True busts

A Golden State blogger sparked something for me this morning with his post as to whether or not Billy Owens, a first round pick that ended the Run TMC era, was a true draft day bust. Owens wound up being a journeyman despite some occasionally useful offensive numbers, and was out of the Association by age 31. Being a disappointment despite outsized talent wasn't a new trick for Owens, who was also a monstrously hyped product at my alma mater of Syracuse University. But we're talking about a guy that posted career numbers of 11.7 / 6.7 / 2.8, and was useful enough to get traded five times. That might not be what you think of when you go for the third pick in the draft and someone you give up Mitch Richmond for even up, but it's not exactly Frederic Weis.The nature of a draft bust, and indeed, the nature of a terrible player, is skewed. If you are truly awful, you never make the top levels, and you most certainly do not last for ten years. The worst baseball player of my m...