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Written By Sean Connolly

It’s scary to think that with the way the Tampa Bay Rays are playing this year that they have yet another first pick. This season they are playing like a playoff team and are beating up on teams in the powerful American League East. The Rays’ first pick of the draft was Beckham. Not the pretty boy soccer player but Tim Beckham from Griffin High in Georgia. The shortstop may complete an already impressive team in a few years and give American League teams more to worry about. Beckham wasn’t the only solid pick in the draft as I’ll break down the first ten picks of the MLB draft for you.

1.Tampa Bay Rays-Tim Beckham SS: Griffin High School, Georgia-Exactly what the Rays needed to complete their team. If they can hold on to him and not trade him the Rays will be set for the next ten years as they build around Rocco Baldelli, Evan Longoria, and Crawford.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates-Pedro Alvarez 3B: Vanderbilt University- Arguably the most talented player in the draft Alvarez could become a perennial all star in the MLB. The question is who will he be an all star for? Alvarez’s contract demands may be too much for the Pirates to handle and could end up somewhere else.

3. Kansas City Royals- Eric Hosmer 1B: American Heritage High School, Florida- An all-around player who is a solid player in the field, and the lefty has one of the strongest bats High School. If the Royals can keep him he can be a great power hitter with solid defense. I would compare him to a Tino Martinez, a great player who can make a tremendous impact.

4. Baltimore Orioles- Brian Matusz LHP: San Diego University- The Orioles desperately need starting pitching and nothing like a 6′4, 200lb lefty to do the job. Matusz has four pitches and can be very dominating with his size. One worry is the slow start he had to last season and that could impede his road to the Majors.

5. San Francisco Giants- Gerald Posey C: Florida State University- With the Giants losing their only hitter in Bonds(probably to prison), they need to find an answer. Posey might just be that answer. He has all the tools as a catcher except for power. I don’t think this was the right choice for the lowly Giants as they should be rebuilding with pitching.

6. Florida Marlins- Kyle Skipworth C- Patriot High School, California- Just like the Rays, the Marlins look awfully good this year and have both a young team and a small payroll. The Marlins got a steal with Skipworth because he is better than Giants’ 5th Pick, Posey, who is also a catcher. The Marlins have to be happy with the luck they’re getting and all they need is some luck in holding on to their players.

7. Cincinnati Reds- Yonder Alonso 1B- University of Miami- Not the best defensive player but sports a great bat that may get him into the majors. I don’t see him staying in the National League, but I can see him as a DH in the American. The Reds should trade him to get some good value for their team.

8. Chicago White Sox- Gordon Beckham SS- University of Georgia- Another Beckham!?! Again not the soccer player, but a middle infielder that the White Sox wanted and needed. They lack middle infield depth and Beckham could be a great utility guy who can start every night for the White Sox.

9. Washington Nationals- Aaron Crow RHP- University of Missouri Columbia- With only the second pitcher chosen in the first ten, Crow is a very smart choice for the Nationals. Crow has the best arm in the draft and will be a great piece to build around.

10. Houston Astros- Jason Castro C- Stanford University- The Astros would have been better off choosing Fidel Castro. Not really but Castro is not top ten talent to say the least and is not the right choice for the Astros. The future of Castro staying at catcher is bleak and may move to second base. I think Castro reminds the Astros of Craig Biggio who also went from catcher to second base for the Astros.

So in a Beckham filled draft, who are the winners? The two Florida teams stole the show, with the Rays picking up Tim Beckham first, and the Florida Marlins stealing Kyle Skipworth with the sixth pick. The Astros, Royals, and Giants are sadly the losers making all dumb moves. After this draft I think the Rays have a tremendous future ahead of them.

If A-Rod comes up one home run shy this season of a record or milestone, blame the MLB for not having instant replay by now. In yesterday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Alex Rodriguez drilled a pitch from Lance Cormier below the bleachers and off a set of stairs behind the wall. The ball bounced back onto the the field and Oriole’s right fielder, Nick Markakis quickly threw the ball back in. The umpires ruled it as a double and not a the home run it really was. The MLB has begun to bring instant replay into baseball starting in the Arizona Fall League, but is it right or wrong?

With this being the second hit not correctly called a home run in the past week at Yankee Stadium, the instant replay topic in baseball heats up. On Sunday, Carlos Delgado’s home run was called foul by the umpires on the field, but after second look through instant replay it was clear that it hit the foul poll and was a home run. After seeing the replay of Carlos Delgado’s disputed foul ball, home plate umpire, Bob Davidson admitted that it really was a home run.

I ****ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a **** foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who ****ed it up so you can put that in your paper, bolts and nuts, I ****ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.

Bob Davidson

With umpires admitting they were wrong after seeing instant replay, MLB officials have gotten the ball rolling on instant replay. They said they will begin using instant replay in the Arizona Fall League. If successful and deemed useful, instant replay will then be used in the World Baseball Classic. If all goes well we could be seeing instant replay used on homerun calls and foul balls as soon as the 2009 season.

This move by the MLB to start using instant replay brings a lot of debate between whether it will be good or bad for the game. The positives of instant replay in the MLB are numerous. There have been so many mistakes by umpires in MLB history that easily could have been corrected if instant replay was there. Look at the 1996 divisional series between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. A young boy, Jeffrey Maier, reached over and brought Derek Jeter’s flair over the wall for a home run. One simple look at a video tape would show that the call should be fan interference, not a home run.

People who say that instant replay would ruin the game, and slow it down are simply wrong. Football, Hockey, and Basketball all have forms of instant replay and neither sport has been ruined due to instant replay. If anything it has made each sport better and more accurate. Why wouldn’t you want instant replay in baseball? I don’t understand why one wouldn’t. It makes no sense. Some people say instant replay would slow down baseball. Listen, it’s slow enough, another five minutes isn’t going to hurt. Plus, if you’re going to sit and watch a game for three hours, wouldn’t you be fine with watching a correctly called game for three hours and five minutes. I know I would.

Listen, we have the technology now to make sure that every call is correct on the field. Why not use it? Every other sport is using it and it has proven to make each sport better. For a majority of these calls you can see the right call after one look at an instant replay. Please Major League Baseball, bring instant replay to the game I love.