i tend to think that the mlb draft doesnt produce the biggest stars in the earlier rounds like the nba and nfl always do.  the draft has never been a real big deal to me.  weve seen players like rich harden go number 510 and albert pujols at 402.  so i thought that it doesnt really matter too much as long as you pick up some players, right?  not really.  lets take a look at some of the number 1 picks from the last 9 years.

1999: Josh Hamilton

once considered a 5 tool player, Hamilton was out of baseball for several years but has made a remarkable comeback and is now one of the most dominant and feared hitters in the game.

2000: Adrian Gonzalez

8 years after being drafted gonzalez has become one of the most powerful bats in mlb and just earned a gold glove this year.

2001: Joe Mauer

had a down year last year, but Mauer is still one of the better catchers in the majors, usually hitting over .300.

2002: Bryan Bullington

the ball state grad has bounced around baseball since being drafted.  drafted by pittsburgh ahead of bj upton, prince fielder, nick swisher, cole hamels and scott kazmir, bullington has been plagued by injuries and has pitched only 18.3 innings to date.  he is now in the toronto organization.

2003: Delmon Young

delmon is one of top young players in the game.  his bat has been compared to albert belle and his arm to raul mondesi or jesse barfield.

2004: Matt Bush

bush was drafted as a shortstop and was highly touted as the best propect in baseball.  but he underperformed once he reached pro ball, hitting .192 his first year and .225 his second.  the padres recognized bush’s rather strong arm and transferred him to a pitcher, where he will start this next season.  he was drafted before jered weaver, stephen drew, justin verlander and homer bailey.

2005: Justin Upton

upton was also drafted as a shortstop and then converted, but in upton’s case, to the outfield.  the decision proved to be a good one as upton has put up strong numbers since being called up.

2006: Luke Hochevar

there was controvesy again whether hochevar should have been picked first ahead of evan longoria and tim lincecum.  he was called up last year and showed that he can keep the ball in the park, giving up only 5 home runs from June 14 on.

2007: David Price

we saw price at the end of the year and he shined in tampa’s run at the world series saving the crucial game 7 of the alcs.  he will probably be a back of the rotation starter next year.  he has definitely shown signs of greatness on the biggest stages.

2008: Tim Beckham

what is there to come from the shortstop beckham?  we will soon find out.