Five players to stop dreaming on

May, 11, 2012

5/11/12

10:00

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By Jim Bowden | ESPN.com

Setting expectations is one thing. Meeting them is another.

For first-round picks and even players who experience some success very early in their careers, those expectations can get out of hand, especially with teams that have experienced little success themselves. The players become the organization’s life preserver to a certain extent and the expectations can grow to unrealistic proportions. For the following five players, the hope didn’t meet the hype, and in time, they’ve shown to be less than what everyone -- fair or not -- originally expected. Point is, it's time for folks to stop thinking these guys are going to get better; they are who they are.

Luke Hochevar
For the most part, the Royals have done a tremendous job with their first-round selections in recent years, including Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. However, teams will miss on players. It’s especially pointed if you miss with the first overall pick when players like Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw and Tim Lincecum are on the board, which was the case during the 2006 draft.

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ABOUT THIS BLOG

Jim Bowden

Bowden, who served as the senior vice president and GM for the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals, is an analyst for ESPN.com. In 1992, Bowden became the youngest GM in MLB history when the Reds hired him at age 31. The Reds finished in first place twice during his 10 years as GM, and he was named MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America in 1999. After working for ESPN in 2004, Bowden became the first GM of the Washington Nationals when the franchise relocated from Montreal to Washington, D.C., in 2005, working in that role until the 2009 season. Bowden co-hosts the "Inside Pitch" radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Follow on Twitter: @JimBowdenESPNxm.