Skip to main content

No. 3: '07—Delmon Young; '17—Evan Longoria

  • Author:
  • Publish date:

The Original No. 3: Young (No. 3 BA, No. 3 BP)

The first pick of the 2003 draft and the game's No. 1 prospect heading into '06, Young reached the majors in late August of that season and hit well, bating .317 in 30 games, but his stock had fallen slightly in the wake of a 50-game suspension he received for throwing a bat an umpire while still in Triple A. Thanks in large part to his 93 RBIs (rather than his .288/.316/.408 line with 13 homers and 0.9 WAR), he was the runner-up to Boston's Dustin Pedroia in the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year voting, after which the Devil Rays traded him to the Twins in a six-player deal that brought back starting pitcher Matt Garza. The Rays won the AL pennant; Young kept hacking away at the plate and in the field with limited success. He had some big postseason moments, including winning the 2012 ALCS MVP award while with the Tigers, but he accumulated a grand total of 2.5 WAR in a 10-year career that was done before his 30th birthday.

The New No. 3: Longoria (No. 7 BA, No. 10 BP)

When the organization chose Longoria with the No. 3 pick of the 2006 draft, Tampa Bay hoped that it would have both him and Young in the middle of its lineup for years to come. Instead their only time as teammates came for one month in September 2013, by which time Young was a journeyman. The consolation prize for the Rays is that Longoria is by far the most successful player of the consensus 2007 top 10. He came up in early 2008 and was an instant smash, earning All-Star honors, winning the AL Rookie of the Year award and helping Tampa Bay reach the World Series. While he hasn't made an All-Star team or won a Gold Glove since 2010—thanks mostly to the competition from Adrian Beltre, Josh Donaldson and Manny Machado—he's smashed 247 homers and put up 48.0 WAR in his career.