MLB Draft Day 1

Today was the first day of the 2005 MLB Draft. The baseball draft doesn't get nearly the media coverage of the NFL and NBA drafts, as most players selected won't have any impact on Major League teams for at least 2 to 3 years. Top that off with the fact that many of the players are unknown and don't ever sign with the team that drafted them and it's tough to drum up much interest.

Today's Seattle P-I included some interesting numbers that really help to put the draft in perspective. In the 28 drafts since the Mariners inception in 1977, they have selected 1,336 players. Of those players, 157 (11.7%) have made the big leagues, 111 (8.4%) of those were still with the Mariners when they made it, and only 9 players (0.67%) went on to become All-Stars in Seattle. The Mariners may not be the best sample to look at, but I would guess that most teams look fairly similar. Yowch.

With that in mind, here's the info on my new favorite players. The Mariners used their first pick, the third pick overall to select Jeff Clement, a catcher from USC (at least I hope we got the catcher and not this guy). After selecting Clement, the M's turned their focus to pitching taking five pitchers in a row. "Information" on all of the M's picks can be found here.

"I am not gifted with Ichiro's speed" -- Jeff Clement

Best Catcher Ever!

The Gators had two players selected: Jeff Corsaletti (Red Sox) and Alan Horne (Yankees...Boo!). The Gators also had four of their high school signees selected, so they'll have to sit tight and see if those guys decide to forego college and go straight to the minors. Stay in school boys, stay in school.