Mike Trout: Revisiting the 2009 MLB Draft

With the 25th pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim select….Mike Trout, Outfielder from New Jersey.

The MLB amateur draft is a fickle business.  Of the four major sports, it is likely the one draft that is most difficult to get right.  When you consider that future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols was drafted in the 13th round, and that HOF catcher Mike Piazza was drafted in the 62nd round, the baseball draft truly is a crapshoot.

The 2009 draft proved to be no exception.  With the news breaking earlier this week that Mike Trout had agreed to the largest contract in professional sports history, I thought I’d revisit the first round of the 2009 draft which saw Trout go to the Los Angeles Angels at pick #25.

Before we do, let’s consider some numbers from Trout’s 7+ year career so far:

• Starting with his first full season in MLB in 2012 (at age 20), Trout has appeared in every All Star Game.
• Trout has finished 1st or 2nd in the AL MVP race in 6 of the 7 years with 2 wins and one 4th place finish.
• His career OPS+ (park adjusted OPS – On Base % Plus Slugging %) is 175.  100 is considered league average.
• Trout has amassed a career WAR (per Baseball-Reference) of 64.3 (an average of over 9 WAR per season).  I’m not a big proponent of WAR, but it is a useful tool to use when comparing players.
• After his 3rd full season in the majors, Trout signed a 6 year, $144 million contract to give the Angels two additional seasons of control.  This type of contract that early in a player’s career is unheard of.

Considering all of that, it isn’t terribly presumptuous to state that Mike Trout is putting together an all-time-great career.  With that in mind, and with no offense intended to those players taken ahead of him, let’s take a look at the 24 players that were drafted ahead of Trout in the 2009 Draft…

1. Washington Nationals – Stephen Strasburg (P)

It’s hard to argue with the Nationals’ selection at the top of the draft.  As an organization looking to completely rebuild their standing in MLB, they were desperate for that cornerstone, once-in-a-lifetime pitcher to anchor their rotation for years to come.  Unfortunately, due to a series of injuries, Strasburg has only managed to start 30 or more games in just two seasons since making his debut in 2010.

Even with limiting his innings in 2012 and keeping him off of the playoff roster that season, he has not been able to stay healthy enough to be the top-of-the-rotation (TOR) starter that they sought in 2009.  To make matters worse, he has only started 3 postseason games in his 10 years with the Nationals. With all that said, he has 3 All Star Game appearances, two top-ten finishes in the Cy Young Award vote, and a contract that will pay him $38 million in 2019 and $45 million in 2023.  Strasburg is easily the most accomplished player, other than Trout, from the first round of that draft

2. Seattle Mariners – Dustin Ackley (OF)

Ackley spent 4.5 seasons with the club that drafted him in 2009.  Only managing to play in more than 140 games in two of those seasons, Ackley has not shown a consistent ability to get on base or hit for much power, and has spent the last few seasons in the Minor Leagues.  His best season was his rookie year where, in just 90 games, he managed to finish 6th in the Rookie-of-the-Year race.  The Mariners brought him back for 2019 on a minor league contract after a stint with the Yankees, but have since released him during Spring Training.

3. San Diego Padres – Donavan Tate (CF)

Tate was a two-sport star in high school and chose to forgo college football when he was taken 3rd overall in the 2009 draft.  As an athletic outfielder, Tate never managed to advance past A-Ball and left baseball in 2017 for a chance to play quarterback at the University of Arizona.  After one season, he left to return home to be closer to family.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates – Tony Sanchez (C)

Sanchez has 156 career plate appearances over a handful of seasons in MLB and is currently with the Texas Rangers.

5. Baltimore Orioles – Matt Hobgood (P)

Hobgood was unable to advance past AA ball during his career as a pitcher, and after spending time away from affiliated baseball he is attempting to make a comeback as a positional player.  He is currently unsigned.

6. San Francisco Giants – Zack Wheeler (P)

Wheeler was ultimately traded to the Mets in a deal for Carlos Beltran, and he made his debut in 2013.  The pitcher has been riddled with injuries throughout his career and has only completed two full seasons with the Mets.  He has shown flashes of dominance and continues to be a key factor in the Mets rotation moving forward.

7. Atlanta Braves – Mike Minor (P)

Minor experienced some success early in his career with the Braves, posting several decent seasons in a row with the club.  Shoulder injuries derailed him, but he has managed to come back strong after pitching from the bullpen in Kansas City in 2017.  Minor was a fixture in the Rangers rotation in 2018 and is pencilled in to start opening day for the club later this month.

8. Cincinnati Reds – Mike Leake (P)

Leake has proven to be a consistent league average starter over the course of his 9-year career with stints in the NL and AL.  To date, he has a career ERA of 4.03 and an adjusted ERA (ERA+) of 99 (league average ERA+ is 100). Leake is currently with the Seattle Mariners.

9. Detroit Tigers – Jacob Turner (P)

Turner has been unable to maintain a steady spot on an MLB roster, although he has appeared in 102 games and sports an ERA over 5.  Turner is currently unsigned.

10. Washington Nationals – Drew Storen (P)

The Nationals hold the distinction of being one of two teams who passed on Trout not once, but twice in the 2009 Draft.

Storen showed a lot of promise as a back-end-of-the-bullpen arm by saving 43 games for the Nationals in just his second season.  He has been unable to hold on to the closer’s role for a team that had World Series aspirations, and is now pitching in the Royals pen.

11. Colorado Rockies – Tyler Matzek (P)

Matzek pitched 2 seasons for the Rockies before being sidelined with injuries.  Since then, he has spent time in the minors and the independent leagues before being out of baseball altogether.  In 2019, he is trying to catch back on and signed a minor league contract with Arizona.

12. Kansas City Royals – Aaron Crow (P)

Crow experienced initial success in the majors by spending four seasons in the Royals bullpen.  He posted a 3.43 ERA over that span and made one All Star team.  Since being traded to the Marlins, he has been unable to make it back to the MLB level.  Crow is now pitching in the Mexican League.

13. Oakland Athletics – Grant Green (2B/SS/OF)

Green has spent portions of 5 seasons at the MLB level, amassing 353 plate appearances with an OPS of .620, and is now playing in the Mexican League.

14. Texas Rangers – Matt Purke (P)

Purke is currently unsigned (and possibly out of baseball now) after logging just 18 innings pitched with the Chicago White Sox.

15. Cleveland Indians – Alex White (P)

White started 30 games over the course of 2 seasons for the Indians and finished with a career ERA of 6.03.  He is now pitching in an independent league.

16. Arizona Diamondbacks – Bobby Borchering (3B/1B/OF)

Borchering is currently out of baseball having never advanced further than AA ball.  He showed some glimpses of power in the minors before retiring after the 2015 season.

17. Arizona Diamondbacks – A.J. Pollack (OF)

The Diamondbacks joined the Nationals as one of the two teams who elected to pass on Trout twice in the draft.

Pollack, one of the more accomplished players from the 2009 first round, has had a good career so far.  Like others on this list, Pollack’s career has been defined by injuries.  In his only full season of play so far (2015), Pollack made the All Star team and received a Gold Glove for his outstanding play in the field.  He has a strong career OPS of .805 and possesses solid power, defense, and speed and is now with the Dodgers.

18. Florida Marlins – Chad James (P)

Chad James has been out of affiliated baseball since 2015 where he advanced as high as AA in the minor leagues.

19. St. Louis Cardinals – Shelby Miller (P)

Miller showed ace potential in his early years with the Cardinals, and made the NL All Star during his one season in Atlanta.  Since being traded to the Diamondbacks in a blockbuster deal, he has experience numerous setbacks due to injury. He has a career .383 ERA in 124 starts, finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year balloting, and is currently in the Rangers organization.

20. Toronto Blue Jays – Chad Jenkins (P)

Jenkins is another on the long list of pitchers now out of affiliated baseball.  He pitched in 46 games with Toronto as both a SP and RP and finished with a career ERA 3.31, but somehow never managed to stick at the MLB level.