Since There's No Game Tonight

[MFS62]

Here's something to keep you occupied.

Its a list of all the top 100 prospects since 1990 - from Baseball America.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/26983.html
Interesting
Enjoy,
Later

[nymr83]

going back to the list from 10 years ago, 1996, i count 47/100 who are still in the game (i could be off by 1 or 2 in either direction as i didnt actually look each guy up.)

[Guest SI Metman]

and look who was in the Top 5 in both 1994 and 1995.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Some of those guys turned out to be pretty good.

[Methead]

I didn't realize the Yankees blew their #1 pick on Brien Taylor in 1992 AND 1993...

[Gwreck]

Methead wrote: I didn't realize the Yankees blew their #1 pick on Brien Taylor in 1992 AND 1993...

Those aren't draft picks...those are lists of the top prospects throughout all of baseball.

[Elster88]

The evenings following an afternoon game are so much more relaxing when a W was put on the board.

[Elster88]

[u:a44dff8dd5]2006[/u:a44dff8dd5]
9 Lastings Milledge of Mets
36 Mike Pelfrey rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]2005[/u:a44dff8dd5]
11 Lastings Milledge of Mets
46 Yusmeiro Petit rhp Mets
50 Philip Humber rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]2004[/u:a44dff8dd5]
7 Kazuo Matsui ss Mets
12 Scott Kazmir lhp Mets
21 David Wright 3b Mets
86 Lastings Milledge of Mets
88 Matt Peterson rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]2003[/u:a44dff8dd5]
3 Jose Reyes ss Mets
11 Scott Kazmir lhp Mets
45 Aaron Heilman rhp Mets
66 Justin Huber c Mets
75 David Wright 3b Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]2002[/u:a44dff8dd5]
34 Jose Reyes ss Mets
78 Aaron Heilman rhp Mets
[u:a44dff8dd5]
2001[/u:a44dff8dd5]
18 Alex Escobar of Mets
63 Pat Strange rhp Mets
64 Brian Cole of Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]2000[/u:a44dff8dd5]
34 Alex Escobar of Mets
78 Pat Strange rhp Mets
84 Grant Roberts rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1999 [/u:a44dff8dd5]
11 Alex Escobar of Mets
45 Octavio Dotel rhp Mets
79 Grant Roberts rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1998[/u:a44dff8dd5]
29 Grant Roberts rhp Mets
60 Ed Yarnall lhp Mets
70 Preston Wilson of Mets
96 Geoff Goetz lhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1997[/u:a44dff8dd5]
34 Jay Payton of Mets
63 Terrence Long of Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1996[/u:a44dff8dd5]
2 Paul Wilson rhp Mets
17 Rey Ordonez ss Mets
21 Jay Payton of Mets
43 Alex Ochoa of Mets
94 Preston Wilson of Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1995[/u:a44dff8dd5]
12 Bill Pulsipher lhp Mets
16 Paul Wilson rhp Mets
20 Rey Ordonez ss Mets
31 Edgardo Alfonzo 3b Mets
37 Jason Isringhausen rhp Mets
95 Carl Everett of Mets
96 Jay Payton of Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1994[/u:a44dff8dd5]
21 Bill Pulsipher lhp Mets
43 Preston Wilson 3b Mets
59 Kirk Presley rhp Mets
70 Butch Huskey 3b Mets
74 Edgardo Alfonzo ss Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1993[/u:a44dff8dd5]
28 Bobby Jones rhp Mets
61 Jeromy Burnitz of Mets
64 Brook Fordyce c Mets
74 Al Shirley of Mets
92 Butch Huskey 3b Mets
93 Preston Wilson of Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1992 [/u:a44dff8dd5]
18 Todd Hundley c Mets
50 Jeromy Burnitz of Mets
54 Butch Huskey 3b Mets
55 Anthony Young rhp Mets
92 Julian Vasquez rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1991[/u:a44dff8dd5]
26 Anthony Young rhp Mets
33 Pete Schourek lhp Mets
47 Brook Fordyce c Mets
59 Todd Hundley c Mets
61 Leo Gomez 3b Orioles of Mets
98 Julio Valera rhp Mets

[u:a44dff8dd5]1990[/u:a44dff8dd5]
14 Mike Harkey rhp Cubs of Mets
56 Julio Valera rhp Mets
65 Todd Hundley c Mets

[MFS62]

What's sad is that after David Wright and maybe Fonzie and Reyes, the best position player on those lists could have been Brian Cole.

Later

[nymr83]

Hundley was good fpr awhile and you can hardly call Preston Wilson's career a waste. Milledge should end up higher than either of those two as well.

[Elster88]

MFS62 wrote: What's sad is that after David Wright and maybe Fonzie and Reyes, the best position player on those lists could have been Brian Cole. Later

Jay Payton was/is decent.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Cole was projected to have a pretty high ceiling. I read somewhere recently that he was as highly regarded as Milledge is currently.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I remember watching Brian Cole when he was a B-Met.

People - ALWAYS wear your seatbelts!

[Frayed Knot]

Keep in mind that Cole had yet to play AA at the time of his death so his "ceiling" as a MLB player was still more in the realm of projection than even someone like Milledge, not to mention long-time MLers like JayPay & Preston.
Nice to think that he would have had a good career but to say he would have is a bit of the 'backup quarterback' syndrome.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

FK - are you SURE? I swear I remember seeing him in AA.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Cole could have been what he could have been --- the best or the least of them. It's sad either way.

[metirish]

Don't the Mets give out a 'Brian Cole" award each year, not sure what it's for, I think maybe the organizations top prospect.

[MFS62]

="Frayed Knot"]Keep in mind that Cole had yet to play AA at the time of his death so his "ceiling" as a MLB player was still more in the realm of projection than even someone like Milledge, not to mention long-time MLers like JayPay & Preston. Nice to think that he would have had a good career but to say he would have is a bit of the 'backup quarterback' syndrome.

That's why I said "could have been".

I had several email discussions with Lisa Winston after Cole died. She used to write the minor league prospect column for the USA Today Baseball Paper (don't know if she still does).
She said she thought Brian had the highest upside of any minor leaguer she had ever seen. She added that she had met with Brian several times, and was impressed with what a "nice kid" he was. She was personally saddened by his death, as were many Mets fans who had either met him or seen him play. I felt he had the ability to become another Jimmy Wynn, a short guy, with a combination of speed and power.

Later

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

Cole did play for Binghamton

For a minute I thought I was losing my mind. I remember watching Brian Cole play - he was a thing of beauty.

[Frayed Knot]

ScarletKnight41 wrote: FK - are you SURE? I swear I remember seeing him in AA.

I know he was sked to head to Binghamton when he wrecked, I thought it was for his first go-around there but I suppose it's possible he had finished up the previous year there as well.
Either way, as promising as he was, he was not yet as accomplished or highly ranked as Milledge (middle of the top 100 lists), nor as close to the bigs.
So where it's possible that he blew a great career by not buckling up, it was hardly a sure thing.



edit: cross-posted w/above

[Methead]

"Those aren't draft picks..."

Ah. Wishful thinking on my part, I guess.