Top Pick: Jaime Garcia Stl lhp 1st rd 4th overall Garcia came out of nowhere to become Stl's top pitching prospect. He features a solid fastball and quality breaking pitches. He should begin the year at AA with a target of 08 for his debut in STL
Draft: J Cueto Cin, J Herrera Col, E Bonaficio Arz, J Masterson Bos, Y Caravajal Sd, K Fukudome Jap, A Gonzolaes Arz
Future All Stars: Garcia
Assesment: Garcia appears to be a top of the roatation starter but i am always a little leary of guys with no previous track record. I really like the picks of Cueto and Herrera. They both have the potential to move up the prospect lists by next spring. Fukudome is the wildcard here. He is billed as a 5 tool OF but who knows when/if he will be released to come the US.
Grade: B- will go to B B+ if Fukudome makes it the US
Top Pick: Brandon Crawford UCLA ss 2nd/42 One of the top ranked soph. He has plus tools and should be a high 1st rd pick in 08.
Draft: M Bumgartner HS, T Calhoun HS, E Buckland HS, J Soria KC, G Miller Lad, O Sosa Min
Future All Star: potential but no certain at this time
Assement: With no top picks Cmd gambled and rolled the dice with college soph and HS players for the 08/09 MLB draft. Grabbing former top prospect Miller appears to be a real find as he have gotten past arm injuries.
Top Pick: Chris Duncan Stl 1b/lf carded Former prospect finally made it to the bigs and had a great run the final 2 months of the season. Poor defender who will have to continue hitting to stay in the lineup. I am not optimistic.
Draft: T Butler Sea, J Koronka Tex card, R Lugo TB card, Z Miner Det card, M Thompson SD card, J Koshansky Col, M McBride Cle, R Perez Cle, B Brewer Mil, S Rivera Was
All Stars: none at this time
Assesment: Mon used 5 of it's first 6 picks on carded players. Hopefully, some of them will continue to perform at a usuable level and can be traded next year for prospects to help this franchise return to contention. I really like Butler and think he can be a solid ml pitcher. Koshansky and McBride have potential as well.
Top Pick: Mike O'Connor Was lhp card 4th/94 O'Connor was rushed to Was as an injury replacement and held his own in his rookie season. He is a typical finesse lh and will need to improve on his command to remain a big league starting pitcher.
Draft: J Windsor Oak, J Sellers Oak, R Ohlendorf Arz, G Gibson Was, J Sharplless Pit, R Keischnick TTech, A Wilson Win, J Prince TU, M Dempirio TU, J Bleich Stf
All stars: none
Assesment: With no picks until the 4th rd KC still managed to come up with some interesting players. I don't know which of these will pan out but I'm quite certain that some from this draft will be keepers. My best bets are Keishnick and Gibson. My default grade when there are lots of unknown but decent prospects-
Top Pick: Isaac Galloway HS OF 2nd/50 Top HS JR prospect and potential 5 tool star
Draft: A Hicks HS, J Fields UGA, C Huseby Chn, F Castillo Tex, O Tejada Bos, E Cordier Atl, E Beltre Bos
All star: Galloway
Assesment: Galloway is the best talent to come out of LA since Eric Davis. He could be a cornerstone player if he stays healthy and converts his tools to skills. Huseby and Cordier could be real steals or flops depending on how they recover from arm injuries. I'll be optimistic for now and say...
