Let's face it ... none of us are MLB GMs, and there's a reason for that. As fans, we spot a young player who is absolutely, positively bound for stardom, the Hall of Fame, even, and for some reason, he ends up spending more time in Syracuse or Toledo than Cooperstown.
Come to think of it, that happens to the pros, too. Sparky Anderson once proclaimed Kirk Gibson was "the next Mickey Mantle" and while KG was pretty good, he was no #7. The Main Spark also once famously guaranteed stardom for a third baseman named Chris Pittaro, who managed to hit .221 in 95 big league at-bats, spending more time with the Twins than Sparky's Tigers after not being able to hold off the immortal Tom Brookens for the starting third base slot on the defending champion 1985 Tigers.
So here's how it works ... who were the guys you saw, Blue Jay or otherwise, who were absolutely guaranteed to be superduperstars, only they never were? (Do I hear GlenAllen Hill? Can you raise me a Mark Whiten reference?) I don't mean the Kirk Gibson types; for instance, I spent 10 years convinced that Tom Browning was thisclose to breaking through into the pantheon, and in fact he was an All-Star, won 123 games and tossed a perfect game in 1988. So he'll never be a Hall of Famer, but certainly belongs in the Hall of Pretty Good. (See also: Matt Nokes, Ruppert Jones, Brook Jacoby, Hal Morris, ad infinitum.)
On the other hand, as a much younger lad, as I've mentioned here previously, I also once believed young righty Frank Pastore was destined to be "the next Tom Seaver." And while he had his moments -- an Opening Day shutout in which he also homered in 1980, I think, and a valiant, though losing start as a rookie in the '79 NLCS against Pops and the Pirates -- he finished with a career mark of 48-58 and would not qualify for the Hall of Pretty Good. Oddly, Pastore also finished up with the Twins, but was out of baseball before turning 30.
Okay, then, let's name names. Guys I was absolutely sure their rookie cards would buy my first house; in no particular order, then, whatever happened to ...
Paul Householder
Kip Young
Hector Carrasco
Santo Alcala
Scott Bailes
Darnell Coles
Mike Ivie
Otto Velez
That's just off the top of my head ... who comes to mind?
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