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1990 Major League Baseball draft

Baseball draft of amateur players

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The 1990 Major League Baseball draft was held in June 1990. The draft placed amateur baseball players onto major league teams. 1,487 players were distributed to 26 teams. The draft consisted of first round selections, supplemental first round selections, compensation picks, and many more rounds, in fact, it went a record 101 rounds with 40 first round selections. With a league-worst record of 65 wins and 97 losses in the 1989 MLB Season, the Atlanta Braves selected shortstop, Chipper Jones out of the Bolles School with the first pick of the draft. Nine NBA and NFL players were drafted in 1990. Seven of the first 10 picks were selected directly out of high school.

01First-round selections

The following are the first-round picks in the 1990 Major League Baseball draft.

= All-Star = Baseball Hall of Famer
Pick Player Team Position Hometown/School
1 Chipper Jones Atlanta Braves SS The Bolles School (FL)
2 Tony Clark Detroit Tigers OF Christian High School (CA)
3 Mike Lieberthal Philadelphia Phillies C Westlake High School (CA)
4 Alex Fernandez Chicago White Sox RHP Miami Dade College
5 Kurt Miller Pittsburgh Pirates RHP West High School (CA)
6 Marc Newfield Seattle Mariners 1B Marina High School (CA)
7 Dan Wilson Cincinnati Reds C Minnesota
8 Timothy Costo Cleveland Indians SS Iowa
9 Ronnie Walden Los Angeles Dodgers LHP Blanchard High School (OK)
10 Carl Everett New York Yankees OF Hillsborough High School (FL)
11 Shane Andrews Montreal Expos SS Carlsbad High School (NM)
12 Todd Ritchie Minnesota Twins RHP Duncanville High School (TX)
13 Donovan Osborne St. Louis Cardinals LHP UNLV
14 Todd Van Poppel Oakland Athletics RHP Martin High School (TX)
15 Adam Hyzdu San Francisco Giants OF Cincinnati
16 Daniel Smith Texas Rangers LHP Creighton
17 Jeromy Burnitz New York Mets OF Oklahoma State
18 Aaron Holbert St. Louis Cardinals SS Jordan High School (CA)
19 Eric Christopherson San Francisco Giants C San Diego State
20 Mike Mussina Baltimore Orioles RHP Stanford
21 Thomas Nevers Houston Astros SS Edina High School (MN)
22 Steve Karsay Toronto Blue Jays RHP Christ the King Regional High School (NY)
23 Lance Dickson Chicago Cubs LHP Arizona
24 Rondell White Montreal Expos OF Jones County High School (GA)
25 Robert Beckett San Diego Padres LHP McCallum High School (TX)
26 Donald Peters Oakland Athletics RHP St. Francis College

02Supplemental first round selections

03Background

The draft went a record 99 rounds, surpassing 1989's total of 88, and included a record 1,487 selections. The Astros had the most selections with 100. Seattle followed second with 75. The 1990 draft included two Class A clubs, the Erie Sailors of the New York-Penn League and the Miami Miracle of the Florida State League. Rule 4 draft regulations permitted minor league clubs to participate. Erie made one selection, 24-year-old Brigham Young outfielder Gary Daniels. Miami made 16 selections, signing 15 of them, including All-American outfielder Paul Carey of Stanford in the fourth round. Atlanta made Chipper Jones, a high school shortstop from the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, the draft's top pick. Detroit followed by picking outfielder Tony Clark out of Christian High School in El Cajon, California. The top three picks and seven of the top 10 choices were out of high school.

In the weeks leading up to the draft, the Atlanta Braves, having been awarded the top selection after finishing with the league's worst record from the year before, had narrowed down their options and were still largely undecided on whom they would take. One name most frequently mentioned was Todd Van Poppel, a right-handed prep pitcher who could scrape triple-digits with his fastball. Van Poppel, however, adamantly stated that he would not sign with the club if they drafted him, and fell to 14th overall due to his massive signing bonus demands. The Braves instead chose a shortstop from Jacksonville's Bolles School, named Chipper Jones, who would go on to be not just one of the greatest draft picks of all time, but one of the consensus greatest third basemen and switch-hitters in baseball history. Van Poppel, on the other hand, found very little success in the majors, and professional hitters exploited the lack of movement on his fastball and erratic command. Jones' endearing, easygoing Southern persona and remarkable consistency over his nearly 20-year career (all as a Brave) earned him a first ballot Hall of Fame selection.

04Other notable players

† All-Star
‡ Hall of Fame

NFL/NBA players drafted

Watch videos about 1990 Major League Baseball draftExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article 1990 Major League Baseball draft, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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