The 3 Biggest MLB Draft Busts in Colorado Rockies History

The MLB Draft is fast approaching and the Colorado Rockies will have multiple chances to select some of the best players on the board. The Rockies will pick:

No. 10, First Round
No. 37, Competitive Balance Round A
No. 38, Second Round
No. 76, Third Round
No. 104, Fourth Round
No. 136, Fifth Round.

Historically, the Rockies have found some of their standout players in history in the draft.

From Todd Helton and Troy Tulowitzki to Nolan Arenado, cornerstone pieces have been found through scouting, research, and analytics, followed by player development. But for every one of those home runs, there have also been draft picks that have failed to deliver.

Sometimes it is injuries, sometimes development, and sometimes simply not living up to the high expectations that come with being selected early on in the draft. But whatever the reason, here are three players who stand out as the biggest draft busts in Colorado Rockies history.

1. Greg Reynolds (2nd Overall, 2006)

This one was just a given, as not another single draft pick stands out as more disappointing.

Greg Reynolds was a superstar at Stanford, and he looked like a stellar pick at the top of the draft. Colorado was positive they had just selected their future ace of the rotation when they were able to land Reynolds in the draft.

Instead, the reality of the situation was that Reynolds never even came close to fulfilling Colorado’s expectations.

According to his stat lines on MLB.com, Reynolds showed up on the major league field in 2008 for 14 games with the Rockies. In that time, he went 2-8, giving up 56 earned runs in 62 innings while only striking out 22. He walked 26 and allowed 14 home runs. He ended the year with a very disappointing 8.13 ERA.

Greg Reynolds, 201 — Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Greg Reynolds (40) pitches. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

They gave him another chance in 2011. This time he appeared in 13 games, pitched 32 innings and allowed 22 earned runs. His ERA improved to 6.19, but this was never going to meet the expectations of a No. 2 draft pick.

What makes this selection so disappointing is who came immediately after his selection in the 2006 draft. Players who were still available but went shortly after Reynolds include:

Evan Longoria, No. 3, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Clayton Kershaw, No. 7, Los Angeles Dodgers
Tim Lincecum, No. 10, San Francisco Giants
Max Scherzer, No. 11, Arizona Diamondbacks

Any one of those players could have significantly changed the path of the Rockies franchise. Instead, they picked Reynolds, and that makes him one of the most significant missed opportunities in Colorado’s draft history.

2. Riley Pint (4th Overall, 2016)

Once again, trying to find an ace, the Rockies selected Riley Pint with high hopes. He was a hard-throwing right-hander who regularly reached triple digits with his fastball.

He was one of the highest-ranked high school pitchers of the time and appeared to have incredible upside.

Unfortunately for everyone, that kind of performance never showed up in the major leagues. He had control issues that kept him in the farm system and then injuries that added to the problems.

Pint stepped away from baseball multiple times before he ever made a debut. Finally, seven years after he was drafted, he stepped onto the mound for the Rockies. In that single game, he was a disaster. He didn’t make it a single inning.

3. Choo Freeman (36th Overall, 1998)

The Rockies picked Freeman as a supplemental first-round pick, and at the time, it looked like he had plenty of promise ahead of him.

He just never materialized into the everyday player Colorado thought they were getting.

Freeman progressed through the Rockies farm system and was considered one of its top prospects. Over the three seasons he spent with the MLB team, he appeared in 151 games, batting .225 with 64 hits, three home runs, 29 RBI, and a .629 OPS. Then his time with the team came to an end.

His numbers are not as disastrous as the other two players on this list, but the fact is that he never lived up to expectations. He was gone from the organization before his 28th birthday and was gone from MLB after the 2007 season.

Every Team Misses

No team hits a “home run” every time in the draft. The Rockies have plenty of history of picking stars. These just happen to be three talented players who never became franchise-changing pieces.

Hopefully, the 2026 MLB Draft will treat the Colorado Rockies well.

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