WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The players drafted before Derek Jeter in the 1992 MLB Draft
Derek Jeter may not have been the best shortstop ever, but he is baseball's biggest superstar of the last 25 years.
While it is not unusual for an all-time great to slip past the first pick in Major League Baseball's amateur draft, there are some teams who were probably kicking themselves for passing on Jeter in the 1992 draft.
Below, we take a look at the five teams that passed on Jeter, who they chose instead, and where those players are now.
Position: Third baseman
MLB seasons: 12
All-Star games: 1
Championships: 0
Nevin retired from playing baseball in 2007. He later became a manager in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system. Prior to the 2017 season he was hired as a coach on the San Francisco Giants.
Position: Right-handed pitcher
MLB seasons: 11
All-Star games: 0
Championships: 0
Shuey pitched in 476 games in his career, all as a reliever. He last played in the big leagues in 2007. After retiring, he started a career as a competitive fisherman, saying in 2008, "There’s not much that gets your blood flowing like someone standing in the box, trying to hit a home run off you. I miss that. But when I get ready to take off for a tournament, and my boat number’s called, I get a thrill there, and when I catch a nice bass, I get a kick of adrenaline from that, too."
Position: Left-handed pitcher
MLB seasons: 0
All-Star games: 0
Championships: 0
Wallace retired from baseball in 1997 after just three seasons in the minors, having never reached the majors. He later served as an assistant baseball coach in Gulf Shore, Alabama. He and his wife were arrested in 2011 and charged with "cooking methamphetamine inside a home they shared with their three children, just a few hundred yards away from Loxley Elementary School," according to AL.com.
Position: Outfielder
MLB seasons: 13
All-Star games: 1
Championships: 0
Hammonds retired from baseball in 2005. He was recently hired by the MLBPA as "special assistant for player program development" and is involved in the "Players Trust" the charitable foundation of the MLBPA.
Position: Outfielder
MLB seasons: 5
All-Star games: 0
Championships: 0
Mottola played in just 59 big-league games, last appearing with the Blue Jays in 2006. He later joined the Jays as a hitting coach before being hired as a minor league hitting instructor in 2014 and was promoted to the big leagues during the 2016 season.
Position: Shortstop
MLB seasons: 20
All-Star games: 14
Championships: 5
What was said at the time: "Got some hot dog in him, tendency to coast, be too cool ... A shortstop who can play there cause his hands and arm are OK. OK bat with some pop and has good speed and [quick] acceleration. Real athlete that seasoning will only make better. All tools are there." — 1992 scouting report.
Jeter had his No. 2 retired by the Yankees. He is also the founder of "The Players' Tribune" and recently joined a group, along with Jeb Bush, attempting to purchase the Miami Marlins. Jeter has said that he hopes to be an owner like George Steinbrenner.