Where Are They Now: Top Prospects of ‘98, #81-90
February 14, 2008 by Geoff Young
Filed under History
The year is 1998. Alex Rodriguez and Roberto Alomar homer to help lead the American League to victory in the All-Star Game at Coors Field. Larry Doby and Don Sutton are inducted into the Hall of Fame. Pat Burrell is the first pick in the amateur draft, while the #50 pick is an outfielder out of New Caney High School in Texas who hit five home runs and stole 32 bases as a senior: his name is Adam Dunn.
In our first installment, we revisited the careers of Orlando Cabrera and Geoff Jenkins, as well as others who didn’t enjoy their level of success. This time we find a similar mix of studs and duds. To the names:
- Derrick Gibson, OF, Colorado Rockies. Dripping with tools, but lacking in skills need to use them, Gibson batted .286/.327/.449 over 52 plate appearances in 1998 and 1999. For as big and strong as he was, Gibson never put up monster numbers once he got out of A-ball. Lack of plate discipline was his primary downfall, as he averaged just 32 walks per 500 plate appearances in the minors. He last played in 2005 in the Atlanta Braves system and owns a .279/.325/.465 career line over 11 minor-league seasons.
- Gil Meche, RHP, Seattle Mariners. Regular readers know that I lampooned the Royals’ December 2006 signing of Meche, but the fact is, the guy has a big-league career. Between injuries and ineffectiveness, he’s had exactly one good season in seven. Meche owns a career record of 64-57 with a 4.44 ERA. His ERA+ is 101, or roughly league average, and his list of top comps through age 28 includes Jason Schmidt and a lot of mid-rotation types: Joel Pineiro, Jason Marquis, Todd Stottlemyre, etc.
- Javier Vazquez, RHP, Montreal Expos. I know some very smart people who looked at Vazquez’ 2001 season (particularly his gaudy peripheral numbers) and assumed that at age 24, he was on his way to even bigger and better things. It didn’t work out that way, of course, but he’s been a solid big-league starter for a decade now. Vazquez has made 32 or more starts every year except 1999 (when he had “only” 26 starts), and is 115-113 with a 4.28 ERA (105 ERA+) for his career.
- David Ortiz, 1B, Minnesota Twins. The Seattle Mariners traded Ortiz, then known as David Arias, to the Twins for Dave Hollins in September 1996. After a few decent years in Minnesota, Ortiz appeared to have a breakout season in 2002, at age 26, when he hit .272/.339/.500. The Twins did what any team starved for hitting would do and released Ortiz that December. The Boston Red Sox snatched him up and he’s been one of the best hitters of our generation ever since.
- Nelson Lara, RHP, Florida Marlins. Lara began pitching professionally in 1995, at age 16. Poor control (6.94 BB/9 over 349 minor-league innings) kept him from reaching the Show. Lara last pitched in affiliated pro ball in 2002, mostly with the High-A San Jose Giants. He also spent some time with Trois-Rivieres in the indy Canadian League the following year, before disappearing altogether.
- Juan Melo, SS, San Diego Padres. Wow, a young Padres shortstop who never made it. Those are hard to find, kind of like water in the ocean. On September 7, 2000, while with the San Francisco Giants, Melo singled to center against the Padres’ Carlos Almanzar to drive home the final run of a 13-0 victory over his former team. That was his only big-league hit. Now 31 years old, Melo spent 2007 playing for the Nationals’ Double-A club in Harrisburg. He owns a .282/.324/.409 career line in 4892 minor-league plate appearances, and has also played in Taiwan and the independent Golden Baseball League.
- Todd Dunwoody, OF, Florida Marlins. Dunwoody was a toolsy outfielder out of an Indiana high school who drew comparisons to Brady Anderson and Todd Hollandsworth. Unfortunately he had no concept of the strike zone and hit just .233/.277/.348 in 948 plate appearances from 1997 to 2002. In 2005, his final season as a player, Dunwoody batted .247/.290/.370 in 96 games with the Twins’ Triple-A club in Rochester. The following year he served as hitting coach for the Midwest League’s South Bend Silver Hawks, an Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate.
- Chris Reitsma, RHP, Boston Red Sox. What a long, strange trip it’s been for Reitsma. The former first-round pick missed significant chunks of time in the minors due to injuries, was taken by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 1999 Rule V draft, given back to Boston the following March, traded to the Cincinnati Reds that August for an aging Dante Bichette. In Cincy, Reitsma was a decent starter for two years, then a decent reliever for one. He’s been hurt for much of the past two seasons. In 338 big-league games, Reitsma owns a 32-46 record, with a 4.70 ERA (93 ERA+) and 37 saves. His most comparable pitcher through age 29 is Dan Miceli.
- Valerio de los Santos, LHP, Milwaukee Brewers. A hard-throwing left hander with command and injury issues, de los Santos spent parts of eight seasons in the big leagues, mostly with the Brewers. He last pitched at Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) in 2006. De Los Santos finished his big-league career with a 9-12 record and a 4.54 ERA (95 ERA+) over 233 career appearances.
- Jeff Wallace, LHP, Pittsburgh Pirates. Wallace was a more extreme version of de los Santos. Live arm, spotty command and health. In four big-league seasons he went 3-3 with a 4.20 ERA (108 ERA+) over 119 appearances. Wallace last pitched for Triple-A Pawtucket (Red Sox) in 2002, at the ripe old age of 26.
There you have it. Next time we’ll take a look at a late-blooming third baseman, a solid catcher and starting pitcher, and a whole lot of disappointment. Until then…
I too thought that Vasquez had ace material when the Yanks dealt for him. He’s a tantalizing pitcher to watch, because on some days he has truly unreal stuff.
Ortiz ascent has been fabulous, and a lot of credit goes to Boston’s hitting coach for closing up the holes he had on the inner half. Even as a Yankee fan, you can’t help but like and root for a player with an infectious smile like Big Papi.
Let me get this straight, Dunwoody couldn’t hit, and became a hitting coach? Very ironic.
Great post Geoff.
As someone who mostly follows the National League, I’ve never really seen Ortiz play. Still, I remember wondering why the Twins gave up on him when they did.
As for Dunwoody, I thought the same thing, but it’s actually not as ironic as it initially might seem. At least one Hall of Famer credits this man for working wonders with his swing.
I look forward to your new entry in this series every time I open my reader. Excellent idea for an off season baseball discussion.
Thank you, sir! I love researching this kind of stuff.
Awww, group hug.