Everybody loves prospects, or at least the idea of prospects, to the point where the hype surrounding them can go off the charts. It reaches a point where every prospect is going to be great, every prospect is the next (great player X), and none of them will ever disappoint.
That’s not to say that prospects don’t ever perform, obviously. Many of them do. Kris Bryant, the hype machine of the moment, may go on to hit 500 home runs and lead the Cubs to a championship. It’s entirely possible.
But sometimes, prospects fizzle once they reach the big leagues. Guys with hype that would’ve put Bryant’s to shame have crashed and burned in the majors, even though they were supposed to be the next big thing. It happens; nobody likes to see it happen, but it happens.
So in the spirit of the crazy buildup for Bryant’s debut, here’s a look at a few players who came with the same kind of fanfare (sometimes even more) who just couldn’t live up to expectations.
Generation K: Well, 2/3 of Generation K, anyway. The Mets’ vaunted young trio of starting pitchers – Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher – were the most hyped collection of pitchers perhaps in baseball history. They were supposed to bring the Mets back to prominence in the NL East and give them an answer to Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz; however, things didn’t quite go as planned. Pulsipher injured his arm after an average debut season in ’95 and wouldn’t see the majors again for two years. The Mets shipped him off in ’98 and he went on to become a journeyman. Wilson, the number one overall pick of the ’94 draft, had an awful rookie season in ’96 and wouldn’t reach the majors again until 2000 with Tampa Bay. Only Isringhausen went on to have success, but it wasn’t as a starter (he has 300 career saves) and it wasn’t with the Mets (the A’s and Cardinals). Not exactly the second coming of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and John Matlack the Mets were hoping they had.
Alex Escobar: Another heavily hyped Mets prospect (sorry New York fans, but this is a trend), Escobar was supposed to be a five-tool outfielder and a future perennial All-Star when he burst onto the scene as a teenager in the Mets’ system. He didn’t make much of an impact when he debuted in ’01 and missed all of the next year with injuries, but he was still enough of a prospect that the Indians made him their centerpiece return in a trade for Roberto Alomar. He didn’t do anything in Cleveland either, and his major league career ended after a short stint with the Nationals. For all the hype, Escobar ended up with a slash line of .258/.328/.415.
Andy Marte: The hype machine was on overdrive for Marte, a monster third baseman who was blocked by Chipper Jones in Atlanta and just needed a place to play. He put up big numbers at every level in the minors, and when the Braves traded him to Boston for Edgar Renteria it looked like he’d finally get the chance to show what he could do. He never did play for the Red Sox, though; about a month later he was traded to the Indians, who probably knew they had a dud on their hands when he couldn’t beat out Aaron Boone for the third base job. Marte never panned out and finished up with a career line of .218/.276/.358. He’s currently playing in the Korean league.
Drew Henson: The Yankees famously gave Henson $17 million to stop playing football for the University of Michigan and instead play third base for them in Triple-A. Like Marte, he was supposed to be a big, dangerous power hitting third baseman who’d anchor the Yankees lineup for years to come. Unfortunately for the Yanks, Henson just wasn’t very good at baseball. He never did anything of note in the minors (besides striking out a ton and making a whole lot of errors at third), and only got nine at bats in the big leagues (with one hit). He quit baseball in ’04 and forfeited $12 million of the Yankees’ money to return to football.
Todd Van Poppel: The consensus best high school pitcher in the country in ’91, Van Poppel almost went number one overall to the Braves in the draft but slipped because he’d expressed interest in going to college (the Braves ended up taking some guy named Chipper Jones). The A’s gave Van Poppel a $1.5 million signing bonus, a record at the time, and pushed him quickly through the minors. He never quite became “the next Nolan Ryan” as Sports Illustrated once claimed, though; far from it, in fact. He became the quintessential journeyman pitcher, lasting over a decade in the majors but never coming remotely close to matching the hype that came with him.
Ruben Rivera: Another over-hyped New York prospect, Rivera was supposed to be the next great Yankees outfielder who’d put his five tools to work and help solidify the Yankee dynasty of the late ’90s. He was Baseball America‘s second overall prospect in ’95, ahead of Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter. He never lived up to that billing and just wasn’t very good in the majors, though he did provide two memorable moments in his career: making the worst baserunning mistake in baseball history with the Giants, and stealing Jeter’s glove from the Yankees locker room. Quite a legacy.
