Looking back at the top draft blunders

We're pretty close to the halfway point of the season, so it's far enough to begin analyzing shrewd moves and poor mistakes.

We start with the mistakes. More specifically, draft-day mistakes.

I've compiled a list of the five biggest draft blunders. You'll see the recipients varied in how they took to getting the award. Some agreed, others were not happy.

Without further ado, the list - in chronological order from the draft.


Mike selects Jacoby Ellsbury over Carl Crawford with the fifth pick in the first round.
We said this was going to be a mistake, and it obviously has been. Crawford has been everything you can ask for out of a speedy guy, while the only thing fast about Ellsbury was the way he went on the disabled list.
Mike says: "Picking Ellsbury definitely set our team back some. Looking back, I'm in awe that I took him over Crawford and (Matt) Holliday."

Andy and Joe select Adam Lind and Carlos Lee, respectively, over both Nelson Cruz and Adam Dunn in the third round.
Bob is clearly reaping the benefits of this one, as he took both Cruz and Dunn with back-to-back picks. Andy had both Lind and Cruz last year, but he mistakenly traded away Lind early in the season. That was a mistake. Two years in a row now.
Joe, on the other hand, can't be faulted for taking the always-productive Lee. Who would have thought he'd be so bad this year?
Andy says: "I guess I just figured Lind was for real, although part of me wanted a little do-over from last year. No doubt about it, that was on my mind."
Joe says: "We don't know what the numbers will look like. It's friggen June. He has been tremendously better this month, but whatever."

Ken takes Javier Vazquez over Matt Cain in the third round.
I'm sure this is one Ken would like to have back, but we'd be unfair if we didn't mention that Vazquez has been pretty decent lately. Cain, though, has been one of fantasy baseball's top pitchers, and Vazquez was awful when Ken couldn't win early on.
Ken says, inebriated: "Fuck Cain. I don't regret taking a Yankee starter at all, given his past and the fact the Yanks are dirty. I'm making playoffs. Kids rule."

Chris selects Wandy Rodriguez over Ubaldo Jimenez in the fourth round.
Ouch. Just ouch. Chris was trying to decide between the two, and inexplicably, he took Rodriguez. Why inexplicably? Because he had Jimenez last season and knew how good he was. Where's the loyalty? Jimenez was the next pitcher taken after Rodriguez.
Chris says: "Despite the blunder, I still have the lowest ERA and top-three WHIP in the league. Scary to think what my staff would be like had I made the right move."

Jack selects Matt Wieters in the eighth round.
Wieters was the first third catcher taken (not including the keeper Mauer), and boy, what a mistake going so high. He's been awful. Plenty of catchers who were drafted way lower have been putting up much better numbers.
Jack says: "Hard to peg just Wieters as being a bust so far this season on my team - so many of my team have underperformed so far this season. There is a lot of the season left - so I am hopeful that he and others on my team that are under-performing will right the ship. I just need wins."

Did I miss any? Let me know below.