Mets360 Draft series: The 2006 MLB Draft

After back-to-back years where a combined 53 of the 30 first-round picks made the majors, the 2006 Draft saw 23 selections make the majors. Of those, five saw a career with negative bWAR value, including the second-overall pick. But there were three guys who were the clear cream of the crop among the top 100 selections and in a nod to the draft skills displayed this year, they all went in the top 11 picks.

Here is the chronological list of the top 100 picks. All WAR totals cited in this piece come from Baseball-Reference:

OvPck	Tm	Signed	Name	WAR	Type
1	Royals	Y	Luke Hochevar	3.1
2	Rockies	Y	Greg Reynolds	-1.6	4Yr
3	Devil Rays	Y	Evan Longoria	50	4Yr
4	Pirates	Y	Brad Lincoln	0.5	4Yr
5	Mariners	Y	Brandon Morrow	9.7	4Yr
6	Tigers	Y	Andrew Miller	8.4	4Yr
7	Dodgers	Y	Clayton Kershaw	59.4	HS
8	Reds	Y	Drew Stubbs	8.3	4Yr
9	Orioles	Y	Billy Rowell		HS
10	Giants	Y	Tim Lincecum	21.1	4Yr
11	Diamondbacks	Y	Max Scherzer	45.5	4Yr
12	Rangers	Y	Kasey Kiker		HS
13	Cubs	Y	Tyler Colvin	1	4Yr
14	Blue Jays	Y	Travis Snider	4.6	HS
15	Nationals	Y	Chris Marrero	-1.5	HS
16	Brewers	Y	Jeremy Jeffress	4.6	HS
17	Padres	Y	Matt Antonelli	-0.3	4Yr
18	Phillies via Mets	Y	*Kyle Drabek	-0.1	HS
19	Marlins	Y	Brett Sinkbeil	-0.2	4Yr
20	Twins	Y	Chris Parmelee	0.5	HS
21	Yankees via Phillies	Y	*Ian Kennedy	15	4Yr
22	Nationals via Athletics	Y	*Colton Willems		HS
23	Astros	Y	Maxwell Sapp		HS
24	Braves	Y	Cody Johnson		HS
25	Angels via Indians	Y	*Hank Conger	2.1	HS
26	Dodgers via Angels	Y	*Bryan Morris	2.6	JC
27	Red Sox	Y	Jason Place		HS
28	Red Sox via Yankees	Y	*Daniel Bard	4.3	4Yr
29	White Sox	Y	Kyle McCulloch		4Yr
30	Cardinals	Y	Adam Ottavino	6.1	4Yr
31	Dodgers	Y	*Preston Mattingly		HS
32	Orioles	Y	*Pedro Beato	-1	JC
33	Giants	Y	*Emmanuel Burriss	-2.7	4Yr
34	Diamondbacks	Y	*Brooks Brown	0.9	4Yr
35	Padres	Y	*Kyler Burke		HS
36	Marlins	Y	*Chris Coghlan	-0.2	4Yr
37	Phillies	Y	*Adrian Cardenas	-0.3	HS
38	Braves	Y	*Cory Rasmus	0.5	HS
39	Indians	Y	*David Huff	-1.8	4Yr
40	Red Sox	Y	*Kris Johnson	0	4Yr
41	Yankees	Y	*Joba Chamberlain	8	4Yr
42	Cardinals	Y	*Chris Perez	4.6	4Yr
43	Braves	Y	*Steve Evarts		HS
44	Red Sox	Y	*Caleb Clay		HS
45	Royals	Y	Jason Taylor		HS
46	Rockies	Y	David Christensen		HS
47	Devil Rays	Y	Josh Butler	-0.1	4Yr
48	Pirates	Y	Michael Felix		4Yr
49	Mariners	Y	Chris Tillman	11.4	HS
50	Tigers	Y	Ron Bourquin		4Yr
51	Braves via Dodgers	Y	*Jeff Locke	-1.6	HS
52	Reds	Y	Sean Watson		4Yr
53	Padres via Orioles	Y	*Chad Huffman	-0.1	4Yr
54	Cardinals via Giants	Y	*Brad Furnish		4Yr
55	Diamondbacks	Y	Brett Anderson	6.7	HS
56	Indians via Rangers	Y	*Steven Wright	2	4Yr
57	Indians via Cubs	Y	*Josh Rodriguez	-0.1	4Yr
58	Orioles via Blue Jays	Y	*Ryan Adams	-0.3	HS
59	Nationals	N	Sean Black		HS
60	Brewers	Y	Brent Brewer		HS
61	Padres	Y	Wade LeBlanc	2.7	4Yr
62	Mets	Y	Kevin Mulvey	-0.6	4Yr
63	Marlins	Y	Thomas Hickman		HS
64	Twins	Y	Joe Benson	-0.7	HS
65	Phillies	Y	Drew Carpenter	-0.8	4Yr
66	Athletics	Y	Trevor Cahill	10.6	HS
67	Astros	Y	Sergio Perez		4Yr
68	Braves	Y	Dustin Evans		4Yr
69	Indians	Y	Wes Hodges		4Yr
70	Nationals via Angels	Y	*Stephen Englund		HS
71	Red Sox	Y	Justin Masterson	9.3	4Yr
72	Braves via Yankees	Y	*Chase Fontaine		JC
73	White Sox	Y	Matt Long		4Yr
74	Cardinals	Y	Jon Jay	13.1	4Yr
75	Indians	Y	*Matt McBride	-1.2	4Yr
76	Cardinals	Y	*Mark Hamilton	-0.3	4Yr
77	Royals	Y	Blake Wood	0.7	4Yr
78	Rockies	Y	Keith Weiser		4Yr
79	Devil Rays	N	Nicholas Fuller		HS
80	Pirates	Y	Shelby Ford		4Yr
81	Mariners	Y	Tony Butler		HS
82	Tigers	Y	Brennan Boesch	0.4	4Yr
83	Red Sox via Dodgers	Y	*Aaron Bates	0	4Yr
84	Reds	Y	Chris Valaika	-0.4	4Yr
85	Orioles	Y	Zach Britton	11.3	HS
86	Diamondbacks via Giants	Y	*Dallas Buck		4Yr
87	Diamondbacks	Y	Cyle Hankerd		4Yr
88	Rangers	Y	Chad Tracy		4Yr
89	Giants via Cubs	Y	*Clayton Tanner		HS
90	Marlins via Blue Jays	Y	*Torre Langley		HS
91	Nationals	Y	Stephen King		HS
92	Brewers	Y	Cole Gillespie	-0.8	4Yr
93	Padres	Y	Cedric Hunter	-0.8	HS
94	Mets	Y	Joe Smith	12.2	4Yr
95	Marlins	Y	Scott Cousins	-0.5	4Yr
96	Twins	Y	Tyler Robertson	-0.5	HS
97	Phillies	Y	Jason Donald	1.4	4Yr
98	Athletics	Y	Matthew Sulentic		HS
99	Astros	Y	Nicholas Moresi		4Yr
100	Braves	Y	Chad Rodgers		HS

Hochevar, the top overall pick, came with an interesting story. He was selected out of high school in the 39th round by the Dodgers in 2002 but elected to go to the University of Tennessee. After his junior season in 2005, Hochevar was a supplemental first-round pick, again selected by the Dodgers. What followed was a bunch of intrigue involving agent switches and reneging on contracts. Hochevar and the Dodgers were unable to come to terms and he ended up pitching for an Independent League team in Fort Worth, instead.

The Royals took a crack at him in the ’06 Draft and were able to come to terms with him, in part due to offering him a major league contract. He made his MLB debut in 2007 and pitched all or parts of the next five years in the majors but without any great success. Finally, in 2013 he moved to the bullpen and had an outstanding year, posting a 1.92 ERA and a 0.825 WHIP.

Just when it looked like things were going good, Hochevar needed TJ surgery and missed the entire 2014 season. He came back and was solid the next two years but nowhere near as good as he was in ’13. Late in the 2016 season, Hochevar required TOS surgery and he missed all of the 2017 campaign. Right now he is a free agent and has what can best be described as an unknown future.

In the recent past, the third overall pick had been a wasteland. But this time Longoria came through in a big way, providing to date the second-most value of any of the top 100 picks. As good as he’s been, the prize of the draft came four picks later, when the Dodgers plucked Kershaw, the first high school player taken in the ’06 Draft.

Two of the next three picks had solid or better MLB careers. At one point, it looked like Lincecum would be one of the jewels of the draft. He won back-to-back CY Awards in ’08 and ’09 and had top 10 finishes the next two years. But things fell apart from him in 2012 and after going 2-6 with a 9.16 ERA in 2016, it appears his career is over.

Meanwhile, it was the exact opposite for Scherzer. It took a while for him to get established in the majors but once he did, he’s been terrific. Since 2011, he has a 120-49 record with a 3.19 ERA. He’s led the NL in strikeouts the past two years and has shown no signs of slowing down. If he can add three more top years to his resume, he’ll vault into Hall of Fame territory.

Things fell off significantly after Scherzer but there were still a handful of good players scattered throughout the rest of the top 100 picks.

As for the Mets, they lost their first pick for signing free agent Billy Wagner. The Phillies used that selection on the son of former Pirates star DaveDrabek. Kyle came with a terrific pedigree but he never made his own mark on the majors. The team’s first actual pick was Mulvey, who was sent to the Twins in the Johan Santana deal. With the 94th pick, the Mets tabbed Smith, who has returned the seventh-most value so far from this draft, although the majority of it with other teams.

Here’s the top 100 sorted by WAR:

OvPck	Tm	Signed	Name	WAR	Type
7	Dodgers	Y	Clayton Kershaw	59.4	HS
3	Devil Rays	Y	Evan Longoria	50	4Yr
11	Diamondbacks	Y	Max Scherzer	45.5	4Yr
10	Giants	Y	Tim Lincecum	21.1	4Yr
21	Yankees via Phillies	Y	*Ian Kennedy	15	4Yr
74	Cardinals	Y	Jon Jay	13.1	4Yr
94	Mets	Y	Joe Smith	12.2	4Yr
49	Mariners	Y	Chris Tillman	11.4	HS
85	Orioles	Y	Zach Britton	11.3	HS
66	Athletics	Y	Trevor Cahill	10.6	HS
5	Mariners	Y	Brandon Morrow	9.7	4Yr
71	Red Sox	Y	Justin Masterson	9.3	4Yr
6	Tigers	Y	Andrew Miller	8.4	4Yr
8	Reds	Y	Drew Stubbs	8.3	4Yr
41	Yankees	Y	*Joba Chamberlain	8	4Yr
55	Diamondbacks	Y	Brett Anderson	6.7	HS
30	Cardinals	Y	Adam Ottavino	6.1	4Yr
14	Blue Jays	Y	Travis Snider	4.6	HS
16	Brewers	Y	Jeremy Jeffress	4.6	HS
42	Cardinals	Y	*Chris Perez	4.6	4Yr
28	Red Sox via Yankees	Y	*Daniel Bard	4.3	4Yr
1	Royals	Y	Luke Hochevar	3.1
61	Padres	Y	Wade LeBlanc	2.7	4Yr
26	Dodgers via Angels	Y	*Bryan Morris	2.6	JC
25	Angels via Indians	Y	*Hank Conger	2.1	HS
56	Indians via Rangers	Y	*Steven Wright	2	4Yr
97	Phillies	Y	Jason Donald	1.4	4Yr
13	Cubs	Y	Tyler Colvin	1	4Yr
34	Diamondbacks	Y	*Brooks Brown	0.9	4Yr
77	Royals	Y	Blake Wood	0.7	4Yr
4	Pirates	Y	Brad Lincoln	0.5	4Yr
20	Twins	Y	Chris Parmelee	0.5	HS
38	Braves	Y	*Cory Rasmus	0.5	HS
82	Tigers	Y	Brennan Boesch	0.4	4Yr
40	Red Sox	Y	*Kris Johnson	0	4Yr
83	Red Sox via Dodgers	Y	*Aaron Bates	0	4Yr
18	Phillies via Mets	Y	*Kyle Drabek	-0.1	HS
47	Devil Rays	Y	Josh Butler	-0.1	4Yr
53	Padres via Orioles	Y	*Chad Huffman	-0.1	4Yr
57	Indians via Cubs	Y	*Josh Rodriguez	-0.1	4Yr
19	Marlins	Y	Brett Sinkbeil	-0.2	4Yr
36	Marlins	Y	*Chris Coghlan	-0.2	4Yr
17	Padres	Y	Matt Antonelli	-0.3	4Yr
37	Phillies	Y	*Adrian Cardenas	-0.3	HS
58	Orioles via Blue Jays	Y	*Ryan Adams	-0.3	HS
76	Cardinals	Y	*Mark Hamilton	-0.3	4Yr
84	Reds	Y	Chris Valaika	-0.4	4Yr
95	Marlins	Y	Scott Cousins	-0.5	4Yr
96	Twins	Y	Tyler Robertson	-0.5	HS
62	Mets	Y	Kevin Mulvey	-0.6	4Yr
64	Twins	Y	Joe Benson	-0.7	HS
65	Phillies	Y	Drew Carpenter	-0.8	4Yr
92	Brewers	Y	Cole Gillespie	-0.8	4Yr
93	Padres	Y	Cedric Hunter	-0.8	HS
32	Orioles	Y	*Pedro Beato	-1	JC
75	Indians	Y	*Matt McBride	-1.2	4Yr
15	Nationals	Y	Chris Marrero	-1.5	HS
2	Rockies	Y	Greg Reynolds	-1.6	4Yr
51	Braves via Dodgers	Y	*Jeff Locke	-1.6	HS
39	Indians	Y	*David Huff	-1.8	4Yr
33	Giants	Y	*Emmanuel Burriss	-2.7	4Yr
9	Orioles	Y	Billy Rowell		HS
12	Rangers	Y	Kasey Kiker		HS
22	Nationals via Athletics	Y	*Colton Willems		HS
23	Astros	Y	Maxwell Sapp		HS
24	Braves	Y	Cody Johnson		HS
27	Red Sox	Y	Jason Place		HS
29	White Sox	Y	Kyle McCulloch		4Yr
31	Dodgers	Y	*Preston Mattingly		HS
35	Padres	Y	*Kyler Burke		HS
43	Braves	Y	*Steve Evarts		HS
44	Red Sox	Y	*Caleb Clay		HS
45	Royals	Y	Jason Taylor		HS
46	Rockies	Y	David Christensen		HS
48	Pirates	Y	Michael Felix		4Yr
50	Tigers	Y	Ron Bourquin		4Yr
52	Reds	Y	Sean Watson		4Yr
54	Cardinals via Giants	Y	*Brad Furnish		4Yr
59	Nationals	N	Sean Black		HS
60	Brewers	Y	Brent Brewer		HS
63	Marlins	Y	Thomas Hickman		HS
67	Astros	Y	Sergio Perez		4Yr
68	Braves	Y	Dustin Evans		4Yr
69	Indians	Y	Wes Hodges		4Yr
70	Nationals via Angels	Y	*Stephen Englund		HS
72	Braves via Yankees	Y	*Chase Fontaine		JC
73	White Sox	Y	Matt Long		4Yr
78	Rockies	Y	Keith Weiser		4Yr
79	Devil Rays	N	Nicholas Fuller		HS
80	Pirates	Y	Shelby Ford		4Yr
81	Mariners	Y	Tony Butler		HS
86	Diamondbacks via Giants	Y	*Dallas Buck		4Yr
87	Diamondbacks	Y	Cyle Hankerd		4Yr
88	Rangers	Y	Chad Tracy		4Yr
89	Giants via Cubs	Y	*Clayton Tanner		HS
90	Marlins via Blue Jays	Y	*Torre Langley		HS
91	Nationals	Y	Stephen King		HS
98	Athletics	Y	Matthew Sulentic		HS
99	Astros	Y	Nicholas Moresi		4Yr
100	Braves	Y	Chad Rodgers		HS

Overall, 61 of the top 100 picks made the majors, with 34 of those contributing a WAR greater than zero.