Rosternomics

2015 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
2015 1 1.1 ARI Dansby Swanson IF SS 21 COLL R/R 6'0" 190 Deric Ladnier Dave Stewart 29.5 +9.1 40.2±3.9
2015 2 1.2 HOU Alex Bregman IF 3B 21 COLL R/R 5'10" 190 Mike Elias Jeff Luhnow 43.8 +23.4 21.5±4.0
2015 3 1.3 COL Brendan Rodgers IF 2B 19 HS R/R 6'0" 204 Marc Gustafson Jeff Bridich 2.5 -13.2 18.9±4.2
2015 4 1.4 TEX Dillon Tate P P 21 COLL R/R 6'2" 190 Kip Fagg Jon Daniels 1.3 -7.9 9.8±3.8
2015 5 1.5 HOU Kyle Tucker OF RF 18 HS L/R 6'3" 212 Mike Elias Jeff Luhnow 26.2 +19.9 8.0±4.1
2015 6 1.6 MIN Tyler Jay P P 21 COLL L/L 6'0" 191 Deron Johnson Terry Ryan 0.0 -7.5 7.9±3.8
2015 7 1.7 BOS Andrew Benintendi DH DH 21 COLL L/L 5'9" 185 Mike Rikard Dave Dombrowski 10.7 -5.5 31.7±3.7
2015 8 1.8 CHW Carson Fulmer P P 22 COLL R/R 6'0" 210 Nick Hostetler Kenny Williams -0.5 -8.0 7.9±3.7
2015 9 1.9 CHC Ian Happ OF LF 21 COLL S/R 5'10" 205 Matt Dorey Jed Hoyer 21.7 +11.1 8.5±3.9
2015 10 1.10 PHI Cornelius Randolph OF OF 18 HS L/R 5'11" 205 Johnny Almaraz Scott Proefrock 0.0 -5.7 8.0±3.8
2015 11 1.11 CIN Tyler Stephenson C C 19 HS R/R 6'3" 225 Chris Buckley Walt Jocketty 7.0 +4.0 3.6±4.1
2015 12 1.12 MIA Josh Naylor IF 1B 18 HS L/L 5'10" 235 Mike Berger 10.4 +4.4 7.8±3.8
2015 13 1.13 TBR Garrett Whitley OF CF 18 HS R/R 6'0" 195 R J Harrison Matt Silverman 0.0 -5.7 8.0±3.7
2015 14 1.14 ATL Kolby Allard P P 18 HS L/L 6'1" 195 Brian Bridges John Hart 1.2 -2.9 5.5±3.7
2015 15 1.15 MIL Trent Grisham OF CF 19 HS L/L 5'10" 221 Ray Montgomery Douglas Melvin 13.1 +7.4 8.0±3.7
2015 16 1.16 NYY James Kaprielian P P 21 COLL R/R 6'3" 225 Damon Oppenheimer Brian Cashman 1.8 -3.0 5.5±3.7
2015 17 1.17 CLE Brady Aiken P P 19 HS L/L 6'4" 205 Brad Grant Chris Antonetti 0.0 -4.1 5.5±3.7
2015 18 1.18 SFG Phil Bickford P P 20 COLL R/R 6'4" 200 Brian Sabean 0.8 -4.0 5.5±3.7
2015 19 1.19 PIT Kevin Newman IF 3B 22 COLL R/R 6'0" 195 Joe Dellicarri Neal Huntington 2.3 -7.0 10.8±3.7
2015 20 1.20 OAK Richie Martin Jr. IF SS 21 COLL R/R 5'11" 190 Eric Kubota Billy Beane -1.1 -10.3 10.8±3.7
2015 21 1.21 KCR Ashe Russell P P 19 HS R/R 6'4" 201 Lonnie Goldberg Dayton Moore 0.0 -4.1 5.5±3.7
2015 22 1.22 DET Beau Burrows P P 19 HS R/R 6'2" 223 Scott Pleis Dave Dombrowski -0.7 -4.7 5.5±3.7
2015 23 1.23 STL Nick Plummer OF CF 19 HS L/L 5'10" 200 Chris Correa John Mozeliak -0.1 -5.8 8.0±3.7
2015 24 1.24 LAD Walker Buehler P P 21 COLL R/R 6'2" 185 Billy Gasparino Andrew Friedman 15.5 +10.7 5.5±3.7
2015 25 1.25 BAL DJ Stewart OF RF 22 COLL L/R 5'11" 230 Gary Rajsich Dan Duquette 1.0 -3.2 4.4±3.7
2015 26 1.26 ANA Taylor Ward OF LF 22 COLL R/R 6'0" 205 Ric Wilson Bill Stoneman 12.0 +7.9 3.8±3.7
2015 27 1.27 COL Mike Nikorak P P 19 HS R/R 6'5" 240 Marc Gustafson Jeff Bridich 0.0 -2.3 2.7±3.7
2015 28 1.28 ATL Michael Soroka P P 18 HS R/R 6'5" 250 Brian Bridges John Hart 6.8 +4.5 2.7±3.7
2015 29 1.29 TOR Jon Harris P P 22 COLL R/R 6'4" 175 Brian Parker Alex Anthopoulos 0.0 -2.3 3.0±3.7
2015 30 1.30 NYY Kyle Holder IF SS 21 COLL L/R 6'1" 204 Damon Oppenheimer Brian Cashman 0.0 -3.2 3.8±3.7
2015 31 1.31 SFG Chris Shaw OF LF 22 COLL L/R 6'3" 220 Brian Sabean -0.7 -4.8 3.8±3.7
2015 32 1.32 PIT Ke'Bryan Hayes IF 3B 18 HS R/R 5'11" 215 Joe Dellicarri Neal Huntington 10.7 +8.4 2.8±3.7
2015 33 1.33 KCR Nolan Watson P P 18 HS R/R 6'2" 195 Lonnie Goldberg Dayton Moore 0.0 -2.3 2.7±3.7
2015 34 1.34 DET Christin Stewart OF LF 22 COLL L/R 6'0" 220 Scott Pleis Dave Dombrowski -1.0 -5.1 3.8±3.7
2015 35 1.35 LAD Kyle Funkhouser P P 21 COLL R/R 6'3" 229 Billy Gasparino Andrew Friedman 0.0 -2.3 3.0±3.7
2015 36 1.36 BAL Ryan Mountcastle IF 1B 18 HS R/R 6'3" 230 Gary Rajsich Dan Duquette 6.0 +3.7 2.8±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.