A recent history of the Tigers 1st round draft picks

The list below is taken from http://espn.go.com/mlb/draft/history/_/team/det and it represents the last 30 years of Detroit Tigers draft history in the 1st of the amateur draft. I cut it off at 30 because it's a nice round number, and lest you accuse me of cherry picking, the 1978 first round pick was Kirk Gibson.

I haven't managed to figure out exactly what goes into this $5.2 million value that's being assigned to the generic #19 pick in the first round, so an explanation or a link to how that figure is derived would be welcomed. I'd assume that included all the bonuses, etc that are due a first round player before he has a chance to contribute anything back to the team, right?

Anyway, Dave Dombrowski seems to have done well recently with power pitchers, the Verlander pick at #2, and the pure luck acquisition of Rick Porcello standing out from the last decade's worth of 1st rounders. The book on whether the rest of his picks will become decent major leaguers is still out, mostly due to lack of data. Perry had a decent enough debut season; Miller and Maybin haven't managed to stick on the Marlins yet, etc.

Prior to the Dombrowski regime, though (and I think he may have picked Sleeth, i forget exactly when he took over), the Tigers 1st round draft history isn't exactly filled with glory. Between 1979 and 2002, I see maybe four or fivee serviceable major leaguers, depending on whether you want to call Rico Brogna serviceable. Rick Leach stuck around the majors for a while, Tony Clark had his moments, and Jeff Weaver, for all the scorn we Tigers fan might direct his way, has a few years' service under his belt. Beyond them, and Glenn Wilson, None of these first round picks really made any impact at the major league level. I mean, the making of a big leaguer is dependent on so many factors, whether the guy really has the stuff to make it, whether injuries play a role, maybe the guy is blocked by an established starter, etc. But for all the hype about the first round pick, this list suggests there's nothing resembling a guarantee that that pick will turn into someone we will enjoy seeing wear the Olde English D for years to come.

There also seems to be a disconnect between the wondering whether Dombrowski knows exactly what he's trying to do with this team, whether there's a coherent plan in place, and the apparent faith people are putting in him to make a good decision had the Tigers retained the 19th pick. Yeah, he's had a better track record short term than the Tigers have had oevr the long haul...but I'm curious, given the antipathy towards this off season's moves, whether you really think that 19th pick would have resulted in a player to hang our hats on for the next decade?