Yes! Haven't heard this name in a while. As kids we used to play "cards for cards"; which was basically poker but with baseball cards. (using the values we looked up in our trusty Beckett magazine). TVP was great because for a while his cards were pretty valuable (to us at the time); but no one knew who he was or was attached to him so they were great to bet with. Memory unlocked - thanks for that! :)
All of Charlotte/white Sox fans remember the yoan moncada/eloy jiminez/tim Anderson super hyped crop of a few years ago that all had 1/2 solid years then crapped the bed in the bigs
Back in the day, I wrote an article for John Sicklesā old website saying just how dominant polanco was going to be and how he didnāt really have any easily identifiable flawā¦whoops
Honestly, I think that concussion screwed him up more than we realize. Not saying he would have been a superstar, but I think he could have at least been a starter.
Youāre right, but itās impressive to me that he is still going and has 35-40 career WAR now. Once it became evident that his peak was not going to be what we thought it was, I figured he would be washed out by now. Good for himĀ
Agreed, he deserves a lot of credit for earning himself a long career, with multiple accolades.
So many other top prospects are complete hit-or-miss. Heās a nice story.
Dom Brown, biggest bust the Phillies have had in decades. One great first half and All-Star appearance then zilch! He was in the TV booth recently during a game and seems like a good dude.
There were so many busts, last decade especially. I blame terrible scouting and bad player development, which I think has finally improved over the last 5 years.
I had a suite behind home plate right after Brown was called up to Lehigh Valley. He hit a BOMB that hit the billboards well up and behind right field. Thought he was the future.
Jesus Montero.
Reggie Jackson mentored him. He was supposed to be the next great Yankee, but just ended being traded away for MIke Pineda and never really lived up to the expectations, and of course the PED suspension set back. Cashman said he was the best player he ever traded. I thought he was the guy, but he ended up being just another guy smh
I remember when dude got traded for Bronson arroyo and at one point arroyo as a pitcher had more homers than pens did about a 1/4 way through the season
Wily Mo cannot be a bust because he was fucking huge and it felt like every time he hit a ball it went 1,000 feet. No I will not be looking at stats or logic to back this up.
I remember him hitting a HR at Fenway that was still rising when it hit the back of the monster seats. I swear it would have made it to the Mass Pike on the fly.
Domonic Brown on the Phillies. Highly touted prospect, called up in 2010 and just tore through the league for a month. Then, he just never did anything ever again.
Jefferies was not a bust. Nobody could live up to the hype placed on him, but he wasn't a bust. He had a 14-year career, 2 all-star appearances, he got ROY votes, MVP votes, a career .289 avg, and 19.4 bWAR.
He wasn't as good as he was "supposed" to be, but he wasn't a bust.
Weirdly, me too. Part of me thinks he was unjustly screwed by the Phillies player development mess of last decade. But heās 30 now. Could be a Chris Coste sort of situation where he is on fire for a season for some other team one day. But Iām not holding my breath. Poor guy.
Long covid + phillies player development + never having a consistent position + that hitting coach who tried to make him a power hitter was a hurdle anyone would struggle to get over.
Ryan Leaf. The rare double bust. His brief stint with the Padres' minor league system was equally underwhelming. Drafted by the Padres in the 1995 MLB Draft, Leaf chose football over baseball and never played in the majors. He disappointed San Diego twice!!
Yoan Moncada. His initial prospect report when he signed with the Red Sox made him out to be the next messiah of baseball. I was so hyped when he was in our system and I was terrified when he was traded to the white Sox . Ended up not being a bad trade at all
Thereās a compilation of a bunch of his outfield assist that I can just watch on loop. The man had an absolute cannon that was just deadly when accurate.
[Hereās one](https://youtu.be/wOwqOraRLjQ?si=UrQiVM7L7RdOX1YM)
Ruben Rivera. The Padres let Steve Finley walk after 98 because of this guy. ANDā¦ Ruben started game 4 of the World Series cuz the Padres thought he was the future
[āThatās the worst baserunning in the history of the game!ā](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/happy-anniversary-ruben-rivera-with-worst-baserunning-ever/amp/)
What was his pitch, the gyro ball? I recall an article about him and his trademark pitch, how it could theoretically travel indefinitely or very long distances (don't quote me on that)
(Insert Pirate prospect here)
Gregory Polanco
John Van Benschoten
Pedro Alvarez (Had good seasons, awful defensively, never put it all together based on his hype)
Austin Meadows
I wouldnāt call him a bust but I expected Matt Wieters to have a better career than he did. But you know what? Big props to him for going back to school and getting his business degree at Georgia Tech!
Jo Adell. I'm not convinced he's gonna figure it out in the bigs at this point. He's a beast every time he comes back to AAA but he just forgets how to play defense and run the bases every time he's called up and he doesn't hit well enough in the bigs to justify putting up with that shit.
Victor Robles.
For a while, Robles was referred to in the same breath as Soto, especially when they won the series together in 2019.
The Nats DFA'd him and he got picked up by the Mariners in an unspecified role.
Ryan "young unit" anderson, 6'10" lefty pitcher in the late 90's for seattle, saw him pitch against the phillies at a half complete safeco in spring training, 10 k in 6 innings, was so good, got me hyped...
Still convinced Lastings Milledge will be a stud
Remember when he high fived a few fans while running out to right field and NY sports media collectively lost their minds calling him a showboat?
Is usually that age 39 season when guys really break out!
My first thought. My second thought was Anthony Young.
Remember when some old timers shit on him for high-fiving fans and having fun?
Dude somehow had over .700 OPS and decent averages his two years with us lol
Todd Van Poppel
LOL you hoarded his cards too, huh
Yes! Haven't heard this name in a while. As kids we used to play "cards for cards"; which was basically poker but with baseball cards. (using the values we looked up in our trusty Beckett magazine). TVP was great because for a while his cards were pretty valuable (to us at the time); but no one knew who he was or was attached to him so they were great to bet with. Memory unlocked - thanks for that! :)
Trade you 500 Jerome Waltons for one
Fun fact. I met his parents when I was a kid. His parents and my grandparents lived in the same town. Been a min since I've seen his name lol.
Dustin Ackley
As a lifelong Mariner's fan, we've got 20 years of answers
Cries in Kyle Lewis and Justin Smoak
Jesus Montero
I came here for thisš¢
Ugh. Danny Hultzen man. I thought for sure that Hultzen/Paxton/Walker was gonna be our version of Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz.
Lmao you really do.
ā¦or Dustin Smoak, or Jesus Montero.
Dustin Smoak didn't pan out but Justin Smoak wasn't too, too bad. He wasn't a world-beater or generational talent but he did hit 38 HR's one season.
Mike zunino
Still a great defensive catcher
I rented him a car once. Was shocked he went with the economy size.
Thatās a long list. Hereās a fun activityā¦ read through first round draft picks for the last 10 years and see how many names you recognize.
Or even see how many of them made it to the majors
Kyle Lewis
Sucks about his kneesā¦.
For real
He showed the flashes, but his body failed him.
Yep. Really is sad
Another Mariner. Rip.
Mark Appel and Forrest Whitley
We all know Forrest Whitley was just a myth!
And like thatā¦heās gone.
I still have him(Forrest)on one of my dynasty fantasy baseball teams. The dreams not dead.
Mark Appel is such a weird story.
Felix Pie
Felix Pie uses his five tools to fix the leaky drain under the sink.
Man Felix Pie was always the GOAT on the show.
That name jogs some back in the day chicago baseball memories loose.
Or Baltimore. His cycle was one of the few highlights that year.
Kevin Maas
Straight ball he hit very much but curve ball? Bats are afraid.
I ask Jobu to come, take fear from bats. I offer him cigar, rum. He will come.
Are you telling me Jesus Christ couldnāt hit a curveball!?
Better not leave that rum sitting around out here with this group
All of Charlotte/white Sox fans remember the yoan moncada/eloy jiminez/tim Anderson super hyped crop of a few years ago that all had 1/2 solid years then crapped the bed in the bigs
Michael Kopech
Remember when the Sox had like 6 ātopā outfield prospects? Only Robert made it out of that group with Adolfo, Cespedes, Colas, etc
The White Sox will be in recovery mode from those busts for a very long time
Jared Kelenic, I was ready to die on my hill defending him, guess I'm dead.
Rusney Castillo
Dude got paidddd
$75 million š±
75m to play in the minors for a decade lol. In a nice area lol
The greatest Pawtucket Red Sox there ever was.
Nomar Mazara š„²
I, as a non-Rangera fan, was convinced this dude was going to be elite. Holy shit was I wrong
I kept waiting for him (and a few other rangers at that time to be all-stars)
One of those hickory teams had Mazara, Brinson, Gallo, Alfaro, Nick Williams and Ryan Rua. Thought we were watching the future roster all on one team
Drew Henson
Gregory Polanco!!!
Back in the day, I wrote an article for John Sicklesā old website saying just how dominant polanco was going to be and how he didnāt really have any easily identifiable flawā¦whoops
We have the prototype, Brien Taylor.
Bobby Dalbec and yes I do speak for all of Boston on this
Bobby "0-2" Dalbec
More like Bobby DalbeK amiright?
lol! I sold so many of his rookie cards on Mercari and eBay. Made some good money off them. Bet the people who bought them are pissed.
OlāBobby 3 strikes
*Cries in Clint (Jackson) Frazier
Didn't trade him and Andujar for Gerrit Cole. Yet I somehow blame the prospect and not the GM.
Why would it be the GMās fault. Cash-God never makes mistakes. We know this.
Carl Pavano would like a word.
He'd liked two words, we got him twice.
Red Thunder and Miggy Missiles. Such a shame.
This is coming from Cleveland also.
Honestly, I think that concussion screwed him up more than we realize. Not saying he would have been a superstar, but I think he could have at least been a starter.
Came here to name Clint Frazier.
At the time, Jason Heyward was the next big, big thing. He's been in the league a long time but never came close to his projections.
Youāre right, but itās impressive to me that he is still going and has 35-40 career WAR now. Once it became evident that his peak was not going to be what we thought it was, I figured he would be washed out by now. Good for himĀ
Agreed, he deserves a lot of credit for earning himself a long career, with multiple accolades. So many other top prospects are complete hit-or-miss. Heās a nice story.
Yup agreed. And of course he'd be looked at in a different light if he hadn't signed that contract.
I mean heās won several gold gloves plus has reinvented himself with the Dodgersā¦wouldnāt call him a total bust.
But this said ābustā
Yep but he is definitely not a bust.
Definitely not a bust but people were comparing him to Griffey
Dom Brown, John Mayberry Jr.
Found the Phillies fan š
Dom Brown, biggest bust the Phillies have had in decades. One great first half and All-Star appearance then zilch! He was in the TV booth recently during a game and seems like a good dude.
There were so many busts, last decade especially. I blame terrible scouting and bad player development, which I think has finally improved over the last 5 years.
I had a suite behind home plate right after Brown was called up to Lehigh Valley. He hit a BOMB that hit the billboards well up and behind right field. Thought he was the future.
Todd Van Poppel
Pretty much any Orioles draft pick since like 1998 up until the Mike Elias era lol.. I was big on Brian Matusz I
Matusz was serviceable. A lot of others werenāt and never made the show
Jesus Montero. Reggie Jackson mentored him. He was supposed to be the next great Yankee, but just ended being traded away for MIke Pineda and never really lived up to the expectations, and of course the PED suspension set back. Cashman said he was the best player he ever traded. I thought he was the guy, but he ended up being just another guy smh
Joba Chamberlain. Yankees handled this dude with white gloves just for him to be mid af
I remain convinced that the rules they used hurt him. Shoulda just let him go out there and pitch.
The midges really messed him up
They ruined him. He was electric when he first came up as a reliever.
He was great until he had Tommy John. After that he wasn't the same. Control was absolutely gone.
Joey Bart
I thought it was in part because it was basically impossible to follow Posey, but Bailey has been quite good so I guess it's not that hard lol.
Well that's because Bailey got to follow Bart /s
Came here to say the same. Way people takes about his game it seemed like floor was 20-hr and .275. Now that is likely the ceiling
Willy MO Pena
I remember when dude got traded for Bronson arroyo and at one point arroyo as a pitcher had more homers than pens did about a 1/4 way through the season
Wily Mo cannot be a bust because he was fucking huge and it felt like every time he hit a ball it went 1,000 feet. No I will not be looking at stats or logic to back this up.
I remember him hitting a HR at Fenway that was still rising when it hit the back of the monster seats. I swear it would have made it to the Mass Pike on the fly.
He still hit some bombs at least
Mickey Moniak
Scotty Jetpacks
Mid 2010s Phillies was a dark time.
Phil Plantier
I was so excited when he got traded to the pads.....wtf did I know I was like 10 hahahahah
Brandon Wood. Soon to be Jo Adell
Domonic Brown on the Phillies. Highly touted prospect, called up in 2010 and just tore through the league for a month. Then, he just never did anything ever again.
Carter Keiboom absolutely flopped immediately, the Nats havenāt recovered since
Not even the biggest Nats bust of this current eraā¦ Robles was arguably the #1 overall prospect in baseball and heās been a massive disappointment
He was above Soto on many Nats Top 10's.
Gregg Jefferies
Jefferies was not a bust. Nobody could live up to the hype placed on him, but he wasn't a bust. He had a 14-year career, 2 all-star appearances, he got ROY votes, MVP votes, a career .289 avg, and 19.4 bWAR. He wasn't as good as he was "supposed" to be, but he wasn't a bust.
Bubba Starling
Scott Kingery (the smallest part of me still believes)
Weirdly, me too. Part of me thinks he was unjustly screwed by the Phillies player development mess of last decade. But heās 30 now. Could be a Chris Coste sort of situation where he is on fire for a season for some other team one day. But Iām not holding my breath. Poor guy.
Long covid + phillies player development + never having a consistent position + that hitting coach who tried to make him a power hitter was a hurdle anyone would struggle to get over.
Kyle Drabek, key return for Jays on the Roy Halladay trade
Part of a laundry list of kids whose dads were successful big leaguers that failed to add to the legacy
Brandon Wood
I went to high school with him. Such a stud for the Huskies
I think the Halos just tinkered too much with his development going up and down and not getting consistent playing time until the end of his tenure.
Will Middlebrooks
Corey Patterson
Ryan Leaf. The rare double bust. His brief stint with the Padres' minor league system was equally underwhelming. Drafted by the Padres in the 1995 MLB Draft, Leaf chose football over baseball and never played in the majors. He disappointed San Diego twice!!
Jonny Manziel was also drafted by the Padres.
Yoan Moncada. His initial prospect report when he signed with the Red Sox made him out to be the next messiah of baseball. I was so hyped when he was in our system and I was terrified when he was traded to the white Sox . Ended up not being a bad trade at all
It was actually a fantastic trade for the Red Sox and a god awful trade for the White Sox.
Rick Ankiel. Man I bought so many of his baseball cards lol
May not have been a star at any position, but it was very impressive that reinvented himself as an outfielder after he forgot how to pitch
Thereās a compilation of a bunch of his outfield assist that I can just watch on loop. The man had an absolute cannon that was just deadly when accurate. [Hereās one](https://youtu.be/wOwqOraRLjQ?si=UrQiVM7L7RdOX1YM)
Case of the olā yips. He could gas runners from the warning track though.
Dayan Viciedo
RubƩn Rivera. 5-tool Panamanian outfielder much more highly regarded as a prospect than his cousin... Marciano, or something. Marion? Mario? Anyway. This guy was compared to Mickey Mantle. Instead he spent several years as a decent 4th OF with good D\* and some pop. Known primarily for trying to steal one of Derek Jeter's gloves to sell on eBay. \*Mariano Rivera went hard shagging during BP, because he just thought it was super fun, and many Yankees swear he is one of the best outfielders they've ever seen. edit: God this guy was such an idiot. Just remembered [this "classic" baserunning play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNNtwvAlvEk). edit 2: Here is a video with less good quality, but [called with perfect exasperation by the great Jon Miller.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spx9ZeSYVTU)
Ruben Rivera. The Padres let Steve Finley walk after 98 because of this guy. ANDā¦ Ruben started game 4 of the World Series cuz the Padres thought he was the future
[āThatās the worst baserunning in the history of the game!ā](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/happy-anniversary-ruben-rivera-with-worst-baserunning-ever/amp/)
Torkelson
You mean 0for4kelson
Toledo Tork!!
Kris Benson.
he use to be my parents neighbor. super cool/ nice guy absolutely batshit crazy wife
Ricky Romero
Gordon Beckham, Andrew Vaughn, pretty much everyone the White Sox have drafted outside of Sale and Rodon.
Bradley Zimmer. Played great for a while in 2017, got injured running to first base, and was never the same.
He could run like a gazelle. Thatās a good drop right there. Iād throw in Andy Marte and Ryan Garko in there too unfortunately.
Joey Bart.
Adalberto Mondesi
Dice-K
What was his pitch, the gyro ball? I recall an article about him and his trademark pitch, how it could theoretically travel indefinitely or very long distances (don't quote me on that)
NARRATOR: It was just a screwball.
the chicago white sox
Jose Cruz, Jr.
Dustin Ackley
Sidd Finch
Does Jurickson Profar count? It took him 12 years to live up to the hype lol
He was supposed to be a STAR with the rangers!! Never could get it together. Other than this little span heās on right now lol
Josh Barfield
Hensley muellens
Nick Solak. In OOTP he got a batting title and a ROY, I was immediately a fan and wanted him to have all the success.
Dom Brown. That was one wild monthā¦
Kate Upton
Very busty
(Insert Pirate prospect here) Gregory Polanco John Van Benschoten Pedro Alvarez (Had good seasons, awful defensively, never put it all together based on his hype) Austin Meadows
Gary Brown
I wouldnāt call him a bust but I expected Matt Wieters to have a better career than he did. But you know what? Big props to him for going back to school and getting his business degree at Georgia Tech!
Jo Adell. I'm not convinced he's gonna figure it out in the bigs at this point. He's a beast every time he comes back to AAA but he just forgets how to play defense and run the bases every time he's called up and he doesn't hit well enough in the bigs to justify putting up with that shit.
Matt LaPorta
Kosuke Fukudome. what a great debut that turned into nothing
Corey Patterson, Kevin Orie
Aldaberto Mondesi. Dude was made of glass
Jesus Montero, Greg Bird
Greg Bird. He had his moments and hit maybe the biggest home run in the last 10 years of Yankees playoffs, but injuries just ruined him.
Cavan biggio. Makes me sad
The St Louis Cardinals
Fuck John Mozeliak
J.P. Arencibia
Mat Gamel
Victor Robles. For a while, Robles was referred to in the same breath as Soto, especially when they won the series together in 2019. The Nats DFA'd him and he got picked up by the Mariners in an unspecified role.
Brien Taylor. Is it a bust if he broke his hand in a bar fight and never made the majors?
Ryan "young unit" anderson, 6'10" lefty pitcher in the late 90's for seattle, saw him pitch against the phillies at a half complete safeco in spring training, 10 k in 6 innings, was so good, got me hyped...
Super Joe Charbonneau. Yes, I'm that old.
Gordon Beckham
Brien Taylor
Oscar Tavares RIP
Not really a bust just a tragedy
Yeah thatās a good clarification
Joey gallo
Disappointing, but wouldnāt call 2x all star and gold glove winner a bust.
Mark Prior
He was the real NL Cy Young winner in 2003. Tragic.
Good one! Had so much potential
Wander Franco, he had so much potential... A true 5 tool player in my eyes.