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Colorado Rockies 1998 Draft: Drafting a Rockies legend

By Noah Yingling

DENVER, CO - AUGUST 25: Matt Holliday #7 of the Colorado Rockies points to the dugout to celebrate after hitting a seventh inning solo homerun against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on August 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. Players are wearing special jerseys with their nicknames on them during Players' Weekend. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 25: Matt Holliday #7 of the Colorado Rockies points to the dugout to celebrate after hitting a seventh inning solo homerun against the St. Louis Cardinals at Coors Field on August 25, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. Players are wearing special jerseys with their nicknames on them during Players' Weekend. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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Colorado Rockies, Barry Zito, 1998 MLB Draft, Oakland A's
Oakland Athletics winning pitcher Barry Zito throws a pitch against the Minnesota Twins in the seventh inning of Game 3 of their American League Divisional Series game, 04 October 2002, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Oakland won 6-3. AFP PHOTO/CRAIG LASSIG (Photo by CRAIG LASSIG / AFP) (Photo by CRAIG LASSIG/AFP via Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies had a decent draft pick late in the second round of the 1998 MLB Draft.

Instead, the Colorado Rockies drafted outfielder Jody Gerut out of high school in the second round.

Gerut played parts of six seasons in the majors but his career 7.2 rWAR was the fourth-highest in the round. Dunn, Inge, and future Colorado Rockies reliever Matt Belisle (7.3 rWAR) were the only three better than Gerut. He never played with the Rockies in the majors, though, as they traded him to Cleveland in 2001 for outfielder Jacob Cruz.

However, Barry Zito was drafted by the Rangers early in the third round so the Rockies, realistically, could have drafted him.

Zito didn’t sign with the Rangers but one year later, he was the 9th overall draft pick with Oakland. Zito was in the majors by 2000 and he won the 2002 AL Cy Young Award. He played in parts of 15 seasons in the majors with a career rWAR of 31.9.

Later in the third round, the Rockies drafted a pitcher by the name of Kevin Gordon. Gordon never got above Single-A. He was traded to Florida in July 1999 to complete a trade for outfielder Pat Watkins (16 games with the Rockies) before he wrapped up his career after the 2000 season.

One spot before Gordon, the White Sox drafted future Colorado Rockies pitcher Josh Fogg.

The Rockies, by and large, struck out with their other picks in the draft but they were much more successful than most teams because of two picks later on in the draft.

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