Few First Round Picks Have Impacted Colorado Rockies Roster

The Colorado Rockies have participated in 22 MLB Amateur Drafts since their first in 1992, a year before the franchise first stepped onto a major league field. In those 22 drafts they have made 30 first round picks; 19 pitchers, four outfielders, six infielders, and one catcher.

From the Rockies first draft pick, RHP John Burke, to last years pick, RHP Jon Gray, the plan is always to cull through the thousands of amateur scouting reports from high schools, junior colleges, colleges, and universities in hopes of coming up with a gem.

There is no exact science in making a draft pick. More often than not the pick will end up turning out to be completely different than originally thought. For every gem that makes the roster and racks up All-Star numbers, there are several others who make a limited impact on the major league roster to no impact at all.

Of the 30 first round picks made by the Rockies there have only been six, four pitchers and two infielders, who have made an impact during their Rockies careers. They were in order of selection: (1993) RHP Jamey Wright, (1995) 1B Todd Helton, (1999) RHP Jason Jennings, (2002) LHP Jeff Francis, (2005) Troy Tulowitzki, and (2009) LHP Rex Brothers.

There are a few potential gems awaiting their chances to come up to the big club from the 2009-2013 draft classes. Particularly (2009) LHP Tyler Matzek with Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox, and (2012) RHP Eddie Butler and Gray with Double-A Tulsa Drillers. All three have highly anticipated debuts with the Rockies coming as soon as this year.

Of the six first rounders who made the biggest impact on the Rockies, two stand out above all others.

Helton took over from original Rockies first baseman Andres Galarraga in 1997 and played there his entire career until retirement in 2013. In that time he amassed a career batting average of .316, with 369 home runs, 1,406 RBI’s. Helton was a four-time All-Star who won the National League Batting title in 2000 with a .372 average (flirted with .400 into August). He won the Gold Glove at first base three times (01,02,04) and the Silver Slugger four times (2000-2003).

Helton holds club records in home runs (369), hits (2,519), runs (1,401), doubles (592), RBI’s (1,406), walks (1335), strikeouts (1,175), intentional walks (185), and extra-base hits (998).

Helton’s career was hampered by various injuries beginning in 2005 that eroded his numbers. Nevertheless, Helton’s leadership skills, particularly during the “Todd and the Toddlers” era that began in 2005 with the influx of rookies at nearly every position, made him a vital piece of the Rockies puzzle. Todd Helton was the face of the franchise.

Tulowitzki’s value is still being determined but is clearly headed toward elite status. Often compared to Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken JR., he is entering the third month of the 2014 season injury costless for the first time in a few seasons and is tearing up the National League. An early MVP candidate, he is leading baseball in average (.352), second in the NL in homers (14), and tied for fifth in the league in RBI’s (37).

Tulowitzki began moving into the leadership role a couple of years before Helton’s retirement. Where Helton was a leader by example, Tulowitzki is a vocal leader who isn’t afraid to get into a player’s face when he feels it is necessary. In the offseason Tulowitzki holds an intense training camp just before the start of spring training near his home in Las Vegas with a select group of invited players ranging from veterans to up and coming rookies.

Into his eighth full season with the Rockies, Tulowitzki has a career batting average of .298, with 169 home runs and 589 RBI’s. He is headed toward his fourth All-Star appearance (2010, 2011, 2013) as he currently leads the NL in fan votes with more than 750,000. He has won the Silver Slugger Award and Gold Glove awards twice (2010, 2011). Tulowitzki has great range at short that allows him to make acrobatic defensive plays. He also possesses a strong arm that he uses to make accurate off-balance throws from anywhere between second, short and the outfield grass.

With as many pitchers being selected in the first round you would think the Rockies would have hit on at least one who would be in the same class as Helton and Tulowitzki. Unfortunately for the Rockies, they haven’t as of yet.

In fact, the pitchers who hold the franchise pitching records came in later rounds of the draft or costless agency. Not one of the first round draft selections rank first in any pitching category. Francis comes the closest, ranking second in wins (64), second in starts (185), second in innings pitched (1066), and third in strikeouts (742).

The pitcher who holds the franchise marks for wins (72), starts (206), and innings pitched (1312.1) is the Rockies 1997 second round, Aaron Cook. Cook also holds the franchise mark in two other categories that are vital for a pitcher at a Coors Field; inducing double plays (187) and groundouts (2337).

The biggest first round bust for the Rockies was their selection from 2000, RHP Matt Harrington. Harrington was one of the highest rated pitchers in that year’s draft. He was named the High School Player of the year for 2000 by Baseball America and USA Today. His senior year he went 11-0 with a no-hitte and had 126 strikeouts in just 65 innings of work. He possessed the talent that every scout dreamed of finding on a pitching mound.

With newly signed agent Tommy Tanzer at his side, Harrington headed into the 2000 MLB draft fully expecting to be one of the top five pitchers taken in the first round. The Rockies made Harrington their first pick and the seventh overall selection. Harrington was the fourth pitcher taken in the first round.

Tanzer had made it known to teams that Harrington would be demanding a $4.9 million bonus before signing. After the Rockies drafted Harrington, Tanzer told the family that Colorado would pay the bonus. The Rockies offer of $2.2 million was discounted by Tanzer as a bargaining ploy and rejected.

Eventually the Rockies upped their offer to $4.9 million but the bonus became salary spread over eight years and the Rockies demanded that Harrington forgo his first three years of arbitration eligibility.

The offer was rejected and Harrington was drafted in the second round the following year by the San Diego Padres. Harrington not only rejected the Padres offer but would reject three other MLB teams. Harrington became the first player to reject signing offers five consecutive years. He ended up not only never seeing a major league field, he never saw a minor league field. He was branded as a player whose heart was filled with greed, not the fire of a major leaguer.

Harrington ended up playing in Independent leagues where he posted less than impressive numbers which further scared off major league scouts. Harrington ended up working at a Costco Tire service department for $11.50 an hour. A far cry from the $4.9 million the Rockies offered.

The Rockies biggest first round bust who did sign was RHP Casey Weathers in the 2007 draft. He had been drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 25th round of the 2006 draft but did not sign. He returned to Vanderbilt University for his senior year and led the team in saves and tied for the team lead in wins. Weathers was named a First Team All American and runner up for National Stopper of the Year. When he entered the 2007 draft the Rockies made him the eighth overall pick.

Unfortunately for Weathers and the Rockies, he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2008 and never made it above the Double-A level. While with the Rockies he posted a 4.20 ERA in 135 innings of work.

The Rockies traded Weathers along with their 2003 first round pick, third baseman Ian Stewart, to the Chicago Cubs following the 2011 season in exchange for current Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu and former Rockies outfielder Tyler Colvin.

Weathers spent the 2012 season in Double-A with the Cubs. He was released following the 2012 season and signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. He never made it to the big league club and was released at the end of the season.

Weathers still has not made it to the majors. He recently signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays and is in their minor league system.

As the Rockies head into the 2014 draft on June 5, they will once again target what they believe to be their next impact player. As history shows the pick will most likely end up not being a franchise changing player.

While a first round pick carries the headlines and gets the larger contracts, they also carry the bigger risks for general managers. No matter how often a scout observes a player, nobody can accurately project how that player’s talent will transfer from high school or college to pro-baseball. As the Rockies experienced with Harrington, scouts can’t always tell the mindset of a player and how much influence outsiders may exert on them. The draft is always a gamble but its a gamble teams will take each and every year as they search for their first round gem.

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* Denotes supplemental draft pick