Angels 2013 draft retrospective: Wanna whole lotta busts

I'm not saying the 2013 draft was the worst ever, because it wasn't, really. But coming fresh on the heels of a year (2012) when didn't have any first or second round picks, and now facing down a year where they'd still have no first roundn pick, fans kind of get the sense that "ok, now we'll get us a top o' the line guy, in this here draft", no matter how misguided that rationale may be. Drafts are fickle, and there are busts galore...typically way moreso than than there are guys that totally pan out. Such is the nature of young baseball prospects.

But man, it's hard to not be just a little bit peeved at the return, or lack thereof, that Jerry Dipoto got out of those important early rounds. The first three picks for the Angels in 2013 were Hunter Greene, Keynan Middleton and Elliot Morris. Where are they now? Well, Hunter Greene is retired from the sport, Keynan Middleton is middling (ha, get it??!?!) in Single A Inland Empire (it's taken him a few years just to get to that level...when scouts said he was a project, they weren't kidding) and Elliot Morris is no longer in the organization, having been included in the deal that netted one Huston Street and Trevor Gott.

For a lot of players, it's still too early to tell their MLB fortunes, with only three years since the draft and keeping in mind how long it takes to develop guys sometimes. But man...rounds #2 through #4 pretty much having no impact on the team (except for one piece out of a few in the Street/Gott deal...which in a roundabout way leads us to Yunel Escobar) is kind of ugly, and makes it easier to see why the team's languishing in farm rankings hell.

There is still some bright spots to be found: this draft got the Halos Kyle McGowin, Nate Smith and Chad Hinshaw. Those three players may not be lighting up scoreboards around the country, but they're all considered top Angels prospects, with Smith and Hinshaw on the cusp of getting a shot at the bigs in the next  year or so. So it isn't ALL bad, but i'm still lamenting those first three picks under my breath.

Here's how we reacted to getting Hunter Greene in the second round. Woohoo?

Here's how the rest of the draft filled out for the Halos: