Detroit Tigers 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
1976Detroit Tigers63.2
1975Detroit Tigers44.7
1998Detroit Tigers34.1
2004Detroit Tigers31.7
1974Detroit Tigers29.9

Bottom Five Draft Classes

YearTeamWAR
1971Detroit Tigers-3.2
2009Detroit Tigers-1.5
2003Detroit Tigers-0.8
1967Detroit Tigers-0.5
1973Detroit Tigers0.0
This list excludes any season past 2010, since those draft classes have a multitude of active players.

Top Five Draft Picks

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
200412Justin Verlander31.1
2002380Curtis Granderson24.1
198522574John Smoltz23.3
1998114Jeff Weaver22.6
1975599Lou Whitaker22.4
List made from top five WAR values alone.

Five Biggest Busts

Year DraftedRoundOverall PickNameWAR
199711Matt Anderson1.0
197612Pat Underwood3.2
200313Kyle SleethNo MLB Experience
197513Les FilkinsNo MLB Experience
199913Eric Munson-1.7
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
198522574John Smoltz23.3
198619489Chris Hoiles18.6
199212336Bobby Higginson16.7
200512360Matthew Joyce12.3
197217404Vern Ruhle9.0
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
1965353Andy Messersmith26.5
19767146Ozzie Smith19.7
1995551456Mark Mulder19.5
1992411148Mark Redman13.2
197519435Bruce Berenyi12.8
List made from top five WAR values where a player did not sign with the team.

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