History of the First Overall Draft Pick

(Don't forget to check out mattynokes great new article too titled: How do you scout for the draft?)

The first pick of a draft always has ton of pressure on them for being classified as the best of all the new young baseball players in the nation, if not the world.  Sometimes these guys go on to become superstars, other times they go on to become busts.  This article goes into detail about each first round pick for every season in FCM, and what has happened to them after being drafted.  As an added bonus, it also briefly says what happened to the second pick of each draft too.

2010) SP Dan Henderson - WSH: Dan Henderson, who was a high school gradeuate out of Haddock, GA, was selected as the first pick of the amateur draft in 2010.  Henderson had dominated the lower states high school baseball with an ERA around 2.50 or lower all four years of high school.  The six foot nine giant had great potential, but he was never able to transition well to professional baseball.  Henderson played only one season in the majors in 2011 as a spot starter.  He was 4.48 in 60.1 innings.  He stayed in the Nationals system pitching in the farm system until 2014 when he was released after going 5.76 in spring training.  He spent the rest of 2014 in independent baseball before retiring.   --BIG BUST--
2nd pick of the draft, was 1B Jamie Valdez - PIT.  Valdez has turned into an above average hitter who has converted to a very effective third baseman.  Valdez has four career grand slams and won the 2015 gold glove award.  He still plays in the majors as the Pirates starting third baseman earning 18M a year.

2011) 3B Tim Perrin - KCR: The Long Beach University third baseman was the first overall pick of the 2011 draft.  Perrin was a good all-around guy who could hit for power, hit for batting average and get on base along with being an above average fielder.  He had everything but speed.    Perin was traded in the off-season after the 2011 season to the Mariners in a package for Felix Hernandez.  In Seattle Perrin turned into a star.  He converted to a shortstop in the 2016-2017 off-season and took over a starting roll in the Mariners lineup from 2016-2019 when the Mariners played their best baseball in FCM history.  Perrin's best season so far was in 2018 when he hit 30 home-runs, drove in 132 RBIs, and had a .345 batting average.  He lead the AL in batting average that season.  Perrin is a 2 time all-star who has hit for the cycle once.  This past off-season he was traded to the Houston Astros, where he was the starting 3B for the 'stros before landing recently on the DL. --SUPER STAR--
2nd pick of the draft was SP Alfonso Predrasa - SD.  Pedrasa was traded to the Cardinals and then to the Pirates where he has spent all of his major league career to date.  He is a 4 time all-star and pitched a no-hitter in 2017.  However it was in this draft, with the seventh pick, that SP Donovan Pace - FLA was drafted. Many currently consider Pace the best pitcher in the history of FCM.



2012) LF Manuel Vargas - WSH: Washington got another chance at a first round pick, after their 2010 bust in Dan Henderson.  Vargas was a 16 year old left fielder right from the Dominican Republic.  He had a lot of potential, but also had a ton of skills for being just 16.  He was an above average fielder, with good speed and a bat as good as many 20-22 year olds.  Do to having such talent at just 16, his talent hardly progressed, and he did not make the majors until 2016.  He spent his first full season with the Nationals in 2018 where he had a successful season hitting 37 home-runs and driving in 95 RBIs with a .296 BA.  In the last few seasons Vargas' health has been an issue, suffering elbow tendonitis, a broken fibula, a sprained neck, a bruised kee, a pulled calf, a strained lower back, and a forearm stress fracture from sept 2017 to sept 2019.  If he is able to stay injury free he should remain to be an above average player for Washington, it just took him a long time to get there. --STAR--
1B Angel Munoy - SDP was picked second in the 2012 draft by the Padres, but was traded to the Cardinals with Predrasa, the second pick of the 2011 draft.  Munoy has been a starter for the Cards from 2015, 2017-2019.  During this past off-season Munoy signed a six year contract with the Boston Red Sox making 11M a season.

2013) SP Boris Turner - BAL: Turner was a dominate high school pitcher where in his senior year he pitched 1.68 in 14 starts striking out 101 in 75 innings.  The 6'5" pitcher from Charleston, WV who was a George Washington High School Patroit, showed a lot of control with his fastball, which is why the Orioles took him first overall.  Turner made his major league debut in 2015 and spent 2015 & 2016 as a spot-starter for the Orioles.  He had a 4.75 ERA in 2015 and a 5.66 ERA in 2016 before being traded to the Indians in the off-season.  He has since spent three solid seasons with Cleveland where he remains and has become the ace of their rotation.  He has made the all-star team each season.  Turner is only 26 and some scouts think he still hasn't reached his true potential.  Turner is turning into one of the best pitchers in the whole league.  -- ELITE PLAYER --
SP Gregg Mainwaring - CIN was picked second in the 2013 draft and has been just what the Reds have hoped for, pitching in their rotation from 2016 to present.  His best season was 2018 when he had a 2.77 ERA.  He is not a strikeout pitcher and has a slow fastball to the majors, but his above average control and movement makes him a great pitch-to-contact pitcher.

2014) 3B Luis Lajud - SEA: in 2014-2016, the Mariners were known as the team with two of the best 3B prospects with newly acquired Perrin the 1st overall pick of the 2011 draft and Luis Lajud.  Lajud, the six foot seven right hander from Fresno State was a power house in college hitting 29 home-runs as a freshman.  He also had an above average glove.  Lajud however never had as much success as Perrin, and after making his major league debut in 2017, Lajud has remained a bench warmer for the mariners and has not been given the chance to start.  For some reason his fielding skills did not transition well to perofessional baseball, and has since become a first baseman, but is better suited as a DH. -- BUST --
SP Adam Smith - PIT was picked second in the draft.  He made one start for the Pirates in 2015, before being traded to Milwaukee and later Toronto receiving a world series ring with the Blue Jays.  Smith has spent much of his career as either a spot-starter or a back of the rotation starter.  However he is currently third in the Blue Jays rotation and has a 2.87 ERA this season in six starts.

2015) RF Forrest Givens - SEA: This was the second year in a row that the Mariners had the first pick of the draft.  Givens showed a lot of power in high school and college for the Arizona State Sun Devils.  He spent two years in the Mariners farm system before being traded to the Cleveland Indians in June 2016 in a package for Michael Brantley.  In the off-season the Indians traded Givens to the Baltimore Orioles.  The now 26 year old continues to play for the O's and took over the starting job last season where he hit 26 home-runs and had 78 RBI's.  Batting average has never been as good in professional baseball as it was in college, and is not as good a player as he was projected to be.  He might not even be a starter on most teams even though he does have some good raw power, and could possibly be still progressing.  --NEUTRAL-- 
The Philadelphia Phillies picked SP Oscar Coriz with the second pick in this draft, and in 2017 traded him to the Rangers.  The 24 year old Coriz has been a bust with ERA's of 8.22, 6.09 and 7.41 as a spot starter for the Texas Rangers, however as a reliever this season he currently has a 3.18 ERA in 22 innings.



2016) 2B Peter Rawlings - TB: Rawlings was drafted right out of high school where he played for Centerville HS in Texas.   He showed a lot of power for a second baseman, hitting 20 homeruns in his senior season.  However he only batted .350 which is kind of low for someone to be picked first overall.  The Rays traded Rawlings to Milwaukee in a package for pitcher Julio Teheran in 2017 and made his major league debut last season.  He is only 22 years old and still has a lot of potential.  He is currently batting .267 in AAA with 10 home-runs in 30 games this season.  He still has contact issues and just average fielding, which might make him cut out for an AL DH roll, but scouts think that Rawling still has a ton of potential.  -- UNKNOWN --      
1B Manny Capestany - WSH: Capestany transitioned from high school to professional baseball extremely quickly.  He made his majors debut in 2016 and has been the starting 1B for the Nats since 2018.  Last season he hit 45 home-runs and drove in 114 RBIs with a .281 BA.  He was the 2019 NL Home-run leader.  At 23 years old he is turning into an elite first baseman.   

2017) RF Dusty Bagge - ARI: Bagge was picked first overall by the Diamondbacks.  The Paoli Indiana native was both a baseball and a football star for the Paoli High School Rams.  Bagge who is only 20 was invited to spring training for the first time this spring where he hit .300 with 2 home-runs in 153 at-bats.  He was assigned to AAA Durham where he is batting .314 this season with 5 home-runs.  He has above average awareness of the strike zone along with his power, and could be the starter for the Dimaondbacks by next season.   He still has a ton of potential for being only 20, and should turn into an above average outfielder.   -- UNKNOWN --
Second pick of the draft, LF Alec Searle - MIL has been a bench player since 2018.  He has some good power but his fielding is an issue and will likely end up as an American League DH at some point in his career.  He is 25 years old but is still projected to progress for a couple more years.

2018: SP Vlad Pulgarin - ATL:  The Braves had the first pick of the 2018 draft, and selected Vlad Pulgarin.  The Venezuela native spent only one season in college baseball at Cal State Fullerton before being drafted.  He is currently injured wih a Broken Ankle but is progressing well and has the makings of an above average starter.  Pulgarian has never had a great fastball, but is able to get batters out with a very high GB% along with good movement and control.  He made the back end of the Braves rotation this season, but recently suffered a broken ankle and was placed on the 60-day DL.   -- UNKNOWN --
SP Dennis Clapsaddle - TEX was picked second in the 2018 draft.  He pitched for the AA Frisco RoughRiders last year, going 11-5 in 26 starts with a 3.80 ERA.  He was invited to spring training but at just nineteen years old Clapsaddle still needs some more work before making the majors.  He is in AA once again this season and in six starts he has three wins and a 3.08 ERA.



2019) 1B Arturo Abasolo - MIL:  When Abasolo was drafted, he showed more raw talent for a number one draft pick than many other draftees in recent history.  He played college ball at Cal State Fullerton, just like the first pick of the 2018 draft Vlad Pulgarian.  He has amazing awareness of the strike zone along with raw power and above average fielding ability for a first baseman.  The 6'5" slugger has already made the majors and is currently starting, but not at 1st.  The Brewers are trying to test him out and see how well he can play third base.  This is the same thing the Pirates did with the second pick of the 2010 draft in Jamie Valdez, who has now became a successful third baseman.  Abasolo is still young and many think the Brewers are rushing him just like the Royals did with Alex Gordon.  Abasolo is batting only .219 this season with just one home-run.  -- UNKNOWN --
SP Pedro Escandell - ATL was picked second in the 2019 draft.  He is currently pitching in AA where he has a 4.10 ERA in 41.2 innings, which isn't bad for a 18 year old.  Escandell likely still has a long way to go before he makes the majors, and has a ton of potential.



2020) ????????  Draft is tomorrow night!     
    
     
First Pick of the Amateur draft:

Year	Team	Player
2019		1B Arturo Abasolo
2018		SP Vlad Pulgarin
2017		RF Dustin Bagge
2016		2B Peter Rawlings
2015		RF Forrest Givens
2014		3B Luis Lajud
2013		SP Boris Turner
2012		LF Manuel Vargas
2011		3B Tim Perrin
2010		SP Dan Henderson