I looked back at the top 25 active pitchers in wins.  I know wins is a statistic influenced by a lot of factors, including the strength of the team, ballpark factors, and luck.  One thing that wins does suggest is longevity.  You don't get to 100 wins in two seasons.  The people on the list have managed to stay in the majors for an extended period of time, which is a testament to their success.  When the next hot prospect is always a phone call away, every major leaguer has to perform at a high level in order to stay in the league long enough to get on this leader board. 

After seeing who was in the top 25, I focused on a couple of things: their draft position, handedness, and whether they were drafted out of high school or college.  I also classified them loosely as power or finesse pitchers, without a real criteria for this besides my own perception.  I ignored body type and mechanics - mainly because I feel like mechanics is a matter that should be discussed by an expert (if ex-HS players are experts, then I'm one, too), and mechanics is an inexact and evolving science. 

Before I type the list, here are some of my findings.  Of the 25 active leaders: 3 were first round picks, 6 were second round picks,  4 were undrafted FAs, 7 were from rounds 5-10, and 5 were from rounds 11-40.  9 were drafted out of HS, 12 were drafted out of college (2 JUCO), the four undrafted FA were from Latin America and some were signed before 18 so I left them out of the HS/College class but they could, for the most part be considered of HS age and experience when drafted.  7 of the 25 were LH and 18 were RH.  Based on my extremely loose classifications of Power and Finesse, 13 were power and 12 were finesse.  I thought about setting a minimum K/9, but was ready to quit.

Without further ado, here's the list:

1.  Roger Clemens, 354 W, 1st round (19th overall), BoSox (College)

2.  Greg Maddux, 349 W, 2nd, ChC (HS)

3.  Tom Glavine, 303, 2nd, AtL (HS)

4.  Randy Johnson, 284, 2nd Montreal (C)

5.  Mike Mussina, 252, 1st (20th overall) Baltimore (C)

6.  David Wells, 239 W, 2nd Toronto (HS)

7.  Jamie Moyer, 230, 6th by ChC (College)

8.  Curt Schilling, 216, 2nd by BoSox (C)

9.  Kenny Rogers, 210, 39th by Rangers (HS)

9.  John Smoltz, 210 22nd by Detroit (HS)

10.  Pedro Martinez, 209, undrafted FA signed by LAD

11.  Andy Pettitte, 203, 22nd by NYY (C)

12.  Tim Wakefield, 169, 8th by Pitt (C)

13.  Aaron Sele, 148, 1st by BoSox (College)

14.  Bartolo Colon, 146, undrafted FA signed by Cleveland

15.  Steve Trachsel, 142, 8th by ChC (C)

16.  Mike Hampton, 138, 6th by Seattle (HS)

16.  Tim Hudson, 138, 6th by Oakland (College)

17.  Livan Hernandez, 137, undrafted FA signed by FLA

18.  Tom Gordon, 134, 6th by KC (HS)

18.  Kevin Millwood, 134, 11th by AtL (HS)

19.  Woody Williams, 132, 28th by Toronto (C)

20.  John Lieber, 131, 2nd by KC (C)

21.  Jason Schmidt, 128, 8th by AtL (HS)

22.  Esteban Loaiza, 126, undrafted FA by Pitt

That's the top 25.  Some notes.  Some of the pitchers are arguably inactive, such as Woody, Clemens, Wells, etc.  I did this was last season being the cutoff.  The Cubs have the most players on this list with 3.  There are definitely some interesting names on this list (Steve Trachsel has won games?).  A couple of guys who spent several years as relievers (Smoltz, Gordon), a couple who have had their careers derailed by injuries (Hampton, recently Schmidt), but for the most part, these are guys who have been effective for a long time.  I thought it was very interesting that only 3 guys were first round picks. 

Notable Cardinals and former Cards in the wins dept. - Morris has 121 wins, Suppan has 119, Mulder has 103, and Carp has 100. 

I also did this with 5 of the top current "aces." Johan Santana undrafted FA by Houston, Peavy was a 15th rounder out of HS by SD, Dedard was a 6th rounder out of college, Sabathia was a 1st rounder out of HS and Webb was an 8th rounder out of college by AZ. 

I'm not sure this proves anything, but it reaffirms what a crapshoot the draft can be.  I also think that this is the point you can judge the quality of some yester-year drafts.  If the Cards passed on a guy like Joba Chamberlain b/c of injury concerns, we won't know for a while (maybe years), whether they were right.  Only time will tell.  I think a pick is a success if he makes it to the major leagues.  If he pitches for a long time, he is a great success.

If it seems there is interest in this, I might try to do something similar with hitters.  Thanks for reading!