Colorado Rockies '95 Draft: Todd Helton or a Hall of Fame pitcher?

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Jul 13, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; A general view of Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies, as American League starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels (17) pitches to National League third baseman Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals (28) during the first inning during the 2021 MLB All Star Game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

The 1995 Draft was one of the better drafts in Colorado Rockies history. The team was coming off of a 53-64 season in 1994 that was shortened due to the 1994-1995 strike. The 1995 season was delayed until late April so teams only could play 144 games in 1995.

In 1995, the Rockies, who were playing in their first season at Coors Field, also went to the postseason as the NL Wild Card team, becoming the fastest expansion team to reach the playoffs (three seasons). That would be broken by the end of the millennium, though, as the Arizona Diamondbacks won the NL West in 1999 (their second season) by winning 100 games.

But when the MLB draft happened in early June, the Rockies were only 17-16. However, that was only 0.5 games back of San Francisco for the NL West lead … but only three games ahead of last place. The Rockies were led by The Blake Street Bombers (Andres Galarraga, newly signed Larry Walker, Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Ellis Burks) and, as most Rockies teams before the latter years of the 2010s, they didn’t have a great pitching staff.

That’s why, in 1995, they used five and a half of their first nine draft picks on pitchers (that half pick was a pitcher and position player). The only problem was that none of the pitchers even made it to the majors, let alone pitch well in the majors.

But in the first round, the Colorado Rockies drafted a player that could pitch and play a position. They decided to forego the pitching and let him hit … and they are very glad that they didn’t because they just happened to draft, arguably, the best player in Rockies franchise history.

However, they still could have had an even better draft if not for a few missteps.

ST. LOUIS, MO – JULY 14: American League All-Star Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium on July 14, 2009 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Pool/Getty Images) /

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.

DENVER – JULY 18: Catcher Ben Petrick #6 of the Colorado Rockies jogs to home plate after hitting a solo home run during the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 18, 2002 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 6-4. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

With their second round pick in the 1995 Draft, the Colorado Rockies drafted catcher Ben Petrick. Petrick was drafted out of high school in Oregon and signed with the Rockies.

He made his MLB debut in 1999 and played with the Rockies through 2003 but after that 1999 season, Petrick was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and as the years carried on (particularly starting in 2001), his production significantly deteriorated due to the disease.

The Rockies traded the former #35 overall prospect entering 2000 according to Baseball America to the Tigers in July 2003 after Petrick played most of the season in Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Petrick retired after the 2003 season when he announced publicly that he was diagnosed with the disease.

The Rockies drafted him with 38th overall pick but with the 49th overall pick in the draft, the Kansas City Royals drafted a player with a Hall of Fame resume in Carlos Beltrán.

Beltran was a nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and a two-time Silver Slugger winner. He accumulated an rWAR of 70.1 in his 20-year career. The only thing that may keep him out of the Hall of Fame is his ties to the 2017 Astros and being a key part of their team that won the World Series while they were stealing signs electronically.

After the Rockies pick in that draft, Beltrán was, by far, the best MLB player. The best two players after Beltrán that came out of the second round were first baseman Sean Casey and pitcher Brett Tomko.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 27: Starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo #61 of the Cincinnati Reds throws a pitch in the first inning during a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /

After the second round, the Colorado Rockies only had one pick with an rWAR above 0.0: reliever David Lee.

Lee was drafted in the 23rd round and appeared in 43 games with the Rockies in 1999 and 2000. 1999 (his rookie year) was a good year (3.67 ERA in 36 games) but the Rockies traded him to the Yankees in January 2001 and they traded him to San Diego in March 2001. He had 1.4 rWAR with the Rockies and only 0.6 after in parts of three seasons.

Some of the players the Rockies could have drafted were:

Pitcher Bronson Arroyo (23.4 rWAR in 16 seasons) or J.J. Putz (13.1 rWAR in 12 seasons) over Chris Macca (who never got above Double-A), 3rd round
Pitcher Russ Ortiz (13.2 rWAR in 12 seasons) over shortstop John Clark (never got above Short-Season A), fourth round
First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz (11.8 rWAR in 12 seasons), catcher Jason LaRue (8.9 rWAR in parts of 12 seasons), or catcher Brian Schneider (6.8 rWAR in 13 seasons) over pitcher Mike Vavrek (who never got above Triple-A), fifth round
Closer Joe Nathan (on the 2022 MLB Hall of Fame ballot) over pitcher Chandler Martin (who never got above Triple-A), sixth round
Pitcher A.J. Burnett (28.8 rWAR in 17 MLB seasons) over infielder Tal Light (who never got above Double-A), eighth round

Perhaps, the best sports figure to be drafted in the 1995 Draft, though, was a 15-time Pro Bowler, a seven-time Super Bowl Champion, and three-time MVP Tom Brady. He was drafted as a catcher by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round but didn’t sign.

Next up, we will have the 1996 MLB Draft and that draft was nowhere near as successful as the 1995 draft.

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

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