Why the 2011 Draft Was MLB's Finest | Baseball Bits

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The 2019 World Series was ran by stars from the 2011 MLB Draft, considered to be the MLB best draft ever. With stars like Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, and George Springer all doing their thing, one could call this draft the Anthony Rendon draft, Gerrit Cole draft, George Springer draft, or even Mookie Betts draft. Yes, Mookie Betts was in this draft class. But what's even more shocking is that Mookie Betts draft selection was 172nd overall in the 5th round. He was also drafted to play his patented Mookie
Betts 2nd base. We all know how that ended up.

The 2011 Draft started with 29 consecutive Major Leaguers, from 1st overall Gerrit Cole to 29th overall Joe Panik. We talk about the Gerrit Cole Pirates of the mid 2010s as well as the Gerrit Cole Astros of present day, particularly Gerrit Cole velocity and Gerrit Cole spin rate. His UCLA teammate Trevor Bauer was also drafted, but the Trevor Bauer Diamondbacks days are also a thing of the past, as he was traded to Cleveland and now plays in Cincinnati.

It was just those guys, though. Francisco Lindor and Javy Baez were two star middle infielders taken in this draft. In fact, Lindor leads in WAR among first round draftees.

Some other stars featured in this draft included: Josh Bell, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Marcus Semien, and Blake Treinen. I also bring up Seth Lugo, le spinny curveball man.

I hope you enjoy this episode of Baseball Bits, a Foolish Baseball production!

Dan Connolly on the 2011 Draft: https://theathletic.com/1323999/2019/10/25/was-the-2011-draft-the-best-ever-its-on-full-display-in-the-world-series/

SABR on Draft Pick Success: https://sabr.org/research/chances-drafted-baseball-player-making-major-leagues-quantitative-study