Seattle Mariners: Ranking the Worst Draft Picks in Franchise History
Major League Baseball's 2011 First Year Player draft kicks off on Monday, June 6th, and the Seattle Mariners once again own the No. 2 overall selection. As an accompanying piece to my Best Draft Picks article, I thought it would be appropriate to show the opposite side of the spectrum.
Most teams have both struck gold and struck out with their picks over the years, but the key to success is limiting the bad and maximizing the good. A wasted high pick can set a franchise back for a few seasons. With that in mind, let's look back at the 11 worst draft picks in Mariners franchise history.
11. Bill Swift
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Bill Swift ranks seventh on the Mariners career list of appearances with 282, and he posted almost league-average numbers in his seven seasons with the club (97 ERA+), but the Mariners were certainly expecting bigger and better things when they made him the second overall pick in the 1984 draft.
The senior right-hander out of the University of Maine had pitched for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, where he teamed with fellow first-rounders Mark McGwire (10th overall) and Scott Bankhead (16th) among others, but during his time with the Mariners, he bounced between starting and relieving, setup, long man and closer duties. He also bounced between being very effective and being downright terrible.
Never a strikeout pitcher, Bill Swift and his sinker had a career ERA of 4.09 and a career WHIP of 1.44 in the Kingdome, and he finished his Mariners career with 41 wins, 49 losses and 24 saves.
10. Mike Campbell
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You know who was taken just one spot ahead of Mike Campbell in the 1985 draft? Barry Bonds. The Mariners (and apparently Topps) thought they drafted themselves a future star when they pegged Campbell at No. 7 that season, but it didn't quite work out that way.
After blazing through the minors in 1985 and '86 with big strikeout numbers and low ERAs, he posted a 5.74 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 34 starts over three seasons for the Mariners while surrendering 31 home runs and posting just 5.1 SO/9 in 185 innings.
There is a somewhat happy ending for the Mariners and Campbell. He was the infamous "Player to be Named Later" sent to the Montreal Expos to complete the trade which landed Randy Johnson in Seattle.
9. Al Chambers
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Picking No. 1 overall can be a blessing and a curse. The Seattle Mariners have had the No. 1 overall pick four times in their history, and there is no doubt that Al Chambers is the least successful of those four picks.
Drafted out of John Harris high school in Harrisburg, Penn., Chambers was a left-handed hitter that flashed all five tools. But despite some good minor league numbers along the way, Chambers' major league career spanned all of 57 games for the Mariners.
Al hit just .208/.326/.292 in 120 at bats for Seattle in those 57 games, and the No. 1 pick from 1979—
drafted ahead of solid players like Andy Van Slyke and Tim Wallach—was out of baseball before his 28th birthday.
8. Darrel Akerfelds
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Darrel Akerfelds, now the bullpen coach for the San Diego Padres, was once a highly touted pitcher himself. Taken seventh overall in 1983 out of Mesa State College, Ackerfelds was traded away before ever reaching the major leagues for Seattle. He actually had a useful season with the Philadelphia Phillies out of their bullpen in 1990, posting a 3.77 ERA in 71 appearances, but the success was short lived.
Ackerfelds pitched for eight organizations in his 11-year career before calling it quits following the 1995 season with a grand total of nine major league wins...just 345 fewer than a pitcher taken 12 picks later in that draft. Roger Clemens.
7. Patrick Lennon
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Patrick Lennon was drafted out of Whiteville (NC) high school with the eighth pick in the 1986 draft—a first round that produced All-Stars Roberto Hernandez, Kevin Brown, Matt Williams and Gary Sheffield—but never lived up to the five-tool promise that he showed as an amatuer.
He bounced around the minor leagues for two decades, but poor plate discipline and poor defense really prevented him from ever landing a steady big league job.
I was at the game in 1991 when he got his second at-bat as a Seattle Mariner late in a blowout loss, and I'd venture a guess that all of the fans that were in attendance that day thought the same thing that I did when Lennon took a mighty swing and miss at a fastball. "The Mariners have found themselves their right-handed power hitter." But for Lennon and the Mariners, it just didn't work out.
6. Roger Salkeld
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Roger Salkeld had more than just talent on his side, he had bloodlines. The grandson of a major leaguer and the best high school pitcher available, the Mariners signed 18-year-old Roger Salkeld and immediately assigned the Californian to their Northwest League affiliate.
He pitched very well for that Bellingham team (1.29 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 42 innings) and pitched well the next two seasons as well. But shoulder injuries wiped out a season-and-a-half for Salkeld, and by the time he made it to the major leagues, he didn't have the same stuff as when he was drafted.
He pitched in 16 games for the Mariners, starting 15 of them, but he was roughed up to the tune of a 6.26 ERA and 1.88 WHIP while walking 6.0 batters per nine innnigs. He was later dealt to the Cincinnati Reds, but Salkeld never lived up to the hype or the status as the No. 3 pick in the 1989 draft.
Another note just to make it worse for M's fans: Future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas was picked by the Chicago White Sox at No. 7.
5. Ryan Anderson
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When Seattle tabbed 6'10" left hander Ryan Anderson as their top selection in the 1997 draft, the comparisons to Randy Johnson began almost immediately. Anderson was apparently prepared for that comparison and more, as he boasted shortly after coming to terms that he, "wanted to be the best pitcher ever" and then talked about "dominating hitters" during his first spring training.
He had nicknames like "The Space Needle" and "The Little Unit." He threw 99 miles per hour, was improving his command, had a good slider and changeup. The experts were taking notice, and his obvious skill was showing on the field, too: 11.85 K/9 before being shut down during his third pro season with tendinitis.
He then tore his labrum the following season and the injury floodgates opened. Concerns over his durability, work ethic and drive followed, and he didn't pitch again until May of 2005. Anderson retired from baseball shortly thereafter to begin pursuing a culinary career.
4. Ryan Christianson
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Riverside, California high school catcher Ryan Christianson looked like he was going to be a very good player for the Seattle Mariners. Taken with the 12th pick in the 1999 draft, he put up great offensive and defensive numbers his first three seasons. But shoulder and elbow injuries that each led to surgeries stole precious development time from Christianson over the next few seasons.
He began to lose his bat speed and the offense just wasn't enough to get him to the big leagues. Then in 2005, Christianson was suspended for testing positive for a banned substance. The Mariners eventually lost him to Tampa Bay, and after spending two more seasons in the minor leagues (nine total) and never getting onto a big league roster, Christianson retired following the 2007 season.
3. Josh Fields
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Any time that a major league team drafts a college relief pitcher in the first round, he had better be very refined and very close to the major leagues. The team that drafts him should also be very close to contending and in specific need for a bullpen arm. Well, that is unless you're the Seattle Mariners.
When they drafted University of Georgia right-hander Josh Fields with the 20th overall pick in the 2008 draft, the Mariners may have thought that they were good to go in all of those aspects. But Scott Boras and the M's couldn't reach a deal for Fields in 2008. Then before 2009, the front office changed, and the new regime wasn't sure if it wanted to sign Fields or get a pick in the 2009 draft as compensation for losing "their" first-round pick.
Although he ultimately signed and was immediately placed in Double-A, now three seasons later, in Double-A he still sits, still showing promise but still showing the same problems with delivery and command that plagued him when he was drafted. This pick still has a chance to pan out, but given the opportunity now, I'm certain the M's would rather have the comp pick.
2. Marc Newfield
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California high school outfielder Marc Newfield was labeled a can't-miss prospect because of his bat. When the Mariners took the 17-year-old with the sixth overall pick in the 1990 draft, they thought they had themselves a future All-Star. He did nothing to give reason for anyone to think otherwise in that 1990 season, as he put up great offensive numbers on his way to the Arizona League MVP.
But Newfield had minor injury issues in the 1991 and '92 minor league seasons and only got cups of coffee with the big league team in 1993 and '94.
When '95 rolled around, the Mariners were in a playoff race as well as a race to try and save the franchise, and Newfield was up with the big club for a bit of an extended look that season. He had struggled on offense for a team that was rich in offense, then he was dealt to the San Diego Padres in a trade deadline deal for Andy Benes in July.
A drug bust, more injuries and two teams later, 25-year-old Marc Newfield had played his last major league season. The can't-miss prospect had collected all of 22 homeruns over parts of six major league seasons and had only seen more than 210 plate appearances once in his career. In that 1990 draft, 20 of the first 37 picks were pitchers, but the pitching-starved Mariners chose to go with offense. The Baltimore Orioles tabbed Stanford right-hander Mike Mussina with the 20th pick.
1. Jeff Clement
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I may be going just a bit too hard on Jeff Clement here, as he was widely regarded as a future great pro and one of the top prospects available leading up to the 2005 draft. He had hit 75 home runs in high school before going on to the University of Southern California where he starred for three seasons. He played on the U.S. National Team, was a finalist for the 2005 Golden Spikes Award and won the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top collegiate catcher. He was about as sure a thing as any baseball prospect ever is.
He moved quickly through the Mariners system and hit 20 home runs in Triple-A for the club in 2007 before earning a September call-up. During that brief introduction to the league in '07, Clement clubbed two home runs and a double and walked three times in 19 plate appearances, all but guaranteeing that he would be Seattle's 2008 every day catcher at some point. After the first few months of Triple-A in 2008, Clement was hitting .335/.455/.676, and the Mariners made room for him and called him up.
But Clement was having trouble making contact and throwing out runners, and it seemed that the Mariners were starting to come around to the rest of the scouting world and realizing that Clement just wasn't going to cut it as a catcher. So back to the minors he went in 2009, splitting time catching, at first base and at designated hitter. But despite hitting well again, the Mariners ultimately threw in the towel with Clement when they dealt him and three other minor leaguers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for shortstop Jack Wilson and right-hander Ian Snell.
Catching is a thing of the past for Clement, and it seems that the Mariners made a big mistake with this pick. Some of the players drafted after Jeff Clement in that 2005 draft include Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Ricky Romero, Troy Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce and Matt Garza.
For that, Jeff Clement ranks as the worst draft pick in Mariners history.
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