Colorado Rockies: Troy Tulowitzki (seventh overall, 2005). Tulowitzki is a perennial MVP candidate for the Rockies, taken seventh overall in a loaded draft that included guys like Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Andrew McCutchen, and Jay Bruce – and they were all taken in the top 12 of the Draft. All Tulowitzki has done in his career is hit .299/.373/519, make the All-Star team three times, win two Gold Glove awards, and finish in the top ten of MVP voting three times. At just 29, he’s putting together the best year of his career this season in Denver, and the best may still be coming for him.
Honorable mentions: Rex Brothers
Detroit Tigers: Justin Verlander (second overall, 2004). Verlander barely makes it in before our cutoff, and that’s a good thing considering some of the names you’ll see below. I don’t need to list off all of his credentials, but here’s a small sample: AL Rookie of the Year, AL Cy Young, AL MVP, three-time AL strikeout champion, six-time All-Star. That’ll do it.
Honorable mentions: Cameron Maybin, Rick Porcello
Houston Astros: Jason Castro (tenth overall, 2008). This is another one that will probably be changing in a matter of years, but that’s not a slight on Castro, who developed into one of the AL’s best catchers in 2013 after injuries destroyed his previous seasons. But Houston had seven first round picks from 2010-2013 (and will add another first overall pick to their slate in June), so one of them has to overtake Castro…right?
Honorable mentions: Brian Bogusevic, George Springer
Kansas City Royals: Alex Gordon (second overall, 2005). Looking at the Royals’ first round picks over the last decade is depressing, because they had some many high picks that fell flat. Hell, Gordon was drafted as a third baseman, and now, he’s a left fielder (albeit one of the best defensive left fielders in the game today). Gordon, and Billy Butler to a lesser extent, is the only player to even begin to tap into his massive potential. When you draft either first or second for three straight years, you need to bring home more value than that.
Honorable mentions: Billy Butler, J.P. Howell, Eric Hosmer
Los Angeles Angels: Jered Weaver (12th overall, 2004). In one year, Mike Trout will be the answer here. It’ll be more than a decade since Weaver was drafted, and the veteran ace won’t be eligible for the “last decade” label anymore. Trout also could put together a third straight MVP caliber season in 2014 and pass Weaver on merits alone. But for now, Weaver is the guy. He’s thrown over 1,500 innings of 3.22 ERA ball since being drafted – that’s pretty damn good. Aside from those two, the Angels have drafted pretty poorly, though Tyler Skaggs and Garrett Richards are looking like potential rotation building blocks along with Weaver.
Honorable mentions: Mike Trout
Los Angeles Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw (seventh overall, 2006). Kershaw is the only choice here, as the Dodgers put together several disappointing first rounds over the course of the decade. But even if they did draft well, Kershaw is still an excellent choice – over 1,200 career innings with a 2.63 ERA and two Cy Young awards at the age of 26? I think any team would be absolutely giddy with that production.
Honorable mentions: none
Miami Marlins: Jose Fernandez (14th overall, 2011). Even with Fernandez’s Tommy John knocking him out for the rest of the 2014 season, he’s still the best first-round pick that the Marlins have made this decade. There are a number of names that could battle him for supremacy, including Christian Yelich, 2012 first rounder Andrew Heaney, and 2013 first rounder Colin Moran.
Honorable mentions: Matt Dominguez, Christian Yelich
Milwaukee Brewers: Ryan Braun (fifth overall, 2005). Say what you want about Braun’s ties to PEDs, but the man is one hell of a baseball player when he’s on the field. The 2007 NL Rookie of the Year and 2011 NL MVP put together back to back 30/30 seasons in 2011 and 2012, is a five-time All-Star, a five-time Silver Slugger winner, and has also added a pair of top three MVP finishes to his 2011 win. But his PED suspension and injuries have limited Braun to just 92 games over the past season and a half, and that missed time could be what turns him from an elite player into yet another faded star. The fact that the Brewers have drafted pretty terribly over the last decade also helps Braun’s case, because really, who else would you choose?
Honorable mentions: Brett Lawrie, Jake Odorizzi
Minnesota Twins: Matt Garza (25th overall, 2005). After hitting home runs in the first round in 2001 (Joe Mauer) and 2002 (Denard Span), the Twins have fallen into the abyss of disappointing drafting. The only other choice than Garza was closer Glen Perkins, who was drafted in 2004 and wasn’t converted into a reliever until 2010. But while Perkins and fellow first-rounders Trevor Plouffe, Chris Parmelee, Aaron Hicks, and Kyle Gibson are all impacting the major league club to varying degrees this year, none has had quite a career like Garza, who appeared in just 26 games with Minnesota in 2006 and 2007 before being dealt to the Rays as part of the Delmon Young trade. So while the drafting of Garza looks great in hindsight, that trade still looks awful.
Honorable mentions: Glen Perkins, Ben Revere, Trevor Plouffe
New York Mets: Matt Harvey (seventh overall, 2010). It’s telling that the choice for the Mets is a guy who has just made 37 appearances in the majors. Harvey probably won’t pitch this year following Tommy John surgery last fall, but he stands tall among a disastrous spree of first rounds under Omar Minaya’s regime.
Honorable mentions: Ike Davis, Mike Pelfrey
New York Yankees: Ian Kennedy (21st overall, 2006). If you want to talk about a team that doesn’t make good use of their first round picks…well, at least the Yankees have a built-in excuse in that they typically draft at the end of the first round instead of consistently in the top ten. Since drafting Derek Jeter sixth overall in 1992, the Yankees have signed just one first rounder that has eclipsed 10.0 fWAR: Eric Milton, who never threw a pitch in the majors for New York. But anyway, Kennedy gets the nod here over Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, even though he only made 14 appearances as a Yankee from 2007 to 2009. Kennedy was dealt to Arizona in a three-team trade that also involved the Tigers, netting the Yankees Curtis Granderson in the process. Unlike Delmon Young in Minnesota, Granderson played well after being acquired for a first-rounder, smashing 115 homers in four seasons as a Yankee and finishing fourth in the 2011 MVP race.
Honorable mentions: Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain