Baseball is as much about the deal off of the field as it is the play on the field. Thousands of youngsters who spend springs, summers, and falls honing their game to grab the attention of a few scouts or coaches are pot-boiled down to about 1,500 names that improve their chances to find a way into the major leagues and fulfill the dream.
While the first few rounds of the venerated draft list draw the most attention, it is a mistake in baseball to assume that being so anointed by the draft gives them any real edge. The farm system is full of undrafted players, and those from the depths of the draft who have outshined their more well pedigreed peers.
There is a lot of science to selecting the players on the list: Scouting, drills, and an ever-increasing array of analysis designed to protect what may be potential multi-million dollar investments by each club.
Yet, in the long run, it is still experience and gut-instinct that leads to a club pulling the trigger for a particular player.
In the coming days, camps, competition, and injury will be the great humbling forces of the developmental side of baseball. The small handful who will survive long enough from any page of this draft list to get to the big leagues will have the baseball gods shining a bit of good luck upon them as much as their talent will carry them. Look deeper into the draft, and you will see many players who, because of one thing or another, may not be on the front burner now. The draft is deep as the Mississippi because you never know who will float up. Look for the smaller schools, the more obscure towns. There may be the hidden gems who don't get quite as much attention from the scouts as players from baseball powerhouse schools like Cal State Fullerton, ASU, or Cal State Long Beach.
Out of the 1,501 players in the 2005 draft, 980 (65%) are college players. 507 (34%) are high school players. 1% have no school.
In the top 100 picks, the Marlins grabbed the largest group (8), the Mariners and Nationals got one each (The no. 3 and no. 4 picks overall).
In the college ranks, Cal State Fullerton had 13 players drafted. Lake City Community College sent nine into the mid and lower rounds. Grayson County College challenged the big boys with seven picks, including two top tens in Robert Romero (7 OA) and Colin Carter (10 OA) .
From the high school ranks the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy dominates the landscape with 13 picks starting in round 21 and working their way down to 49. In the quality and quantity department, Rancho Bernardo High and Billy Ryan High School both have four picks. Rancho Bernardo tops out with CF John Drennen, a compensation round pick at No. 33 OA. BRHS leads with a fifth round pick in Ryan Delaughter (OA 144). Many of the high school players, particularly ones in the lower ranks of the draft, are merely fishing expeditions. Players who are drafted but choose to go to college instead are eligible to be selected again in the draft as college juniors in three years.
State by state, California serves up 19% of the list with a whopping 287 draft picks; Florida comes in second with 157; Not to be outdone, the great state of Texas still can deliver with 151; Georgia edges out Arizona by one with 53 picks; the Empire State brings 45 from New York; the Northwest is represented by Washington with 45 players; Illinois counts 43 native sons on the list; and Alabama has 24 picks starting with the 28th overall Colby Rasmus of Russell County High School.
How did your home town do? If you lived in a rural town or Puerto Rico you did far better than urban areas, which have been in a downward spiral with baseball for years. The notable exception to the rule: New York, New York. The five boroughs dished up a significant chunk of the draft, topped only by metro Houston with 16 picks. Surprisingly Chicago, the Second City, fell dead last in major markets to serve up draft picks.
How It Lays Out
Some publications will show you the abridged list. At MLN, we'll give you the full fifty rounds of the draft. We also break it down by clubs, positions, schools, and even home towns. Some of the information given to MLB is not always fully correct. If you know something about a player that is wrong, please let us know.
The number one pick on any list is an attention-getting experience. This year, Justin Upton, (seen on our cover in an AFLAC talent showcase held before the draft) pulls down the top spot as the D-Backs use their first pick to secure his services. Number one picks from the D-s run in the Upton family. The D-Rays have brother BJ Upton, who was our No. 1 overall in last year's MLN FAB50 Baseball rankings.
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