Matt Bush
Free Agent — No. --
Pitcher
Born: February 8, 1986 (1986-02-08) (age 23) San Diego, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right

Matt Bush (born February 8, 1986, in San Diego, California) is a minor league baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent.

[edit] Baseball career

He was selected first overall by the San Diego Padres in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft out of Mission Bay High School. When he signed with the Padres, he received a signing bonus of $3,150,000, which is the largest signing bonus ever given to a Padres draft pick.^[1]

Bush was the first shortstop drafted first overall from high school since the Seattle Mariners took Alex Rodriguez in 1993.^[2]

The Padres' selection of Bush in 2004 was controversial from the start. Jeff Niemann, Stephen Drew, and Jered Weaver were considered the top talents in the draft, but San Diego did not want to pay the premium bonus any of them would command as the top overall choice. Instead, they decided to take Bush, who was a talented high school senior from the San Diego area, but in no way near the prospect as the other candidates. The Padres' decision to bypass the top several prospects was widely criticized by baseball experts and fans in San Diego and nationwide.

Bush's pro career began poorly when he was suspended before he ever took the field for his role in a fight outside an Arizona nightclub.^[3] The shortstop went on to hit .192 in 99 at bats between the Rookie-level Arizona League and the short-season Northwest League.

2005 did not bring improvement, as he hit .221 in 453 at bats for Fort Wayne.

During spring training 2006, he broke his ankle and missed half the season.

Bush struggled again in 2007, hitting to just a .583 OPS as of May 28. The Padres then converted the strong-armed Bush to a pitcher. His fastball reaches a speed of 95 mph, and he has prior knowledge of pitching from his days as a high school ace. After a promising start in rookie league, Bush tore a ligament in his pitching elbow and is not expected to pitch again until the 2009 season.^[4] On February 5, 2009, he was designated for assignment to make room for Cliff Floyd^[5] shortly after it was learned that Bush was allegedly involved in a drunken assault on a high school campus.^[6]

On February 10, 2009, Bush was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for either a player to be named later or cash considerations.^[7] On April 1, 2009, Bush was released by the Blue Jays for violating their zero tolerance behavioral policy.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mission Bay High School Baseball Players
• Matt Bush Minor League Splits and Situational Stats

Preceded by Delmon Young

First overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft 2004

Succeeded by Justin Upton

v • d • e Major League Baseball number one overall draft picks Rick Monday (1965) • Steve Chilcott (1966) • Ron Blomberg (1967) • Tim Foli (1968) • Jeff Burroughs (1969) • Mike Ivie (1970) • Danny Goodwin (1971) • Dave Roberts (1972) • David Clyde (1973) • Bill Almon (1974) • Danny Goodwin (1975) • Floyd Bannister (1976) • Harold Baines (1977) • Bob Horner (1978) • Al Chambers (1979) • Darryl Strawberry (1980) • Mike Moore (1981) • Shawon Dunston (1982) • Tim Belcher (1983) • Shawn Abner (1984) • B. J. Surhoff (1985) • Jeff King (1986) • Ken Griffey, Jr. (1987) • Andy Benes (1988) • Ben McDonald (1989) • Chipper Jones (1990) • Brien Taylor (1991) • Phil Nevin (1992) • Alex Rodriguez (1993) • Paul Wilson (1994) • Darin Erstad (1995) • Kris Benson (1996) • Matt Anderson (1997) • Pat Burrell (1998) • Josh Hamilton (1999) • Adrian Gonzalez (2000) • Joe Mauer (2001) • Bryan Bullington (2002) • Delmon Young (2003) • Matt Bush (2004) • Justin Upton (2005) • Luke Hochevar (2006) • David Price (2007) • Tim Beckham (2008) • Stephen Strasburg (2009)

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