10 years later, White Sox scouting director still regrets passing on Trout

Just about every major-league team still rues the day.

It was 10 years ago, and major-league baseball's amateur draft got started on June 10 with the Nationals making the expected first overall pick — decorated starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State.

After that, the first round appeared to play out like many others. There were a few hits, but many more misses.

Near the end of the round, everything changed.

With the No. 25 overall pick, the Los Angeles Angels dipped into the prep ranks and selected 17-year-old outfielder Mike Trout out of Millville (N.J.) High School.

Looking back, it turned out to be one of the shrewdest picks in draft history.

Needing just 290 games in the minor leagues, Trout made his major-league debut in early July of 2011 and had some predictable struggles.

He took off the next season and has never looked back.

The White Sox had the No. 23 pick in the 2009 draft, and Trout was there for the taking.

The Sox wound up taking a different outfielder — Jared Mitchell out of LSU. A standout baseball/football player for the Tigers, he seriously injured his ankle making a catch in a 2010 spring training game.

Mitchell never fully recovered, and he never made it to the major leagues. He is currently playing for the Sugar Land Skeeters in the independent Atlantic Leauge.

Nick Hostetler was the White Sox's East Coast cross-checker in 2009, and he remembers scouting Trout.

“It was fun to watch him play,” Hostetler said. “He had some tools. You just didn't know, I just didn't feel at that time that he was going to fit in with what we were going to do.”

Like most teams, the Sox were hesitant to draft high school players on the first round, especially ones from New Jersey.

“That's what makes this thing so hard,” Hostetler said. “When you're dealing with 18-year-olds, the volatility on this and the miss rate is just so high. Then you add in it's a kid that's from a cold weather area that didn't get a chance to play as much.

“Still, a tremendous job by the Angels. But as I tell people all the time, even the Angels passed on him once.”

That is true. After the White Sox drafted Mitchell at No. 23 overall, Los Angeles had the next two picks.

The Angels took outfielder Randal Grichuk at No. 24 and landed Trout at No. 25. Over the last eight seasons, Trout has been baseball's best all-around player.

Now the Sox's director of amateur scouting, Hostetler said he still regrets not having pushed harder for Trout.

“You don't let it go,” Hostetler said. “I wish I could find a way. My first draft here (as director) was 2016 and I've looked back over that draft probably 100 times. I've replayed it in my mind, kind of like, 'I should have taken this guy here,' and 'Why did I pass on that guy?'

“I've asked veteran scouts, I've asked veteran scouting directors, guys that have done it for years, 'What do you do?' Nobody's been able to give me an answer yet. I think at some point, you just have to accept the fact that it is what it is and every team has made mistakes in every draft. You just have to roll with it.”

A look back at the first round of the 2009 draft:

1. Washington Nationals — Stephen Strasburg

2. Seattle Mariners — Dustin Ackley

3. San Diego Padres — Donavan Tate

4. Pittsburgh Pirates — Tony Sanchez

5. Baltimore Orioles — Matt Hobgood

6. San Francisco Giants — Zack Wheeler.

7. Atlanta Braves — Mike Minor

8. Cincinnati Reds — Mike Leake

9. Detroit Tigers = Jacob Turner.

10. Washington Nationals — Drew Storen

11. Colorado Rockies — Tyler Matzek

12. Kansas City Royals — Aaron Crow

13. Oakland Athletics — Grant Green

14. Texas Rangers — Matt Purke

15. Cleveland Indians — Alex White

16. Arizona Diamondbacks — Bobby Borchering.

17. Arizona Diamondbacks — A.J. Pollock

18. Florida Marlins — Chad James

19. St. Louis Cardinals — Shelby Miller

20. Toronto Blue Jays — Chad Jenkins

21. Houston Astros — Jiovanni Mier

22. Minnesota Twins — Kyle Gibson

23. WHITE SOX — Jared Mitchell

24. Los Angeles Angels — Randal Grichuk

25. Los Angeles Angels — Mike Trout

26. Milwaukee Brewers — Eric Arnett

27. Seattle Mariners — Nick Franklin

28. Boston Red Sox — Reymond Fuentes

29. New York Yankees — Slade Heathcott

30. Tampa Bay Rays — Levon Washington

31. CUBS — Brett Jackson

32. Colorado Rockies — Tim Wheeler