Christmas Day = Draft Day

Christmas was my favorite day of the year growing up.  Gotta love those presents.  Now my favorite day of the year is Draft Day.  But unlike many Christmas gifts, baseball draft picks are gifts that keep giving and giving. 

Both Christmas Day and Draft Day are times filled with joy and hope for the future.  As an adult, the draft has become as exciting as Christmas was for me as a child.  First there is the excitement of draft day.  Question's quickly morph one into the next: "Who will my team pick?"  and "Who are these guys?" 

Next is the anticipation of getting players signed and seeing their names in the box scores for the first time.  Following the minor league box scores is how I found out that the Twins had signed their 14th round pick Jeff Manship last year.   

But I never thought Manship would sign.  Manship had been a solid prospect coming out of high school.  He would have been drafted in the 2nd-4th rounds of the 2003 draft, if not for his committment to Notre Dame.  Injuries and inconsistency plagued him at Notre Dame and signability was again an issue going into the 2006 draft.  But he got drafted by the Twins, the best team at getting prospects to the majors, and he signed. 

He is on his way to being ranked as a top prospect after his solid 2007 season.  Now he hopes to follow Twins prospects Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey, and Scott Baker from the minors to the Major Leagues.  Hopefully your favorite team drafts some players that you can pin your hopes on to improve your team.  Best of luck to everyone on Draft Day.