Collection ReCollective: Beau Mills and $30 I Won’t Get Back

I spent like $30 on this card.

At the time–2008–it was not the worst idea.

Beau Mills was taken by the Indians with the 13th overall pick of the 2007 MLB draft. His bat was one of the best in the draft that year, but he was defensively limited to a corner infield spot. The Indians clearly were happy to take a chance that they bat would overcome his defensive limitations.

Mills performed well for his first two seasons in the pros, ranking one of the Indians Top 5 prospects in both 2007 and 2008, and even cracking the Baseball America Top 100 after the 2007 season.

His 2008 numbers in High-A were pretty great: .293/.373/.506 with 21 HR and he was awarded Cleveland’s highest honor for position players in their system – the Lou Boudreau Award.

The next season he was promoted to AA and struggled. While he still showed pop and plate disciple his contact skills diminished, pulling down his overall numbers. It would take him the better part of three seasons to finally make it to AAA, and by then he was 24 and no longer a prospect.

He never made it to the majors and retired after the 2012 season. He now is a rancher in Texas.