The '08 Draft: Knee-Jerk Reactions

Where has Posey been projected as better than Martin and Mauer? If this were the case, I am confident that he would have been a consensus number one.

I wanted Smoak, but still stoked we got Posey.

I think Giants fans are still so amazed that we didn't draft a pitcher that it hasn't sunk in....lol

I think the Giants had one of the best all around drafts of any team.

Villalona is already learning 1B...

Luckily we have Durham/Aurilia/Vizquel/Walker/Chulk/Hennessey coming off the books...

There will be some money to spend.

"There will be some money to spend."

Straight into Adam Dunn's pockets.

I dont think the reds are just gonna keep dunn and let him go into free agency they will attempt to trade him if they know they are not going to resign him

It's kinda hard not to like the Smoak pick. He will probably hit the bigs in less than 3 years baring any major set backs.

And yes green and gold, this will probably haunt you and your A's for quite sometime.

I was worried when the Braves had to give up their #18 pick to the Mets, but I feel a little better since the Mets seemed to slip a little and didn't fully capitalize on the opportunity. Don't get me wrong, Ike Davis was a decent pick, but it just seems they overdrafted him.

Green and Gold, the reason why everyone hated the Weeks pick was because; a) Weeks does not look like he will be good, b) everyone wished Smoak had fallen to us, c) better picks were available at that slot. The pick reaked of Cliff Pennington.

As for Smoak, he was drafted by the A's not last year, but out of High School a couple years ago. He didn't sign with the A's because he wanted to go to College.

I love the draft; such a great infusion of energy and hope for teams otherwise missing it from their current rosters.

Green and Gold. The funny thing about the Smoak deal with the A's is that they were reportedly 'only' about 50K off; Oakland decided they weren't going to bend over for some punk kid they took in the 16th round. Was he talented? Sure. But no one knew he'd be AS good as he's thus far turned out to be. The Weeks pick is weak, though. I'm glad you like it, but you're asking why others are down on the selection and it's because you don't draft for need and there were better choices on the board. Why take Weeks, a kid who doesn't really strike many as having a bright MLB future (perhaps unfairly due to his brother's lack of success, so far), when you could take a high upside kid like Hicks or Martin, or better yet, a polished college hitter who absolutely fits the Oakland mold in Brett Wallace. I don't get it and I don't think a lot of others 'got' it either.

Good point; he's incredible that way.

I'm more annoyed about my team's draft. As an Orioles fan, I hoped for another aggressive push and was disappointed after our first selection. Matusz may not be Alvarez- who I'd been hoping would fall to us like manna from heaven or...Wieters last year- but I think he'll be a frontline starter and possibly even an ace, in which case, he's a great pick who, in conjunction with Tillman and Arrieta, could make up a very interesting front half in the O's future rotation.

Still, Xavier Avery in the second round? I like two WAY players, not two SPORT guys. They tend to spread their talent too thin and more often than not, disappear without ever having made any impact. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't understand the pick. Sure, he's got upside, but he's raw and everythings a struggle, from signing him away from his Georgia football commitment, to developing his ample, but thus far unfocused talents. I like LJ Hoes in round 3, Bobby Bundy in 8 and Jarett Martin- assuming we sign him- in round 19, but otherwise, I think we failed to fully capitalize on the draft the way other rebuilding teams like KC and SF did. If I had my druthers, our board would've looked like this:
1. Matusz
2. Melville or, if Angelos wouldn't open the purse strings, Dennis Raben (my pick to be this year's LaPorta: polished college bat coming off an injury plagued season of disappointment only to blow up in the minors; nice pick by Seattle)
3. Ross Seaton (I'm assuming I can't go way over slot and just sign anybody or else I'd grab Isaac Galloway or Alex Meyer here).
4. Robbie Grossman (now grab your H.S. OF'er)
5. Anthony Ferrara
6. Brett Hunter
7. Beamer Weems
8. Bobby Bundy
9. Michael Palazzone
10. Luke Burnett

A nice mix of college and HS with upside. Sure it might cost a bit more, but the draft only comes around once a year and is a much cheaper source of incoming talent than, say, signing Mark Teixeira for $100 mil.

Loved KC's draft, San Fran's was nice, Atlanta and Boston both drafted well in the later rounds, grabbing high upside talent they can go over slot to sign. Washington and Texas both had their second straight strong draft. Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Milwaukee all did fairly well. And of course Boston.

The big brass ones award goes to Pat Gillick, who, in his last year as GM oversaw what was easily the biggest boom-or-bust draft of the year: Hewitt, Collier, Gose, Knapp, Pettibone, May, Shreve. That's what I call cajones. Could be awesome; love the courage even if I think Hewitt was a product of hype. Collier, Gose, and Knapp all have monster upsides as well and were on the radar longer.

"The A's have weaknesses in the farm system at 2B, 3B, SS, and CF.

Weeks was the best available player in one of those positions at pick #12. The next pick the A's had was at #70, so Weeks or any top infielder was going to be available that far down in the draft.

The A's have a lot of pitching, 1B, and corner outfielders. Granted, Weeks is no Beckham, but he was the next best available middle infielder.

Why is everyone so down on this pick?

Also, the A's already drafted Smoak last year, but couldn't sign him. I think that he wanted WAY too much money to sign. I just hope that doesn't come back to haunt the A's in the future..." - green and gold

g and g you are making A's fans look like dumba$$es! Like Zonis already said: Weeks is over rated, We wanted Smoak, and Better players were left. I.E. Brett Wallace a home town guy! Grew up in Napa! And he was taken with the next pick! And I'm also going to critisize you for saying we don't have depth at center field. WHAT? Carlos Gonzalez, Aaron Cunningham, Jermaine Mitchell, Corey Brown, Javier Herrera, what type of weed do you smoke? I bet you're on White Widow huh. My nephew was caught with some. The A's system weakness in their infield. If I had my realistic order of guys that could have reached the A's it would have gone like this:
Gordan Beckham
Justin Smoak
Brett Wallace
Christian Fridriech
Aaron Hicks

This is the order I think the A's should have taken players that were STILL on the board:
Brett Wallace
Aaron Hicks
Christian Fridriech
Brett Lawrie
Jemile Weeks

And it's not that I don't think he'll be a good player, I just think we should have used our highest draft pick in over a decade on someone better