Best Rookie (Not Draft) Class: Your Thoughts?

CubsfanP · Jul 21, 2014

I saw this posted elsewhere and thought it would be good discussion here.

Only time will tell, but the 2014 rookie class seems like it is stacked. Some of the names (in no order) are:

Masahiro Tanaka (Sort-of)
Jose Abreu (Sort-of)
Yordano Ventura
Gregory Polanco
Billy Hamilton
George Springer
Jon Singleton
Xander Bogaerts
Arismendy Alcantara
Brock Holt
Delin Betances
Nick Castellanos
Jackie Bradley Jr
Oscar Taveras
Taijuan Walker

Im sure im forgetting some. Also, who knows if teams like the Cubs will bring up even more to add. How will this years rookie class end up compared to others? What was the best ever, in your opinion?

corockies · Jul 21, 2014

Tough to beat the class of 2005 (also the last year of baseball cards before the dumb RC rule went into effect):

Justin Verlander
Ryan Braun
Jay Bruce
Troy Tulowitzki
Carlos Gonzalez
Andrew McCutchen
Matt Kemp
Jacoby Ellsbury
Prince Fielder
Nelson Cruz
Ian Kinsler
Ryan Zimmerman
Jered Weaver
Stephen Drew
Mike Morse
Jed Lowrie
Clay Buchholz
Colby Rasmus
Brandon McCarthy
Russell Martin

hrbek14 · Jul 21, 2014

1986, if you don't mind an asterisk or two.

Barry Bonds
Mark McGuire
Greg Maddux
Barry Larkin
Fred McGriff
Rafael Palmeiro
Jamie Moyer
Bo Jackson
Will Clark
Kevin Brown
Ruben Sierra
Benito Santiago
David Cone
Chuck Finley

hrbek14 · Jul 21, 2014

Also, 1967 had Carew, Reggie, Bench, Seaver but not sure what else was there.

CubsfanP · Jul 21, 2014

corockies said:
Tough to beat the class of 2005 (also the last year of baseball cards before the dumb RC rule went into effect):

Justin Verlander
Ryan Braun
Jay Bruce
Troy Tulowitzki
Carlos Gonzalez
Andrew McCutchen
Matt Kemp
Jacoby Ellsbury
Prince Fielder
Nelson Cruz
Ian Kinsler
Ryan Zimmerman
Jered Weaver
Stephen Drew
Mike Morse
Jed Lowrie
Clay Buchholz
Colby Rasmus
Brandon McCarthy
Russell Martin

I'm sorry, I wasnt clear, the original post was intended to be narrowed to actual MLB rookies, rather than rookie cards. These would actually fall under a prospect card by todays confusing standards. I agree that 2005 on cardboard was great.

sheetskout · Jul 21, 2014

corockies said:
Tough to beat the class of 2005 (also the last year of baseball cards before the dumb RC rule went into effect):

Justin Verlander
Ryan Braun
Jay Bruce
Troy Tulowitzki
Carlos Gonzalez
Andrew McCutchen
Matt Kemp
Jacoby Ellsbury
Prince Fielder
Nelson Cruz
Ian Kinsler
Ryan Zimmerman
Jered Weaver
Stephen Drew
Mike Morse
Jed Lowrie
Clay Buchholz
Colby Rasmus
Brandon McCarthy
Russell Martin

Are we speaking of draftees or actual rookies? Because Prince Fielder doesn't belong in that group if the former.

JEBJJA · Jul 21, 2014

	Jeff King	Pittsburgh Pirates	SS	University of Arkansas
2	Greg Swindell	Cleveland Indians	P	University of Texas
3	Matt Williams	San Francisco Giants	3B	UNLV
4	Kevin Brown	Texas Rangers	P	Georgia Tech
5	Kent Mercker	Atlanta Braves	P	Dublin HS (Dublin, OH)
6	Gary Sheffield	Milwaukee Brewers	SS	Hillsborough HS (Tampa, FL)
7	Brad Brink	Philadelphia Phillies	RHP	University of Southern California
8	Patrick Lennon	Seattle Mariners	SS	Whiteville HS (Whiteville, NC)
9	Derrick May	Chicago Cubs	OF	Newark HS (Newark, DE)
10	Derek Parks	Minnesota Twins	RHP	Montclair HS (Montclair, CA)
11	Thomas Howard	San Diego Padres	OF	Ball State University
12	Scott Hemond	Oakland Athletics	C	University of South Florida
13	Ryan Bowen	Houston Astros	RHP	Hanford HS (Hanford, CA)
14	Greg McMurtry	Boston Red Sox	OF	Brockton HS (Brockton, MA)
15	Kevin Dean	Montreal Expos	OF	Hogan HS (Vallejo, CA)
16	Roberto Hernández	California Angels	RHP	University of South Carolina
17	Scott Scudder	Cincinnati Reds	RHP	Prairiland HS (Blossom, TX)
18	Phil Clark	Detroit Tigers	C	Crockett HS (Crockett, TX)
19	Mike White	Los Angeles Dodgers	OF	Loudon HS (Loudon, TN)
20	Grady Hall	Chicago White Sox	LHP	Northwestern University
21	Lee May, Jr.	New York Mets	OF	Purcell Marian HS (Cincinnati, OH)
22	Lee Stevens	California Angels	OF	Lawrence, HS (Lawrence, KS)
23	Luis Alicea	St. Louis Cardinals	2B	Florida State University
24	Tony Clements	Kansas City Royals	SS	Don Antonio Lugo (Chino, CA)
25	Terry Carr	California Angels	OF	Bennett HS (Salisbury, MD)
26	Earl Sanders	Toronto Blue Jays	RHP	Jackson State University
27	Mike Fetters	California Angels	RHP	Pepperdine University
28	Daryl Green	California Angels	RHP	Nacogdoches HS (Nacogdoches, TX)

Other notable players[edit]

Kirt Manwaring, 2nd round, 31st overall by the San Francisco Giants
Erik Hanson, 2nd round, 36th overall by the Seattle Mariners
Kevin Tapani, 2nd round, 40th overall by the Oakland Athletics
Dave Hansen, 2nd round, 47th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers
Todd Zeile, 2nd round, 55th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals
Jack Armstrong, 3rd round, 58th overall by the San Francisco Giants, but did not sign
Dean Palmer, 3rd round, 59th overall by the Texas Rangers
Tuffy Rhodes, 3rd round, 68th overall by the Houston Astros
Scott Cooper, 3rd round, 69th overall by the Boston Red Sox
Reggie Jefferson, 3rd round, 72nd overall by the Cincinnati Reds
Scott Radinsky, 3rd round, 75th overall by the Chicago White Sox
Rudy Seánez, 4th round, 83rd overall by the Cleveland Indians
Kent Bottenfield, 4th round, 96th overall by the Montreal Expos
Paul Sorrento, 4th round, 103rd overall by the California Angels
Mark Guthrie, 4th round, 104th overall by the St. Louis Cardinals, but did not sign
Bo Jackson, 4th round, 105th overall by the Kansas City Royals
Xavier Hernandez, 4th round, 107th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
Joe Girardi, 5th round, 116th overall by the Chicago Cubs
Pat Hentgen, 5th round, 133rd overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
Tom Goodwin, 6th round, 134th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates
Eddie Taubensee, 6th round, 150th overall by the Cincinnati Reds
Tom Gordon, 6th round, 157th overall by the Kansas City Royals
Chuck McElroy, 8th round, 192nd overall by the Philadelphia Phillies
Hal Morris, 8th round, 210th overall by the New York Yankees
Chuck Carr, 9th round, 228th overall by the Cincinnati Reds
Stan Belinda, 10th round, 238th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates
Jeff Reboulet, 10th round, 247th overall by the Minnesota Twins
Lance Blankenship, 10th round, 249th overall by the Oakland Athletics
Mike Blowers, 10th round, 252nd overall by the Montreal Expos
Tom Lampkin, 11th round, 265th overall by the Cleveland Indians
Steve Finley, 11th round, 268th overall by the Atlanta Braves, but did not sign
Darryl Hamilton, 11th round, 269th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers
Keith Lockhart, 11th round, 280th overall by the Cincinnati Reds
Willie Blair, 11th round, 289th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays
Rey Sánchez, 13th round, 319th overall by the Texas Rangers
Rod Beck, 13th round, 327th overall by the Oakland Athletics
Scott Kamieniecki, 14th round, 366th overall by the New York Yankees
Greg Hibbard, 16th round, 417th overall by the Kansas City Royals
Tim Salmon, 18th round, 450th overall by the Atlanta Braves, but did not sign
Chuck Knoblauch, 18th round, 452nd overall by the Philadelphia Phillies, but did not sign
Turner Ward, 18th round, 470th overall by the New York Yankees
Chris Hoiles, 19th round, 489th overall by the Detroit Tigers
Kevin Maas, 22nd round, 572nd overall by the New York Yankees
Rick Wilkins, 23rd round, 582nd overall by the Chicago Cubs
Rick Reed, 26th round, 644th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates
Paul Quantrill, 26th round, 660th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but did not sign
Cal Eldred, 26th round, 661st overall by the New York Mets, but did not sign
Ben McDonald, 27th round, 670th overall by the Atlanta Braves, but did not sign
John Olerud, 27th round, 682nd overall by the New York Mets, but did not sign
Eric Anthony, 34th round, 795th overall by the Houston Astros
Scott Erickson, 36th round, 821st overall by the New York Mets, but did not sign
Todd Jones, 41st round, 864th overall by the New York Mets, but did not sign

hrbek14 said:
1986, if you don't mind an asterisk or two.

Barry Bonds
Mark McGuire
Greg Maddux
Barry Larkin
Fred McGriff
Rafael Palmeiro
Jamie Moyer
Bo Jackson
Will Clark
Kevin Brown
Ruben Sierra
Benito Santiago
David Cone
Chuck Finley

cjedmonton · Jul 22, 2014

Edited...irrelevant content.

Austin · Jul 22, 2014

Why do you guys keep listing draft picks? He's obviously talking rookie season class, and he even clarifies that a few posts up.

CubsfanP · Jul 22, 2014

Austin said:
Why do you guys keep listing draft picks? He's obviously talking rookie season class, and he even clarifies that a few posts up.

The definition of Rookie is difficult in baseball. Especially when talking to people who collect cards. I updated the thread title to have more clarity.

DaClyde · Jul 22, 2014

hrbek14 said:
1986, if you don't mind an asterisk or two.

Need to swap out McGwire and Santiago out for Joyner and Tartabull and you have a more representative class.

ThoseBackPages · Jul 24, 2014

Austin · Jul 24, 2014

ThoseBackPages said:
1957

Who were the great rookie players in 1957?
Frank Robinson was ROY in 1956, not 1957 like his rookie card.

ThoseBackPages · Jul 24, 2014

Austin said:
Who were the great rookie players in 1957?
Frank Robinson was ROY in 1956, not 1957 like his rookie card.

Ahh ok. i was going by RC Class

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Best Rookie (Not Draft) Class: Your Thoughts?

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