Who Is The Biggest Disappointment Of The Decade?

Question

The player who was declared a "phenom" before the ink was dry on his first pro baseball contract. The guy who was going to set the game on its ear, but turned out to be as flat in his performance as road kill.

Answer 1

Mark Prior

Answer 2

Andruw Jones  

Answer 3

barry bonds

Answer 4

Mark Prior and Corey Patterson WTF happened guys???

Answer 5

I'd go with Mike Hampton.

Couple of pretty good years, got that huge (years and dollars) contract, and then... well, it's too ugly for public consumption.

Answer 6

Kevin Brown.  He was declared a "phenom" very early in his career.  Fast forward to 1998.  He was a 33 year old free agent.  He was 139-99 with a 3.30 ERA.  He was considered to be well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.  He had five 15 win seasons under his belt and was expected to have many more.  He had lead the 1997 Marlins and the 1998 Padres to the World Series.  He was a four time All-Star (1992, 1996-1998) and had finished in the top three in Cy Young voting in both 1996 and 1998.  He had already thrown a no-hitter and led the league in wins with 21 in 1992 and a 1.89 ERA in 1996.

He was expected to be entering the prime of his career.  That is when the Dodgers signed him to a seven year, $105 million contract.  He was the first $100 million man in baseball and was the highest paid pitcher over the duration of the contract.  It is considered one of the worst deals ever because Kevin Brown averaged only nine wins per season over the contract and was frequently injured for the seven years.  

His $131 million that he made over his career ranks as 11th all-time, but he is not headed for Cooperstown, like many had expected early in his career.  The three pitchers who have been paid more money than him over his career - Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez - are all definitely going to he Hall of Fame.  The fact that he was paid more money than Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz tells by itslef how much he didn't meet expectations.

Answer 7

Mark Pryor - first name that comes to mind.

Answer 8

Andruw Jones

Answer 9

I remember hearing about Ben Grieve and his 'Dream Swing,' and how he was going to be the next best thing. As I recall, he never became too much of anything, although I guess he had a decent career.

Answer 10

Probably JD Drew. Everyone raves about his skills and how he can smack 30+ homers and drive in 100+ RBIs, but if you ask me, he is one overrated player. He was highly touted coming out of college, and was drafted in the 1st round by St. Louis with the 5th pick. He has only hit 30 homers once in his career and has only one 100 RBI season. Also his overratedness helped Valdosta, Georgia(where he is from) win the Titletown promo on ESPN.