1990 Donruss Ben McDonald
Despite avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays, the Orioles appear to have the overall number one pick in next year's draft. The Royals (who were swept by Pittsburgh) are eight games "back" of Baltimore in the race to the bottom of the standings. One of the key factors in the Orioles victory was D.J. Stewart. The 25th pick in 2015 launched a towering home run and scored the winning run after doubling in the 7th inning.
Stewart had struggled in the early going of his MLB career as he failed to record a hit in his first 15 plate appearances. In his last two games, however, he is 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored. So, perhaps he is starting to adjust to his somewhat surprising big league call up.
Speaking of surprising, Stewart is the first non-top-five draft pick (not counting supplemental picks) drafted by the Orioles to make his debut for them since Brandon Snyder (drafted 13th in 2005) had a cup of coffee with the club in 2010 and 2011. Granted, the Orioles were drafting in the top 10 most of the years that followed so Stewart didn't have much competition.
Barring a late-season run, the Orioles will be drafting number one overall in 2019. As of right now, the consensus pick would be Bobby Witt, Jr., a five-tool shortstop playing high-school ball in Texas. Yes he is the son of former 142 game winner Bobby Witt. Entering his senior season at Colleyville Heritage, Witt Jr. could be the centerpiece of the next great Orioles team as a rangy shortstop who can win the game with his glove and his bat.
Of course, a lot can change over the next nine months. Witt Jr could struggle and fall back into the pack of other top shortstop prospects like CJ Adams or Greg Jones. The Orioles could decide they want a franchise catcher and go with Adley Rutschman from Oregon State. Or maybe they go the pitching route and are intrigued by Daniel Espino and his 99 MPH heater. While Witt Jr. might be the front runner, he's not head and shoulders above the competition.
The same can't be said for the player the Orioles selected the last (and only) time they had the first overall pick. When they finished with the worst record in the major leagues in 1988, there was no doubt who they were going to draft the next summer.
Ben McDonald literally towered over the competition. At 6'7" the lanky pitcher from LSU was the undisputed best amateur player in baseball. He struck out 373 batters in a whopping 307 innings during his three seasons in Baton Rogue while also starring for the US Olympic team in the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
Also, it wasn't like there was a lot of competition in the 1989 draft. Names like Tyler Houston (#2 Atlanta), Jeff Jackson (#4 Philadelphia) and Earl Cunningham (#8 Chicago Cubs) are familiar to only those who bet heavily on their rookie cards. Even in hindsight, the only real competition McDonald has was Frank Thomas, who was drafted 10th by the White Sox.
So there was no doubt the Orioles were going to draft a pitcher with a mid-90s fastball and a hammer curve. The problems began when they tried to sign him. McDonald and his father Larry were determined that the hard-throwing right-hander be paid what they thought he was worth, after all he was the highest-rated player by the Major League Scouting Bureau. Bo Jackson had signed a few years earlier for over a million dollars and that's what the McDonalds (advised by a young Scott Boras) were looking for.
The Orioles disagreed. Believing that Jackson's case was special (Kansas City had to woo him away from the NFL and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who had selected him in the NFL draft) they offered a mere $255,000 as a take-it-or-leave-it offer.
Negotiations dragged on. McDonald contemplated returning to LSU for his senior season (the reason Boras was an "adviser" instead of his actual agent was to allow McDonald to keep his amateur status. Another option was an alternative professional league that was rumored to begin play in 1990. Focused on 16 cities that didn't have major league teams, would be financed by a group of millionaires that included our current president.
Much like the USFL had lured some of college football players best prospects away from the NFL by offering them a lot of money, they offered Ben McDonald $2 million to join their league. He declined (rightly so as the league quickly fell apart). Shortly after the meetings in Trump Tower the Orioles and the McDonalds came to an agreement on a three-year $950,000 deal.
McDonald debuted later that summer and went on to have a mediocre career that was derailed by injuries. He finished with a 58-53 record with the Orioles before leaving as a free agent in 1996. He lasted just two seasons with the Brewers before retiring. He is now part of the Orioles broadcast crew and a cautionary tale for number one draft picks.
Being drafted first is no sure fire sign of future success. While Witt, Jr. has all of the tools to be an important part of the Orioles future nothing is guaranteed. There are a lot more Ben McDonald's than Ken Griffey Jr's in the history of overall number one picks.
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