Ultimate Draft Book: 1965 Draft

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The MLB draft celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015, and what better way to look back on more than five decades of draft history than with Baseball America? Founding editor Allan Simpson has collected the best information from our rich archives and assembled it in the ultimate draft compendium. You’ll get complete draft lists from every year, with signing information, biggest successes and busts, the most signing bonus information ever published, and all the stories that make draft history so rich. To give you a taste, we’ll share some excerpts of the book each week. Today, we look at baseball’s first draft in 1965 and what history tells us should have been the order of selection.

1965 Draft: How They Should Have Done It
Based on the career WAR (Wins Above Replacement, as calculated by Baseball-Reference.com) numbers achieved by all the players eligible for the 1965 draft, here’s how the first round should have unfolded. Numbers in parentheses indicate the round when the player was actually drafted
Player	Pos	Actual Draft	WAR	Bonus
1. Nolan Ryan	rhp	Mets (10)	81.8	$12,000
2. Johnny Bench	c	Reds (2)	75.2	$6,000
3. Graig Nettles	3b	Twins (4)	68	$15,000
4. Sal Bando	3b	Athletics (6)	61.6	$25,000
5. Gene Tenace	ss	Athletics (11)	46.8	$1,500
6. Amos Otis	of	Red Sox (5)	42.6	$8,000
7. Don Money	ss	Pirates (NDFA)	36.3	None
8. Rick Monday	of	Athletics (1)	33.2	$100,000
9. Bob Watson	of	Astros (NDFA)	28.2	$3, 200
10. Hal McRae	ss	Reds (6)	27.9	$15,000
11. Ken Holtzman	lhp	Cubs (4)	27.6	$40,000
12. Ron Reed	rhp	Braves (NDFA)	25.5	None
13. Larry Hisle	of	Phillies (2)	24.9	$50,000
14. Freddie Patek	ss	Pirates (12)	24.1	$1,000
15. Steve Renko	rhp	Mets (16)	24	$10,000
16. Joe Coleman	rhp	Senators (1)	23.7	$65,000
17. Stan Bahnsen	rhp	Yankees (4)	22.9	$27,000
18. Larry Bowa	ss	Phillies (NDFA)	22.6	$2,000
19. Marty Pattin	rhp	Yankees (5)	20.4	$17, 200
20. Jim Bibby	rhp	Mets (NDFA)	19.5	None
Top 3 Unsigned Players	Pos	Actual Draft	WAR	Year Signed
1. Tim Seaver	rhp	Dodgers (8)	111	1966
2. Darrell Evans	3b	Cubs (10)	58.5	1967
3. Andy Messersmith	rhp	Tigers (3)	40.2	1966