First-Year Player Draft History

Draft Report: 2000s

2010

The Washington Nationals made 17 year-old Bryce Harper the third-youngest player to be taken first overall in the First-Year Player Draft, following Tim Foli and Ken Griffey Jr. Harper was also just the fifth catcher to be drafted first, but the Nats announced they'd move him to the outfield to speed up his arrival to the Major Leagues. Harper hit .442 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs during his freshman season at College of Southern Nevada, where he’d gone to play after his sophomore year in high school.

The Pirates used the second overall pick to make Texas prep right-hander Jameson Taillon the first of 804 pitchers taken in the draft. There was a lot of talk that Manny Machado would be the Pirates’ top choice, but the power-hitter was instead selected third by the Baltimore Orioles. Machado, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound shortstop who drew comparisons to Alex Rodriguez, owned a .639 average with 12 homers and 56 RBIs as a high school senior in Miami.

High school players accounted for 32.7 percent of the total selections in the ‘10 draft -- the fifth-lowest percentage in Draft history. Clubs used 52.3 percent of their picks on pitchers, accounting for the seventh-highest percentage ever.

The Mets and White Sox helped start the pitching trend early, grabbing standout college hurlers Matt Harvey and Chris sale as the seventh and 13th picks, respectively. Harvey was 7-2 with a 2.79 ERA in his final year at North Carolina, while Sale was superb in his junior year, leading the NCAA Division I in strikeouts while going 11-0 with two saves.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	Nationals	Bryce Harper	OF	College of Southern Nevada
2.	Pirates	Jameson Taillon	RHP	The Woodlands HS (Texas)
3.	Orioles	Manny Machado	SS	Brito Miami Private School (Fla.)
4.	Royals	Christian Colon	SS	Cal State Fullerton
5.	Indians	Drew Pomeranz	LHP	Ole Miss
6.	D-backs	Barret Loux	RHP	Texas A&M
7.	Mets	Matt Harvey	RHP	North Carolina
8.	Astros	Delino DeShields Jr.	OF	Woodward Academy (Ga.)
9.	Padres	Karsten Whitson	RHP	Chipley High School (Fla.)
10.	A's	Michael Choice	OF	Univerisity of Texas-Arlington
11.	Blue Jays	Deck McGuire	RHP	Georgia Tech
12.	Reds	Yasmani Grandal	C	Miami
13.	White Sox	Chris Sale	LHP	Florida Gulf Coast University
14.	Brewers	Dylan Covey	RHP	Maranatha High School (Calif.)
15.	Rangers	Jake Skole	OF	Blessed Trinity High School (Ga.)
16.	Cubs	Hayden Simpson	RHP	Southern Arkansas University
17.	Rays	Josh Sale	OF	Bishop Blanchet High School (Wash.)
18.	Angels	Kaleb Cowart	3B	Cook High School (Ga.)
19.	Astros	Mike Foltynewicz	RHP	Minooka Community High School (Ill.)
20.	Red Sox	Kolbrin Vitek	2B	Ball State
21.	Twins	Alex Wimmers	RHP	Ohio State
22.	Rangers	Kellin Deglan	C	R.E. Mountain SS (B.C.)
23.	Marlins	Christian Yelich	1B	Westlake High School (Calif.)
24.	Giants	Gary Brown	OF	Cal State-Fullerton
25.	Cardinals	Zack Cox	3B	Arkansas
26.	Rockies	Kyle Parker	OF	Clemson
27.	Phillies	Jessie Biddle	LHP	Germantown Friends School (Pa.)
28.	Dodgers	Zach Lee	RHP	McKinney High School (Texas)
29.	Angels	Cameron Bedrosian	RHP	East Coweta HS (Ind.)
30.	Angels	Chevy Clarke	OF	Marietta (Ga.)

2011

The 2011 First-Year Player Draft included some familiar names, as sons of several famous sports figures were drafted. The Cubs grabbed Trevor Gretzky, son of all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky, while Derech Rodriguez, son of former American League Most Valuable Player Pudge Rodriguez, was chosen by the Twins with the 208th pick. Ryan Garvey, son of 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey, was drafted by the Phillies (No. 481 overall).

With their fourth No. 1 overall pick in franchise history, the Pirates selected UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole, who had gone 8-2 with a 0.46 ERA in 75 2/3 innings during his junior season.

The Mariners, D-backs, and Orioles all took starting pitchers with their first picks, too, making the first four overall selection starting pitchers. A total of 792 pitchers were selected in the 2011 Draft.

The Mariners bolstered what looked to be a strong future rotation, adding Danny Hultzen with the second overall pick. Seattle was impressed with the lefty’s maturity and athleticism, following his 11-3 record in his final year with Virginia. The D-Backs followed with Cole's rotation mate Trevor Bauer as their top pick, hoping to capitalize quickly on the UCLA right-hander, who was perceived as being close to big league-ready. Bauer led the country in strikeouts as a sophomore and junior and was 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA in his last 16 starts with the Bruins.

The Orioles rounded out the streak, grabbing Oklahoma high schooler Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick. Bundy struck out 164 in his senior season at Owasso High School, going 11-1 with a 1.58 ERA.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	Pirates	Gerrit Cole	RHP	UCLA
2.	Mariners	Danny Hultzen	LHP	Virginia
3.	D-Backs	Trevor Bauer	UCLA	UCLA
4.	Orioles	Dylan Bundy	RHP	Owasso HS (Okla.)
5.	Royals	Bubba Starling	OF	Gardner Edgerton HS (Kan.)
6.	Nationals	Anthony Rendon	3B	Rice
7.	D-Backs	Archie Bradley	RHP	Broken Arrow Sr. HS (Okla.)
8.	Reds	Francisco Lindor	SS	Montverde Academy (Fla.)
9.	Cubs	Javier Baez	SS	Arlington Country Day School (Fla.)
10.	Padres	Cory Spangenberg	2B	Indian River State
11.	Astros	George Springer	OF	Connecticut
12.	Brewers	Taylor Jungmann	RHP	University of Texas
13.	Mets	Brandon Nimmo	OF	Cheyenne East HS (Wyo.)
14.	Marlins	Jose Fernandez	RHP	Braulio Alonso HS (Fla.)
15.	Brewers	Jed Bradley	LHP	Georgia Tech
16.	Dodgers	Chris Reed	LHP	Stanford
17.	Angels	C.J. Cron	1B	Utah
18.	A's	Sonny Gray	RHP	Vanderbilt
19.	Red Sox	Matt Barnes	RHP	Connecticut
20.	Rockies	Tyler Anderson	LHP	Oregon
21.	Blue Jays	Tyler Beede	RHP	Lawrence Academy (Mass.)
22.	Cardinals	Kolten Wong	2B	Hawaii
23.	Nationals	Alex Meyer	RHP	Kentucky
24.	Rays	Taylor Guerrieri	RHP	Spring Valley HS (S.C.)
25.	Padres	Joe Ross	RHP	Bishop O'Dowd School (Calif.)
26.	Red Sox	Blake Swihart	C	V Sue Cleveland HS (N.M.)
27.	Reds	Robert Stephenson	RHP	Alhambra HS (Calif.)
28.	Braves	Sean Gilmartin	LHP	Florida State
29.	Giants	Joe Panik	SS	St. Johns
30.	Twins	Levi Michael	SS	North Calolina

2012

The 2012 First-Year Amateur Draft had a distinct feel, following the new Collective Bargaining Agreement reached the previous offseason. Draft signing bonus pools were allotted, with each pick in the first 10 rounds having a value assigned to it. Penalties were assessed to teams that spent beyond their allotted pools. The Draft was condensed from 50 rounds to 40. And the signing deadline was moved up from Aug. 15 to the middle of July.

Carlos Correa was taken No. 1 overall by the Astros, who signed the 18-year-old Puerto Rican just two days after selecting him. Correa was an unlikely first pick, but he impressed Astros' officials in late workouts with his size and power, and he signed for $2.4 million less than the $7.2 million allotted value for the top pick, allowing the Astros to use that saved money on later picks that were considered harder to sign. Correa became the first player from Puerto Rico taken first overall.

With the No. 2 pick, the Twins took high school outfielder Byron Buxton, who hit .513 with 17 doubles and 38 stolen bases during his senior season at Appling County High School in Georgia.

Mike Zunino went No. 3 to the Mariners and was the last of the top three to be signed, inking a deal on July 2. The son of Reds scout Greg Zunino, Mike helped lead his Florida Gators team to three consecutive College World Series appearances in 2010-12.

The quick-signing theme continued throughout the first round, with only one first rounder out of 30 failing to sign by the deadline. Overall spending on first-round picks dropped from $233.6 million in 2011 to $203.7 million.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	Astros	Carlos Correa	SS	Puerto Rico BB Academy (P.R.)
2.	Twins	Byron Buxton	OF	Appling County HS (Ga.)
3.	Mariners	Mike Zunino	C	Florida
4.	Orioles	Kevin Gausman	RHP	LSU
5.	Royals	Kyle Zimmer	RHP	University of San Francisco
6.	Cubs	Albert Almora	OF	Mater Academy Charter School (Fla.)
7.	Padres	Max Fried	LHP	Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)
8.	Pirates	Mark Appel	RHP	Stanford
9.	Marlins	Andrew Heaney	LHP	Oklahoma State
10.	Rockies	David Dahl	OF	Oak Mountain HS (Ala.)
11.	A's	Addison Russell	SS	Pace HS (Fla.)
12.	Mets	Gavin Cecchini	SS	Barbe HS (La.)
13.	White Sox	Courtney Hawkins	OF	Carroll HS (Texas)
14.	Reds	Nick Travieso	RHP	Archbishop McCarthy HS (Fla.)
15.	Indians	Tyler Naquin	OF	Texas A&M
16.	Nationals	Lucas Giolito	RHP	Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)
17.	Blue Jays	D.J. Davis	OF	Stone County HS (Miss.)
18.	Dodgers	Corey Seager	SS	Northwest Cabarrus HS (N.C.)
19.	Cardinals	Michael Wacha	RHP	Texas A&M
20.	Giants	Chris Stratton	RHP	Mississippi State
21.	Braves	Lucas Sims	RHP	Brookwood HS (Ga.)
22.	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman	RHP	Duke
23.	Cardinals	James Ramsey	OF	Florida State
24.	Red Sox	Deven Marrero	SS	Arizona State
25.	Rays	Richie Shaffer	3B	Clemson
26.	D-Backs	Stryker Trahan	C	Acadiana HS (La.)
27.	Brewers	Clint Coulter	C	Union HS (Wash.)
28.	Brewers	Victor Roache	OF	Georgia Southern
29.	Rangers	Lewis Brinson	OF	Coral Springs HS (Fla.)
30.	Yankees	Ty Hensley	RHP	Edmond Santa Fe HS (Okla.)

2013

The 2013 First-Year Player Draft again saw the Astros selecting first overall, becoming the third team with the top pick in back-to-back Drafts. They chose Stanford right-hander Mark Appel, who was thought to have been in the mix for the top pick in the 2012 Draft. Instead, he fell to eighth that year and chose to return to Stanford. The deicision ultimately paid off and he became the 17th player to be selected twice in the first round.

Appel, the top pick in a pitching-heavy Draft, embodied a few trends in the 2013 first round. Fifteen pitchers were selected, and six college pitchers were taken in the top 20 picks. Three prep pitchers went in the top 10 selections, led by fourth overall pick Kohl Stewart, but only three more prep arms went by the end of the round.

But the Draft wasn't all arms. Nine of the top 15 picks, in fact, were spent on position players. Eight college position players and nine prep players went in the first round, providing an interesting mix of talent.

Picking second, the Cubs made University of San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant the top position player selected. He won the Golden Spikes Award as a junior after leading the nation in home runs (31), runs scored (80), walks and slugging percentage (.820).

Oklahoma right-hander Jon Gray went third overall to the Rockies and the Indians selected Loganville (Ga.) High School outfielder Clint Frazier to round out the top five.

All but one first rounder signed and the average bonus for first-round picks was up in 2013. Bryant led the way with his $6.708 million bonus, and the average bonus for the 32 players who signed was $2.64 million, up from last year's average of $2.40 million. While spending on first-round selections increased, teams still came in well under the combined assigned values for the 32 picks who agreed to terms. Teams combined to save $3.746 million compared to the assigned values

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	Astros	Mark Appel	RHP	Stanford
2.	Cubs	Kris Bryant	3B	University of San Diego
3.	Rockies	Jon Gray	RHP	Oklahoma
4.	Twins	Kohl Stewart	RHP	St. Pius X (Texas)
5.	Indians	Clint Frazier	OF	Loganville HS (Ga.)
6.	Marlins	Colin Moran	3B	North Carolina
7.	Red Sox	Trey Ball	LHP	New Castle HS (Ind.)
8.	Royals	Hunter Dozier	SS	Stephen F. Austin State
9.	Pirates	Austin Meadows	OF	Grayson HS (Ga.)
10.	Blue Jays	Phil Bickford	RHP	Oaks Christian HS (Calif.)
11.	Mets	Dominic Smith	1B	JSerra HS (Calif.)
12.	Mariners	D.J. Peterson	3B	New Mexico
13.	Padres	Hunter Renfroe	OF	Mississippi State
14.	Pirates	Reese McGuire	C	Kentwood HS (Wash.)
15.	D-backs	Braden Shipley	RHP	Nevada
16.	Phillies	J.P. Crawford	SS	Lakewood HS (Calif.)
17.	White Sox	Tim Anderson	SS	East Central CC (Miss.)
18.	Dodgers	Chris Anderson	RHP	Jacksonville
19.	Cardinals	Marco Gonzales	LHP	Gonzaga
20.	Tigers	Jonathon Crawford	RHP	Florida
21.	Rays	Nick Ciuffo	C	Lexington HS (S.C.)
22.	Orioles	Hunter Harvey	RHP	Bandys HS (N.C.)
23.	Rangers	Alex Gonzalez	RHP	Oral Roberts
24.	A’s	Billy McKinney	OF	Plano HS (Texas)
25.	Giants	Christian Arroyo	SS	Hernando HS (Fla.)
26.	Yankees	Eric Jagielo	3B	Notre Dame
27.	Reds	Phil Ervin	OF	Samford
28.	Cardinals	Rob Kaminsky	LHP	Saint Joseph Regional HS (N.J.)
29.	Rays	Ryne Stanek	RHP	Arkansas
30.	Rangers	Travis Demeritte	SS	Winder-Barrow HS (Ga.)
31.	Braves	Jason Hursh	RHP	Oklahoma State
32.	Yankees	Aaron Judge	OF	Fresno State
33.	Yankees	Ian Clarkin	LHP	Madison HS (Calif.)

2014

The 2014 Draft saw the Astros become the first team in league history to select first overall for three straight seasons. They chose San Diego high school left-hander Brady Aiken with the pick, making him the first high school pitcher to be taken first overall since 1991, and the first prep southpaw taken atop the Draft in 23 years.

With Aiken off the board, the Marlins then selected another prep pitcher, Shepherd (Texas) High right-hander Tyler Kolek, with the second overall pick, while the White Sox made North Carolina State left-hander Carlos Rodon the top college pick in the Draft when they selected him third overall.

Overall, 20 of the 34 picks in the first round were used on pitchers, with 10 coming from the prep ranks and 10 from college.

Though the Draft was once again pitching-heavy, there were six position players selected in the top 13 picks and a total of 14 position players selected in the first round.

The first bat of the Draft was not taken until the fourth pick, when the Cubs selected catcher Kyle Schwarber out of the University of Indiana. Schwarber, a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award as the best catcher in the country in 2014, hit .358 with 14 home runs and 66 runs scored as a junior for the Hoosiers.

The Twins selected Olympia (Fla.) High shortstop Nick Gordon, the son of former Major League pitcher Tom "Flash" Gordon and brother of Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon, with the fifth overall pick, while Miami grabbed another highly touted prep player in Rancho Bernardo (Calif.) High outfielder Alex Jackson sixth overall.

The Draft had not seen four prep players taken in the top six picks since 2002, when future stars B.J. Upton and Zack Greinke were part of an impressive first-round haul.

All but one first-rounder (Aiken) signed, and the average bonus for first-round picks was down slightly compared to 2013. Rodon led the way with his $6.582 million bonus, and Kolek received $6 million from the Marlins, while the average bonus for the 33 players who signed was a little more than $2.612 million, a slight decrease from the average of $2.64 million in 2013.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	Astros	Brady Aiken	LHP	Cathedral Catholic HS (Calif.)
2.	Marlins	Tyler Kolek	RHP	Shepherd HS (Tex.)
3.	White Sox	Carlos Rodon	LHP	North Carolina State
4.	Cubs	Kyle Schwarber	C	Indiana
5.	Twins	Nick Gordon	SS	Olympia HS (Fla.)
6.	Mariners	Alex Jackson	OF	Rancho Bernardo HS (Calif.)
7.	Phillies	Aaron Nola	RHP	LSU
8.	Rockies	Kyle Freeland	LHP	Evansville
9.	Blue Jays	Jeff Hoffman	RHP	East Carolina
10.	Mets	Michael Conforto	OF	Oregon State
11.	Blue Jays	Max Pentecost	C	Winder Barrow HS (Ga.)
12.	Brewers	Kodi Medeiros	LHP	Waiakea HS (Haw.)
13.	Padres	Trea Turner	SS	North Carolina State
14.	Giants	Tyler Beede	RHP	Vanderbilt
15.	Angels	Sean Newcomb	LHP	Hartford University
16.	D-backs	Touki Toussaint	RHP	Coral Springs Christian Academy HS (Fla.)
17.	Royals	Brandon Finnegan	LHP	TCU
18.	Nationals	Erick Fedde	RHP	UNLV
19.	Reds	Nick Howard	RHP	Virginia
20.	Rays	Casey Gillaspie	1B	Wichita State
21.	Indians	Bradley Zimmer	OF	San Francisco
22.	Dodgers	Grant Holmes	RHP	Conway HS (S.C.)
23.	Tigers	Derek Hill	OF	Elk Grove Hs (Calif.)
24.	Pirates	Cole Tucker	SS	Mountain Pointe HS (Ariz.)
25.	A's	Matt Chapman	3B	Cal State Fullerton
26.	Red Sox	Michael Chavis	SS	Notre Dame
27.	Cardinals	Luke Weaver	RHP	Florida State
28.	Royals	Foster Griffin	LHP	The First Academy HS (Fla.)
29.	Reds	Alex Blandino	SS	Stanford
30.	Rangers	Luis Ortiz	RHP	Sanger HS (Calif.)
31.	Indians	Justus Sheffield	LHP	Tullahoma HS (Tenn.)
32.	Braves	Braxton Davidson	OF	T C Roberson Hs (N.C.)
33.	Red Sox	Michael Kopech	RHP	Mount Pleasant HS (Tex.)
34.	Cardinals	Jack Flaherty	RHP	Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.)

2015

The Arizona Diamondbacks opened the 2015 Draft by selecting Vanderbilt shortstop Dansby Swanson with the No. 1 overall pick, the first of a record-tying eight shortstops taken in the first round.

Swanson was the first college shortstop taken atop the Draft since Bill Almon from Brown University in 1974, and the selection of eight shortstops in the Draft's first round tied the record achieved twice previously (1971 and 2002).

The Astros, who had the No. 2 pick due to being unable to sign 2014 No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken, selected Alex Bregman out of Louisiana State University, and the Rockies took Orlando-area prep shortstop Brendan Rodgers third overall, marking the first time in the 51-year history of the Draft that shortstops had been taken with each of the first three picks.

The first non-shortstop off the board was UC-Santa Barbara right-hander Dillon Tate, who was chosen No. 4 overall by the Rangers, becoming the highest-drafted alumnus of MLB's Urban Youth Academy.

Swanson, Bregman and Tate were among seven collegians taken within the first 10 picks, the most in the top 10 since 2008. The trio was joined by left-hander Tyler Jay (No. 6, Twins), Arkansas outfielder Andrew Benintendi (No. 7, Red Sox), Vanderbilt righty Carson Fulmer (No. 8, White Sox) and Cincinnati outfielder Ian Happ (No. 9, Cubs).

The Astros, the first team in history to have two top-five selections in the same Draft, took prep outfielder Kyle Tucker, the brother of Astros big league outfielder Preston Tucker, from Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., at No. 5.

Of the 36 players selected in the first round, a total of 19 players were chosen from college, while 16 came from the high school ranks. Aiken, who went 17th overall to the Indians, was selected out of IMG Academy in Florida.

All but one first-rounder -- Louisville right-hander Kyle Funkhouser (No. 35, Dodgers) – signed, and the average bonus for first-round picks was up compared to previous years. Swanson was the lone pick to command a bonus of more than $6 million ($6.5 million, to be exact), while Bregman ($5.9 million) and Rodgers ($5.5 million) were the only other players to receive more than $5 million. The average bonus for the 35 players who signed was $2,774,945 million, a sizeable increase from the 2014 average of $2.612 million.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1.	D-backs	Dansby Swanson	LHP	Vanderbilt
2.	Astros	Alex Bregman	RHP	LSU
3.	Rockies	Brendan Rodgers	SS	Lake Mary HS (Fla.)
4.	Rangers	Dillon Tate	RHP	Cal Santa Barbara
5.	Astros	Kyle Tucker	OF	H.B. Plant HS (Fla.)
6.	Twins	Tyler Jay	LHP	Illinois
7.	Red Sox	Andrew Benintendi	OF	Arkansas
8.	White Sox	Carson Fulmer	RHP	Vanderbilt
9.	Cubs	Ian Happ	RHP	Cincinnati
10.	Phillies	Cornelius Randolph	SS	Griffin HS (Ga.)
11.	Reds	Tyler Stephenson	C	Kennesaw Mountain HS (Ga.)
12.	Marlins	Josh Naylor	1B	St Joan of Arc Catholic HS (Ontario)
13.	Rays	Garrett Whitley	OF	Niskayuna HS (N.Y.)
14.	Braves	Kolby Allard	LHP	San Clemente HS (Calif.)
15.	Brewers	Trent Clark	OF	Richland HS (Tex.)
16.	Yankees	James Kaprielian	RHP	UCLA
17.	Indians	Brady Aiken	LHP	IMG Academy
18.	Giants	Phil Bickford	RHP	College of Southern Nevada
19.	Pirates	Kevin Newman	SS	Arizona
20.	A's	Richie Martin	SS	Florida
21.	Royals	Ashe Russell	RHP	Cathedral HS (Ind.)
22.	Tigers	Beau Burrows	RHP	Weatherford HS (Tex.)
23.	Cardinals	Nick Plummer	OF	Brother Rice HS (Mich.)
24.	Dodgers	Walker Buehler	RHP	Vanderbilt
25.	Orioles	D.J. Stewart	OF	Florida State
26.	Angels	Taylor Ward	C	Fresno State
27.	Rockies	Mike Nikorak	RHP	Stroudsburg HS (Pa.)
28.	Braves	Mike Soroka	RHP	Bishop Carroll HS (Alberta)
29.	Blue Jays	Jonathan Harris	RHP	Missouri State
30.	Yankees	Kyle Holder	SS	San Diego
31.	Giants	Christopher Shaw	C	Boston College
32.	Pirates	Ke'Bryan Hayes	SS	Concordia Lutheran Hs (Tex.)
33.	Royals	Nolan Watson	RHP	Lawrence North HS (Ind.)
34.	Tigers	Christin Stewart	OF	Tennessee
35.	Dodgers	Kyle Funkhouser	RHP	Louisville
36.	Orioles	Ryan Mountcastle	SS	Hagert HS (Fla.)