Angels 2011 draft retrospective: Reagins' last ride gave us Cron and not much else

With the 2016 MLB Draft rapidly approaching, we're starting to really ramp up the draft coverage here at Halos Heaven. Jessica has been taking some looks at the organizational depth at various positions, and Turks Teeth has already unleashed the first iteration of his popular consensus rankings. So basically, we're covering the big picture stuff here before we get into June, narrow our focus and get down to the draft nitty gritty.

I figured it'd be as good of a time as any to look back at the past five years or so of draft wins and losses. If you're an Angels fan and/or a regular reader here at Halos Heaven, then you'll know that we'll be seeing more losses than wins, when it comes to poring over draft picks of yesteryear.

2011 was the last ride of Tony Reagins in the GM chair, and Ric Wilson's first year as head of scouting for the Halos. Both gentleman, looking back retrospectively, failed in similar ways when it came to discovering or developing talent; the Angels like their ho-hum college arms and shy away from a lot of the other tastier picks that other clubs picked up on.

The Angels had the 17th pick in the first round, and with it they chose a guy we've all come to know and love/hate: C.J. Cron. Cron was coming out of the University of Utah, and sites like Baseball America, as well as other pro scouts, had him as an intriguing 1B option. He was touted as one of the better "pure power" hitters in the entire draft, and with that sort of outlook, fans like myself thought we had a slugger on our hands.

Well...not so much. Cron has gotten himself plenty of playing time over the past few years, but has unfortunately shown a propensity for some nasty cold streaks. The dude mashes in AAA and spring training, but we're never quite sure what Cron we're going to get once it comes to the Angels' regular season.

In 113 games last year, his most playing time to date, he was good for 0.5 WAR and that slugging we hung our hopes on came in unpredictable spurts. Still, he's probably got a 1B gig here in Anaheim for the foreseeable future, seeing as how they are moving Albert Pujols into a more regular DH role, and they aren't really brimming with other 1B options in the minors.

Did the Halos whiff big time? Ehhh...kinda, sorta, but not by THAT much. The best names in the first round were guys already off the board(Gerrit Cole, Jose Fernandez, Francisco Lindor, Anthony Rendon) but right after the Angels selected Cron, the A's took Sonny Gray, and a few picks later, the Cards got Kolten Wong. Would you rather have one of those two guys, or Cron? I will take one of the former, thank you.

The rest of the draft was pretty uneventful, in a totally Angels sorta way. College players as far as the eye could see, with a few prep, high-upside guys thrown in here and there, for good measure. In big league playing time terms, this draft is pretty close to useless. There is Cron, and then there is 31st round pick Jett Bandy, and beyond that there isn't really anybody from that group that's gotten to the big league club and helped out in any meaningful way. To add insult to injury, 4th rounder Mike Clevinger was traded away by Jerry Dipoto(for Vinnie Pestano!!!) and is now up with the Indians and doing well. Ouch.

Take a long look...drink it in. This is how weak farm systems begin. But trust me...it gets worse. 2011 was just the beginning.