ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 13: Prince Fielder #28 of the Milwaukee Brewers walks up from the clubhouse to the dugout to play against the St. Louis Cardinals during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium on October 13, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Yesterday in this space we discussed the Brewers' decision to draft Rickie Weeks #2 overall in 2003. 364 days earlier they also made a pretty good decision in the draft in 2002.
With the #7 overall pick that season the Brewers selected Eau Galle high school outfielder Prince Fielder. Just like in 2003, having a top pick was no guarantee of success. In this case, however, you have to wonder how things might have changed if the Brewers and Royals could've swapped selections:
| Pick | Team | Player | Position | Career Games | Career WAR (rWAR) |
| 1 | Pirates | Bryan Bullington | P | 26 | -0.3 |
| 2 | Rays | B.J. Upton | SS | 857* | 11.9 |
| 3 | Reds | Chris Gruler | P | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Orioles | Adam Loewen | P | 49* | 0.2 |
| 5 | Expos | Clint Everts | P | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Royals | Zack Greinke | P | 252* | 27.7 |
| 7 | Brewers | Prince Fielder | 1B | 1050* | 16.1 |
* - Career game totals are as of Saturday.
Despite making his pro debut at age 18 Fielder crushed minor league pitching, hitting 91 home runs over 448 games. He was a top 15 prospect in all of baseball for Baseball America in 2004 (#10), 2005 (#15) and 2006 (#11), and a full time major leaguer for the first time in 2006.
Over his six full-time seasons as a Brewer Fielder missed just 13 games. His 230 career home runs are the second most in franchise history.
With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to 2001 Brewer Robert Perez. He turns 43.
Today is also the 42nd anniversary of the Brewers drafting catcher Darrell Porter with the #4 overall pick in the 1970 draft. We covered that event in this space last year.
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