Cubs Release 2003 #1 Draft Pick

The Cubs have released 2003 #1 draft pick OF Ryan Harvey.

The 24-year old Harvey had one of the top two or three RF arms in the organization and awesome power (he hit four home runs for Daytona in one game a couple of years ago), but he just was not a good hitter (he is a first-ball fastball hacker--247/298/448 with 83 HR and 539 strikeouts in 471 career minor league games), and he suffered from nagging injuries (knee, hamstring, back, etc) throughout his career,

Harvey's release comes almost exactly a year after the Cubs released Harvey's one-time HS teammate and fellow slugger 1B Brian Dopirak (Cubs #2 pick in 2002). Dopirak signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays after he got released and spent most of the 2008 season playing in hometown Dunedin, FL. B-Dope then re-signed with the Blue Jays (he was a minor league free-agent post-2008) and got an NRI to ST with the Jays this Spring as part of the deal (although he has been returned to Tornoto's minor league camp) 

So I wouldn't be surprised if Harvey follows Dopirak to the Blue Jays organization, even if it means he has to go back to the Florida State League again (where he would play for his hometown team) in 2009, although the Jays would probably agree to give him a shot in AA first.  

Harvey's release is definitely not a surprise. He will be a minor league free-agent after this season, and was just not progressing fast enough to think that he would be a candidate to get added to the Cubs 40-man roster post-2009. So cutting him now is probably just the best thing for everybody, especially for Harve. .

Harvey was a combination RF-RHP in HS, and I had thought (and have written here at TCR) that he might be converted to pitcher at some point with the Cubs when he continually struggled as a hitter, but while the Cubs have converted more than a dozen postion players to pitcher over the past couple of years (and no organization converts position players to pitcher to the extent that the Cubs do), they never do it unless the player agrees to the move. So I think it's pretty likely that the Cubs asked Harvey to consider a move to pitcher, but he declined.  


Return to Homepage


Shame to see a #1 pick succeed so little, especially an outfielder. Maybe he can rebound somewhere else.

Here's hoping for better things from Vitters, Cashner and our future picks.

Yet another total waste of a high draft pick by former Cubs scouting director John Stockstill. Had Rick Wilken been the draft czar we wouldn't have wasted picks on guys like Harvey, Dopirak, Luis Montanez, the list goes on...

Tim Wilken


Oh and we might as well add LHP Mark Pawelek to that pile too. He's made zero progress since we drafted *him* with a number one pick.

I wouldn't write him off quite yet. He's still pretty young, and I believe AZ Phil had some encouraging words about him moving forward, as a possible reliever IIRC.

But I agree, our drafts have sucked.

Harvey at # 6, Markakis at # 7?!!

That hurts.

1991 Draft...with the 12th pick, the Cubs selected Doug Glanville, with the 13th pick...the Indians selected Manny Ramirez.

Eh, we also drafted Drew Hall ahead of Greg Maddux. In what round did we pick Mark Grace?  Where did Mike Piazza go?  Scoutin' ain't easy....  :)

Hey bub, I'm going to go ahead and play my Drafting Hindsight game where I always don't have to play along.

Heh, I understand.  I just have to play my "hindsight is 20-20, aren't I the wise and judicous one" game, where I always win. :)

Don't forget that the Cubs drafted and failed to sign Tim Lincecum back several years ago... That gets a big DOH! in my book...

those situations don't bother me at all, organizations take flyers on a lot of these guys late in the draft that have made it clear they're not going to sign. Indians drafted Lincecum in the 42nd round in 2005 as well. Prior was selected by the Yankees out of high school and so on and so on.

Sometimes you can convince them to sign and that's why they draft them, but teams aren't working on an unlimited budget. Hell, Yankees couldn't even sign Gerritt Cole last year.

And Micah Owings in 2004, although that one isn't so much of a loss. He may turn into a very good pitcher, though.

I believe Carlos Quentin and a number of other big leaguers were also drafted later in that first round.

That was a talent-potent draft, and the Cubs skillfully managed to avoid all of it.

it's one thing if a guy gets drafted at the end of the first round, it's another when you're 3-5 picks away from missing a guy. In this case of 2003, if the Cubs had the mentality of taking college hitters over HS athletes, they would have made the right pick.

Kind of like Wieters vs. Vitters...

In 2000, the Cubs took Montanez with the #3 pick, Utley went #15 out of UCLA.
Of course, I just mentioned Glanville vs. Manny and in that case they did take the college hitter over the HS player. So it's hardly an exact science...

That does hurt, because if the picks were reversed, Harvey would be productive player for the Orioles, while the Cubs would have coached Markakis into mediocrity.

That idiot Stockstill drafted SEAN MARSHALL in 2003.

just sayin...

stopped watches being right twice a day (he also drafted Jake Fox in 2003)



Wilken would have drafted Marshall doubt

well at least we have Veal, Pawelek, Colvin, Huseby, Vitters , and Cashner knocking on the doorsteps of Wrigley!

I'd trade all of them for Wieters at this point.

Yes, let's trade all our prospects for one player who plays a position we won't need filled for a long time.

Under Hendry (pre-Wilken) the Cubs have been pretty good at drafting pitchers, not so good with position players. This is better than before, when they sucked at both. BTW, Rick Wilkins had a pretty nice year back in '93.

The cubs seem to have improved in Latin America at least.

And we are finally getting into Asia.

Can the system develop these raw kids?

"Can the system develop these raw kids?"

I dunno. One thing AZ Phil has been pointing out lately is that the Cubs have a my way or highway approach. I've read some interesting stuff about this Lee kid (SS from Korea, although, almost the entire Korean WBC team, who he did not, I don't believe, play for, was named Lee).

In what language was that final sentence?

It was in Commaish, the native tongue of Commaland. And yeah Korea had a lot of Lee. One game featured a starting lineup of Lee, Lee, Lee, Kim, Kim, Park, Park, Choo, and some other guy. With a Bong on the mound!

the cubs muffed on signing draft choice Khalil Greene (14th round, 2001 draft), aka the current cardinal ss

Oh, nevermind. Nobody cares... Well maybe Alex S. Gonzalez cares.

Muff. Heh.

Todd Walker has been indicted inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

ah...back when he used to be able to move his knees enough to field.

Toddie W wasn't the only former Cub on that list. Did you see that Rafe-roid, along with "Zonk" Moreland and Joe Carter are also headed to the College HOF. Congrats to all of them, and I guess Rafe's "roids" did pay off for him in some way.

I doubt Raffy was into the roids in College. Probably somewhere closer to 93 before he spiked up.

mlb network has posted their Thurdsay night baseball schedule for April and part of May

the Cubs at Stl, May 21st is on the schedule but announcers to be determined

Here's to hoping its not Joe Morgan.

here's hoping it's not Bryant Gumbel...

If Tyler Colvin would have been a good pick, we wouldn't have needed Milton Bradley...

That said, we're doing better than the 70's and 80's at producing major leaguers. I have made a count, but it seems that way...

Let's count the number of Cubs number one picks since 1995 that have gone on to star in the Major Leagues on one hand...Kerry Wood and whom?

Bobby Brownlie?

Johann's mom?

Mark Prior starred at least in 2003. If one year counts as "starring".

Even though that 2003 Draft will always be frustrating for the promise of Prior that never quite was, it was still a productive draft for the Cubs. It gave us Soto and Theriot as well as Mitre and Nolasco (who we politely sent to the Marlins in the interest of fairness and a level playing field.)

Mark Prior was selected in the first round, second overall, by the Cubs in the 2001 draft, not the 2003 draft. Just saying.

I hear that there are noticeably less players in minor league camp now with more players cut today. They must be close to figuring out team assignments with only 11 days until camp breaks up.

I'm still waitin' on Earl Cunningham, Ty Griffin and Lance Dickson.


the shawon-0-meter?

I guess when its all said and done, it doesn't matter if the #1 pick works out or not. What matters is how the system is producing. Soto is an example, so is Z, Shark and the previously mentioned Marshall.

  • Sign in with Twitter