The tragic story that doomed the Colorado Rockies 1994 Draft class

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DENVER, CO – APRIL 22: Snow falls ouside the stadium as the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Colorado Rockies was postponed due to snow at Coors Field on April 22, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The game will be made up as a split double header on Tuesday April 23, 2013. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

In our Colorado Rockies draft series looking back on who they could have drafted, we’ve seen how the Rockies could have drafted Todd Helton three years earlier than they as well as Johnny Damon, or Jason Giambi in 1992, and yesterday, we examined how the Rockies could have drafted Scott Rolen and not the Philadelphia Phillies.

Today, we will check out the 1994 MLB Draft and what the Rockies did and or who they could have drafted. However, this year was a bit different in a few ways.

First of all, this was the first year where the Rockies weren’t at the bottom due to being placed there. In 1992, the 26 MLB teams that played in 1991 were placed in order from worst record to best (minus a few teams due to comp picks) for the top 26 spots. The two expansion teams (the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins) had the 27th and 28th picks in the draft. In 1992, the Rockies had the 27th and the Marlins had the 28th and in 1993, since neither had played a game in 1992, the two teams flipped so the Marlins had the 27th pick and the Rockies the 28th pick.

In 1994, the Rockies had the 7th overall pick in the draft since they went 67-95 in their inaugural season.

However, due to a very sad story, numerous free agent signings, and the lack of development of nearly every prospect that they had, the Colorado Rockies did not have a good draft. In fact, not a single player that they drafted had a career rWAR above 0.0.

But let’s start at the beginning and the first round of the draft.

BRONX, NY – CIRCA 1998: Nomar Garciaparra #5 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during an MLB game at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York. Nomar Garciaparra played for 14 seasons with 4 different teams, was a 6-time All-Star and won the Rookie of the Year in 1997. (Photo by SPX/Ron Vesely Photography via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies drafted a left-handed pitcher out of high school in Sarasota, Florida by the name of Doug Million.

Million had a signing bonus of $905,000 and seemed to be the real deal. Baseball America ranked him their #19 overall prospect entering the 1995 season and #69 prospect entering the 1996 season.

However, he started to struggle at Advanced-A ball and in Double-A in 1997. He went 5-14 with an ERA of 6.32 in 28 games (27 starts) between the two leagues but that became a minor footnote in late September.

Million, who was still only 21 years old, was playing an electronic trivia game with a teammate at a restaurant in Mesa, Arizona. Million had suffered with asthma throughout his life, including numerous asthma attacks. But this time, Million suffered an asthma attack so severe that he had to be rushed to the hospital. The following morning (September 22, 1997), Million died of the asthma attack three weeks shy of his 22nd birthday.

It just goes to show that you a) can never take life for granted and b) there are more important things in life than just baseball.

Some of the MLB players that were in the first round of the 1994 draft after Million included:

Future Colorado Rockies infielder Todd Walker, Minnesota
Nomar Garciaparra, Boston
Paul Konerko, Dodgers
Jason Varitek, Mariners
Future Colorado Rockies pitcher Scott Elarton
Future Colorado Rockies outfielder Jay Payton

13 Jun 1998: Ellis Burks #26 of the Colorado Rockies looks on during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Rockies defeated the Dodgers 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Laforet /Allsport /

The Colorado Rockies did not have another pick until the fifth round of the 1994 draft. Why? They signed a bunch of free agents in the 1993-94 offseason.

They sacrificed the 33th overall pick (1st round) to the Chicago White Sox for signing Ellis Burks. The White Sox drafted pitcher Chris Clemons with that pick. Clemons only made it to the majors for five appearances in 1997 with the White Sox. The Rockies also had to sacrifice their second round pick to the White Sox as well. They drafted John Ambrose with that and he never reached the majors.

The only two players with an rWAR above 1.0 in the second round were:

Troy Glaus, Angels (38.1 rWAR)
Mike Darr, Padres (2.5 rWAR)

Like Million, Darr died tragically at a young age as he died at the age of 25 in February 2002 in a car accident in Arizona just before Spring Training.

The Rockies had to sacrifice their third round pick to the Marlins for signing Walt Weiss and their fourth round pick to the Mets for signing Howard Johnson.

Some of the best picks that went in the third or fourth round included:

A.J. Pierzynski, Minnesota
Aaron Boone, Cincinnati
Danny Graves, Cleveland

Burks and Weiss ended up being good signings for the Rockies but Johnson was not a great signing as, in 93 games in his lone season in Colorado, he had a -0.7 rWAR.

But in the fifth round, the Rockies had a pick and they could have made a much better pick.

MILWAUKEE, WI – APRIL 2001: Javier Vazquez #23 of the Montreal Expos pitching against the Milwaukee Brewers in April 2001 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /

With their second pick of the 1994 draft (their fifth round pick), the Colorado Rockies drafted a left-handed pitcher by the name of John Slamka.

Slamka never got above Single-A and was out of baseball by 1998. Later in the round, the Montreal Expos drafted a pitcher by the name of Javier Vázquez.

Vázquez pitched in the majors for 14 seasons with an All-Star appearance and a 4th place finish in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2009. He had a career rWAR of 45.6.

Overall for the Colorado Rockies, they only had four of their 56 draft picks made it to the majors. Only two played for the Rockies, none of them played for the Rockies for more than a season, and none of them had an rWAR above 0.0 in their career.

Some of the best players to be drafted in the 6th round of the 1994 draft or later include:

Russell Branyan, Cleveland
Future Colorado Rockies infielder Ronnie Belliard, Milwaukee
Keith Foulke, San Francisco
Jose Rosado, Kansas City
Scott Downs, Montreal
Carl Pavano, Boston
Placido Polanco, St. Louis
J.D. Drew, San Francisco (didn’t sign)
Eric Gagne, White Sox (didn’t sign)
Tim Hudson, Oakland (didn’t sign)

Overall, through tragedy and lack of development, it was not a great draft for the Colorado Rockies in 1994.

Scott Rolen could have been with the Rockies. dark. Next

However, things changed for them in 1995 as they had a very good draft because of one player … but they still could have had an even better draft if not for a few different picks in the draft.

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