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Colorado Rockies 1999 Draft: The Rockies passed on Albert Pujols more than a dozen times

By Noah Yingling

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Frist baseman Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals in th e field against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 18: Frist baseman Luis Pujols #5 of the St. Louis Cardinals in th e field against the Los Angeles Dodgers on August 18, 2009 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers won 7-3. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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Colorado Rockies, John Lackey, 1999 MLB Draft
ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 28: Pitcher John Lackey #41 of the Anaheim Angels throws a pitch against the Texas Rangers on July 28, 2004 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. The Angels won 2-0. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies drafted a pitcher in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB Draft that you may have heard of before.

In the second round of the 1999 Draft, the Colorado Rockies drafted a pitcher out of high school in Tampa, Florida by the name of Ryan Kibler.

Kibler never made it above Double-A in his professional career due to injury but you may still recognize his name. Kibler is the Rockies pitching coach at High-A Spokane and he has been a minor league pitching coach for the Rockies since 2012.

He has been the pitching coach for Scott Oberg, Carlos Estévez, Jon Gray, Kyle Freeland, Peter Lambert, Justin Lawrence, Julian Fernández, Ben Bowden, Lucas Gilbreath, and Ryan Feltner at some point in the minor leagues with the Rockies.

However, at least from an MLB player perspective, the Rockies could have drafted the player who went to the Angels with the very next pick in the draft: John Lackey. He had a career 37.3 rWAR with one All-Star selection, two top 10 Cy Young Award game finishes, and he was a three-time World Series champion (including in 2002, his rookie year).

They also could have drafted an earlier third-round draft pick in a catcher from British Columbia in Justin Morneau. Yes, Justin Morneau was a catcher. By his second season in the minors, the Twins moved him to first base. Morneau was a four-time All-Star, 2006 AL MVP, a second-place MVP finish in 2008, and a batting title with the Rockies in 2014.

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