Angels 2012 draft retrospective: Jerry Dipoto does his best with one arm tied behind his back

Continuing our look at the past five years of drafts for the Angels, today we have 2012 on deck and we're ready to, in the words of Ian Mackaye, look back and laugh. I say that only because in hindsight, these things are ALWAYS funny, even though whether the draft could be deemed a success or failure is a different story altogether. Such lofty heights and aspirations for even the lowliest of picks, couple with completely overlooking other picks. That's just the nature of drafts...the bust rate is real.

To be honest, though, even though the Angels were hamstrung in this one from the get-go, it wasn't THAT bad at all. The Angels didn't have a pick in the 2012 draft until round 3, or #114 overall, and you probably remember why. The Day of the Panther (another funny thing to look back and laugh/cry at), when Jerry Dipoto and Arte Moreno gave fans Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson signings, cost the Angels some picks and had them off their back feet from the beginning. /shrug emoji

With that said, they picked up some useful pieces along the way, even if they had to do it in roundabout ways. Their first pick of the draft, in the third round, was pitcher R.J. Alvarez, who was traded to the Padres in the Huston Street deal. He is now with the A's organization, where he's not even a top 20 prospect in their system, but who knows where he'd rank in the current Angels farm. Their second pick, Alex Yarbrough, is in AAA and while he isn't burning up any current rankings list, he's an ok piece in a shallow system.

In the 13th round, they got current reliever Mike Morin, and in the 14th round they got Halos Heaven favorite and recent AAA callup Sherman Johnson. Not bad. Not having a pick in the first couple rounds probably hurt them, obviously, especially when those first two rounds included names like Corey Seager, Marcus Stroman, Joey Gallo, and Stephen Piscotty. But with that said, they STILL kinda/sorta got a first round pick after all.

Andrew Heaney was taken 9th overall, by the Marlins, and he's now an Angel (albeit an injured Angel, but he'll be back), thanks to some creative work from Jerry Dipoto. So they got a future rotation piece, a nice bullpen arm, and a few OK prospects on the horizon, in a draft where they seemingly didn't stand a chance. Overall, they took 17 pitchers, nine infielders, seven catchers and five outfielders. Also, they drafted Mickey Hatcher's son nephew, just for good measure.

Here's the full rundown of the Angels' 2012 draft, for posterity's sake: