I was reading an article at MLB.com this morning about some the best players taken at pick 500 or later in the major league draft. While only one is in the Hall of Fame (Ryne Sandberg No. 511 1978), there are still plenty of good players who could potentially make it.
The most famous late round story is probably that of Mike Piazza, who was drafted with the 1,390 pick in 1988 by the Dodgers. Piazza was selected as a favor to then manager Tommy Lasorda, and both families were close. Seemed to work out well for Piazza.
Another great example I noticed was Jeff Conine. When Coninie came up with the Royals, he was one of my favorite Royals players at the time. All he ended up doing was winning two World Series rings with the Florida Marlins, over the course of a 17 year major league career. Again, not bad for the 1,226th pick in the 1987 draft.
How about Mark Buehrle? Two no hitters and a perfect game? Yes, that Mark Buehrle. He was just a lowly 38th round pick in 1988.