Colorado Rockies: The 10 biggest draft busts in franchise history

The Colorado Rockies have had a lot of players that they drafted that never panned out.

Even though the Colorado Rockies are one of the newest franchises in Major League Baseball, they have had their fair share of draft busts. In fact, I could have had a lot of honorable (or in this case, dishonorable) mentions.

Some of the players that we will have on the list are active in the Rockies system so they have time to turn it around but at least as of the publication of this, they have been a bust.

Let’s take a look at the top draft busts in Rockies’ history.

Number 10: Choo Freeman

Raphael Deseption “Choo” Freeman was one of a few players on this list to make the major leagues so that’s partially why he is #10. Also, he is the lowest draftees on this list as he was drafted 36th overall in the 1998 Amateur Draft.

He was drafted out of Dallas Christian High School in Mesquite, Texas. He was one of two supplemental draft picks that the Rockies received from the Atlanta Braves as a result of losing Andres Galarraga via free agency. Total, Freeman was one of three picks the Rockies had in the first round of the draft and, unfortunately for the Rockies, all three are on the list or in the honorable mentions.

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Freeman was drafted out of high school but he originally signed a letter of intent to play football at Texas A&M. Since the Rockies drafted him so high, he decided to go for baseball and he signed the contract with a $1.4 million signing bonus.

It took Freeman six years to advance through the minor leagues and before he reached Double-A in 2002, he never really lit the minor leagues on fire as his best season was in 1999 with Single-A Asheville. In 131 games, he hit .274/.336/.423 with 14 home runs and 66 RBI.

He hit .291/.400/.444 with 12 home runs and 64 RBI for Double-A Carolina in 2002 and he hit .254/.315/.370 in the very pitcher-friendly PCL while with Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2003.

Nonetheless, he got called up to the majors in 2004. In parts of three seasons, he played in 151 games (318 plate appearances) and he hit .225/.296/.333 with an OPS+ of 56 and a bWAR of -1.8. After the 2006 season, the Rockies released Freeman and the Dodgers signed him and he played for their then-Triple-A team, Albuquerque. That was the last season he played professionally.

Number 9:  Kyle Parker

The Rockies drafted Kyle Parker in the first round of the 2010 MLB draft with the 26th overall pick out of Clemson.

The Rockies sent him to Single-A Asheville and for the next three seasons, between Asheville, Advanced-A Modesto, and Double-A Tulsa, Parker played well. In each of the three seasons, he played a minimum of 103 games with a minimum of 21 home runs and 73 RBI and his lowest slash line numbers were .285/.345/.483.

After starting the season at the Triple-A level for the first time in 2014 and playing well, the Rockies called him up to the majors. In just 26 plate appearances, though, Parker only had an OPS+ of 11.

The following season, he started the season at Triple-A again and he saw his minor league numbers decrease as he hit .280/.326/.431 in 93 games. He was still called up to the majors later in the season and in 112 plate appearances, he hit .179/.223/.311 with an OPS+ of 35. The Rockies gave up on him at the end of Spring Training in 2016 and the Reds signed him later that season but he only played in Double-A. That was his final season in professional baseball.

Number 7: Friedrich

Christian Friedrich was drafted by the Rockies as the 25th overall pick in the 2008 Draft. He was viewed as one of the top prospects in all of baseball shortly thereafter. Before the 2010 season, Baseball Prospectus had him ranked as their 22nd best prospect but that, obviously, didn’t pan out.

In 2008 and 2009, he pitched well in the lower minor leagues but he started having issues once he got to Double-A Tulsa. In 2010 and 2011, he spent the full season there and he pitched to a 5.05 and a 5.00 ERA in 18 and 25 starts.

He only made five starts for Triple-A Colorado Springs in 2012 before they called him up, as they were a bit thin on the pitching front. He went 5-8 with a 6.17 ERA (75 ERA+). He was injured for much of 2013 as he only made three starts in Triple-A but in 2014, he pitched exclusively in the majors and exclusively out of bullpen.

68 appearances and a 5.25 ERA later, the Rockies released Friedrich before the start of the 2016 season. He signed with the Padres and he wasn’t much better (he actually was worse by ERA+) as a starter for them in 2016.

He was with them in 2017 too but he never played due to injuries. He played in independent ball and in Korea before signing with the White Sox this past offseason as a minor league invite to Spring Training this season.

Number 6: Mark Mangum

In 2012, Bleacher Report actually ranked Mark Mangum as the worst draft pick in Rockies history but a lot has changed in eight years. Also, I have him a bit lower on the list since he didn’t cost the Rockies as much as most of the others have.

Mark Mangum was drafted as the 17th overall pick in the 1997 draft. He made 14 starts for the Rockies in Rookie-ball, where he went 4-6 with a 4.80 ERA.

After that one season, the Rockies traded him along with Terry Jones to the Montreal Expos for reliever Dave Veres and Mark Hamlin. Veres had a great 1998 season (2.83 ERA, 183 ERA+) but he struggled more in 1999 as closer (5.14 ERA).

For the Expos, Mangum never got above Double-A and he was out of baseball after the 2002 season, or before his 24th birthday.

Number 5: Chris Nelson

I considered putting Chris Nelson higher on this list considering how he was drafted but he had the longest MLB career of everyone on the list (and in the honorable mentions).

Nelson was drafted by the Rockies with the 9th overall pick in the 2004 draft out of high school. Before the 2005 season, Baseball America ranked him as the 25th best prospect in baseball but that didn’t pan out, obviously.

He played well in 2004 but he struggled a bit at the Single-A level in 2005 and 2006. He played much better in 2007 in Advanced-A Modesto but in 2008, he struggled in Double-A Tulsa. In 2009, he was better in Tulsa and after playing most of the 2010 season in Colorado Springs and playing well, the Rockies called him up.

He played a few games at the major league level in June but he was mainly a September callup.

He spent parts of the next four seasons in the majors with the Rockies and his best season came in 2012 when he played in 111 games and had an OPS+ of 105 but his poor defensive numbers put him below water in WAR.

The Rockies sent Nelson to the Yankees during the 2013 season and he last played in the majors for the Padres in 2014. He did bounce around with some other teams and in independent ball but he last played in 2017.

Number 4: Casey Weathers

The Rockies drafted Casey Weathers with the 8th overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Rockies used the right-handed pitcher as a reliever throughout his minor league career and he even had a few good seasons, like in 2008 with Double-A Tulsa, when he had an ERA of 3.05 in 44 appearances. He had to have Tommy John surgery, though, which wiped out his 2009 season.

He struggled for much of the next two seasons, never getting higher than Double-A.

Like with Mangum, Weathers didn’t pan out for the Rockies but he actually did pay dividends in another way for the Rockies. The Rockies, after the 2011 season, traded Weathers and Ian Stewart to the Chicago Cubs for Tyler Colvin and some guy named DJ LeMahieu.

Not a good draft pick, but getting DJ LeMahieu out of him? You can’t complain a ton.

Weathers never did get above Double-A and he last played in independent ball in 2017. Before the start of the 2020 season, the Cincinnati Reds hired him as a rehab coach and Arizona League pitching coach.

Number 3: Riley Pint

Riley Pint is the only active guy on this list but he hasn’t had many breaks since the Rockies drafted him.

Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus both had Pint as their 46th best prospect entering the 2017 season but in the past three seasons, he has fallen off of a cliff.

The Rockies drafted him out of high school with the 4th overall pick in the 2016 draft. Since then, he has struggled with numerous injuries and when he has been on the mound, he has not been good.

His career minor league stats look like this: 3-20 record, 5.71 ERA, 58 games (40 starts), 156 IP, 124 BB, 1.80 WHIP.

His strikeout rate has gotten better with each year but somehow, his walk rate goes even higher. From 2016 through 2019, it went from 5.6 to 5.7 to 11.9 to 15.8 per nine innings. Over the last two seasons, though, he has only pitched in 26 innings.

He’s only 22 so he still has time to come back but on his current pace, this list will have a new number one in a few years.

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Number 2: Matt Harrington

The Rockies drafted him with the 7th overall pick in 2000. He and his agent, Tommy Tanzer, asked for a 25 percent raise of what the number 1 overall pick in 1999 (Josh Hamilton) signed for so the Rockies, like any team, said that they were crazy. The Rockies offered Harrington $4 million (Harrington and Tanzer asked for $4.95 million) and a guaranteed MLB callup by the end of the 2002 campaign.

They said no. Tanzer claimed that the Rockies agreed to the amount before the draft but they backed out of their verbal agreement. The Rockies denied the claim.

Harrington re-entered the draft in 2001. The Padres drafted him in the 2nd round and offered him $1.2 million. Harrington fired Tanzer midway through those negotiations and hired Scott Boras, who wanted double that. Harrington doesn’t sign again.

Harrington signs in independent ball and pitches horribly (9.47 ERA in 6 starts). He is still drafted in 2002 by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 13th round. He doesn’t sign again.

The Reds draft him in the 24th round in 2003. Still doesn’t sign.

The Yankees draft him in the 36th round in 2004. Doesn’t sign again.

If you’re counting at home, that’s five times he was drafted … and five times he didn’t sign. In the first two drafts alone, he turned down a combined $5.2 million and a guaranteed MLB appearance. As of 2009, he was working at Costco for $11.50 an hour in the tire department.

When you think of greed, think of Matt Harrington.

Number 1: Greg Reynolds

Greg Reynolds: the second overall draft pick in the 2006 draft. Evan Longoria, Andrew Miller, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, and Max Scherzer were just some of the picks after Reynolds. That’s part of what puts Reynolds at number one.

He pitched for the Rockies at the major league level in 2008 and 2011. He went 2-8 with an ERA of 8.13 in 14 games (13 starts). In 2011, he was 3-0 with a 6.19 ERA in 13 games (3 starts).

He later pitched for the Reds in 6 games (5 starts) in 2013 and he last pitched professionally for the Padres in 2016 in Triple-A.

Just imagine if the Rockies drafted Kershaw or Scherzer. The state of the Rockies, even in 2020, could be a whole lot different.