Beesball Draft

Day 1 of the draft. Let's look at who has been taken from the Jackets:

#30.. 1st round....... Tyler Greene......... Cardinals
#81.. 3rd round....... Jason Neighborgall...Diamondbacks
#83.. 3rd round....... Micah Owings.........Diamondbacks (former roomie with Neighborgall)
#247.. 8th round...... Jeremy Slayden.......Phillies
#259.. 8th round...... Austin Jackson.......Yankees
#435.. 14th round...... David Duncan.........Twins


BaseballAmerica has this blog comment on the Yanks drafting Jackson:

Tuesday, 5:31 PM: They'd Have A Chance Against The Knicks
by Aaron Fitt

The Yankees just can't get enough of basketball players. After taking CJ Henry in the first round, they went after Austin Jackson, who has accepted a basketball scholarship at Georgia Tech, in the eighth. While he might be just as athletically gifted as Henry, Jackson is deemed a tougher sign. He did not appear too enthusiastic about baseball this season as scouts felt was going through the motions and had already decided he wanted to play basketball. There are no questions about his talent. On a whim, he went to the plate lefthanded in the midst of a blowout and hit a home run in the only lefthanded at-bat of his high school career. In a game played at the Rangers' Ameriquest Field, he hit one in the second deck in left field from his natural right side. Jackson has been on the BA radar for years, as he was named the player for the ages as a 12-year-old in 1999. You are more likely to see him playing point guard for the Yellow Jackets in the Sweet Sixteen next March then at the Yankees spring training complex.

This on Neighborgall / Owings:

Tuesday, 2:56 PM: Arizona Makes Two Interesting Picks In The Third
by Will Kimmey


The Diamondbacks came very close to drafting Jason Neighborgall out of high school three years ago, and finally got their man this year with the first pick of the third round. Neighborgall, a 6-foot-4 righthander, has reached 100 mph with his fastball and also offers a potentially plus curveball but spent his last two seasons at Georgia Tech battling serious control problems. He struck out 71 batters, walked 50, threw 16 wild pitches and hit 12 batters in 53 innings as a junior. He started the season as Tech's Friday starter before falling out of the rotation and finishing at 5-3, 6.66 overall.


Two picks after grabbing Neighborgall, the Diamondbacks took Micah Owings, his former roommate at Georgia Tech before transferring to Tulane for the 2005 season. They used a compensation pick they received for losing free agent Richie Sexson to the Diamondbacks. Owings hit 18 home runs for the Green Wave, but he won't replace Sexson's power as he went as a pitcher following a 10-4, 3.64 season. Owings has twice passed on a professional career; the Cubs drafted him in the 19th round as an eligible sophomore last year, and the Rockies took him in the second round out of high school in 2002.