Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
PART I CAN BE FOUND HERE: http://strike3forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11517
PART II OF "WHERE ARE THEY NOW: THE 1996 100 TOP PROSPECTS (80-61)".
80. Julio Santana, rhp, Rangers
Julio Santana is one of the first undrafted free agents to show up in the Top 100 prospects of 1996. Santana turned out to be a career journeyman, playing for five teams over a course of six years. He showed flashes of above-average performance in his second year with a 111 ERA+ in 35 games and 19 starts. He also gave a nice performance in 2002 with a 2.84 ERA in 38 relief appearances. When he got another shot in 2005, he did not do very well. After 2005, he had two losses for every win and a 5.26 ERA.
79. Luis Castillo, 2b, Marlins
Castillo is our fifth all-star through 22 players and our 20th major leaguer. A three-time gold glove second baseman has had a prototypical above-average middle infielder’s career: an acceptable bat, great defense, and some speed. He had led the league in stolen bases twice and is 11th among active players in steals. Like Santana, he came as an undrafted free agent, and Castillo is one of the most successful players in this fifth of the Top 100.
78. Brian “Kiss From A” Rose, rhp, Red Sox
As a Red Sox fan, I have a space in my heart for Brian Rose. He was one of the Sox better prospects for a while and he started one of the few games I have ever seen at Fenway Park. He joins the likes of Paxton Crawford and Jeff Suppan (his debut no less) in that impressive realm. Still, purely as a player, he is much like the pitching fodder we have seen so far. He had around 300 innings, a below-average ERA, a 15-23 record, although the poor guy had to deal with the AL East, and then Colorado. Also, he was involved in the ultimate Dan Duquette trade: Rose, Jeff Frye, and Way Back Wasdin for Mike Lansing, Rich Croushore, and Rolando Arrojo. Amazing.
77. Scott Elarton, rhp, Astros
Perhaps the most notable fact about this first rounder from the 1994 draft is that he almost posted a four-digit ERA in eight starts for Colorado in 2004. After being traded to the Indians, he progressed back to his mean. Basically the upgraded version of Rose, with almost 150 starts and a 50-51 win loss record as of today as he closes in on 1000 innings.
76. Dan Serafini, lhp, Twins
What was I saying about Brian Rose? Oh, I meant Dan Serafini, without the personal ties. A first rounder in 1992, he posted a 15-16 win-loss record over 6 years with an ERA nearing six. He has played for five teams over a course of six years and other than having a last name that could be served in Olive Gardens over Minnesota, a generally unexciting player. Sounds like a magician’s name, Serafini, nice.
75. Robert Smith, 3b, Braves
And at the quartile point, we have our third player who did not make the major leagues in Robert Smith. In this situation, I like to list the Top 10 Google Searches for the player, and Robert Smith is a common name.
“The Cure” – Official Website
Wikipedia Page for “The Cure” Musician
Photos of “The Cure” Musician
A Professor’s Home Page from the University of Utah
The Professional Bowler and Major Winner Robert Smith
The Robert H. Smith School of Business (Maryland)
Bob Smith’s stats from B-R (1925-1937)
Robert Candish the Scottish Preacher
Bob Smith’s Stats at B-Almanac (1958-1959)
Robert Smith’s stats at pro-football-reference
Wait...crap. OK, so he did play for a while. My bad, I have no idea how I missed him. 826 AB, 66 OPS+, and only the D-Rays gave this 3B/2B a job. Fantabulous
74. Carlos Guillen, ss, Astros
Guillen represents the sixth all-star through 27 players, although he never saw the field with the team he was signed by as an undrafted free agent. He had six years in Seattle, four of which were solid hitting years. He then went to Detroit in a trade for Ramon Santiago, and broke out for an all-star bid and a great year. He regressed a bit in 2005 but still had a 115 OPS+. With around 3000 plate appearances, he had a relatively long MLB career with a career OPS (through 2005) of .771. Simply a solid player and a nice pickup with Freddy Garcia for Seattle in the RJ trade.
73. Hiram Bocachica, ss, Expos
Honestly, he could have been anything in life and have been a winner for his name. Bocachica is an awesome last name, but Hiram? Winner. However, he as a player, he is the typical junky utility guy. The first round pick in 1994 had six part-time seasons at several positions, and he was a black hole at the plate. He posted two seasons (2003 and 2005) with negative OPS+, but with only 20 PA or so per year.
72. Shawn Estes, lhp, Giants
How the hell does Shawn Estes have 99 wins? Seriously, he’s not a bad pitcher. Over 250 starts, a 4.71 ERA as of 2005, and around 1650 innings over his career, but Shawn Estes is not a guy I think of when I think of 100 wins. He had a couple nice seasons in SF, but the 11th overall pick in 1991 has been a below-average inning eater for nearly a decade now. Oh, and he was an all-star, go figure.
71. Steve “Nulli Expugnabilis Hosti” Gibralter, of, Reds
Honestly, I just wanted to use the Latin Phrase. The sixth rounder may have the least impact of anyone who made the majors so far. Five at-bats. Six games. He had a career OPS+ of 7 and 259,000 dollars for his work. That is not a bad payday.
70. LaTroy Hawkins, rhp, Twins
In terms of sheer games pitched, Hawkins has been well worth the 7th round pick used on him. He has a bad 51-69 W-L record, but with over 500 games pitched and a career ERA of 4.77 (with a LgAvg of 4.74), he has been a nice producer. His numbers are skewed by three years of bad starting, and since he moved to the pen, he has been below average only once. One of the more productive players in this segment
69. Doug Million “Dollar Man”, lhp, Rockies
Million is the fourth player to not make the majors, and he has a pretty sad story to boot. He was the BA High School Player of the Year in 1994 and was taken 7th by the Rockies. He fell from the #1 ranking in the organization to the #8 by the time he got to AA in 1996. He had a disastrous season in 1997 for Salem and New Haven. In the Fall of 1997, he died of an asthma attack at 22 years of age.
68. Brad Fullmer, 1b-3b, Expos
Fullmer has been a good little 1B/DH for nearly a decade. The former Expo has played in four organizations, posting a career OPS of .822 (110 OPS+). He got starting time in Toronto and Anaheim, which contributed to his 114 career homeruns. Fullmer did not play in 2005, but most teams that get a Fullmer out of the 68 spot would be pretty happy.
67. Jay Powell, rhp, Marlins
Wow, I was shocked. I knew Jay Powell was a journeyman reliever, but I had no idea that he had over 500 appearances with an ERA near four. His time has decreased from around 75 innings a year to around 40, but Powell has had a pretty successful career. He has been a post-season disaster though. With only five games since the beginning of 2005, he does not seem to be doing much. He is also the 30th major leaguer on the list.
66. Jamey Wright, rhp, Rockies
How the hell did Jamey Wright get 1300 innings? Oh, he was a Rockies player. He was typical inning fodder as the 28th overall selection in 2003. He won around 40% of the time with an ERA+ at 94. Still, he was a major leaguer and lasted longer than most so far.
65. Enrique “Red Sox Killer” Wilson, ss, Indians
He is the second Wilson on the list and he was the less successful of the two. Once again, in the light of the Bocachican Utility Player ™, he was generally a horrible hitter with multi-positional ability. He is best known for being a pain in Pedro Martinez’s side.
64. Hawatha Terrell Wade, lhp, Braves
Wade is a somewhat interesting case. There is no reason he should not have played a little more. He had a stellar relief season for the 1996 Atlanta Braves as a 23 year old. He did have a poor 1997, but decent stats in limited time in 1998. He did not pitch in the majors again. Not a whole lot to see here.
63. Neifi Perez, ss, Rockies
Ah yes, the Sabermetric Poster Boy (well, maybe Womack) for the “Why the hell does he start” player. He has over 5000 plate appearances in his career, with a total of a little over 61 homeruns (several players had more than that in one season) and a career OPS+ of 65. Yes, 65. He had a .681 OPS in an era where .828 was average. Perhaps his most infamous season was his only full season in Kansas City. He was the starting shortstop for the Royals in 2002, he recorded 585 plate appearances, and he had a .564 OPS. Amazing stuff.
62. Mike Drumright, rhp, Tigers
Woohoo, we have a career minor league folks! He stayed in the minors for nine years in four different systems. He went 50-78 with a 5.21 ERA in his minor league stay with 1,120 innings pitched. Huh, what, sorry, I fell asleep.
61. Wilton “Sorry I’m Not Vladdy” Guerrero, ss, Dodgers
Honestly, I could type a little on Wilton, but I could also point you to the Hiram Bocachica write-up. So while all this is not factually correct, screw it, replace some of the more intricate facts and the names.
Honestly, he could have been anything in life and have been a winner for his name. Bocachica (Guerrero!) is an awesome last name, but Hiram (Wilton!)? Winner. However, he as a player, he is the typical junky utility guy. The first round pick in 1994 had six part-time seasons at several positions, and he was a black hole at the plate. He posted two seasons (2003 and 2005) with negative OPS+, but with only 20 PA or so per year. He hit badly but fielded a bunch of positions
There, I did it for you.
Career Minor Leaguers (4) :10%
Major Leaguers (36): 90%
All-Stars (7): 17.5%
Award Winners (2): 5%
Dudes Named Hiram (1): 2.5%
Register To Reply
Originally Posted by Fishercat
