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General  | Top Ten | 1/6/2009

Georgia On My Mind

Allan Simpson
By producing the No. 1 overall pick on four occasions in the baseball draft’s 44-year history, Georgia has always had a noteworthy impact as a talent source.

But it’s really been only in the last 10 years that Georgia has moved to the forefront among the nation’s elite talent-producing states. In terms of players produced by local high schools, California, Florida and Texas—all Sun Belt states with large populations—continue to rank as the Big Three, but Georgia has become a clear No. 4. The state ranks fourth both among big leaguers produced in 2008 and players drafted over a five-year period from 2004-08.

Just 10 years ago, Georgia barely cracked the top 10 nationally by either criteria. In 1998, for instance, there were just 26 big leaguers who had attended Georgia high schools. By contrast, Illinois had 54. Since then, Georgia’s production has almost doubled while Illinois’ total has been chopped almost in half. No other states of note have experienced such a swing in fortune over the last decade.

The reasons for Georgia’s growing prosperity as a major talent-producing state are varied, but credit generally is given to the success of the Atlanta Braves over the last two decades and the far-reaching impact of youth baseball programs in the state—chiefly the Marietta-based East Cobb program, which has churned out a high volume of draft picks and future big leaguers while enjoying unparalleled success in national-level youth competitions.

Georgia’s impact on the draft was never more profound than a year ago, when it produced five of the first 20 selections in the 2008 draft, including No. 1 pick Tim Beckham, a shortstop from Griffin High. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Also among the first 20 selections were Florida State catcher Buster Posey (Giants, fifth overall), Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham (White Sox, eighth overall); Stephens County High (Toccoa) righthander/third baseman Ethan Martin (Dodgers, 15th) and Georgia righthander Josh Fields (Mariners, 20th overall). All five played at Georgia high schools.

Joining Beckham in the roll call of former Georgia prep stars who became the No. 1 pick in the draft are Ron Blomberg, a first baseman from Druid Hills High in Atlanta who was selected in 1967 by the New York Yankees and later became the first DH in baseball history; Mike Ivie, a catcher from Walker High in Decatur who was taken by the San Diego Padres in 1970; and Kris Benson, a Kennesaw high school product who was chosen by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1996 after a three-year college career at Clemson.

The Braves themselves can add two more players to Georgia’s ties to former No. 1 selections as they drafted Arizona State third baseman Bob Horner with the top pick in 1978 and Florida high school product Chipper Jones with the first selection in 1990.

Over the next couple of weeks, PG Crosschecker will begin unveiling its comprehensive follow lists of the top prospects at the national and state levels for the draft classes of 2009, 2010 and 2011. In the meantime, we’re taking a close-up look at several states as part of our Daily Top 10 feature. Today our focus is Georgia, and we’ve provided our take of the state’s 10 best prospects for this year’s draft on the accompanying list.

It’s highly unlikely that Georgia will produce the No. 1 pick again this year, but there is a strong possibility that the state could produce as many as four first-rounders.

Georgia’s top prospect is Cartersville High outfielder Donavan Tate, who strictly on talent factors into the top 10 picks overall nationally. But Tate’s situation may be complicated as he is also a top football recruit who has committed to North Carolina for both football and baseball (For PG Crosschecker’s David Rawnsley’s scouting profile on Tate, click here).

Tate had initially decided to focus on baseball as a high school senior, but had an almost immediate change of heart and played football again this fall. His goal soon became to play both sports in college—if he ever gets to college. In the end, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Southern California became his five finalists. His choice of the Tar Heels was somewhat unexpected as he had injured a rib playing football on Nov. 17, prompting him to forego a recruiting trip to UNC the following day. But an in-house visit by Tar Heels football coach Butch Davis on Dec. 2 led to Tate making a verbal commitment that day that will enable him to play both sports in college.

While Georgia and Georgia Tech are national-level college programs and should factor prominently into the mix when PG Crosschecker unveils its list of the nation’s Top 100 Division I teams in early February, neither school has a projected first-rounder this year. The impact of the two schools on future drafts should be considerable though, as both have a number of significant underclassmen.

In particular, Georgia Tech features shortstop Derek Dietrich and righthander Deck McGuire, projected first-rounders in 2010. Georgia should factor prominently into the 2011 draft as it secured two of the top three unsigned picks from the 2008 draft—righthander Zach Cone and outfielder Chase Davidson, both third-rounders. The Bulldogs also got commitments in the recent signing period from the state’s top three in-state junior-college recruits, led by Young Harris rightannder Eric Swegman. None of the three is projected to be picked in the top five rounds.

Meanwhile, Kennesaw State, the 1996 Division II national champion which went an unremarkable 30-26 a year ago and begins its fourth and final year in a transition to full Division I status, may actually steal the thunder of both Georgia and Georgia Tech this year from a draft standpoint.

Not only do the Owls have the state’s top-ranked college talent in righthander Kyle Heckathorn, a potential first-rounder, but it secured a letter-of-intent from the state’s top high school recruit who committed to an in-state college—East Paulding High righthander Zach Wheeler, who started for the East squad in last summer’s Aflac Game. The athletic, projectable Wheeler has been clocked up to 95 mph.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Heckathorn, meanwhile, is one of the least-known prospects nationally in this year’s college class, but his fastball was a consistent 94-97 mph this fall and he topped out at 99. His slider was also clocked in the 86-91 mph range. In two years at Kennesaw State, Heckathorn has struck out 141 in 128 innings, though went just 4-2, 4.98 as a sophomore for the Owls and left the Cape Cod League after two starts last summer amidst concerns he had tweaked his elbow, though it proved to be more precautionary. His fall performance alleviated any concerns.

Here’s how PG Crosschecker sees Georgia’s early-round impact on the 2009 draft.
Rank Player Pos. School Hometown Commitment Projected Round
1. Donavan Tate OF Cartersville HS Cartersville, Ga. North Carolina 1st round
2. Zach Wheeler RHP East Paulding HS Dallas, Ga. Kennesaw State 1st
3. Luke Bailey C Troup County HS LaGrange, Ga. Auburn 1st
4. Kyle Heckathorn RHP Kennesaw State U. Ringgold -- 1st-2nd
5. Alex McRee LHP U. of Georgia Gainesville -- 2nd-4th
6. Zach Dotson OF/LHP Effingham County HS Springfield, Ga. Georgia 2-4th
7. Drew Steckenrider OF/RHP Gr. Atlanta Christian HS Lawrenceville, Ga. Tennessee 2nd-5th
8. Rich Poythress 3B/1B U. of Georgia Grovetown -- 3rd-5th
9. Buck Farmer RHP Rockdale County HS Conyers, Ga. Georgia Tech 3rd-6th
10. Miles Head 3B/C Whitewater HS Fayetteville Georgia 3rd-10th
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