WaPo: "The Worst Draft Pick in History"

...so I was like, "Hey, don't bogart the bong, pass it over to Mike-- c'mon, dude, who's gonna know?"

Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. The WaPo squib above caught my eye, which had probably been primed by something in the anterior lobe of my brainpan still thinking DRAFT since I saw a Yahoo piece Tuesday touting yet another outrageously fabulous h.s. f'ball class heading for Mighty Ohio State, where the recruits show up bright-tailed and bushy-eyed every fall and ask the latest Woody Hayes surrogate "So, coach, when do we start choking?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_signing_day

But back to WaPo (Dave Sheinin). Everybody has a Really Really Bad Draft Pick story-- boy, we sure do -- but I have to admit that Matt Bush may be hard to beat for worst ever.

The Worst Draft Pick in History

That's an ugly title to toss at somebody, but there can be little argument that Matt Bush -- No. 1 overall pick of the 2004 draft -- deserves it. I'd feel worse about saying that about a kid, except that this story in the San Diego Union-Tribune about the Padres' cutting ties with him makes him sound quite unworthy of pity.

To sum up his Padres career: It included three off-field altercations (including one that occurred just days after he was drafted), one failed position switch (he was drafted as a shortstop, but was switched to pitcher) and zero major league service time (he has yet to play above Class A).

Bush appears destined to join Brien Taylor (1991, Yankees) and Steve Chilcott (1966, Mets) as the only overall No. 1 picks who failed to reach the majors. However, given his off-field issues, the fact he never got above Class A and the quality of the player picked just after him (Justin Verlander), you could argue Bush is the worst draft pick in any sport, ever -- yes, worse than Ryan Leaf or Sam Bowie or Kwame Brown or Tony Mandarich.

At the time of the draft, the Padres were thought to prefer shortstop Stephen Drew and pitcher Jered Weaver but were worried about the high signing bonuses they were seeking (both were represented by Scott Boras), and ultimately went the cheaper route by selecting Bush, who also happened to be a local San Diego kid.

Here's hoping another San Diego kid poised to be the top pick this June turns out better.