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North Carolina 3B Colin Moran.
The Amateur Baseball Draft is scheduled for Thursday June 6-Saturday June 8, with the entire first round occurring on Thursday night. The draft is scheduled to begin at 7PM ET.
After news broke earlier this week of Jonathan Gray testing positive for Adderall at a pre-draft program held by Major League Baseball, we have switched up our top 10 picks. [Read more…]
San Diego Padres Bill Almon. Credit: Topps.
Once again, the San Diego Padres pick number one in the amateur baseball draft, this time in 1974.
Since their inception, the Padres picked number one overall three times including this draft.
They chose second overall once up to this draft in history.
In the same breath, the Texas Rangers have had quite a few picks in the top five since their inception.
Texas has chosen number one overall once as the Washington Senators and once as the Rangers.
This pick at number two is the first in franchise history.
Almon was drafted as an infielder out of Brown University. He was one of six players drafted out of the collegiate levels in the 1974 draft. He spent parts of 15 seasons in the majors with the Padres, the Montreal Expos, the New York Mets, the Chicago White Sox, the Oakland Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Philadelphia Phillies. He had two stints with the Mets.
Almon debuted in the Majors with San Diego in September of 1974, playing in 16 games, posting a .316 batting average. He was not able to become a full-time player until 1977, in which he played 155 games for San Diego.
Almon posted a career .254 average with 36 homeruns, 296 RBIs, and 846 hits in 1,236 games. He played the most games of his career with San Diego, totaling 429 appearances with an average of .255, four homeruns, and 81 RBIs. He also recorded 337 of his career hits while with the Padres.
The best year of his career came with the Padres in 1977. He played in a career-high 155 games with a .261 batting average, two homeruns, 43 RBIs, and a career-high 160 hits. Almon posted a career-high seven homeruns twice, once in Oakland and once in Pittsburgh. Those years were 1984 and 1986. He had a career-high 63 RBIs with Oakland in 1983.
Almon never played on a team that made it to the playoffs during his career, but all things considered, Almon had a decent career after being drafted number one overall.
Texas Rangers Tommy Boggs.
The second overall pick in the draft, Tommy Boggs, was taken by the Texas Rangers. Boggs was drafted by the Rangers as a pitcher out of Lanier High School in Austin, Texas.
Boggs was a bit of a draft bust, appearing in only 114 career games with the Rangers and the Atlanta Braves. He spent two stints with the Rangers during his career.
He did not debut in the majors until 1976, in which he posted a 1-7 record with an ERA of 3.49. He strictly was a starter in his rookie season. For his career, Boggs posted a record of 20-44 with an ERA of 4.22. He started 94 games in his career. He started just six games in 1977 for the Rangers and was traded in the off-season to the Atlanta Braves.
He returned to the Rangers in 1985, in which he pitched in just four games, all of them out of the bullpen. For his career with Texas, Boggs posted a record of 1-10 with an ERA of 4.48 in 23 games, 19 of them starts.
His best season came with the Braves in 1980. He posted a record of 12-9 with an ERA of 3.42 in 32 games, 26 of them starts, both career-highs. He threw four complete games, with three of them shutouts. Boggs also never appeared in the playoffs during his career.
Some notable players in the 1974 draft taken after the first two picks include the following:
The next installment of our draft history series will detail the 1975 draft. The number one overall pick was Danny Goodwin, chosen by the California Angels. Mike Lentz was chosen second overall by the San Diego Padres.
WBC Champs Dominican Republic. Credit: Mike Blake/Reuters.
Over the past couple of years, Major League Baseball officials have talked about instituting an international draft, or making the current Rule 4 Draft open to international players. Since we posted our first mock draft of the 2013 season, we are now tackling the idea of an international draft in baseball.
Many believe that an international draft is very close to occurring because of the new restrictions placed on international spending for amateur free agents who are not eligible for the draft in the United States. The new restrictions on signing bonuses take effect on June 1, 2013, but an international draft would not occur until at least 2014 if it is approved. [Read more…]
Stanford right-handed pitcher Mark Appel. Credit: Matthew Ersted, Stanfordphoto.com.
With the 2013 MLB draft just weeks away, we have compiled our first mock draft of the year. After being drafted eighth overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012, Stanford right-handed pitcher Mark Appel is preparing for his second draft.
Appel was the only player in the first round not to sign. He opted to return to school for another season in order to further develop his arm. Now he is in position to be taken number one overall. [Read more…]
Texas Rangers David Clyde. Credit: Louis Requena/MLB Photos/Getty Images.
With the first pick in the 1973 MLB draft, the Texas Rangers selected left-handed pitcher David Clyde. The second pick was made by the Philadelphia Phillies, who chose catcher John Stearns.
Neither player had particularly stellar careers, but Stearns edged out Clyde in the stats category even though they played different positions.
Eight of the players chosen in the first round never appeared in a Major League game during their careers. Of the 24 picks in the first round, only seven players were drafted out of the collegiate levels.
Only one player chosen from the college ranks never played in the majors. That person was third baseman Charles Bates, who was chosen 19th overall by the Detroit Tigers.
Seven first round picks were taken from schools in the state of California. As you will see later in this article, the first round was littered with future stars after the first and second picks were made.
This was the first time that the Rangers franchise owned the number one overall pick in the history of the draft since moving to Texas after being known as the Washington Senators. Clyde made an impact at the big league level, but not enough to label this pick a success. He played parts of five seasons for Texas and the Cleveland Indians, amassing a record of 18-33 with a 4.63 ERA in 84 games, 73 of them starts.
Clyde posted a career-high in wins with 8 in in 1978 with the Indians. That same year he lost a career-high 11 games. He started a career-high 25 games and posted an ERA of 4.28. Clyde debuted in the majors the same year he was drafted. He did not appear in a Minor League game until 1975.
New York Mets John Stearns. Credit: Jeff Zelevansky.
Stearns, the second pick in the draft, was taken by the Phillies. He debuted in September of 1974 with the Phillies.
He played in just me game before he was traded to the New York Mets on December 3, 1974 with Mac Scarce and Del Unser for Don Hahn, Tug McGraw, and Dave Schneck. We all know what McGraw did in his career, but Stearns also had some good seasons with the Mets.
In his entire career, Stearns hit .260 with 46 home runs, 312 RBIs, and 696 hits in 810 games. All but one of his career hits came with the Mets. He picked up his first big league hit as a member of the Phillies in 1974 in his debut.
In his career, Stearns played third base, first base, catcher, and left field. He tallied 91 stolen bases and was caught 51 times.
He made four All-Star teams; 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1982. In 1977 and 1978 he hit 12 and 15 home runs respectively. He also recorded a career-high 73 RBIs in 1978.
Stearns was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round of the 1969 draft, but he failed to sign. He never appeared in the playoffs during his career, but McGraw went on to win a World Series with Philadelphia as the team’s closer in 1980.
Clyde and Stearns can be considered relative busts compared to some of the other players chosen later in the first round of the 1973 draft. Those notable players include the following:
The next installment of our draft history series features the first and second picks in the 1974 draft. The Padres selected shortstop Bill Almon and the Texas Rangers selected right-handed pitcher Tommy Boggs.