With the MLB draft quickly approaching, here is a look at former top picks and how they fared.
From a potential Hall of Fame slugger (Bryce Harper) to a World Series MVP (Stephen Strasburg) to a player who never reached the big leagues (Brady Aiken), here’s a look at the past 15 players to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick and how they have fared. In this exercise, we rank the players in three categories: top tier, too soon to tell and mistakes. (2022 stats through Monday.)
2014: Brady Aiken, Houston Astros
Yes, the Houston Astros were bad enough back then to have the No. 1 pick three consecutive years. And yes, in 2014 they took a player who is one of three in history to be selected first overall and not reach the big leagues — not yet, at least. Left-hander Brady Aiken was considered the top prospect heading into the draft and after it appeared the two sides had agreed to a $6.5 million signing bonus, the offer was reduced to $5 million after a physical revealed a problem with the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm. Aiken never signed, becoming the first No. 1 pick not to do so since Tim Belcher in 1983. The Astros, in hindsight, were correct about the physical — Aiken had Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in March 2015. The Cleveland Indians took Aiken with the No. 17 pick in 2015 despite the issue, but he struggled on the mound and in 2019 took time away from the game. Cleveland released Aiken in October 2021 — he was only 25 — and he remains a free agent. He’s among the biggest busts in baseball history, and certainly in the last 15 drafts.
