Prospects Plus: A Failed Experiment

The book has finally been closed on one of the worst experiments in the history of the Washington Nationals. After five years in the farm system, Jack McGeary is gone from the system. The Boston Red Sox selected the Massachusetts native in the Rule 5 draft during the recently completed Winter Meeting in Nashville.

When McGeary was selected in the 2007 draft he was supposed to be the face of the franchise for years to come. When the Nationals drafted McGeary in 2007, they gave him a $1.7 million signing bonus to buy him out of commitment to Stanford. Little did we know that McGeary would be a huge flop.

I remember seeing him pitch when he was in the SAL and thought what A Waste of Money, So Far. His stuff was not overpowering, his command was not that good and he just seemed disinterested on the mount. During his time in the Nationals system, McGeary put together an 8-18 record with a 4.97 ERA. McGeary never made it pass A-Ball.

At first I was in total favor of the drafting him and paying him, little did I know that he would turn into an example of how much of a crap shoot the baseball draft really is.