The Major League Baseball trash heap is littered with high draft picks that turned out to be busts. Remember Brien Taylor, the #1 overall pick in the 1991 MLB draft? No one can blame you if you don’t. He got into a bar fight, tore his labrum and rotator cuff, and was completely out of baseball within a few years. Unfortunately, Taylor is not alone. Players like Todd Van Poppel, Ben McDonald, and Andrew Brackman were also high draft picks that flamed out before their careers ever got started. However, there are several players, including Hall of Famers, who’s careers came in like a lamb, but went out like lions.
Let’s take a look back through the years at ten players that looked like busts, but became stars.
10. Dazzy Vance
If you’ve never heard of Dazzy Vance, you’re probably not alone. Vance pitched for 16 years from 1915-1935, compiling a won-loss record of 197-140, with a 3.24 ERA, and 2045 strike outs. In 1955, Vance was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Despite earning baseball’s highest honor, Vance did not have a successful start to his career. He made his MLB debut in 1915 and finished with a record of 0-4 with a 4.11 ERA. It took 3 more years for Vance to get another chance in the majors, finishing the 1918 season with a record of 0-0 and a 15.43 ERA. Finally, in 1922, at the age of 31, Vance finally reached the majors for good. Vance finished the 1922 season with a record of 18-12. He won 18 games the following season, before winning a league leading 28 games in 1924. Certainly a player that didn’t reach the majors until his age 31 season, but still earned induction into the Hall of Fame, earns the qualification of a bust that became a star.
9. Nolan Ryan
For baseball fans that grew up in the 1970’s and “80’s, Nolan Ryan was the preeminent power pitcher of his generation. Who can forget the bloodied image of Ryan staring down the opposition after being hit in the face by a Bo Jackson comebacker or Ryan taking on the charging Robin Ventura? Ryan was as tough as they come. Ryan used
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that toughness to compile 324 wins, 5714 strikeouts, and 7 no-hitters over a 27 year career, culminating with his induction to the Hall of Fame in 1999.
However, it took the Ryan Express several years to get on track. Ryan started his career in 1966 with the NY Mets, finishing the season with an 0-1 record with 15.00 ERA. In 1968, he was 6-9. In fact, over the first 4+ seasons with the Mets, Ryan had a won-loss record of 29-38. No one, not even the Mets could’ve imagined what Ryan would become after being traded to the Angels for the 1972 season. In California, Ryan finished 1972 with a record of 19-16 with a 2.28 ERA and 329 strikeouts in 284 innings pitched. After 4+ mediocre seasons with the Mets, the Ryan Express was finally on the right track.
8. David Ortiz
When a player finishes his career with a slash line of a .286 batting average, 541 home runs, 1768 RBI’s, and helping to end one of sports longest championship droughts, there’s no doubt that player will end up in the Hall of Fame. After a 20 year career, Big Papi was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020. Despite spending the bulk of his career at Designated Hitter, a position often overlooked by the voters, Ortiz was voted into the Hall during his first year of eligibility.
However, it wasn’t until Ortiz joined the Red Sox that his career took off. During his first 6 seasons playing for the Minnesota Twins, Ortiz looked like anything but a future Hall of Famer. Over his first 6 seasons with the Twins, Ortiz had a .266 batting average, 58 home runs, and 238 RBI’s. But after being acquired by Boston for the 2003 season, Ortiz went on a tear, never hitting less than 23 home runs and 89 RBI’s over a full season for the next 14 years.
7. Randy Johnson
The Big Unit spent 22 seasons pitching in the major leagues with 6 different teams. Along the way, Johnson won 303 games and amassed 4875 strikeouts. He was also a 5 time Cy Young Award winner. With his 6’10” frame, Randy Johnson was one of the most intimidating pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball.
But Johnson was not always the dominating force on the mound. After his first two seasons, with Montreal and then Seattle, Johnson’s record stood at 10-13. The strikeouts were not there either. In fact, in 1989, Johnson only struck out 130 batters in
160.2 innings. In 1990, Johnson earned his first All Star nomination, but finished 14-11. It wasn’t until 1993, 6 seasons into his career, that Johnson finally put together the type of season that we would come to expect of him: 19-8, 3.24 ERA, and 308 strikeouts.
6. Justin Turner
Justin Turner has put together a pretty solid career over the last 13 seasons. During that time, Turner has compiled a stat line of a .290 batting average, 187 homeruns, and 754 RBI’s. So far, in 2023, Turner’s age 38 season, he is currently batting .285 with 23 home runs and 94 RBI’s. Since 2013, Turner has not hit below .275 in any full season. That amounts to a pretty impressive career.
The problem for Justin Turner was that he did not get a chance to play steadily until 2011, his age 26 season. Turner made his MLB debut in September 2009, but continued to get bounced from the majors to minors, and from organization to organization. It wasn’t until the NY Mets gave him a chance in 2011, that Turner finally stuck in the majors. Turner certainly fits into the category of a late bloomer, which earns him a spot on our list.
5. Mickey Mantle
Ask any baseball historian to name the greatest power hitters of the 1950’s, and Mickey Mantle is sure to be at, or near, the top of the list. In 1952, Mantle began to secure his place in baseball immortality by hitting .311 with 23 home runs and 87 RBI’s. Thus began a long stretch that saw Mantle finish with a career .298 average, 536 home runs, and 1509 RBI’s. Over the course of his career, Mantle was a 7 time World Series champion, 3 time MVP, and won the Triple Crown in 1956.
But after Mantle’s first professional season, he almost didn’t make it back for his second. Mantle made his MLB debut in 1951, but was soon demoted back to the minors after a slump. Mantle’s slump did not end with his demotion to the minor leagues. His struggles continued. As the story goes, during his prolonged slump, Mantle called his father and told him he wanted to quit. Mickey’s dad drove to Kansas city and began packing his son’s belongings. After being rebuked by this father and being called a coward, Mantle decided to stay the course and reversed his slump. In 1951 he made his debut and never looked back.
4. Greg Maddux
The career accomplishments of Greg Maddux are incredibly impressive – 23 years in the majors, 355 wins, 3371 strike outs, 18 Gold Gloves, 4 consecutive Cy Young awards (1992-1995), and induction to the Hall of Fame in 2014. Maddux reached these career highs without ever being one of the most overpowering pitchers. Instead, Madduz was the real estate of starting pitchers – location, location, location. Maddux rarely threw the ball above 93 mph, but he was able to rely on pinpoint command to retire opposing batters.
However, after his first two seasons pitching for the Cubs, Maddux had a career record of 8-18 with an ERA over 5.52. But in 1988, Maddux turned the corner, and won at least 15 games for the next 17 seasons, including his 4 Cy Young seasons. Maddux truly represents one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history.
3. Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax is considered to be one of the greatest left handed pitchers in the history of the game. Koufax finished his career with a won-loss record of 165-87, a 2.76 ERA, and 2396 strikeouts in 2324.1 innings, earning induction to the Hall of Fame in 1972.
But Koufax had an inauspicious start to his career. After his first 5 seasons, Koufax had a won-loss record of 28-27 to go along with a 4.16 ERA. Those are not the numbers of a star. But starting in 1961, Koufax turned the corner going 129-47 over the final 6 years of his career, and solidifying his reputation as one of the all time greats.
2. Mariano Rivera
By the time Mariano Rivera’s career came to an end in 2013, he was widely considered to be the greatest closer to ever step onto a pitcher’s mound, if not one of the greatest pitchers ever. Rivera finished his career with a won-loss record of 82-60, a 2.21. ERA, and a record holding 652 saves (he was also 8-1 with 0.70 ERA and 42 saves in the postseason). All of this was built on the success of one pitch – a cut fastball. Opposing hitters knew it was coming, yet for the most part, no one could hit it.
Many people forget that Rivera did not have a blazing start to his career. When he was called up to the majors in 1995, Mariano Rivera was a starting pitcher. In his first
season, Rivera started 10 games and finished with a record of 5-3, to go along with a 5.51 ERA. No one, not even the Amazing Kreskin or Nostradamus could have foreseen what a move to the bullpen would do for Rivera’s career. In 1996, Rivera became the setup man for the Yankees, finishing with an 8-3 record and a 2.09 ERA. In 1997 Rivera ascended to the closer role, and stayed there until 2013. Rivera also holds the distinction of being the only player in MLB history to be inducted into the Hall of Fame with 100% of the writers vote.
1. Mike Piazza
This might be the biggest stretch, but Piazza definitely belongs in the top spot of our list. A career .308 batting average to go along with 427 homeruns and 1335 RBI’s certainly adds up to a Hall of Fame induction, which Piazza gained in 2016. But how is one of the best hitting catchers and a former Rookie of the Year considered a bust? One needs to look no further than the 1988 MLB draft. Piazza was drafted with the 1,390th pick in the 62nd round. Every team had multiple chances to draft Piazza, but overlooked him time and time again. It wasn’t until the 62nd round that the Los Angeles Dodgers took a chance on Piazza. Did the Dodgers see something in Piazza that no one else did? No, Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda drafted Piazza as a favor to his friend, Vince Piazza, Mike’s dad.
This begs the question, if Lasorda and Vince Piazza were not friends, would Mike Piazza have ever been drafted, and would we have witnessed one of the great offensive catchers the game has seen? Probably not, which makes Mike Piazza, the lowest drafted player to ever make the Hall of Fame, number one on our list of busts that became stars.
