It's feeling a bit drafty

The MLB draft is here and Georgia had a huge impact in the first round. Five players from the state of Georgia were taken in the top 20 picks, including the number one overall pick and two from my beloved Georgia Bulldogs. Foley Field representin'! Here's the Peach State draftees followed by the guy whose autograph I'll be chasing this fall.


#1 overall pick - Tim Beckham - SS - Tampa Bay Rays
All around player at shortstop from Griffin High School. The dude was born in 1990 and just got drafted by a Major League ballclub. In other news, I am older than dirt.

#5 overall pick - Buster Posey - C - San Francisco Giants
Big catcher from Leesburg, GA who was converted from shortstop at Florida State. He's been compared to Jason Varitek but is still really raw.

#8 overall pick - Gordon Beckham - SS - Chicago White Sox
Shortstop from the University of Georgia who has really broken out in his junior season. He's hit 24 homers for a .397 average and could end up at second base.

#15 overall pick - Ethan Martin - RHP - Los Angeles Dodgers
A top prep player from Stephens County High School, Ethan was drafted as a pitcher but also can hit massive home runs when playing third base. It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers develop this kid.

#20 overall pick - Josh Fields - RHP - Seattle Mariners
Georgia's closer the past couple of years, Josh had a good senior season with 16 saves and a 2.27 ERA. Josh was the Braves' second round pick last year, but they couldn't get a deal done with [expletive deleted] Scott Boras.

The Braves' draft can be found here, Out first pick was #40 overall in the compensation portion of the first round.

#40 overall pick - Brett DeVall - LHP - Atlanta Braves
A surprisingly polished lefty pitcher from Niceville High School in Florida. He has three good pitches, a fastball, slider and changeup, and very good command for a high school pitcher. Brett was a star in the East Cobb league right down the interstate from me, and is committed to play for the University of Georgia next year if he doesn't sign. Pete Van Wieren just told me over the radio that he was ranked the nineteenth overall prospect in this year's draft by Baseball America.

The rest of the picks for the Braves so far -

#64 overall pick - Tyler Stovall - LHP - Hokes Bluff HS (AL)
#70 overall pick - Ezekiel Spruill - RHP - Kell HS (GA)
#96 overall pick - Craig Kimbrel - RHP - Wallace State CC
#130 overall pick - Braeden Schlehuber - Col of Southern Nevada
#160 overall pick - Jacob Thompson - RHP - University of Virginia

I'll update as I have time.