Hey folks,
As the simple title suggests, this is indeed a recap of all the happenings that happened in the event that happened to happen yesterday during the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. Sorry for the tardiness of this post, I just made it home from the park about an hour and a half ago.
By now, you've surely heard that Andrew Means was taken 11th round by the Reds. My sources tell me Means is as Jordan Cohen and other media outlets have said he is, which is as good as gone. He had a stellar workout for the Reds, and they were willing to give him the opportunity to come back and play football.
One reason I've heard is that the Reds have information that says the two-way star might be an NFL prospect, but that's pure speculation at this point.
Blake Monar was grabbed in the 25th round by the Yankees, one of two teams high on the southpaw from Rockport. Monar's status is, at present, up in the air. Everything with him depends on Monar's predraft ultimatum that he get third-round money, which isn't out of the question, but we'll get to that in a second.
In a bit of a draft-day surprise, Tyler Tufts, seasoned veteran and eater of many innings, was taken in the 32nd round by the Texas Rangers. Tufts will be an interesting one to watch, and I'll explain why shortly as well.
Lastly, freshman-to-be Alex Dickerson, an outfielder from Poway, Calif., was nabbed at the death of the draft by the Washington Nationals - a team with which I am rather familiar at present - in the 48th round of the draft. The left-handed power hitter was the MVP of the No. 1 team in California, so he's certainly got plenty of plus power, as they say in the industry.
So what does this all mean? Well, this post is getting long, so I'll pump out another one analyzing every Hoosier (and potential Hoosier)'s prospects from here. Until then, a couple of links to consider:
-Interesting bit HERE from MLB.com about college players dominating this year's draft. It's true, and I think it makes a great deal of sense. College players can and have helped teams almost immediately in the last few years. They are generally considered more refined, and if nothing else, you spend less time having to develop their skills before you know whether you have a potential major leaguer or not.
-And to do a bit of self-promotion, here's a link from yours truly about the Nationals' draft. Methinks most of you don't care, but a little bit of shameless self-promotion never hurt anyone did it? Now, scroll above and read.
