2007 Draft: How They Should Have Done It

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The baseball draft celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, and what better way to look back on more than five decades of draft history than with Baseball America? Founding editor Allan Simpson has collected the best information from our rich archives and assembled it in the ultimate draft compendium. You’ll get complete draft lists from every year, with signing information, biggest successes and busts, the most signing bonus information ever published, and all the stories that make draft history so rich. The book will also include all the results from the 2016 draft.

To give you a taste, we’ll share some excerpts of the book each week.

Based on the career WAR (Wins Above Replacement, as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com) numbers achieved by all the players eligible for the 2007 draft through the 2015 season, here’s how the first round should have unfolded. Numbers in parentheses indicate the round when the player was actually drafted.

Rank, Player	Actual Draft	WAR	Bonus
1. Jason Heyward, of	Braves (1)	31.2	$1,700,000
2. David Price, lhp	Rays (1)	29	$5,600,000
3. Josh Donaldson, c	Cubs (1-S)	25.1	$652,500
4. Giancarlo Stanton, of	Marlins (2)	25	$475,000
5. Madison Bumgarner, lhp	Giants (1)	23.3	$2,000,000
6. Jordan Zimmermann, rhp	Nationals (2)	20.9	$495,000
7. Anthony Rizzo, 1b	Red Sox (6)	16	$325,000
8. Jonathan Lucroy, c	Brewers (3)	15.8	$340,000
9. Freddie Freeman, 1b	Braves (2)	15.7	$409,500
10. Jake Arrieta, rhp	Orioles (5)	15.5	$1,100,000
11. Todd Frazier, ss	Reds (1-S)	15.3	$825,000
12. Matt Wieters, c	Orioles (1)	14.6	$6,000,000
13. Corey Kluber, rhp	Padres (4)	12.4	$200,000
14. Rick Porcello, rhp	Tigers (1)	11.2	$3,580,000
15. Greg Holland, rhp	Royals (10)	10	$50,000
16. Zack Cosart, ss	Reds (2)	9.6	$407,250
17. Mike Moustakas, ss	Royals (1)	8.9	$4,000,000
18. Darwin Barney, ss	Cubs (4)	8.3	$222,750
19. Derek Norris, c	Nationals (4)	7.9	$210,000
20. Josh Collmenter, rhp	Diamondacks (15)	7.6	$80,000
21. Tony Watson, lhp	Pirates (9)	7.5	$85,000
22. Ben Revere, of	Twins (1)	7.3	$750,000
23. Brett Cecil, lhp	Blue Jays (1-S)	6.6	$810,000
Tommy Hunter, rhp	Rangers (1-S)	6.6	$585,000
25. Jarrod Parker, rhp	Diamondbacks (1)	6.1	$2,100,000
Danny Duffy, lhp	Royals (3)	6.1	$365,000
27. Lucas Duda, 1b	Mets (7)	5.8	$85,000
28. Steve Cishek, rhp	Marlins (5)	5.4	$139,500
29. Stephen Vogt, c	Devil Rays (12)	4.6	$6,000
30. Dillon Gee, rhp	Mets (21)	4.3	$20,000
David Lough, of	Royals (11)	4.3	$49,500
Mitch Moreland, 1b	Rangers (17)	4.3	$60,000
Top 3 Unsigned Players	Actual Draft	WAR	Year Signed
1 Chris Sale, lhp	Rockies (21)	27.2	2010
2 Craig Kimbrel, rhp	Braves (33)	13.6	2008
3 Brandon Belt, lhp	Braves (11)	12.6	2009