Three Canes Drafted in 1st

I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed that the Marlins didn't draft Yonder Alonso with the 6th pick in yesterday's draft. We do have Mike Jacobs, but Alonso presents an upgrade in my opinion. Jacobs has experience at catcher so I thought that possibility might be intriguing enough for the Marlins to consider. Instead they decided to draft high school catcher Kyle Skipworth. Instead, Alonso went to the Reds with the next pick and can join young guys like Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce in what looks like a bright future for Cincinnati.

After Alonso came Jemile Weeks, who I had seen go as early as 12th or as late as the 3rd round. Indeed he went to the A's at 12th, who apparently don't have a whole lot of faith in Mark Ellis. Weeks projects to be a pretty solid player at the next level, but a lot of scouts aren't sold on him as a hitter. Regardless, he should make Oakland and fantasy players alike happy with his stolen bases.

The surprise 1st rounder was Carlos Gutierrez at 27 to the Twins. Carlos is coming off an injury and doesn't have a 2nd pitch, but Minnesota saw his dominance this year and felt he was worth the risk. I'm not entirely sure why they would draft him since they have Joe Nathan, but whatever. It was surprise because the other guy I thought would go in the 1st, Dennis Raben, did not.

Instead, Raben slipped to the mid-2nd to Seattle, which is still pretty good. He and Blake Tekotte (who ended up with the Padres in the 3rd), were projected by some as late 1st round picks. Regardless, both outfielders were drafted pretty high and it goes to show just how much talent is on this Hurricanes roster.

Another draftee of note was Mark Sobolewski who went in the 4th.