The Major League Baseball Draft began in 1965, making 2024 the 60th edition of the event. In celebration of that milestone, MaxPreps has compiled a list of the top 60 high school players
ever drafted.
The list is compiled using Wins Above Replacement (WAR)
from
Baseball-Reference.com to rank players. Only
high school players who were drafted and never played in college were eligible for inclusion. Thus players like Barry Bonds, who was drafted out of
high school but went on to college and taken out of Arizona
State University, are not included.
Players are listed with their high school, the round they were drafted, who drafted them and what year, along with their WAR.
Drafted in 2011 by Cleveland, Francisco Lindor has been selected to four All-Star Games and finished in the top 10 of Most Valuable Player voting five times. (Photo: Mike Janes)
Top 60 high school players drafted
1. Alex Rodriguez, Westminster Christian (Miami, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 1 overall, Seattle, 1993
WAR: 117.6
2. Rickey Henderson, Oakland Tech (Oakland, Calif.)
Draft position: Fourth round, Oakland, 1976
WAR: 111.1
3. Greg Maddux, Valley (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Draft position: Second round, Chicago Cubs, 1984
WAR: 106.6
4. Cal Ripken Jr., Aberdeen (Md.)
Draft position: Second round, Baltimore, 1978
WAR: 95.9
5. Bert Blyleven, Santiago (Garden Grove, Calif.)
Draft position: Third round, Minnesota, 1969
WAR: 94.5
6. Wade Boggs, Plant (Tampa, Fla.)
Draft position: Seventh round, Boston, 1976
WAR: 91.4
7. George Brett, El Segundo (Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Kansas City, 1971
WAR: 88.6
8. Mike Trout, Millville (N.J.)
Draft position: No. 25 overall, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 2009
WAR: 86.1
9. Chipper Jones, Bolles (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 1 overall, Atlanta, 1990
WAR: 85.3
10. Ken Griffey Jr., Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Draft position: No. 1 overall, Seattle, 1987
WAR: 83.8
11. Tom Glavine, Billerica Memorial (Billerica, Mass.)
Draft position: Second round, Atlanta, 1984
WAR: 80.7
12. Clayton Kershaw, Highland Park (Dallas, Texas)
Draft position: No. 7 overall, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2006
WAR: 79.7
13. Zack Greinke, Apopka (Fla.)
Draft position: No. 6 overall, Kansas City, 2002
WAR: 77.5
14. Robin Yount, Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.)
Draft position: No. 3 overall, Milwaukee, 1973
WAR: 77.4
15. Johnny Bench, Binger-Oney (Binger, Okla.)
Draft position: Second round, Cincinnati, 1965
WAR: 75.1
16. Lou Whitaker, Martinsville (Va.)
Draft position: Fifth round, Detroit, 1975
WAR: 75.1
17. Derek Jeter, Kalamazoo Central (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Draft position: No. 6 overall, New York Yankees, 1992
WAR: 71.3
18. Bobby Grich, Woodrow Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.)
Draft position: No. 19 overall, Baltimore, 1967
WAR: 71.1
19. Alan Trammel, Kearny (San Diego, Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Detroit, 1976
WAR: 70.6
20. Gary Carter, Sunny Hills (Fullerton, Calif.)
Draft position: Third round, Montreal, 1972
WAR: 70.2
21. Scott Rolen, Jasper (Ind.)
Draft position: Second round, Philadelphia, 1993
WAR: 70.1
Draft position: Fifth round, Montreal, 1977
WAR: 69.4
23. Manny Ramirez, Washington (New York, N.Y.)
Draft position: No. 13 overall, Cleveland, 1991
WAR: 69.3
24. John Smoltz, Waverly (Lansing, Mich.)
Draft position: 22nd round, Detroit, 1985
WAR: 69.0
25. Mookie Betts, Overton (Nashville, Tenn.)
Draft position: Fifth round, Boston, 2011
WAR: 68.8
26. Ryne Sandberg, North Central (Spokane, Wash.)
Draft position: 20th round, Philadelphia, 1978
WAR: 67.9
27. Dwight Evans, Chatsworth (Calif.)
Draft position: Fifth round, Boston, 1969
WAR: 67.2
28. Willie Randolph, Tilden (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Draft position: Seventh round, Pittsburgh, 1972
WAR: 65.9
29. Roy Halladay, Arvada West (Arvada, Colo.)
Draft position: No. 17 overall, Toronto, 1995
WAR: 64.2
30. David Cone, Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.)
Draft position: Third round, Kansas City, 1981
WAR: 62.3
31. C.C. Sabathia, Vallejo (Calif.)
Draft position: No. 20 overall, Cleveland, 1998
WAR: 62.3
32. Dennis Eckersley, Washington (Fremont, Calif.)
Draft position: Third round, Cleveland, 1972
WAR: 62.1
33. Gary Sheffield, Hillsborough (Tampa, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 6 overall, Milwaukee, 1986
WAR: 60.5
34. Jim Edmonds, Diamond Bar (Calif.)
Draft position: Seventh round, California Angels, 1988
WAR: 60.4
35. Keith Hernandez, Capuchino (San Bruno, Calif.)
Draft position: 42nd round, St. Louis, 1971
WAR: 60.3
36. Freddie Freeman, El Modena (Orange, Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Atlanta, 2007
WAR: 59.4
37. Cole Hamels, Rancho Bernardo (San Diego, Calif.)
Draft position: No. 17 overall, Philadelphia, 2002
WAR: 59.0
38. Bret Saberhagen, Cleveland (Reseda, Calif.)
Draft position: 19th round, Kansas City, 1982
WAR: 58.9
39. Johnny Damon, Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 35 overall (First round supplemental pick), Kansas City, 1992
WAR: 56.3
40. Chet Lemon, Fremont (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Draft position: No. 22 overall, Oakland, 1972
WAR: 55.7
41. Manny Machado, Brito (Miami, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 3 overall, Baltimore, 2010
WAR: 55.2
42. Joe Mauer, Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.)
Draft position: No. 1 overall, Minnesota, 2001
WAR: 55.2
43. Nolan Arenado, El Toro (Lake Forest, Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Colorado, 2009
WAR: 54.6
44. David Wells, Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Toronto, 1982
WAR: 53.5
45. Jack Clark, Gladstone (Covina, Calif.)
Draft position: 13th round, San Francisco, 1973
WAR: 53.1
46. Dwight Gooden, Hillsborough (Tampa, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 5 overall, New York Mets, 1982
WAR: 53.0
47. Fred McGriff, Jefferson (Tampa, Fla.)
Draft position: Ninth round, New York Yankees, 1981
WAR: 52.6
48. Brian Giles, Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.)
Draft position: 17th round, Cleveland, 1989
WAR: 51.1
49. Torii Hunter, Pine Bluff (Ark.)
Draft position: No. 20 overall, Minnesota, 1993
WAR: 50.7
50. Kenny Rogers, Plant City (Fla.)
Draft position: 39th round, Texas, 1982
WAR: 50.5
51. Ted Simmons, Southfield Arts & Tech (Southfield, Mich.)
Draft position: No. 10 overall, St. Louis, 1967
WAR: 50.4
52. Andrew McCutchen, Fort Meade (Fla.)
Draft position: No. 11 overall, Pittsburgh, 2005
WAR: 49.3
53. David Wright, Hickory (Chesapeake, Va.)
Draft position: No. 38 overall (First round supplemental pick), New York Mets, 2001
WAR: 49.2
54. Jim Rice, T.L. Hanna (Anderson, S.C.)
Draft position: No. 15 overall, Boston, 1971
WAR: 47.7
55. Jimmy Rollins, Encinal (Alameda, Calif.)
Draft position: Second round, Philadelphia, 1996
WAR: 47.6
56. Devon White, Park West (New York, N.Y.)
Draft position: Sixth round, California Angels, 1981
WAR: 47.3
57. Mike Cameron, LaGrange (Ga.)
Draft position: 18th round, Chicago White Sox, 1991
WAR: 46.7
58. Willie Wilson, Summit (N.J.)
Draft position: No. 18 overall, Kansas City, 1974
WAR: 46.2
59. Francisco Lindor, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)
Draft position: No. 8 overall, Cleveland, 2011
WAR: 45.8
60. Brad Radke, Jesuit (Tampa, Fla.)
Draft position: Eighth round, Minnesota, 1991
WAR: 45.3