2004 Upper Deck
Bill Mueller (2003)
Along with Ortiz and Millar, Bill Mueller is the third offseason signing from 2003 to make this list. No wonder Epstein was billed as the “boy genius.”
Mueller logged just 576 at-bats the previous two seasons with the Giants and Cubs before Epstein signed him to a three-year, $6.7 million deal. Could he stay healthy?
In 2003, he did. The switch-hitting third baseman out-dueled Derek Jeter and teammate Manny Ramirez for the AL batting title and also became the first player in MLB history to hit a grand slam from both sides of the plate in the same game, on July 29 in Texas. He stuck around through the end of the ’05 season.