ticket once again in the Steel City.
An All-Star over the four last consecutive seasons, an MVP in 2013 and a three-time Silver Slugger, No. 22 led the NL with 194 hits in 2012 and has three 20-20 seasons to his credit. Only 28, by baseball standards, McCutchen has not even entered his prime and his best should be yet to come.
The Bucs also got 1B Steve Pearce out of that draft class, taken 241st overall. He spent four seasons in Pittsburgh mostly in a reserve role before blossoming somewhat last year with the Orioles, posting a 6.0 WAR with a .293-21-49 line in only 383 plate appearances.
2. Washington Nationals
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Amidst the first baseball season back in the nations capital since 1971, the Washington Nationals’ scouts assembled a pretty solid draft class with a number of their 2005 picks.
Beginning with Ryan Zimmerman, who was taken fourth overall out of the University of Virginia. He is still with the club and arguably their most productive offensive commodity when healthy. Even more impressive, he reached the big league level in the same year he was drafted and became a mainstay by 2006, finishing second in NL ROY balloting. An All-Star in 2009, “The Z Man” has a .286/.352/.476 career slash line in Washington D.C. and has averaged 18 HRs and 71 RBI over that stretch.
In the second round the Nats took OF Justin Maxwell. He’s bounced around some, but is still in the league today and now plays for the Kansas City Royals. His best season as a pro came in 2012 when he had 18 long balls and 53 RBI for the Astros.
In the sixth round the club selected RHP Marco Estrada. He had a few decent seasons in Milwaukee before landing with the Blue Jays for 2015.
Southpaw John Lannan was taken 324th overall, as well. The Nats got good use out of him in their rotation from 2008-12. Lannan started at least 25 games for them in four seasons, tallying 40 wins and a 4.00 ERA over that same five year window.
1. Milwaukee Brewers
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Although Ryan Braun‘s legacy is somewhat tainted now due to PED use and his future remains in question, the former fifth overall pick gave the Brew Crew six quality years of himself. He hit 34 home runs as a 23-year old rookie in 2007 and was an easy choice for NL ROY. An MVP followed in 2011, along with five consecutive All-Star appearances from 2008-12.
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A thumb injury is being called his limiting factor last year, but it remains to be seen if it is indeed that, or the lack of PED’s in his system since he served his 50 game suspension for said drug use in 2013. If he can stay clean and experience a return to grace, the Brewers should get a lot more out of him, as he’s under club control until the 2021 season arrives. Braun turns 32 this November, so he has some prime seasons left in his bat with health on his side.
It’s the seventh round pick from the Brewers’ 2005 draft that flies under the radar. Experiencing a breakout year last season, OF Michael Brantley — presently of Cleveland Indians fame — was taken 205th overall by Milwaukee. He did not appear in any games for them, but for what it’s worth, he was a piece in the trade that brought C.C. Sabathia to the Brewers in 2008.
Lastly, the Brewers drafted RHP Andrew Bailey 475th overall that same season. He went on to save a combined 89 games for the Athletics and Red Sox from 2009-13 before signing a minor league deal with the Yankees in 2014.
