Are the names starting to get a little more familiar yet? Looking back at the history of the draft and assessing a player's value can be difficult if he didn't play while you were old enough to understand what you were watching. But as we get into the mid-'90s drafts, many of these talents are still in the game, and some of them are stars.
The 1993 draft produced a pretty solid group of players, starting with the No. 1 overall pick and extending through many of the early rounds. Plus, a few high-value selections in the later rounds polished up one of the best drafts we've checked back on thus far.
Total major leaguers: 205 of 1,716 selections
Major leaguers in Round 1: 28 of 42 selections
Impact players: 12
The top pick
Alex Rodriguez, SS -- Seattle Mariners
Rodriguez's numbers speak for themselves -- .306 batting average/.389 on-base percentage/.578 slugging percentage with 553 home runs and 283 stolen bases, not to mention the nine years of very good shortstop defense he played before joining the New York Yankees and moving to third base.
Rodriguez, 33, a member of the 40 home run-40 stolen-base club, owns three MVP awards, five home run titles and one batting title, all in just 13 full seasons in the majors. He's widely considered the best No. 1 overall pick in history.
Worst first-round pick
Kirk Presley, RHP -- New York Mets, No. 8 overall
Several first-round prospects didn't pan out. No. 2 overall selection Darren Dreifort was bitten by the injury bug and limited to parts of nine seasons, and No. 5 overall pick Jeff Granger posted a 9.09 ERA in 27 career appearances in the big leagues. But Presley is the highest pick in the draft not to make the big leagues, largely thanks to a number of arm injuries, including shoulder problems that held him to just 147 professional innings.
Presley was guaranteed $900,000 when he signed out of Tupelo High School in Mississippi, where the right-hander tossed three no-hitters during his senior season.
(Note: The worst 1993 first-rounder not connected to injuries or being rushed through the minors may be right-hander and No. 6 pick Steve Soderstrom, whose command problems led to 310 walks in 780 1/3 minor league innings.)
Best first-round pick, non-Rodriguez category
Chris Carpenter, RHP -- Toronto Blue Jays, No. 15 overall
Others such as 1B Derrek Lee at No. 14, LHP Billy Wagner at No. 12 and Torii Hunter at No. 20 are strong candidates, but Carpenter has reached the pinnacle of his profession even though nagging injuries have held down his long-term value.
The right-hander won the National League Cy Young Award in 2005 and followed that up by pitching the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series title a year later. He's been healthy for only a few seasons, but winning the Cy Young and being a main cog on a World Series-winning club puts Carpenter at the top of the 1993 first-rounders.
His only downside is that he didn't reach the World Series with the Blue Jays, who selected and signed him.
Best late-round pick
Jermaine Dye, OF -- Atlanta Braves, 17th round, No. 488 overall
You can argue that Dye is among the top four or five players in the entire draft after a solid career in Atlanta, Kansas City, Oakland and Chicago, where the current White Sox right fielder is working on 306 career home runs and a .276/.338/.492 line in 13-plus seasons.
He was a solid defender early in his career and still has an above-average throwing arm, but his bat always has been his meal ticket. Dye has hit 25 or more homers in a season six times, including each of the past four seasons. If Dye lands somewhere as a DH through his mid-30s and into the twilight of his career, he could hang up the spikes with 2,000 hits and 400 home runs.
Best teams
It would be too easy to say Seattle had the best draft. But the Mariners got only a few big leaguers out of their 69 selections despite adding one of the game's best-ever talents. The Angels pushed their first five picks to the big leagues, but none was an impact player. And Philadelphia picked two major leaguers in the first two rounds, including Scott Rolen, but little else the rest of the way.
The San Diego Padres probably came out on top, getting Lee, RHP Matt Clement and OF Gary Matthews. Toronto did well with Carpenter, C Adam Melhuse and 52nd-rounder Joe Nelson, a late bloomer who was very good for Florida last season and is setting up in Tampa this year.