It looks like a very interesting rookie draft this year with many of the potential top picks having question marks attached. I thought I'd give my thoughts on some of them and hopefully here from others on what they think.

David Wright – Good young 3B, looks to an all around good baseball player: hits, has some power, runs well and field his position well. No obvious problems.

B.J. Upton – Good stick but, as of now, a terrible fielder. Scouts feel he may mature into a decent defensive SS but there is a lot of talk about moving him to 3B. May start ’05 in AAA as the idiots in Tampa give AB’s to Alex Freaking Gonzalez.

Joe Mauer – Potentially excellent hitter and defender who was hurt most of ’04 and is a question mark heading into this season. His knee seems to be better but will it keep giving him trouble curtailing a great career, or moving him to 1B/DH thus cutting his value greatly?

Scott Kazmir – Great arm, throws heat with a killer slider. Can he be a successful MLB starter with only 2 pitches or will he wind up in the bullpen ala Billy Wagner, another short lefthander?

Zack Greinke – Another Greg Maddux or a pitcher who never quite achieves greatness due to a mediocre fastball? He is also young enough to not be through the injury nexus yet. TINSTAAPP.

Casey Kotchman – The kid can flat out hit, killing AA & AAA this year at 21. Also a terrific fielder. The downside is he’s been injured every year since coming out of high school. The other question is whether he’ll develop power or not; is he Will Clark or Rafael Palmeiro? Or, with his injury history, is he Nick Johnson?

Dallas McPherson – Jim Thome or Russell Branyan? Huge power but contact problems, also has some work to do to become a major league 3B.

Kaz Matsui – A disappointment with the bat, in the field and on the bases. Can he establish himself at 2B and figure out major league pitching? Sure didn’t look like it last year. Will he pull a Sasaki and head home early?

Alexis Rios – Will he develop any power? He sure struck out enough to make you think he was swinging hard but 1 HR is disappointing.

Grady Sizemore – Excellent minor league career but a mediocre first season. Good all around skills give hope that he’ll figure it out.

David Bush – Pitched well in relief role. Things look good for a switch to the rotation but the increased innings will be a whole other story.

Joe Blanton – Looked good not great. Good organization should help him to become a decent starting pitcher. Maybe the safest pick in the draft.

Jeff Francis – Blew through the minors but can he survive and thrive in that home park? Coors makes you work pretty hard and he’s a skinny kid …

Jose Capellan, J.D.Durbin, Brandon League and a thousand other young pitchers – Who knows?

What do you think?