I don't really follow prospects, I must say, mostly on purpose. I know who the Yankees' top prospects are, but they are so volatile that I'm unwilling to follow them with any sort of relish, knowing they could either severely disappoint and/or get traded. This is incredibly true for pitchers. I found this list and looked at the first year Derek Jeter was listed. It's 1993; he's #44. Just for sorta-fun, I decided to look at what happened to the pitchers listed above him...
PITCHERS
2. Brien Taylor (LHP, Yankees)
I don't want to taaaalk about it *cries*
Good lord, can you imagine if he'd lived up to his potential/hype? In 1999 the Yankees' rotation probably would have been:
Clemens
Taylor
Cone
El Duque
Pettitte
I believe they call that... VIDEOGAME'D.
7. Todd Van Poppel (RHP, Athletics)
11 seasons (907 IP), 80 ERA+
8. Jason Bere (RHP, White Sox)
11 seasons (1111 IP), 86 ERA+
9. Allen Watson (LHP, Cardinals)
8 seasons (892 IP), 86 ERA+
10. Tyrone Hill (LHP, Brewers)
I can't find any BB-Ref info on him. Do they mean... like... the basketball player??
11. Kurt Miller (RHP, Rangers)
5 seasons (80.2 IP), 56 ERA+
17. Tavo Alvarez (RHP, Expos)
2 seasons (58.1 IP), 80 ERA+
18. Brad Pennington (LHP, Orioles)
5 seasons (75.2 IP), 66 ERA+
23. David Nied (RHP, Rockies)
5 seasons (241.2 IP), 95 ERA+
25. Frank Rodriguez (RHP, Red Sox)
7 seasons (654 IP), 88 ERA+
28. Bobby Jones (RHP, Mets)
10 seasons (1518.2 IP), 94 ERA+
29. Troy Percival (RHP, Angels)
14 seasons (708.2 IP), 146 ERA+
31. Tyler Green (RHP, Phillies)
4 seasons (384 IP), 83 ERA+
32. Jim Pittsley (RHP, Royals)
4 seasons, 225.2 IP, 78 ERA+
36. John Roper (RHP, Reds)
3 seasons, 180 IP, 77 ERA+
41. Jessie Hollins (RHP, Cubs)
4.2 ML IP, 13.50 ERA
42. Todd Jones (RHP, Astros)
16 seasons (1072 IP), 111 ERA+
So really, a lot of these guys had downright awful careers. Don't get me wrong, some of the position players went nowhere either, but those listed above Jeter include Chipper Jones, Carlos Delgado, Tim Salmon, Manny Ramirez, Javy Lopez, Johnny Damon, and Mike Piazza. So that's three guys that should be HOF locks (Chipper, Manny, Piazza... not to mention Jeter himself), a couple of guys that are borderline, and some guys that had really solid careers.
I think the scouting and other info maybe got better, because if you look since, say, 2000, they've had waaaay fewer total busts in terms of pitching, when you look at the top 25. Beckett, Burnett, Sabathia, Sheets, Oswalt, Wainwright, Kazmir, Prior, Cain, King Felix, Verlander, Billingsley, Lincecum, Gallardo, Dice-K, Garza, Lester, Kershaw, all listed as top 25 pitchers at one point or another (there are still a good number of busts there too and yeesh how overhyped was Dice-K when he first came here). Still, I would not put my faith in pitching prospects. Just saying.
