Rosternomics

1997 MLB Draft

Every MLB amateur draft, 1985–2025. Real = career WAR so far. Expected = the model's full-career projection for this slot × position × age-at-draft (HS vs college), ± a predictive band. DVOS = Real minus what the same cohort has produced by the same number of years post-draft (apples-to-apples — so we don't punish a 2024 pick for not yet being a 10-yr veteran). Example: Bazzana (2024 #1, college IF) has Real 0.8; the typical #1 college IF has produced 1.6 WAR by year 2 post-draft, so his DVOS = −0.8 (0.8 behind cohort); long-run Expected ≈ 40 WAR. Model: empirical-Bayes hierarchical, fit on 41 years of realized outcomes. SD leaderboard →

Round:
Year Pick Rd Team Player Pos Age B/T Ht Wt Bonus Bonus% Scouting Dir GM / POBO Real DVOS Expected
1997 1 1.1 DET Matt Anderson P P 21 COLL R/R 6'4" 200 Greg Smith Randy Smith 0.5 -19.1 19.6±3.8
1997 2 1.2 PHI J.D. Drew OF RF 22 COLL L/R 6'1" 200 Mike Arbuckle Lee Thomas 0.0 -23.5 23.5±4.2
1997 3 1.3 ANA Troy Glaus IF 3B 21 COLL R/R 6'5" 240 Bob Fontaine Jr Bill Bavasi 34.3 +12.8 21.5±3.9
1997 4 1.4 SFG Jason Grilli P P 21 COLL R/R 6'5" 235 Bob Hartsfield Brian Sabean 3.8 -6.0 9.8±3.8
1997 5 1.5 TOR Vernon Wells OF CF 19 HS R/R 6'1" 230 Tim Wilken Gord Ash 25.3 +17.3 8.0±4.1
1997 6 1.6 NYM Geoff Goetz P P 18 HS L/L 6'0" 185 John Barr Joe McIlvaine 0.0 -9.9 9.9±3.8
1997 7 1.7 KCR Dan Reichert P P 21 COLL R/R 6'3" 175 Art Stewart Herk Robinson 2.2 -5.7 7.9±3.8
1997 8 1.8 PIT J.J. Davis OF RF 19 HS R/R 6'5" 250 Leland Maddox Cam Bonifay -0.9 -8.9 8.0±3.8
1997 9 1.9 MIN Michael Cuddyer OF RF 18 HS R/R 6'2" 220 Mike Radcliff Terry Ryan 12.6 +4.6 8.0±3.8
1997 10 1.10 CHC Jon Garland P P 18 HS R/R 6'6" 210 Jim Hendry Ed Lynch 21.4 +15.6 5.8±3.8
1997 11 1.11 OAK Chris Enochs P P 22 COLL R/R 6'2" 210 Grady Fuson Sandy Alderson 0.0 -7.9 7.9±3.7
1997 12 1.12 MIA Aaron Akin P P 20 COLL L/R 6'1" 196 Orrin Freeman Dave Dombrowski 0.0 -7.9 7.9±3.7
1997 13 1.13 MIL Kyle Peterson P P 21 COLL R/R 6'3" 215 Ken Califano Sal Bando 1.6 -6.3 7.9±3.7
1997 14 1.14 CIN Brandon Larson IF 3B 21 COLL R/R 6'0" 210 Julian Mock Jim Bowden -1.3 -12.1 10.8±3.7
1997 15 1.15 CHW Jason Dellaero IF SS 21 COLL S/R 6'2" 190 Duane Shaffer Ron Schueler -0.9 -11.8 10.8±3.7
1997 16 1.16 HOU Lance Berkman IF 1B 21 COLL S/L 6'1" 220 David Lakey Gerry Hunsicker 56.2 +45.4 10.8±3.7
1997 17 1.17 BOS John Curtice P P 18 HS L/L 6'4" 210 Wayne Britton Dan Duquette 0.0 -5.5 5.5±3.7
1997 18 1.18 COL Mark Mangum P P 19 HS R/R 6'2" 165 Pat Daugherty Bob Gebhard 0.0 -5.5 5.5±3.7
1997 19 1.19 SEA Ryan Anderson P P 18 HS L/L 6'10" 215 Woody Woodward 0.0 -5.5 5.5±3.7
1997 20 1.20 STL Adam Kennedy IF 2B 21 COLL L/R 5'11" 195 Walt Jocketty 18.3 +7.5 10.8±3.7
1997 21 1.21 OAK Eric DuBose P P 21 COLL L/L 6'3" 235 Grady Fuson Sandy Alderson 0.9 -4.6 5.5±3.7
1997 22 1.22 BAL Jayson Werth OF RF 18 HS R/R 6'5" 235 Gary Nickels Pat Gillick 25.7 +17.7 8.0±3.7
1997 23 1.23 WSN Donnie Bridges P P 19 HS R/R 6'4" 220 Ed Creech Jim Beattie 0.0 -5.5 5.5±3.7
1997 24 1.24 NYY Tyrell Godwin OF LF 18 HS L/R 6'0" 200 Lin Garrett Bob Watson 0.0 -8.0 8.0±3.7
1997 25 1.25 LAD Glenn Davis IF 1B 22 COLL S/R 6'1" 200 Terry Reynolds Fred Claire 0.0 -10.8 10.8±3.7
1997 26 1.26 BAL Darnell McDonald OF RF 19 HS R/R 5'11" 205 Gary Nickels Pat Gillick 0.3 -2.0 2.4±3.7
1997 27 1.27 SDP Kevin Nicholson IF SS 21 COLL S/R 5'11" 205 Brad Sloan Kevin Towers 0.2 -3.6 3.8±3.7
1997 28 1.28 CLE Tim Drew P P 19 HS R/R 6'1" 190 Lee MacPhail IV John Hart -0.6 -3.3 2.7±3.7

Model: empirical-Bayes hierarchical — smooth monotone slot curve × position group (P/IF/OF/C/DH) × age bin (HS <20 vs COLL 20+) × maturity. The slot curve is forced monotone-decreasing within each position+age cell, so pick N can't have lower expected than pick N+1 by construction. Predictive ± band = √(σ²·(1 + 1/n_cell)) — pooled within-cell residual SD plus the cell-mean uncertainty for a new pick at that cell. Fallback chain when a (slot, pos, age) cell is too sparse: → (slot, pos) → (slot). Position × age effects: pitchers debut earlier (high realized at 2 yrs, lower career due to attrition); college catchers ~2× HS catchers career WAR at top slots; HS slot-1 IF/OF carry premium upside (Harper/Correa/A-Rod pattern). Coverage: position 100% (1985–2025), bio (born/ht/wt) ~97%, age 97%, signing bonus only ~11% (sparse pre-2008 — MLB Stats API hasn't backfilled). SD attribution follows SABR (single unambiguous name per team-year), GM uses our hire/POBO records. Team/GM development effects intentionally NOT in the model — that signal belongs on the DVOS-attribution side (per-SD on /sds, per-GM in this table), or it would collapse to zero by construction.