r/mlb • u/GoodNinja18 • 17h ago
| Discussion Who is baseball's version of Andrew Wiggins?
Andrew Wiggins (NBA) is a former 1st overall pick. He had a lot of hype in high school and even into college to the point where he was drafted 1st overall. However, his first 8 years in the NBA were already on track to becoming a draft bust. Then he broke out with the Warriors and was a key piece in their '22 title run. Since then, he's pretty much removed his bust label entirely and is still important for the Heat.
What is the MLB version of this? What's a 1st overall pick that was horrible in the first few years of the MLB but still became a solid role player for a contending team?
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u/Brees2Graham 17h ago
Jason Heyward. #1 prospect, had some flashy moments and some awards, was never a perennial All Star but has had a long, average career nonetheless and was a contributor for the '16 WS Cubs.
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u/GotMoFans | Chicago White Sox 17h ago
Wiggins was a disappointment because he was expected to be a franchise level player, but was never on track to be a bust.
He was a starter quality player when people thought he would be a future hall of famer.
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u/ForwardDance9191 16h ago
He won Rookie of the Year and people are calling him a bust.
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u/Severe_Eye8245 | Atlanta Braves 13h ago
MCW was ROY too…
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u/texasslim2080 | San Francisco Giants 5h ago
MCW is probably one of the best outcomes for a number 11 pick ever
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u/the_dinks 3h ago
What?
Some other number 11 picks include SGA, Reggie Miller, and Klay Thompson.
MCW peaked in his first game.
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u/GotMoFans | Chicago White Sox 15h ago
Looking at that all rookie team, and it’s not looking like a great class that season.
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u/RenaisanceReviewer 17h ago
Probably also doesn’t help a young player’s confidence when you’re picked 1OA and then immediately traded for Kevin Love to make LeBron happy enough to return to Cleveland.
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u/PacificNorthwest09 | Seattle Mariners 15h ago
I will not allow this second hand Kevin Love slander. The man is a gem.
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u/RenaisanceReviewer 15h ago
Yea he’s great and he’s obviously important to the team but if you’re 19 and the best player since Jordan tells your new team to ship you to Minnesota so he can play with Kevin Love it’s probably a bummer
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u/TheSocraticGadfly | St. Louis Cardinals 12h ago
I #RockChalk and knew that Wiggins' high dribble would itself mean some trouble in the NBA when/until fixed.
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u/AyAySlim | St. Louis Cardinals 12h ago
20 PPG average over his 6 yrs in MIN and people act like he was Anthony Bennett or something. I hate sounding like an old man but I really miss the days with reasonable sports discussions
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u/TheSocraticGadfly | St. Louis Cardinals 9h ago
NBA draft was not that good that year in general, either. I mean, among first round choices, Clint Capela at No. 25 has the most win shares. Note that I said FIRST round.
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 14h ago
Franchise level doesn't even begin to describe it. When you stick anything having to do with Jordan on a player, there's face-of-the-league expectations (Harold Miner doesn't count, he was below average at everything except dunking.)
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u/GotMoFans | Chicago White Sox 14h ago
I personally don’t recall any Baby Jordan talk about Wiggins.
But he was seen as a major talent and a bigger deal than his college teammate Joel Embid.
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 14h ago
You don't remember "Maple Jordan?"
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u/GotMoFans | Chicago White Sox 14h ago
I remember that used on Vince Carter.
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 14h ago
Vince wasn't from Canada, though. Wiggins was
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u/GotMoFans | Chicago White Sox 14h ago
He started with the Raptors though.
Called him Air Canada too.
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 13h ago
Here's the problem. Vince was expected to be a great too. And he never actually achieved it, especially with the manner of his departure from Toronto. Michael Jordan is so omnipresent in sports that attaching his name to a player in ANY sport is an indication that big things are expected of them. And with one exception not a single player has lived up to it, and that exception basically BECAME Jordan.
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u/Jakoobus91 | Minnesota Twins 15h ago
As a Wolves fan I can say I would have loved to keep Wiggins on the team, just not on a max deal. He's a quality starter even today, he's just not a star.
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u/Danny_nichols 8h ago
I distinctly remember telling people in that draft if you take Wiggins first overall, you're going to hate him. If you took him like 8th overall, you'll love him. Obviously be was always going to go super early in that draft, but I always thought he was destined to be a solid role player.
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u/NZafe | Toronto Blue Jays 17h ago
Dansby Swanson may be the closest example in recent memory.
Andrew Wiggins also wasn’t horrible in the beginning of his career. In his first three years he showed solid growth on track to being a star in the league, going from 17ppg and ROY in his first year, to 21ppg and 24ppg the following two years. He just never took that next step from solid starter to All Star.
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u/BottledMilk5 | Boston Red Sox 17h ago
Important to note Wiggins got traded to an absolute dogshit organization for Kevin Love immediately after getting drafted.
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u/Gloomy_Appearance405 17h ago
B.J. Surhoff! Number one overall pick, starting quality his entire career but never developed further than that. Had a bit of a rough go early on, but then turned in a steady 2-3 WAR year in and year out for a decade plus
One all star appearance, similar to Wiggins.
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u/davethadude | Washington Nationals 16h ago
Damn I never knew BJ was a number 1 pick. Im about to bench his ass in my OOTP 96 O’s save. God damn liability in the field lol
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u/M-Test24 | Milwaukee Brewers 12h ago
I believe he and Will Clark were the consensus top two picks.
Holy crap, I looked it up. Yup, Clark was #2. The top of that draft was stacked. Bobby Witt, Barry Larkin and Bonds went 3, 4, and 6.
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u/damutecebu | Milwaukee Brewers 17h ago
This is a great example. I was so excited as a young Brewer fan when he came up, but really never lived up to the hype. He was on some terrible teams too.
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u/TropicGemini | Baltimore Orioles 15h ago
Loved him on the late-90's O's teams. He raked at Camden.
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u/damutecebu | Milwaukee Brewers 14h ago
Oh yeah. He ended up being a pretty good Brewer as well. He just never lived up to the hype.
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u/ReasonableDonkey540 2h ago
As an Orioles fan I loved (Surhoff) almost did it. He was a really good player for us and a fan favorite.
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u/Sharqueesha-NO 17h ago
Maybe Luke Hochevar? idk, he didn't work out as a starter but after moving to the bullpen he was a big part of the royals playoff success the year they won. He was a royal the whole time tho so maybe doesn't fit. MLB #1 picks flop all the time lol but usually they dont un-flop
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u/Still_Experience_182 17h ago
Josh Hamilton kind of fits due to his drug problems. His resurrection was amazing
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u/TesticularNeckbeard 17h ago
Andrew Vaughn looks like he may be turning around more to what was predicted
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u/scoop15 | Atlanta Braves 14h ago
Am I crazy/reading this wrong or is this not obviously Mickey Moniak
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u/braines54 | Cincinnati Reds 14h ago
I don't think he's on Wiggins level. He's had one season with a WAR over .1. Wiggins is still a good to very good starter, he's just not great.
Honestly, there a quite a few MLB first overall picks that fit the bill. I'd throw out Phil Nevin or even Dansby Swanson as better examples.
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u/shitbageleven1213 11h ago
I was going to say Moniak it looks like he’s becoming a solid contributor and the Rockies have some other good young sticks on their roster maybe they can make a run one of these years
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u/Reachin4ThoseGrapes | Philadelphia Phillies 11h ago
solid contributor
He was worth -0.4 WAR the last two years in Colorado and had an OPS of .543 away from Coors Field last season in a platoon role
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u/shitbageleven1213 10h ago
Tbf I said becoming…
The biggest thing is he has to stay healthy though. He has hot streaks but I swear gets hurt every time he gets going. There are also younger guys coming behind him so he loses playtime anyway even when he’s playing well.
He’s on my fantasy team though because I can’t quit him lol. The raw talent in a there and I’m rooting for him. We’ll see 🤷♂️
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u/Reachin4ThoseGrapes | Philadelphia Phillies 9h ago
Listen, I would love to see him succeed. I'm happy to see any former Phils prospect do well. I'd love to see him have a .250/30/100 type of season at some point
I'm just saying that the numbers show a literal replacement level player.
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u/JPW1001 12h ago
Don’t think he was the first pick but Alex Gordon fits this criteria. Tons of hype, looked like he was going to disappoint, then turned into a very fine player who helped his team win a title.
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u/Danny_nichols 8h ago
I like this one. I think baseball is so different with the weird draft and developement cycle that a better comp anyways is a guy who was a top 5ish prospect in all of baseball, sucked right away and then settled into a role player role.
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u/gbaker1a 11h ago
JD Drew maybe?
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u/Worried_Badger2000 8h ago
Definitely JD Drew. He came up in the steroid era and never lived up to expectations but still managed to have a pretty good 14 year career.
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u/cablelegs 17h ago
Wiggins was never even remotely close to a bust. Like, at all.
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u/michaelbchnn24 17h ago
People thought he was going to be a Kobe level player and he was basically a worse version of Rudy Gay. That's a bust. The warriors season completely saved his career, even though it was pretty much a fluke. He's never come close to looking that good again.
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u/Sanger99 17h ago
No, he's been in the league for more than 10 years and is a starter level player. Not living up to expectations doesn't make someone a bust.
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u/ATL_Hasher 10h ago
I’m 100% with you on this but I do think it’s interesting that Kwame Brown gets labeled a bust when he played 12 years in the NBA and started 280 games. Probably because of the MJ bullying and Stephen A rant.
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u/captain_poptart | Toronto Blue Jays 17h ago
Maybe not a bust but there were some disappointing seasons
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u/tipped_highway | Cincinnati Reds 17h ago
Justin Upton?
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u/ekmogr 17h ago
Either Upton brother really? Melvin (BJ) was heralded as the most talented player in the game coming through the rays system.
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u/TarnishedAccount | Tampa Bay Rays 17h ago
He wasn’t bad for us. In fact he was vital for the team that won the pennant in 2008
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 14h ago
I really HATE Melvin Upton. Not for anything he did, but because by not doing it, he wasted a gold-level nickname.
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u/EmergencyPear3667 16h ago
JD drew
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u/aphilsphan | Philadelphia Phillies 10h ago
If you want to understand Philly sports fans, know that the booed Drew and his brother every af bat for their entire careers. Philly fans are elephants. Worse. His brother did nothing wrong.
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u/JerkBezerberg 15h ago
I don't know this Wiggins fella, but I remember the hype around JD being quite extensive.
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u/Shellstar7 | Houston Astros 12h ago
J. D. Drew was not a first overall pick.
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u/gbaker1a 11h ago
Drew was the 5th overall pick, baseball is a bit different and I think Drew qualifies for the discussion. He was extremely hyped.
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u/texasecho9 11h ago
The parameters set by the OP limited the discussion to first overall draft choices, but whatever.
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u/gbaker1a 10h ago
The number one overall pick in baseball is often not the most hyped player in the draft. JD Drew was the most hyped player in his draft class. He wanted so much money that teams avoided taking him that’s why he fell to 5th overall. He was drafted 2nd overall in 97 and refused to sign. He was the consensus best prospect. I think this aspect of the parameters set forth by the OP are the most important qualifier and for that reason Drew is relevant in this discussion. Drew was supposed to be a Mike Trout like talent.
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u/Jaylaw 11h ago
I still think JD Drew is a top 5 most talented player in my lifetime (40+ years) and injuries/work ethic brought him down to “very good”
Outside of Griffey jr I can’t say I’ve seen a guy with more raw talent
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u/Beetroot_Roosevelt 16h ago
Mickey Moniak. Really struggled as a AAAA player for years. He finally sort of put it together even though he's still below average.
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u/AnxiousPotential6907 12h ago
Sandy Koufax.
True there is as no draft, but Koufax was a “bonus baby”, which meant he got such a large signing bonus he had to stay on the roster major league roster for two years, was a mediocre, at best, pitcher for his first 6 years then had one of the best 6 year stretches in history before being forced to retire at 30.
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u/cyberchaox | Boston Red Sox 17h ago
The first name that comes to mind for "'busts' that actually worked out" is Josh Hamilton, though his story isn't as simple as "not performing." Hamilton was drafted #1 overall in 1999 and put up good numbers in the minors in 1999 and 2000, but he developed an addiction to drugs and alcohol while recovering from injuries suffered in a February 2001 car accident, didn't perform well in limited minor league time in 2001 and 2002, and following a failed drug test in spring training of 2003, he was suspended for the whole season, and inability to kick the addiction led to further failed drug tests and suspensions, only eventually returning to the minors late in the 2006 season.
Then he made his major league debut in 2007, and while there were multiple relapses, he had a number of great seasons including winning the AL MVP in 2010.
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u/BottledMilk5 | Boston Red Sox 17h ago
Wiggins was never anything close to a bust, at any point.
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u/77millionmorons 17h ago
You don’t last for 8 years as a bust, right?
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u/BottledMilk5 | Boston Red Sox 17h ago
Do you win ROY as a bust?
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u/Old_Willow4766 | Boston Red Sox 16h ago
I have Michael Carter-Williams on line one.
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u/7thAndGreenhill | Philadelphia Phillies 15h ago
I effing love MCW. When the 76ers were losing 50/year, he played every minute of every game. He never gave up and took offense when opposing teams rested their starters.
I proudly still wear my MCW jersey.
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u/BottledMilk5 | Boston Red Sox 15h ago
Fuck yeah man. We’ll always have his debut triple double in a W against the big 3 Heat.
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u/BottledMilk5 | Boston Red Sox 16h ago
Shit you got me there (although as a Syracuse diehard… I love me some MCW)
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 14h ago
What would you consider Michael Kidd-Gilchrist?
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u/77millionmorons 11h ago
I had to Google him. Looks like an above average NBA player when he was in the game and not injured. He missed a lot of time due to injuries.
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u/ChiGrandeOso | Chicago Cubs 11h ago
2nd overall, considered a bust because he didn't live up to the billing, but played for exactly 8 years.
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u/zoosha2curtaincall | Boston Red Sox 17h ago
I was watching a random game in 2004 and when I saw Todd Van Poppel I almost spit out my drink.
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u/P-R_Podcast | Boston Red Sox 16h ago
Josh Hamilton. Struggled for about the same amount time, had a couple good seasons with Rangers and Angels but then relapsed and then it was a rap
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u/TheDogPoisoner 17h ago
Todd Van Poppel
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u/guitman27 | St. Louis Cardinals 17h ago
I guess he had a couple decent years in Chicago, but as a middle reliever.
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u/OLightning | MLB 17h ago
Otis Nixon was a basic slap hitter, pinch runner defensive replacement for the Braves until he took off one year in his mid 30’s and hit +.300 still with freakish speed on the base paths.
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u/Canucksta 17h ago
I don't consider Wiggins as ever being a "bust" or "horrible in the first few years" and I don't think his overall numbers were better with Golden State
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u/HesTrafty | Cincinnati Reds 14h ago
Josh Hamilton or Mickey Moniak are the first two I would think of.
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u/TheSocraticGadfly | St. Louis Cardinals 11h ago
I love these "compare the MLB to the NBA" posts when the two sports are totally different. One star can make a difference on an NBA team for sure, while two on an MLB team may still not move the needle that much, for starters.
Part of how the NBA and MLB are a lot different thus ties to the draft. Top 6-8 players in the NBA are yes, key. Top 6-8 in MLB's first round can go all sorts of ways. Plus, there's always the chance of a top draft spot pitcher needing an early Tommy John, anymore.
OP ignores other things.
One is that Wiggins was NOT a first-team All-American in his sole college season.
Two is that the draft that year was kind of craptacular. Embiid? Very good — when healthy. Aaron Gordon? Solid but not your No. 1 option. Per Basketball Reference, Capela, way down at No. 25, leads in win shares.
Actually, a guy drafted in the second round during a Taco Bell commercial far and away leads in win shares.
Anyway, the bottom line is, can we stop these STUPID "compare the MLB to the NBA" posts?
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u/EssentIYO | Atlanta Braves 16h ago
How can you have multiple seasons averaging 20ppg and be on track to being a bust?
😂🤣😂
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u/Willing-Leather-9788 Human Verified 17h ago
Wiggins was always interesting because he got better from his ROY to his third year but then didn’t make the jump from borderline all-star to consistent all-star and he regressed in year 4 and 5. But even in his first 3 years he felt like a disappointment when you heard most people talk about him, despite winning ROY and averaging 24 PPG in year 3. He barely missed any games and was always healthy too. Of course stats don’t tell the whole story, and he was worse less elite than your average 20 PPG scorer for a 5 year span, but still. He was 24 when Minnesota traded him, with 8,710 points under his belt. 11th youngest player to reach 8K in history.
I was very happy for him that he got his ring in GS as a HUGE part of the team. His shot selection got so much better and he played the #2-3 scoring option perfectly.
He was a classic case of having too much time with the ball as a #1 scorer at a young age on a bad team with a lot of defensive focus on him.
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u/Helpful_Length2715 16h ago
Damsby Swanson, #1 pick, was never bad but never anything crazy, had one or two great years, always came through in the playoffs
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u/TheoryOld4017 | Los Angeles Dodgers 16h ago
I don’t know, solid role player is a good trajectory for most #1 overall picks in baseball. Looking at the draft history on Wikipedia, only 4 of the #1 overall picks became HoF players. Hard to compare to basketball because the vast majority of baseball draft picks spend multiple years in the minors before getting a chance. Basically they almost all suck compared to MLB players and have to work for years to get a shot and stay on the 26 man roster.
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u/TheMelancholyJaques | Cleveland Guardians 15h ago
It's a difficult comparison because MLB players are rarely so highly regarded at the time of the draft. Sure, there are "can't miss" prospects who don't materialize, but they are so much younger with so much more development ahead of them, that they don't have the big profiles of NBA & NFL draftees.
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u/wareagle2009-20013 | Atlanta Braves 14h ago
Rick ankiel. Huge hype that never realized but still was a pro for a long time and craved out a role
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u/Buckscience 14h ago
It's probably going to be Henry Davis. He just hasn't really hit the upside of his career yet.
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u/regassert6 13h ago
Pat Burrell. He was a solid player and a key contributor but not a #1 pick level star. But I guess the inverse of this, hot start but leveled out
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u/StatLineBaseball 13h ago
How about Andrew Benintendi? # 7 pick overall, had a couple of good years with the sox and is basically just a serviceable player these days?
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u/plywlntz 12h ago
Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, and David Price. All really good, but not great HOF caliber.
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u/Byrdmane314 11h ago
It’s hard because the NBA draft/player development is different from MLB, like the draft doesn’t mean as much and MLB players have to go through multiple layers before they can get to the top league.
Was going to say Stephen Strasburg but someone said that so they next name I’ll say is Andrew Miller. High draft pick/prospect, was a part of a big trade like Wiggins (Miller was in the Miguel Cabrera trade) and put up a very solid career as a reliever
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u/Notorious_MSB 11h ago
Astros gave up on Phil Nevin and he became an all star on another team. Feels like the closest comp when sticking strictly to #1 overalls
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u/texasecho9 10h ago
I think the most similar is Pat Burrell.
Burrell was 4th in ROY. Wiggins 1st.
Burrell made 2 All Star teams. Wiggins 1.
Burrell played on 2 World Series champions. Wiggins 1 championship team.
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u/Independent_Dot_1448 | MLB 10h ago
Cody Bellinger
1 MVP year but fell off the planet for 3 seasons before crawling back to “decent”
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u/dojarelius 9h ago
Wiggins was ROY and averaged high teens low 20s in Minnesota. Nowhere near a bust. I guess the equivalent MLB player would be like a Carlos Correa solid to good with flashes of being elite
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u/TexanAlex | Houston Astros 8h ago
I kinda feel Pat Burrell?
Drafted 1-1 by the Phillies, Golden Spike Award out of Miami. Good player but never lived up to the hype. Got two rings though.
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u/sexinsuburbia 4h ago
Problem with this comparison is that the MLB draft is completely different than other leagues. There used to literally be infinite rounds until teams stopped making picks.
And unlike the NBA, all-stars are seemingly random in pick order. Ran the numbers on this once. At this year’s ASG, the average round a ln MLB player was selected in the draft was 4.5. In the NHL at their last ASG, it was closer to 1.5. Skubal was a 9th round pick. Wrobleski was a 13th rounder.
NHL is probably the best direct comparison because roster sizes are the most similar, and they have real ASG unlike the NFL.
In the NHL, most stars are selected with the top 10 picks, too. So, even in the first round there’s a lot of variability.
Some guys in the MLB draft taken first overall get hyped. It’s just not like other leagues where the media is obsessing over who is going to be taken with what pick. Load all these 18 year olds up with massive expectations. So many flame out, get injured, have their development stalled. And they’re in the minors for 5-years before anyone sees them in the bigs.
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u/father_sogol | St. Louis Cardinals 3h ago
Came here to say JD Drew and Josh Hamilton. Though, Josh’s early career was derailed mostly by off the field poor choices and substance abuse. When he made his comeback it was truly inspirational.
I grew up in St Louis in the 80s and 90s. Cardinal baseball was (and still is) the religion in our home. I had never experienced a hype like that of JD Drew up to that point in my life. Dude was talked about like he was the second coming. Almost Bryce Harper level hype. Not quite, but almost (at least in St Louis). So much raw talent, and he knew it. Poor work ethic and a terrible attitude. It takes a lot for cardinals fans to turn on a cardinals player. Like, we’re loyal, ride-or-die to a fault (when we signed Wilson Contreras I was so disappointed that I would have to cheer for him, now matter how much I disliked him). But it I remember it took barely a season for most cardinals fans to grow sick of JD Drew.
Now for storytime: I was lucky enough to get to go to a couple spring training games his rookie year. Kids/teens/young adults LOVED JD Drew, but he just refused to sign autographs or even acknowledge fans. One day were all along the first base line before a game. Like an hour before. All kids/teens. Everyone was signing. Retired hall of famers, all stars, everybody.
JD comes walking in from the outfield gate to get to the dugout. Walking right past the big section of kids that waited all day to try and snag an autograph from him. Bob Gibson is right over there and signing? Oh yeah that’s cool but we’re actually waiting for JD. We were all going crazy. Chanting his name, cheering for him, and asking him for an autograph. He walked right past us without acknowledging our existence. Didn’t look over, didn’t wave, not even a “sorry guys, not now” l. Just smug.
As he approaches the dugout, Mark McGwire climbs up the steps and takes a few steps to meet JD before he can even get to the dugout. He stands VERY close to him. Like, not getting in his face, but definitely a beast to a cub sort of energy. We could see him say a few words to JD and point to us. JD drops his bags right there where he stood, came over and signed for everyone (there was prob a dozen of us).
My dad and step mom were sitting in the seats directly next to the dugout. Not behind, but the field boxes that were right up against the dugout so you could look in. Both my Dad and step mom said the McGwire walked up to him and said calmly but assertively “JD who in the fuck do you think you are? Those kids have been waiting all day just for you. Don’t ever let me see that shit again. Get over there and don’t come back until every kid has an autograph.” You could see him just deflate. But he didn’t say a word, dropped his bags, and we all got our autograph.
McGwire was awesome with the fans, especially the kids/youth.
Sorry for the wall of text. I havnt told that story in prob 20 years.
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u/DangerSwan33 2h ago
Jurickson Profar was a highly anticipated prospect, who, due to injuries and inconsistent play, could not stay in the majors, and when he was up, he was worse than average. Then he middled around for a few years, doing nothing special.
Then, a couple years ago, he had a breakout season, and even got MVP votes, but since fizzled out again, and did not play at all this year.
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u/Awkward-Direction493 47m ago
How do you figure he was gonna be a draft bust? The dude averaged over 20 PPG over his first 8 years and topped out with the wolves at over 25 PPG. Shortly before he was traded jimmy Butler joined our team and between KAT jimmy and wiggins we're making a serious run for the one seed until Jimmy got hurt and everything went to shit. There is absolutely no way wiggins was a bust even being the number one pick. Was he over hyped coming into college and then the NBA? Yeah a little bit, ,but definitely not a bust
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u/The_Big_Untalented | Baltimore Orioles 17h ago
Mickey Moniak. Was really mediocre in the minors and was pretty bad his first few years in the majors, had a nice season in 2023 and has been an entrenched, everyday player who's pretty mid since.
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u/emby5 17h ago
Not horrible but injuries - Jim Eisenreich
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u/rene-cumbubble | Kansas City Royals 14h ago
He was on the spectrum, no?
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u/Independent_Dot_1448 | MLB 10h ago
He had Tourette’s. The ticks and the twitching. He came back to have a decent run but I don’t remember him being touted as a prospect.
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u/TheDogPoisoner 17h ago
Kevin Maas
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u/Certain_Juice_9083 17h ago
lol no. At least Wiggins was pretty solid for a few seasons. Maas was literally a one hit wonder.
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u/SwordfishSuper2111 | Chicago Cubs 16h ago
He only had one hit?
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u/Certain_Juice_9083 16h ago
You’ve never heard of a one hit wonder 😂
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u/SwordfishSuper2111 | Chicago Cubs 10h ago
Yeah, Modern English "I'll Stop the World". They really knocked it outta the park with that one
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u/93195 13h ago edited 13h ago
I’m going to go with “none”.
Unlike the NBA, even top draft picks almost never go directly to MLB. They work things out in the minors first. By the time they get to MLB, the “figuring it out” is already well underway.
I can think of no MLB first overall pick that got to MLB, took eight years to “figure it out” and only then became a star.
Wiggins was a “one and done” 19 year old playing against full grown men.
If MLB players haven’t figured things out within the first few years in the league, they’re not going to.
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u/AyAySlim | St. Louis Cardinals 13h ago
Why are so many people incapable of having a discussion without hyperbole. He was never a “bust”, never on track to be a bust, and he damn sure was ever “awful”. He averaged 20 points per game and had better numbers in his first 6 yrs with Min than he did with GSW. Maybe he was not playing up to his potential or to what some people expected, but that’s not close to the same thing as a “bust” at all.
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u/ApolloKhan71 10h ago
Kevin gausman. He was the number 1 pitching prospect and was terrible for 2 organizations until he got to San Fran and became an all star
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