Here is a look at each club’s best Draft pick from the past 10 years

It’s always good to have a little perspective.

The 2026 Draft — set to begin Saturday in Philadelphia — has fans and clubs alike dreaming of the future. But sometimes in order to understand the future best, we still must turn to the past. Within the last 10 years, clubs have found MVP candidates, Cy Young winners, All-Stars, Rookies of the Year and No. 1 overall prospects. They’ve also drafted and developed players that they’ve traded and seen succeed big-time elsewhere. It’s all part of the Draft and development process.

As a reminder of what could be ahead for this year’s Draft class, here’s a look back at each organization’s best pick of the last decade:

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Blue Jays: Bo Bichette, SS (2016, second round)
After signing for $1.1 million nine years ago, the son of Dante Bichette quickly separated himself as a potential plus-plus hitter, winning a Minor League batting title in 2017, and that’s held up in the bigs with a career .290 average since his debut in ’19. Bichette has shown more power than expected from his Draft days too (e.g. his 29 homers in 2021), and while his early time with the Mets has been a disappointment, his three-year, $126 million deal (including two player options) in the offseason was a sign of his value in the industry.

Orioles: Gunnar Henderson, SS (2019, second round)
It’s nice to see Adley Rutschman right the ship a bit this year and earn an All-Star nod, but Henderson hangs on to this spot as the O’s second-round pick that year. He still tops Rutschman in career bWAR (22.5 vs. 16.6) and wRC+ (126 vs. 115).

Rays: Joe Ryan, RHP (2018, seventh round)
Ryan put himself on the Draft radar as a Cape Cod League All-Star in 2016 but transferred from Cal State Northridge to Division II Cal State Stanislaus for the ’18 season after dealing with lat and shoulder injuries. The Rays saw enough potential in him to take him in the seventh round, and even though a 2021 trade to the Twins for Nelson Cruz meant he never suited up for Tampa Bay, it’s still a heck of a find for that organization’s scouts. Ryan has become a two-time All-Star for Minnesota, and his 13.8 bWAR ranks behind only Tarik Skubal’s 20.0 and Logan Gilbert’s 14.4 among pitchers from the 2018 Draft class.

Red Sox: Roman Anthony, OF (2022, supplemental second round)
Jarren Duran (2018, seventh round) was one of the best players in baseball and the All-Star Game MVP in 2024, but his play has declined the last two seasons, so we’ll go with a potential superstar in Anthony. Once seen as a power-over-hit guy, the Florida high school product cleaned up his offensive game and received first-round money ($2.5 million) as the 79th overall pick in 2022 and went on to establish himself as the game’s top prospect before his 2025 big league callup. As a rookie, he slashed .292/.396/.463 in 71 games, became the third-youngest player in AL/NL history (behind Hall of Famers Mel Ott and Ted Williams) to homer and draw four walks in the same game, and matched Teddy Ballgame as the only Red Sox players to reach base 82 times in their first 50 contests. A left oblique injury truncated that season and a torn tendon in his right ring finger has sidelined him since early May.

Yankees: Cam Schlittler, RHP (2022, seventh round)
Schlittler dominated in his first two years at Northeastern before slipping a bit in his third, enabling the Yankees to steal him with the 220th overall pick in 2022. After they helped him add velocity, he became a postseason hero in 2025 and an All-Star this year, as he leads the AL with a 2.01 ERA and ranks second with 131 strikeouts.

Guardians: Shane Bieber, RHP (2016, fourth round)
Bieber stood out more with his control than his stuff at UC Santa Barbara, which he led to its first-ever Men’s College World Series appearance in 2016. The Guardians helped him significantly improve the velocity on his fastball and the quality of his breaking pitches as a pro, leading to a pair of All-Star nods in 2019 and 2021 sandwiched around an AL Cy Young Award and pitching triple crown in 2020. He has totaled just 12 starts in the last three years while dealing with elbow issues and Tommy John surgery.

Royals: Bobby Witt Jr., SS (2019, first round)
Seven years after he went second overall to Kansas City, Witt has become the no-doubt face of the franchise and will remain so for a long time after signing an 11-year, $288.8 million contract extension in February 2024. (The deal could push to 14 years with options.) After early inconsistencies on both sides of the game, the shortstop has become one of baseball’s best five-tool talents and particularly stands out for his power and speed with exit velocities and sprint speeds that rank among the best in the Majors. He should be in the AL MVP discussion for a long time to come.

Tigers: Tarik Skubal, LHP (2018, ninth round)
The University of Seattle alum gets the nod over All-Star Riley Greene for this spot because he’s been arguably the game’s most dominant arm of the last three years when healthy. Skubal won back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards in 2024 and 2025 — becoming the first AL pitcher to do so since Pedro Martínez (1999 and 2000) — and he is expected to become the biggest name on the free-agent market this offseason. Not bad for a lefty out of the ninth round.

Twins: Brent Rooker, OF (2017, supplemental first round)
While he made his debut with the Twins in 2020 and saw time with the Padres and Royals, he’s found a home with the A’s, making the All-Star team in 2023 and 2025, with three straight 30-home run seasons from 2023-25, winning a Silver Slugger Award in 2024.

White Sox: Garrett Crochet, LHP (2020, first round)
Crochet’s stuff took a leap at Tennessee in the fall of 2019, but he pitched just once during the pandemic-shortened season because of mild shoulder soreness. The White Sox still selected him 11th overall and called him to Chicago in September, making him the first player to make his pro debut in the big leagues since Mike Leake in 2010, as well as the first pitcher without pro experience to go straight to the Majors in the same year he was drafted since Mike Morgan and Tim Conroy in 1978. He thrived in the bullpen before requiring Tommy John surgery in April 2022, then came back and made two All-Star Games and led the AL with 255 strikeouts last season after becoming a starter in 2024. Not only did the White Sox benefit from his first All-Star appearance, but they also landed Braden Montgomery, Kyle Teel and Chase Meidroth in the trade that sent him to the Red Sox.

Angels: Zach Neto, SS (2022, first round)
Neto represented the first in a run of Angels first-round picks to race to the big leagues, and the No. 13 pick in 2022 has been a steady performer since making his big league debut on April 15, 2023, with just 44 games of Minor League experience on his résumé. The shortstop had back-to-back 5+ WAR seasons in 2024 and ’25, with 49 homers and 56 steals combined over those two seasons.

Astros: Jeremy Peña, SS (2018, third round)
One of the best defensive shortstops in the 2018 college class, Peña came with questions about his offensive impact but still became the highest-drafted position player ever from the University of Maine. Four years later, he swatted 22 homers during the regular season, became the first rookie shortstop ever to win a Gold Glove and the second rookie ever to win both Championship Series and World Series MVP awards.

A’s: Nick Kurtz, 1B (2024, first round)
So far so good for the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 Draft. He took home both a Rookie of the Year and Silver Slugger Award in 2025, finishing the season with 36 homers. He clubbed 20 homers over his first 89 games this season — so much for the sophomore slump — earning his first All-Star starting nod.

Mariners: Cal Raleigh, C (2018, third round)
Some of the M’s homegrown pitching could lay claim here, like Logan Gilbert or Bryan Woo, but we’ll go with the guy who hit 60 homers last year. He was an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner in 2025, as well while finishing as the runner-up in MVP voting. Current rough season aside, after three years of 30 or more homers and two straight 100 or more RBI seasons, we think he’ll get back on the right track.

Rangers: Wyatt Langford, OF (2023, first round)
The No. 4 overall pick in 2023, Langford slashed .360/.480/.677 while reaching Triple-A in his pro debut that summer and made the Rangers’ Opening Day roster the following March. In 2 1/2 seasons with the Rangers, he has batted .251/.333/.434 with 46 homers and 47 steals in 308 games while also providing quality defense in left and center field.

Braves: Michael Harris II, OF (2019, third round)
Several teams preferred Harris as a pitcher as the 2019 Draft approached, but much like they did in 2015 with Austin Riley, the Braves went for the offensive upside and it has paid off. Signed for slightly under slot in the third round, Harris currently stands fourth among all draftees from his class with 17.1 WAR, was named NL Rookie of the Year in 2022 and turned in his first 20-20 season in 2025.

Marlins: Michael King, RHP (2016, 12th round)
The lowest-drafted player on this list, King went 353rd overall in 2016, when he stood out more for his feel for pitching than his stuff at Boston College. He joined the Yankees in a November 2017 trade for Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith, and New York helped him upgrade his secondary pitches. He far exceeded expectations with three strong seasons as a reliever in the Bronx and then became a quality starter the last three years after joining the Padres in the Juan Soto deal.

Mets: Pete Crow-Armstrong, OF (2020, first round)
The Harvard-Westlake star went 19th overall to the Mets but ended up playing only six official games in the system before undergoing shoulder surgery in 2021 and getting traded to the Cubs later that summer. In 2025, he blossomed into a superstar with his elite center-field defense, top-of-the-line speed and burgeoning power, despite a high chase rate and second-half inconsistency, and he has taken that performance to yet another level in ‘26. Crow-Armstrong could be a perennial MVP candidate should this production hold deeper into his 20s.

Nationals: Jesús Luzardo, LHP (2016, third round)
Washington selected the Florida prep left-hander in the third round and went way above slot to sign him for $1.4 million, only to trade him to the Athletics in a deal for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson 13 months later. Luzardo has pitched for the A’s, Marlins and Phillies over his eight-year Major League career and has mostly been a stable rotation option when healthy. After finishing seventh in NL Cy Young voting last year, he was just named to his first All-Star game this month.

Phillies: Bryson Stott, SS (2019, first round)
After establishing himself with a solid rookie season in 2022, Stott took a nice step forward in his second season, finishing with 15 homers and 31 steals. His production has slowed down a bit, though you can count on him for double-digit homers and 24 or more steals (each of the last three seasons). He’s also helped the Phillies reach the postseason in each of his four big league seasons (2022-25).

Brewers: Jacob Misiorowski, RHP (2022, second round)
Top 2018 pick Brice Turang certainly deserves a mention here, but it’s hard not to go with the most lightning-armed starting pitcher in the history of baseball. Misiorowski was a typical Milwaukee JUCO find coming out of Crowder College, and there was certainly potential in his fastball that was only touching triple digits in his 6-foot-7 frame back then. Now, he’s ramping up the heater as high as 105.5 mph and picking up strikeouts by the bunches, all the while improving the control that bogged him down in his Minor League days. The Brewers’ certified ace could win his first NL Cy Young this year.

Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, INF (2024, first round)
Is it too early in Wetherholt’s career to be picked here? Perhaps, but there’s no doubting the former West Virginia phenom is off to the type of terrific career start that would set him up to be a franchise cornerstone in St. Louis. He’s come as advertised offensively as an all-around above-average hitter, and he’s also become instantly one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball, making him a great complement to Masyn Winn up the middle. That pips him above Zac Gallen, Brendan Donovan and Tommy Edman, each of which have lengthier MLB resumes, though don’t rule out Jordan Walker claiming this in future editions if his breakout holds longer.

Cubs: Nico Hoerner, SS (2018, first round)
Hoerner wasn’t a consensus first-rounder when the Cubs popped him 24th overall out of Stanford in 2018, but he was the first player from that Draft to reach the big leagues and has accrued more bWAR (23.1) than any pick that year. He’s a reliable hitter with gap power and basestealing savvy, and he has won two Gold Gloves at second base.

Pirates: Paul Skenes, RHP (2023, first round)
Will Konnor Griffin one day challenge for this spot? Perhaps, but today is not that day. The No. 1 overall pick in 2023 made it to the big leagues in May 2024, started the All-Star Game that summer and won Rookie of the Year honors. He topped that with an ERA title and Cy Young Award (not to mention his second All-Star nod) in 2025, and while he’s appeared more mortal at times this year, he’s headed to the Midsummer Classic again and his 15.7 WAR not only tops his class, but is more than any draftee’s title from 2020-2022 as well.

Reds: Andrew Abbott, LHP (2021, second round)
Abbott bet on himself when he went back to Virginia for his senior year, and boy has that paid off. His 13.4 WAR to date easily leads all from his Draft class. He was an All-Star and received Cy Young votes in 2025, finishing fifth in the NL in ERA (2.87) and seventh in both WHIP (1.15) and BAA (.235). He’s on his way this year towards posting his fourth straight season with at least 2.5 WAR.

D-backs: Corbin Carroll, OF (2019, first round)
Slightly overlooked in 2019 due to his lack of size, the 16th overall pick rose through the ranks to become the 2023 NL Rookie of the Year and help Arizona to its second World Series appearance. At his best, Carroll is still one of the fastest and most dynamic players in the sport as he’s proved with a 30-30 season in 2025.

Dodgers: Will Smith, C (2016, first round)
After batting .235 in his first two seasons at Louisville, Smith blossomed into the best all-around catcher in the 2016 Draft, yet somehow lasted 32 picks. He has lived up to his billing by starring on both sides of the ball for the Dodgers, helping them win three World Series and getting All-Star recognition for three straight seasons from 2023-25. He hit the World Series-winning home run last November with an 11th-inning blast off Shane Bieber.

Giants: Bryan Reynolds, OF (2016, second round)
Reynolds had the tools and track record of performance at Vanderbilt to merit going in the first round, but he inexplicably lasted 59 picks in 2016. The Giants didn’t hang on to him, however, spinning him to the Pirates in the Andrew McCutchen trade in January 2018. He has been Pittsburgh’s best position player since and gained All-Star recognition in 2021 and ’24.

Padres: James Wood, OF (2021, second round)
San Diego did quite well in 2021, scooping up Wood and Jackson Merrill with their first two picks, and 2019 first-rounder/2026 All-Star starter CJ Abrams — who was traded to the Nationals in the same Juan Soto deal as Wood — shouldn’t be overlooked here either. But the case for Wood here is an easy one. The 23-year-old outfielder has become one of the most successful power hitters in the game since he debuted in 2024 with the exit velocities, barrel rates and hard-hit percentages to back it up. The 6-foot-6 slugger is well on his way to a second straight 30-homer season, and 50-plus seems within reach at some point in his career.

Rockies: Hunter Goodman, C (2021, fourth round)
The Rockies liked Goodman’s power potential when they took him out of Memphis in 2021 and it’s shown up in the big leagues — and then some. After hitting 13 over 70 games in 2024, he erupted for 31 in 2025 en route to his first All-Star appearance and a Silver Slugger Award. He’s an All-Star again this year and hit 27 homers over his first 84 games.