MLB Draft Preview: 2008

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By: Austin Alexander-June 4, 2008

It’s that time again when the culmination of hundreds of hours at the ballpark and thousands of miles on the odometer all arrive at the draft podium. Cell phone minutes are at a premium for a professional scout this week as the finishing touches are made on 30 draft boards! On Thursday and Friday, Major League Baseball will host its annual amateur draft and over these two days, scores of dreams will be realized and many more will be dashed.

An awful lot goes into what transpires at the MLB Draft. Pro scouts pound the pavement and hammer away on the telephone to find the next diamond in the rough, round up pitching assignments, bouncing from game to game and showcase to showcase…and of course, the one last glance before their reports are submitted.

HarrisonB-stance07.jpgProfessional scouts are the unsung heroes in our game. With arguably the most grueling travel schedule of anyone in baseball, these evaluators of talent are keenly trained to weigh a players tool’s, overall ability, make-up and sometimes the most important aspect of slotting a prospect, his signability. It’s far from an exact science but these bleacher creatures that camp out at backstops and eat hot dogs every night are as good (or better) at what they do as the players they are scouting.

So here we are. All those days away from home, all those lonely nights in a hotel, all those leads that took them nowhere, all those viewings of players that may eventually be selected by a competing team…These two days are their Super Bowl, their Final Four, their Omaha.

How the draft will actually play out, no one knows. But the numbers have been submitted, meetings held and what happens now may be scrutinized for years to come.

Your question at this stage is likely: How will the MLB Draft affect prep stars in South Carolina?

Today DP weighs in on the crap-shoot that could impact professional organizations as well as the collegiate programs that are awaiting their arrival.

We’ll break it down this way…

Will get drafted: Jordan Lyles (Hartsville), Zac Fuesser (York), Adam Matthews (White Knoll)

Likely to get drafted: Adam Westmoreland (Brookland-Cayce), Josh Adams (Midland Valley)

Might get drafted: Matt Price (Sumter)

Outside shot to get drafted: Joseph Moorefield (Byrnes), Richard Mounce (Blythewood), Mac Doyle (Conway), Marty Gantt (North Augusta), OB Johnson (Brookland-Cayce), Michael Roth (Riverside), Andrew Rash (Westside), Garrett Koster (Fort Mill), David Greene (Richland Northeast), Patrick Dolan (Summerville), Austin Ashmore (Greer), Jeffrey Campbell (Boiling Springs)

For much more draft analysis from previous years, and a detailed explanation of key draft terms like "sign-ability" and how it affects the order of the picks, click here.
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