NL West 2nd Round Picks: Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, 2000-2008

A comment found in my last draft piece offered the idea of looking at how the teams in the NL West comparatively fared with one another in the rounds beyond the first. I'm going to do this round-by-round from the second to the fifth and then group the other rounds as I see fit once I get there. This is actually part one of a look at the NL West's second round picks this decade. Part two will look at the other three teams.

Colorado Rockies:

2000 - Jason Young, RHP, Stanford - Young was the seventh pick in the second round (47th overall) and, before signing, he pitched in the College World Series as the Stanford ace. He didn't pitched for the Rockies in 2000, but started at High-A ball in 2001. Notwithstanding a losing record, Young posted a 3.43 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 105 IP. The next year saw Young split time between Double-A and Triple-A ball to some success. Young spent most of 2003 with the Sky Sox, but received a promotion to Colorado. He started three games and appeared in eight--allowing eight homers in 21 1/3 IP. His 2004 season was lost to a rib injury, and late in the 2005 season he was claimed off waivers by the Indians. He hasn't been heard of since then.

Oh, and from what I remember Young was going to be the Rockies' pick in the first round before Harrington fell to the seventh pick.

One more thing: He signed for $2.75M.

2001 - Trey Taylor, LHP, Texas HS - Taylor was actually a supplemental second round pick for the loss of Julian Tavarez. The Yankees received the Rockies' pick in the second round, selecting Jason Arnold. Taylor didn't sign, elected to attend Baylor, spent four season with the Bears, was drafted in 2005 by the Cubs, pitched all of two games for their AZL team, and has since disappeared.

2002 - Micah Owings, RHP, Georgia HS - The Rockies really wanted to sign Owings, but he was intent on going to Georgia Tech. The Rockies then used that money to sign Jeff Baker. This was (and still is) a good thing. Owings was drafted by the Cubs in 2004 and then the D'Backs in 2005 (after playing his junior year with Tulane). He has since moved to Cincinnati as part of the Adam Dunn deal. At best, he'll be a back-of-the-rotation guy.

2003 - Scott Beerer, RHP, Texas A&M - Beerer was a two-way player for the Aggies, but the Rockies wound up using Beerer exclusively as a reliever (well, after a few starts in 2003 for Casper). Beerer was moving up the ladder, but just before the start of the 2007 he was placed on the restriced list.

2004 - Seth Smith, OF, Ole Miss - This guy was killer in September and October 2007. More, please.

2005 - Zachary Simons, RHP, Everett CC (Wa.) - I believe the first reaction by many of us here was that Simons would turn out to be like Aaron Cook. We were told that Simons was tired after a long season and that we'd see some electric stuff out of him in 2006. It didn't happen, and Simons moved to the 'pen in 2007. He went to Detroit and the Rockies received Jason Grilli in return. The Rockies have certainly gotten the better end of the deal so far.

2005 - Daniel Carte, OF, Winthrop - Hey, the Rockies had two second-round picks. Thank you Washington for hastily signing Vinny Castilla once free agency started and allowing the Rockies the easy decision of offering arbitration. Carte's advanced a level each year, but we may have witnessed his peak level this past year. With a .698 OPS for Tulsa, Carte's needs to show vast improvement on whatever level he starts at this year.

2006 - David Christensen, OF, Florida HS - Christensen's going to draw some debate here, as did his selection. He had a pre-draft deal with the Rockies in place, and the Rockies lived up to it. He spent 2006 and 2007 with Casper, showing slight improvement. Still, the guy had a problem taking a walk, apparently liking many of the pitched he saw (and whiffing quite a bit). He moved to Asheville in 2008, struck out even more, and couldn't improve his walk rate. You could say he has made progress each season, but it's been minimal. He's only 20, so he still has time before we can write him off; still, this one is looking like the stinker of the decade right now.

2007 - Brian Rike, OF, La Tech - He did well for Tri-City in 2007, a team that has had few stand outs over the years (.845 OPS). His move to Asheville didn't turn out so well--he struck out 161 times in over 500 PA. He did, however, walk 62 times.

2008 - Charlie Blackmon, OF, Ga Tech - .856 OPS for Tri-City. Let's hope Blackmon doesn't follow the path of the last few picks.

Arizona Diamondbacks:

2000 - Mike Schultz, RHP, Loyola Marymount - Schultz is a boring way to start this one off. He spent most of his time as a reliever in the minors. It paid off as he made his debut in 2007, pitching all of one inning. I don't believe he played in 2008.

2001 - Mike Gosling, RHP, Stanford - Another of those polished Stanford products turned into not-quite-that-good major leaguer. He spent some time in the majors with the D'Backs in '04 and '05 before the Reds picked him off the waiver wire in early 2006. Gosling has since moved to the Toronto organization, pitching out of the bullpen.

2002 - Chris Snyder, C, Houston - You know, when I write these draft review pieces, I don't have much to say about the good or decent ones.

2003 - Jamie D'Antona, 1B, Wake Forest - D'Antona's an interesting case. With the exception of part of his 2004 season in Double-A and all of 2005 in Double-A, D'Antona's been able to hit. It finally paid off for him in 2008, getting 17 at-bats. And that's likely all that he'll get. Last I heard, he was headed to Japan.

2004 - Jonathan Zeringue, OF, LSU - Zeringue debuted in 2004 with a .925 OPS in 56 games at High-A. He disappointed after that and moved to the Oakland system in 2007. He strikes out a ton and he's getting up there (26 in 2009), so there isn't much hope for being a useful major leaguer.

2005 - Matthew Green, RHP, UL-Monroe - Career ERA is at 4.83 and career WHIP is at 1.57.

2006 - Brett Anderson, LHP, Oklahoma HS - The other big prospect sent to Oakland in the Dan Haren trade, Anderson is poised to break into the majors in 2009.

2007 - Barry Enright, RHP, Pepperdine - 4.44 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .337 BABIP for High-A Visalia in 2008.

2008 - Bryan Shaw, RHP, Long Beach State - So-so debut, but he did pitch better upon promotion to the Midwest League (4.03 ERA, 1.07 ERA).