Non-prospects who have had MLB success

[Oxy]

The thread about the outfielders and Nick Bucci got me thinking about how often guys are non-prospects in the minor leagues and then turn out to be average to above average MLB players; or guys who were middling prospects who turned out to be perennial All-Stars. This might not be a very popular thread around here because there seem to be a lot of scouts, friends of scouts, and people you fancy themselves as scouts around here, and this will basically be a discussion about when they were wrong.

 

Casey McGehee and Jaime Garcia are a couple of recent examples that I can think of, but I'm sure there are a lot more over the past 10 years or so. Keep in mind that I'm not as interested in guys who were drafted low and then had success in the minors, but guys who were just sort of silently working their way through the system without much hype and then were given a chance one year and made the most of it.

[dadofandrew]

Chuck Crim

Craig Counsell

Casey Candelle (sp)

The ATL SP who just got hurt, undrafted

 

Probably 5-10% of MLB players fit this bill, I would guess a lot of utility INF's and backup C's.

[TheCrew07]

Hart is probably the best example from our system, he was never rated very highly and managed to be an All-Star and land himself a nice contract. The Brewers haven't had much success with players in the system coming out of nowhere to have success. Lots of relief pitchers have the career that you're looking for, because no one who follows prospects really cares about relievers so they don't get much run.

 

While there is a guy or two every year, it doesn't happen all that often. In fact the odds are stacked the other way... fringy prospects who were pimped around here that fell off cliff getting their MLB shot or fizzled in the upper minors. Every system has guys like our outfielders and our pitchers, that's why the system isn't anything special right now.

[DHonks]

For the Brewers we had guys like Loretta and Cirillo that never profiled that highly, Vina as well. Troy O'Leary had a solid career after leaving Milwaukee. Keith Ginter looked adequate but roid-aided. Carlos Villanueva was never a prospect. David Eckstein had several very good years. Marco Scutaro was minor league fodder for several clubs, including the Brewers.

[YoungGeezy]

I wouldn't call all-star @ every level, 1 or 2 league MVPs, futures game selection and a top a top 10 brewer prospect in that big wave a good example. Sure Hart was not a hot topic all over the milb but not a shock that he has performed the way he has.

[TheCrew07]

I wouldn't call all-star @ every level, 1 or 2 league MVPs, futures game selection and a top a top 10 brewer prospect in that big wave a good example. Sure Hart was not a hot topic all over the milb but not a shock that he has performed the way he has.

Just because we like a guy, doesn't mean he was respected nationally. Every BA chat pretty much went like this...

 

Q:	Eric from Madison asks: Why isn't Corey Hart on the list, where is he ranked? Do you Corey Hart andor Dave Krynzel making the Brewers roster next spring?
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/chat/assets/space_clear.gif
A:	Chris Kline: Hart is in the 20-30 range and both players should be in the mix for making the big league roster next season. I'd take Krynzel, simply because he can do more things; better speed, more of a catalyst in the lineup and better defensively.

Lest you forget that Kevin Mench kept Hart in AAA for a second go round...

[endaround]

No Hart was on the team, Yost just played Mench over him.

[CheezWizHed]

Nelson Cruz

[EbbaStClaire]

John Axford

[And That]

Unless you have an extremely, extremely tight definition of the word "prospect," yes, Corey Hart was a prospect.

[JohnBriggs12]

Anyone in an affiliated minor league uniform technically qualifies as a prospect to some degree perhaps with the exception of well traveled older players at the higher levels that are there essentially to fill rosters. Eventually all have to put up numbers to get to the major leagues. Some guys just have a lot longer leash than others.

[Giraldo8]

Dan Uggla is a great example