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Today is the Major League Baseball amateur draft. The top draft pick 15 years ago was an 18 year old 6′4″ lefthanded pitcher. A lefthanded pitcher that averaged 2.5 strikeouts per inning his senior year of high school. A lefthanded pitcher that could throw 95 mph without effort and could dial it up close to triple digits when he needed to. A pitcher that was the ultimate can’t-miss prospect. He was called the best amateur pitcher ever. His name was Brien Taylor.

Haven’t heard of him? You’re not alone. Except to those that obsess over the game the name means nothing. But his tale is a cautionary one. What is this doing on this website? Well, other than my love of the game his is mostly a cautionary tale in how to handle a windfall.

Brien Taylor was a poor black kid from rural North Carolina. The son of a crabber and a bricklayer, his shoulder was his family’s ticket out of poverty. The Yankees drafted him and offered him $300,000 to sign. That was more money than the family ever had, but it was nearly a million dollars less than the #1 overall pick from the prior year received (Todd Van Poppel for those wondering). His mom became famous in her quest to get him more money. He ended up getting a signing bonus of $1.55 million.

Taylor went to the minor leagues and continued his brilliance. He struck out more than a hitter an inning in Class A and AA ball over the next two years. He was headed straight for the majors and a big payday.

Then fate intervened. His brother got into trouble and got beaten up (partially because he was Black and Brien was his brother). Brien later went to defend him and got involved in a fight. He fell on his shoulder, his golden shoulder, and tore it up. His surgeon called it one of the worst shoulder injuries he had ever seen. Surgery was performed but Brien was no longer golden. His fastball dropped into mortal territory and he became hittable. His career was over. He became the second player ever drafted #1 overall to never reach the majors.

Brien made over $2 million during his brief career (including his signing bonus). That windfall likely could have set Brien up for life. Using the retirement principle of taking no more than 4% of your savings to ensure it won’t run out, he would have started at $48,000/year ($2m * (1-40%) * 4%), a fortune in rural North Carolina. And that would have only increased as his investments compounded. Instead, Brien went home and worked as beer distributor. He is now 34 years old and is working with his father as a bricklayer to support his five daughters and living in the trailer he grew up in with his parents.

Brien is a cautionary tale, but hardly the only one from the world of major sports. If you come into a windfall, make sure to take care of yourself first. You never know what will happen. When Brien signed for that $1.55 million, he didn’t know that two years later his career would be all but over and his future windfall would never come. This is why it is important to have savings and an emergency fund. If you get a windfall, don’t buy a new house and a shiny car. Put it away and let it take care of you for the rest of your life. Don’t become the next Brien Taylor.