Houston Astros 2014 Draft Has Paid Off for Oakland A's
The Houston Astros 2014 Draft is notorious as the one that the club failed to sign left-hander Brady Aiken after selecting him with the first overall pick. As time has gone on, it's becoming clear that the A's were the team to come out furthest ahead from the Astros' selections that year.
With the No. 37 pick, the Astros selected Derek Fisher, who made his MLB debut in 2017 and then bounced around a bit from 2019 to 2022 playing for the Blue Jays and Brewers, then in the minors with the Twins. He put up a total of 0.7 WAR for Houston in his 112 games with the club.
Houston's second round selection was first baseman A.J. Reed, who destroyed the minor leagues in 2015 and 2016 and looked like he was going to be a monster. He played in 45 games with Houston in '16 and hit just .164 while striking out 34% of the time. He received limited opportunities from there on out as the Astros signed Yuli Gurriel to man first base. He was eventually waived by the club in 2019 and claimed by the White Sox. He retired in 2020, racking up -1 WAR for Houston.
The third pick, No. 75 overall, was J.D. Davis. While the A's just signed him to a one-year deal yesterday, he accumulated -0.5 WAR as a member of the Astros before being traded to the New York Mets. He was the only player involved in that deal that ended up playing in the big leagues, and Davis has put up 1.8 WAR with both the Mets and Giants in his time at each stop.
Right behind Davis in the Draft was Daniel Mengden, whom the Astros traded to Oakland along with Jacob Nottingham in the Scott Kazmir deal. He spent five seasons with the A's and put up 2.4 WAR across 302 2/3 innings. The A's also went on to trade Nottingham for Khris Davis, who'd hit .247 while launching 40+ homers on a regular basis.
For the purposes of this exercise, we'll skip ahead to Houston 16th round selection, which happened to be Ramón Laureano. Laureano is easily the best pick that Houston made in this class, and they traded him to Oakland in 2017 for relief pitcher Brandon Bailey, who tossed 7 1/3 innings for Houston in 2020.
Laureano instantly became a fan favorite in Oakland with his amazing defense and eye-popping throws in the outfield that paired nicely with his all-out offensive approach. He put up 11.8 WAR with Oakland.
The A's have had 14.2 WAR already put up by this class while on their roster, and Davis is projected for another 1.8 WAR this season via ZiPS. He may not play the whole year with Oakland, which could ding that total a little, but let's call it 15 to be fair.
The Astros, from their own draft class, have received -1.1 WAR from guys they selected that played on their own roster. Dean Deetz (zero WAR) and Josh James (0.3) also made it to Houston with the Astros.
While it's fun to notice these little things now and again, it should also be noted that Houston has made seven consecutive American League Championship Series, so they're doing something right.
After failing to sign Aiken in the '14 Draft, they were given the second overall pick in the 2015 Draft and ended up taking Alex Bregman. Three picks later they selected Kyle Tucker, so they're doing just fine. Those two have combined for 53.7 WAR in Houston.
Their comp pick from that year at No. 37 was Daz Cameron, who just so happens to be a non-roster invitee for the A's this spring.