Who knows what will become of whichever player the White Sox select with the No. 4 pick in Monday’s draft.
But recent history has not been kind to the No. 4 pick, that’s for sure.
Of the last 20 players selected with that choice, only one has been to an All-Star Game: Ryan Zimmerman, the longtime Washington National who was taken in 2005.
But Zimmerman is not only the lone All Star of the bunch. He’s far and away the lone player in the group that’s logged a large amount of big league games. Zimmerman’s got almost 1,600 major league contests under his belt. Of the remaining 19 players on the list, the closest in that category is Brian Matusz, the former Baltimore Oriole (and very briefly a Cub), who has played in 280 games. Next? Current Cubs slugger Kyle Schwarber, who was drafted just four years ago, with 249 games. Former White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd is right behind him with 243 games.
It’s a mostly uninspiring group, and six of them have yet to log a major league game at all — and two of those guys aren’t likely to considering they were drafted at the turn of the century.
1998: Jeff Austin, P, Royals (38 games)
1999: Corey Myers, SS, Diamondbacks (0 games)
MLB
2000: Mike Stodolka, P, Royals (0 games)
2001: Gavin Floyd, P, Phillies (243 games)
2002: Adam Loewen, P, Orioles (63 games)
2003: Tim Stauffer, P, Padres (201 games)
2004: Jeff Niemann, P, Rays (97 games)
2005: Ryan Zimmerman, 3B, Nationals (1,585 games)
2006: Brad Lincoln, P, Pirates (99 games)
2007: Daniel Moskos, P, Pirates (31 games)
2008: Brian Matusz, P, Orioles (280 games)
2009: Tony Sanchez, C, Pirates (52 games)
2010: Christian Colon, SS, Royals (142 games)
2011: Dylan Bundy, P, Orioles (78 games)
2012: Kevin Gausman, P, Orioles (141 games)
2013: Kohl Stewart, P, Twins (0 games)
2014: Kyle Schwarber, C, Cubs (249 games)
2015: Dillon Tate, P, Rangers (0 games)
2016: Riley Pint, P, Rockies (0 games)
2017: Brendan McKay, 1B, Rays (0 games)
What’s that all mean for the White Sox? Absolutely nothing. But at the same time it is interesting to see how unlucky teams have been with this pick. The White Sox will be looking to break that curse.