1996 Draft: What if Jimmy Rollins was drafted by the Colorado Rockies?

In the third round of the 1996 draft, the Colorado Rockies took right-handed pitcher Shawn Chacon.

Chacon was a local product as the Rockies drafted him out of high school in Greeley, Colorado, which is about 55 miles away from Denver and he did make it to the majors and with the Rockies. He spent part of five seasons with the Rockies and part of eight in the majors. However, he did not pitch particularly well as he went 24-45 with a 5.20 ERA in 150 games (83 starts) and 35 saves.

Chacon amassed a career rWAR of 6.5 but he was the start of a trade chain that was good for the Rockies. The Rockies traded him to the Yankees in 2005 for pitcher Ramón Ramírez. Ramírez, who is best known for being on the Giants 2010 World Series Champion team, was with the Rockies until March 2008. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals for Jorge De La Rosa.

De La Rosa is the Rockies franchise leader in strikeouts (985), first in wins (86), second in games started (200), and third in rWAR for pitchers (15.5).

The only two players with a higher rWAR drafted in the third round after Chacon were infielder and future Red Sox manager Alex Cora and first baseman Nick Johnson (who primarily played with Montreal/Washington and the Yankees).

Some players that were drafted later in the draft and signed to a deal in this draft included:

• One-time All-Star third baseman Joe Crede, 5th round
• Two-time All-Star pitcher Brad Penny, 5th round
• Two-time All-Star infielder Shea Hillenbrand, 10th round
• Three-time All-Star pitcher Roy Oswalt, 23rd round
• Two-time top 10 MVP finisher DH/first baseman Travis Hafner, 31st round

Next up in our series is the 1997 Draft, where the Rockies struck out at first but later picks later bore some fruit. However, they could have had some very good players from that draft.