• I got into an argument with my buddy the other day over who was the best high school prospect in the draft over the past 20 years. My personal opinion was Josh Hamilton, but he argued for Brien Taylor. So that got me to thinking. How would you rank the top 10 high school prospects over the past 20 years?

      Jeff Grover
      Indian Harbour Beach, Fla.
    Great question, and I enjoyed it so much that I couldn't limit myself to just 10 prospects. I'll give you 15:
    1. Todd Van Poppel, 1990 (No. 14, Athletics).
    The biggest can't-miss prep prospect of the last 20 years did exactly that.
    2. Ken Griffey Jr., 1987 (No. 1, Mariners).
    Might have put up better career numbers than almost anyone if injuries hadn't brought him down.
    3. Brien Taylor, 1991 (No. 1, Yankees).
    Wayne Coffey of the New York Daily News just did a nice story on what might have been.
    4. Justin Upton, 2005 (No. 1, Diamondbacks).
    Started getting billed as 2005's top prospect before he was a high school sophomore.
    5. Josh Hamilton, 1999 (No. 1, Devil Rays).
    More on him in a moment.
    6. Josh Beckett, 1999 (No. 2, Marlins).
    Tampa Bay was torn between the two Joshes; imagine Beckett and No. 14 below in the same rotation.
    7. Matt White, 1996 (No. 7, Giants).
    Some scouts called him the best high school pitcher ever, but he never reached the majors.
    8. Alex Rodriguez, 1993 (No. 1, Mariners).
    If Seattle manager Lou Piniella had his way, his club would have drafted Darren Dreifort.
    9. Joe Mauer, 2001 (No. 1, Twins).
    No longer looks like a consolation prize for Minnesota, which couldn't afford Mark Prior.
    10. B.J. Upton, 2002 (No. 2, Devil Rays).
    Has a superstar bat but needs to move off shortstop—for his sake and for Tampa Bay's.
    11. Delmon Young, 2003 (No. 1, Devil Rays).
    Eventually will be remembered for a lot more than throwing a bat at an umpire.
    12. Josh Booty, 1994 (No. 5, Marlins).
    The nation's best prep baseball and best prep football player that year.
    13. Rick Ankiel, 1997 (No. 72, Cardinals).
    The only second-rounder on this list, he fell that far in baseball's most signability-wracked draft ever.
    14. Scott Kazmir, 2002 (No. 15, Mets).
    Too many teams got hung up on his size and his perceived bonus demands, so he lasted 15 picks.
    15. Corey Patterson, 1998 (No. 3, Cubs).
    Getting back on track after relocating to Baltimore in an offseason trade.

BaseballAmerica.com: Ask BA
  • That is a very interesting list. A lot of those guys are just now coming up. Good to see my favorite player of all time listed as number two. I would have listed him number 1 though. On my own bias I guess. Van Poppel was supposed to be ridiculous, I remember that.
  • Would you guys dispute this list?