2008 Major League Baseball draft

2008 Major League Baseball draft
General information
Date(s)	June 5–6, 2008
Network(s)	ESPN[1]
Overview
1504 total selections
First selection	Tim Beckham Tampa Bay Rays
First round selections	46
← 2007 2009 →

The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008.

First round selections[]

Key

Supplemental first round selections[]

Compensation picks[]

Other notable players[]

NFL players drafted[]

• Kyle Long, 23rd round, 690th overall by the Chicago White Sox, but did not sign
• Eric Decker, 39th round, 1178th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers, but did not sign
• Pat White, 49th round, 1457th overall by the Cincinnati Reds, but did not sign

Notes[]

On September 9, 2008, Conor Gillaspie, the 37th pick in the 2008 draft, made his Major League debut, becoming the first from his draft class to do so. Buster Posey was the first 2008 draftee to play in post-season and eventually won the 2010 World Series, the 2012 World Series, and the 2014 World Series with the San Francisco Giants. Posey was also named 2010 NL Rookie of the Year,^[2] and he won 2012 National League Most Valuable Player award and the 2012, 2014 & 2015 Silver Slugger awards.

2011 Rookie of the Year Craig Kimbrel was drafted 96th overall by the Atlanta Braves in the 3rd round.

Ryan Westmoreland, who the Boston Red Sox drafted in the fifth round, became one of the best prospects in baseball before having brain surgery twice to repair a cavernous malformation.^[3]

Brothers Caleb and Corban Joseph were both chosen in the 2008 draft. The New York Yankees selected Corban in the fourth round, with the 140th overall selection, out of Franklin High School in Franklin, Tennessee, while the Baltimore Orioles drafted Caleb in the seventh round, with the 206th overall selection, out of Lipscomb University.^[4]

West Virginia quarterback Pat White was drafted in the 49th round by the Cincinnati Reds, even though he had not played baseball since his senior year of high school in 2004, when he was drafted by the Anaheim Angels.

Negro Leagues Special Draft[]

Prior to the start of the draft, the League held a special round consisting of the surviving Negro leagues players to acknowledge and rectify their exclusion from the major leagues on the basis of race in the past. The idea of the special draft was conceived by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield.^[5] Each major league team drafted one player from the Negro leagues. Notable in the draft were Emilio Navarro (who, at 101 years of age at the time of the draft, was believed to be the oldest living professional ballplayer) and Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, the first woman ever drafted.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• MLB Important Dates for 2008
• 2008 MLB Draft Tracker
• Baseball America's First Round Recap