At least a year ago, maybe longer, I had an idea: wouldn’t it be cool to go through every draft pick in major league history, pick the best player for each one, and create sort of an Ultimate Draft? (NFL.com did something like this a couple years ago, so maybe that’s where I got the idea from, but they only did the first round. I can’t find anyplace that’s done it for baseball.)
There are over 1,200 players listed here, so I broke this up into rounds of fifty picks each. We’ll run one round each day.
Also, note that there are some differences in the way the posts are labeled (in this case, Picks 551-600) and the actual numbers of the picks (553-603). This is because I left out picks for which there were either no eligible major leaguers (noted below) or no major leaguers at all.
All-Time Draft: Picks 901-950
Total WAR: 102.7 (2.1 per player)
High WAR: Orlando Hudson (21.7)
Low WAR: Scott Ruffcorn (-3.0)
Hall of Famers: None
Most Valuable Players: None
Cy Youngs: None
Rookies of the Year: None
943 – Justin Miller, RHP, San Francisco Giants (1995)
944 – Bruce Ellingsen, LHP, Los Angeles Dodgers (1967)
947 – Brad Holman, RHP, Kansas City Royals (1990)
948 – T.J. Mathews, RHP, Oakland Athletics (1990)
949 – Joey Gathright, OF, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2001)
950 – Jamie Brown, RHP, Cleveland Indians (1995)
951 – Kevin Thompson, SS, New York Yankees (1999)
952 – Jason Bere, RHP, Chicago White Sox (1990)
954 – Jose Flores, 3B, Philadelphia Phillies (1994)
955 – Roger Hambright, RHP, New York Yankees (1967)
957 – Chad Bradford, RHP, Chicago White Sox (1994)
958 – Frank Ortenzio***, OF, Kansas City Royals (1969)
959 – Steve Andrade, RHP, Anaheim Angels (2001)
961 – Aaron Sele***, RHP, Minnesota Twins (1988)
965 – Alejandro Sanabia, RHP, Florida Marlins (2006)
967 – Jeff Gray, RHP, Oakland Athletics (2004)
968 – Brian Simmons***, OF, Baltimore Orioles (1992)
969 – Orlando Hudson, SS, Toronto Blue Jays (1996)
970 – Mike Hollimon, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers (2001)
971 – Nick Green, 2B, Atlanta Braves (1998)
973 – Nyjer Morgan, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates (2002)
976 – Calvin Pickering, OF, Baltimore Orioles (1995)
977 – Eric Eckenstahler, LHP, Houston Astros (1995)
978 – Anthony Young, RHP, New York Mets (1987)
979 – Matt Guerrier, RHP, Kansas City Royals (1996)
981 – Jon Coutlangus, OF, Milwaukee Brewers (2000)
984 – Chris Shelton, C, Pittsburgh Pirates (2001)
987 – Jason Frasor, RHP, Detroit Tigers (1999)
988 – Joe Vitko, RHP, New York Mets (1988)
989 – Scott Lewis, LHP, Anaheim Angels (2001)
991 – Rich Loiselle, RHP, San Diego Padres (1991)
992 – Ray Giannelli, 3B, Toronto Blue Jays (1988)
994 – Jensen Lewis, RHP, Cleveland Indians (2002)
995 – Ricardo Jordan, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays (1990)
996 – Scott Ruffcorn, RHP, Atlanta Braves (1988)
997 – Daniel Stange, RHP, Atlanta Braves (2003)
999 – Michael Dunn, 1B, New York Yankees (2004)
1000 – Tony Gwynn Jr., OF, Atlanta Braves (2000)
1001 – Scott Atchison, RHP, Seattle Mariners (1994)
1002 – Bo Hart, SS, St. Louis Cardinals (1999)
1005 – Jeremy Horst, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates (2003)
1006 – Raul Ibanez, OF, Seattle Mariners (1992)
1007 – Tyler Flowers***, 1B, Atlanta Braves (2005)
1008 – John Hester, C, Boston Red Sox (2005)
1009 – Chad Gaudin, RHP, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2001)
1011 – Dane De La Rosa***, RHP, Texas Rangers (2001)
1012 – Shawn Hill, RHP, San Diego Padres (1999)
1013 – Bobby Cassevah, RHP, Los Angeles Angels (2004)
1014 – Brett Campbell, RHP, Montreal Expos (2004)
1015 – Alvin Morman, LHP, Houston Astros (1991)
Player Listed Was Second-Highest; First Highest Already Appeared (Denoted By Triple Asterisk)
958 – Michael Stutes
961 – Tim Hudson
968 – Chris Dickerson
1007 – T.J. Mathews
1011 – Ryan Mattheus
Already Appeared, No Other Major Leaguers
980 – NatE. Robertson
990 – Tony Sipp
993 – Nick Punto
