LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Rays selected Tim Beckham with the No. 1 pick in the baseball draft Thursday, choosing the talented high school shortstop from Griffin, Ga., over Florida State catcher Buster Posey.
Beckham was recognized as one of the best pure athletes in the draft and labeled a legitimate five-tool player. He established himself as the top prep prospect in the nation with solid performances at last summer’s high school showcase events and hit .482 with six homers, 13 doubles, 41 RBIs and 23 stolen bases as a senior.
“I found out this morning. . . . The scouting director gave me a call and the general manager gave me a call. It was crazy. I was about to do a back flip in my room,” Beckham said. “It means everything in the world. . . . I hope to become an all-star and after that I want to become a Hall of Famer.”
With the second pick, the Pirates chose sweet-swinging Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Florida high school first baseman Eric Hosmer went third to the Royals, and the Orioles took top college pitching prospect Brian Matusz out of San Diego with the fourth pick.
Posey, hitting a Division I-leading .468 heading into this week’s NCAA super regionals, wound up going to the Giants with the fifth pick.
The Marlins, picking sixth, took California high school catcher Kyle Skipworth, whom many consider the top prep prospect at his position since Joe Mauer was selected No. 1 overall by Minnesota seven years ago.
Rounding out the top 10, the Reds took Miami slugger Yonder Alonso seventh, the White Sox picked Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham (no relation to Tim) eighth, the Nationals tabbed Missouri pitcher Aaron Crow and the Astros selected Stanford catcher Jason Castro 10th.
Second baseman Jemile Weeks, brother of Milwaukee’s Rickie Weeks, was one of three University of Miami players selected in the opening round, going to the Athletics at No. 12.
Two teams, Minnesota and the Mets, had two picks in the first round. The Twins selected California high school outfielder Aaron Hicks 14th and Miami pitcher Carlos Gutierrez 27th, while the Mets took Arizona State first baseman Ike Davis 18th and South Carolina shortstop Reese Havens 22nd.
