The 2004 MLB Draft Sucked - Maybe Golson Wasn't So Bad?

Now that the Phils have given up on the uber-toolsy, former 1st-round pick Greg Golson (whose tools included not being able to hit a breaking ball, and no plate discipline) lets venture back to the 2004 draft, where Mike Arbuckle jumped on Golson with the 21st-overall pick. Golson was exactly the type of player Arbuckle and his staff coveted. Here's an excerpt from MLB.com's Ken Mandel in his Phillies draft preview from that year: "Athleticism is key," said Arbuckle. "The only exception to that would be the absolute big banger that can hit 45-50 home runs. Usually that individual is going to strike out 100-150 times, so sometimes I'm not sure if getting away from athleticism is wise in any area. I go back to the same philosophy: Athletes with tools for the position." Well he certainly got his man in Golson, who definitely had the tools to play the outfield. But he didn't have the skills to hit enough as an outfielder - not a starting one at least. In 2,101 at bats in the minors, Golson has compiled the following stats: .265 BA .309 OBP 623 K 123 BB 46 HR 120 SB That's just not very good. The athleticism has never really caught up to the baseball skills, the danger in selecting your guys based on 60-times. But how much better could Arbuckle have done in that 1st round? Who was there who other folks were clamoring for? To get a feel for just how barren this draft was, here's the Top 10: 1. San Diego, Matt Bush, ss-rhp, Mission Bay HS, San Diego. 2. Detroit, Justin Verlander, rhp, Old Dominion. 3. New York Mets, Philip Humber, rhp, Rice. 4. Tampa Bay, Jeff Niemann, rhp, Rice. 5. Milwaukee, Mark Rogers, rhp, Mount Ararat School, Orr's Island, Maine. 6. Cleveland, Jeremy Sowers, lhp, Vanderbilt. 7. Cincinnati, Homer Bailey, rhp, La Grange (Texas) HS. 8. Baltimore, Wade Townsend, rhp, Rice. 9. Colorado, Chris Nelson, ss, Redan HS, Decatur, Ga. 10. Texas, Thomas Diamond, rhp, New Orleans. First off, how good was Rice that year? Second, how bad was that Top 10? Not a lot of impact players there. It gets even worse after the Phils took Golson at 21. The 1st round in 2004, including supplemental picks, went 41 picks deep. Of those 41 picks the only players of any note are: 2. Detroit, Justin Verlander, rhp, Old Dominion. 12. Anaheim, Jered Weaver, rhp, Long Beach St. 15. Arizona, Stephen Drew, ss, Florida St. 28. Los Angeles, Blake Dewitt, 2b, Sikeston (Mo.) HS. 31. Kansas City (for Raul Ibanez), JP Howell, lhp, Texas 40. Oakland (for Miguel Tejada), Huston Street, rhp, Texas So even though Arbuckle had his critics for selecting Golson, the pickings were slim to none at 21 that year. Even if you get into the 2nd round the ML contributors are still pretty sparse. 46. Milwaukee, Yovani Gallardo, rhp, Trimble Technical HS, Fort Worth, Texas 62. Philadelphia, Jason Jaramillo, c, Oklahoma St. 64. Houston, Hunter Pence, lf, Texas-Arlington 65. Boston, Dustin Pedroia, ss, Arizona St. 67. Oakland, Kurt Suzuki, c, California St. So in that case, you can at least make the argument that Arbuckle drafted the wrong catcher that year - a position the Phils desperately wanted to upgrade. "We'd like to improve position-player wise, offensively, and in catching," said Mike Arbuckle, the team's assistant general manager/scouting and player development. Filling those needs, especially grabbing a catcher in the first round, may not be so easy. "There's probably not a catcher right now who we would envision fitting at [No.] 21, and we've tried to invent a couple," Arbuckle said. "I saw some catchers myself, hoping I'd like them better than some of our other guys, and there's not a guy right now who we're excited about." Anyway, to get back on track, the Golson pick has certainly lit up the Phuture Phllies' comment boards over the years, mostly panning the Phils' selection as a waste. But using hindsight, you can see the choices the Phils had at the time weren't too appealing. And to get a player with the amount of potential John Mayberry, Jr. has isn't so bad.