So, starting in 1995:
GM: Malone
Total picks: 46
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML in 2009): 6-Michael Barrett* (1), Henry Mateo (2), J.D. Smart (4), Brian Schneider* (5), Jeff Austin (10) and Pete LaForest (16).
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 2228 (dominated by Barrett and Schneider's combined 1928)
Out of the 6 players they drafted, only 2 are still active and they were really the only two to stick in the majors. Funny that 3 of the 6 drafted were catchers in the majors. While this draft was a major failure talent-wise, it at least produced ML players in 4 of the top 5 picks. Also worth noting: the Expos picked 28th overall, the latest non-supplemental first round status in franchise history, as they were the best team in baseball in the strike-shortened 1994 season. Overall, it was a pretty bad draft.
1996:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 46
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 8-John Patterson (1), Milton Bradley* (2), Christian Parker (4), Jamey Carroll* (14), Andy Tracy* (16), Chris Stowers (17), Tim Young (19) and Carl Sadler (34).
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 1834
Like many of the drafts I'll be examining, there was an excellent find in the top few rounds: Milton Bradley. Another trend that goes hand-in-hand with that: Bradley barely played 100 games for the Expos. Remember that Patterson didn't sign with the Expos, but instead with the Diamondbacks (according to Wikipedia, "Montreal lost the draft rights to Patterson on a legal technicality: they sent him a contract offer that was not printed on official team letterhead, and he signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for $6.075 million."). So even though this draft produced two ML batters with 700+ games played in Bradley and Jamey Carroll, the Nats got pretty much nothing out of this draft.
1997:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 56
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 5-Brian Hebson (1s), TJ Tucker (1s), Talmadge Nunnari (9), Scott Strickland (10), Matt Blank (11)
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 437
Worst. Draft. Ever. In. The. History. Of. Everything. This is completely unfathomably bad. The Expos had 7 supplemental first round picks and 9 total in the top 100. Out of these, 2 made the majors: Brian Hebson (2 career games) and TJ Tucker (171 career games). This is ineptitude that surpasses even Jim Bowden. Out of the top 15 drafted, 2 made the majors. Of the 13 that didn't, 11 were High Schoool picks and 2 were Junior College selections. Pretty much the textbook year for the "DON'T DRAFT HS PLAYERS" way of thinking.
1998:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 47
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 2-Brad Wilkerson (1s) and Jimmy Serrano (18)
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 982
Despite the fact that there were only 2 Major Leaguers in the Expos' 1998 draft, at least they didn't blow 7 of 8 supplemental first rounders. Wilkerson was an average-or-better hitter for 5 full seasons and Serrano pitched 32 and 2/3 innings of league-average ball in 2004. But wow, what a killer 2-year stretch for the Expos. I didn't put a * beside Wilkerson because, even though he played a little bit for the Red Sox' AAA affiliate this year, he officially retired.
1999:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 48
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 5-Brandon Phillips* (2), Matt Cepicky (4), Brandon Watson* (9), Val Pascucci* (15) and Matt Watson (16)
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 818
Another terribly top-heavy draft that didn't benefit the franchise at all. Phillips turned into a very good 2B, but nobody else stuck in the Majors out of this draft. 4th straight year of little return for the franchise. No wonder the Expos were so bad.
2000:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 49
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 11-Justin Wayne (1), Grady Sizemore* (3), Cliff Lee* (4), Shawn Hill* (6), Wes Littleton* (7), Phil Seibel (8), Fred Lewis* (20), Jason Bay* (22), Russell Martin* (35), Anthony Ferrari (44) and Jeff Karstens* (45) (note-Littleton, Lewis, Martin and Karstens did not sign).
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 2606
Awesome draft. Too bad only Hill did anything for the Nats. This draft was a victim of Omar Minaya, who dealt Lee, Sizemore and Brandon Phillips (along with Lee Stevens) to Cleveland for Bartolo Colon (and Tim Drew) during the 2002 season. Thank goodness Minaya, one of the most overrated GM's of the current era, is in New York now. At least there he can attempt to cover up his mistakes by spending large sums of money on FA's.
2001:
GM: Beattie
Total picks: 50
Major Leaguers (* denotes 1 or more GP in ML or AAA in 2009): 4-Mike Hinckley* (3), Josh Labandeira (6), Chad Bentz (7) and Chris Schroder* (19)
Still with Nationals: 0
Total ML games amongst draftees: 137
Ummmm...when Chris Schroder is the best pick in a draft, it's a pretty bad one. That being said, I really wish we still had Schrodes to anchor or bullpen-Billy Beane, will you give him back? Pretty please?
At this point the Jim Beattie era mercifully ended. His totals: 35 major leaguers in 6 drafts...pretty bad. There were some diamonds in the rough, but none of them stuck around long enough to matter for the Nats. I'll get Minaya and Bowden done sometime tomorrow. Key stat: 0 players in drafts before 2001 are still with the Nats. Look at it this way: at least things can't get worse than this. And at least Jim Beattie isn't running the franchise anymore. You know he went to Dartmouth? For someone so smart, he's pretty stupid.
