Day Three of Hosmer Watch. What will he do now? Double? Sparkling defensive play? Rescue babies from burning babies? Kansas City breathlessly awaits.
Let's rewind ourselves for a moment and review the 2008 draft that produced Eric Hosmer. Here are the five picks that came after Hosmer, who was selected third overall by the Royals.
4. P Brian Matusz, Baltimore - Came up in 2009 and has won 15 games in forty career starts with a 4.37 ERA and a 3.8 WAR. Is shelved with an injury this year.
5. C Buster Posey, San Francisco - Came up in 2009 and has hit .287/.344/.465 in 585 career PAs and won 2010 National League Rookie of the Year as an integral part of the World Champion San Francisco Giants.
6. C Kyle Skipworth, Florida - Failed to hit much his first two minor league season, improved to hit .245/.309/.418 with 17 HR in low A ball. John Sickels graded him a C prospect this year.
7. 1B Yonder Alonso, Cincinnati - .800 OPS plus his first two full minor league seasons with a high OBA - .291/.366/.457 in his minor league career. Currently at AAA but would be in the big leagues if not blocked by NL MVP Joey Votto.
8. 2B Gordon Beckham, Chicago White Sox - Came up in 2009 with a great rookie season, although has struggled since then. Has hit .257/.325/.406 in 935 MLB PAs with a grand total of 1.0 career WAR.
And the guy many Royals fans wanted went 11th overall - 1B Justin Smoak, selected by Texas. Smoak was dealt to Seattle in the Cliff Lee trade and is hitting well this year, posting a .965 OPS after struggling mightily last year with a .678 OPS.
Hindsight is 20/20, but looking forward, without knowing what kind of career Hosmer will have, did the Royals make the right choice?