The 5 Biggest Draft Busts in Recent Cincinnati Reds History

Throughout the last decade, the Cincinnati Reds have seen a good number of first-round draft picks blossom at the MLB level.

The Reds have five first-round draft picks or first-round supplementary draft picks currently on the 25-man roster. That includes Homer Bailey, Jay Bruce, Todd Frazier, Devin Mesoraco and Mike Leake.

However, the Reds haven't always had the best of luck with their first-round draft picks, and have passed on some incredible Hall of Fame players.

Looking back, here are the top five first-round draft busts in recent Cincinnati Reds history.

All statistics courtesy of baseball-reference.com

5. Jeremy Sowers

Position: Pitcher

Throws: L

Overall Pick/Year Drafted: 20th (2001)
(Again drafted sixth in 2004 by Cleveland Indians in the first round)

Years in MLB: Four

Probably the most successful player on this list is Jeremy Sowers. He turned down the Reds' offer as the 20th overall first-round pick in 2001.

He chose to attend Vanderbilt University instead, and continued his early success. After completing college, he was again a first-round pick, but sixth overall by the Cleveland Indians.

Sowers had a bit of success in the majors with the Indians. He became a pitcher notorious for getting outs with very few strikeouts. 

He went 7-4 in his first season with 88 innings pitched. However, Sowers faced a bit of a sophomore slump in 2007.

Sowers never got back on track and was out of the MLB by 2010. 

He was the last first-round draft pick to not sign with the Reds. 

4. Ty Howington

Position: Pitcher

Throws: L

Overall Pick/Year Drafted: 14th (1999)

Years in MLB: 0

Ty Howington was a young lefty hurler drafted out of high school in Vancouver, Wash., and never threw a pitch in the majors.

The Reds picked Howington up with the idea that he could some day lead their rotation as a power lefty.

Howington struggled right from the get-go with a 5.27 ERA and 5-15 record in 141.2 innings pitched. He did record 119 strikeouts in 27 games in his Low-A debut.

Howington constantly struggled with elbow injures throughout his minor league career and was eventually let off the 40-man roster in 2004.

He never reached his first-year high of innings pitched, and slowly his velocity dwindled, along with his K rate.

3. Chris Gruler

Position: Pitcher

Throws: R

Overall Pick/Year Drafted: Third (2002)

Years in MLB: 0

Chris Gruler was the Reds' earliest first-round pick since shortstop Kurt Stillwell was drafted second overall in 1983.

Jeff Wallner at MLB.com wrote that Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench consulted the young right-hander and compared him to another Hall of Famer: Tom Seaver. “[Gruler] has a better changeup and breaking ball," Bench said.

Gruler, however, didn’t even make it past Class-A ball, and only threw 92.2 innings with 57 walks and 71 strikeouts in his four minor league seasons.

His minor league career revolved around three different shoulder reconstruction surgeries, and he was never able to completely recover.

The famous 2002 "Moneyball" draft had a plethora of pitching prospects who went in the same first round.

It may be hard to swallow, but the Reds passed on pitchers Zack Greinke, Joe Saunders, Cole Hamels and Matt Cain. All were selected in the first 25 picks.

2. Johnny Oliver

Position: OF

Bats/Throws: R/R

Overall Pick/Year Drafted: 25th (1996)

Years in MLB: 0

Johnny Oliver was one of the major disappointments for the Reds during the 1990’s amateur drafting.

According to Tim Sullivan at the Cincinnati Enquirer, scouting director Julian Mock said, “John Oliver played the whole first season with contact lenses that were the wrong prescription.”

That could’ve been a good excuse for the outfielder’s .203/.277/.280 rookie slash line. However, it was only the beginning of downward spiral.

Oliver never made it out of Class-A ball and ended his baseball career after four seasons with a collective .208 batting average.

1. Chad Mottola

Position: OF

Bats/Throws: R/R

Overall Pick/Year Drafted: Fifth (1992)

Years in MLB: Five

Chad Mottola shouldn’t be No. 1 on this list. He made it to the bigs with four different teams, and had a baseball career that lasted 16 seasons.

However, one of the best scouts in the Reds organization­­—Gene Bennett—didn’t want Mottola as the No. 1 pick. Bennett wanted the player selected directly after Mottola by the New York Yankees.

His name is Derek Jeter, and you might have heard of him.

Sullivan explains in a piece how Bennett was one of the few scouts under Jim Bowden who saw much more potential in Jeter over Mottola.

The Reds scouting director at the time, Julian Mock, made the final call on Mottola.

Mock says he was pressured to find a power hitter who could quickly become a part of the big league roster. Mottola was a 20-year-old at the University of Central Florida while Jeter was only 17 years old.

The Mottola and Jeter draft goes down as one of the worst draft picks for the Cincinnati Reds.

After Jeter became a proven MLB star, Bennett was asked by a reporter how often he thought about his disregarded opinion.

“Every day,” he said.