I was going to say kerry wood but I was afraid of the Cubs backlash...and it would be a damn shame if it happened because he has so much talent

Wood is an 8 year veteran player


After their first season people were simply clamoring over Hudek & Robertson and were never heard of again. That's why I put'em on there....just like Kevin Maas. Hudek might be a bit of a stretch.

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[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 4/22/2006 10:53a).]

Who cares if he's an 8 year veteran. If you count up all his actual playing time, it's more like a 4 year vet. The original post didnt indicate the player had to flame out in a short time span, just never lived up to early expectations. Even in seasons where Wood was healthy, he's never recaptured that first season stigma.

I for one never like Robertson. I saw right through his smoke and mirrors routine.

He finished in the Top 5 in strikeouts 4 times over a 6 year stretch. He averages 26 games a season since his rookie year and in 5 of the 7 years he's had an ERA below 3.75 (so he did recapture that stigma). Career-wise, he's got over 1,100 innings thrown in the big leagues, a 3.67 ERA and a .214 BAA.

I'm not saying he's a HOFer but injuries 6 years into a guy's career don't mean he "missed". That line of thinking would put Kevin Brown on this list.

I'll leave it at that as to not take over the thread.

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[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 4/22/2006 11:09a).]

Out of curiousity, how injured was Kevin Brown before he hit his mid 30s?

I didn't say it was the exact same situation....I said that line of thinking meaning, if a guy gets hurt several years after he's made it in the league then he "missed".

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Answer the question

If injuries are part of the equation, then you absolutely include Wood. If not, then he's out of the conversation.

Y'all all forgot about Bob Hamelin would was actually rookie of the year before flamming out with a sub .250 career four years later

Mr. Ackar I actually did mention Bob Hamelin in one of my previous posts

I'd have no problem adding Kerry Wood to this list. I remember the incredible hype after his 1-hit shutout of the Astros in 1998. That's was 8 years ago. And we're still waiting for a 15-win season. When you consider that he's making $12 million, he qualifies as a disappointment.

As for Kevin Brown, he's #1 on my list of possible pitchers that might owe his career to the local pharmacist, if you know what I mean. Suddenly gained a lot of velocity around 1996, was great thru 2000, then all the injuries have kicked in since then.

Quite a physical transformation for Brown too, in the 2nd half of his career.

dissapointment or a complete miss?

Sure he's been dissapointing at times but even if he retired now he still had a very good career.

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[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 4/22/2006 12:54p).]

[This message has been edited by AgRyan04 (edited 4/22/2006 12:57p).]

Billy Beane
Kris Benson
J.R. House
Wil Cordero
Ruben Rivera
Alan Benes
Roger Salkeld

Going back about 30-odd years, David Clyde...brought up as a teenager and flamed out quickly.

Shawn Abner...dude was drafted #1 overall in 1984 and finished his career with a .227 batting average and a whopping 11 HRs in parts of 6 seasons.

David Clyde is the greatest example around of the "can't miss" that did miss, and also how to completely screw up a prospect. As bad as the Rangers have handled some of their pitching prospects over the years, nothing tops bringing Clyde straight out of high school and into The Show.

I remember Jeffries, McDonald and Van Poppel as some of the biggest during the late 80s and early 90s.

I remember reading the stories about Jeffries and his hitting ability, but it never equated to anything in the pros. I'll never forget one of the drills his dad use to make him do. His dad wrote the numbers 1, 2, or 3 onto tennis balls and would feed them through a machine. Before Jeffries would hit it, he was supposed to call out the number. He was supposedly accurate like 98% of the time or something like that. So much hype around that guy.

McDonald and Van Poppel were serious flame throwers and it was a given they would be successful.

Amazing all three of those guys flamed out.

Some of you fellas need to re-think what it means to "miss". Gregg Jeffries played 13 years in the bigs, hit .289 for his career and was top 20 in the MVP voting twice.I realize he was destined for more, but the guy had an above-average major league career.

Casting my vote for Todd Van Poppel...as far as Kerry Wood goes, I think the bar was set so high after his debut that there is nothing he could have done to live up to the hype. All the same, I would consider him one of the top ten starting pitchers over the last 8 years. My $0.02

[This message has been edited by Amadeus (edited 4/22/2006 8:14p).]

what about john rocker

I think the definition of this thread is obviously open, but for me it's living up to expectations before actually playing.

I remember articles, stories, and everything else about Jeffries. This guy was going to lead the league in batting for the next 20 years.

He might have had a decent career (I would have gladly achieved 1 percent of what he did from a baseball standpoint), but he didn't live up to anywhere near the level of expectation when he was drafted. He really struggled early on and then just really became a decent player later in his career.

As far as Rocker goes, there wasn't much expectation on him until he actually got to the bigs and had an amazing run for a brief period. Even then, some people were waiting for him to flame out which he did.