Honestly, if you look back at the 2000 major league baseball draft, it feels like a fever dream. Imagine being a scout in a smoke-filled room—okay, maybe they weren't smoking anymore by the turn of the millennium, but you get the vibe—and trying to predict the future of a bunch of teenagers while the world was still obsessed with the Y2K bug that never happened. This draft was weird. It was top-heavy with "can't-miss" prospects who, well, missed. By a lot.
But it also gave us absolute legends.
Most people remember this year for one name: Adrian Gonzalez. He went number one overall to the Florida Marlins. That worked out, eventually, though not really for the Marlins. But then you look at the rest of that first round and it’s like a graveyard of "what could have been." You've got guys like Matt Harrington, who turned down millions only to never make the Bigs. It's a cautionary tale. A messy, fascinating, high-stakes gamble that changed how front offices evaluated high school talent forever.
The Adrian Gonzalez Era and the Top of the Board
The Marlins took Adrian Gonzalez out of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. He was a sweet-swinging first baseman. He was "safe." And he was! He ended up with over 2,000 hits and five All-Star nods. But the 2000 major league baseball draft wasn't just about him. The Chicago Cubs took Adam Loewen at—wait, no, that was later—the Cubs actually took Corey Patterson a few years prior, but in 2000, the Marlins were the ones setting the pace.
The real drama started right after Gonzalez.
The Minnesota Twins took Adam Johnson at number two. If you’re saying "Who?" right now, you aren't alone. Johnson was a right-handed pitcher out of Cal State Fullerton. He threw 26.1 innings in the majors. Total. His career ERA was north of 10.00. That is the kind of pick that gets a scouting director fired, or at least makes them lose a lot of sleep at the local diner.
📖 Related: Where is the NY Jets Stadium: Why Fans Still Get This Wrong
Then you had the Chicago Cubs at number three. They took Luis Montanez. He was a high school shortstop with all the tools. He didn't make his MLB debut until 2008. Think about that gap. Eight years in the minors. He eventually played, but he wasn't the superstar the North Side was dreaming of. It’s wild how much the 2000 major league baseball draft felt like throwing darts at a board while wearing a blindfold.
Matt Harrington: The $4 Million Mistake
You can't talk about this year without talking about Matt Harrington. It's basically mandatory. He’s the poster child for why you take the money. Always take the money.
Harrington was a flamethrower from California. The Colorado Rockies took him 7th overall. They offered him a massive deal—somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million. His agent, the infamous Tommy Tanzer, thought he was worth more. They played hardball. They didn't sign. Harrington went into the independent leagues, thinking he’d just go higher the next year.
He didn't.
He fell to the second round in 2001. Then the 13th round in 2002. Then the 24th in 2003. He eventually ended up working at a Costco. It’s heartbreaking, really. One of the most talented arms in the 2000 major league baseball draft never threw a single pitch in a Major League stadium. It changed the way players approached negotiations. It made "slot value" a household term for die-hard fans.
The Diamonds in the Rough
While the first round was busy tripping over its own feet, the later rounds were where the real value lived. This is the beauty of baseball. You can find a Hall of Famer while everyone else is looking at the shiny toy in the window.
Take the 13th round. The St. Louis Cardinals are on the clock. They pick a kid from Westminster Christian High School in Florida. Some guy named Albert Pujols? No, he was '99. In 2000, the real "steal" conversation usually circles around guys like Chase Utley.
The Philadelphia Phillies grabbed Utley at 15th overall. Okay, that’s still the first round, but he became the heart and soul of a championship team. He was a "dirtbag" player in the best way possible. But look further down. Look at the 8th round. The Toronto Blue Jays drafted a skinny kid from Nevada-Las Vegas named Chase Utley—wait, I'm mixing up my Chases. Let's look at Adam Wainwright.
Wainwright went 29th overall to the Braves. Atlanta eventually traded him to St. Louis in what became one of the most lopsided trades in history (sorry, J.D. Drew). Wainwright became the face of the Cardinals' pitching staff for two decades.
📖 Related: Stugotz Leaving Le Batard: Why the Sports Radio Icon is Finally Moving On
And don't forget Grady Sizemore. The Montreal Expos (RIP) took him in the 3rd round. Before his knees gave out, Sizemore was Mike Trout before Mike Trout was Mike Trout. He was a five-tool god for the Cleveland Indians. He’s one of those "What If" players that makes 2000 major league baseball draft deep dives so bittersweet.
Why the 2000 Draft Felt Different
Baseball was changing. Moneyball was just around the corner. Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were starting to realize that high school pitchers were the riskiest bet in sports. The 2000 major league baseball draft proved them right.
Look at the stats:
- Out of the top 10 picks, only three (Gonzalez, Rocco Baldelli, and Joe Borchard) had what you’d call "significant" careers.
- Joe Borchard actually got a record-breaking $5.3 million signing bonus from the White Sox. He was a two-sport star at Stanford. He hit some long home runs, but he never quite figured out the breaking ball.
- High school pitchers taken early almost universally failed to meet expectations this year.
It was a wake-up call. Scouts realized that "projection" is a dangerous word. Just because a kid is 6'4" and throws 95 mph at age 18 doesn't mean he'll do it at 24 when his body fills out or his elbow snaps.
The Names You Forgot (But Shouldn't)
We have to talk about Rocco Baldelli. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays (back when they were still Devils) took him 6th overall. The "Woonsocket Rocket." He was incredible. Fast, graceful, hit for power. But his body betrayed him. He had a rare metabolic muscle condition that ended his career way too early. Now he’s a successful manager for the Twins, which is a cool second act, but man, he could have been a Hall of Famer.
Then there’s Cliff Lee.
He wasn't a first-rounder. Not even close. The Montreal Expos took him in the 4th round. He bounced around, got traded to Cleveland in the Bartolo Colon deal, and eventually became one of the most dominant lefties of his generation. Cy Young winner. Postseason beast. That’s the 2000 major league baseball draft in a nutshell—the guys you expected to be stars flickered out, and the guys in the 4th and 10th rounds became the pillars of the league.
Speaking of the 10th round, the Milwaukee Brewers grabbed Corey Hart. Not the "Sunglasses at Night" guy, but the tall, lanky outfielder who became a staple in their lineup. Or look at the 19th round—the New York Mets found David Wright? No, Wright was 2001. The Mets actually found Jose Reyes as an amateur free agent around that time, but in the 2000 draft, they were mostly striking out.
Actually, let's look at the 24th round. The Cardinals took Yadier Molina.
Wait.
No.
That was the 4th round. My bad. Yadier Molina in the 4th round of the 2000 major league baseball draft is arguably one of the greatest picks in the history of the franchise. A guy who defines a position for 20 years, wins two World Series, and basically acts as a second manager on the field. That is the kind of value that makes a GM look like a genius.
The Impact on Modern Scouting
If you talk to guys like Keith Law or other prospect gurus, they’ll tell you that the 2000 era was the "Wild West." We didn't have Statcast. We didn't have high-speed cameras tracking spin rates. We had stopwatches and "gut feelings."
The failure of guys like Adam Johnson and the tragedy of Matt Harrington forced teams to be more analytical. They started looking at college stats more heavily because they provided a larger sample size against better competition. The 2000 major league baseball draft was one of the last years where "The Eye Test" reigned supreme over the spreadsheet.
And honestly? The spreadsheets are winning now. But there’s something nostalgic about the 2000 draft. It was the end of an era. The last year before the world really knew what was coming with the Sabermetrics revolution.
The Legacy of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft
So, what do we take away from this?
First, the 2000 major league baseball draft teaches us that first-round picks are never a sure thing. If you're a fan and your team just drafted a "phenom," keep your expectations in check. For every Adrian Gonzalez, there are three Adam Johnsons.
🔗 Read more: The Adam Johnson Tragedy: How a Hockey Player Cut in the Neck Changed the Sport Forever
Second, the "Matt Harrington Case" is the most important labor story in baseball history that doesn't involve a strike. It showed players that the draft is a leverage game, and if you lose your leverage, you lose everything. It's why we see so few players "holding out" nowadays. They see the Costco story and they sign the dotted line.
Lastly, the 2000 draft gave us the "Old Guard" of the 2010s. Wainwright, Molina, Utley, Gonzalez—these were the guys we watched in Octobers for over a decade. They were the bridge between the steroid era and the launch-angle era.
Actionable Insights for Baseball Fans and Collectors
If you're into sports cards or just a baseball history nerd, here is how you should view the 2000 major league baseball draft moving forward:
- Look for the Late-Round Legends: If you're collecting cards, focus on the Yadier Molina or Adam Wainwright rookies from this era. The "big" names at the top of the draft often have cards that aren't worth the cardboard they're printed on.
- Study the Trade Trees: Look at how the players from this draft moved. The Cliff Lee and Adam Wainwright trades shaped the playoffs for years. It shows that a draft pick's value isn't just in what they do for your team, but what they can get you in a trade.
- Understand Risk: Use this draft as a benchmark for why teams avoid high school pitchers. When your team skips a guy who throws 100 mph for a "boring" college shortstop, remember the 2000 major league baseball draft. It’s almost always better to take the floor over the ceiling.
This draft wasn't a failure, even if the top of the list looks a bit rough. it was a transition. It was the moment baseball grew up and realized that scouting needed to be a science, not just an art. And for those of us who grew up watching these guys? It was a hell of a ride.
The 2000 major league baseball draft remains a masterclass in the unpredictability of human potential. You can have all the talent in the world, but the gap between a high school mound in California and the bright lights of a Major League stadium is a canyon that many simply cannot cross. Next time you see a "can't-miss" kid, just remember Matt Harrington and give him a little grace. It's a harder game than it looks.