A friend challenged me today to name another team besides the Giants in the last ten years that hasn't produced an all-star caliber position player. Well, I decided to take a look, and the results are below.
I didn't include prospects who aren't in the majors yet, or good draft picks who were traded away or lost, so feel free to fill in any information like that.
Who has done the best? What else did you notice? The round the player was picked in is in parentheses, and the teams are listed by their current standing in their respective divisions. My conclusions are at the bottom of the results.
AL East
Red Sox: Kevin Youkilis (8th), Dustin Pedroia (2nd).
Yankees: Jorge Posada (24th), Robinson Cano (amateur free agent), Derek Jeter (1st).
Blue Jays: Aaron Hill (1st), Vernon Wells (1st), Alex Rios (1st).
Devil Rays: BJ Upton (1st), Carl Crawford (2nd), Elijah Dukes (3rd), Delmon Young (1st), Rocco Baldelli (1st).
Orioles: Brian Roberts (1st), Nick Markakis (1st).
AL Central
Indians: Victor Martinez (amateur free agent), Jhonny Peralta (amateur free agent).
Tigers: Curtis Granderson (3rd).
Twins: Justin Morneau (3rd), Torii Hunter (1st), Mike Cuddyer (1st), Joe Mauer (1st).
White Sox: None unless you count Joe Crede (5th), which I don't.
Royals: Alex Gordon (1st), Mike Sweeney (10th), Billy Butler (1st).
AL West
Angels: Casey Kotchman (1st), Howie Kendrick (10th).
A's: Eric Chavez (1st), Nick Swisher (1st).
Mariners: Jose Lopez (amateur free agent), Raul Ibanez (36th).
Rangers: Mark Teixeira (1st), Ian Kinsler (17th), Hank Blalock (3rd).
NL East
Mets: David Wright (1st), Jose Reyes (amateur free agent).
Braves: Brian McCann (2nd), Kelly Johnson (1st), Chipper Jones (1st), Andruw Jones (amateur free agent), Jeff Francouer (2nd).
Phillies: Ryan Howard (5th), Chase Utley (1st), Jimmy Rollins (2nd), Pat Burrell (1st).
Marlins: Miguel Cabrera (amateur free agent), Josh Willingham (7th).
Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman (1st).
NL Central
Brewers: Prince Fielder (1st), Rickie Weeks (1st), J.J. Hardy (2nd), Geoff Jenkins (2nd), Bill Hall (6th), Corey Hart (11th), Ryan Braun (1st).
Cubs: None
Cardinals: Albert Pujols (13th), Chris Duncan (1st).
Pirates: None
Astros: Lance Berkman (1st), Craig Biggio (1st), Morgan Ensberg (9th), Hunter Pence (2nd).
Reds: Adam Dunn (2nd).
NL West
Padres: None
Dodgers: Russell Martin (17th).
D-Backs: Conor Jackson (1st round), Stephen Drew (1st), Carlos Quentin (1st), Chad Tracy (7th)
Rockies: Todd Helton (1st), Garrett Atkins (5th), Matt Holliday (7th), Brad Hawpe (11th).
Giants: None
Conclusions
Draft early and look abroad. Why? There are a ton of guys listed here who were first-round draft picks. Out of 71 players, just about half (34) were first-round picks. Also, nine were second-round picks, and four third-round picks, for a total of 47 out of 71 picks coming in the first three rounds. That's two-thirds of all the impact players still with the teams who drafted them. So, if we continue to spend almost all of our top picks on pitchers, we're missing a big opportunity at getting a hitter who will make it to the bigs and make an impact.




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