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Colorado Rockies 2009 Draft: They pass up Mike Trout

By Noah Yingling

ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 13: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim waits at third base during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 13, 2015 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 13: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim waits at third base during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 13, 2015 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images) /
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Stephen Strasburg, Colorado Rockies, 2009 MLB Draft
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 23: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the fifth inning at Nationals Park on June 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The 2009 MLB Draft was the beginning of a new era. It was the first year that the MLB Draft was televised on MLB Network, as the network was in its first year of programming. As a result, the Draft was held in Secaucus, New Jersey, where MLB Network is located. It was also a weird draft for the Colorado Rockies and many other teams.

The Rockies and many other teams had supplemental draft picks in the first round. For the Rockies, they had three first round draft picks but there were some teams who had as many five first round draft picks, due to loss of free agents and/or failure to sign first round picks from 2008.

The Rockies had the 11th, 32nd, and 34th overall picks in the first round and they got the 32nd pick from the L.A. Angels for the loss of reliever Brian Fuentes. The Angels, themselves, were one of the teams that had five draft picks in the first round anyway so it was not a big deal for them to not have six.

Before the Rockies drafted, some good future MLB talent went off the board.

  • RHP Stephen Strasburg, 1st overall pick, Nationals (3x All-Star, three top 10 finishes in NL Cy Young voting, 33.2 rWAR)
  • RHP Zack Wheeler, 6th overall pick, Giants (1x All-Star, two top 12 finishes in NL Cy Young voting, 21.3 rWAR)
  • LHP Mike Minor, 7th overall pick, Braves (1x All-Star, one top 10 finish in Cy Young voting, 18.6 rWAR)
  • RHP Mike Leake, 8th overall pick, Reds (16.9 rWAR)

But the Rockies weren’t as successful with any of their first round draft picks.

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