The 2005 draft has come and gone, with interest in the draft at an all-time high based on the amount of traffic Baseball America, MLB.com, and other sites received on what many to most scouting directors call the most important day of the year. A tip of the cap to Baseball America for nailing the top 18 picks exactly as they happened on draft day in their final projection. Of course, that projection came less than 12 hours away from the beginning of the draft, but it is a tribute to their insight and their incredible resource network.
As for my own mock draft, I nabbed the first, second, fourth and sixth overall picks, although those picks seemed to be set in stone over the past several weeks. I'm going to point out a few of the more interesting notes from draft day, and single out a few teams that at this point in time seemed to do the best job with their picks.
I think the most interesting occurrence on draft day was the drafting and also immediate signing of Mark Pawelek, whom the Cubs took with the 20th overall selection. For as much grief as Scott Boras and his clients/advisees receive, particularly for not coming to pre-draft deals, it was nice to see them break away from that reputation. Pawelek is one heck of a left-handed pitcher, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him soar quickly through the Cubs system and give them yet another quality arm.
Staying on the subject of Scott Boras advisees, Mike Pelfrey went to the Mets ninth overall, and while Pelfrey might take longer to sign, it's probably best for the sake of his arm after pitching such a long college season. Since he probably wouldn't throw until 2006 anyway, don't panic if you don't see Pelfrey inked by the end of the summer.
Luke Hochevar fell further than expected, but without a first-round pick, the Dodgers probably made sure to make a loose offer to the talented Tennessee Volunteer that caused other teams to pass on him. Hochevar, like Pawelek to the Cubs, will help the Dodgers incredibly strong farm system stay amongst the best in baseball.
The Oakland A's bucked their "Moneyball" trends by selecting high school players with six of their top nine selections, five of those six players being pitchers.
The Atlanta Braves on the other hand took a college closer with their first-round pick in NC State's Joey Devine. While the Braves never completely ignore college players, as I noted in my "College Closers" column from two weeks ago, college relief players usually aren't the most high ceiling of players. Given Devine's stuff and polish, he could be pitching for the Braves by the end of the season and into the postseason if the Braves continue to develop him in his current role. Devine has already signed.
The Florida Marlins loaded up on arms, taking five pitchers with their five first round picks (which includes two sandwich picks). Four of those five pitchers hailed from the prep ranks.
Other than Pawelek and Devine, other first-round picks that have already signed include fourth overall pick Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals), seventh overall pick Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies), 21st overall pick Cliff Pennington (A's), and 28th round pick Colby Rasmus (Cardinals). The Braves have also signed sandwich pick Beau Jones, 2nd rounder Jeff Lyman and 3rd rounder Jordan Schafer.
Onto a few teams that I felt had a particularly strong draft:
Arizona Diamondbacks
The D-Backs better have had one of the best drafts, with the first overall pick in every round, including the first-round sandwich round. Justin Upton highlights all drafted players, and is supplemented by college pitchers RHP Matt Torra, RHP Matt Green, RHP Jason Neighborgall, RHP Micah Owings, LHP Mark Romanczuk and LHP Ryan Schreppel. They added a power hitting college catcher in Josh Ford, a toolsy college outfielder in Chris Rahl, and a high ceiling prep arm in Brett Jacobson.
Cleveland Indians
Mark Shapiro, one of the best and brightest young general managers in the game has always steered the Indians to successful drafts along with scouting director John Mirabelli. This year they picked one of the best leadoff men in college OF Trevor Crowe, one of the most productive high school hitters in OF John Drennen, a sweet-swinging college 1B in Stephen Head, the best Canadian player in 1B Nick Weglarz and a polished college arm in Jensen Lewis.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers seem to have solid drafts year after year, yet they have had problems turning that initial perceived success into a consistent player-producing machine. Cameron Maybin fell in their laps in round one, and after the high-potential prep outfielder they focused on several intriguing college players including catcher Chris Robinson, RHP Kevin Whelan, 1B Jeff Larish, OF Clete Thomas and 2B Warner Jones.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Angels loaded up with high potential athletes and a couple of talented two-way players, including a couple of Aflac All-Americans, in RHP Trevor Bell, SS Ryan Mount, SS P.J. Phillips, RHP Sean O'Sullivan, LHP Brian Matusz, SS Matt Hall and OF Tim Murphy.
Minnesota Twins
When don't the Twins have a good draft under the guidance of scouting director Mike Radcliff? They took several talented shortstops in Paul Kelly, Drew Thompson and Steve Tolleson to go along with polish college pitchers in Matt Garza and Ryan Mullins. Mixed in are a couple of talented slugging first basemen in Henry Sanchez and Erik Lis, along with a couple of athletic prep pitchers in David Duncan and Brian Kirwan.
San Diego Padres
With the Padres rumored to take LHP Cesar Ramos with their first-round pick, their draft looks particularly good by having him fall in their lap in the sandwich round after taking RHP Cesar Carrillo in the first round. They continued their college preference by adding slugging catcher Nick Hundley, 3B Chase Headley, SS Seth Johnston and RHP Neil Jamison.
St. Louis Cardinals
Few farm systems are as depleted as the Cardinals, but they did a good job using extra, early picks to help supplement the organization. Their first four picks, all chose before the second round, include two high ceiling college players in SS Tyler Greene and RHP Mark McCormick, along with talented high schoolers OF Colby Rasmus and RHP Tyler Herron.
I would like to offer special congratulations to Marshalltown (IA) native Jeff Clement, Alex Gordon and Cameron Maybin (an interview soon to be posted on Perfect Game's homepage) for taking the time to talk to me this spring. I would also like to congratulate Tony Rasmus for doing the same, leading his Russell County team in Phenix City Alabama to a number one overall national ranking, and for his son being selected in the first round. Further congrats to Bob Brower of the Scott Boras Corporation, who enjoyed another big day of prominent draftees, and to Roy Clark and Dan Jennings, who no doubt have been extremely busy preparing for draft day for months. And of course, congratulations to Perfect Game USA for another record setting year.
The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.