It’s fun to play what might have been, right?
Did you know that instead ending up with the New York Yankees, Derek Jeter was real close to being a member of the Houston Astros?
It’s true. The Astros had the first pick in the 1992 draft and they were looking long and hard at the future Hall of Famer, but were scared off due to money concerns. In short…Houston thought Jeter would command a signing bonus of at least $1 million.
“We were really looking for a guy to come in and make an impact on our big league team quick than what we projected Derek to do,” former Astros scout Lew Temple told The Hall of Very Good Podcast. “We would’ve ruined baseball. Can you imagine Derek Jeter in an Astros uniform?”
And who did Houston end up with?
Phil. Nevin.
Nevin, a former Golden Spikes Award winner, would play just 18 games for the Astros in 1995, hitting a mere .117 before being dealt to the Detroit Tigers. He’d end up his 12-year big league career in 2006 with a .270 lifetime batting average and 208 home runs.
Jeter would go sixth in the draft and end up one of the greatest baseball players of his generation.
Incidentally, the four guys chosen between Nevin and Jeter (Paul Shuey, BJ Wallace, Jeffrey Hammonds and Chad Mattola) would combine for 1492 big league games and one All-Star Game appearance.
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