2008 MLB Draft; Round 2. Players that impacted Major League Baseball.
The great thing about the Major League Baseball draft is there are 50 Rounds. There used to be more, but 50 Rounds is still a lot. You could get the best player in the world with the 30th pick in the 50th round. You could also get an ace with the number 1 overall pick. That’s whats most exciting! You never know what will happen with the players who come out of the Amatuer draft. So Alibay Barkley (last pick in the 2009 draft) who is actually from my neck of the woods in NY could eventually be the best player is Major League Baseball while Stephenn Strasburg could eventually be signing Minor League Contracts year after year. Is that going to happen? Probably not. But again you never know.
I like to look back at the 2005 draft which brought a lot of talent to our game today. I also like to dwell on the 2008 draft. Especially the 2nd round. Who would have thought that many of last season’s trades at the deadline, or even Baseball America’s top 10 prospects by team would consist of a whole bunch of kids drafted in that round?
Out of the 30 picks in that round, 3 of them were traded last summer. 3 is actually a lot if you consider the duds and players who went to college instead of signing with a Major League team. Those players are Shane Peterson, Tyler Ladendorf, and Jason Knapp. Now if we turn the clock back to July 30th, the day before the deadline, if Tyler Ladendorf wasn’t traded for Orlando Cabrera would the Twins have made it to the post-season? if Shane Peterson wasn’t included in the Matt Holliday trade would Holliday end up a Card? If he didn’t end up a card, he may not have eventually signed his 8 year deal with St. Louis, and if he didn’t, would that mean that Pujols had chosen to leave St. Louis at the end of his current contract? How about our good friend Jason Knapp. Would the Indians have made that lopsided trade if Knapp wasn’t included? If he wasn’t included, Cliff Lee wouldn’t have pitched the Phillies in to the World Series last season and he wouldn’t be a Seattle Mariner right now, and of course the Roy Halladay trade would have gone much differently.
Even some teams’ top prospects were drafted in that round. James Darnell, Tyson Ross, Josh Lindblom, Jay Austin, Johnny Giavotella, Anthony Gose, Cody Satterwhite, Destin Hood, Kyle Lobstien, and Derrick Gibson.
I’ve really been impressed with James Darnell. I really think that he’s going to impact the Padres soon.
Jay Austin is one of the Astros top prospects. He could be Michael Bourn in a few seasons.
Tyson Ross is currently with the Swinging A’s in Spring Training.
Josh Lindblom could be the key piece to a possible future Adrian Gonzalez trade.
Johnny Giavotella could be the next Brian Roberts.
The Blue Jays really wanted Anthony Gose in a potential Roy Halladay trade last summer.
Cody Satterwhite may see some big league time this season.
Destin Hood is a future piece in the Nationals plans.
Kyle Lobstien is a possible piece in the Rays rotation in a few seasons.
And Derrick Gibson is jumping through the Minor League system as we speak.
So my point is that everyone should be optimistic after draft even if your team doesn’t draft your favorite College player or high school star. It is so exciting to see your team develop young players like Casey Kelly or Chris Carter for example. You can never be sure about a trade involving prospects and you can certainly never judge a player coming through the system. The greatest thing about Baseball is that you learn something new everyday. If I jump to the 2003 draft; round 36, I’m sure I will find a player who has an interesting story. For me, one of the most interesting drafts is the 2008 draft and the most exciting round in my opinion, the 2nd round.
SPANdemonium 
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