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Get your popcorn popped and put your slippers on, it's time for the time honored tradition of gathering the family around the high definition television and watching watching a confused, wrinkly old man talk about teenage boys. Is there a more awkward sports commisioner in the history of sports commissioners than Bud Selig?
In case you've forgotten, the Reds have the 8th pick in this year's draft. Most experts agree that they will take pitching with their first pick, though that's about the point where the agreement stops. After the first two picks, this draft is pretty much wide open. It really all depends on who is there when the pick comes around because it seems like nobody is sure who is going to be taken 3 thru 7 this year.
Ultimately though, it may not matter who the Reds take with their first pick. The baseball draft is 50 rounds of yummy goodness for a reason. It's basically a crapshoot and what teams lack in certainty they try to make up for with volume. The Reds appear to have gotten some MLB potential out of the first round in recent drafts, but the past decade of first round picks leaves a lot to be desired:
2008 - Yonder Alonso
2007 - Devin Mesoraco
2006 - Drew Stubbs
2005 - Jay Bruce
2004 - Homer Bailey
2003 - Ryan Wagner
2002 - Christopher Gruler
2001 - Jeremy Sowers
2000 - David Espinosa
1999 - Ty Howington
Bruce and Sowers are the only picks currently on a Major Leaguer roster, with Bailey being the only other player with MLB experience this season. Stubbs and Alonso could be up some time this year though, making the second half of this decade's drafts look a lot more promising than the first half. Even still, the Reds are depending on several players taken in later rounds to make an impact in the next couple of years (Chris Valaika, Todd Frazier, Neftali Soto, Zach Cozart, Travis Wood, etc.). Unlike the NBA and NFL, the distance in time between draft day and your big league debut means that a lot can happen to make that 30th round pick just as valuable as the 1st round pick.
The draft starts at 6pm ET and Thundering Turtle will be our guide through tonight's proceedings. He's a fountain of knowledge when it comes to amateur baseball, so if you've got a question, don't hesitate to ask.