Chicago Cubs Draft History

All tables below are based on the amount of WAR each player produced during their first seven seasons in Major League Baseball. The WAR totals for each draft class include both Pitching and Hitting WAR, but excludes any player that did not sign with their drafting team. The total WAR also reflects the total value the drafted player provided, not just the value to his drafting team.

*Data accurate through 2019 season.

Top Five Draft Classes

YearTeamWAR
2001Chicago Cubs58.8
2007Chicago Cubs39.9
1985Chicago Cubs37.0
1984Chicago Cubs35.5
1970Chicago Cubs34.5

Bottom Five Draft Classes

YearTeamWAR
1974Chicago Cubs-3.5
1992Chicago Cubs-2.8
1979Chicago Cubs-1.8
1989Chicago Cubs-1.5
1999Chicago Cubs-1.3
This list excludes any season past 2010, since those draft classes have a multitude of active players.

Top Five Draft Picks

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
1970367Rick Reuschel36.0
2007148Josh Donaldson30.1
1984231Gred Maddux28.2
201312Kris Bryant27.8
198524622Mark Grace21.2
List made from top five WAR values alone.

Five Biggest Busts

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
196712Terry Hughes-0.1
200013Luis Montanez-1.5
200713Josh Vitters-1.4
198413Drew Hall0.0
197514Brian RosinskiNo MLB Experience
List made from first round picks that produced less than 5.0 WAR in their first seven seasons and ordered by lowest overall pick.

Top Five Value Picks

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
198524622Mark Grace21.2
196912280Bill North16.1
198623582Rick Wilkins14.4
200111318Geovany Soto12.5
199629862Kyle Lohse11.5
List made from top five WAR values where a player was drafted outside of the first ten rounds.

Top Five Unsigned Draft Picks

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
197815377Mark Langston27.5
2003481408Tim Lincecum27.4
198737938Jeff Cirillo25.8
196513265Darrell Evans25.1
19859234Kevin Tapani23.1
List made from top five WAR values where a player did not sign with the team.

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