The Chicago Homer’s final MLB Draft preview will not focus on players the Sox or Cubs could take tonight, nor will it focus on players other teams have taken in similar draft positions. No, today’s preview serves no real purpose other than that of entertainment.
I went back through the first round draft picks of both the White Sox and Cubs and put together the Chicago All-First Round MLB Draft Pick Team.
Choosing the team wasn’t all that difficult. I just picked a player at all nine of the basic positions (though I just went with outfield instead of right, left and center) as well as five pitchers. I didn’t distinguish between starters or relievers because, honestly, you aren’t taking a pitcher in the first round in hopes he can one day evolve into a seventh inning guy.
Also, I had to make one minor cheat, but I’ll explain that when we get to it. Let’s just get to the starting lineup.
| Chicago All-First Round MLB Draft Pick Team Starting Lineup | ||
| Player | Year Drafted | Career WAR |
| Ron Karkovice – C | 1982 | 14.7 |
| Frank Thomas – 1B | 1989 | 73.7 |
| Gordon Beckham – 2B* | 2008 | 7.0 |
| Robin Ventura – 3B | 1988 | 55.9 |
| Shawon Dunston – SS | 1982 | 11.5 |
| Rafael Palmeiro – OF | 1985 | 71.6 |
| Aaron Rowand – OF | 1998 | 20.8 |
| Joe Carter – OF | 1981 | 19.3 |
*Gordon Beckham was technically drafted as a shortstop, but between the Sox and Cubs, they’ve only taken one second baseman in the first round of the draft. The Cubs took Ty Griffin in 1988, but he never got to the Majors.
Pretty nice lineup, isn’t it? Between the eight position players there’s a total WAR of 274.5, which equates to an average of 34.3125 WAR per player. Put this team out there and you’re going to score a lot of runs.
But how about pitching? That ain’t too shabby either.
| Chicago All-First Round MLB Draft Pick Team Starting Rotation | ||
| Player | Year Drafted | Career WAR |
| Alex Fernandez | 1990 | 28.9 |
| Jack McDowell | 1987 | 28.2 |
| Kerry Wood | 1995 | 27.7 |
| Jon Garland | 1997 | 22.5 |
| Chris Sale | 2010 | 18.7 |
It’s not as impressive as the lineup as there aren’t any Hall of Famers here, but if you were given the option to go into a season with this starting rotation, I bet you’d take it. Besides, these guys could allow five runs a game and you’ll probably still win 100 games.
As for the team breakdown, if you haven’t already counted yourself, there are eight White Sox and five Cubs picks on the team (remember, Jon Garland was a Cubs draft pick).
Hopefully each team will draft a player tonight that we can add to this list in the future.
Previous MLB Draft Previews
- White Sox First Round Draft Pick Rankings
- Cubs First Round Draft Pick Rankings
- What Can The Cubs And White Sox Expect From Their First Round Draft Picks?
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I didn’t know Joe Carter was a Cub.
He was. Briefly. Cubs drafted him and he played only 23 games with them in 1983, hitting .176 in 51 at bats. They then traded him to the Indians in a deal that included multiple players, the main one coming back to Chicago being Rick Sutcliffe.
So not a terrible deal, but they gave up on him a bit too early.