The Best MLB Draft Steals of All Time
The first overall pick in the MLB draft carries a bit less weight than in the case of the NFL and NBA drafts. Sorry, Paul Skenes, Gerrit Cole, and Bryce Harper.
When it comes to finding diamonds in the rough, the NFL has its share of draft steals. But in the NBA, finding a star player in the weeds is virtually unheard of (outside of Nikola Jokic, most recently).
The NHL draft most closely resembles that of baseball's, which includes 20 rounds and over 600 players selected every year.
The process of getting picked as a college and amateur baseball player isn't too far off from a blind dart throw, as many ultimately flame out due to the mental and physical drain of the minor leagues.
That said, here are the 10 best MLB draft steals of all time.
10. Aaron Judge (32nd overall, 2013)
Judge can't be fully considered a steal, especially compared to his peers on this list. However, it is worth noting that before being taken at the end of the first round by the Yankees in 2013, Judge almost wound up with the Athletics, who took him in the 31st round of the 2010 MLB draft.
Judge could have very well wound up as the biggest steal in MLB draft history had he signed with Oakland out of Linden High School, but it's still enough of an eyebrow-raiser that 31 players were taken ahead of a player who will go down as one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history.
9. Jim Thome (13th round, 1989)
Thome is a fun pick here and shows how arbitrary the MLB draft can be. Thome was an overlooked baseball and basketball player in high school, going completely undrafted before continuing to play both sports at Illinois Central College.
After one year playing junior college, his raw power attracted the attention of the then-Cleveland Indians, who drafted Thome 333rd overall in the 1989 draft for a signing bonus of just $15,000 (roughly $40,000 today).
Thome went on to hit 612 home runs and make the Baseball Hall of Fame in what was an all-time 22-year career.
8. Paul Goldschmidt (8th round, 2009)
Goldschmidt is a prime example of teams placing too much weight on college competition and not enough weight on individual skill.
The mid-major Texas State product fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 246th overall pick, having much to do with his background as a player at a smaller school who struggled with strikeouts.
Unfortunately for the 29 other MLB teams that didn't draft Goldschmidt, he'd prove them entirely wrong, becoming a seven-time All-Star (including consecutively from 2013 to 2018) and winning the National League MVP in a resurgent 2022 season.
7. Bret Saberhagen (19th round, 1982)
Unlike Judge, Saberhagen did sign out of high school, selected 479th overall by the Kansas City Royals in the 1982 MLB draft.
A versatile prospect who played at Grover Cleveland High School in California, Saberhagen was actually viewed by many scouts as a better shortstop than pitcher, but his MLB career turned out to be the exact opposite.
Saberhagen showed his pitching prowess immediately after being drafted, throwing a no-hitter in the California state championship game at Dodger Stadium. Unlike many prospects today, Saberhagen skyrocketed through the Royals' minor-league system and made his debut in 1984.
In his second year, Saberhagen played an instrumental role in the Royals' 1985 World Series championship, winning World Series MVP at just the age of 21. Looking back, it's surprising that the two-time AL Cy Young and three-time All-Star slipped that far in the draft.
6. Ryne Sandberg (20th round, 1978)
Sandberg wrote his legacy in the north side of Chicago as a star for the Cubs, but very few perhaps know that he could have been an all-time star for the Phillies had his path to major league playing time been more open.
The Spokane, Washington, native was a multi-sport athlete out of high school. He was selected with the 511th overall pick by the Phillies and opted to sign rather than head to college to play football at Washington State.
Sandberg's path to a starting role in the Phillies' infield was blocked by all-time Phillies stars Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt, which led to a historically lopsided trade to the Cubs that saw Sandberg and Bowa head to Chicago for Ivan DeJesus.
While Bowa's streak of excellence wouldn't continue in Chicago, Sandberg became a Hall of Fame second baseman, winning the 1984 MVP along with 10 All-Star selections, nine Gold Gloves, and seven Silver Slugger awards. Not bad for 511th overall, right?
5. Tarik Skubal (9th round, 2018)
It's a pretty agreed-upon take that Skubal is one of baseball's bigger draft steals, but just how bad teams missed on him in 2018 will only be decided in hindsight.
Skubal is putting together an unbelievable resumé (two consecutive Cy Youngs, 'nuff said), and his legacy is still being written. But the Detroit Tigers made a shrewd decision to draft him with the 255th overall pick out of Seattle University, making him the highest-drafted player in the school's history.
Fortunately for the Tigers, it was Skubal's 2017 Tommy John surgery that caused him to plummet, as well as a lack of exposure in high-profile games.
4. John Smoltz (22nd round, 1985)
There's a case for Smoltz's MLB draft experience to be the biggest steal in baseball history, as the right-hander stands as one of the lowest-drafted Hall of Famers from the modern era.
Still, it wasn't his Atlanta Braves that pulled the trigger on him with the 574th overall pick in the 1985 MLB Draft, but the Detroit Tigers. A two-sport athlete committed to play basketball and baseball at Michigan State, Smoltz had heavy signability concerns.
In the era in which Smoltz was drafted, high schoolers were often not offered million-dollar signing bonuses like they are now, meaning a lot of high profile talent more often than not left for college rather than sign with their MLB team, making for many wasted picks.
Even after slipping in the draft, Smoltz was traded by the Tigers to the Braves for veteran pitcher Doyle Alexander in one of the most lopsided deals in baseball history. Smoltz would go on to spend 20 of his 21 seasons in Atlanta, winning a Cy Young, making eight All-Star teams, and being instrumental in the Braves' 1995 World Series win.
3. Mike Piazza (62nd round, 1988)
Smoltz's absurdly low draft selection is dwarfed by Piazza, whose selection as the 1,390th overall pick (!) in the 1988 June Amateur Draft makes him the lowest-drafted Hall of Famer by a long shot. That number will forever be untouchable, as no MLB Draft since 2021 has or ever will exceed 20 rounds.
Piazza was actually drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a personal favor to his father, who grew up in the same neighborhood in Pennsylvania as then-manager Tommy Lasorda, signing for a lowball $15,000 bonus.
After being drafted as a first baseman, Piazza converted to become a catcher, where he would break all sorts of records over a 16-year career with the Dodgers and New York Mets. Piazza holds the record for a catcher with 396 career home runs, to go along with 12 All-Star nods and 10 Silver Slugger awards.
2. Nolan Ryan (12th round, 1965)
Ryan's draft selection isn't even as egregious as those on this list, but it's utterly incomprehensible to think that 225 players were taken before MLB's all-time strikeouts leader (5,714) was taken by the Mets in 1965.
That said, the 1965 MLB draft was the first of its kind, running over two days and 45 rounds. In a draft that included MLB legends Johnny Bench (2nd round) and Tom Seaver (10th round), Ryan was easily the steal of the weekend.
Ryan was a raw pitching prospect, and the reason for why he fell in the MLB draft is laughable. Ryan's coach at Alvin High School took the team through an exhausting practice, and Ryan took the mound with much fatigue, performing poorly.
While Ryan spent most of his prime in California with the Angels, then in Texas with the Rangers and Astros, the Mets still made the right call drafting him, even if unfathomably low.
1. Albert Pujols (13th round, 1999)
Until proven otherwise, Pujols is the greatest right-handed hitter in MLB history. To think that he was only taken with the 402nd pick in the 1999 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals is shocking.
When he's Hall of Fame eligible in 2028, it would be surprising if Pujols doesn't get inducted in his first year.
That said, draft night was a punch in the gut for Pujols, who thought he would be the second pick of the Tampa Bay Rays, after they selected Josh Hamilton.
In 1999, Hamilton went first to the Rays, Josh Beckett went second to the Marlins, and 399 other players were selected before the Cardinals finally took a chance on Pujols in the 13th round.
"It's a chip on my shoulder that I will have for the rest of my career, until I'm done wearing a uniform," Pujols told MLB.com in 2016. "I still think about it."
To be fair, he had been lobbied as a target by Rays scout Fernando Arango, who had seen Pujols play at a small baseball tournament in the Missouri town of Republic.
Arango and the Rays missed out on Pujols, who was finally taken by a different team in Missouri, and the rest is history. "The Machine" hit 703 home runs over a 22-year career with the Cardinals and Angels, winning three NL MVPs, two World Series titles, and 11 All-Star appearances.
No one will approach the sort of mistake the teams made by not selecting Pujols that weekend. While some players may still fall through the cracks, modern technology and online scouting make it pretty hard for someone of Pujols' caliber to slip through the hands of 30 MLB teams.
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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 8:21 AM.