No, not that Beckham.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays get the first pick (shocker!) and they’ll be grabbing mega-tool Georgia high school shortstop, Tim Beckham.

Here’s the list so far:  

1. Tampa Bay Devil Rays – Tim Beckham SS (can’t miss mega-tool stud)
2. Pittsburgh Pirates – Pedro Alvarez 3B (crazy hitter)
3. Kansas City Royals – Eric Hosmer 1B (huge powerlord)
4. Baltimore Orioles – Brian Matusz LHP (four quality pitches)
5. SF Giants – Gerald ‘Buster’ Posey C (converted hitting shortstop, may see at Salem-Keizer this season)
6. Florida Marlins – Kyle Skipworth C (6′3" high school power catcher, positional flexibility)
7. Cincinnati Reds – Yonder Alonso 1B (wants stupid money and ML deal – big gamble considering the Reds have no space at his spot)
8. Chicago White Sox – Gordon Beckham SS (does everything well, can be moved around the infield, but no tool jumps out as a league leader)
9. Washington Nationals – Aaron Crow RHP (possibly top college arm in the draft, three plus pitches)
10. Houston Astros -  Jason Castro C (lefty catcher with power and good ball-stopping skills)
11. Texas Rangers – Justin Smoak 1B (A’s took a flyer on him two years back but he wanted too much money – Rangers got a legit ballsmasher, and he might come through the NWL)
12. Oakland Athletics – Jemile Weeks 2B (bio) (The A’s are short on 2B depth, and this lines up with expectations going in to the draft. When Mark Ellis is moving on from Oakland in a few years, Weeks will be ready to step in… we hope. Similar players, unlikely to land in Vancouver due to organizational needs in his position)
13. St. Louis Cardinals – Brett Wallace 3B (expect him to move to first base, but he can hit worthy of the spot)
14. Minnesota Twins – Aaron Hicks OF (first outfielder taken, and he’s a high schooler. Loads of tools, but lots of development to do)
15. Los Angeles Dodgers – Ethan Martin RHP (yet another high schooler, mid-90’s velocity, three pitches)
16. Milwaukee Brewers – Brett Lawrie C (a B.C. born and bred high schooler from the Langley Blaze, looks to be a long term project who may not stick at catcher, but has a booming bat. Went 21-30 when the Blaze Canadian junior team went to spring training the Dominican Republic and played pro opposition)
17. Toronto Blue Jays – David Cooper 1B (big time power, but nothing much else. Of course, the Jays need power, so it makes sense)
18. New York Mets (Glavine/ATL) – Ike Davis 1B (Power is the keyword of this draft, as yet another lefty ballsmacker goes 1st round. Also projects as a possible corner outfielder, and has a mid-90’s fastball as a reliever)
19. Chicago Cubs – Andrew Cashner RHP (shifted to relief, hit upper-90’s fastball as a closer and wiped teams out. First reliever taken)
20. Seattle Mariners – Joshua Fields RHP (another Seattle-drafted power arm. A Scott Boras kid, but he won’t cost a ridiculous amount since he’s a college senior. The question is, doesn’t Seattle have other needs? May see him turn out for the Aquasox this season)
21. Detroit Tigers – Ryan Perry RHP (98mph fastball with strong changeup and slider, but way open delivery telegraphs what’s coming. Will need work)
22. New York Mets – David Havens SS (likely to turn into a third baseman due to lack of range at short, strong hitter in all areas, but more a contact guy)
23. San Diego Padres – Allan Dykstra 1B (yet another power hitter, a lefty at that, the Padres go with a local boy but he’s not of the class of the other corner infielders taken before him. Expect him to turn out for the Eugene Emeralds this season)
24. Philadelphia Phillies – Anthony Hewitt SS/OF (totally long term project with a commitment to college in place… biggest gamble of the first round thus far)
25. Colorado Rockies – Christian Friedrich LHP (when you’re taking middle relievers in the first round, you’re either spotting something you think everyone else missed, or you’re desperate. The way Colorado eats pitchers, I’m guessing they think this kid has a killer groundball-inducer going on. Could be a Tri-City Dust Devil this season)
26. Arizona Diamondbacks – Daniel Schlereth LHP (the name rings a bell? Oakland drafted him in the 8th round last season and he refused to sign. So let’s give him hell when he turns up in a Yakima Bears shirt this year. Three good pitches, worst. hair. ever.)
27. Minnesota Twins (Hunter/LAA) – Carlos Guttierez RHP
28. New York Yankees – Gerrit Cole RHP
29. Cleveland Indians – Lonnie Chisenhall SS
30. Boston Red Sox – Casey Kelly SS

Turns out I’m having to go in to work this afternoon, so I’ll be handling the updates until about 1:20pm, then Jeremy will take over at 3:30pm. Sorry for the downtime, but you can believe we’ll make it worthwhile as we play catch up through the night.

It would be nice if you could just watch the draft on TV, but of course Sportsnet, TSN and The Score have all neglected to bother showing it. Clearly it’s more important that TSN show us some random drag racing event.

Why does the draft matter to Vancouver Canadians fans? Well, these are the guys (at least those picked by Oakland) you’ll be watching at The Nat this season. So start paying attention. 

Oh, and pay attention to picks from other teams too, since they’ll be playing AGAINST us.

Towit:

Pick #5: SF Giants: Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
Pick #11: Texas Rangers: Spokane Indians
Pick #12: Oakland Athletics: Vancouver Canadians
Pick #20: Seattle Mariners: Everett Aquasox
Pick #23: SD Padres: Eugene Emeralds
Pick #25: Colorado Rockies: Tri-City Dust Devils
Pick #26: Arizona D-backs: Yakima Bears

Unrelated sidenote: We get a ton of spam on this site, as most blogs do, and most of it is fairly easy to spot. In fact, all of it is. Spammers aren’t real smart.

So anyway, today I get one in which clearly the spammer knows he’s going to get caught, so he’s not even trying to dress things up.

The spam message: "Please, do not delete the given message. Money obtained from spam will go to the help hungry to children in uganda."

DELETED!