2008 MLB Draft

The 2008 Major League Baseball draft will be held tomorrow and with the decisions made in it the future of the league will be molded. The Washington Nationals thus far have been very successful in the draft in their young history. Two of their cornerstones, Ryan Zimmerman and Chad Cordero, were a result of smart drafting that allowed them to pick Major League ready players that still had room to grow. The Nats will pick 9th overall in the first round tomorrow, which puts them in good but confusing position.

The Nationals will need to take a look at their strengths and determine their needs. They already have a franchise player at third base, and have two strong veterans at the other corner in Nick Johnson and Dmitri Young. They have a great young pitching staff with 4 or 5 pitchers with serious major league ability coming up in the minors, so it would seem drafting another pitcher wouldn’t be wise. They are blessed to have an extremely young talented catcher in Jesus Flores, so wasting a pick on a catcher isn’t going to happen here, and we all know they have more young outfielders then they know what to do with. To me it seems clear the Nationals need to find a middle infield prospect who can be major league ready in two or three years when this team is ready to compete. Felipe Lopez is still young, and if this team is serious about competing in the future they will not resign Cristian Guman at the end of this season. So it would seem the need is obvious, the Nats need a future shortstop.

It seems though that the Nats late surge last year was a curse in disguise. While it improved their record and showed that Many Acta could rally a inexperienced team to victory it also left them with the 9th overall pick as opposed to a lower one. In this particular draft there are two great shortstop prospects projected to go in the top 10 of the draft; Tim Beckham (Griffen HS), and Gordan Beckham (Georgia University). No, they’re not related, except that they’re from the family of shortstops with future major league ability. Unfortunately for the Nats however both are expected to be picked in the top 5, making them likely off the board when Washington picks at the 9 spot.

So where does this leave the Nationals? Many are projecting now that they will select the best power hitting prospect in the minors, first baseman Eric Hosmer (Heritage HS). Hosmer has number 1 overall pick talent, but Scott Boras as an agent, which often scares teams away. According to Baseball Prospectus Hosmer projects to have an 80/80 power rating and could very likely be one of the top power hitters in baseball in a few years. BP lists his best case scenario as, “A monster left handed bat in the majors.”
This pick confuses me though. The Nats are currently clogged at first at the major league level and their number one prospect, Chris Marrero, is a first basemen as well. The Major nack on Hosmer is his lack of real athleticism, it’s rare to have a first basemen drafted out of high school but its really the only position he can play (other then his 90 mph fast ball). It will be exciting if they pick this player who may be the next Ryan Howard…but it will be even more interesting to see how the Nationals mold their player development to accommodate to it.

Other Options:
-Casey Kelly, SS/RHP, Sarasota HS
-Yonder Alonso, 1B, Miami
-Brett Lawrie, IF, Brookswood

Note: Nationals did sign a 16 year old SS prospect, Esmailyn Gonzalez, out of the Dominican over a year ago. However he is still very young and isn’t even in the Nats minor league system yet in a full season format. He does however project at this point to be a very promising player, but a long ways away.