Continuing with a deep dive into 5 more original draftees that went no where. This time with a little more structure.
Any typos or poor formatting, forgive me. I am not bothering to edit myself this time around.
Enjoy!
Carl “C.J.” Henry – Round 30, pick 3 in CPL 2007. Drafted in 2005, 17th overall by the Yankees. #4 in the yankees system in 2006, but bounced to #20 in the Phillies system by the next year. His minor league career was defined by speed and strikeouts and mediocrity everywhere else. After a couple years bouncing back and forth between the Phillis and Yankees, he quit to pursue basketball and became a 3 star recruit (whatever that means). Basketball must not have worked out because he resurfaced in indy ball a couple years later before eventually calling it quits for good at 29 (https://californiawinterleague.com/2015/02/24/c-j-henry-the-term-journeyman-redefined/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Henry)
Travis Lee – Round 31, pick 2 in CPL 2007, 2nd overall pick in the 1996 draft by the Minnesota Twins. After playing in 1099 games through 2006 (for a whopping 7 WAR), he appeared in precisely zero after being drafted. His career did not seem to match his draft pedigree, with a decent K/BB ratio and very little else, especially for a first baseman. After the 2007 draft, Lee retired before the season even began having lost the will to play the game and apparently suffered from a bad case of the yips (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1715425/2020/04/14/i-was-terrified-out-there-how-the-yips-forced-travis-lee-to-retire/), (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_Lee, (https://www.draysbay.com/2018/5/7/17326748/youre-a-wizard-travis). Travis has spent his time away from the sport coaching his kids.
Mike Jones – Round 31, pick 7 in CPL 2007, 12th overall pick in 2001 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Ranked in Brewers farm system from 2002 to 2005 as 4th, 2nd, 6th and 22nd respectively before suffering back to back elbow and shoulder injuries. Who could’ve guessed. This would be a recurring theme for the next 5 years as seasons of 100+ IP were paired with seasons with less than 40 IP. After so many come back attempts he hung up the cleats at 28 (https://www.al.com/sports/2011/02/ex-huntsville_star_mike_jones.html) to spend time as Mr. Mom (https://brewersbeat.mlblogs.com/former-first-rounder-jones-retires-8dd455277f3b)
Brandon Erbe – Round 32, Pick 7 in CPL 2007. Round 3 pick 13 in 2005 draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Ranked a top prospect for the Orioles from 2006 until 2011 as #9, #2, #10, #6, #7 and #27 respectively. The drop off in ranking coinciding with a torn labrum (https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-16475720). He pitched another 3 seasons after that before retiring and at some point coaching college ball (https://umterps.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/brandon-erbe/524).
Billy Rowell – Round 32, pick 8 in CPL 2007. 9th overall pick in 2006 draft by the Baltimore Orioles. Ranked a top prospect in the Orioles organization from 2007 to 2010 as #1, #5, #7 and #30 respectively. After cited bouts of immaturity and failing to live up to his expectations for a 5th straight season, Rowell apparently gave in to despair and was handed a 50 game suspension for “Drug of Abuse” in 2012 (https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-31244294). A short time later, the Orioles cut ties (https://www.baltimoresun.com/2012/10/25/orioles-to-cut-ties-with-billy-rowell-2/) and that seemed to be the end of his time on the field despite toying with the idea of switching to the mound to take advantage of what might have been a decent arm. Since then he has apparently stayed out of the public eye with no follow up articles or posts about coaching or anything else.
Share this post
Comments