Meet the NL East Draft Picks

In case you weren't able to watch today's Major League Baseball draft or follow along with Josh Alper and Andrew Johnson at their live blog of the festivities, here's a roundup of the guys who went in the first round to the teams of the National League East.

Florida Marlins (6) Kyle Skipworth, Catcher, Patriot H.S. (CA): When you look at his offensive scouting report, he's got Joe Mauer written all over him with his sweet left-handed power stroke. So it's no surprise that when you read this interview with the 2008 Gatorade National Player of the Year, you find out that he patterned his game after Mauer, the former batting champion. Anything close to Joe Mauer and the Marlins will be extremely happy with this pick.

Washington Nationals (9) Aaron Crow, RHP, University of Missouri, Columbia: There weren't a lot of pitchers taken in the first round, which is a bit surprising. Not surprisingly, the Nats took a big power arm at the nine slot in Crow, a guy with good command and great stuff with three plus pitches at his arsenal. The Nationals did well to grab a starter this good out of college who can possibly make his major league debut this season ... and definitely sooner rather than later.

New York Mets (18) Ike Davis, First Base, Arizona State: With Carlos Delgado on his last legs, and only Mike Carp on the horizon in the Mets' minor league system, the Mets were hoping to take advantage of a deep first base class on draft day. They did just that by drafting Davis (pictured above), the son of former major league reliever Ron Davis. Ike is hitting .394 with 16 HR's so far with the Sun Devils, and he also pitches for them (4-1, 2.53 ERA as a reliever). So will he wind up replacing Delgado or Oliver Perez?

New York Mets (22) David Reese Havens, Shortstop, South Carolina: Havens is an interesting pick, and not just because most call him Reese while MLB.com calls him David. Havens has been primarily a shortstop in college, but with Jose Reyes blocking his path he will assuredly switch positions. Scouting reports say he would have to move to third anyway because of a lack of range, but with David Wright over there, the Mets might want to see what he can do as a catcher, where the Mets are lacking in top level prospects. Scouts like his batting eye, which seemed better in his freshman year at USC than it did as a sophomore, but his summer season in the Cape Cod league where he hit .315 solidified him as a legitimate hitting prospect (though some have noticed that Havens struggles with high velocity pitches.)

Philadelphia Phillies (24) Anthony Hewitt, Shortstop, Salisbury School (CT): They call him "toolsy", and the Phillies should know a thing or two about toolsy shortstops. But just like Havens, scouts foresee a change in position in Hewitt's future as they see him as more like a center fielder. This is a risky pick for Philly and not only because the terms "raw" and "upside" are being thrown around. Hewitt has a "solid verbal" commitment to Vanderbilt. And considering the university has recently boasted 2007 No. 1 draft pick David Price and 2008 No. 2 draft pick Pedro Alvarez, maybe Hewitt will decide a stay at Vandy is best for his long term career prospects.

The Atlanta Braves gave up their first round pick to the Mets for signing Tom Glavine as a free agent. Atlanta's first pick was 40, which they used to select lefty pitcher Brett DeVall from Niceville High School in Florida.