Bryce Harper was a sixteen-year-old on the cover of Sports Illustrated when the hype train first left the station. By the time the 2010 Major League Baseball draft rolled around, he wasn't just a prospect. He was a phenomenon. People called him the "LeBron James of baseball," a title that usually sets a kid up for a spectacular crash. But Harper didn't crash.
He was the centerpiece of a draft class that basically redefined what a "franchise cornerstone" looks like in the modern era. Honestly, if you look back at that June afternoon, it’s wild to see how many teams actually got it right—and how many others are probably still waking up in a cold sweat thinking about the guys they passed on.
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It wasn't just about Bryce, though. The 2010 draft was a weird, high-stakes gamble where high school arms went high, college bats proved reliable, and a kid named Manny Machado was just a skinny shortstop from Miami waiting for his turn.
The Bryce Harper Era Begins
The Washington Nationals had the first pick. It was a no-brainer. After taking Stephen Strasburg the year before, the Nats were in a position to draft back-to-back "generational" talents. That almost never happens. Harper had actually left high school early, earned his GED, and played a season at the College of Southern Nevada just to accelerate his path to the big leagues. He hit .443 with 31 home runs using wood bats against college pitching as a seventeen-year-old.
The Nats didn't blink. They took him first overall.
Then came the Baltimore Orioles at number three. They took Manny Machado. If you’re a scout, that’s a dream scenario. You have a draft where two potential Hall of Famers are sitting right at the top of the board. Machado was this smooth-fielding shortstop with a swing that looked like it belonged in a textbook. He’s gone on to put up nearly 300 home runs and multiple Platinum Gloves, proving the Orioles scouts knew exactly what they were looking at.
The Pitching Gold Mine (And the Landmines)
Teams used to be terrified of high school pitchers. They break. Their arms are like glass. Yet, the 2010 Major League Baseball draft was littered with high-upside arms that actually panned out, which is sort of a miracle.
Take Jameson Taillon. The Pirates took him second overall, right between Harper and Machado. Taillon had a massive fastball and a curveball that fell off a table. While his career has been hampered by injuries—including two Tommy John surgeries—he’s carved out a very respectable career as a mid-rotation starter. But when you’re sandwiched between two legends, the "what if" factor always lingers.
The real pitching value was hiding a bit further down.
- Matt Harvey went 7th to the Mets. Before the injuries and the "Dark Knight" drama, he was the most electric thing in New York.
- Chris Sale fell to the White Sox at number 13. This was arguably the steal of the first round. Every scout worried about his "low-slot" delivery and skinny frame. They thought his arm would fly off. Instead, he became one of the most dominant lefties of his generation.
- Noah Syndergaard was a late first-round grab by the Blue Jays at 38th overall. "Thor" ended up being the centerpiece of the trade that sent R.A. Dickey to Toronto, eventually becoming a cult hero in Queens.
Jacob deGrom didn't even go in the first round. Or the second. He went in the ninth round, 272nd overall. He was a shortstop who had recently converted to pitching at Stetson University. The Mets took a flyer on him. Two Cy Young awards later, that 9th-round pick looks like one of the greatest scouting heists in the history of the sport.
Why Scouting is a Crapshoot
Christian Yelich went 23rd to the Marlins. At the time, he was a skinny kid from Westlake High School in California. He didn't have much power yet. Scouts liked the swing, but nobody predicted an MVP award in his future. He’s a perfect example of why the 2010 Major League Baseball draft is so fascinating; player development is just as important as the draft slot itself.
Then you have the guys who didn't make it.
The Kansas City Royals took Christian Colon at number four. Colon had a decent career and hit one of the most famous singles in Royals history during the 2015 World Series, but he never became a star. When you see that Sale, Yelich, and Syndergaard were all still on the board, it stings.
Barret Loux was taken 6th by the Diamondbacks but didn't sign due to a failed physical. He never made the big leagues. That’s the brutal reality of this process. One medical report can vaporize a multi-million dollar signing bonus and a career trajectory in an afternoon.
The Talent That Slipped Through
If you really want to see how deep this draft was, look at the middle rounds.
The Braves grabbed Andrelton Simmons in the second round. He might be the best defensive shortstop to ever play the game. The Rays found Kevin Kiermaier in the 31st round. Think about that for a second. Thirty-one rounds of players went by before someone decided to take the guy who would win four Gold Gloves.
Whit Merrifield went in the 9th round. Kole Calhoun went in the 8th. Mark Canha went in the 7th.
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It proves that while the stars like Harper and Machado get the headlines, the 2010 class was defined by its depth. Teams were finding everyday starters and All-Stars well into the second day of the draft. This was the era before the current "slotting" system for signing bonuses was strictly enforced, allowing some teams to spend big to keep players from going to college.
The High School vs. College Debate
In 2010, the philosophy was shifting. The "Moneyball" era had pushed teams toward college players because they were more "polished" and had more data attached to them.
But the 2010 class threw a wrench in that.
The top high schoolers—Harper, Machado, Taillon, Yelich, Nick Castellanos—outperformed many of the "safe" college picks. Castellanos was a supplemental first-round pick by the Tigers (44th overall) and has turned into one of the most consistent power hitters in the league. He was committed to the University of Miami, and the Tigers had to pay a $3.45 million bonus to get him to skip school. It was a massive gamble that paid off.
On the flip side, some college "locks" like Deck McGuire (11th overall) or Michael Choice (10th overall) struggled to find their footing in the majors. It reminded the league that "safe" is a relative term in baseball.
Legacy of the 2010 Class
When we look back at the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, we see a turning point in how talent is evaluated. It was one of the last drafts before the 2012 Collective Bargaining Agreement capped signing bonuses, which meant teams with deep pockets could still get aggressive with "hard to sign" players.
More importantly, it provided the league with a massive infusion of personality. Harper brought a certain swagger that the game desperately needed. Machado brought a combination of grit and elegance at third base. Sale brought a terrifying, unorthodox dominance.
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What You Can Learn From This Draft
If you're a student of the game or just a casual fan, there are a few takeaways from the 2010 cycle that still apply today:
- Trust the "Eye Test" for Elites: Sometimes, the "generational" hype is real. Harper and Machado were identified as superstars at 16, and they actually became superstars. Don't overthink the obvious.
- Velocity isn't Everything: Jacob deGrom and Chris Sale succeeded because of their ability to locate and tunnel pitches, not just because they threw hard.
- The Late Rounds Matter: If your team isn't finding value after the 5th round, your scouting department is failing. The 2010 class was built on the backs of late-round gems.
- Patience is Key: Many of these guys didn't hit their stride until 2014 or 2015. Baseball is a slow burn.
For a deeper look at specific player stats from this era, checking the historical archives on Baseball-Reference or the MLB Pipeline retrospectives offers a startling look at just how many "busts" occurred in between the Hall of Fame trajectories.
To truly understand the current state of MLB, you have to understand the 2010 draft. It wasn't just a selection of players; it was the birth of the modern superstar era. The ripple effects of those picks are still being felt in every pennant race today.
Keep an eye on the upcoming Hall of Fame ballots over the next decade. You’re going to see a lot of names from the 2010 class popping up. It’s rare for a single year to produce this much hardware, but 2010 was anything but a normal year for baseball talent.