I’d really anticipated on following the draft closely. But the fact that it started at 3 a.m. Korean time, coupled with my anticipation of the Korean Draft on the same day (more on that in a minute) had me pooping out a little at the last moment. But I would recommend the Draft Day Chat With Jim Callis, in which he pretty much goes over everything from the first day, and several teams in depth.

I also usually try to read whatever Keith Law has to say. In this column he lauds the Giants for having the guts to take Buster Posey at No. 5. He’s asking for $12 million. Also, Dave Cameron of Fan Graphs has a brief look  ahead at 2009. A lot of people think Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State Univ., who once faced the minimum and K’d 23 batters during a 1-hit shutout, will be the top choice. Who’ll be looking at that top pick? Could be the Mariners. I still think Baltimore might be there in the end as well. Funny how that could work out.

The Korean draft, or more specifically the first phase of the Korean draft (the second, third and so on rounds take place in August) was yesterday.  It’s actually more of a signing deadline, as the teams in Korea can only draft/sign players (in the first round) within their geographic area. For example, only Kia can draft/sign players from the Gwangju/Jeolla province  area. The league is  talking about changing this, although I kind of like it.    

But, stangely, only Lotte announced a signing yesterday — Oh Byung-il of Busan High School. I only saw Oh once, so I can’t offer much of an opinion. He wasn’t someone we were watching all that closely — and what we were watching was an outfielder. He was signed as a pitcher. And not only was he signed as a pitcher, he was compared to Ryu Hyun-jin by the Lotte scout that signed him. An inspired comparison.

Two of the other Korean teams, Doosan and LG, had already announced signings a couple months ago. Not sure what’s up with Kia, Woori, SK and Samsung. I’m sure we’ll know soon enough.

Not much in the way of posting today — we’re headed out to Busan for the Lotte/SK game.