Headlines

  • Félix Bautista Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Miss 12 Months
  • Pirates To Promote Bubba Chandler On Friday
  • Phillies Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot
  • Red Sox Finalizing Deal With Nathaniel Lowe
  • Marcelo Mayer To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery
  • Orioles Promote Samuel Basallo
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Hart Talks Success Late In Draft

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | June 3, 2011 at 10:59pm CDT

When John Hart says high draft picks are generally the ones who become stars, he's speaking from experience. The longtime Indians and Rangers GM saw first rounders like Manny Ramirez and C.C. Sabathia develop into some of the best players in the game. Now a senior Rangers advisor and MLB Network analyst, Hart says truly successful drafts will also feature late-round gems.

“You have to have success after the first day of the draft,” he said, pointing out that he and the Rangers staff selected Ian Kinsler in the 17th round of the 2003 draft. “When everyone’s reconnects [after day one] you say ‘hey boys, there’s a lot of big leaguers out there. Let’s go get big leaguers.’” 

Kinsler

Players like Richie Sexson (24th round, 1993), John McDonald (12th round, 1996) and David Riske (56th round, 1996) became 'finishing touches' for the Indians under Hart. Those drafted earlier on attracted more attention, but Hart soon learned that you can’t just survive on your first and second rounders.

Most general managers don’t have the time to see hundreds upon hundreds of players, as an amateur scouting director would, so a GM is most heavily involved early on in the draft. Hart, who would typically see six to ten amateurs in anticipation of each draft, would step back after a few rounds, make notes and ‘scout his scouts.’  It helped fill the time between picks, which can be particularly excruciating if a team is hoping a specific player falls to them.

“If you’ve got one guy that’s clearly your front guy and you’ve got three picks to get there. It is a long time waiting to get that guy,” Hart told MLBTR this week. “And when that club calls the name [of another player], there’s a lot of excitement in the room – guys are very happy.” 

The Rangers had a college right-hander in mind when they held the 12th overall pick five years ago, Hart's first season in his current role. It appeared that they would get their man when, with the tenth overall pick, Tim Lincecum became property of the San Francisco Giants. 

“We were fired up and ready to go and your heart gets broken,” Hart said, reflecting on the Rangers’ near miss in 2006. “It really does. There’s just an empty feeling in the room when you lose your guy.” 

Especially since the player Texas selected instead, left-hander Kasey Kiker, has yet to throw a Major League pitch and currently has a 6.75 ERA in Class A. One way for GMs to make sure that they don’t telegraph their intentions is to stay away from the ballpark when a top target is playing. 

“Once a GM comes into a ballpark, that word starts spreading and the next thing you know, you can run guys up a board,” Hart said.

GMs generally stand out more than scouting directors, especially at a high school or college game. Though it’s the scouting directors, cross-checkers and area scouts who do most of the legwork, general managers are forever linked to the players their front office selects. 

“It’s funny,” Hart said, “I was talking to [current Rays executive and longtime Astros GM] Gerry Hunsicker today and we were both kind of laughing that a lot of times you get credit for players that your scouting director picked and sometimes you get trashed because of guys that your scouting director picked. But ultimately it does come down to you.” 

Photo of Kinsler courtesy Icon SMI. John Hart will be part of MLB Network’s coverage of the 2011 MLB first-year player draft on Monday, June 6th at 6pm CDT.

Share 0 Retweet 9 Send via email0

2011 Amateur Draft Texas Rangers

Visit The MLBTR Forums
Main
Astros Release Bill Hall
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Félix Bautista Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Miss 12 Months

    Pirates To Promote Bubba Chandler On Friday

    Phillies Place Zack Wheeler On Injured List With Blood Clot

    Red Sox Finalizing Deal With Nathaniel Lowe

    Marcelo Mayer To Undergo Season-Ending Wrist Surgery

    Orioles Promote Samuel Basallo

    Josh Hader Diagnosed With Shoulder Capsule Sprain, Hopes To Return In Playoffs

    Nationals Request Unconditional Release Waivers On Nathaniel Lowe

    Cubs To Promote Owen Caissie For MLB Debut

    Astros Place Josh Hader On Injured List Due To Shoulder Strain

    Mets To Promote Nolan McLean

    Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins

    Felix Bautista, Zach Eflin Done For The Season

    Shane McClanahan Undergoes Season-Ending Arm Procedure To Address Nerve Problem

    2025-26 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings: August Edition

    Write For MLB Trade Rumors

    Red Sox Extend Roman Anthony

    Buxton: Still No Plans To Waive No-Trade Clause

    Rob Manfred Downplays Salary Cap Dispute With Bryce Harper

    Tanner Houck To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Recent

    Latest On Blue Jays’ Rotation

    Which Other Players Could End Up On Waivers This Month?

    Félix Bautista Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Miss 12 Months

    Tigers’ Ty Madden Not Expected To Return In 2025

    Guardians Designate Carlos Hernández For Assignment

    MLB Mailbag: Konnor Griffin, Extension Candidates, Realignment, Ketel Marte, Detmers

    Reds Place Tyler Stephenson On Injured List With Thumb Fracture

    Pirates To Promote Bubba Chandler On Friday

    MLBTR Podcast: The Pohlads Aren’t Selling The Twins, Nathaniel Lowe, And Service Time Manipulation

    Latest On Aaron Judge’s Flexor Strain

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version