The MLB Draft has never been an exact science, and the Detroit Tigers have learned that lesson the hard way more than once. Even with scouting, background work and all the modern tools teams lean on now, there’s still plenty of risk baked into every pick. For Detroit, that has meant some real hits over the years - and a few painful misses.
One of the toughest to swallow came in 1975, when the Tigers took Les Filkins with the No. 3 pick. Filkins, a California high school outfielder, was the player Detroit wanted and expected to become a key part of the franchise’s future.
Instead, he spent several seasons in the farm system and never got past Double-A. Even in a draft that was likely one of the weakest in MLB history, missing that high still stings.
To this day, Filkins remains one of the highest draft picks in franchise history to never appear in a major league game.
A year later, Detroit went back to the well with another premium selection and chose Dave Stegman at No. 5.
He did reach the majors, but he never became the everyday player the Tigers were hoping for. Stegman spent three seasons with the club, and his first two years in 1978 and 1979 amounted to just 20 games total.
Detroit gave him a bigger runway in 1980, when he played in 65 games and logged 130 at-bats, but the results didn’t move the needle: a .177/.255/.262 slash line and a .517 OPS. That production was nowhere near what you want from a top-five pick.
Matt Anderson’s story played out differently, but the disappointment landed just as hard. The buzz around him was real because the right-hander could bring it - his fastball regularly touched triple digits.
Detroit saw a potential elite closer and moved quickly to get him to the big leagues. Anderson made it through the minors in a hurry and showed some promise as a rookie, but he never developed into the pitcher the Tigers believed they were getting.
He spent six seasons with Detroit, then one with the Colorado Rockies in 2005, and finished with a 15-7 record, a 5.19 ERA, 224 strikeouts and 22 saves. Injuries and lack of production ultimately cut short what had looked like a much bigger career.
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