CalHiSports.com

July 26, 2007

Revisiting Mr. Baseball Honorees
Paul Muyskens
Special to CalHiSports

Scouting top players is still an inexact science, so the same is true if you are looking at who's been picked as the Mr. Baseball State Player of the Year. Besides, when choosing which player should be named as the state's best, the criteria is not limited to how a player might fare several years in the future. It's not a No. 1 prospect list, but a player of the year list.

We thought it would be revealing to look back at the various players of the year since 1997. One has won a World Series, but several have not yet played a second outside of the minor leagues.

2007 — Mike Moustakas, Chatsworth INF
Drafted No. 2 overall by the Kansas City Royals in the 2007 draft, he is expected to sign a contract with the Royals but has yet to sign.

2006 — Tyler Robertson, Fair Oaks Bella Vista P-OF
Selected in the third round, pick 96 overall, of the 2006 draft by the Minnesota Twins, he passed up attending Cal State Fullerton and signed with the Twins. Currently in low A with the Beloit Snappers, Robertson has appeared in nine games this season with a record of 3-2 and a 1.94 ERA. He has picked up one save in the only game he didn't start and in 51 innings pitched has walked only 18 while striking out 54.

2005 — John Drennen, San Diego Rancho Bernardo OF
The Cleveland Indians signed him to a deal after selecting him with the 33rd pick in the 2005 draft. Drennen was a 2006 Southern Atlantic League All Star with the Lake County Captains as he hit .327 with 30 RBI. Currently in the high A Carolina League with the Kinston Indians, he is hitting .246 with eight homers and 52 RBI.

2004 — Matt Bush, San Diego Mission Bay INF
The local San Diego Padres made him the first pick in the 2004 Major League draft. Failing to hit over .200, things just got worse with injuries forcing him to miss a lengthy amount of time and once he returned found little success at the plate. Giving up on him as a future major league shortstop, the Padres are now trying to see if he can make it as a pitcher as he will attempt just that and so far is off to a good start with the Arizona League Padres. In four games so far, he'ss pitched 5.1 innings and has yet to give up a run while striking out 11 and only walking two.

Matt Bush at his press conference signing a few years ago.
2003 — Ian Stewart, Westminster La Quinta INF
Stewart was the number 10 overall pick of the 2003 draft by the Colorado Rockies. An all star in three leagues so far, he is one of the Rockies' top 10 prospects by Baseball America and was selected to the 2007 Futures Game held during All Star Weekend in San Francisco. Currently in AAA with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League, Stewart is batting .296 with 11 homers and 52 RBII. It's just a matter of time before he finds himself in the majors, joining fellow La Quinta alums Bobby Crosby and Gerald Laird.

2002 — Delmon Young, Camarillo OF (Jr.)
Young was the number one pick overall in the 2003 draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Delmon showed why he was one of the top bats in the minors as he was named twice to the Futures Game and was named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year for 2005 as he put together a minor league career average of .317 before making his major league debut August 29th, 2006. He has appeared in 92 games this year with the Devil Rays, batting .291 with nine homers and 51 RBI and appears to be set to stay in the majors for quite some time.

2001 — J. P. Howell, Carmichael Jesuit P
Went to the University of Texas in Austin where he twice reached the Final 8 of the College World Series. Was selected in the first round of the 2004 draft by the Kansas City Royals. Progressed through the minor leagues at a rapid pace and made his major league debut in 2005. Was traded to the Devil Rays for Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez and in the last two years has appeared in over 82 innings for Tampa Bay. In his three years in the Major Leagues so far he has appeared in 155 innings and is 5-12 with a 6.20 ERA.

2000 — Mike Stodolka, Corona Centennial DH-P
Was the fourth overall selection in the 2000 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals. Struggled with an ERA of 4.94 as it took him six seasons to finally reach AA where he had little success. Kansas City decided to no longer have him pitch starting in 2006 as they converted him back to playing first and he had success right away as he was a California League All Star. He hit .283 with 11 homers and 66 RBI and is currently in AA Wichita hitting .295 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI.

1999 — Ryan Christianson, Riverside Arlington C
Was selected in the 1999 draft by he Seattle Mariners with the 11th overall pick. Two full seasons in A ball saw him unable to hit better than .249 but despite his struggles hitting the Mariners gave him a chance in 2004 and 2005 in AAA because of his abilities behind the plate. Eventually, Seattle released him after the 2005 season. He was picked up by Tampa Bay for the 2006 season and then before this season was picked up by he St. Louis Cardinals. Christianson currently is in AAA with the Memphis Redbirds hitting .211 with five homers and 11 RBI. In his eight year minor league career he has appeared in 623 games and has a .246 batting average with 69 home runs and 310 RBI.

1998 — Sean Burroughs, Long Beach Wilson 3B
The 9th pick in the 1998 draft by the San Diego Padres passed up a scholarship to play for USC to begin his attempts to reach the big leagues. Made his Major League debut in 2002 and in first full season in 2003 hit .286 with seven homers and 58 RBI and followed that with a 2004 season with a .298 average. After an injury filled 2005 season, he was traded to the Devil Rays who eventually released him after he had only a little playing time. Burroughs signed with Seattle in late 2006 but was released by the Mariners as well in June 2007. He has yet to resign with another team.

1997 — Jon Garland, Granada Hills Kennedy P
After being picked 10th in the 1997 draft by the Chcago Cubs, Garland was traded a little over a year later to the Chicago White Sox for Matt Karchner. Made his Major League debut in 2000 at the age of 20 and since 2002 has been a reliable part of the White Sox rotation. HIs best season came in 2005 as he went 18-10 with a 3.50 ERA and was named to the all star team and helped Chicago win the World Series against the Houston Astros. In his eight year major league career, Garland has gone 89-75 with 4.41 ERA and has pitched a total of 1,352 innings with 721 strikeouts. With the current struggles of the White Sox, several teams are greatly trying to trade and acquire Garland before the trade deadline at the end of July.

We'll have similar revisit with our last 10 Ms. Softball State Players of the Year coming soon.