Brien Taylor and 11 Can't-Miss MLB Prospects Who Missed

In today's era of baseball, prospects are more hyped than ever before. Names like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg have made some fans follow minor league stats more than major league stats.

In the age of sabermetrics, teams cling on to their prized youngsters like never before, and re-sign players with just weeks of major league experience to long-term extensions..

Here is a list of 12 former prospects or hyped stars that did not live up to expectations. This is mostly meant to be entertaining, but these players also remind us that first-round picks and other prized farmhands are not necessarily destined for success, nor are superstars immune to injury.

Ben Grieve

With the second overall pick in the 1994 draft, the Oakland A’s selected 18-year-old outfielder Ben Grieve. He developed into one of the most coveted prospects in the league, hitting .350 with 31 home runs in 1997, splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A. He was so prized that Baseball America ranked him as the top prospect in baseball in 1998.

Initially, he did not disappoint in the big leagues. He won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1998 and made his only All-Star game. He hit .288 with 18 home runs and 89 RBI to begin what looked like a promising major-league career.

Grieve followed up his rookie year with 28 home runs in 1999 and 27 in 2000, but was traded to Tampa Bay as part of the three-team deal that brought Johnny Damon and Mark Ellis to Oakland.

Grieve started for the Devil Rays for a couple of years, but then played backup roles for the Brewers and Cubs and was out of the major leagues by 2005.

Grieve had a few good years and lasted in the major leagues for several seasons, but his career was certainly a disappointment based on his draft position, minor league stats and his first couple of years. On the bright side for the A’s, they were able to use him to get two reliable position players.

Lastings Milledge

One of the Mets' most coveted prospects of the past decade, Lastings Milledge was another prospect who failed to live up to lofty expectations.

After being selected in the first round of the 2003 draft, Milledge excelled in the minor leagues and was named by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect before the 2006 season. He hit .315 with 15 home runs in Single-A in 2004, and hit .318 in 2005, splitting time between Single-A and Double-A.

He was called up to the Mets midway through the 2006 season and struggled through that year, as well as in 2007. After the 2007 season, the Amazins traded Milledge to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider.

Milledge hit 14 homers for the Nats in 2008, but continued to have trouble reaching base. After spending the next several seasons in Pittsburgh and Chicago (with the White Sox), Milledge is now playing in Japan for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Once a highly-touted prospect, Milledge owns a career .269 average with 33 home runs and a .723 OPS.

Sean Burroughs

When the Padres drafted Sean Burroughs in the first round of the 1998 draft, they chose a third baseman who became a top-ten prospect three years in a row. He never hit for much power in the minors, but reached base at an outstanding rate. His major league debut was a much anticipated event all over the league.

That debut finally happened in 2002, and Burroughs hit .271, but with just a .317 on-base percentage with one home run in 63 games. He improved and was able to get his average up to .298 in 2004, but he struggled again in 2005 and was traded to the Devil Rays.

He played for Tampa Bay in just eight games in 2006, and did not reappear in the major leagues until 2011 with Arizona. He is now a third baseman on the Twins.

Drew Henson

Coming out of college, Drew Henson looked like he could succeed at either baseball or football. He failed at both.

From 1998 through 2000, Henson played football for the University of Michigan during the fall and minor league baseball for the Yankees and Reds during the summer.

He played third base in the Yankees’ system before being traded to Cincinnati the middle of the 2000 season.

After a successful junior football season at Michigan, the Reds traded him back to the Yankees in 2001. The Yankees signed him to a six-year, $17 million contract to convince him to abandon football and focus solely on baseball. Henson, despite being a Heisman Trophy candidate and likely first-round pick in football, accepted the Yankees’ offer and left the Wolverines.

Solely focusing on baseball, Henson spent the next three seasons (2001-2003) with the Yankees' Triple-A team, Columbus, where he hit for power but never for average and was poor in the field.

He hit 43 home runs in his time with Columbus, but hit just .234 and had a fielding percentage around .900.

In 2002 and 2003, Henson had nine at-bats with the big league club, mustering just one hit, which is all the Yankees got in return for their $17 million.

After that season, he quit baseball and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL, where he never amounted to anything beyond a backup quarterback.

Brandon Wood

Brandon Wood is still playing minor league baseball, so perhaps it’s still too early to call him a bust, but so far he has been a major disappointment.

Originally drafted by the Angels as a shortstop in 2003, Wood dominated the minor leagues.

He hit 43 home runs in Single-A in 2005, 25 in Double-A in 2006, and 23, 31 and 22 in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively, in Triple-A. He also owns a career .283 average in the minors, including .282 in Triple-A.

His minor league stats have never translated to the big leagues, though, in large part because he has trouble hitting breaking pitches.

In 464 at-bats with the Angels, he hit a measly 11 home runs with a .168 average.

The Pirates claimed Wood off of waivers in April 2011, for whom he hit .220 with seven home runs in 236 at-bats before becoming a free agent over the winter.

The Rockies signed him, and he is now playing for their Triple-A affiliate.

Perhaps Wood can someday learn how to hit a curveball and turn his career around, but today, Wood has been a colossal disappointment.

Grady Sizemore

Grady Sizemore has made three All-Star games and has four seasons with 20-plus home runs, but I still call his career a flop, to date.

When he arrived in the major leagues and was healthy, he was the kind of center fielder Matt Kemp is today. He hit for average, crushed the ball, had great speed and played great defense.

From 2005 through 2008, Sizemore averaged 160 games per year, a .281 average, 27 home runs and 81 RBI. He was also only 26 at the end of '08.

Then injuries caught up to him. Since, he’s only played in 210 games. He’s had groin, elbow and knee issues, and is currently on the disabled list.

Sizemore’s had some good years and his career isn’t over yet, but it’s hard to imagine such an injury prone player returning to center field and putting up the numbers he once did.

Maybe it's harsh to put Grady on this list, but it's hard to argue that his career has been a disappointment based on his talent.

Corey Patterson

Corey Patterson was another Matt Kemp-like prospect who was drafted by the Cubs as the third overall pick in 1998. He could hit for average and power, steal bases and play good defense in center field.

After being drafted, Patterson spent all of 1999 with a Cubs' Single-A affiliate and hit .320 with 20 home runs and 33 steals in just 112 games.

His average dipped to .261 in 2000 in Double-A, but he still hit 22 home runs and swiped 27 bases in 118 games.

Despite an unimpressive 89 games in Triple-A in 2001 in which Patterson hit .253 with just seven home runs, the Cubs called him up to the majors, where he hit just .221 in 131 at-bats.

He stayed in the Cubs’ lineup through 2005, where he continued to have trouble reaching base and could only be counted on for 15-20 home runs per year.

Since then, he’s bounced around the majors between the Orioles, Reds, Nationals, Brewers, Orioles (again), Blue Jays and Cardinals, mostly serving as a backup outfielder and pinch runner.

Ben McDonald

Ben McDonald was one of the best-known amateur baseball players ever when the Orioles drafted him with the first overall pick of the 1989 draft, having led the United States to a gold medal in the Olympics the previous year.

He made two starts for an Orioles’ Single-A team before being called up to the big leagues, where he made six relief appearances.

He spent the beginning of 1990 back in the minors, but was called back up to the majors that summer and made his first start in July. He pitched to an impressive 2.43 ERA and 8-5 record.

McDonald stayed a part of the Orioles’ rotation through 1995 as an average starter, going 58-53 with a 3.89 in seven total seasons.

He then signed with the Brewers, but shoulder injuries forced him to retire prematurely and was out of baseball after 1997.

McDonald had an average major league career, but average is certainly not what was expected from him after his amateur success both in the Olympics and in college, where he led LSU to two College World Series trips.

Shawn Abner

Here’s the tale of another top overall draft pick who never succeeded in the big leagues.

The Mets took Abner, an outfielder, out of high school in 1984. He had some success in the minors for the Mets through 1986, but the Amazins traded him to the Padres after the ’86 season as part of a trade that sent Kevin Mitchell to the Pads and brought Kevin McReynolds back to the Mets.

Abner had a great 1987 season for the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, but never became a reliable major league outfielder. He never became a starter; rather, he spent six seasons split between the Padres, Angels and White Sox as a backup, hitting .227 with 11 home runs in 840 at bats.

The odds are certainly stacked against a prospect even making it to the big leagues, but hitting .227 for another organization is certainly not what the Mets had in mind when they drafted Abner in 1984.

Hideki Irabu

Once upon a time, Hideki Irabu was the best pitcher in Japan. He led the Pacific League in wins in 1994, ERA in 1995 and 1996, and strikeouts in 1994 and 1995.

When the time came for him to come to the United States, the Yankees gave him a four year contract worth $12.8 million to begin the 1997 season in pinstripes.

The Yankees only gave him eight starts in the minor leagues before calling him up, and Irabu struggled facing major league hitters for the first time. He went 5-4 in 1997 but had a 7.09 ERA and gave up 15 homers in 53.1 innings.

1998 was better for Irabu. He tossed 173 innings, going 13-9 with a 4.06 ERA, but he struggled again in '99, when his ERA ballooned to 4.84.

After the season, the Yankees decided that the Bronx was not for Irabu and dealt him to the Expos for prospects Jake Westbrook, Ted Lilly and Christian Parker. (The Yankees later used Westbrook to acquire David Justice, and Lilly to obtain Jeff Weaver.)

Irabu was only in the major leagues for three more seasons in Montreal and with Texas, and was the owner of a career 5.15 ERA and 34-35 record. It would have been unreasonable to expect him to put up the numbers Irabu had in Japan, but he was certainly a major disappointment given the fanfare with which he came to America.

Jason Isringhausen/Bill Pulsipher/Paul Wilson

I write about these three together, because the disappointment that was Isringhausen, Pulsipher and Wilson all failing for the Mets is truly a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

“Generation K,” if you will, was one of the most talked about trio of pitching prospects in major league history, and each failed to be a top-line (or even average) starter for the Amazins.

After a stellar minor league career that included a 1.55 ERA in 87 Triple-A innings, Isringhausen joined the big league club in the middle of 1995, starting 14 games down the stretch for the team. He went 9-2 with a 2.81 ERA.

Unfortunately, he struggled in 1996 and was plagued by injuries that forced him to miss most of 1997 and all of 1998. He suffered from tuberculosis and a broken wrist suffered punching a trash can in the dugout, and had three surgeries on his pitching arm. He was traded to Oakland in 1999, where he began his successful career as a closer.

Pulsipher also premiered with the Mets in the middle of 1995 and impressed. He went 5-7 with a 3.98 ERA in 17 starts, but injuries derailed his career. He missed 1996 with Tommy John surgery and control issues forced him to pitch in the minors for the entire 1997 season.

When the Mets finally recalled Pulsipher in 1998, he allowed 11 runs in 14.1 innings and was quickly traded to Milwaukee. He returned to the Mets in 2000 for two starts and also played with the Red Sox, White Sox and Cardinals during his career, but never made it as even a decent major league pitcher.

Paul Wilson was probably the biggest disappointment of the three. After the Mets selected him first overall in the 1994 amateur draft, he rocketed his way through the minor leagues. He made his Mets debut in 1996, but was just 5-12 with a 5.38 ERA and never pitched in the major leagues for the team again.

He was injured for most of the 1997 season, struggled in the minors in 1998, and missed all of 1999 with injuries. The Mets traded him to the Devil Rays in 2000, where he became an average major league starter for them and for the Reds.

For those who question teams like the Nationals for putting innings limits on young pitchers like Stephen Strasburg, look no further than “Generation K.” These three phenoms suffered major arm injuries that derailed their careers, and those injuries were likely caused by drastic increases in innings pitched from their amateur to professional days.

Brien Taylor

Before the Yankees had Derek Jeter, they had Brien Taylor. The Yankees selected Taylor with the first overall pick in the 1991 amateur draft (the year before they selected Jeter) as a pitcher coming out of high school with extremely high expectations. He was Baseball America’s top baseball prospect in 1992 and second best in 1993 (behind Chipper Jones).

Taylor certainly looked like a future ace at the beginning of his minor league career. He excelled in Single-A in 1992 and Double-A in 1993.

However, in December 1993, Taylor was in a fight and suffered a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum. He was never the same pitcher. His velocity dropped and control disappeared.

After missing 1994, the Yankees sent him back to rookie ball for 1995 where he walked 54 hitters in 40 innings. He pitched from 1996 through 1998 with the Yankees’ Single-A affiliate to a 14.13 total ERA in 71.1 innings, walking 130. The Yankees released him following the 1998 season.

Fortunately for the Yankees, they had enough success in 1998 (125 wins and a World Series championship) to ease the pain of the former first pick's failure.