Colorado Rockies 1995 Draft: Todd Helton or a Hall of Fame pitcher?

With their first round pick of the 1995 Draft, the Colorado Rockies drafted a first baseman/pitcher out of the University of Tennessee by the name of Todd Helton.

Helton was drafted three years prior in the 1992 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres but decided not to sign. After his junior year, he re-entered the draft and the Rockies drafted and signed him for a signing bonus of $892,500, which was lower than a few of the players (that were mainly duds) below him.

We examined the 1992 Draft in further detail a few days ago and what things could have looked like if the Padres signed Helton back in July.

However, if you look at players by rWAR, Helton was not the best player to be drafted in the first round. It was actually the late Hall of Fame pitcher Roy Halladay.

Halladay, who was drafted by the Blue Jays with the 18th overall pick, was a local product as he was drafted out of Arvada West High School in the Denver suburb of Arvada. He had a 64.2 rWAR compared to Helton at 61.8. Halladay was an eight-time All-Star, won two Cy Young Awards, and came in the top five in Cy Young voting five more times.

Helton was a five-time All-Star, won four Silver Slugger Awards, won three Gold Glove Awards, and a batting title.

A very close battle but at least the Rockies and Rockies fans, they had one of them so the draft was definitely a success by drafting Helton.