Draft Impressions
Another draft has come and gone, with all teams doing their best to ensure the future success of their respective franchises. There weren’t too many surprises on draft day, at least not early, especially compared to the 2007 draft. Jason Castro to the Astros with the 10^th overall pick was the first true surprise, but even then there was talk of him being a darkhorse to go in the top 10, and he wasn’t expected to slide out of the top 20.

If you followed the final prognostications provided by both David Rawnsley and myself, you would have seen that we both accurately predicted the top six picks in the draft. This is never an easy task, but there were enough rumblings out there from coaches, scouts and agents that made it easier to get a feel for how the draft would shake out.

I was also able to accurately predict the first-round pick for the Rangers (Justin Smoak), Brewers (Brett Lawrie) and Phillies (Anthony Hewitt).

As I did last year, I’m going to offer a handful teams that I felt did quite well for themselves on draft day.

Atlanta Braves
It’s important to remember that the Braves did not have their own first-round pick after signing Tom Glavine away from the Mets this past offseason. They did have a supplemental pick to help make up for that, and they took three very promising prep arms from their own backyard with their first three selections: Florida lefty Brett DeVall, Alabama lefty Tyler Stovall and Georgia righty Zeke Spruill. It’s no surprise that the Braves targeted the players they did, as these names definitely fits their scouting profile.

Sleeper: 18^th rounder Michael Palazzone will not be an easy player to sign, but if he does he would join his former East Cobb teammates DeVall and Spruill in a system that always seems to be full of promising arms.

Baltimore Orioles
After taking arguably the safest pick with the highest upside of those eligible for the 2008 draft in San Diego lefty Brian Matusz, they continued to take three incredibly toolsy outfielders in Xavier Avery, L.J. Hoes and Kyle Hudson. They took two more polished college lefties in Rick Zagone and Nathan Moreau and a more raw college lefty in Nick Haughian among some of their earlier picks, and prep righty Bobby Bundy could be viewed as a steal in a few years.

Sleeper: 19^th rounder Jarret Martin may be more inclined to honor his commitment to Cal State Fullerton given where he was taken, but the O’s opened up their pocketbooks more than expected a year ago, and may be prepared to make Martin an offer he can’t refuse.

Kansas City Royals
The Royals have their work cut out for them as they open negotiations with the third overall pick, Eric Hosmer, and their back-up plan may very well be fellow Aflac All-American, prep right-hander Tim Melville, who fell to the fourth round. If the team somehow manages to sign both of these players, as well as their other promising early round picks such as prep lefty Mike Montgomery and prep righty Tyler Sample, they will have added an incredible amount of talent with a few of their early selections.

Sleeper: Chase Hentges was a pleasant surprise at the Perfect Game Indoor Showcase this past February, showing good stuff and incredibly loose actions from a tall projectable frame. I remember being surprised that he didn’t have a college commitment to a notable D1 program at that point in time, and I’m further surprised that he lasted until the 14^th round of this year’s draft.

Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers almost had to be on this list with so many extra, early picks, and after they took one of the draft’s better all-around bat in Brett Lawrie, they loaded up on projectable, athletic power arms. Prep righty Jake Odorizzi and college lefty Evan Fredrickson were the team’s supplemental picks, and they added righties Seth Lintz and Cody Adams in round two as well as prep centerfielder Cutter Dykstra. 20 of their top 28 picks were pitchers, which wasn’t that surprising for a team whose system is brimming with great hitters.

Sleeper: If the team is able to sign Canadian prep righty Stosh Wawrzasek, their 16^th round pick, they could add a very good pitcher for such a late round pick to their system. Stosh isn’t the most projectable of players physically, but he already shows a polished approach to pitching with good stuff.

Minnesota Twins
A lot of Twins fans were perplexed by the team’s first-round pick a year ago, prep outfielder Ben Revere. Like the Brewers, the Twins also had the added benefit of extra early picks, and many expected them to load up on bats given their organizational depth in arms. Aaron Hicks was their first, first-round pick, and they announced him as an outfielder. They did surprise people with their second first-round pick, college closer Carlos Gutierrez, but I think Gutierrez could surprise people, since he missed all of 2007 after Tommy John surgery, especially if the club opts to groom him as a starter. They did a nice job adding a little bit of everything with the picks that followed, from college righty Shooter Hunt to juco infielder Tyler Ladendorf, Puerto Rican outfielder Danny Ortiz, college infielder Nick Romero and prep righty B.J. Hermsen.

Sleeper: The Twins didn’t have to look far taking a pair of Golden Gophers with a few of their later picks, outfielder Matt Nohelty and infielder Nate Hanson. Nohelty is a slap hitter with very good speed while Hanson was one of the Northwoods League’s finest hitters last summer.

Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates silenced all of their critics, myself included, when they took Pedro Alvarez with the second overall pick. Of course now they need to continue that commitment to player development, but they did a good job with a few of their other early picks, including Tanner Scheppers, their second round pick, a player that had quickly fallen down draft boards after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his pitching shoulder. Reports leading up to the days before the draft indicated that the injury may not have been as serious as originally thought, meaning the Pirates could have a steal with Scheppers.

Sleeper: While the Pirates loaded up on college players with most of their early picks, they used a couple of their late-rounders to take a pair of Aflac All-Americans: Quinton Miller and Austin Wright. Both players may be incredibly difficult signs given where they were taken (20^th and 23^rd round respectively), but if they can get either one in the fold you once again have to tip your cap to their re-dedication to player development.

San Diego Padres
To no one’s surprise, the Padres loaded up on college players with their early picks, and targeted bats in particular. Allan Dykstra, Logan Forsythe, James Darnell, Blake Tekotte, Sawyer Carroll, Jason Kipnis, Cole Figueroa and Beemer Weems were among their picks in the top eight rounds, and there is a nice blend of power, speed, athleticism and defense among those players. Jaff Decker was the sole high school player taken among their first 17 selections.

Sleeper: Matt Clark has hit 26 home runs so far this spring for the surprising LSU Tigers, and while some question whether he will be able to make the necessary adjustments to succeed at the pro level, you knew a team like the Padres, A’s or Blue Jays would take him at some point in this draft.

San Francisco Giants
The Giants needed to add bats to their system, and they did just that. They started with Buster Posey, one of the best all-around players available for this year’s draft, and continued by taking Conor Gillaspie, an incredibly polished hitter from the left side of the plate, with their second selection. They added power in Roger Kieschnick with their third pick, and toolsy shortstop Brandon Crawford with their fourth.

Sleeper: Left-hander Wes Musick did not finish the season strong after looking really sharp during his first several starts. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he changes speeds well and commands his pitches when things are working for him.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.