Todd Van Poppel was the next big pitcher when he was drafted by the Oakland A's in 1990. He would've been the first overall pick if the Atlanta Braves thought he was signable. Instead, he slipped down to #14 and Oakland took him. He was rushed to the Majors quickly, and could've used a few years experience in the minors. Todd bounced around to a few different teams, and played into the mid '00's, but never was the ace pitcher everyone expected him to be.
I had the pleasure of meeting Todd in 1996 or 1997 when he was with the Texas Rangers organization. He was playing with the Charlotte Rangers, and I saw them take on my hometown Lakeland Tigers. Todd was nice enough to sign my 2 baseball cards in the rain, and I've been a fan of his ever since.
I think that Todd's 1991 Topps Draft Pick card would've been hot had it been issued that year. Here's what mine turned out like.
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