The 2006 MLB Draft, Revisited
1. Luke Hochevar, HS pitcher, Kansas City Royals
2. Greg Reynolds, Stanford pitcher, Colorado Rockies
3. Evan Longoria, Long Beach St. infielder, Tampa Bay Rays
4. Brad Lincoln, Houston pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates
5. Brandon Morrow, Cal pitcher, Seattle Mariners
6. Andrew Miller, UNC pitcher, Detroit Tigers
7. Clayton Kershaw, HS pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Robert Stubbs, Texas-Austin outfielder, Cincinnati Reds
9. William Rowell, HS infielder, Baltimore Orioles
10. Tim Lincecum, Washington pitcher, San Francisco Giants
With Lincecum today receiving the National League Cy Young Award, baseball fans in Kansas City, Denver, Tampa Bay and the rest of those squads that picked before the Giants might think that they have plenty of ammunition against their general managers, if they’re even still around. (Good riddance Bill Bavasi).
Fans would be remiss to immediately criticize their managers. Lincecum’s rapid-fire ascent through the minor-league system to the Giants by the middle of 2007 isn’t the norm. Due to his small size, Lincecum didn’t play varsity baseball until his junior year. The next year, he was the Washington state player of the year. In his third season at the University of Washington, he won the Golden Spikes Award as the best player in Division I baseball. Now, after his first full season in the majors, he’s won the Cy Young.
Other members of Lincecum’s class are in the majors. Miller saw spotty work for the Tigers. Longoria won AL Rookie of the Year and was named by Bill Simmons as the AL player he’d choose to build a team around. Morrow dealt with the Mariners’ brief flirtation with him as a reliever, but nearly no-hit the New York Yankees in his first start. He has electric stuff, but hasn’t yet matured like Lincecum. Even Hochevar saw work for the Royals last season.
It’s too early to judge this draft. It happened barely over two years ago. Other players, like Washington state high school outfielder Travis Snider of the Toronto Blue Jays, just saw their first action last September. All fans of these other teams can do is wait for their picks to work out and marvel at Lincecum’s achievement. After two years they have little right to be bitter, especially because Lincecum’s individual efforts didn’t do much for the Giants franchise, which desperately needs an offensive boost from a Longoria-type player.
No one really knows whether Morrow, Miller and Hochevar will prove their worth, and who knows whether Lincecum can sustain his short-term success. Let’s stop pretending like we do.
More information on the 2006 draft here.
Leave a Reply