Every D-Backs Draft, Ranked
Friday Column Volume 3
We’re now 2 weeks out from the MLB Draft, so I’m taking a trip down memory lane. I took the 24 Diamondbacks Drafts from 1996 to 2019 and ranked them! I did add up the total WAR and used that as a guide, but they still deserved to be ranked. For example the 2005 Draft had a strong total WAR of 37.3, 32.1 of which came from obvious and no brainer 1-1 pick Justin Upton.
I made the cutoff 2019 since the 2020 draft only had 5 rounds and 2021-24 is still to early to call.
Lastly: 1) I did not count players that were draft but did not signed…. there’s a lot of studs who didn’t sign, but trust me it happens to every team. A lot of times HS kids will not sign, bet on themselves and go to college and improve their draft stock mightily. 2) I counted negative WAR players. There’s an argument that a negative MLB WAR player is more impressive draft pick than someone who never made it to the majors. Thus, this is why I’ve ranked the players and it’s not just a WAR list….
#24 - 2014 (-3.5 WAR)
The only draft to produce NEGATIVE WAR is the 2014 draft. Kevin Towers last draft with the Diamondbacks before being fired later in the year on September 5th.
Towers failed to sign Drew Rasmussen out of HS, but every signee was a negative WAR player OR didn’t make it to the MLB. This draft didn’t produce a single thing, which solidifies it as the worst.
#23 - 2016 (1.9 WAR)
2016 was the final Dave Stewart draft, which ended a tough era of Diamondbacks baseball. Poche & Ginkel have had nice MLB career, saving this draft from last place. Never knew Blue Jays SP Bowden Francis was a Diamondback draftee originally. And sadly, never forget the Diamondbacks were not willing to trade Duplantier for Manny Machado in 2018...
#22 - 1997 (6.1 WAR)
3rd worse Diamondbacks draft takes us all the way back to 1997, the 2nd draft ever. Joe Garagiola Jr drafted a Cust & Cintron in this draft, but just 2 other players barely made it to the MLB.
#21 - 2002 (5.4 WAR)
2002 posted a low 5.4 WAR, but I think the trio of Snyder, Santos & Cormier was much better than Cust & Cintron. Chris Snyder was a legit good MLB catcher for a long time, Sergio Santos became a RP and had a nice 194 game career. Lance Cormier was a swingman SP/RP and played for a long time too.
#20 - 2012 (8.8 WAR)
#19 - 2013 (6.6 WAR)
3 of Kevin Towers 4 drafts are now in the bottom 6 of the all time draft rankings… not great. 2012 vs 2013 was a tough debate, essentially it’s Jake Lamb vs Brad Keller and long list of guys who made it but didn’t thrive in the MLB. 2012 was the Stryker Trahan 1st round draft.
Shipley & Blair made it to the majors as 1st round picks. Brad Keller was lost in the Rule 5 draft to KC.
#18 - 2015 (28.3 WAR)
Dave Stewart’s first draft is complicated. On one hand Dansby Swanson will one day be an over 30 WAR player, on the other he was the 1st overall pick and was traded away right away. Young, Burr, Clarke all were serviceable MLB RP’s, which 3 guys like that are more than most years. There’s a case to put this one lower for sure, but Dave Stewart had 2 of the worst 7 drafts…
#17 - 1998 (12.5 WAR)
The Diamondbacks didn’t have a 1st or 2nd round pick in 1998, but were still able to snag some future MLB players. Javier Lopez had a long career but not much of it was here. Koplove was a beloved D-Backs player along with Robby Hammock. Prinz had a really promising start to his career before injuries derailed it.
#16 - 2010 (16.3 WAR)
The first Josh Byrnes draft (was the GM for 5 years and was so much better as a GM than people remembered). Adam Eaton posted a really strong 18.8 career WAR, but that’s just about it from this draft. His career was far better than Jake Lamb 1 1/2 years and is the first double digit WAR player on the list, so it squeaks out to #17.
#15 - 2010 (16.3 WAR)
Josh Byrnes draft appears again, with 2 solid MLB guys in Josh Collmenter & Jarrod Parker, who had 3 Tommy John’s but was incredible while on the field. 9 MLB players on this draft + Layne, Scribner & Enright all had solid moments in the MLB.
#14 2001 33.6 WAR
Ian Kinsler was drafted twice by the Diamondbacks but didn’t sign either time…. Dan Uggla was a fantastic pick, but they lost him in the Rule 5 draft. Chad Tracy & Scott Hairston had really good MLB careers, Medders was a very good RP too. Kinsler & Rockies Seth Smith were late picks with little chance of signing, but 33.6 WAR doesn’t feel as great as it should.
#13 - 1996 (26.6 WAR)
The 1st Diamondbacks draft ever is a tricky one because Brad Penny was amazing… but never appeared for the Diamondbacks as he was traded as a prospect for Matt Mantei (the most underrated RP in Diamondbacks history). Junior Spivey gets this draft to #15 as he was an All-Star and great Diamondbacks for the short time he was here before being dealt for Richie Sexton.
2 quick side notes:
“After posting a franchise-worst 51-111 mark last season, the
Diamondbacks entered play Tuesday percentage points ahead of San
Diego for the NL West lead at 52-55. "This is a good time to leave," Garagiola said jokingly. "The team's in first place, we won more games than we won all of last
year, so I'm counting on these guys not to screw it up from this
point forward."
I’d love to write a GM’s centric recap of the Diamondbacks history, but Joe did a tremendous job and didn’t just “buy a title with Jerry’s money/deferrals” like most people think.
Brad Penny & Archie Bradley are BOTH from Broken Arrow, OK…. that’s something!
#12 - 1999 (23.6 WAR)
The Diamondbacks swung and missed with the hometown kid Corey Myers at 4th overall, but still took Lyle Overbay and Chris Capuano, who both had grea t careers. Shoutout to Matt Kata too who was a fun Diamondback.
#11 - 2008 (26.6 WAR)
You can this one the Wade Miley draft as his 18.6 WAR carries this year. Shaw and Cook were very good middle RP’s and Cowgill/Schlereth had promising starts to their careers before fizzling out. 5 unsigned guys making it to the majors is pretty crazy too.
#10 - 2017 (22.9 WAR)
Of the 3 eligible Mike Hazen drafts, the lowest of which comes in at #12 which is pretty good! Daulton Varsho was a tremendous pick at 32 while Jose Caballero has had a really nice career with the Rays. 29th round Tarik Skubal & 38th round Emerson Hancock are interesting what ifs. Pavin Smith’s career WAR is 1.5.
#9 - 2018 (16.3 WAR)
It’s a shame they couldn’t signed Matt McLain and didn’t keep Tyler Holton, Jake & Alek were key members of the 2023 World Series team and there’s still time for them and Blaze to gain more WAR.
#8 - 2003 (13.0 WAR)
With just a 13.0 WAR, this a low number be better than 15 other drafts, but Quentin & Co-Jack were really good. They had their careers cut short by injuries and sickness for Co-Jack, but I feel like these were massive hits to have in the same year. Just literally ANYTHING else from this class and it would be even higher.
#7 2005 (37.3 WAR)
This draft is just Justin Upton… but he was a lot better than Dansby Swanson earlier and the star of the Baby Backs Co-Jack class. Micah Owings was the original #PitchersWhoRake guy and was a key member of the 2007 playoff team, getting this draft to 7th.
#6 2011 (35.1 WAR)
The Diamondbacks had the 3rd and 7th picks of the draft this year and hit on both with Trevor Bauer & Archie Bradley. Both dudes were characters in their own ways, and Andrew Chafin being in this draft too makes so much sense. Bauer won a Cy Young, Archie was an elite RP for the 2017 Diamondbacks playoff run, the Sheriff is a sneaky Diamondback legend. Throw in solid careers from Evan Marshall and this draft gets to 6!
#5 2004 (22.2 WAR)
The 22.2 WAR is too low for the Stephen Drew & Mark Reynolds duo. Stephen Drew is a top 3 franchise SS in my opinion next to Jay Bell & Geraldo Perdomo as he manned short for over a half decade. Mark Reynolds was a 40+ HR guy for some really good D-Backs teams. Chris Carter also had 40 HR power, Ross Ohlendorf never had made it with the Diamondbacks but had a long career too. David Hernandez didn’t sign but was eventually brought to AZ after the Diamondbacks traded ironically Mark Reynolds for him. For picking 15th, this was an excellent draft.
#4 2019 19.8 WAR
Corbin Carroll. As good as Brandon Webb, just a hitter and hasn’t had the time to match Webb… yet. A lot of MLB guys already in this class and Ryne Nelson has the chance to be a RH Wade Miley career wise.
#3 2000 30.0 WAR
Brandon Webb draft! Just a little reminder of how good Webby was:
If he could have stayed healthy past 2009, he could have been closer in career WAR and HOF regards to the player on #2, but also there was nothing else in this draft. Despite a good amount of MLB guys and not signing Ian Kinsler again, Brandon Webb was THAT good and deserves to be the next Arizona Diamondbacks Hall of Fame member next to Randy & Gonzo.
#2 2006 88.0 WAR
Max Scherzer is a sure fire Hall of Famer, but Brett Anderson also had a really good career. In classic old school Diamondbacks fashion, almost all of it came elsewhere…. but Max may be the only Hall of Famer on this list.
#1 2009 91.7 WAR
Josh Byrnes cooked here. Goldy is over the 60 WAR threshold most use for a HOF vote. AJ Pollock was a 22 WAR player who could have pushed mid 30’s if healthier. Chase Anderson was really good for awhile and there was a total of 12 MLB players signed and drafted. #GoldschmidtHappens
Full list of every Diamondbacks draft & it’s total WAR
Joe Garagiola Jr (Drafts 1996-2005)
1996 26.6 WAR
1997 6.1 WAR
1998 12.5 WAR
1999 23.6 WAR
2000 30.0 WAR
2001 33.6 WAR
2002 5.4 WAR
2003 13.0 WAR
2004 22.2 WAR
2005 37.3 WAR
Josh Byrnes (2005-2010)
2006 88 WAR
2007 15.2 WAR
2008 26.6 WAR
2009 91.7 WAR
2010 16.3 WAR
Kevin Towers (2011-2014)
2011 35.1 WAR
2012 8.8 WAR
2013 6.6 WAR
2014 -3.5 WAR
Dave Stewart (2015-16)
2015 28.3 WAR
2016 1.9 WAR
Mike Hazen (2017-)
2017 22.9 WAR
2018 16.3 WAR
2019 19.8 WAR
2020-25 Too Soon to tell!
-Goldy Happens