Draft Genius

Before we head into the college and pro football seasons, I want to take a brief respite to discuss baseball, or more importantly the future of baseball, especially since the future is so very bright. Now I know that there are problems with the game: lack of attendance, super low television ratings, football's popularity and not to mention that home field advantage for the world series is determined by the All-Star game. That being said, the future of the on-field game is very bright.

The number of young, extremely talented players is astonishing. Justin Verlander is 28, Prince Fielder is 27 as is Tim Lincecum. Felix Hernandez is 25. Not to mention the talented players that are even younger than those All-Stars, like Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, Giants catcher Buster Posey, Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova, the Marlins trio of Mike Stanton, Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison, the Braves duo of Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman, the dramatic possibilities of Stephen Strasbourg and Bryce Howard, and former Hurricanes Jon Jay and Ryan Braun. In fact, it is Ryan Braun that led me to this column.

While reading about Braun one day, I decided to look up his draft class, and boy was I shocked at what I saw; simply the greatest draft class of all time (Ed. Note - not every draft class was reviewed before making this assertion). At least this draft class should be spoken about in baseball circles like the 1983 NFL draft and the 2003 NBA draft, Here are some of the selections in the 2005 MLB amateur draft.

1. Justin Upton - Diamondbacks
2. Alex Gordon - Royals
3. Jeff Clement - Mariners
4. Ryan Zimmerman - Nationals
5. Ryan Braun - Brewers
6. Ricky Romero - Blue Jays
7. Troy Tulowitzki - Rockies
9. Mike Pelfrey - Mets
10. Cameron Maybin - Tigers
11. Andrew McCutcheon - Pirates
12. Jay Bruce - Reds
16. Chris Volstad - Marlins
19. John Mayberry, Jr. - Rangers
23. Jacoby Ellsbury - Red Sox
25. Matt Garza - Twins
26. Craig Hansen - Red Sox
28. Colby Rasmus - Cardinals
30. Tyler Greene - Cardinals
40. Luke Hochever - Dodgers
42. Clay Buchholz -Red Sox

And that was just the first rounders. Uptown, Braun, Zimmerman, Tulowitzki, McCutcheon, Ellsbury and Buchholz are stars, Bruce has been an All-Star, and everyone else listed (except for Jeff Clement) is or has been a major contributor to their major league squad. That is 19 out of 42!

Makes me wonder, in hindsight of course, what Mariners General Manager Bill Bavasi was thinking in passing on all of that talent for Clement. Bavasi was fired on June 16, 2008. He has found employment as the special assistant to the General Manager for the Cincinnati Reds. Quite a bit of a fall compared to the ceilings of these present and future stars.

Baseball is indeed in good hands.

Ready for Some Football

It is that time of the year again, time for the start of college football. What would the start of college football be without a preseason All-American list. Once again, I am here to give you my preseason All-Americans. As usual, there will be more than 11 a side, to account for the different types of formations (spread, three receiver set, 4-3, 3-4, etc). I explain some of my picks, while others I do not. Why? Because I can.

Offense

QB - Landry Jones, Oklahoma; Andrew Luck, Stanford; Denard Robinson, Michigan - I just think that Jones is going to have a better year than Luck, but Luck is a great backup to have. Robinson might be the most dynamic player in the country.

RB - LaMichael James, Oregon; Marcus Lattimore, South Carolina; Michael Dyer, Auburn; Chris Polk, Washington - James and Lattimore are no-brainers, while Auburn is going to heavily rely upon Dyer post-Newton. I just have a hunch about Polk.

WR - Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma; Alshon Jeffery, South Carolina; Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State; Jeff Fuller, Texas A&M - The first three are self-explanatory, or at least they should be.

TE - Michael Egnew, Missouri

OL - Johnathan Martin, Stanford; Barrett Jones, Alabama; Mike Brewster, Ohio State; David Molk, Michigan; Matt Kalil, USC; Levy Adcock, Oklahoma State; Seantrel Henderson, Miami - All big, strong and key cogs to their respective teams.

Defense

DE - Quinton Coples, North Carolina; Brandon Jenkins, Florida State; Vinny Curry, Marshall - Coples continues the string of talented Tar Heel defensive playersnwhile Jenkins leads a defense known for making plays behind the line of scrimmage.

DT - Jared Crick, Nebraska; Billy Winn, Boise State - Crick is good enough to have moved outside of the extremely large shadow of Ndamukong Suh.

LB - Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State; Dont'a Hightower, Alabama; Tank Carder, TCU; Luke Kuechly, Boston College; Sean Spence, Miami - Burfict is my absolute favorite player in all of college football. He is the most likely player to actually decapitate someone since LaVar Arrington. Hightower is the best defensive player on a Nick Saban defense, while Spence is my favorite Miami player. A darkhourse youngster to watch is Jon Bostic of Florida.

CB - Jayron Housley, Virginia Tech; Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina; Cliff Harris, Oregon; Mark Barron, Alabama; Chase Minnifield, Virginia; Kenny Tate, Maryland - Housley is the best corner in college, while Gilmore very well could be by the time the season is over. Why Harris? I need someone to hang out with Sean Spence.

Special Teams

K - Will Snyderwine, Duke - Because it is kicker, and because it is weird to have a Duke football All-American.

P - Drew Butler, Georgia - Easily the best punter in the NCAA.

KR/PR - Damaris Johnson, Tulsa; Andre DeBose, Florida; James Rodgers, Oregon State - Johnson set the single game all-purpose yards record in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl and it is time for DeBose to live up to his potential and not just try to be Percy Harvin.