MLB's Great Draft Class of 2005

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Jun 7, 2010

MLB's Great Draft Class of 2005

No. 1 (Arizona)

The Diamondbacks opened what would become an epic draft by taking the younger brother of Devil Rays slugger B.J. Upton. The outfielder Justin Upton has not disappointed, shredding through minor-league pitching and earning a call-up late last season.

No. 2 (Kansas City)

The Royals followed the D'backs by taking Gordon, who could be the team's best third baseman since George Brett. Gordon struggled in his rookie season but bounced back to slug .472 in the second half.

No. 3 (Seattle)

In high school, Clement set the national record with 75 home runs. With the Mariners' Class AAA affiliate in 2007, he hit 20 home runs and slugged .497.

No. 4 (Washington)

The Nationals picked up a cornerstone piece of their franchise in Zimmerman, who assumed the starting third base job in the majors after just one season in the minors. He's a career .282 hitter with 44 home runs and 201 RBIs in his first two seasons.

No. 5 (Milwaukee)

The Brewers might have made the playoffs in 2007 if they had not waited until late May to call up Braun to play third base. The former Hurricanes star hit 34 home runs in 113 games to run away with NL Rookie of the Year honors.

No. 6 (Toronto)

Will this go down as a "Sam Bowie Pick?" The Blue Jays passed on star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to take this 6-foot-1 left-hander. Romero hasn't done much to show that he was deserving of this selection, posting a 4.20 ERA in 250 minor-league innings. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays played 2007 with Royce Clayton and John McDonald as their shortstops.

No. 7 (Colorado)

Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd says the decision to draft this stud shortstop was a "franchise-changing moment." Tulowitzki played incredible defense and hit 24 home runs in leading Colorado to a World Series appearance as a rookie.

No. 9 (NY Mets)

The Mets' 6-7 right-hander struggled as a starter in the majors last season (3-8 with a 5.57 ERA), but is in contention for a rotation spot in 2008.

No. 10 (Detroit)

The Tigers traded in this blue-chip center-field prospect to the Marlins in a blockbuster move that brought Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit. In his second game in the majors last season, he hit his first career home run -- off Roger Clemens.

No. 11 (Pittsburgh)

The Pirates haven't had much luck in the draft lately, but perhaps this center fielder will change that pattern. McCutchen worked his way up to Class AAA last season and has a .780 OPS in 327 minor league games.

No. 12 (Cincinnati)

Though he isn't going to break camp with the Reds, Bruce has proven himself in the minors (.905 career OPS) and most likely will take over as the everyday center fielder sometime this season.

No. 23 (Boston)

The Red Sox called up this speedy center fielder in time for a successful postseason run last year and have installed him as the starter for 2008.

No. 25 (Minnesota)

In 2006, Garza pitched in four levels of the Twins' organization, including the big leagues. He was traded to the Devil Rays for outfielder Delmon Young in the offseason and will be in the Rays' starting rotation.

No. 30 (St. Louis)

The heir apparent to Jim Edmonds in center field for St. Louis hit 29 home runs to lead the Class AA Texas League last season. In high school he broke Bo Jackson's single-season Alabama prep home run record with 24 bombs.

No. 36 (Oakland)

Buck already has established himself as a big league starting outfielder with the Oakland A's after batting .288 with a .377 on-base percentage in 82 games last season.

No. 42 (Boston)

The wiry right-hander has several pitches he can throw for strikes and already has shown what he can do, tossing a no-hitter against the Orioles last season in his second major league start.

No. 66 (San Diego)

The Padres drafted Headley as a third baseman but are retraining him for the outfield and possibly will call him up this season. He posted a .437 on-base percentage in Class AA last season.

No. 75 (Atlanta)

The Braves traded away Edgar Renteria to make room at shortstop for Escobar, who batted .326 in 319 at-bats as a rookie last season.

No. 83 (Arizona)

Known just as much for his bat as his arm, Owings went 8-8 with a 4.30 ERA for the NL West champion D'backs last season. At the plate, he batted .333 with four home runs in 64 plate appearances.

No. 259 (NY Yankees)

The Yankees struck gold with this eighth-round pick. Jackson, an outfielder, worked his way up to Class AAA as a 20-year-old in 2007. He passed up a scholarship to play point guard at Georgia Tech to sign with New York.

MLB's Great Draft Class of 2005