The Major League Baseball amateur draft is less the a month away and I thought that I’d take a stab at putting together an “All catcher crew” of players who were selected during the amateur draft as catchers and subsequently moved to another position before debuting in the majors.I did something similar earlier this month when I compiled an “All shortstop squad” of drafted shortstops who changed position.
Once again, I was able to find enough good players to create a good lineup and – just like the shortstop list – I was a bit surprised by some of the names that I found, which included a Hall of Fame first baseman, a great closer, and a former Rookie of the Year. There’s even a former catcher who went on to become a 20-game winner – Ed Figueroa who pitched over 230 innings during four consecutive seasons for the California Angels and New York Yankees.
A few notes:
1. My selection pool includes every year of the draft, which started in 1965.
2. Players had to have played zero games as a catcher during their major league career in order to be eligible for consideration.
3. Drafted position is based on the position listed on the MLB.com draft history page for each amateur draft. That means that you won’t see players like Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper or Seattle Mariners prospect Alex Jackson – primarily catchers prior to the draft – because they were listed as outfielders during the draft.
| Repositioned Catcher Starting Lineup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Year | Pick | Team | School |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 1973 | 63 | BAL | Locke HS (CA) |
| 2B | Neil Walker | 2004 | 11 | PIT | Pine Richland HS (PA) |
| SS | Denny Hocking | 1989 | 1311 | MIN | El Camino College (CA) |
| 3B | Brett Lawrie | 2008 | 16 | MIL | Brookswood SS (BC) |
| LF | Jayson Werth | 1997 | 22 | BAL | Glenwood HS (IL) |
| CF | Marlon Byrd | 1999 | 306 | PHI | Georgia Perimeter College |
| RF | Dave Parker | 1970 | 324 | PIT | Courter Tech HS (OH) |
| SP | Ed Figueroa | 1967 | 54 | MIN | George Washington HS (NY) |
| CL | Troy Percival | 1990 | 175 | CAL | University of California-Riverside |
Once again, I didn’t include a designated hitter, although there are several good candidates available on the list below.
| Other Notable Former Catchers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Player | Year | Pick | Team | School |
| 1B | Paul Konerko | 1994 | 13 | LAD | Chaparral HS (AZ) |
| 1B | Ryan Garko | 2003 | 78 | CLE | Stanford University |
| 1B | Mike Jacobs | 1999 | 1156 | NYM | Grossmont College (CA) |
| 1B | Matt Adams | 2009 | 699 | KCR | Slippery Rock University (PA) |
| 1B | Gaby Sanchez | 2005 | 126 | MIA | University of Miami |
| 1B | Lamar Johnson | 1968 | 54 | CHI | Wenonah HS (AL) |
| OF | Wil Myers | 2009 | 91 | KCR | Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) |
| RF | Ellis Valentine | 1972 | 29 | MON | Crenshaw HS (CA) |
| RP | Jason Motte |
2003 | 575 | STL | Iona College (NY) |