Once considered one of the brightest arms in the minor leagues, a Yankees prospect on this day derailed what was seen as a promising future
On this day in 1993, New York Yankees prospect Brien Taylor derailed his promising career with a bad choice off of the field that ended up being the key moment that ended his possible ascent to the major leagues.
Taylor was originally drafted by the Yankees as the #1 overall selection in the 1991 draft. Taylor was known for having a fastball that worked into the upper 90s, and multiple long-time scouts have mentioned Taylor as the best high school arm they’ve ever seen. He and his family used the previous year’s top high school selection, Todd Van Poppel, as a basis for their demands, getting $1.55 million in the end from the Yankees.
He had not even tossed a pitch as a professional yet when Baseball America named him as the #1 prospect in all of baseball before the 1992 season. The Yankees were extremely aggressive with Taylor, starting him with their high-A team in the Florida State League, but he performed well, tossing 161 1/3 innings in 1992, with a 2.57 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 66/187 BB/K ratio. BA named him the #2 prospect in all of baseball coming into the 1993 season.
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Taylor struggled with his control in the 1993 season at AA. He went 13-7 in the Eastern League, with a 3.48 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and a 102/150 BB/K ratio over 163 innings. Even after the control struggles in that season, he was still ranked #18 overall by Baseball America.
However, on December 18, 1993, Taylor made a choice that would change his life forever. He got into a bar fight near his hometown in North Carolina, and he injured his shoulder. The injury required surgery and cost Taylor the entire 1994 season. When he returned in 1995, he struggled in the Gulf Coast League, walking 54 in 40 innings.
He spent the next five years attempting to regain the feel for his curve and learn to work with roughly 8-10 MPH less on his fastball. He finished his career with 5 appearances in the Cleveland organization that did not go well. Overall, after the injury, he threw 111 1/3 innings total, with an 11.24 ERA, 2.66 WHIP, 184 walks and 106 strikeouts.
Taylor sadly struggled after baseball, bouncing from job to job for multiple years before he was arrested for cocaine distribution. He was released in 2015, but instead of a Yankees hero, Brien Taylor ended up a story of tragedy.