Are these the worst Number 1 overall MLB draft picks?

Perhaps more than any other core American sport, baseball prospect projections are the hardest to make. The talent level in Major League Baseball far outweighs that of what is present in the minor leagues. Still, teams still expect players who are drafted first overall to become stars, but that doesn’t always happen. We’ll take a look back at some Major League flops drafted first overall. All statistics are sourced from Baseball Reference.

It seemed like there wasn’t anything Moniak couldn’t do, and he was set to be a popular face at a glamour position for the Philadelphia Phillies. The centerfielder just never got it going in Philadelphia, and the organization traded him to the Los Angeles Angels in August 2022. He seems to be more comfortable so far on the West Coast, as Sports Illustrated has noted.

The Astros have made one impactful move after another during the last decade, but had one big swing and a miss with Aiken. They selected the lefty pitcher out of high school in 2014, and he still has yet to pitch in a Major League game. The team and Aiken’s representatives disagreed on his signing bonus, and he would also go on to need Tommy John surgery in 2015.

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What made Aiken’s lack of success more painful was the fact that the Astros also didn’t get anything out of their 2013 first overall pick. They invested that selection on Appel, who battled injuries and ineffectiveness in Houston’s minor league system.

He would eventually make his Major League debut with the Phillies in 2022.

Compared to players who didn’t make the Majors at all, Hochevar’s career might seem like a dream come true. He did play in MLB for nine years with the Kansas City Royals, but was largely smacked around in that time. He finished with a career ERA of 4.98.

Hochevar got roughed up as a starter, but found slightly more success as a reliever starting in 2013.

Bush has had an intriguing baseball journey, but it’s fair to say things didn’t quite work out as expected. The San Diego Padres drafted the shortstop in 2004, and had some off the field troubles that ESPN went into greater detail on.

The team parted ways with him, and he would transition over to a pitcher. He made it to the big leagues with the Texas Rangers in 2016, and would eventually make his way back to the team. Bush won a World Series ring in 2023 with the Rangers.

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Bullington had a rough go of it early on, as a torn labrum set him back immensely. He would only end up appearing in 26 major league games, which was a surprise after a dominant high school and college career.

Even though Bullington didn’t cut it at the MLB level, he did pitch well after continuing his career in Japan, according to Bleacher Report.

To his credit, Anderson did record a 22-save season in 2001, but the career reliever never found a rhythm with the Detroit Tigers. He had a difficult time finding opportunities with one of the worst teams in the game at that time.

In 2005, Anderson would pitch 12 games for the Colorado Rockies, which did not go particularly well. He had an ERA over 12 in that span of contests.

The New York Mets hoped to build around Wilson in the late 1990s, as they accumulated a trio of young pitchers who were supposed to lead “Generation K” into the future. Those expectations were never met, as the New York Post and Rising Apple have revisited.

Wilson pitched in 26 games with the Mets, to the tune of a 5.38 ERA. He would go on to pitch to a mediocre line for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Cincinnati Reds.

There was a lot of hype around Taylor in the early 1990s, as some thought he would change the game. The New York Yankees thought he could be a star in the Big Apple, but that did not materialize. Taylor was involved in a fight off of the field, where he injured his pitching shoulder. That incident possibly ruined his ceiling, as he never made the Major Leagues.

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