Grading every Rockies’ first round pick in franchise history

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

2000 – Matt Harrington RHP (7th overall) Palmdale High School (California)

Harrington was regarded as one of the top talents of the 2000 draft, and many of the teams at the top of the draft were scared away by the demands of his agent. The Rockies decided to take a chance and selected him but Harrington and the Rockies were never able to come to an agreement on contract terms.

The Rockies final offer was $4 million and a guaranteed Major League call-up by the end of 2002. Harrington turned down the deal and re-entered the draft in 2001. Here’s a fascinating article about the Harrington ordeal by ESPN.

Numbers with Rockies: None

Where Are They Now? Per the ESPN article, Harrington now works in the tire department at Costco making $11.50 an hour in his hometown of Palmdale, California.

 Grade: F. The Rockies should have seen this coming. You cannot afford to waste a top-10 pick on someone so risky. Hopefully they learned their lesson from this unfortunate series of events.