When the Chicago Cubs used their first pick, No. 17 overall, to select Wake Forest outfielder Ethan Conrad in last month’s MLB draft, they bet heavily – a $3.56 million bonus to be exact – that he was a future star.
That could certainly happen. Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, Matt Shaw, Cade Horton and Justin Steele are among the current Cubs who came to the organization via the draft. Several, like Conrad, were first-rounders of whom much was expected.
But not every team’s first-round pick even makes it to the majors, much less stars there.