Team by team MLB draft rankings: Best drafts of the last 10 years

With the 2009 MLB Draft set to kickoff at 6:00 ET tonight on the MLB Network, SI.com did a cool feature in which they rated how each club has fared over the past 10 years when it comes to the draft.

The Brewers were rated number one and it’s hard to argue with the ranking after looking at the names Milwaukee has drafted over the years: Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Manny Parra, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo. Amazingly, this club also drafted Hunter Pence (Astros), but couldn’t sign him.

The Red Sox were rated No. 2, with Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester and Manny Delcarmen leading the way, but the site left off a glaring omission: Jacoby Ellsbury. The Rays actually drafted Ellsbury in the 2002 draft, but never signed him. The Sox then nabbed him with the 23rd overall pick in 2005 and he’s currently their starting centerfielder.

Speaking of the Rays, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tampa ranked higher than No. 4 in the next couple of years. Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, James Shields, Andy Sonnanstine and David Price are just some of the names they’ve drafted in the past 10 years. Don’t forget that they were the team that also drafted Josh Hamilton before he got injured and then became the poster child of what not to do when you’re an inspiring ballplayer with loads of free time on your hands.

You look at a club like the Nationals ranked No. 8 and you wonder why they’ve been so awful over the years despite drafting so well. Then you realized they dealt Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips all in the same trade for Bartolo Colon and it all starts to make sense.

If you’re wondering whom SI had ranked last, it was the Astros; only Hunter Pence was worth noting of the players Houston drafted the past 10 years. The White Sox were second to last, although if Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Clayton Richard and Gordon Beckham develop like the club hopes, I highly doubt Chicago will be ranked that low again if SI does another ranking like this in the next couple of years.

White Sox call up top prospect Gordon Beckham

If you don’t hear from any White Sox fans today, it’s because they’re currently worshiping the baseball gods after the Chi-Sox recalled top prospect Gordon Beckham from Triple-A Charlotte and designated Wilson Betemit for assignment (which could be just as big of a move for fans as the call up of Beckham was).

Beckham was the eighth overall selection of the ’08 MLB Draft and has been on the fast track to the big leagues ever since. He was promoted to Triple A on May 27 and now he’ll make his major league debut tonight in Chicago against the A’s.

Baseball America has Beckham rated as the 20th best prospect in baseball at age 22. He can play second, third and short, but he’ll see most of his time at third while batting anywhere 7 through 9 in the order. He’s your typical line drive hitter, although he has good power given his size (6’0”, 185 pounds) and has displayed good instincts on the base paths.

Every time a top prospect gets called up before spending a fair amount of time in the minors, people are always going to question whether or not he got enough seasoning. But Beckham did play collegiality at Georgia and was crushing the ball in Triple A. Baseball is also reverting back into a young player’s game and prospects like Beckham are the future. Here’s hoping he plays well.

Fantasy Spin: If you’re in a keeper league, Beckham is worth taking a flier on. He’s considered an impact prospect and the Sox didn’t call him up because of an injury – they called him up in hopes that he can produce right away. If you have a spot on your roster, add him.

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