MLB Draft: First Picks of the Draft in the 2000’s
2003: Delmon Young, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
With family bloodlines and one of the most advanced hit tools that many scouts had ever seen in a high school player, Delmon was a clear #1 selection. He made a quick ascension to the majors, ending up in the majors at 20 in 2006, hitting .317 in a short stint. His first full season in 2007, he hit .288 with 93 RBI and finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting.
The Rays made the move to trade him to the Minnesota Twins, and it could be argued that it was a key move to their run to the 2008 World Series, as they traded Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie for Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and a minor leaguer. Bartlett and Garza were huge cogs on the 2008 team (Garza was even the ALCS MVP for the Rays that season).
In the end, Young struggled with a poor attitude and poor condition, and he never really became the power hitter his natural skills suggested he could become. His best season came in 2010 for the Twins, when he hit .298/.333/.493 with 46 doubles and 21 home runs and 112 RBI. His plate discipline was still poor, though as he walked only 28 times in 613 plate appearances.
Young was traded by the Twins in 2011, and he bounced around the league. He’s currently not playing in the major leagues or minor leagues.
Career bWAR: 2.5
2004: Matt Bush, SS, San Diego Padres
Bush was a tremendous story of sadness until this season. He was drafted as a shortstop in a draft dominated with great pitching that the Padres assumed they couldn’t afford (Justin Verlander, Philip Humber, Jeff Niemann, Homer Bailey, Jered Weaver). Bush was a guy with a gun of an arm, and a significant drinking problem. He never could get the bat going.
The Padres finally tried to move him to the mound in 2007, but by then his alcoholism was raging, and he ended up having TJS and having to sit out the entire 2008 season. That offseason an incident led to the Padres trading him away for cash considerations to the Blue Jays, but within 60 days, he had been drunk at a party and attempted to assault a woman, and the Blue Jays immediately released him. He was out of baseball all of 2009.
The Rays signed him in 2010, and he worked his way up their minor league system until Bush ended up charged and serving time due to an incident where a drunken Bush ran over a 72 year-old man.
The Rangers signed him in December of this season after he had served his prison sentence. He’s already worked his way to their major league team, and he’s made 11 relief appearances with a 1.69 ERA, walking 1 and striking out 11.
Career bWAR: 0.4
2005: Justin Upton, SS, Arizona Diamondbacks
Upton moved quickly through the D’backs system, going from the 2005 draft two months before his 18th birthday to debuting in August 2007, roughly 20 days before he turned 20. Upton flashed tons of talent throughout his time in Arizona, even arguably earning the 2011 MVP before Ryan Braun was awarded it and eventually found to have failed a PED test.
Upton has struggled to hit like the power hitter his talent says he should be, only achieving 30 home runs one time in his entire career. Currently, he is hitting very poorly for the Detroit Tigers .220/.255/.325 with 3 home runs, and he’s struck out 76 times, the most in all of baseball.
Career bWAR: 24.3
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