Fansided

Colorado Rockies 2006 Draft: The worst draft in their history … by a mile

By Noah Yingling |
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: Starting pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals throws to a Colorado Rockies batter in the first inning at Nationals Park on July 25, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 25: Starting pitcher Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals throws to a Colorado Rockies batter in the first inning at Nationals Park on July 25, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
1 of 3
Next
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 21: Relief pitcher Greg Reynolds #37 of the Colorado Rockies works the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on September 21, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The Padres defeated the Rockies 4-0. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO – SEPTEMBER 21: Relief pitcher Greg Reynolds #37 of the Colorado Rockies works the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on September 21, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The Padres defeated the Rockies 4-0. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /

Entering the 2006 MLB Draft, the Colorado Rockies were coming off of a horrendous 67-95 season, which was tied for the worst in franchise history when the Rockies went 67-95 in their inaugural season.

That awful record came, in part, because of the Rockies trying to turn over a new leaf. In 2003 and 2004, they utilized a lot of veteran pieces (many of which were in their second stints as Rockies) but in 2005, they largely turned things over to their homegrown players. Some of them succeeded (like Matt Holliday, Clint Barmes, and Garrett Atkins) but a lot struggled or had growing pains (like Jeff Francis, Aaron Miles, Joe Kennedy, J.D. Closser, and Luis A. Gonzalez).

They turned the corner a bit in 2006 when, entering the draft, they were only three games below .500, and that was because they were on a six-game losing streak. By the end of June, they were three games above .500 but regressed for the rest of the season, finishing at 76-86.

But in the draft, they had their choice of some world-class talent, especially because they were picking behind the Kansas City Royals in the Draft.

But the Colorado Rockies picked very poorly in the 2006 MLB Draft, as they drafted Greg Reynolds.

With the second overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft, the Colorado Rockies picked right-handed pitcher Greg Reynolds out of Stanford University.

Reynolds did make it to the majors but he only was there in parts of three seasons (two with the Rockies). In his career, he pitched to a dreadful 7.01 ERA in 123 1/3 innings. He last appeared in the majors with Cincinnati in 2013 and last pitched in affiliated ball in 2016 in Triple-A for San Diego.

The Rockies gave him a signing bonus of $3.25 million, which was the third-highest in the draft.

With drafting Reynolds, the Colorado Rockies passed up drafting multiple future Hall of Famers.

LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 20: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning giving up back to back home runs to the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on September 20, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 20: Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning giving up back to back home runs to the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium on September 20, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies missed out on three really good players in the 2006 MLB Draft.

With the very next pick after the Colorado Rockies in the 2006 Draft, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays drafted third baseman Evan Longoria.

Evan Longoria, who is still playing, has spent 14 years in the majors. He has been a three-time All-Star, a three-time Glod Glove Award winner, a Silver Slugger Award, and the 2008 AL Rookie of the Year Award.

He also garnered MVP votes in six seasons, including two top 10 finishes. Currently, he has a career rWAR of 57.4. But even better than Longoria are two Hall of Fame pitchers.

With the 7th overall pick, the Los Angeles Dodgers drafted future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw has spent 14 seasons in the majors with the Dodgers. He has won three Cy Young Awards (2011, 2013-2014), four other top five NL Cy Young finishes, and two more finishes in the top 10. He also won the 2014 NL MVP Award, has received eight All-Star Game selections, five NL ERA titles, and has a career rWAR of 71.9.

Another future Hall of Famer that came in the first round of the draft was Max Scherzer, who the D-Backs selected with the 11th overall pick.

Scherzer has also spent 14 years in the majors with eight All-Star Game selections, eight top five finishes in Cy Young voting, three Cy Young Award wins (2013, 2016-2017), and a career 67.1 rWAR.

Two future Rockies relievers in Daniel Bard and Adam Ottavino were both drafted in the first round of the 2006 Draft but neither compared to being able to draft Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, or even Evan Longoria.

That alone makes this the worst draft in Rockies history but they still made some more awful picks later in the draft.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 18: Zack Britton #53 of the New York Yankees pitches in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 18, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 18: Zack Britton #53 of the New York Yankees pitches in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 18, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

The Colorado Rockies did not draft a single MLB player until the 7th round of the 2006 MLB Draft.

In that span, the Colorado Rockies could have drafted some of these players.

  • Pitcher Trevor Cahill, 2nd round, 66th overall by Oakland (1x All-Star, 11.2 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Justin Masterson, 2nd round, 71st overall by Boston (1x All-Star, 10.1 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Zach Britton, 3rd round, 85th overall by Baltimore (2x All-Star, 14.1 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Joe Smith, 3rd round, 94th overall by the Mets (13.6 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Alex Cobb, 4th round, 109th overall by Tampa Bay (14.4 rWAR)
  • 1st baseman Chris Davis, 5th round, 148th overall by Texas (11.8 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Jeff Samardzija, 5th round, 149th overall by the Cubs (1x All-Star, 14.5 rWAR)
  • Pitcher Chris Archer, 5th round, 161st overall by Cleveland (2x All-Star, 13.1 rWAR)

The only MLB players that signed with the Rockies from the 7th round on and made it to the majors with the Rockies were catcher Michael McKenry and pitcher Will Harris.

McKenry spent parts of seven seasons in the majors and three were with the Rockies. He was a backup catcher as he never played in more than 58 games in any season with the Rockies and never more than 88 with another team in the majors. He had a career 2.4 rWAR.

Harris was drafted in the 9th round by the Rockies. He only appeared in 20 games with the Rockies and pitched to an 8.15 ERA but from 2015 through 2019 with Houston, he had a 2.36 ERA with an average of 62 appearances per season. In his career, he has a career 7.8 rWAR.

By the first round alone, the Colorado Rockies had their worst draft ever. The Rockies have been lean on pitching for most of their history and could have had Max Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw for, at least, a few years but they came up empty.

Next. Rox '05 Draft: Drafting Tulo. dark

Next up on our list is the 2007 Draft, when the Rockies did draft a potential future Hall of Fame pitcher, who came in the top six in Cy Young voting between 2012 and 2018 … but they didn’t sign him.

Next
Home / Colorado Rockies History

Schedule